Linden's able to piece together what a "barkfiend" is pretty easily, and chuckles ruefully at the comparison to one. He can't say he disagrees, can't say that the whole program is a softcore version of brainwashing and not so dissimilar to training animals.
"It's not inane. Honestly, the company's... it's better than this would be alone," he admits, voice tight as he looks sown at his hand again. "And my past..." he sighs heavily, breathing through the pain. "I guess you're one of the people who would care, aren't you? Even if you never bothered to watch the Arena."
He takes a second to gather and organize his thoughts. "My life wasn't really exciting before I was Reaped. I was small enough even as a teenager to clean machines in the factories, so that was my job. Because I was an orphan, I lived as a servant in a wealthy household and they garnished my factory wages in return for putting a roof over my head. I was kind of lazy... I read a lot. I talked to the Peacekeepers and asked them about the Capitol, the other Districts, pretty much anything they would tell me about anywhere that wasn't the desert. Then I got Reaped and... well, what happened between then and now is my Arena, obviously, and a whole lot of thinking about Him. There was someone in my Arena who meant something to me; it wasn't love, but it was some kind of completion, and I haven't felt that way since. His name was Scorpii. I guess, going by your absurd terms, you might say he was... Kismesis?"
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"It's not inane. Honestly, the company's... it's better than this would be alone," he admits, voice tight as he looks sown at his hand again. "And my past..." he sighs heavily, breathing through the pain. "I guess you're one of the people who would care, aren't you? Even if you never bothered to watch the Arena."
He takes a second to gather and organize his thoughts. "My life wasn't really exciting before I was Reaped. I was small enough even as a teenager to clean machines in the factories, so that was my job. Because I was an orphan, I lived as a servant in a wealthy household and they garnished my factory wages in return for putting a roof over my head. I was kind of lazy... I read a lot. I talked to the Peacekeepers and asked them about the Capitol, the other Districts, pretty much anything they would tell me about anywhere that wasn't the desert. Then I got Reaped and... well, what happened between then and now is my Arena, obviously, and a whole lot of thinking about Him. There was someone in my Arena who meant something to me; it wasn't love, but it was some kind of completion, and I haven't felt that way since. His name was Scorpii. I guess, going by your absurd terms, you might say he was... Kismesis?"