You’re something else
He didn’t talk to Jayce.
He was in such a good mood, he didn’t need to force himself to talk to him when he could simply follow him.
Jayce wasn’t very sneaky, Viktor realized.
He supposed that Talis would never have to be, he’s probably never had to sneak around in fear of being discovered or caught.
But right now, Jayce was at a disadvantage because Viktor understood what he was trying to do before Jayce even caught him following.
Somehow, the man had a fucking clearance key card, he had gone towards the darkest room near the furthest area of the ship and swiped it against the door, immediately entering, not checking to see if anyone was following him.
What an idiot, considering what he’s doing is illegal
Viktor quickly snuck in before the door slammed shut.
“Hey, Viktor” Jayce said so suddenly that if Viktor was on the ground he would of fallen over, he didn’t even turn around
“What the fuck are you doing, Talis?” he practically growled “You do realize you’re going against the contract you agreed with, right?”
“Wouldn’t you do the same? For the good of science?” Jayce asked, turning around to him, Viktor was tired of squinting to see the man so he promptly switched on the light switch.
The light switch that he’s turned on before, y’know, because he’s actually allowed in here.
“How did you get a clearance key card? Grace would never appoint you with one of those”
“I know” Jayce wasn’t even looking at Viktor as he moved closer, suddenly, he flicked the card towards him “That’s why I took yours”
If Pandora wasn’t going to kill Jayce Talis, he certainly would.
“You took-“ he stuttered “How did you even- You son of a-“
“You’re a really heavy sleeper” Jayce moved away again, swimming in the air towards the tanks “You’re so peaceful when you’re dreaming, did you know that? There’s no frowns on your face or anything”
“Believe it or not, I am quite known for being peaceful” he said through gritted teeth “You’re just often the root of my frowns”
Viktor was still processing the fact that Jayce had taken the time to look at Viktor instead of just stealing his card when Talis changed the topic.
“How many Avatars are there?”
He wished he had his cane so he could hit him with it.
“Are you seriously asking me?”
“My bad, I thought you were a scientist” Jayce stared at him, the blue coloring of the tank reflecting onto his face, he had a knowing look.
This fucker.
“There are fourteen avatars, not every one is in this room”
“How come?”
“Well, some are being checked on to make sure they’re not faulty, by scientists”
“Who’s occupying them?”
“Did you really do no research before boarding?”
“Maybe I did, maybe I didn’t” Jayce shrugged “there’s no harm in telling me, is there?”
Viktor took a deep breath “all the Avatars are connected, each one assigned to you, myself, Grace, Violet, Sevika, Maddie, Silco, Mylo, Claggor-“
“Mylo and Claggor? I don’t think I’ve met them”
“Yes, well they picked the lazy way out to be frozen until we reached Pandora”
“Okay, who else?”
“That is it”
“I thought you said fourteen?”
“I did, but I do not care to meet everybody, so I don’t know their names”
Jayce let out a small laugh “You’re something else, Viktor”
“Yes, a scientist”
Jayce raised his hands in defeat “you got me there”
“Okay, my turn, what are you doing in here? Why am I hearing about some ‘mystery’ you’ve solved from Caitlyn?”
“I’ve been overhearing Grace chatting to Silco about something, about a- a pause in one of the Avatars brain system”
“Impossible, I would’ve heard about it”
“Yeah, well maybe you were sleeping” Jayce grinned “Anyway, I was thinking that- maybe this has something to do with the genetics that we gave them, the samples we sent in so they could merge our Avatars together”
Viktor didn’t reply, but he followed Jayce as he moved towards another tank occupied by a twitching Avatar with closed eyes and a long, black braid. This one was clearly Jayces, the nose shape and eyebrows were enough of an indicator.
“If there’s any fault , Talis, It would’ve been from the Na’vi they got samples from, not us”
“I know- I know, just- just hear me out” Jayce almost sounded nervous “If there was a pause in an Avatar, what would that mean? First off, It would mean something entirely different to us because our Avatars only look like Na’vi but they aren’t real Na’vi, are they? You can’t be a real Na’vi until Eywa accepts you, correct?”
Viktor nodded “yes, you’re right”
Jayce almost smiled again before continuing “Right, well because our Avatars aren’t connected to anything on Pandora yet and aren’t directly entwined with Eywa then the only way to properly fix it is using human materials, not Na’vi ones”
“What are you getting at?”
“Just hold on, I’m thinking that the brain systems are imbalanced, maybe there’s too much Na’vi in there or too much human, it’s like a..like a..”
“Like a delicate tightrope, if you lose your balance the whole show will be ruined” Viktor finished for him. The two stared at each other for a second, some of Jayce's hair had taken on a life of its own and revealed his forehead as it floated around, he looked ridiculous.
“Right” Jayce said softly
Viktor took in a breath “if one of the Avatars is unbalanced then that may have fatal consequences when we reach Pandora”
“Exactly” Jayce nodded “So I figured…I figured..”
“That was my next question” Viktor turned back to Jayce's Avatar “what was your plan? You just steal my card and then..what? You believe you could’ve fixed this all by yourself?” He was on the verge of a laugh
“Yes I do. Because it’s my Avatar that’s out of balance”
Viktor frowned “How do you know?”
“I’m a scientist, I notice things” Jayce said simply “just like how you didn’t notice your card was missing”
“I was sleeping! Then I was preoccupied, I don’t just assume people have taken my things, Talis”
“Well then maybe you should, then next time I’ll just break the door open”
“There isn’t going to be a next time, have you forgotten that we aren’t friends?”
“How could I?”
☆
Jayce was right, because of course he was.
“Grace, we need to fix it before we reach Pandora” The man insisted, following the lead scientist around, Viktor leaning against the ladder that Grace was currently climbing “If I go into a faulty Avatar then I could-“
“I know what could happen, Jayce” Grace said “you’re worrying too much, you’ll get lines”
Jayce self-consciously ran a hand over his forehead “Well, what can we do?”
“We aren’t gonna do anything” she pointed to him “Seeing as you went against my rules and went into a room you weren’t allowed in with a stolen card, you’re not seeing your Avatar again until we get to Pandora”
“Wait, But Grace…” Jayce's words fell flat
“Go flirt with something, Talis ” Viktor hissed “let the scientists handle this”
Jayce gave him an ugly scowl before wandering off, Viktor watched him leave.
“You’re way too cruel on the guy, y'know that?” Grace said as she moved back down the ladder
“You weren’t exactly being very homely”
“Yeah well, when am I ever?” Grace said “It’s different with you, you’re soft when you want to be, so why be such a bitch to him?”
Viktor chose his words carefully “he’s already got adoring fans, he doesn’t need one more”
Grace clicked tongue “Whatever, not my problem, we’ve got an Avatar to fix”
☆
If all things go well, they’ll be reaching Pandora in exactly 48 hours.
Viktor had just checked on the Hex again, letting his worries get the better of him, he checked a few more times.
He finally got back to his bed and slipped under the covers, his eyes wandered to his cane. The cane he hadn’t used in ages, soon he’ll have to again.
But no matter, because his Avatar could run.
His Avatar could take him anywhere he wanted to go without having to worry about a cane.
And that thought drifted him off into a deep sleep, his card in his hand.