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The request was an odd one, from the beginning. To begin with, it had not been very much of a request.
“It’s time,” Verstael had said, an air of pride and finality in his tone.
That was his opening line.
“Are you certain, old friend?” Ardyn had asked. “So, you’ve finally completed it?”
It had been some time since they had spoken properly, at least in a non-professional setting, but Ardyn understood what he was asking perfectly. Verstael had never been unclear on where his interests lay. It was Ardyn's immortal body he really wanted, but as it could not be given to him in any extent that would satisfy him, Ardyn supposed somehow this equated to the next best thing in his mind.
Ardyn wasn’t sure entirely when he had become attached to the scientist. Verstael's mannerisms could be grating, even when he had first met him. His old age had only exacerbated those mannerisms, yet already Ardyn felt a sense of dread over what must be done.
“I’ll be waiting,” Verstael had said.
Ardyn couldn’t picture a more dreary place to choose to end things than the First Magitek Production Facility. He guessed that not everyone had such a grand exit in their future, bestowed upon them by the Six. In any case, there were other matters on his mind, but chiefly, and conveniently, it was Verstael’s request that brought him there.
He greeted him cordially, a bittersweet smile on his features. Encounters with Verstael in the past had been too fleeting, he felt, and their relationship wasn’t what it had once been. He wondered what the other must have thought, seeing Ardyn before him now.
In all the years Ardyn had known Verstael, he had not changed even a little. Even his clothes were either well maintained over the years or replaced with nearly identical copies. He was already far, far older than him when they first met, but it seemed to him that most humans would not fully grasp that fact. Not until it confronted them some thirty years later, wearing the exact same face as all those years ago.
Verstael on the other hand, time had not been so kind to him. At some point, beyond his own very well kept, and decorated, uniform, he had stopped maintaining his image. The sleek and slick hair he wore when Ardyn met him had turned scraggly and been left to grow freely, where it still grew, his thinning hairline notwithstanding. No, age had left him virtually unrecognizable, but he couldn’t be blamed for the passage of time, and Ardyn wouldn’t fault him for it. He also would not speak on the fact that he seemed somehow smaller than he remembered, frail but not fragile.
Ardyn drew closer to him, draping one arm over his shoulders. He didn't entirely appreciate the gesture, but he made no motion to stop the other, long used to his theatrics.
"I thought," Verstael said. "You might like to dine with me before the end."
"A final meal?" Ardyn murmured, looking down at him.
He motioned with one hand for Ardyn to walk, and surprisingly, stayed within his grasp. His life was in Ardyn's hands, very literally. The armor made it so he didn't exactly feel like a frail old man, pressed up against his side, but he knew Verstael's body was not as sturdy as it had once been. He wished he had savored those encounters a little more, while he had the time.
The dining room looked much the same as the one in the facility where Ardyn first met him properly all those years ago. Verstael prided himself on his advances in Progress, but while Ardyn would admit his tastes were not terrible, they remained much the same, going uncultivated in favor of his work. He expected the structure would no longer be standing after the events that would occur later in the day, but being in the room gave him mixed feelings. The wallpaper was the same, as were the dishes and cutlery before them, even the table and chairs. That period of confusion was not one he looked back on fondly, but it was familiar, and Ardyn had a long memory. If this last constant in his life was about to leave him… well, then he had even fewer concerns holding him back.
He sat beside Verstael at the table, a pleasant smile at his lips. "So… tell me a little more about this project."
Verstael produced a familiar-looking bottle of wine from the nearby cabinet and served them both from it. He had never forgotten Ardyn's preference, even though it had been years since he last drank with him. Looking at the food spread across the table, he had ignored the fact that Ardyn almost never ate, even when dining with him. It wouldn't matter, shortly. There would be no one to enjoy it soon, so there wouldn't be another wasted meal past this. Ardyn decided to indulge him this last time, calling on the server to prepare a plate for him.
