thecapitol | What times we live in!

Entry tags:

What times we live in!

Who| Luna, anyone in the Capitol (special prompts for Sigma Klim, Phillip Gray)
What| Luna's first week out of the Arena starts off well and then starts to get worse.
Where| Around the Capitol, plus the training center rooftop
When| Throughout Week 5
Warnings/Notes| None currently.

Capitol streets/shops
Dying has never been fun. Not the first two times it happened at home and not here in Panem, and especially not when it happened the way it did in the Arena. But that's how life is. At least Luna doesn't have many regrets about the way she conducted herself, so when she wakes up in her suite she just takes a moment to sit there before retrieving her pendant from where she'd stashed it before the game. Putting it back on makes her feel a little happier, and the associated memories push back at the dark loop of her final moments replaying in her mind. And then before too long Luna finds out that Phil's arranged a day of relaxation for her upon her return. Normally she would feel strange about it, never having been in a place to need or merit that sort of thing, but after four weeks and another death Luna finds it...nice, to be treated to luxury for a while.

It's mid-afternoon when she's done, and as Luna exits into the bustling streets of the Capitol she finds that everything isn't quite so overwhelming anymore. The city remains mostly unfamiliar to her, but she's able to wander through the streets without getting the urge to run back to the tower every few minutes and she's no longer shrinking from the crowds. She still needs a little bit of courage to enter anywhere, but it works this time and soon Luna's ducking into shops to look at a colorful piece of art or an ornate dress on display, quiet amazement clear on her face.

Capitol park; closed to Sigma Klim
Luna's surprised when Sigma invites her to meet, but pleased all the same. It's been a long time since they've seen each other, at least compared to life in the Rhizome, and despite everything just getting to be around him still makes her happy in a way. There's no pretending that the Nonary Games never happened or that he isn't a part of why the Hunger Games are happening right now, but maybe some things don't change.

She doesn't have much by way of clothes, with little need for a wardrobe in the Arena and not much time in the city outside of that. As a result Luna feels underdressed compared to most of the Capitolites mingling around the park's entrance, and hopes it's not a count against her somewhere. Feeling self-conscious, she looks down at her dress and waits for Sigma to arrive.

District 6 suite; closed to Phillip Gray/Phone Guy
Roland had warned her that the Capitol's eyes were on the Tributes, for issues of the heart in particular. Luna sees what he means now, with that recent magazine revealing...she doesn't even know what it reveals, exactly, other than that Sigma's been saying something about her and keeping even more from her. Speaking to Tabris hasn't helped much. For all that she loves Sigma she never expected more than what he's shown her already, but now she wonders about even that. Has she ever had his trust the way he has hers? She'd come to think so in the Nonary Game, but maybe not. Maybe that thought in itself means Luna doesn't have as much trust in him as she'd like, and that in itself troubles her greatly.

The mention of her in the magazines wasn't long, but it's enough to dampen her enthusiasm for going outside for a while. Luna takes to staying inside the District 6 suite instead, where she eventually finds the television and then the reporting about the Hunger Games. It's...gruesome, even when they're not actively showing violence, and when they do every attack and every wound eats at her inside. She remembers thinking in the Cornucopia that whatever she did might not matter in the long run, and watching the Arena coverage she's starting to believe it again.

And yet, she feels compelled to keep watching. These things are happening, and as much as Luna hates it all she can't ignore it either. Within a day or two she's started to spend a worrying amount of time watching the Arena, and she looks to be in an even worse mood than she had at the start.

Training Center rooftop
Anyone on the rooftop one evening might be able to hear the delicate, tinny sound of a music box. Follow the music to the roof's edge, and Luna will be there sitting on a bench and playing the tune to herself. She doesn't look uphappy, exactly, but it's...something.

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The riverbank is filled with ghosts. This was the place Sigma came to think and each time he left the memory of someone behind. Before meeting with Luna, he lingers at the bench where he last saw the Initiate well. He wonders how far the ashes of Shakespeare have traveled by now, if the water could have broken its way into the dirt of District 13. He grips the token the Initiate sent and finds himself consoled - the feather around his neck is lighter than a music box.

