I hope we haven't gain the attention of the black rose. Would they want an invention onky made to help with mage control or would the amplifier be the thing that would have baited them?
I hope we haven't gain the attention of the black rose. Would they want an invention onky made to help with mage control or would the amplifier be the thing that would have baited them?
I don't know if the black rose is a part of this quest. Chengar is taking a very, I know the lore well enough that I don't need an extended research session to understand things.
Given they specifically use mundane nobles as a shield for their magical nature, I'd say Hextech by itself would be enough, if for no reason than to try and gain the option of more public use of their abilities under a veneer of hextech.
[X] Plan Meaningful Changes to Life in Jinx's Home : Grenades
-[X] Grenades: Lots and Lots of Grenades
-[X] Magic Flow Regulator
-[X] Hextech Hydroponics
-[X] Shimmer Research
-[X] Undermine Silco's Monopoly: The Kiramman Way
-[X] Mage Law Reform
On the list of things I'd dreamed of having happen in my life, this had been nowhere on it. I'd only wanted to mess around with some cool tech and make things in Zaun a little bit less shit. I'd thought I was doing a pretty good job, all things considered. Zaun had clean water, and we'd gotten the food situation in a pretty good place without having to give up too much ground to Silco in the process. There were more things I wanted to get done, but there just weren't enough hours in the day.
The dull boom of the Hexgates launching another ship into the distance made me instinctively look up, which just reminded me of the latest problem on my plate. Mostly because it made me notice one of those ridiculous airships that had been going around ever since all the hype for Progress Day really started. Not that Progress Day had ever been a small holiday, but this year's one was huge. Probably because Jayce and Viktor had finally finished the Hexgates, and they'd delivered on the one thing all the big merchant houses had been waiting on for Hextech: a really big money maker.
Yeah, I'd given people clean water and cut down our dependence on imported food, but those hadn't turned into the kind of raw trade advantages that we got from the Hexgates. It was hard to overstate how huge they'd been for trade, the Hexgates could zap an airship across the continent in minutes. Before they'd been set up, it would've taken me at least a week of travel time to get out to Demacia if I'd wanted to go visit Lux, longer if I couldn't find an airship headed directly to High Silvermere. Now, I could theoretically get out there in minutes. Not having to wait weeks to hear back from her whenever I sent a letter out would be nice, especially since she was running late on replying to me.
I scoffed as another airship went by, carrying one of the massive Progress Day banners. The massive spike in mercantile profits had everyone competing to show off how much they liked us Hextech people, and next thing I knew we had ... that. The Faces of Progress, they called it. Gotta wonder what Mom and Dad would make of my face getting plastered on giant banners all over Piltover, celebrating me as one of the most brilliant (and profitable) minds in the city. Would they be proud of me for finally making it big, or would they see it as a sign that I'd sold out? It wasn't like I'd done anything wrong, but it still felt weird.
Seraphine grinned and playfully bumped her shoulder against mine, letting out a gasp as she dramatically bounced her eyes between the banner and my face. "Look, it's the Girl Genius of Progress herself!"
I rolled my eyes. "If you ever call me that again, we're not gonna be friends anymore." I was pretty sure I could blame Mother and Father for that particular campaign. Jayce and Viktor had been the ones spearheading the Hexgates, but once everyone started gearing up to celebrate it had only made sense to talk about all the other great things we'd accomplished with Hextech. If this year's Progress Day was going to be all about celebrating everything we'd achieved, my parents certainly weren't going to let my accomplishments go unnoticed.
"Well, I suppose the banner didn't really catch your cute side." She waved at one of the banners that showed Jayce and me nobly looking forward, towards the future. "I don't think I've ever seen you with that sort of thoughtful expression on your face. Most of the time you're inventing something, you kind of have a goofy grin on your face or you're dancing around to one of those songs you like to listen to."
