"I need to have a chat with a neglected friend of mine."
After taking a white napkin from a waiter to wipe his mouth, Cipher tidied himself up to look somewhat presentable. The waiter's face twitched slightly at his earlier display, but years of training kept him from commenting.
Cipher then stood up with two glasses of juice to find the forgotten Viktor.
Viktor's talent surpassed Jayce's in many ways, but simply because he came from Zaun, he was not well-received in Piltover.
"Viktor, first of all, congratulations to you and Jayce on successfully completing your research on the Hexgate. Let's have a chat over there." He approached the bored and disinterested Viktor and handed him a glass of juice. Due to his poor health, Viktor couldn't drink alcohol.
"You're here too?" Viktor's eyes lit up with genuine surprise.
He accepted the juice and, seeing it was Cipher.
This kind of boring political gathering, full of people only interested in leveraging benefits, held no appeal to him. The fake laughter and empty compliments even grated on his nerves.
If it weren't for Jayce insisting that he attend, he would much rather have stayed in the lab, focused on his research into Hextech.
So, meeting a rare friend made him genuinely happy. Here was someone who understood what it meant to rise from the depths of Zaun.
"Let's go. We'll sit over there, and I'll introduce you to some of my family."
Cipher pointed toward the corner, where three other members of his group were seated. They made quite the picture—a group of Zaunites claiming their own territory in this Piltovan sanctuary.
"This place is too easygoing and bright, only suited for them, not for us, burdened as we are with the dark and heavy destiny of Zaun's rise."
Cipher gestured meaningfully at Jayce, who was standing in the spotlight, effortlessly holding conversations with various influential figures. The man moved through the crowd like he was born to it— which, in a way, he was.
"He is different from the rest of them. He genuinely treats me as a friend." Viktor glanced back at Jayce, who was being surrounded and fawned over, and chose to trust his close friend.
Yet there was a flicker of doubt in his eyes.
In truth, Jayce, with his privileged background and exceptional talent, had never faced the hardships that Viktor and other Zaunites had endured—apart from being saved by the robed mage as a child. Everything he had was granted by Piltover. He naturally stood with Piltover's interests and struggled to understand or support the Undercity's aspirations for advancement.
Even with his deep friendship with Viktor, this fundamental divide persisted.
In the original narrative, Viktor made extraordinary contributions to Hextech, but it all seemed unrelated to him in the end. All his inventions and creations served only the Upper City, with no benefits trickling down to the Undercity.
The bright lights Piltover never reached the shadows below.
Viktor, being soft-spoken and unassuming, couldn't persuade the Piltover council to change its treatment of Zaun.
But Jayce? He had the power to do so, yet for various reasons, he never acted. The politics of the Upper City had him firmly in their grasp.
Perhaps he had his own considerations, but in Viktor's eyes, this was betrayal.
This was abandonment.
It wasn't until the second season, when Jayce was consumed by wild runes, transported into a future timeline, and left crippled after falling off a cliff, that he truly understood Viktor. After surviving in the wilderness for months, dragging himself back up the cliff with a broken leg, he finally grasped the immense struggle and suffering it took for a Zaunite to rise to Piltover's level.
He finally understood why Viktor was so dedicated to improving Zaun and benefitting its people.
But for now, Cipher decided to say no more. Viktor hadn't yet completely lost faith in Jayce, and words would be meaningless at this stage.
And some lessons could only be learned through pain.
So, he led Viktor to the corner, where five seats were lined up against the wall, far from the sparkle and shine of the main party.
"Viktor, let me introduce you. This is Vander, my father."
"Vander? The legendary Hound of the Underground... I never expected to meet you here. It's an honor."
Viktor was visibly surprised. Vander's name was well-known among the people of Zaun. Viktor extended his hand to shake Vander's, his grip firm despite his frail appearance.
"Legends are often just stories," Vander's deep voice rumbled. "Reality is more complicated."
"Silco, my uncle."
"Hello."
Viktor shook Silco's hand out of politeness but kept it brief, as he didn't know much about him. There was something in the man's gaze that set him on edge.
"Sevika, my sister. Last time you and Jayce came to the Undercity, she was the one leading the team protecting us from behind."
"Oh, hello."
Viktor appeared a bit reserved toward Sevika but was notably more courteous, as they'd met a few times before.