Without much persuasion he makes his way towards the park entrance. Her attention fixed on her dress, Sigma notices her before she sees him and he smiles approvingly. The Gamemakers dressed themselves like masters of the universe, but not an ounce of her was so pompous. He can almost resist the urge to compare her to Diana as he slides in next to her.

"Hello, Luna. Thank you for joining me." A part of his mischievous younger self bubbles beneath the surface as he considers teasing her for the glance she'd stolen at her outfit. "You certainly are a picture today. Are you ready to go?" Gamemaker as he was, he was not ignorant about Luna's death... he imagined it was his fault in more ways than one. He was the person who had taught Ruffnut about betrayal, after all.

There was something to be said about Phillip Gray as he held onto every bit of hope that comes along. They lost Maglev and he was hoping to make something nice, to go to District 6 and offer his condolences for what happened, maybe help with the funeral arrangements if he could. Karkat avenged her, yes, but...the sense of loss is there. But unlike before, Phone Guy had to grow from that grief, more so now that he was helping his friends survive this ordeal.

It's precisely this that he's finished up some arrangements and trotted around with an additional canine companion this time around. Both Luna and Sansa had traumatic deaths, not to mention being pushed to their breaking points in the Arena itself, now it was time for them to be spoiled. Sansa mentioned her old pet wolf Lady, so he's been housebreaking a Panemian Husky puppy to greet her when she comes home. The moment Phil spotted Luna, he noted that she hasn't moved from this spot in a distressingly long time. Hell, she hasn't been eating or doing anything to relax!

"Luna, take it from someone who has been on both sides of the screen, give yourself a break from the A-Arena," he spoke in a voice that was stable, he was familiar with the position and with the friends he's made. In his free hand is a small bag of sweets he's made earlier in the day, stress-baking. You'll drive yourself insane thinking of the what-ifs. Trust me. "Come with me, please?" and away from the television screens. That's his job to worry and rewatch the carnage.

The comment about her appearance flusters her and for a moment Luna has flashbacks to working together in the lounge, making jokes and trying not to think too hard about his younger self's flirtations as they look through the liqueur...but that's not here now. Luna has to look away in embarrassment for a second anyway before she's able to respond properly. "Of course I am. It's good to see you--Sigma." Her mouth betrays her a little bit, nearly slipping back to "Doctor" out of habit, but catches herself after an awkward break. That could have gone better.

Moving on, though! Luna smiles, genuinely happy that they could be here at all. "I'm glad you could make it. You must be busy, aren't you? I, um...I saw how much work went into the Arena. Sansa was very happy to see a piece of her home, you know." Of course Winterfell had been bombed to oblivion some time later and that was harder to swallow, but credit where credit was due. It wasn't hard to see the effort that had gone into recreating people's homes, and Luna couldn't fault the temporary comfort it brought people anyway.

Luna really hasn't moved in a while aside from biting her lip and sagging a little as she watches the Arena coverage, so when Phillip addresses her she's slow to respond at first. Her body feels heavy and sluggish, and given her current state of mind she almost entertains the thought of staying where she is. It would be easier, and between fretting over the Arena and stewing over questions about gossip magazines Luna's worn herself rather thin again. Right now she feels like if she goes too fast something's going to snap inside.

But it's in neither her personality nor her beliefs to just ignore people like that, so she pulls herself off the couch and towards Phil. "Yes?" Her voice is quiet, both from uncertainty and from lack of recent use. "Is there something you need?"

"Yes, come with me. You've been watching the Arena for hours now and I'm worried about you," Phil answered as he shut off the television before Luna had the chance to go back and sit for another grueling session. "You did what you could in there, now it's time to recover a-and train for the next one, okay?"

He handed her an envelope with her name written on it, "I've booked you a day at the spa and relaxation center over here at the Capitol. You've worked hard enough, now it, um, it's time you get rewarded for it."

Gray smiled slightly, "Let me worry about the Arena, okay? It's my job after all." Tributes should not carry the weight that a Mentor does, at least that's what he thought.

Luna feels a twinge inside when Phil shuts off the TV, but she doesn't complain. When she takes the envelope, though, she just stares at it for a moment as she listens to his explanations and tries to imagine herself going out for the spa. It's...not very appealing right now. Luna doesn't feel much like going outside, and with her recent activity (or lack thereof) she doesn't feel as if she's done all that much.

