Chapter Text
The Council Hall was bright — the sun's rays easily penetrated through the tall windows and fell on the marble floor, making the gold of the coats of arms especially bright. Still, Jayce was cold. Or rather, it's hot, the way it is when shame squeezes your throat and the sweat on your back feels icy.
He stood as straight as he could in front of the semicircle of advisers.
«Finally decide — are you a scientist or a face for the covers?»— the Council's voice sounded measured, but with growing irritation, — «because Piltover is losing money, Mr. Talis. And the Council's patience is not infinite.»
Several members nodded, and some rolled their eyes. One of them added a little more quietly.
«Your inventions are unstable. And the city pays for every instability. Financially and reputationally.»
The word seemed to echo inside him—instability.
He remembered how, in the laboratory, Viktor was the first to notice that one of the stabilizers in their prototype began to tremble subtly. Insignificant. Almost imperceptibly.
«We need to rebuild the frame...» muttered Viktor, running his fingers over the glass of the sensor.
«Later. We're already behind schedule,» Jayce waved off then, too enthusiastic, too confident.
The device, officially called the Audio Dynamic Resonance Platform, and unofficially the "Singer", was supposed to tune in to fluctuations in sound frequencies and turn them into controlled energy. The idea was brilliant: improving security systems, detecting hidden vibrations, and transmitting sounds through dense media.…
But when they launched it to the full range, something happened that was now being discussed in the Council.
At first, there was a thin squeal, as if someone had run a fingernail across the glass. It crawled over my skin, a slight chill. Then there was a hum, low and growing. It began to resonate with the room, as if the air itself was vibrating. The thin metal elements of the structure shook with an unpleasant ringing.
Viktor tensed, raising his eyebrows:
«Too much...»
Jayce started to lower the power, but a second later, a sound wave hit the laboratory. She didn't blind, she stunned. Not light, but pure resonance. The high window was covered with a network of thin cracks. Alone at first. Then the second one. Third… Then a crunch.
The fragment, like a drop, fell off the frame and landed on a large table. The remaining pieces of glass stood, but with wide cracks.
Viktor covered his ears. Neither did Jayce. The drone was still vibrating, as if it didn't want to leave. It wasn't deafening— it bit in, subtly, pointwise, as if it found vulnerable spots in the body and scratched from the inside.
When everything was quiet, they both stood in silence.
Silence.
«Mr. Talis.»
The voice brought him back to reality. Jayce blinked.
«You can go now.»
He nodded. A little mechanically, without the usual polished politeness. The reason he was standing here in front of the Council was all too clear—his and Viktor's invention. Something they've been working on for months. What was supposed to be a breakthrough. Instead... it got out of control.
The corridors of the Academy were flooded with sunlight, which poured through the stained-glass windows, drawing intricate patterns on the marble floor, and the blue sky above the spires could be seen. Everything seemed to have been cleaned to a shine: the vaults of the high ceilings, the walls with inlays. Still, Jayce's footsteps sounded hollow, as if he were walking alone in an empty cathedral.
The voices he had just heard at the Council were still echoing in his head.
«Are your inventions unstable...»
«Are you an engineer or a face of the Academy?»
He walked past a group of students quietly discussing something at a pillar, past a teacher who was talking to an assistant, past familiar doors. Everything is as usual, as if nothing had happened.
But there was a heaviness in his chest. It was as if his very essence had been questioned.
He pushed open the laboratory door. Their space with Viktor.
The light flew in through the broken window, touching everything inside: the table on which the glass fragments had fallen, the shelves, the chairs. Could hear birds singing outside, thinly. Nature did not notice any cracks or harsh words of Advice.
Two men, apparently from the technical control department, were standing next to a large window, discussing a crack in the window frame and arguing about what to do with the flying glass.
«... if we seal it up, it will hold until the evening, but it would be better to remove everything,» — said one, peering into the shards.
«Or temporarily put up a shield until a decision is made,» — the second shrugged his shoulders.
Viktor was standing by the table. He didn't seem to notice Jayce coming in: he was concentrating on sorting through the papers, putting them in a box. His fingers were trembling slightly.
But as soon as the door closed behind Jayce, the standing man turned around. His eyes widened slightly.
«You... came back quickly,» — the voice was quiet, a little hoarse. He put down the papers, leaned on his crutch, and limped over to Jayce. — «Advice...» — he didn't finish. Instead, stopped a step away from man. The look is intense, worried, — «how much are they...?»
«They didn't kill me,» — tried to joke. The smile turned out to be strained. He rubbed his hand wearily across his face, — «but now they seem to think I'm a disgrace to Piltover. They looked at me as if I had blown up the city hall.»
Jayce suddenly wanted to sit down. Just get down on the floor and don't get up again. Instead, he leaned against the wall, looking down.
«It was an important project, Viktor.»
«I know.»
«We thought he was stable.»