I snorted. "You're just mad I don't have more of your songs playing in my workshop." Seraphine's music was great, but I needed something a lot more high-energy to really get in the zone when I was cranking out a new invention. "Besides, how can anyone care about me and my Girl Genius talk when I've got the Starry-Eyed Songstress walking right next to me?" I smirked and waved at her feet. "Or, well, not exactly walking."
Seraphine tapped something on her stage's controls, and suddenly she was hovering a meter off the ground instead of just a few centimeters. "Sorry, what was that, Jinx? I couldn't hear you from down there."
I had to give Seraphine and her dad credit for finding something unique to do with the flow regulator I'd invented. It was supposed to just look like a big fancy necklace, something you could try to pass off as a normal piece of jewelry. Then she'd seen Ekko's hoverboard in action, and after a lot of tinkering she'd built an entire housing for her magic regulator with a bunch of extra functionality. Now Seraphine had herself a hovering platform that could let her fly around in the sky and provide an entire light show and band's worth of backing music. I hadn't even considered something like that, but then finding ways to use Hextech to add more oomph to a pop concert hadn't been a priority for me. It also probably helped that Seraphine had her magic to add more power than she could get from just a hexgem.
I smirked and tapped her floating stage. "Careful, keep doing that and your fans are gonna notice and start demanding a street concert."
"They can wait, I'm already doing a performance for Progress Day." Seraphine darted down and grabbed my arm, hauling me up onto her flying stage. I probably could've stopped her if I really wanted to, but I didn't mind that much. "Speaking of which, let's hurry and get to the fairgrounds. Walking is so last year." She kicked her flying platform into gear, sending us down Piltover's streets high enough to not need to worry about pedestrians and quite a bit faster than a normal walking speed.
"Sheesh, when did you become such a show-off?" We were going fast enough that it felt like a good idea to grab the railing of her platform, which meant I was literally rubbing shoulders with Seraphine. Her stage wasn't exactly built for two people.
Seraphine snickered. "I am a performer now. A bit of showing off is a job requirement. Besides, you can't accuse me of being a show-off when you're the one whose face is plastered over half of Piltover." She smirked as we passed by another one of those Faces of Progress banners that seemed to be everywhere. It really bugged me that half of the banners seemed to leave Viktor out entirely, or stick him in the background compared to me and Jayce. I knew Viktor didn't mind, he'd always said he preferred to be in the background working on tech instead of facing the public, but it still felt like he wasn't getting as much credit. Would I still be stuck in the background as well if not for the fact that I was Jinx Kiramman now?
Seraphine bumped my shoulder, snapping me out of those thoughts. "No getting melancholy and mopey, this is supposed to be your big day."
I groaned and rolled my eyes. "I swear, ever since we got the Council to ease off on some of the laws around mages you've gotten way too comfortable reading my mind."
"Not true." She smirked at me. "I was reading you long before then. Your emotions have always been really loud, plus since you're my best friend I barely even need magic to know when you've got something on your mind." She gently draped an arm over my shoulders. "Thanks, though. For pushing for that. It's a huge relief."
"No kidding." I didn't love everything about the new laws, like the requirement for mages to register themselves with the government, but it was a huge improvement. Seraphine didn't have to worry about getting exiled, and could even use her magic in public as long as it was 'safe and didn't create a public nuisance.' Though I still understood why Zeri hadn't registered, no Zaunite would be eager to put their name on a government list, especially when the Enforcers would have access to it.
With Seraphine's flying stage it didn't take us long to reach the Progress Day fairgrounds. The place was packed with pavilions, and it felt like half the city was here to check out everything on offer. Whether it was big trading companies here to show off their latest products or two-bit inventors hoping to find someone to invest in their proof of concept, this was the place to be seen. In past years I'd always loved wandering around and taking in the sights, but that would probably be a lot harder to do now that my face was plastered all over the place.
Seraphine dropped down to ground level near the Kiramman pavilion. "I'd love to stop in and say hi to everyone, but I need to start prepping for my performance. Someone has to get the crowd hyped up for your big speech." She smiled and sat down on her platform, leaving her legs dangling off the end of it while she hovered at eye-level with me. Apparently she wasn't in that much of a hurry to move on.