Still, she appreciates the trouble he's gone to. It can't just go wasted, and there is one way to ensure that that doesn't happen. "Um...thank you very much, but I--I don't really feel up to this right now. Why don't you give it to Sansa instead?" It's probably not what Phil expected, but Luna really isn't in the mood for a treat like that. Right now she'd rather have her thoughts to herself and avoid the eyes of others, and besides Sansa would probably get more out of it than she would in any case.

Her embarrassment satisfies a part of him he had forgotten about and he smiles to himself. Now he is more willing to play nice: he nods in time with her greeting, happy for the blissful moment before she mentions the Arena. Luna shouldn't have to pretend to enjoy suffering, or feel obligated to congratulate him on his work... stomach tight with disgust, his smile grows pained. "Gamemakers are entitled to some rest, and I am happy to set aside some time for you." The truth was that this was a part of the six-hour break he was allotted once daily, but he would much rather be spending it with Luna than sleeping. "And I am pleased to hear that my Arena is a hit with the audience and Tributes alike."

Desperate to distract her from his job, he offers her his arm for the walk. Two years in the Capitol had made a once impossible gesture almost easy, so long as it was for a person he loved. "Actually, I was fortunate enough to have seen the two of you together live. Sansa seems like a good friend." He thought making friends came easily to her, even if she wouldn't agree. Sigma remembers how Alice had agreed to take her to the parade, how it had inspired him to put more buttons on that console than was strictly necessary.

Luna takes Sigma's arm and walks with him, shyly but gladly. Of course he would have seen them, she thinks. It would have been part of his work to observe everyone, and she'd spent quite a while together with Sansa before they were separated. He was right, though; Sansa was a good friend. Her smile settles into something a little more sedate, but no less warm. "She is. Sansa's been nothing but welcoming since we met my first day here. Everyone else in my district has been kind, as well."

She's quiet for a moment after that, because although she's trying to focus on the good things right now she can't help but remember Maglev. It had hurt hearing of Maglev's fate, even more so knowing she wouldn't come back, and Luna's determined not to forget her. It's the least she can do. "I...I'm thankful to have met everyone. The world here is so much different than Rhizome 9 was. Was it like this in our own world? Before Radical-6?" She doesn't know all the details of what happened, of course, but she does have access to old records and everything in the library. The Earth seemed like it was a beautiful place, before the virus.

"Sansa already has her gift and she's currently enjoying the company of her Husky friend," Phil cleared up with a kind but scolding expression. "I figured that canine companions would be a hassle for you right now." The less they speak about the monsters and muttations, the better. That said, he crossed his arms, "You need to take care of yourself, or you're going to burn out and then what? You're going to be even more powerless to the circumstances. It's a self defeating cycle, a-and you've been watching the Arenas for almost the same amount I have."

He knows that Luna just wants to help, to give her all and help others survive. He's similar to her and he almost hit that rock bottom hard. "It'll be a private session but I saw your run, it was great and you deserve some sort of care. If you don't want your moment to be the spa, that's fine b-but as your Mentor, I'm restricting your Arena viewing to recaps."

There was always some shopping, maybe a good mealor or just the comfort of a friendly face.

"But--" Luna wants to argue, but she doesn't know what to say. She wants to keep watching TV? She doesn't want to do anything? Luna feels that way, sure, but she also knows that those aren't exactly much by way of justification. Phil's probably right; she recognizes something like this feeling from her early days, only where she used to feel loneliness she feels doubt now instead. It's a cycle that she needs to break out of, but it was Sigma's kindness that helped her the first time and Phil's kindness now ought to be helping. It is to some extent, actually, but it's not the same and Luna feels a little ungrateful knowing she feels that way.

She looks down at her pendant and tries to focus on happy things. It usually works. But with recent events the greatest things on her mind are the Arena or Sigma or the knowledge that the truth about her is out there now in some form, and at the moment all of those are painful thoughts for (mostly) different reasons. That can't be what Phil intended. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to worry you. I've just been having some trouble since I came back, that's all."

