thecapitol | [open] if my anatomy had a chat with me,

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[open] if my anatomy had a chat with me,

Who| HK-47 and YOU
What| Panem doesn't confuse him, his new equipment does. Manual dexterity fails. Food is weird, taste is weirder. Clothes are constricting. Why are the soles of feet so sensitive and fragile? The complaints could go on forever.
Where| Tribute tower: D10 floor, Training center
When| Today
Warnings/Notes| Body dysphoria. Will update as necessary.

D10 Floor

His body and mind are not fully synced up yet, present in the very slow crawl out of sleep mode in the morning. He's wrapped in a warm feeling, almost uncomfortably, so and he throws the blanket over him off. The cool air that touches his skin shocks him awake almost immediately. Hands on the bed, he shoves himself upright too quickly for his equilibrium to handle.

Good morning, and welcome to headacheland, HK-47.

Rudely awakened, he tries to blink away the stinging from his eyes (he'd rather have his optical sensors again, but he'd also rather have everything else from head to toe of his former chassis again). He's having a hard time that meatbags actually enjoy their existences so far, because the whole experience has been annoying, inconvenient, and varying forms if discomfort.

He moves to stand up, feet touching the carpet of his room. Feet are lifted off the floor. Nerves. High sensitivity on bottom of feet. He'd worn his socks and shoes all day yesterday, up to the moments before retiring for the evening. He was familiar with the usual concentration of nerve endings to certain areas of the body but he wasn't familiar with how that felt until now. He sets his feet back on the floor again and stands, taking in the small dip in the plushness of the carpet as his center of gravity moves.

With only a basic understanding that clothing is required to appear in public spaces and no sense of fashion, he just grabs whatever from his closet and dresses himself. There a bit of struggle with figuring out what goes where, dexterity rolls are failed, but eventually he's clothed in a manner that he gathers is acceptable and carries himself out to the kitchen. Overcompensating for the fluidity of movement that he's still unaccustomed to, his movements are very rigid.

His feet land on the cold tile and he stops. Completely still, he just stands there, staring at the counter and passing over who else might be there in the kitchen/dining area with little actual acknowledgement of their presence. Cold. He doesn't know how to cook. Cold. He doesn't know what's edible. Cold. He skipped eating last night so by logic he should eat now. Cold.

"Quandary: How am I supposed to live this way? How do meatbags do it?"

1. Comprehensive and literal answer.
2. [Light Side] Comprehensive and well-intentioned advice.
3. [Dark Side] Point and laugh.
4. Ignore and carry on with your own business.

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Training Center

Something familiar. He's almost relieved that the training center exists. Almost, because well, it -is- freely accessed by the other tributes, who could witness the occasional clumsiness he experienced and consider him a likely target when the next arena came.

But! Enough time getting acclimated before the arena would mean that anyone thinking they could take advantage of any sort of handicap would be sorely mistaken.

For now, he stays away from any sort of tools or weapons, focusing instead on stamina, dexterity, and kinetic awareness. This is also the first time in his life that he's had to consider stamina as a factor, so he quite easily exhausts himself right off the bat, and just ends up hanging from the rope net by his knees as he catches his breath.

*Ugh*, as if being filled with water wasn't enough; now it's leaking out of his skin.

After a couple minutes, blood starting to rush to his head, he tries to swing back up and climb down, but instead his fingers fail him and he flops back down to hanging again. At this rate, he's probably going to just fall from disorientation if he doesn't get down soon.

"Supplication: Can I borrow your shoulders please?" he asks as you pass by, last word mumbled but present. It's clear he doesn't really want to ask, but he's stuck and a little desperate.

When Molotov isn't working on publicity tasks and answering questions by email, she's usually in the training center, almost wholly because it really is the one familiar part of this world. Even with the odd technology she's never seen, even with other tributes running around, even with Avoxes standing in the corner, this is the one place she still feels at home.

Of course, there's always annoying shit happening in here, just like everywhere else in this weird world.

She's just finished off her second round of going through The Gauntlet, nimbly avoiding everything it could throw at her, leaping from platform to platform with only slightly less grace than her first run-through. So it's with some distaste in her expression that she pauses when spoken to, having been heading to grab a bottle of water.