"So you're my hype girl?" I grinned back at her. "Gonna work the crowd and get them all excited for a speech where I'm probably just gonna be awkwardly standing behind Jayce hoping nobody asks me to talk?" If I had to choose between public speaking and just testing out a few of my nonlethal grenades on the crowd to stop them all from staring at me I'd… probably grit my teeth and do the speech, but the second option was very tempting.
"You deserve some time in the spotlight." Seraphine smiled warmly and took my hand, gently squeezing it. "If you want I can always drag you on stage and tell everyone how amazing you are."
"Why do you hate me?" I whined. Maybe Viktor was onto something with his whole reclusive inventor who shuns the public thing.
Seraphine beamed at me and struck a pose. "Hey, everyone!" She somehow managed to get way too many people's attention with just those words, as a lot of the milling crowds of Progress Day attendees stopped to look at her. Damn her stage presence and ability to project her voice. "I'm Seraphine, and you're all looking beautiful today! And speaking of beautiful, I just wanted to let everyone know that my best friend Jinx Kiramman is—"
Whatever she was gonna say next, I had to stop it. I quickly slapped the power button on her stage, dropping it to the ground and sending her stumbling off it with an undignified shriek. I caught her before she could fall down and hurt herself; I didn't want anything bad happening to her, just for her to shut up. "Were you always this much of a brat, or have I been a good influence on you?"
"The best." Seraphine took advantage of the fact I already had one of my arms around her to pull me into a hug. Not that I minded, she gave great hugs. "I mean it, though. If you don't get enough credit during all the big speeches I will make up a new song on the spot about how amazing you are and how everyone else ought to love you as much as I do."
"Why are you trying to murder me with embarrassment?" I groaned as I hugged her back. I wasn't a mega introvert or anything, but I didn't have all of her extra extrovert energy. I blamed her magic for that, ever since I'd helped get her empathy under control she'd gone from being nervous around crowds to absolutely loving them. Now it was like they energized her instead of overwhelming her.
"You'll be fine." She let go of the hug but kept hold of one of my hands. "There's nothing wrong with celebrating your accomplishments. Well, as long as you don't turn into some kind of ego monster. Say hi to Caitlyn and your parents for me."
"Can do." I paused, then held up our linked hands. "Uh, you have to let go first."
"Hmm." She sent a playful smile my way. "Nope. I'm keeping your hand. It's mine now. Sorry, not sorry, I know you're kind of attached to it."
I rolled my eyes. "You can't keep my hand forever, I need it. It's connected to my arm and the rest of my body, plus I use it to build stuff. Besides, if you rip it off it's gonna hurt a lot and spray blood all over the place. It'd be a real downer, cause a huge scene, and mess up your nice dress."
"Well, if it'll stain my dress I suppose I can let you have your hand back for now." Seraphine finally released my hand. "But I want that hand back when I see you at dinner once all the performances are over, if not sooner."
"I'll be seeing you first." I smirked as I turned around and headed towards the central pavilions. There was no way I was gonna miss any of her shows if I could avoid it. I felt bad about not catching her efforts to break into the Zaun music scene, but the timing just hadn't worked out. At least Ekko and the Firelights had been around to make sure nobody gave her a hard time.
I thought I'd made a clean escape from my best friend, but as soon as I spotted Caitlyn standing outside the family pavilion with a big grin on her face I knew I'd been spotted. "So … Seraphine dropped you off."
I groaned. To think, I'd missed having a big sister. "How many times do I have to tell you we're just friends?"
That just made her grin get even wider. "So you're saying it would be fine if I asked Seraphine out on a date, then?"
"No!" A second after I said that I realized I'd probably sounded a bit too emphatic about it and was playing into her hands. "She's my best friend, you're my sister. It'd be way too weird."
"Sure," Caitlyn shot back with a smirk. "It's because of that. What other reason would there be for you to not want anyone else dating her?"