"Do you want to talk about those troubles? My suite is slightly more private and I have a strict confidentiality clause I've imposed there," as managerial as Phil sounded, it was the god-honest truth. If someone needed a secret kept, Phone Guy could take it to the grave and in his world, he did. He knew who the killer was and what the man had done, but Fazbear Entertainment made him sign such a clause and prevent the leaks of information.

In Panem, he put that in place to make sure his Tributes were cared for and if they needed to vent, then they could without fear of Celebrus or Panem Nightly knowing about it. In a sense, he's carrying on that part of Linden's legacy.

The question is enough to jolt Luna out of the dull cloud she's settled into, and she nearly rejects Phil's offer immediately because she's particularly afraid to talk about one of those troubles. Although Phil's been nothing but good to her, he might already be aware of the rumors about her and Luna has little doubt that confirming the fact will lose her any respect Phil has for her. It happens with everyone save for Sigma - and given recent events she's wondering about Sigma too.

She knows she can't run from it forever, though, and the cat's already out of the bag (or in the process of clawing its way through). Luna's hidden the truth before out of fear and as a way of protecting Sigma in case he didn't want their connection to be publicly known, but Sigma himself has done it for her so that doesn't even matter. And with how kind Phil has been, Luna doesn't want to decline his offer because she's afraid of telling the truth. So although she doesn't look any happier, she nods. "All right. Yes, the suite might be a better place to talk."

Phillip was the first to believe that Luna may have been a robot planned to participate in a murder game but her demeanor and her protective ways said otherwise. He helped her stand and allowed her to go into his Mentor's suite. It's an open space, that allows for a view of the Capitol not quite seen in the Tribute rooms. On the side however, there are signs that this is in fact a lived home as one of the chairs is torn and bitten to hell and back. That was Foxy and a white-furred kit's teething toy, as hard as Phil wanted to avoid that.

It's there that the two animals nap, curled together while there is a half-built welcome basket on the kitchen island. The main table is covered in documents and his computer is going off every so often with sponsor messages. Luna caught Phil in the middle of making another gift but for her and District 6, Phone Guy stops the world.

Gray offers her a chair and some tea while they settle in, "Sorry it's a mess here but start wherever you want to start. Dr. Klim gave me some background as to what you did in the other games but it's best to hear it from you."

To hear that Luna has been making friends relieves him. If only he could keep her from the Arena, or from the war, she could move on from the Nonary Game and lead an ordinary life... But if he did, how would it be different from caging her in the Rhizome? There were realities of this world she simply had to face and he could not hope to shelter her the way he had tried with Diana. Above all else, she deserved freedom and all that it meant.

Her silence following the mention of her districtmates is a painful one. Sigma had not been fast enough for Maglev or for Bison or for any of the native dead. The difference between Sigma and Luna was that keeping their memory alive was not conductive to keeping himself sane. "...It was very similar." He's eager to change the subject. "The technology was comparable, at least, as was the architecture. They are- and were- both beautiful societies. But I would consider the average Capitolite a great deal more fortunate than the average person from my youth, even in our wealthiest places. For all of our luxury, one never had to search hard to find someone struggling to survive." Perhaps that was not what she wanted to hear, but it was what came to mind. The excess and simplicity of his Californian life felt like a lifetime he'd had as a different person. There was also the matter of life beyond Capitol walls, but it was too risky to be blasphemous here.

"And as densely populated as the Capitol is, it can not begin to compare. Some public places were shoulder to shoulder at all hours of the day." His pace lags a moment. For those streets to be emptied almost overnight... "...Pardon me." He smiles weakly and falls back into step. He would very much like to keep Panem from their world's fate. "I do not mean to be grim. We were able to keep a remarkable number of us alive and- I like to think- happy."

Luna follows Phil in still feeling heavy in the heart, and although the sight of the two foxes help lighten it a bit as she sits down she still feels conflicted about what she's about to say. So when Phil brings up Sigma's name and talks about "the other games" - she knows very well what that must refer to - it feels like the ground has dropped out from under her, and for a moment she can only gape at him. "He talked to you?" She hadn't even been aware they knew each other by anything more than their roles. But it makes sense in a way, maybe. Both their roles are related to the Hunger Games, so maybe Sigma had consulted with Phil on something. Luna doesn't know what he's up to, really, but it isn't as if that fact has changed since the Nonary Game.

