"3 years and 46 days ago my proudest moment ever happened. 3 years ago my most tragic moment happened.
I can hardly fault the man.
The Council of Zaun, at the time, had 14 members. They were not some sort of ruling council, your see, Zaun is in a perfect state of anarchy. Self organization, self determination, absolute freedom. Look upon the corruption of Demacia, their strict and unholy laws, an abomination! Look upon Noxus, blinded by their belief in strength to the point of intentionally causing harm in a childish attempt to prove it! Look at the upturned noses of the citizens of Piltover, thinking their hextech inventions are superior because they are regulated and mandated in production! It is all disgusting to the true scientist, to the true creator. Absolute freedom is necessary for true invention to occur.
Anyways, the Council of Zaun, as I was saying, had 14 members then. In essence the 14 richest people in Zaun, ready to fund the next great idea. At the time Zaun was in a state of extreme pollution, the result of prior generations' ambition and desire to produce. One of the members of the Council, William, approached Professor Stanwick Pididly with the intention of creating a machine to dredge, reclaim, and otherwise purify Zaun's lower industrial sector.
I was a student at the College of Techmaturgy, and Professor Pididly approached me and 3 others to complete this project. Due to the nature of the lower industrial sector the machine would need to be capable of self direction, an automaton. My programming knowledge was used to great extent, and I created a memory system capable of judgement and corrective learning. 46 days later we announced that we had completed the requested project, Pididly took his credit. And though it was infuriating to see him neglect to mention me, I was determined to be recognized. I sued for my ownership of the memory system. William rightly won the case, his contract with Pididly, and my subsequent contract with him, ruining any chance I had at earning credit. William was so amused by my work that when the machine requested independence, William granted it.
I was driven to the infuriating point of madness, Pididly had been approached 2 times within a month for similar creations from other members of the Council. I of course refused to help him.
I don't have the funding to create another steam golem, but I want to demonstrate that I have the potential to create intelligent techmaturgical inventions. My current design is for a robotic third arm with no neural network interface. The issue at hand is powering my device.
Jayce, as I understand it, you have in your possession a certain crystal with great potential for powering devices while not weighing too much. I am most certainly interested in your research and if that crystal is something you would be willing to part with?"
"A friend of the Sheriff is a friend of mine, I'm sure we can come to a deal. Besides the fact that I have already completed my examination, I have no permission to move forward with research. We both know it's just sitting around here wasting, so here is the deal, you can have it until the Festival of Flight concludes, at that time I'll come by your labratory to pick it up, and you will provide me with full copies of your research."
"Agreeable to me, let us sign a contract."
"A few days have passed since he came. Now I know, Noxus is pressing war upon Ionia, and they have turned to Zaun for weapons and devastating technology. Viktor tricked me! You have to believe me Vi!"
"Jayce… I believe you, but Caitlyn's word is final. We will not seek any action against him."
His shoulders gave a heave before he exhaled, "Vi, I can't let it go like this… my reputation, my licenses, my laboratory, it'll be gone if word gets out."
She looked him directly in the eye, "I'm sorry, but my hands are tied. It'll work out, I'm sure. We can always help the media know what happened. But we can't leave Piltover's borders."
"What do you mean by help the media know what happened?"
"We trash your lab a bit, smash some walls, make it look like it was stolen, the blame won't be on you. We'll say you've been fully cooperative. You'll be blameless, and your lab will stay yours."
"Vi, I don't know if that will work… what kind of important scientist gets his lab ransacked so easily."
"Jayce, hun, what else do you want me to do? You know we can't authorize anything outside of the borders."
Dejected, Jayce looked down at his feet. "I know. Let's go trash my lab."
The investigation went as planned, and Jayce was kept blameless for the loss of the crystal. But the public perception of him frowned with disapproval. How could a filthy Zaunite cross into Piltover and steal so easily? Why was Jayce not there to protect such an important and entrusted artifact?
The phone line kept ringing, finally a woman's voice was heard on the other end. "Hello?"
"Caitlyn, I know what I have to do."
"Jayce, what do you mean? Are you planning on something stupid? Do you need me to send an officer over?"