I scoffed. "You're the detective, you figure it out." I snickered as something occurred to me. "How's the whole private detective for hire thing working out for you anyway? Wait, that's too long to say. Should I call you a private dick? A dick-for-hire? Or maybe—"
"Maybe you should stop speaking entirely before Mother overhears," Caitlyn shot back. "Honestly, I was hoping at least you would support my decision to go into a private practice. I get to do what I'm passionate about without being beholden to political interests or having to bend to the whims of Sheriff Marcus." She managed to insert a bit of a polite sneer into her voice when she mentioned Piltover's Sheriff. I might've dropped any official proceedings against him over the incident three years ago, but it hadn't been completely forgotten.
"I totally support you," I reassured her. Our parents might complain about it and say that being a private detective was an undignified job for a Kiramman, but I didn't care about that. "I just think it's hilarious to call you a dick."
"You would." Caitlyn sighed and shook her head, barely managing to hide a smile. "But don't think you've succeeded in distracting me from what just happened with Seraphine. Or is that Demacian girl you're interested in? I heard you sent her some jewelry…"
"That was something else." I suppose I should've known that making a magic regulator that could pass as some kind of necklace would bite me in the butt eventually. Especially since I couldn't explain why I'd sent Lux a necklace without outing her. Demacia didn't have Piltover's new laws about mages, and even if it did I wasn't going to go around blabbing about Lux's secrets. Like I said, I was still keeping Zeri's magic on the down low.
"If you say so…" Caitlyn smirked and patted the top of my head. "I just don't want my little sister growing up to be some kind of loose woman, two-timing a couple of nice girls like Seraphine and Luxanna. Or trying to convince them to engage in something truly sordid and scandalous…"
Denying it wasn't getting me anywhere, so I decided to lean into it instead. "Yes, that's it, Caitlyn. I'm secretly plotting to seduce both of them and then try to change Piltover's bigamy laws as well. You caught me." I lifted up my hands in mock surrender. "So are you proud you finally caught me, oh great detective, or just jealous that I'm so much better with girls than you are that I can pull two of them?"
Instead of responding to my accusation, Caitlyn just smirked. After several seconds of silence she whispered. "You think that's something I'd be jealous of? I never did thank you for fixing the area around my bedroom window and helping me install the new soundproofing, did I?"
I gagged when I realized what she was implying. "You're gross."
"And you're jealooouuus," Caitlyn singsonged, looking entirely too pleased with herself.
I was tempted to threaten to tell our parents to wipe that smirk off her face, but a second later I realized she would just call my bluff. I'd never snitch on her, especially considering I'd helped her with her cover-up in the first place. Some rules never change, and while I'd cross a lot of lines to mess with Caitlyn, snitching was always a bridge too far.
Since I clearly wasn't winning this it was time to regroup. "I'm gonna go check on Jayce and Viktor. Hopefully they're not being gross like you."
Caitlyn smirked. "You say that, but would either of us be shocked if you walked into the workshop someday to find them making out?"
I rolled my eyes. "Now you're being weird and gross. I'm walking away. I don't know you." I pointed at her and announced to anyone who might've been listening. "I don't know this weird woman!" I don't think anyone actually cared, though. Plus anyone who recognized either of us would presumably know we were sisters, and assume Caitlyn was being cringe or I was making fun of her.
Once I'd gotten away from the worst adoptive big sister I've ever had, I headed towards the prep area where Jayce and Viktor should be getting ready for the big show. I grinned as I lifted up the tent flap and stormed in with a huge grin. "Hello boys, the Girl Genius of Piltover has arrived. Or at least that's what they're calling me on all the banners that aren't calling Jayce the Man of Progress. Didja miss me?!"
I'd been expecting Jayce and Viktor to laugh at my over-the-top entrance or have some fun with it, but instead I got dead silence. A look around the room showed Jayce standing over those huge gauntlets he called Atlas Gloves with a troubled frown, while Viktor was messing around with the Hexclaw. Neither of them looked very happy considering we were supposed to be going on stage in half an hour or so. Was something broken? No, if it was broken they'd be more energetic, frantically trying to fix things. This was more like... "Shit, who died?"