Based on that it's hard to determine what exactly Sigma might have told him, but she can make a guess at least. If Phil wants to hear things from her mouth, Luna's not going to deny him. "Well, if you know Sigma...what I told you on my first day here was true. I was a participant in the game he created, both as a player and as a guide for others. We come from the same world, of course. If you've read the, um, magazines...what they're saying is partially true. I really am a robot that Sigma created. I take my orders from him as well."

The last part is clipped and distant, making for the most robotic tone of voice Luna's taken on since her arrival in Panem. It's less of an intentional point and more of a reminder to herself: this is who she is. There's more to the story, but she pauses there and watches for Phil's reaction carefully. If he loses interest in Luna now that he definitely knows the truth, then there's no use giving him an elaborate account of anything.

"He did. I kept him safe during his last Arena as a Tribute, my first," Phillip flinched at the robot part, partly because of his developed and understanable fear of animatronics...not exactly the normal reaction one would have. Sigma knew this fact, he'd been in that shared nightmare and tried to push that button. But after seeing Luna survive as best she could in the arena and fight her way to help others, there was so much more to her than how she came into her world. What's more, she was his Tribute to watch over just as much as Karkat and Sansa.

"I got that much outta Dr. Klim's conversation back at the start of the Arena, but he's not here a-and I know there's more to you than what happened at the Nonary Game," he spoke up with a warm tone to his voice, "It's been bothering you a lot. If you want to talk about it, well, you have the floor so to speak."

Luna knows the general details about what the virus did to the planet, but hearing firsthand, personal accounts of how Earth used to be is still new to her. She tries to imagine it as Sigma describes it: a place similar to the Capitol but with signs of a harder life, and enough people to pack into a space that might be like the park they're walking in now. She no longer has access to a database of old images and records, but she can recall some of what she's seen in there and thinks of what she's seen in the Rhizome to compare to Sigma's words now. It all seems in line with each other, although the image he paints now is of course much more coherent than her pieced-together ideas. Only natural, when Sigma's the one who has actually lived all of that.

She moves a little closer to Sigma when he falters, wondering for a second if she shouldn't have asked, and stays at that distance even when he resumes their previous pace. She's never known him to have much of a social life at home, due to work as well as the lack of people beyond his own family, but surely he and Akane had to have lost some people in the havoc wrought by the virus as well. The conversation they'd had upon her arrival comes to mind again - "I was unable to protect the human race in our world" - and just briefly she feels like she can almost understand what might have driven Sigma to engineer the Nonary Game even if she can't bring herself to agree.

"For what it's worth," she says, "I think everyone in the Rhizome has been happy in the past few years. I don't know about others outside of the facility, but the three of you seemed to enjoy your time together. Up until...recently, of course." It's not an accusation, exactly, but there's no forgetting what happened. To Luna's memory if not Sigma's, Kyle and Akane are still dead because of the Nonary Game.

He does not need reminding of who had tied the noose around his family. Unable to look her in the eye, the Doctor pretends to be preoccupied with the path ahead - but in spite of everything, her words had reached him. He had not known if Kyle loved him at the end of things until Howard had assured him so, and now Luna believed that he had, at least, been happy. But there is one thing she has said that he cannot trust, not even from her.

"Everyone?"

He lets the question hang in the air but will not bear to hear her answer. "...Thank you, Luna. That is a comfort to me, indeed." He takes a breath, keeping it deep in his lungs as he gathers his strength. This is a question he has kept on the edge of his teeth. "Are you aware that Akane and Kyle have preceded you?" As a matter of public record, she would learn of their deaths eventually. The Capitol had exploited them until their blood dried up and now it was Luna's turn.

Edited 2015-12-23 03:51 (UTC)

Luna catches the flinch, and takes it as a reaction to herself in particular. So Phil doesn't like robots either. That's understandable. Most people don't, and the fact that he's still offering to hear her out is honestly more than she expected. She'd be more glad if she didn't still feel emotionally worn from her troubles of late, but as it is Luna feels gratefu1. And to think, he'd helped Sigma before as well. Phil really is a good person, and it's with that respect that she continues on. She'll avoid the topic of robotics if she can, although whether she can avoid it entirely remains to be seen.

