thecapitol | [Open] Step One: Cut a Hole in the Box

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[Open] Step One: Cut a Hole in the Box

Who: Hanji Zoe, open
What: Hanji is fresh off the metaphorical boat. She tries to settle her mind by taking things apart.
Where: Training Center
When: Afternoon, March 22
Warnings: References to violent death, in all likelyhood.

"Unsettling" was a very mild way to describe the situation Hanji was in. It was almost too much for her to grasp - spirited away by some unknown method to compete in gladitorial games for the amusement of others? That was something out of terrible fiction (not that Hanji read much fiction these days). It was an impossibility, completely unlikely. Or had been until a couple hours ago. She hadn't bothered with threats or pleading. The guards and officials didn't seem like the sort to respond well to that and fornow the best thing she could do waas gather information.

After a quick introductory lesson on the building she was staying in and a brief tour of her new apartment (prison cell), she'd been left to fend for herself. The sheer amount of luxury and dcadence that surrounded her was equally amazing and terrifying. She was still used to spare meals of black bread and potato soup. The fact that she could snap her fingers and have practically anything delivered to her by servants was beyond her experience and left her feeling like a child who'd suddenly been told they have the run of a candy shop, if not a little unsettled.

And then there was the technology and the lack of titans. They had electric lights, every room had indoor plumbing, and a million other things that they'd only talked about in theory or never even imagined at home. She wanted to see all of it. And she wanted to know why they didn'th ave titans. No one had answered that one yet.

Which was way when she'd found a holoprojector in the training room, she'd "borrowed" a few smaller knives and set about trying to get the casing off to get a look at the innards. Besidezs doing something vaguely productive helped her think. How did they run everythingon electricity, anyway? The tip of her tongue poked between her lips, brow furrowed in concentration as she tried to use one of the knives as an improvised screwdriver.

The moment anyone passed close enough for her to hear them, she waved a hand in their general direction, "Hey! Pass me something to use as a hammer!"

A little while later and she had the panel off, a tangle of wires exposed, her goggles snapped over her eyes as she tried to make heads or tails of the thing.

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Harley had been watching the girl work from afar while enjoying a three scoop ice cream cone. As the girl seemed to be making progress she tip toed over till she was looming behind the girl.

"Neat! Whatcha making?" She was still in her training clothes from earlier, snug shorts that exposed every inch of her powerful legs and a secure sports top in black with red stripes on the arms. It had the District logo on the chest.

Hanji was routinely surrounded by weirdoes. Harley probably wouldn't bother her. Much. She rolled her neck, arching to get a look at Harley.

"Building? Nothing, yet! I just want to see how this works. But..."

Maybe she could build something. Eventually. Her eyes settled on the logo. Even at an awkward angle, she could see the number. Her eyes lit up, "You're from the 9th District?"

Now, was she a native or someone who might actually be willing to help?

"Huh?" She looked down at the logo on her shirt and then laughed "Ah no. I'm from Gotham City, America. Planet Earth, just not this planet Earth." She waved a hand dismissing the semantics. "But they assigned me to District Nine so if I win the arena, that's who gets to eat like human beings for the next few months instead of like livestock."

"You must be new." She added with a warm slightly crooked smile.

Well, that was all kinds of interesting. From Earth? She'd never heard of America or Gotham. Maybe there was another band of survivors out there somewhere. Or maybe she was from another world entirely - so many possibilities.

She answered Harley's grin with one of her own and some slightly sheepish laughter, "Ah, I'm that obvious, hmm? Yes - I just arrived."

Hanji paused again, "It's... an interesting place, this Capitol."

She snickered "Kinda obvious but be thankful. Most newbies arrive like...right in the middle of the arena. What with all the death and stuff there's hardly any time for introductions." she joked more amused with herself then anything.

"At least you get to spend a couple of weeks in paradise before the bloodbath starts. Or as close to paradise as you can get when big brother is watching every minute."

"Small favors," Hanjo replied with a shrug, "Getting thrown into combat like so much cannon fodder isn't exactly fun."

Her eyes glinted and she pulled herself away from her work so she could clamber to her feet, "Speaking of introductions - I'm Hanji. Hanji Zoe."

The bubbly blond grinned brightly "Harley Quinn. Nice to meetcha Hanji Hanji Zoe!" She teased breaking out an old joke for the occasion.

"Good to have another techie around. If you see a giant talking turtle be sure to say high. He's a techie too even though there isn't much call for it while you guys are in the Capitol." She wagged a finger in mock admonishment "Taking apart Training Center property is strictly prohibited."

Hanji snorts in amusement. She has a sense of humor, after all (even if that joke is corny as hell).

"A... turtle?" She arches a brow, "What do you mean?"

She doesn't particularly care about destroying their property considering what the Capitol wants her to do, so she's going to ignore that particular bit of information.

"I mean like a giant turtle with mad ninja skills." She struck what she reasoned was a kung fu pose.

"He's bald, green, has a shell, only a couple of fingers and toes. And he's particularly fond of gadgets and gizmos and whatsits."

She just loved the look on peoples faces when they met a non-human for the first time. Hopefully she'd be around to see it.

It took a moment for Hanji to process the idea. A walking, talking turtle? It seemed impossible. Of course, titans also seemed impossible at first glance, so who was she to judge?

"I guess I'll keep an eye out for him! I've never met a giant turtle. It'll be an experience."

She seemed to take it in stride, all things considered. She was trapped here - why not giant turtles?

"Anything else you can tell me about the Capitol? How long have oyu been here?"

"Oh...well that's a bit more puzzling isn't it? Time kinda slips away what with all the death and stuff." She commented with a wink.

