#missionled

Also a warning that viktoria’s parents are manipulative and biased.  It is not their conscious intention, but that does not in any way excuse their behavior.  Their views are harmful and I do not condone them at all. 

Viktoria received her first prosthesis prior to her teenage years, approximately around the age of 10.  Still deciding on a concrete timeline, but it was very shortly after the car accident.  As soon as her body had recovered and some extra time passed for her mental welfare to be deemed stable ( as much as it can be after such an experience ), her parents had rushed her into the entire procedure without giving her much of a choice in it.  A case of being expected to like it.  It was all presented as such a wonderful thing, how she would no longer be at a disadvantage and could be normal again, better even. 

That was the first red flag she struggled to see at the time.  Not only did it take such a terrible and traumatic event for her to truly see her parents show a less distant and finance based sort of care, their love often came in the form of lamenting her loss and promising that they would fix it as soon as possible.  As though loosing an arm made her lesser.  Imperfect.  It was jarring, and something felt wrong about it, even if her sight was still too rose-tinted at the time to truly comprehend just how terrible of a view that is.  She ultimately shared these beliefs as a result of their influence, but could never truly come to terms with them, let alone articulate them.  Just a kid parroting her parents. 

The first prosthesis was, by their standards, a very basic piece of tech, within the range of what a more wealthy consumer might purchase.  Something to let her body and mind adjust, simple but functional.  I am not certain yet, but I would like to believe that advanced prostheses such as the LUKE Arm are a bit more common / refined in this universe if Kamski was able to push forward Androids like that in under ten years.  Viktoria’s very first prosthesis was already one that responded to the intentions relayed to it by her brain, though the physical tech of that particular piece was still pretty sluggish and clunky.

She didn’t like the thing.  At all.  Viktoria took it off at every opportunity and insisted she did not need it, that she would rise above that injury in her own way.  And then came the guilt tripping.  The child was made to believe she should be thankful to be this privileged.  How others could only dream of being this fortunate — and what would the people think of such a glaring imperfection?  Surely she would be mocked for it.  And they did not want that for their daughter, could not bear to see her treated like that when in truth she was so much better. 

As a result of these conflicts with her parents and the tech that was meant to help her, it took Viktoria much longer to become attuned to it and arguments occurred quite often.  Another sort of red flag that drove her further from them and would later lead her to stand against their choices.  At one point she went so far as to purposely sabotage it, giving her much desired respite while it was being repaired. It became less about the prosthesis itself and more about spiting her parents. 

Over the years she received new prostheses in accordance to her growth.  Her rebellion against it went on for quite a while but eventually settled.  Instead, she bottled it into an unspoken irritation that would soon play a great part in what she did to Michael.  Not just the target of a child’s curiosity, but also an outlet for her frustrations, using his more advanced tech to cross reference functions of the prosthesis and what potential it might have.  Although she tinkered on her own arm, it was not enough for her.

However, a major instigator for her actions from the start was fear.  

She saw how they treated Michael, what a machine was in their eyes ( and therefor her own ).  Viktoria wanted to see just how similar to an Android her own arm truly was.  How much of her had now become a machine.  She could deal with being thought of as lesser for a physical disability, to compensate with her intelligence, make them see it does not matter.  But how could she recover if they ever saw her as more machine than human?  If they ever began crediting the prosthesis for any success she worked so hard for or, even worse, deemed it not enough and rose her to a standard she cannot reach.  She cannot compete with machines and intelligence will not give her humanity. 

Her last and current prosthesis was received on her 18th birthday.  It is an absolute marvel of technology.  Her parents poured a fortune and their own brilliance into it over several years, possibly since the very first prosthesis she got.  It rivals the best there is, the best Cyberlife has to offer.  It is one of a kind. 

And as mentioned in more detail over here, it is connected to Viktoria’s cognitive functions even further, to the point where she can use most of its functions entirely by thought and intent, for the lack of a better term.  This includes things such as projecting holograms and transferring data, or something as simple as switching audio channels of a device.  If you can manipulate it with your phone, she can manipulate it with her arm.  However, this does come with the downside of terrible headaches and the occasional cramp when used in excess.

At this juncture, now that she no longer lives with her parents, a lot of the stress surrounding her prosthesis subsided and she has come to terms with it for the most part, but it is still a much more defining piece of her identity than she would like it to be, even though she is in perfect tune with it by now.  Viktoria takes great pride in the technology and the modifications she has made to make it more her own, but the history that clings to the entire experience is something close to her heart she will not be ready to reconcile with for a while. 

The relationship with her parents has worsened ever since she was given the opportunity to take off those rose-tinted glasses, and that prosthesis is a direct product of theirs.  There is only so much she can do to remove their scientific handprint on it. 

Does she ever take it off?

Frequently, yes!  She takes it off every night to sleep and occasionally when her head or muscles need a break from the strain, often paired with a shower or bath. Plus, of course, for proper rinsing and cleaning.

Despite being about two years past the adjustment phase for this prosthesis and many more for prosthetics as a whole, and able to wear it the whole day, I would like to wager that even with this much advancement in the technology there is still a significant risk to wearing a prosthesis at night, and while Viktoria has a tendency to slack off when it comes to her own health, this is not one of the risks she will take. 

Concerning water, the prosthesis is as waterproof as any android and can safely be submerged, but she will take frequent breaks to rinse it off if exposed to salt water or chlorine, or really any body of water that is not fresh and clean water.  She also takes it off in the shower sometimes, entirely depending on her mood.

All in all, Viktoria is equally comfortable with or without her right arm in private settings, but definitely avoids taking it off with anyone but trusted people around, even though the prosthesis itself is known by those who spent a decent amount of time around Viktoria due to her proclivity to use it for the simplest tasks, such as switching the channel when the remote is out of reach.  These functions have simply become akin to another limb, coming incredibly natural to her, and she does love showing them off.

This being said, Viktoria does still struggle with the idea of being perceived as part machine and thus less human because of how ingrained her parents’ arrogant thinking is, but her journey during the Revolution, and especially helping in Jericho, helps her grow past it as time passes.  As she meets more people who treat her as a friend rather than some trophy child or EOS, who truly see her as a person rather than title or prodigy, she gets more comfortable with her own being. 

If Viktoria lets you see that prosthesis without the artificial skin, let alone takes it off in your presence, that is a major sign of trust.  Similarly, it causes her great discomfort for people to grasp her right arm out of nowhere and the lack of a flinch and actually keeping her arm in your grasp is another good sign.