"It doesn't have to do with the Nonary Game, exactly." Luna looks down at her lap for the next part, folding her hands together and exhaling for a moment. "I've been in Sigma's service since he created me. We worked together all throughout the Nonary Game, and there's nobody I trust more than him. But I read that magazine, and he...he told everyone the truth about me, and there are all these things I didn't know about him. I thought he trusted me, too. Now I don't know anymore." She unfolds her hands and fingers the music box on her neck instead, thinking again of the day Sigma gave it to her. It's hard, even starting to say anything against him. As much as Luna despairs over some of the things he's done, he is still Sigma.

Gray would gladly explain his fears of the animatronics, or anything related to robots if Luna asked. He understood what Luna meant with the magazine and how Sigma painted her as this almost Manchurian Candidate agent on his behalf. "Yeah, I read the article...I uh, reserve my judgment on Sigma's statements about you and your twin sister."

A troubled look took over Phillip's face as he listened to Luna's side of the story. "If it's any comfort, I find myself not very trusting of Sigma either. Robot or not, you're still someone very near and dear to him. Some things don't need to be told to the presses."

He talks as an outsider, he doesn't know what happened in the Nonary Game but whatever it was, left Luna with a deep sense of trust from where he stood.

"Maybe he does trusts you."

The first question is pointed, and it takes Luna a second to understand what he really means by it. She finds herself at a loss for how to respond until Sigma relieves her of the need to answer at all, and when he does she wonders if she's accidentally made things worse instead despite his words. There are things she blames Sigma for, but at least in the past few years the growth of his family isn't one of them.

But all of that is put out of her mind shortly. The second question is a bomb dropped upon her understanding of what's happened up until now, and Luna's shock is evident in how she jerks around to the side as she turns to face Sigma more directly, and how her voice has suddenly jumped up in pitch. "Akane and Kyle? What do you mean?"

It's not hard to look at the logic of things. Sigma knows that Luna's familiar with their presence in the Nonary Game, so that can't be it. Given where they are now, then, the most likely meaning of his question is they've been here. But there are many things that too could mean, and so her eyes are on him in hopes of further explanation.

"I want to believe so." Luna's still toying with the music box, turning it around in her hand and thinking back to their time in the Nonary Game. "Sigma believed in me when I thought nobody would. If there was anybody who understood me even a little, I thought it would be him." She's a little choked up as she says it; he'd made her so happy back then, a shining bright spot to alleviate the regret and dread she'd felt leading up to her termination. It makes the doubt that much harder to bear, and she has to pause before continuing.

"I was never given the details of the project he was working, since I was to be a part of it as well. But I didn't think it was personal. Not until now." She looks up at Phil, confusion written clear on her face, then down to her lap. "The thing is...if Sigma really knows me, then he'd know I wouldn't do the things that magazine wrote about. And as far as I know, I don't have a sister, and Sigma's never been married. So even if there's just one little bit of truth in those magazines...then maybe I was wrong about him. And even if there wasn't - I can't hide the truth forever, but it would have been nice to tell people myself." Unconsciously, Luna hunches in on herself a little more. For all she's been in Panem over a month by now, she's still not completely used to the public eye.

It is easiest to be a coward, and Sigma must force himself to look at her. "They were a part of these games several years ago, as was I." An entire family in the Games! Had Sigma not sworn that Kyle was not his in the delusion that it would keep him safe, it would have been quite a draw.

"There are consequences for not participating in these games to one's full potential. Akane and Kyle were mine." It had been difficult, at first, to talk about Kyle - now he found himself at least capable of mentioning him without making himself ill. But around Luna his heart writhes as he wonders who Kyle was to her, if she could suffer a similar sense of loss over the person who should have been her son. "Whatever possessed me to believe I was above that rule cost me their lives. As you have likely surmised, neither of them took the crown."

He asks himself why he had told her now, when they were supposed to be enjoying themselves. He tells himself it is for the fear of her hearing it from someone else, but part of him wonders if it was not to have her understand him. He removes his arm from hers to touch her gently on the shoulder, a gesture as close to a hug as he may ever be able to afford with her. Her body is warm beneath his metal hands. "I am sorry, Luna. It was not my intention to hide it from you." He wonders if he has not said those words before, in another life.

