My Light, My Lux

Chapter Two

"You do realise this might change the matter of time and space?"

Jinx stares at the little box with stars in her eyes, for the first time in a long, long time. The lab is empty at this hour, save for Viktor, who seems to always be there; but Jinx can't force herself to leave.

The moment Viktor explained his most recent equations, Jinx got to work. The device, a tiny bronze box with a switch, is unassuming, but in reality? In reality, this is the pinnacle of Hextech: teleportation.

Reverently, Jinx flicks the switch.

And nothing happens.

"I told you already," Viktor paces with his cane behind her. Why would he even need the cane after the adjustments? Must be sheer force of habit. "For the portal to work, we need two functioning devices turning on at the same time. Or," the scientist chuckles at his upcoming joke, "a mage trying to open a portal at the same time."

"Yeah, like that's gonna happen," Jinx grunts and flicks the switch once again.

Viktor excuses himself home (though Jinx knows he is going to have dinner with Jayce), and the younger engineer is left to her own devices. Or, rather, her own device — the little bronze box, glowing with a blue-ish tint, urging her to keep pressing the switch in the hopes that a portal will magically surface.

Flick. Flick.

Nothing.

Flick. Flick.

Still nothing.

I should probably be heading home, Jinx thinks to herself in the cosy emptiness of the lab. Some might find it creepy, what with all the unfinished projects lying around, but for Jinx it's her home away from home. Vi and the Piltie have probably eaten already. ...Or maybe they are fucking, in which case I should probably stay a bit longer.

Jinx sighs and gets up, to stretch her legs and arms and torso, and soon the stretching routine grows into a little dance, the kind of dance she only dances to herself, to mitigate all the negative energy, all the frustration.

Naturally, the pills that she's taking help a lot; the voices in her head aren't really bothering her anymore, and she can think more clearly. But it is this clarity that makes her so bored, so apathetic; Jinx can see what her life is, what it has been, and she cannot for the love of her see what it will be.

Flick. Flick.

Nothing.

Jinx sighs and decides with resolve that, okay, she's gonna give it one last flick and head home. Even if her sister is getting laid, Jinx still needs her beauty sleep. And sleeping in the lab is such a far stretch from comfortable that she'd rather sleep in her old shack in the Undercity, on the floor, or pressed to the ceiling. Anything's more comfortable than sleeping in the lab.

Flick. Flick.

Nothing.

Jinx sighs and puts the box down, giving it one last wistful look. Maybe she should leave it on for the night? Just in case?

Flick.

BLAM!

With a blast of blue light, a large oval surfaces right on the ceiling, and, before Jinx can realise what is happening, something falls onto her and hits her hard, pinning her to the floor.

"Oh! I am so sorry!"

Not something.

Someone.