She nodded in acknowledgment.
"What do you think of Piltover?" Cipher asked as he helped Viktor settle into his seat. "I mean, how would you evaluate the City of Progress?"
"Progress?" Viktor's laugh was bitter. "All I see is prejudice and politics. Maybe only Professor Heimerdinger's Academy is truly worthy of the term progress," he said without hesitation.
He then glanced around the banquet hall filled with Piltover nobles and added, "The councilors here, sitting high and mighty, don't look much different from petty merchants."
Cipher nodded in agreement and pointed toward a group that included Mel, Jayce, and a gathering of Piltovan elites, chatting and laughing together.
"That's a general from Noxus. What do you think of him?"
"I don't know him, nor do I know much about Noxus. I've heard that Noxians love warfare and are obsessed with violence, but he seems more like... a politician?" Viktor replied, surprised. The Lester in the banquet hall didn't fit the image of a bloodthirsty warrior. His clothes were fine, his manner refined.
"He used to be a cannon fodder slave in Noxus, sent to the battlefield to minimize losses. And through military achievements, he was promoted to a military aristocrat with real power, an aristocrat with land and authority," Cipher said after taking a sip of juice, dropping a fact that made Viktor's pupils contract slightly.
The weight of being a Noxian military aristocrat surpassed that of even a Piltover councilor.
"A slave becoming a powerful noble?" Viktor muttered to himself, immediately drawing a parallel to his own situation.
If even a Noxian slave could rise to nobility through merit, why was he, after assisting Jayce in developing Hextech, still not even recognized as a professor?
In the eyes of the Upper City, did he rank even lower than a slave?
Gripping his cane tightly, his fingers turned pale as he wrestled with these existential questions.
The injustice of it burned in his chest.
"Viktor, every nation has its own foundational policies." Cipher's voice was quiet but intense.
"In Noxus, it's all about meritocracy. If you have ability, even a slave can gain respect, status, and wealth, and becoming emperor isn't out of the question."
"Strength, strategy, cunning, vision, determination… Any talent can find a stage to shine on in Noxus."
"Demacia, on the other hand, is built on a policy of anti-magic, aristocracy, and protecting the weak."
"They hunt mages within their borders and imprison them. Nobles are always nobles, enjoying numerous privileges, while commoners remain commoners, no amount of talent can change their class. Yet, in wartime, it is the nobles who step onto the battlefield to protect the commoners."
Cipher paused to give Viktor and the others time to digest his words before continuing. The sounds of the party seemed distant now, as if they were in their own world.
"Every nation's policies are shaped by its circumstances."
"Noxus, with its scarce resources, must constantly wage war to plunder. Only the strong can lead its armies to victory, which is why they value strength and have a meritocratic system."
"Demacia was founded by people who were persecuted by mages. Having suffered greatly under their power, they established their anti-magic policy."
"As for the aristocracy and their duty to protect the weak, it's essentially a system of balance. Nobles enjoy vast privileges, but they must fulfill corresponding obligations. Otherwise, the struggling populace would rebel and launch uprisings to overthrow the monarchy."
Cipher's lengthy explanation left the group deep in thought.
It wasn't hard to draw parallels to Zaun and Piltover.
What were Piltover's foundational policies? What circumstances had shaped those policies?
And Zaun, what were its policies and circumstances?
"Viktor, this is a book I wrote after studying the history of both cities. If you have time, you can read it. It might help resolve some of your doubts."
Everything Cipher had said earlier had been a prelude, leading up to this moment.
Viktor, who appeared frail and weak, as if a gust of wind could blow him away, was destined to become the ultimate boss of both cities.
Cipher believed that changing Viktor's ideology about "glorious evolution" with revolutionary ideas was essential.
Otherwise, one day Viktor might wake up after his mechanical ascension and decide to perform prefrontal lobotomies on Zaun and Piltover.
With that thought in mind, he pulled out a book he had written and handed it to Viktor.
"Thank you. I'll always wanted to understand why the Upper City harbors such deep prejudice against the Undercity."
Viktor took the book and glanced at the title: "The Book of Revolution: The Rift Between Two Cities."
"???"
Vander, Silco, and Sevika, watching Cipher hand Viktor the book with nothing left for them, were utterly baffled.
"What about us?"
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