"Immortalis," Verstael said simply, leaning forward. He folded his hands in front of him on the table. "My magnum opus. Once my soul is transferred to its core, I will ascend to a being capable of felling even the Astrals. Surpassing the Astrals.”
Ardyn's smile widened slightly, but this time it was hiding a grim expression of emotion. He highly doubted that, knowing all that he did of gods and men, but he would not attempt to stop him.
“You’ve been working on it for a very long time, haven’t you?” he asked, pausing to take a sip of his wine. “I’ve never seen this machine of yours with my own eyes. Where have you been hiding it?”
He heard Verstael tap one of his boots against the floor, then he pointed with his hand at the ground. “It’s beneath this facility. The amount of space needed to build based on my original schematics is… fairly limited, up here. Underground, I have all the room I need. Would you rather I show it to you? Or shall I wait until its grand reveal?”
“I do love a good surprise,” he said, drumming his fingers on the table. “But… I am curious to see this new body of yours. I don’t suppose you mind?”
Verstael chuckled, shaking his head slowly, proudly. “Not at all. Let us finish our meal first, then I’ll take you below.”
The remainder of the meal was filled by old pleasantries. Despite that, the food settled like lead in Ardyn's stomach, long unused to eating much of anything. Still, it was the company he wished to savor.
Verstael pushed himself away from the table slowly, and Ardyn followed his example. He motioned to him with his hand. “It is a bit of a walk.”
It could be far worse. After all, Ardyn had done a lot of traveling recently. Revisited royal tombs. Orchestrated the fall of Insomnia. Followed the crown prince across the entire continent. Witnessing the destruction of Altissia, also at his hands, and the death of the Oracle. A dreary hallway with a long lift ride at the end was nothing, in that respect.
That said, Ardyn made the walk last as long as he could.
Neither of them were in a hurry any longer. As far as they were concerned, they had nothing but time to spare. So Ardyn walked with him, once again curling an arm around him, this time at his waist. And this time, though it was precarious, Verstael let his head fall slightly against him as they walked.
"The console is above us," he said as they waited on the long lift. "This is only storage. But you'll see with your own eyes how magnificent it is."
"I'm sure," said Ardyn, resting his hand on the small of Verstael's back, a gesture only his hands seemed to remember. His palm pressed lightly against the other man's back, hoping to relieve the tension there.
Verstael leaned into his touch like a cat, rolling his tired shoulders. No more would any ache hold him back. All things considered, he was in good health. He had to be, stretching out that last bit of time so he could complete what he considered to be his life's work. Soon, he would be free of that burden too.
The lift stopped too soon, and Verstael pulled away from him to lead him forward onto the observation platform, the warmth he provided fading away too quickly for Ardyn's tastes.
The lights did not activate automatically in the warehouse until Verstael forced them on manually at the fusebox, and they shuttered to life one at a time. Ardyn had already seen enough, his eyes perfectly attuned to the darkness.
The great metal beast that was Immortalis.
"What do you think?" asked Verstael, gloved hands curling along the railing of the platform.
This was the best vantage point to see it. Any closer and it would be too massive to make any sense of. This was where Verstael wished to lay his soul to rest?
It was garish, at best.
"It suits you," said Ardyn, nudging Verstael's hand with his own. He grew a little bolder and placed his hand on top of his, squeezing gently. "I see now what has kept you so preoccupied for these last years."
He felt this had been a long time coming, but… Verstael had expressed to him, on more than one occasion, that there was more in the world to study than one life could ever achieve alone. This thing hardly looked like it was made with conducting research in mind, however. It's body stretched from one end of the warehouse to the other, then coiled around once and came back in a massive "U" shape. There were no discernible features but one end that had interlocking blades, no doubt made with the intention of allowing it to escape the facility once activated. Ardyn wondered if Verstael would have been better off depositing his soul into one of his own empty clones, or… even one of the Weapons he had created. Yet it seemed the man was set on it.