"No," she tells him, cocking her head to a severe angle. Whether she's mocking him or trying to meet his eye is up to interpretation. "Pull yourself up or fall. Who do you think is going to help you in the arena, huh?"

Well, have a tall drink of HK-47 instead.

Because that looked like a challenge to him, and there was no Revan here to tell him not to do what he was about to do. His eyes are set on his target and as long as his foot didn't get tangled in the net, the woman would get a mouthful of her words.

"Answer: I can think of a meatbag or two."

And he falls, right on top of her, face meeting her breasts, which is more cushioned a landing than he was expecting.

"Son of a whore!" is the immediate response, Molotov's translation chip preventing her from the Russian she normally would have spit out from such a shock. That is such a rude and unnecessary thing to say to her, what else could she respond with?

It's not the first time a man has fallen on top of her, but she's slightly more prepared this time, using his weight (which is, thankfully, not 350 pounds) to roll them both over, teeth bared as she straddles him and presses her forearm hard into his trachea.

"What the hell is wrong with you?" she barks, glaring down at him.

Nerves. Nerves were a thing he should take into account now when picking his battles. Since they were equal parts receptors of pain along with everything else. The pressure against his throat, while ultimately an educational experience, was definitely not making the list of Top Ten Things He Enjoys About Being A Meatbag, with the sensation of all the parts in his throat being pushed around and against each other.

Not the wisest decision he has ever made.

But the aggression does remind him of all the traits Revan had that were his favorites. So while most people would probably be terrified at this point, he actually... looks pretty happy considering the situation.

"Answer:" he starts, barely talking through the arm on his throat, "I am usually in the superior chassis of a droid, not a meatbag body like yourself."

She listens to this response, her brow knitting and her eye narrowing, confused and pissed off and not intent on letting this asshole get away with any of this.

"What does that even mean?" she growls, pressing her arm harder into his neck before letting up. "You're a robot? You don't feel like a robot. I cannot snap a robot's neck with just a few more pounds of pressure."

There's a very reflexive wheeze in response to more pressure being applied, and it's at that point that he decides he's had enough of being in this position and makes an attempt at fighting back, tucking a hand under her arm to at least relieve some of the pressure on his throat.

"Reiteration: Usually." Usually if a human female was on top of him, he wouldn't be noticing how all the water content in the body actually makes a position like this sort of comfortable to be in, he would just be noticing that there was water through his optics. Information coming from too many places.

"Addendum: Whoever decided to bring me here must have thought it would be more entertaining if I was a meatbag like everyone else."

Molotov pushes back down against his hand for a beat, still scowling, then rises up to sit back on her haunches with an accusing glare.

"Maybe they did it to counter what an immediate asshole you are," she huffs, hands resting on her thighs before she smoothly stands up and off of him. She tugs at the sides of her shorts, where they've bunched up, and heads for the water bottle she was originally going for. "And by the way, you aren't a... meatbag like everyone else. My bag is a hell of a lot better-looking than yours, for one."

Air has never been so wonderful as in this moment, drawing in a full breath as all the parts in his throat resituate to their proper places. Post-the event, there's a small thrill there in that he could have died but was still alive.

It takes a second for him to gather his breath and awareness between the small adrenaline rush, but once he's more present, he rises to his feet and follows her over to adopt a water bottle for his own as well. Something he'd once registered as distracting was now vital for his survival, a strange way the tables had turned. Oh, and he isn't bothered by the verbal assault at all, totally able to take what Molotov dishes out at him.

"Statement: I would have to agree, as my ego doesn't revolve around the appearance of my flesh or how it's shaped. I'm only concerned with understanding how it functions and if I can perform the tasks that I need to efficiently." He pops open his water bottle and takes a drink and wow water may be the best thing ever created. He drinks down half the bottle before stopping to take in another deep breath. "Continuation: Speaking of efficient, you're very good at what you do."

"My ego doesn't revolve around that either," she says, shooting him a nasty look and taking a sip of her water. "I was only stating a fact. Surely a robot can appreciate that."

As if appearances are something that boils down to matters of pure fact. 'I am amazingly gorgeous' is just a statement for her, not a boast or a compliment or anything of the sort.

