eighth snare

[fanstheflame]

[Belle]
Hey ... are you okay? I haven't heard from you in a while...
[/Belle]

[checking up on one friend out of the way, Gale grabs his bag and heads on down the hall, idly flipping pages and dictating as he goes]

You know, I'm sure a lot of people are putting out messages to the people they were related to, checking up on them, asking if they can pretend the whole thing never happened ... and ... from what I saw, we were all related to each other. So there's not much point in being secretive about it, for me. It was weird, but ... I have a big family back home, too, in a town where everyone knows everyone. So I guess I was lucky, because it wasn't much different for me, in that sense.

[and then he'll wander into the game room and take a look around] ... But everyone's talking about that. Anyone want to explain to me how these games work? The ones that look like TVs with more buttons?

Comments

[fanstheflame]

[he looks it all over, thinking, trying to make sense of what the older man's telling him. he only knows the most basic things about electronics - how to fix their old, worn-out television when it goes on the blink, mostly - but they've always intrigued him.]

Yeah, sure. How does it work...?

[messin_with_my_zen_thing]

[He smirks] Now do you mean how the game's put together and functions or how to play?

[He flips the caiso to the boy] Because one's a lot easier to explain than the other.

[fanstheflame]

Tell you what. [he catches the coin, deftly] Tell me the easy one first, then once I've actually played it you can tell me the other one.

[messin_with_my_zen_thing]

[he chuckles, stepping up to the game.]

Sounds like a good plan to me. Alright, you use the joystick to move Dig Dug [he points to the character] Through the dirt. You don't want to let any of these guys [points] reach the surface. You get up close and inflate them until they pop. The goal is to get rod of all of 'em.

[fanstheflame]

... Okay. [he tilts the joystick experimentally. HEY, it works.] How do I blow them up?

[messin_with_my_zen_thing]

When you get close to them you press that button. [He smiles, truly enjoying himself. Nothing like sharing the joy of a new game with someone.]

[fanstheflame]

Oh... [and he does. ... it doesn't quite work, so he mashes on it again. oh hey, that worked. welcome to the world of the buttonmasher, Gale. he laughs as the little creature blows up in a shower of pixels]

Hey, I got one!

[messin_with_my_zen_thing]

[He chuckles]

Not bad. Not bad. Now you just gotta keep it up and get the rest of 'em.

[fanstheflame]

Okay ... [and he starts making his way toward the next one - not noticing, of course, that there's another one headed for him from behind... until right before it's there]

OH! Dammit-- where did that one --

[annnnnd bam. dead. in perfect arcade fashion, it moves right on to his next life, and he's kind of flipping out about it]

What happened? I think -- is it broken?

[messin_with_my_zen_thing]

[He laughs] Hey, hey, it's not broken at all. You just lost a life. See?

[He points at the pixilated figure waiting for him to make his move.]

You've got three lives before the game's over. Better move fast before you lose another one.

[fanstheflame]

More than one life? [he's already up and moving as he talks, trying to dodge one of the little sprites to get to another] ... Sure doesn't sound like the Game I know.

[messin_with_my_zen_thing]

Yes. Most games here have 3-5 lives, though you can usually win more the more you play.

[He raises an eyebrow, looking curiously at the boy]

Oh? What game would that be?

[fanstheflame]

It's ... [he's somewhat distracted, chasing after and running away from the monsters on the screen, so his face lacks the usual dark cloud that the subject tends to cast]

... it's something they do every year where I'm from. They call it --

[a pause while he manages a particularly tricky escape] The Hunger Games.

[messin_with_my_zen_thing]

[Flynn tears his eyes away from the game to look at the boy]

The hunger game? That's an interesting name. [he pauses] I take it it's not a fundraiser for the malnourished in Africa.

[fanstheflame]

Africa?

[now that he's getting used to the controls, it's easier for him to talk and play at the same time...]

No, it ... our government stages them every year. Twenty-four people are drafted - two from each district in the nation - to go into an arena and fight to the death.

[he's blowing up that last little guy of the level with particular emphasis]

As a tribute.

[messin_with_my_zen_thing]

[His eyes darken and he frowns, looking at Gale with concern]

Centuries ago there was a civilization on my world that did that... though it was with criminals. Something tells me this wasn't the case in your world, though...

[fanstheflame]

No, not at all. .... They include everyone from the time they turn 12 to the time they're legally adults. .... Then we have to work. [someone is clearly discovering the cathartic properties of video games.... he's getting halfway decent at it]

[messin_with_my_zen_thing]

[He's silent for a good long moment as this sinks in. His gaze may be locked on Gale but he's seeing neither the boy nor the video game he's currently playing. Instead he's thinking of the horror that is the thought of children being chosen to kill each other in gladiatorial games. 12... that's only 5 years older than Sam. Who could possibly think that was okay to do? And the fact that it's the GOVERNMENT doing this is the most horrifying thought of it all. A government is supposed to protect the people, not send their children to their deaths. 23 children dead each year... and for what?

All he can manage is a whisper]

Why?

[fanstheflame]

[Gale, meanwhile, is glad he's got the game to distract him from the old, familiar Capitol rage bubbling up. he finishes off the level he's on, and turns, not really minding if his game goes to pot now that he has the hang of it]

Control. They want to keep the Districts all frightened of them, so that no one tries to rise up and overthrow them. They say it's a show of unity, of celebration, but ... everyone who's ever even known someone who went into the arenas knows that's bull.

[messin_with_my_zen_thing]

[A shadow passes behind Flynn's eyes as he realizes how familiar that sounds. What was the Gaming Grid than CLU's version of that. The only difference is Gale's Capitol uses children instead of programs. Innocent children. How could a government do something like that? To put a 12 year old in the position to kill or be killed...]

It's monstrous.

[fanstheflame]

Yeah. ... Yeah, it is. That's why, when ... when people talk about how much they hate this place ...

I always want to tell them how much worse it could be.

[messin_with_my_zen_thing]

[He nods slowly]

I can sympathize with that. Though I can't even fathom how someone could send children... [He sighs softly]

I have a son. He's here, actually. Seven years old... though he was older when I last saw him at home. When I think about what I would do if he...

[He pauses, shaking his head] I'm sorry.

[fanstheflame]

It's pretty simple - they just don't care about the future as much as they care about themselves. ... That's why I like it here, even if we're trapped. People look out for each other a lot more, here. Something like that would never happen.

[he gives Flynn a reassuring smile] Your son's probably safer here than anywhere else, if he's met even half the people I have.

[messin_with_my_zen_thing]

[He returns that smile. Now there's a sentiment he can get behind. He likes this kid.] As are you. There are certainly far worse places to be... to some extent my own world included.

[fanstheflame]

Yeah? ... Why, what's yours like? [he likes Flynn, too - he's down-to-earth, there's nothing false about him ... like a lot of the men he worked with back in the mines]