First, there was a set of blue eyes peeking in through the partly-open door.
A moment later, there was a set of knocks. They were tentative - Liara still wasn't certain whether this was the right course of action. But she was worried, and there had been topics, and she thought humans might consider it fair if--
"One sec," Victor called, finishing the page he was on before he looked up. He was surprised to spot the blue through the opening in the door. As far as he knew, he and Liara weren't exactly buddies, so he wasn't sure why she'd come to his room.
Curiosity about why she was coming to his room got him to move a bit faster in opening the door.
"Hey," he said, once they were face-to-face. "What's up?"
"I spoke to Karolina," Liara said, fiddling a bit. Now that she was here, she was wondering if perhaps she had misjudged the appropriate human response. "She... spoke to me about your situation. When you met."
None of them were exactly human, so maybe appropriate human response wasn't the right metric.
"She did?" Victor's stomach was a bit twisty from surprise and nerves, but it wasn't like he had any right to swear Karolina to secrecy -- even if trying to had occurred to him, which it hadn't. "How much? I mean -- you're here, so ... I'm guessing she didn't stop at the part where I accidentally smashed up some bleachers."
"Right, yeah," Victor said, sounding slightly miserable about it as he pulled the door shut. People knew about Ultron and Victorious, sure, but they were his people. The fact Liara both had been told and clearly thought it mattered ... it wasn't exactly a great addition to his lazy day.
He sat on his bed, hands on his lap. "Guess I should feel grateful you trust me enough to close the door." It was sardonic, a little bitter, but not entirely a lie.
Liara crossed her arms. "She said they discovered that a future version of you would become a... supervillain."
If she sounded skeptical, it was because she was still not exactly on board with the concept of 'supervillains', 'supervillainy', or any equivalent thereof. It sounded like something from a bad Justicar serial, frankly.
"In one universe. Which they changed when they found me." Victor was defensive on this point, mostly because he needed to continue believing it to stay sane. (However, he found the concept of supervillains as a whole entirely unremarkable.) "I'm my mom's kid. Not Ultron's. I'm not going to do what he wanted me to do."
"I did not think you would," Liara hastened to add. "I merely thought-- well, perhaps I was mistaken-- you may not want to be ignorant when other parties-- find out. It seems like the whole matter would have caused you some distress."
Admittedly, it was still possible his AI would become somehow corrupted. She just chose not to take that as anything approaching a certainty.
A moment later, there was a set of knocks. They were tentative - Liara still wasn't certain whether this was the right course of action. But she was worried, and there had been topics, and she thought humans might consider it fair if--
Well.
Knocking.
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Curiosity about why she was coming to his room got him to move a bit faster in opening the door.
"Hey," he said, once they were face-to-face. "What's up?"
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Yes, Liara. Victor had been who you came here to see. "Hello. I... felt we should talk."
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"She did?" Victor's stomach was a bit twisty from surprise and nerves, but it wasn't like he had any right to swear Karolina to secrecy -- even if trying to had occurred to him, which it hadn't. "How much? I mean -- you're here, so ... I'm guessing she didn't stop at the part where I accidentally smashed up some bleachers."
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"No," she admitted. "I-- I am sorry. I simply thought it would be proper if you knew that I knew."
She glanced away. "Perhaps we should close the door."
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He sat on his bed, hands on his lap. "Guess I should feel grateful you trust me enough to close the door." It was sardonic, a little bitter, but not entirely a lie.
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He was jumping ahead a few steps, but it seemed a reasonable thing to surmise.
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If she sounded skeptical, it was because she was still not exactly on board with the concept of 'supervillains', 'supervillainy', or any equivalent thereof. It sounded like something from a bad Justicar serial, frankly.
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Admittedly, it was still possible his AI would become somehow corrupted. She just chose not to take that as anything approaching a certainty.
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"Yeah, I'd -- rather know when other people know. 'Some distress' is the nice way to put how I feel about the whole thing, y'know? So ... thanks?"
That was a very tentative thanks.
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That was a very certain 'you're welcome'.
"Will Karolina be all right?"
That slipped out before she could stop it from doing so.
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He scratched a hand through his hair. "Feels weird telling you stuff she's never asked me about," he added apologetically.
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