She watches him drink like a fish, her face blank and maybe even bored. "Of course I am. I have been doing it for more than twenty years. You don't become the best mercenary in the world through luck."

That nasty look just gets the closest facsimile of a cute smile that can come from him in return. From his experience, he knew that meatbags often had different likes and dislikes when it came to appearances, but perhaps there was enough data to back up that it was a fact.

He wasn't really that focused on her looks though, more interested in the aggressive mercenary that she was.

"Query: What sort of jobs did you do? Or is it very non-disclosure," he presses a finger to his lips, "sort of business?" Of all of Revan's companions, Canderous Ordo, a Mandalorian-turned-Mercenary and back again to Mandalorian leader had been the most tolerable and interesting company to have. Molotov's attitude was similar, and he could appreciate that.

"Classified is for the government, and besides, it isn't like my clients are here to be pissed off," she answers, waving her hand dismissively and hoisting herself up to take a seat on the table. "I do what I get paid to do. Assassinations, recon, item recovery, whatever. I am not that picky -- being picky is bad for business. The only thing I don't do is human smuggling. Too messy, and it's usually children. I don't like that."

Her legs are crossed and one waves back and forth idly, like they're discussing pizza topping rather than black ops.

Black ops is more interesting than pizza toppings anyway.

He takes up a spot of his own, leaning against the table being the closest form of him following suit. While he doesn't necessarily have any sentiments regarding children specifically (there are a lot of troublesome kids in his galaxy okay), he understands the lack of appeal regarding smuggling. That was the one kind of person he always hoped to never end up serving, and so far the odds had been favorable in that regard. Politicians and crime lords have more straightforward tasks to fulfill.

"Request: I would be delighted if you would share your favorite mission. I would even share one of my own in return should you desire."

There's a sigh, and she raises her legs to fold them under herself, head cocking to the side as she thinks. There have been a lot of missions over the years.

"Why do you talk like that? You aren't a robot anymore, you can speak normally," she says, knitting her brow at him, then props an elbow on her knee to reminisce, her cheek on her fist. "Hm. Anything with my father, when I was still training. The panda recovery was sort of fun too, like a giant teddy bear. But my favorite... Paris in 1987. It wasn't a mission so much as an accidental encounter with an enemy agent."

Molotov sighs and looks a little dreamy.

"Amazing night."

Ah, that word that people used to ostracize people for being different. "Normal." He does understand her point though, and while a couple times he had considered how his habit, which required no second thought before, was perhaps over-complicating things orally as a human.

"I know. It has been a natural function since my creation, but I will attempt to refrain for the remainder of this conversation," is his reply, an attempt at considering the wishes of his current conversational companion.

He can recognize that sort of look, one that he'd been met with rather frequently when Revan's companions became enamoured with him. A part him gags mentally, but another part is curious about what sort of details developed that night.

"It sounds exciting." Okay, he sounds a little forced but there's that part of him dreading some sort of love story.

The change in Molotov's face is immediate -- she suddenly looks angry, but on a more personally offended level than before, like maybe she has some tiny little feelings that got hurt by hearing his reaction to her mentioning literally the best night of her life.

"Fine, then I won't bore you anymore," she snaps, glaring, and produces a cigarette from... somewhere. It comes from somewhere, okay? No one knows where Molotov keeps them or how she manages to produce them seemingly from thin air. Maybe she's magic and she doesn't know it. But the point is that she lights her cigarette and furiously drags it down, looking away from him to watch the others training around them.

But really she's pouting.

What is this instantaneous feeling in regard to her being upset?? Regret?? That he possibly offended her??

The last time he had to backpedal was back when Revan had forgotten who they were and sometimes found his attitudes or word choice objectionable. That was quite some time ago, but he does it so fast with Molotov.

"Clari--" Stop right there. "You're mistaken- I'm not bored!" Uh, how does he go about this... "As it's been established, there are certain habits that are hard to break, and previously I was very disinterested in the more base affiliations of human nature and the feelings that accompany them. However, since this memory is one that is very important to you, I would like to listen." His expression, should she look, is the home of an apology.