"I'm going to Zaun, I'm taking the crystal back or I'll die trying."
"..."
"I can only hope you forgive me."
"Jayce, I've told you, no is no."
"Look Caitlyn, I've prepared something to make sure things go my way. I'm an inventor after all."
"... stay there, I'm getting Vi."
"Jayce, cupcake's telling me you wanna do something stupid…. You know I like you, so just, stay safe, and if you're gonna hit a wall, hit it hard."
"Thanks Vi, I'll see you soon, it won't take but a few days."
"This progress in fascinating!"
Viktor's third arm moved in a pattern of agreement.
"The seamless transition of energy from the crystal, the sheer potential of its capacity. Your frame can be so much lighter, and the battery so much smaller, perhaps I can make you permanent after all."
His left arm moved up to pet his third arm.
Moments later the door to his laboratory was blasted open. A lone figure entered the room with a weapon discharging an electrical field all throughout the room.
"I've come to stop you Viktor! Your fiendish inventions end now, I will protect the future even if no one else will! I will defend tomorrow!" Jayce shouted over the cacophony of his destruction.
"JAYCE! What are you doing?"
"You know full well Viktor!" His eyes scanned the room. "Working for the Noxian military, and tricking me into helping!" His eyes came into contact with the crystal next to Viktor. And in an instant his weapon transformed, the electric field stopping. "You disgust me!" A hyper violent blue shockwave erupted from the weapon, directed at the crystal.
The incinerating blast exploded the crystal in a wave of fire and obliteration. Jayce looked away, and when he looked back he saw the destruction he had caused. Viktor had been close enough to the blast that his left arm was severed and now law only a few feet from Jayce. The sight of blood spattered so freely sickened Jayce, and he ran from the scene of his crime. He assured himself that Viktor deserved to die like that for being so despicable to kill Ionians. He traveled safely and unquestioned back to Piltover. He was sure this act would redeem him, he would likely even be hailed for his bravery, bestowed new honors and research grants.
Even as Jayce escaped, Viktor's third arm struggled to keep him alive. It had dragged Viktor from the burning laboratory to the street. It wrote on the street,
"My name is Viktor, I'm dying and need to get to a hospital, you will be paid for taking me there."
It took 4 hours before someone responded to the small machine's plea.
"Viktor huh? How much you paying?"
The arm faced the new speaker, extended its 4 fingers, then formed a circle.
"40? Make it 60."
The fingers closed into a fist and the thumb extended upwards.
Viktor awoke the next day covered in bandages and wondered what was going on. He attempted to lift himself from the bed, only to discover he no longer had a left arm, just a stump. He recalled the explosion, Jayce's mayhem, and his breaking in. How did he end up here?
His third arm awoke and moved to put itself back onto Viktor's body. A nurse had moved it to a nearby table while Viktor was receiving treatment.
"Ah there you are. Am I supposed to know you are the cause for my rescue?"
The fingers clicked against the palm in a pattern. *clack clak tik tick*
"Very well, we will show the world once more what I have to offer. Come to me."
Viktor signed himself out of the hospital, went back to his laboratory, saw the extent of the ruin, and reported it to his insurance. They provided him with 2 weeks at a hotel while paid for the reconstruction of his laboratory, paid for his hospital expenses and ensured his comfort.
With his laboratory renewed he went back to work. His first order of business was constructing a brace to help him walk. Using a cane was so unsightly, but the explosion had largely destroyed his left leg. Within the week he was able to walk 'unassisted'. Next was the assembly of a new left arm, and with it the housing for a new power crystal. He made sure to include a kinetic energy deflector, and although weak, would protect him from similar levels of explosive energy in the came the refurbishing of the third arm. A massive pauldron housed another power crystal, and this would contain an explosive laser weapon. After this he decided the cane wasn't so bad as a staff, and it also provided another weapon for Viktor.
Viktor's upgrades continued, and he gained the title of Machine Herald. His work was mostly prosthetics for those who had lost limbs, but his work was demonized in Piltover. He was a mechanical zombie, and he wanted to upgrade everyone and everything into metal.