ataraxion | voice.

[ katniss has had a month of bored recovery after being seriously mutated by last month's illness. she's still embarrassed about the loss of most of her hair, and she isn't a big fan of texting, so this is voice, though she's just sitting on her bed, playing with the pearl she found in the pocket of her suit from home, rolling it between her fingers. it's late. she woke up screaming. she wonders if she should apologize to tyke, sometime, or if that's not something you bring up to your superior. ]

[ initially, she was going to ask someone to take the wedding dress out of her locker before the next jump, so she doesn't ever have to see it again, but instead all the frustration and restlessness and uselessness that's plagued her since her arrival on this ship coagulates into an angry ball. so when she presses play, she just asks one question, direct and simple and with a grit of fury to it that could be interpreted as either petulance or passion. ]

Why are we here?

[ because no matter what happens, no matter how many theories get floated, she still doesn't have an answer to that question. at least the Games had a clear end point, even if the goal was to kill every other person. ]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Not so far. Might be exactly what we need to start looking into. I'm sure someone's tried, but maybe with the crew quarters open, we'll have more luck searching the ship.

Every time people go searching, there's consequences.

Yeah, and there are consequences to just being here, too. Searching didn't get us all sick. We won't be any safer if we just stay put.

Didn't it? There was that transmission, that Ryuuzaki and... Natasi, found.

[ the names are different enough from the ones from her home that she takes a moment to remember them, and she doesn't know them well enough. ]

People went to find that woman.

[ katniss can't remember her name at all, but she means charlotte. ]

Isn't that the same as exploring the corridors?

[ emma seems to relent on that point, because she jumps straight to: ] Staying put isn't an option.

I know. But if one person rebels, and everyone pays the price, people are more likely to start discouraging action. Sometimes talking comes first.

[ a pause, and she adds, lighter. ]

But that's not really my strong suit.

I noticed.

[ That much, at least, Emma says with a smile in her voice. ]

Call me selfish, but I've got a kid to get home to. Even if sitting around quietly did keep us safe, I wouldn't be able to do it. Getting out there, exploring, figuring out what's going on—that's what's gonna get me back to him. So I have to try something. [ And she pretty much believes herself a terrible person for that, given that everyone else was much worse-for-wear with the nanite sickness than she was, and Katniss may have a point about it being a consequence of some kind. But she's comfortable being a terrible person if it gets her back to Henry. ]

I understand.

[ katniss doesn't want to go home, she doesn't have anyone to fight to get back to. but she doesn't want anyone else to live in this place for any longer than they have to. ]

Do you?

[ Not judgy or confrontational, exactly, but curious. Most of what Emma knows about Katniss' home comes from Haymitch. ]

Fighting for the sake of someone else? Yes.

[ she takes a soft breath. ]

My little sister Prim used to grow herbs in the Oxygen Gardens. By the time I got here she was... wherever people go. Dead, I suppose. I don't know if I ever want to go home, but I want you to get back to your son. Hopefully before he shows up here.

I'm sorry.

[ Her voice carries all the gentle empathy of a real understanding, not some cheap apology born out of uncertainty about what else she can say. ]

Someone ... Someone I cared about, who I lost, was here too. For a while. It's not easy to go through that twice.

voice.

voice;

voice;

voice;

voice;

voice;

voice;

voice;

voice;

voice;

voice;

voice;