She glances at him from the corner of her eye, trying to see if he's lying to her just to appease her. She supposes that a robot wouldn't know how to put on a convincing expression of apology, wouldn't have that sort of control of his own new facial muscles and emotions.

There's a pause, then she puts out the remainder of her cigarette on the table. "Base affiliations and feelings are important," she huffs, more sulky than anything else. "They can be manipulated, used against people. It was Paris, in 1987. We were both training -- I do not know what he and his handler were doing, but Papa and I were following an enemy spy. Papa saw people on a rooftop, and he sent me to go investigate. That was when he and I saw each other."

She stops for some water.

"He chased me into a hotel room, we went in through the window from the roof. But he was young and stupid, and when he thought he was about to use me like one of his American whores, I stabbed him with my heels. Drugged him, I keep hallucinogen in the spikes. I pinned him to the bed with my sais, lorded it over him that I was better than he was, that he could never keep up. That he needed me."

Molotov sighs, and rests her cheek on her hand again.

"Then I set the room on fire and left him there. Threw him the butt of my cigarette when he whined. I guess his mentor saved him, though, because he didn't die like I wanted. Papa and I were gone by the time I found out he was still alive."

Charles often blew off steam in the training center. He found that the exercise itself was therapeutic, and it was the best way to help make sure his muscles would be able to keep up with what would go on inside the arena. Now that he had experience with two of them, he knew how things worked here. And even though you needed to fight to survive, doing it alone came at a price of getting killed far more easily than one would be if with others who wanted you to live.

"Yes, although I'm not sure mine will do you much good. You may need someone bigger," Charles answered. He was shorter than many of the people he knew personally. "But if you believe I can."

He wasn't the sort of person to just leave someone hanging there, regardless as to how things would be in the arena.

An angel upon meatbags. Truly, what a saint.

HK stretches down, arms fully extended to reach, and sure enough, he comes up a little bit too short to get a proper center of gravity established. Craning his head back, which is really awkward when you're already hanging upside-down, he was gathering, he looks over Charles' physique.

"Query: How strong are you?" He had an idea that might work, and while handicapping someone outside the arena could be beneficial, that would ruin the sport of it. So he wanted to make sure that wouldn't happen preemptively.

"Strong enough," Charles answered. The reality was, not that strong, but he wasn't about to expose any weaknesses, so he'd do the best he could given the situation. "What's your thought?" Was he really sticking around to help him? Charles wasn't sure why, but even after everything, he couldn't fight his impulse to help someone when they needed it.

He shifts a little, trying to make himself taller and stronger. He surely didn't want to leave him trapped up there in the net. All the blood would rush to his head and he would pass out before too long.

Strong enough is a good enough answer for him. He could assume that Charles is pretty weak but he's known many a meatbag to look like a twig and pack a lot of punch. The galaxy is a diverse place, and so was this one.

"Answer: Hold your arms up and brace yourself." Assuming it would work out, he should be able to get down fine that way. Or he'd knock Charles over and they'd both be on the floor. It was better than passing out though.

At the very least, if he landed on Charles, it would probably still be a very soft landing. Better than hitting his head on the ground and possibly knocking himself out. He lifted his arms above his head, and shifted one foot a little in front of the other to distribute his weight. It was the best way for him to brace himself against any incoming weight.

"Ready," he said.

Even if he probably wouldn't get hurt if Charles dropped him, he'd still prefer not to drop him.

"I do not know that they would be much good."

This is, admittedly, largely because a generally quadrupedal stance puts one's shoulders in a somewhat different place than otherwise. True, Iskierka is generally aware of the human habit of using one another to help offer a bit of balance, but even with her being so much smaller than she is usually, it's still a strange thing.

Of course, her shoulders are at a decent height for such things, given that she's stands about as tall as your average horse, at the shoulder, but that doesn't make her any more familiar with the idea. And then there's the fact that her shoulders - and indeed most of her back - are covered with spines. Most don't look terribly sharp, but they're likely enough to prove uncomfortable for any sort of shoulder lending that might end up happening.

It's one thing to be consciously aware of your surprise, and it is another to be consciously aware of your surprise causing your facial muscles to react and express such things. Eyebrows raising so high it feels like half of your face is being stretched upward for example, which is a strange feeling, and one he's currently experiencing.