Viktor sighed and shook his head. "Ah, Jinx. You just missed Heimerdinger. He had some... thoughts about our work."
"Oh, I can guess what kinda thoughts he had," I groaned, then grabbed one of my braids and slapped it onto my lip like a slightly less ridiculous version of Heimerdinger's mustache. "Jayce, Viktor, my boys, this is absolutely brilliant. Just spend another two centuries tweaking and refining it, and you might actually have something good enough to show off." I scoffed and rolled my eyes. Heimerdinger could be fun, but sometimes he really didn't get it. I guess when you live forever there's no reason not to slow roll everything.
"It was only a decade," Jayce answered weakly. "He said we should just take a decade to keep refining our work."
"Why are you surprised by this?" Viktor asked with a quiet frown. "We all know his position on Hextech. If it were up to him, the Kirammans wouldn't have gotten any use out of Jinx's work in hydroponics either."
I groaned at the reminder. "Ugh, don't remind me. I get it, we wanna make sure the magic isn't gonna mutate the food into something poisonous or turn people who eat it into mind-controlled zombies or mutant freaks or whatever. Safety testing is good, I like safety, and I'd feel like shit if any of the food I put out into the world that got people sick. But, like, how long are we supposed to wait before doing things? Sometimes it feels like if it were up to him, we'd still be using wooden sticks because a wrench is dangerous unproven technology."
Viktor let out a dry laugh. "I told you she would agree with me. This is Progress Day, Jayve, we can't refuse to show off our work just because Heimerdinger is getting cold feet again."
Jayce sighed and shook his head. "It's not just that, Viktor." He grimaced. "Okay, yes, having my mentor tell me that we need to refine things a bit more before they're ready to show off to the public is bothering me, but that's only because—"
"You should have more faith in our work," Viktor cut him off. "Everything we've created is fully functional. Besides, this is Progress Day. It's expected that much of what is being put on display is still in the prototype phase. It would be more shocking if we had something ready to enter into mass production tomorrow."
"Gotta agree with Viktor," I chimed in. "As long as our stuff isn't total scrap and we don't overpromise, nobody's gonna make a huge deal out of one or two small hiccups."
"Viktor, your mining laser nearly killed Heimerdinger's poro," Jayce pointed out. "Which got me thinking about..." He sighed and shook his head, waving at the gauntlets and claw. "We made these as mining tools, but think about what they could do in the wrong hands. Gauntlets strong enough to crush rocks could easily crush someone's head, and instead of carrying ore, they could be used to haul ammunition or guns. What happens when your mining laser gets turned on something made of flesh and blood instead of solid rock? I know we all agreed we didn't want to become weapons merchants, but now it feels like we're getting close to that line."
"The Hexgates could be used to deploy an invasion force," Viktor countered. "Jinx's hydroponics and water treatment could be used to help keep an army supplied, or her work could be modified to poison water sources instead of purify them. If we worry about every potential way our work could be misused or weaponized, why invent anything?"
"We're a bit past theoreticals now, Viktor." Jayce sighed and shook his head. "Food, water, and transportation might have military uses, but they're not immediately weaponizable technology. The Atlas Gauntlets and your Hexclaw are a lot closer to that line. If we show these off, we're all but announcing that Hextech can be weaponized at a moment's notice. How long do you think it'll be before someone asks us to cross that line? I won't become a merchant of death selling off Hextech weapons to the highest bidder."
"Hextech's weaponization is inevitable," Viktor said, as calmly as if he were discussing the weather and ignoring the outraged look on Jayce's face. "Whenever someone invents a new technology it is only a matter of time before someone tries to turn it into a weapon of war. We can hardly put the genie back into the bottle at this point."