"Maybe," bless Phone Guy's heart for believing the best in people rather than have them burn, "From the way I saw him, back when he visited the Tribute Center, there were two big sponsors within ear shot. Trust me, those two were a pain to land for any tribute...sorry if I sound like a pimp or a warmonger." There are other words for that, Phillip Gray, but he chose the most visceral options. It was one of the less savory parts of being a Mentor and doing an Escort's job.

"I believe he was trying to fluff you up to them, make you more appealing to people by, uh, stretching the truth," he added as he lifted Luna's chin, "He was trying to help you when he said what he said. Though there are better ways to do it that don't include spilling intimate details of your past to a gossip magazine."

Gray offered that much because he knows Sigma can be a good man, he passed a very crucial trial when he was in the dream. A truly cowardly man wouldn't go into Freddy's gaping maw for their child. He truly doesn't want to believe that Sigma would throw someone like Luna under the bus.

A few months ago from Luna's perspective, she'd watched powerlessly as Akane died once and felt her processes nearly fail as she made sense of what was going on. Now Luna's eyes widen and glaze over for a moment as she tries to process that truth, and then she sags under Sigma's touch, eyes dropping to the ground. His hand is a small comfort, but Akane's death broke her heart once. Now to hear that both of them had suffered such a fate makes her numb with feelings she barely knows how to express. Kyle may not have loved Luna and Luna may never have gotten a chance to truly act as his mother, but she'd cared for them all the same. She'd cared for all of them over the years, and now only one was left.

Consequences, Sigma had said, and those two had suffered for it. Luna realizes that they could easily inflict the same punishment on her, but who would they kill instead? They've already taken all the people she loves most--but, she supposes, they haven't taken everyone. Any of the other remaining participants of the Nonary Game could always be threatened instead. Are there going to be two new faces in the next Arena then? Or five?

At first all she can offer in response is a deep, shaky breath. It takes a moment to find her voice, at which point she looks back up at Sigma with a sort of weary acceptance. "I see. I...I know you didn't mean to hide it. It must have been very difficult for you to talk about this." Her voice is dull, but she means it genuinely: whatever those two meant to her, she can only begin to imagine how much it hurts for Sigma.

Luna isn't quite sure where Phil's going with the sponsors at first, although she opts to let him keep going rather than interrupt before he's reached the point. When he does--well. Luna lifts her hand up to cover Phil's on her chin, but she can't decide whether she wants to move it or let it stay; for lack of a decision, her hand just stays there for the moment. Most of her attention is on his words anyway. "He was trying to help me?" Luna doesn't really know if she'd want to be fluffed up in the first place if it means making her out to be the opposite of what she aspires for as a person. But she wants to believe that Sigma has good intentions, too, and this gives her a little hope.

There are other questions that need to be answered, though. "But that doesn't explain why he never told me about...why there's somebody who looked like me." That's been troubling her as much as the talk of her true nature, because Luna can't see how it all adds up and it scares her. "If they were married, that person must have been very important to him. So why...?"

Luna's pain has reaffirmed his decision to keep certain things to himself and he meets her eyes with equal reluctance. As a Gamemaker, he did not believe Luna was reigning in her 'performance' - she was best a healer and played to her niche well. She could have stood on the sidelines and hid from battle, as he did, but fortunately or unfortunately her past lent well to her participation. "It is - but it has been nearly three years. I have been given plenty of time to come to terms." He can forgive Luna, and anyone who came from their world for that matter, for thinking he had arrived recently and was awarded a different destiny. He did not show his 70 years quite yet, courtesy of his reanimation.

But truth or not, he has caused Luna a great deal of distress, and his grip around her shoulder tightens in support. "Forgive me - I thought you would prefer to hear it now than from a second-hand source. I did not intend to upset you." There is no healing her pain, but he does offer some relief. "... There is a bench by the river just ahead. I used to meet there with my son. The view is beautiful..." Though he has hardly used those words to describe him, he knows that she will mistake that child for Kyle - such was the nature of his double life. Hoping that she would understand the significance of such a place, his arm slides away from her back.