"Statement: I..." Iskeirka was not a Krayt Dragon, that he could tell, but he certainly looked like one, and this didn't help with his rage of his current physical predicament, and envy of those who had kept their unique physical traits.

But for now he was still mostly surprised, and yes, also reconsidering his initial request because of all those spines.

"...would have to agree with you on that," he finishes after some pause. The blood rushing to his head was really starting to get to him.

There's a moment of silence from Iskierka. She doesn't know much about humans - not much more than they seem to know about her - but she's pretty certain that it's not good for anyone to hang like that. And never mind that she can't imagine that she'd be at all able to hang like that. Not for all that she has at least two further limbs to hang onto things with.

"Could you not pull yourself back up?"

It seems the most reasonable way to solve the problem, at any rate. How successful it'll be, she can't say, but then again, she's not the one hanging upside down.

"Answer: I tried. I could try again but at this rate, I will probably have to fall to get down." At least the floor has mats for this exact situation. He wasn't really looking forward to the drop though.

Maybe he could just... reach some of the rope that is further down on the rope net, he could ease his way down...

Unfortunately, this plan does not work in his favor and he falls to the ground beside Iskierka. It's a learning experience, all the pain stimuli he receives from that, not a pleasant one but he acknowledges the vitality of such experiences.

"Redundancy: Made it," he states, voice strained as he lays there for a minute to gather his bearings.

Iskierka makes absolutely no attempt to stop his fall. She hasn't got the right sort of limbs to catch someone mind-air and isn't terribly interested in attempting to do so anyway. So she simply stands there, as he works on getting around to getting back up on his feet (as she assumes that's the intended goal of the whole affair).

"Yes, but it looks as if it has been ever so inconvenient."

This isn't even Charlie's floor.

She realizes that things are pretty dire at the moment, and she knows that ultimately she's going to have to kill nearly anyone she meets in this tower...but she still can't quite help but try to be a good neighbor. Whatever the situation is like for her, everyone else is going through it too - and everyone could probably use a little bit more cheer.

Which is why she's visiting other floors with plates of brownies, trying to be personable.

When the stranger speaks, she blinks over at him with a start, looking a little like a deer in headlights with her plate of baked goods.

"...Uh...what's the...matter, mister?"

His attention snaps directly onto her, and if she felt like a deer in the headlights before...

The smell of the brownies hits his olfactory sense and his insides are behaving in a manner he doesn't understand again, even making a small gurgling sound.

"Answer: The floor is cold, I am a collection of soft and sensitive vulnerable parts from head to toe, and I do not know what to consume to regain energy and stop the bubbling feeling in my abdomen." His speech is rushed and all over the place in tonality, between frustration and perturbedness.

"O-oh."

For a moment, Charlie has no idea how to respond to this. She looks around, this way and that, biting her lip as she tries to figure out how she's going to respond to this one. She hasn't done the social thing in such a long time, and it's...kind of a learning curve to ease back into it. Plus this guy is kinda...off. But so is show business in general, so she shakes it off right quick.

She approaches him by a few steps, black waves of hair bouncing as she holds out the plate with a sheepish sort of smile.

"Well - I can't help you much with the first two things, but...I brought these brownies up to share, so maybe that will help a little bit with the rumbly tummy?" She sure did just say 'rumbly tummy' to an assassin. "I could...help you a little bit with cooking breakfast, too, if you want. My name is Charlie - I'm...I'm with District 1."

His greatest weakness has been revealed: He has no understanding of food and is part of a televised death match called The Hunger Games. Maybe they planned this from the start. Maybe someone decided this would be hilarious. Maybe someday, he would kill them.

"Query: What do you usually consume for breakfast?" This is a general question regarding what's considered the usual breakfast fare, but could also be read as him asking her specifically what she eats, which will probably be two very different things. He eyes the brownies, but he's not sure about them. The smell is sort of appetizing and sort of puts him off. Too... something (sweet).

All right, so...he wasn't interested in chatting. Or making introductions. That was all right. Charlie wasn't really offended - she could tell that this man was confused. There was...something kind of funny about him in the first place, and she wondered what it was. One way or another she could tell he wasn't really into the brownies, so she set them aside for other people to take later.

