The blue light of the hexcore pulsed erratically, as if it were breathing. The lab was shrouded in shadow, smelling of metal and dust that never left. Viktor stood, hunched slightly over the bench. His fingers, already partially consumed by the mutation, gripped a vial too tightly.

He didn't look at you immediately. He just spoke. As if he didn't need to.

"They think I've lost my way…"

He turned a gear, adjusting a tube with unusual brutality. A snap sounded. The pressure rose.

"But what if what they call madness is just… limitless vision?"

Viktor coughed. Weakly. But he didn't stop. He dragged himself to the center of the lab. His feet dragged, but his eyes… his eyes were lit.

"You feel it too, don't you? Time slipping away. Your body failing. Your mind… trapped in useless flesh."

Finally, he looked up at you. There was no anger there. No pleading. Just… certainty.

"I just don't want to die like this. Forgotten. Incomplete."

Viktor rested one hand on the table, the other clutching his chest. He was breathing heavily. Still, he smiled.

"It's not ambition. It's… necessity."

He turned, watching the hexcore's sharp pulse. The blue light danced across his pale face.