Duel 02 [Dictated]

[princelyspirit]

So!

[Claps her hands together]

I've seen people ask about what everyone's homes are like, like what sort of holidays there are or what kind of gadgets people use, but what about games? And I don't just mean video games or card games, but stuff like sports. Basketball, baseball, soccer... you know, that kind of thing. I know that the magic school from a while back - Hogwarts, right? - had that crazy game we played up in the air, and I was wondering if other worlds had anything like that.

Comments

Dictated forever

[indirectcause]

Just plain old basketball for me.

[princelyspirit]

Hey, it's something! I'm guessing that you come from Earth, right?

[Or at least, one of them]

[indirectcause]

Sure do. I'm from Georgia.

[princelyspirit]

Georgia...?

[Thinking, thinking]

Now, are we talking that place in America, or the tiny country that's right next to Mother Russia?

[indirectcause]

Oh...sorry. The state, not the country.

Dictated

[fanstheflame]

.... We've got something where I'm from, but it's not a game I'd ever want anyone here to even consider starting to play.

[princelyspirit]

Really? It can't be that bad, can it?

[fanstheflame]

These games are, yeah. Our government started them as a way to keep us from fighting them back...

[princelyspirit]

[gulps]

Okay, I'm beginning to think that this isn't your normal, everyday sports tournament. What did they do, exactly?

[Getting flashbacks to this one bad action flick she saw on TV once. Some American film, about a demented game show where prisoners have to fight off bounty hunters. She never gave it much thought, but now that Gale's mentioned these games, she has to wonder: do worlds like that actually exist?]

[fanstheflame]

[he sighs, quietly. as many times as he's told people about the Games, it never gets any easier]

My country has twelve Districts - there used to be thirteen. Each one works to manufacture and provide goods and services to the others, and to the Capitol. Only, one year, District Thirteen decided it thought the Capitol's rules were too strict, and they tried to rebel... the Capitol destroyed the District. To commemorate the "perseverance of the union" - that's the way they put it, by the way - every year, now, the Capitol holds the Hunger Games.


[there was disgust in his voice before, of course, but it was relatively passive, in the way you'd talk about something common that everyone agrees is horrible, like the smell of skunk spray. now a more active hatred starts to slowly creep in] Everyone in the districts between the age of 12 and 18 has their name entered into a lottery, and a boy and a girl from each District get chosen. Then they're brought to the Capitol, where they're trained and fawned over like celebrities for a while ... and then they have to fight each other to the death.

[Dictated]

[animusangelus]

We didn't have any official games. The city was still trying to get back on its feet. [In apocalyptic situations, games aren't that important.] But the kids liked to play with balls.

Re: [Dictated]

[princelyspirit]

[speaking more quietly this time, not quite as enthusiastic as she was earlier]

At least they have something. Still, it sounds like you had it pretty rough back home. What happened to your city, exactly?

[War? Natural disaster? Economic collapse? It could be anything]

[Dictated]

[animusangelus]

Someone tried to destroy the world. [Which is putting it simply.] We were able to stop him, but at a cost.

[princelyspirit]

They what?! That's-

[She's about to say, "That's insane!", but then she remembers that she just spent a good chunk of her afternoon describing a doomsday cult from her own home. So, maybe real, actual supervillains aren't that insane after all.]

...okay, okay, so some psychopath tried to destroy the planet. [God, it sounds like something out of a bad movie!] But, how did you stop him?

[And at what price?]

[animusangelus]

It's complicated. [He wishes it was a bad movie.] There is a power company called ShinRa in my world. They engaged in questionable research and managed to create elite SOLDIERs by injecting them with a substance called Mako. [He'll skip explaining Mako for now.] One of those SOLDIERs lost his grip on reality and thought someone was telling him to destroy the planet. He had the power to do it too.

We faced him, but I was the one that ended up fighting him. I've...been injected with Mako too. [Though his body didn't take to it at all.] It was a long battle and some important people died. But he's gone.

[whistles_the_blues]

Can't say I know any games that other people played where I come from.

...I whistled.

[You tried Blues, you tried.]

[princelyspirit]

That's not really what I meant, but-

[Is getting on his case going to help anything? No, not it will not]

...but, hey, everyone needs a hobby, right? But, why whistling? No offense, but it seems kind of random.

[whistles_the_blues]

I didn't really have much time to pick up anything else.

[The dying robot child already knows he had a deprived childhood, he doesn't need to be reminded.

There's a pause as he debates how best to explain why.]

Someone I- ...Worked with loved music, I guess I just kind of picked it up.

[princelyspirit]

...yeah, I think I get that. I mean, if you spend enough time around someone, they're bound to rub off on you a little bit. What kind of music was this guy into?

[Too busy to pick up anything else, though? That makes her worry a bit; from what she's learned about other residents, that could mean that he was anything from a workaholic to some kind of post-apocalyptic warrior. Still, music seems like a safe enough topic]

[whistles_the_blues]

[For some reason, he kind of regrets bringing up the topic. Great, now he's indirectly talking about Light.]

A wide variety. I think he could listen to anything, though he had a particular liking to the Blues and Rock and Roll though.

[ino]

I mean ... we played tag and stuff like that?

But most people in my village didn't have a lot of time for sports.

[princelyspirit]

Huh, really? What did your village do?

[It's not that surprising, but she is curious. The way Ino talks, it makes her home sound like some kind of remote farming village. Like the kind of village you see in old samurai movies and stuff like that]

[ino]

Oh, uh ... it's a ninja village.

[ the way she says it, she's not ASHAMED of it, but it's more like she has a feeling utena will have a strong reaction one way or the other about. well. NINJAS ]

[princelyspirit]

[Deadpan]

A...a ninja village. That's-

[Blinks and pauses for a moment. When she speaks again, she sounds more thoughtful than anything]

...that actually explains a lot, come to think of it.

[ino]

Eh? You think so?

[ i mean, it's not like she always carries weapons with her everywhere, and it's not like she has superhuman speed and strength and stuff ... ]