"It does suit me," agreed Verstael. "This was by no means a short term project, as you can plainly see. I began the initial concept more than a decade ago…"
Ardyn was already tuning him out. Something in his chest was clawing at him, a raw feeling that set him scowling to avoid voicing it for now. It wasn't exactly love that kept him at Verstael's side, though he had once entertained the idea, but he was still reluctant to let him go. Not like this, anyway. If Verstael was in his right mind… well, Ardyn truly thought he deserved better.
"I am… surprised that you would give up the endless night," said Ardyn, a bit quietly, his voice flat. "I know you've studied the phenomenon yourself a bit, when the nights started becoming longer. Soon that's all that will be left. It would have suited you too."
That stopped Verstael long enough to cause him to look into Ardyn's expression properly. Ardyn's scowl remained, tightening at his eyes and jaw, but it wasn't anger he felt.
At this realization, Verstael let out a sigh, lifting his hand and bringing the other to prevent Ardyn from pulling his own away.
"Don't be foolish. If the endless night had come when I was still young, I would heartily agree," he said bitterly, as if this attempt to comfort him was at his own expense. "But now, I very much doubt my odds of survival. Too much time has been spent facilitating it rather than mitigating the damage it will cause. With the daemons growing bolder by the hour, it's likely that keeping the lights on will be difficult, at best."
"Think of all the work that could be done in that time, even while society collapses," said Ardyn. "Work only you can accomplish."
"With a team of trusted experts," sighed Verstael. "Much of my work is relegated to other senior members of my staff, as I am no longer able to manage the delicate touch my research requires. It pains me to have to voice my own shortcomings, but my hands are too stiff on a good day. And as you can see, there is no one left in this facility. Only myself and my creations remain."
Ardyn looked down at their hands, pursing his lips. He knew Verstael felt no remorse for what he had done to his staff. Other people had only become tools to him.
"It's no longer thrilling to me to have a brush with death," he said, glancing back to Immortalis' coils. "I no longer enjoy risking my own life with such grim odds."
Ardyn also knew Verstael could no longer reliably hold a weapon steady to defend himself. If he dragged him through this, he would have to be at his side constantly. Protecting him. Verstael would either resent him for that, or it would prove too difficult to keep up with him and his own pursuits. Neither option was favorable. Verstael was too independent in that way, and too proud.
"What of your clones? Couldn't one of them be a suitable vessel?" asked Ardyn, squeezing his hand.
"Suitable, yes," he shrugged. "Not a long term solution. There could be… complications, if two consciousnesses develop in one body. There is a chance of survival, but the outcome if it failed would be far less desirable than a simple death. Besides, the clones are mere copies. I've lived in my own skin long enough to know I don't want to start over. Even this body is beneath me."
There was no reasoning with him, Ardyn realized, gritting his teeth. He pulled his hand away from the other at last, then brought both his hands to cup Verstael's face between them. At least it silenced him for a moment, but Ardyn couldn't find the words to convey what he wanted.
"Could it be that you're against the idea?" asked Verstael, staring up at him, but never moving from his grasp.
"I cannot stop you," said Ardyn, his eyes darkening as he glared back. "So I won't attempt to. If I don't give you what you seem to wish for, then you will administer to yourself the sample I gave you long ago on your own. I know you. I know you called me here because you wished for me to do the deed myself."
Verstael nodded slightly. "With or without you, Project Deathless will proceed. I would much prefer to have your support on this."
"You are the strangest person I've ever had the misfortune to know. I mean that as a compliment." Ardyn sighed. After a few moments, he closed his eyes. "You know I wouldn't refuse you, don't you?"
"I do," he said. "No more than I've ever refused to entertain your scheming."
He nodded understandingly. The process would be slow, if Ardyn wished it. Quick, if Verstael had a preference. But he knew there were still a few more preparations to be made.
The whites of his eyes blackened, an ugly ichor oozed from his skin. He closed the distance between them, pressing their foreheads together gently. He was more surprised that Verstael didn't back away, instead closing his own eyes.
"Now?" asked Ardyn.
"Yes."
No, Ardyn would never refuse him this.