«I thought you were going overboard with the power. And I didn't stop you. So if the Council is looking for the culprit, let them call me too. This is our project, it's my fault too, and you're not carrying this alone.»
There was a painful twinge in Viktor's chest: again.
It was as if everything that didn't go according to plan ended up on his partner's shoulders by default. He was a face, public, loud. They didn't touch Viktor, but Jayce, could be put in the center, pointed and condemned. Sometimes it seemed that he was not an engineer for the Council, but a scapegoat with a good hairstyle.
He wanted to say something else, but at that moment one of the technicians, who was sorting through the glass by the window, inadvertently touched a table leg, and a metal ruler fell to the floor with a characteristic clang.
They both started.
«Be careful, please», — Viktor called over his shoulder. Then he turned back to Jayce, but at that moment the door opened softly.
«Oh, my dears,» — said a familiar high-pitched, slightly hoarse voice, — «I've been informed that something has happened... loud.»
Professor Heimerdinger entered the laboratory. He was short, but with such a bearing that it seemed he was about to become the most important person in the entire city. His snow-white mustache twitched after every word he said, giving him a special whimsicality. In his hands was a massive notebook with worn corners.
His gaze swept around the room, instantly assessing what was happening: cracks in the glass, shelves strewn with scattered tools. The professor shrugged his shoulders habitually, squinting at the destruction.
«It won't happen again,» — Jayce said immediately, trying to justify what had happened, — «we'll recalculate the matrix, and...»
The professor raised a paw, gently interrupting him.
«I didn't come to tell you boys off. Conversely. I know how difficult it is to create something new. Especially if this "something" suddenly decides to sing on an octave that breaks glass.»
Viktor, still worried, moved closer to Jayce.
«Professor, we have invested months of work into this project.»
He pointed to a box of flour and blueprints near the table where the workers were still working.
«We were trying to create an Audio Dynamic Resonance Platform, a device capable of converting sound waves into controlled energy in order to improve security systems in Piltover. We were sure that the vibrations could be adjusted... without devastating consequences.»
The professor listened attentively, and his mustache twitched slightly as he frowned:
«Piltover cannot afford experiments that lead to such chaos, even if your intentions are noble. But I see your perseverance, and it matters.»
He walked along the table where the “Singer” was, carefully examining each element, then addressed everyone present:
«I understand that the laboratory is in a deplorable state now, and, frankly, the conditions here are far from ideal. However, I'm not ready to stop. The work you are doing is needed by the Academy, and especially by you, young minds who are not afraid to go against the flow.»
Heimerdinger walked to the window, looking at the broken glass through which sunlight penetrated, illuminating the dust in the air, and then turned to the men standing at the door, who now looked like wet, hungry chicks after the rain.
«Then... Are you not going to forbid us to continue?»— Viktor asked after a pause.
«Of course not!» — The professor exclaimed, turning around, — «but you can't work in this lab anymore. Security, inspections, restoration, and all that. Everything is fair, alas.»
«I see» — Jayce nodded, trying not to show his disappointment.
«But I have an idea. My main laboratory is in the west wing—you both know it. More spacious, more windows, good lighting, stable plates. Now I use it less often: committees, meetings, tea, tea and more tea. If you don't mind a couple of meetings with the Academic Council a week,» — he chuckled, — «you can use it as your main space. Temporarily.»
«Are you... serious?» — Viktor asked cautiously.
«Absolutely. It's better to have a scientific rumble there than to have everything gathering dust. And I'll have a reason to come and remind you about tea sometimes. And lunch. And rest.»
Jayce nodded, and though his shoulders were tense, there was something close to gratitude in his eyes.
«Thank you, Professor.»
«I serve Science.» — Heimerdinger said solemnly and bowed slightly. The professor inspected the laboratory for the last time heading for the door, hands folded behind his back.
Meanwhile, two employees from the technical control department continued to quarrel quietly by the window.
«I'm telling you, if you just seal it up, it will be fine until the evening!»
«See it tonight, and then everything will bang again! A shield is better...»
Heimerdinger turned to them, his moustache twitching like a conductor's, appealing to the attention of an orchestra:
«My dear ones! With the windows later, please. Help these young people to collect instruments and papers. They have a great rethinking of space ahead of them. And maybe something else.»
The workers looked at each other, one shrugged and nodded, the other with slight annoyance, but already approached the nearest box.
«Of course, Professor...»
«Thank you.» — Jayce said softly.
The professor nodded back at him and turned back to the exit, as if remembering something important. He stood for a moment in the doorway, illuminated by the sun, as if he himself were part of the laboratory glow.
«And yes...» — he said finally, his moustache fluttering a little, — «I'm going to make tea, new beginnings require it.»
With these words, the professor quickly left the laboratory. The workers continued to quietly discuss the upcoming tasks, and Viktor and Jayce, looking at each other, felt that even in this difficult moment they had the support of not only each other, but also those who sincerely believe in their talent.