Chapter Text
A messenger tube came down into the lab with a thwump, landing down in the receiving area in the corner.
Inside would be a letter for Viktor and it would be the cause for a week-long headache.
This would also be followed up by an envelope hand delivered to Jayce. Inside that letter was a similar, yet completely different message.
You see, it was nearly winter, and in Piltover that was a time for celebration. But it also meant that families would meet together. That meant your parents, siblings, and also... Distant relatives.
More horrifyingly for Viktor and Jayce, it meant their uncles were coming home.
Jayce's uncle, Jayce Giopara, for whom Jayce was named after, was a genius who was hired by a Shuriman convoy to investigate some ancient tech found in the desert, and to bring some much needed upgrades to their city. It was a big order for Talis tools that his uncle had to oversee himself.
"Can't really trust anyone to do it right. So I'll just do it myself. See you guys later when I fix everything over there!" And with that, he was gone.
Jayce had to breathe a sigh of relief. His uncle was a genius, but was extremely and utterly annoying. No man was as arrogant or as easily dismissive as his uncle. He was horrible at parties and would tear apart people with a slight word.
"Oh hextech? That's cute stuff, Jayce, but how about using a real hammer and bolts instead? It's almost like you forgot your roots! Back in my day I could build a hammer that could knock an airship all the way to the Freljord! Couldn't get the funding though, those idiots."
He was pretty into hammers. As was the Talis family's business. His uncle could have been "so much more, I was on a full scholarship to the Academy— what's that? University? No, pretty sure it's called the Academy, at least that's what the real students call it. Anyway I gave it up to support this family so you better show some respect. Kids these days."
Uncle Giopara would bother Jayce especially. It was a kind of vicarious living, Jayce supposed. Plus they shared the same name, but only because his uncle had insisted on it until his parents were worn down. "Only the best for my nephew, and that includes the best name. Mine!" It was like his uncle got to be at school again, living the dream of being a student inventor again. Jayce sighed.
When his uncle left for Shurima, the old guy seemed so happy. It wasn't just his uncle who was happy, everybody was glad!
Look, it wasn't that as a nephew that he hated his uncle. No, it was more like, as a human he hated his uncle's need to be the centre of attention and his long speeches about 'The Power of Progress'. Yikes.
As Jayce felt a certain throbbing in his head after reading his message of his uncle's return, meanwhile his partner in the other corner of the lab was experiencing the same thing.
Uncle Viktor Křehký was... odd. He was the black sheep of the family and was quite... Extreme, even for someone living in the undercity when it came to experimentation. As for a black sheep, it was more like if the black sheep also happened to be mostly made of metal with glowing eyes.
Basically, Viktor had a robot uncle. The less said, the better. A while ago, his uncle had heard a rumour that there was a power source in the desert, so off he went. With his robot army. A small platoon of fifty robots on an airship—that his uncle designed—off to seek new horizons.
Despite his eccentricities, Viktor loved his uncle. His uncle made his first crutch and offered to replace his leg with a metal one. "We could match, yes?" Viktor giggled while his mother listened in horror.
Uncle-nephew bonding at its finest. His mother put her foot down, fully rejecting the notion. "You cannot turn my baby into one of your monsters!" she had cried out, holding him close. Uncle Viktor just gave his usual laugh, which was definitely, one-hundred-percent not an evil maniacal laugh of an evil scientist, and one of jolly uncle joy. Definitely.
He would make little toys for Viktor, little toys that moved and spun and danced. Some also did explode or shoot and cut things apart, but that was part of the fun! Good times.
But as Viktor grew up, he found his uncle to be more and more... unstable. His uncle started to wear a mask and a cape, and talked about a 'Glorious Evolution'. Where he envisioned a world where everybody was a robot. His mother quickly put visits down to a minimum.
The presents were still good, but being told every Snowdown Eve that he would "need to be upgraded from his weak flesh" was kind of off-putting. He was disabled—he didn't hate his body and wanted to become a robot.
For both the men, they had not seen their uncles for a year, and had found that the last Snowdown was a lovely affair with their families with absolutely zero fuss. It was astounding how much chaos an uncle could bring to a celebration. But now the spell was broken and something unpleasant was coming back from the heart of the Shuriman Desert.
They both sighed at the same time.
This was going to be a winter nightmare.