"But I've died through four arenas so far. There's only been one Christmas so I'm pretty sure I haven't been here more then a year. Unless they celebrate Christmas differently around here."

They did, but she meant time wise.

"I could tell ya plenty though. It's just a matter of what you need I guess. I mean I could just start talking but that might be messy."

Well, that's not pleasant to think about. despite the smile on her face, Hanji felt her stomach squirm at the thought of dying over and over. And not even for a good cause, just for the entertainment of these people.

She resolved to find a way out of this, one way or another.

"I guess I'll have to wait and see for myself," she mused, "Seems almost typical of people, doesn't it? Find a way to revive the dead and instead of using it for something useful, they just make us fight each other so they can have something entertaining to watch."

"No kidding right?" Harley laughed with the irony of it "They have some of the most advanced shiny tech I've seen this side of outer space." She continued "They've created monsters I could only imagine, they brought Dinosaurs back to life! All for the sake of the games. It's funny in that whole dark cynical world view sorta way."

It was all of the technology and the way they seemed to use it for frivolities that got to Hanji. They lived in the lap of luxury, could do anything they wanted and they chose to use it for bloodsports instead of the advancement or portection of humanity. Her grin turned strained and finally settled into a flat, thin line of disapproval.

"It's funny. People dying for the sake of a few aristocrats - that's always a constant, no matter where you go. Even when you humanity is on the brink of extinction, someone has to die to keep the higher-ups happy..."

"Well that's sure one way of looking at it." Harley smirked, looking coy as if she had the inside track on the situation.

"But it's less about the money and more about the power. Sure we're entertaining, but it's also just downright frightening to normal, not crazy people." And she knew a thing or two about crazy.

"It's all about narrative. Either way we're gettin' hosed." She laughed again, she laughed alot this girl.

"Isn't that how it always is for ordinary people?" Hanji shrugged. She didn't really consider herself 'ordinary', but she also wasn't one of the higher ups. Politics - she'd tried to avid them, but here it she was going to get thrown to the wolves no matter what she did.

"Dealing with titans was easier than dealing with people," Hanji sighed, "At least you always knew what they would try to do to you..."

"OK, time out there..." Harley held her hands up to form a T shape.

"Now when you say "Titans" are you talking about monsters of myth, a group of teenage super heroes, or the football team?"

Because depending on her answer it could drastically effect Harley's view of this new woman.

"Monsters, of course! But they're certainly not mythical," Hanji responds. Harley's little idiosyncrasies are actually fairly amusing. She leans in a bit closer, one eyebrow cocked, "...I could tell you all about them, if you like - wait, you don't have them where you're from?"

There's a certain eagerness to her tone that reaches beyond "enthusiasm" to "obsessed".

Edited 2014-03-25 21:36 (UTC)

Ooo obsessed~ Harley loves obsessed.

"Not that I'm aware of." Harley grinned right back with excitement. "We've got a football team that calls themselves that, some sidekicks who joined forces to fight evil, and Greek mythological monsters kept in check by amazons and Hercules." She went on.

"So what's your Titans like?"

"That's-"

Hanji wasn't sure how to talk about a world without titans. They were simply a fact of life, almost a force of nature, that the idea of a world without them seemed bizarre and alien.

"-fascinating."

She ran a hand through her hair, brow furrowed as she considered the idea. She could ask more questions later. For now, Harley wanted to hear about her titans. Something she was quite happy to explain.

"Well, it's a fascinating subject, really. You see, roughly a century ago, according to our histories, giant man-like creatures known as titans appeared. We don't know where they came from or how, but their sole purpose seems to be to devour humans. They come in several size classes: five-meter, seven-meter, and fifteen-meter, with a larger, colossal sixty-meter type only known to exist in one instance... and he was a titan-shifter. But, that's just the very basics. There's also something we discovered only recently-"

There was so much information, but that seemed like a good start. She was going to keep talking if Harley let her.

Edited 2014-03-25 21:51 (UTC)

Harley was more then happy to let her keep talking, especially when her only helpful contribution to the discussion so far were Godzilla references. And if her friendship with Mindy had taught her anything, it was that references don't translate between universes.

So instead she took a seat on the table Hanji had been working on while the woman continued.

Oh, boy, Harley. She was in for a long, winding, meandering trip through a history of the titans, their physiology, theories on what they were, how to kill them, what affected them, what didn't - basically a rundown of everything that Hanji knows. Plus tangents to explain things that Harley might not be familiar with.

It went on for a while. At least until Harley actually interrupted, because signs of boredom weren't going to stop Hanji.

Harley could tolerate a great deal, but she had to keep herself entertained so while Hanji continued she would make herself a snack in the kitchen area, and when the snack had been eaten she would casually drape herself over the sofa.

"Well that was far more then I ever thought anyone knew about Kaiju." She interupted when she'd finally had all she could handle. "You might wanna streamline your talking points a little in case someone asks you that during an interview." She added with a tease.

"Streamline it? How can I streamline it - it's all important!" She didn't sound indignant. Just excited. She hadn't even been bothered by Harley making a snack.

"You can't just expect a short version to adequately explain our history with them."

She just laughed "Well yeah probably not, but the Capitol citizens have a short attention span, and they're fickle. So if you want them to care as much as you do about the topic you gotta lure em into it you know? Hit em with the most exciting parts before you expand on it."

Not that she thought the citizens would hold on too long to the topic of giant monsters unless said giant monsters were in the arena.

"Also, I'm eight percent sure if you tell the scientists around here about Titans they might try to create them for the arena."

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god dammit I switched tenses.

No worries~

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