"Well," she began, thinking, "I personally have kinda been on survival rules for a very long time, so my idea of breakfast is still kinda...broad. But most people like bacon and eggs, or sausage, or muffins...protein is important for us, since we're expected to be kinda athletic."

Turning away from him, she trotted over to the refrigerator, rooting around for things to make. Yes, there was some bacon, that could work...bread was easy to find...oh, how hard could this be? It was only breakfast.

"Let me just...help you with this, okay?"

Just as the tile floor started to warm to his body temperature, he takes steps to follow her, and his feet are greeted with that very cold sensation again. Hhhhhu-it would be an adjustment, that's for sure.

Now that he knew that--hopefully, as long as whatever she made appealed to his tastes that were a mystery even to him--his nutritional needs were going to be met, he reflects on her words more thoroughly and realizes there was an introduction tucked in there. While his main functions had been more lethal, he had been programmed with standard practices for a protocol droid, which involved the vaguest definition of manners when necessary. Those had been lost in his state of panic. Whoops.

"Introduction: I am HK-47, formerly a droid before my arrival, so this is all very new to me. My skills included a great many things but the eating habits of meatbags was not one of them." He doesn't apologize though. He has no reason to apologize.

"Statement: I appreciate your assistance. I don't know what I would have done otherwise." Closest to a thank you you're gonna get, Charlie.

Charlie has already made herself busy frying up some bacon when he speaks again - she knows there are Avoxes at the ready to make whatever they want, but she much prefers to do these things herself. The words are considered a moment, and then realization dawns on her face.

"Oh! Were you a robot?" The term 'droid' is unfamiliar, but she's put two and two together. "That explains so much! I'm not too familiar with your kind, but I have seen one in passing."

It may not be a real thank you, but she smiles all the same.

"You're very welcome. Any time, Mister HK!"

The scent of sizzling bacon fills the air.

After Orc's death...well, it's no surprise that they're getting a new person on their floor. That's supposedly how it works, after all. So seeing the tall, dazed ginger in the kitchen when she's making coffee isn't exactly the biggest shock.

Hearing him use words like quandary and meatbag, on the other hand, are definitely shocks.

So Clara's going to go with the missing answer on that list: 5. Raise an eyebrow and seem somewhat confused. "Meatbags?"

The scent of the coffee reaches him through all others present, aroma pulling his focus out of his head and outward to Clara. How to describe the smell, he wasn't sure yet... but it was interesting.

"Clarification: A term used to refer to sentient organics, programmed into my vocabulary by my master because of a conversation they found entertaining." Oh, Master, where could you be? He really wished he knew.

"Query: What is that smell?"

"Huh." Clara says, slightly wary of the newcomer if only because of his speech patterns. Despite how human he may look, he definitely sounds anything but.

"It's coffee. It comes from beans and is packed with caffeine. I'm surprised they don't have it where ever you're from."

There were a great many different kind of edibles in the galaxy. He only knew of the edibles that were also poisons because reasons. Perhaps that was poor planning on his part, in hindsight...

"Statement: There could be something similar, however I did not usually require consuming nourishment to get by. Repairs when necessary and my power core were enough, before my arrival here." For someone new to the whole human thing, he sure can roll his eyes pretty hard. "In my natural, superior state, I was probably considered too efficient for the Arena."

It suddenly hits Clara why the way he speaks is so unhuman (and probably should have hit her before, but she's only making her coffee and has yet to have even had it yet, so she can be excused for some brainfog). Mostly because of him mentioning repairs and a power core. And suddenly she's thankful that, even at his worst and most robotic, Alex still sounded vaguely human back home after he had been neurosuppressed.

Except for the snideness. For someone who's new to humanity, he's sure gotten that down pat. "Well, now you're just going to have to eat and drink like the rest of us. I might make pancakes in a little bit if you'd like any."

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[open] if my anatomy had a chat with me,

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#yolo #trainingcenter #nofilter

#mistake

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she doesn't even go here!!

But she's so fetch!

stop trying to make fetch happen! it's never going to happen!

=(

so sorry charlie, so sorry

never be sorry

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