I felt my hand drift down to Zapper, still hanging off my toolbelt despite being a Hextech weapon. So far I'd mostly managed to pass it off as just a welding tool, but someday the truth would probably come out, and Jayce wouldn't be happy. Well, unless I made sure the truth never came out, or waited until the right time for the big reveal. I wasn't lying, after all, just not sharing a few inconvenient little facts, like the fact I'd roasted a man to death with Zapper. Besides, it was purely for self-defense; it's not like I was selling Zappers off to anyone who wanted to buy 'em. That was what Jayce was worried about, not making a one-off Hextech weapon to protect myself from bad guys.
Jayce scowled and shook his head. "Maybe we can't prevent people from making Hextech weapons forever, but I intend to fight against what you call inevitable for as long as it takes. If we show the world mining tools that could easily be used to kill, every foreign representative at Progress Day is going to go home and tell their government that the weaponization of Hextech is coming."
Viktor scoffed and shook his head. "Do you think Noxus didn't start asking how to make Hextech a weapon as soon as they learned of its existence? I don't want our Progress Day exhibition ruined because you're feeling nervous after Heimderdinger said the exact sort of thing he always says. You graduated seven years ago, Jayce, even Jinx got out of school a few months ago. It's time to stop thinking like a student who needs to get his professor's approval."
Jayce sighed and shook his head, turning to me. "Looks like you get to be the tie-breaker this time. And while you're at it, can you convince Viktor to come out on stage with me? I hate being up there all by myself."
Viktor grimaced and shook his head. "You want me to go up on stage in front of half of Piltover and investors from across Runeterra? I never thought you were a sadist, Jayce." He let out a weak laugh that transformed into a series of coughs halfway through. Jayce reached out towards him, but he waved the gesture off. "Something got caught in my throat, it's nothing."
"If you say so..." Jayce turned to me. "Well, what'll it be, partner?"
Current Stability: 0
Willpower: 2
What Do They Do For Progress Day?
[ ][Progress Day] Show Off All The New Technology
Issues: Powder (-5)
Failure Result: Jinx begins resenting Heimerdiger's conservative approach.
[ ][Progress Day] Maybe Some of This Isn't Ready Yet
Issues: Powder (-5)
Failure Result: Jinx internalizes some doubts about Hextech's future.
Who Goes on Stage For The Speech?
[ ][Speech] All Three of Us.
No Roll (For Jinx, Viktor, on the other hand...)
[ ][Speech] Just Jayce and Jinx
No Roll Needed
[ ][Speech] Just Jayce
No Roll Needed
[ ][Speech] Trick Jayce, Give the Speech While He's Distracted
Issues: Powder (-5), Trauma (-3), I'm From Piltover and Zaun (+1)
Failure Result: Jinx Bombs That Speech (As in it goes poorly, not throwing bombs. Unless...)
Willpower
[ ][Willpower] Spend Zero
[ ][Willpower] Spend One for +3 to Rolls
[ ][Willpower] Spend Two for +6 to Rolls
"The Hexgates could be used to deploy an invasion force," Viktor countered. "Jinx's hydroponics and water treatment could be used to help keep an army supplied, or her work could be modified to poison water sources instead of purify them. If we worry about every potential way our work could be misused or weaponized, why invent anything?"
I mean, weaponry wise those Hexgates are far more weaponizable than any kind of gauntlet or laser. The gauntlets just punch hard, any kind of martial force of excellence can do that.
Deploy an invasion force everywhere, anywhere, that is the greater threat.
Piltover could fill a single airship with chemtech bombs, and burn down any city on the continent, any time it wanted.
But, thinking about it, I do wonder why mining tools? Like, we know that in the show those were designed because they wanted an excuse to give Vi her gauntlets and Jayce his hammer, but within the stories universe, what makes mining tools the priority? Piltover doesn't have a big mining industry, so the Piltover merchants aren't interested. I can't imagine Victor really caring about it either, not when he could develop a better airfilter, or something else to help Zaun, like Jinx has done. If you wanted maximum economic return, you'd go for hextech industrial machinery, not handheld tools for an industry that's barely present in the city.