"That? That's a question that you'll have to confront Sigma about," Phil admitted, heart heavy for not being able to answer that very essential question. "I can't say what he thinks or why he takes the actions he does but I can try and piece together from that. He can't show you preference because of his work but..."

But why did he create Luna to let her die if he loved his wife so much to remake her? Was the Nonary Game that important? Was her death necessary? These were things that an outsider couldn't understand.

"I'm sorry if I'm brought up...bad memories."

"No, thank you." Luna's quick to reject the idea that Sigma's upset her, at least in a way that merits apology. The news about his family is heavy, but better to know than to remain in the dark. "I'm glad you told me, even if what happened to them was...tragic." She leans slightly into Sigma's hold, glad for the support even if no amount of contact can bring those two back.

After a moment she shifts apart from him again, just slightly self-conscious of the intimate position. It isn't that she doesn't enjoy it, just the opposite, but--well. She looks out ahead in search of the bench he mentioned, to avoid dwelling on that thought. Naturally Luna does assume Sigma means Kyle when he refers to his son, and the thought that Kyle was once able to see these sights outside of the Rhizome is some small comfort. She can't claim to know what it is for a human raised from birth there rather than a creation serving as part of the facility itself, but she imagines that Earth here must have been as much of a sight for him as it is for her now. "It really is beautiful here. I hope he enjoyed it too, when he was here."

"Sorry? No, that's all right." Luna lowers her hand from his, surprised to hear the apology. "I'm thankful, to be honest. For more than just this." She struggles for a moment to find the right words, and rests her hand over her heart as she does. "Just the fact that you're talking to me now, even knowing what I am...and you helped me so much when I was in the Arena." The fact that Phil doesn't seem to be fond of robots still hurts a little, but he hasn't started treating her differently because of that. Only Sigma's ever done the same.

She smiles at him then, because she really is grateful for everything. "I have hope now, too. I suppose I will have to talk to Sigma, but now I really believe he might talk to me." No telling how soon that might be or whether he actually will tell her anything, and there's always the possibility that Sigma really doesn't trust her as well as she'd thought. But Luna can hope, and that means a lot anyway. "You've done nothing but help me since we met. So...thank you, very much."

The way Luna sounded so hurt at his own fears of robots and the like, it prompted Phil to explain himself. "I-It's not the fact of how you were born that makes me so, uh, so on edge. My past experiences with other robots have been less than fortunate. They were," haunted? Gray thought it best not to state that outright. Poor lady seemed to have a conflict of how she perceived herself, let's not add ghosts in machines to that. "They were murderously quirky. Their programming went rogue a-and while they protected children, adults weren't so lucky."

Mostly because it was an adult, a guard, that killed all those kids.

But it's the last part, not just the thanks but the confidence Luna showed that earned her a smile from the mentor, "Now that's the spirit! I bet you he'll talk to you and face what he did. Gamemaker or not, he has answer for that. I'll cancel the spa thing but I know things will turn out all right." Wishful thinking but it's what keeps Phil sane: the hope of a better tomorrow, however far that may be.

"Just promise me you won't be watching the Arena any time soon, okay?"

[wrap here?]

"Murderously quirky" robots...actually sounds a lot like the AI that serves as Luna's overseer, and frankly conjures up an image of Lagomorph hopping around and making rabbit puns while activating traps or dangerous machinery. Luna's briefly stunned by the mental image before trying to dismiss the thought for now (she can dwell on that later, better to think about what that must mean for Phil) and moving on.

Given that part of his history, she's still thankful that Phil believes in her enough to care her about like he's already shown. Luna shifts where she sits, debating with herself for a moment before standing and giving him a quick hug. She's needed this, she realizes. All of this. Her heart feels lighter now, and the future seems a little brighter. "I promise I'll keep away from the Arena coverage for a while," she says once she's let go. "I'll find something I can do."

Her mind is already starting to buzz with ideas as she leaves the suite. She's alive right now, despite everything, and there are things Luna can do. Answers she might be able to get, eventually. Sigma has things to answer for next time she sees him, but she ought to look at all the things she can do without worrying too much about rumors and mysteries in the meantime.

Threaded | Top-Level Comments Only

What times we live in!

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Wrap indeed!