The only reason to really develop mining tools, right now, is if they're not actually supposed to be mining tools, but weapons in disguise. But that implies a level of underhandedness in Victor that I do not think is present.
Lol. Marcus did what no amount of emotional pleas or rational arguments could accomplish, convince Caitlyn that there has to be a better option than being an enforcer.
No much point in being conservative
We have 3 hextech infrastructure projects ongoing,magic channeling devices
we have zapper,and shimmer is taking off
We already let the genie open,if any agreement against weaponizing hextech is to come it will have to be on the open with each nation understanding the potential and its risks
But, thinking about it, I do wonder why mining tools? Like, we know that in the show those were designed because they wanted an excuse to give Vi her gauntlets and Jayce his hammer, but within the stories universe, what makes mining tools the priority? Piltover doesn't have a big mining industry, so the Piltover merchants aren't interested. I can't imagine Victor really caring about it either, not when he could develop a better airfilter, or something else to help Zaun, like Jinx has done. If you wanted maximum economic return, you'd go for hextech industrial machinery, not handheld tools for an industry that's barely present in the city.
The only reason to really develop mining tools, right now, is if they're not actually supposed to be mining tools, but weapons in disguise. But that implies a level of underhandedness in Victor that I do not think is present.
To be fair the Gauntlets were for miners, the claw was for artisans and crafters I believe. Pretty sure jayce mentioned they were for the mining colonies in the fissures during his presentation to heimerdinger so I assume there exists some active mines even if never shown and not all that profitable compared to the hexgates.
Speaking of mining tools,they could have just made huge ass drills and excavators but the creative mind is still stuck in the 19th century so miners have to work with hammers and pickaxes like a Charles Dickens novel
Wouldn't the Hextech gates be able to function as railguns? Assuming they can turn off the safeties, being able to propel something with enough force to throw it across the continent could definitely wipe out a city or two.
I'm not saying we should do this, but it could be a good deterrence for a MAD situation with Noxus.
Wouldn't the Hextech gates be able to function as railguns? Assuming they can turn off the safeties, being able to propel something with enough force to throw it across the continent could definitely wipe out a city or two.
I'm not saying we should do this, but it could be a good deterrence for a MAD situation with Noxus.
so regardless of which route we take for tech reveal we have the same modifier.
[X][Progress Day] Show Off All The New Technology
This is more because of the alternate consequences. Hextech is good for Jinx and Victor is right that it'll get weaponised eventually.
[X][Speech] All Three of Us.
Risky cause we have no idea on Victor's issues iirc, but it feels wrong to leave the guy out.
I felt my hand drift down to Zapper, still hanging off my toolbelt despite being a Hextech weapon. So far I'd mostly managed to pass it off as just a welding tool, but someday the truth would probably come out, and Jayce wouldn't be happy. Well, unless I made sure the truth never came out, or waited until the right time for the big reveal. I wasn't lying, after all, just not sharing a few inconvenient little facts, like the fact I'd roasted a man to death with Zapper. Besides, it was purely for self-defense; it's not like I was selling Zappers off to anyone who wanted to buy 'em. That was what Jayce was worried about, not making a one-off Hextech weapon to protect myself from bad guys.
If we go all in on Magitech Weaponry, we could turn into a one girl army with personal shields and fight our way through Silco's gang and kill him in an all out surprise assault like a Terminator, it not like Silco know what's Jinx's making in her lab considering all the positive civilian advancement she done for Piltover and Zaun.
In Silco's mind Sevika's death could be blamed on Benzo.
Hextech mecha suit would be neat as long Jinx don't rush building it.
Anyway I just love all of Seraphine moments with Jinx, brings me joy seeing Jinx having such a positive relationship:
"You'll be fine." She let go of the hug but kept hold of one of my hands. "There's nothing wrong with celebrating your accomplishments. Well, as long as you don't turn into some kind of ego monster. Say hi to Caitlyn and your parents for me."
"Can do." I paused, then held up our linked hands. "Uh, you have to let go first."
"Hmm." She sent a playful smile my way. "Nope. I'm keeping your hand. It's mine now. Sorry, not sorry, I know you're kind of attached to it."
I do think we should focus on interacting with Viktor more as I'm worried about whatever personal issues he keep hiding, Jayce is fine apart from his thing with Heimerdinger but he's too close to Viktor to pick up his partner's distance, thinking its just his usual nature.
I'm hoping Jinx talk to Viktor before things blow up into crises, bet private detective Caitlyn would find out about the Vi sooner or later.
Seraphine grinned and playfully bumped her shoulder against mine, letting out a gasp as she dramatically bounced her eyes between the banner and my face. "Look, it's the Girl Genius of Progress herself!"
"Not true." She smirked at me. "I was reading you long before then. Your emotions have always been really loud, plus since you're my best friend I barely even need magic to know when you've got something on your mind." She gently draped an arm over my shoulders. "Thanks, though. For pushing for that. It's a huge relief."
Though I still understood why Zeri hadn't registered, no Zaunite would be eager to put their name on a government list, especially when the Enforcers would have access to it.
"The best." Seraphine took advantage of the fact I already had one of my arms around her to pull me into a hug. Not that I minded, she gave great hugs. "I mean it, though. If you don't get enough credit during all the big speeches I will make up a new song on the spot about how amazing you are and how everyone else ought to love you as much as I do."
I scoffed. "You're the detective, you figure it out." I snickered as something occurred to me. "How's the whole private detective for hire thing working out for you anyway? Wait, that's too long to say. Should I call you a private dick? A dick-for-hire? Or maybe—"
But, thinking about it, I do wonder why mining tools? Like, we know that in the show those were designed because they wanted an excuse to give Vi her gauntlets and Jayce his hammer, but within the stories universe, what makes mining tools the priority? Piltover doesn't have a big mining industry, so the Piltover merchants aren't interested. I can't imagine Victor really caring about it either, not when he could develop a better airfilter, or something else to help Zaun, like Jinx has done. If you wanted maximum economic return, you'd go for hextech industrial machinery, not handheld tools for an industry that's barely present in the city.
I believe there at least used to be a bunch of mining in Zaun, the place Powder tested her Mousers was an abandoned mine that was deemed too unprofitable to reopen. Could be Viktor was looking for a way to get Zaunites some legitimate industry again by making mining more profitable.
Think the big stress is coming from how immediately the Gauntlets and Hexclaw can be used as weapons.
The others are more abstract like how the Hexgates would need an already outfitted military to invade, or the science to use Jinx's filters to poison would take time to work out and set up.
Meanwhile if someone wanted to they could put the Hexarm and Gauntlets on literally right now and absolutely plow through dozens of people.
I will say though, absolutely crazy picks from Jayce and Viktor. Even putting aside the fact that mining seems to be a much smaller industry than it used to be with Silco's generation, or how the goal of "helping" is really just "make the peasants work faster".
The way they created the punchiest boxing gloves ever and literal death lasers honestly makes me think they subconsiously crave murder machines.
I believe there at least used to be a bunch of mining in Zaun, the place Powder tested her Mousers was an abandoned mine that was deemed too unprofitable to reopen. Could be Viktor was looking for a way to get Zaunites some legitimate industry again by making mining more profitable.
That could lead to a big nyet from Piltover though.
The water filtration plant had to be build on the Pilotover side of the river, and now you're making trivially weaponizable tools, for almost exclusively Zaun use, at a time when Zaun mining is less important to piltover than ever (the hexgates make import far easier).
Lets go for broke. Reach for the stars, not be afraid of bumps and bruises.
Nobody we care about is gonna die if we give a terrible speech. Jayce isn't going to care much if we upstage him a little, even if we make a hash of it.
[X][Progress Day] Show Off All The New Technology
[X][Speech] Trick Jayce, Give the Speech While He's Distracted