thecapitol | Animals, Things and Elements possess a soul which man does not yet know.

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Animals, Things and Elements possess a soul which man does not yet know.

Who| Luna and friends, open
What| Luna's been reborn thanks to the Capitol, and now she's seeking out familiar faces.
Where| Detention Center
When| Backdated to after the D7 battles, before the power chip event
Warnings/Notes| Brainwashing/control talk.

Do not attempt escape. Do not cause trouble. Do not aid any rebels you see. Those few simple commands are enough to close the cage around what might be Luna's soul, if she even has one.

When she wakes up in the Capitol she knows her body and mind are different instinctively once again. It's not long before she's informed that the Capitol has deigned to return her original mechanical body to her, generously adapted to allow her to function independently on Earth. The catch, of course, is that they want loyalty in return. In fact, one of the extra modifications they've made to her design is the absolute rule that she must follow orders, to ensure that loyalty. Luna feels it: extra threads monitoring her decision-making processes, too clumsily integrated to be Sigma's work (although he surely must have been involved in the work on her body) but functional all the same. She's aware of the processes that govern her behavior but she can't change them, so the change is here to stay.

Detainment Center Infirmary
GAULEMs are good for many things in the Rhizome 9 facility, but in Panem without a larger system to interact with Luna isn't much more useful than she was with an organic body. Medical and technical capability remain her foremost skills in the Capitol's eyes, and so Luna's assigned to around-the-clock duty in the infirmary - less risky than allowing her increased access to tech, obedience or not. It's a count for the Capitol in a manner, because she's aware that they could very well order her to enter combat as a soldier and she'd do it for all she'd hate herself. Luna doesn't care if it's probably less mercy and more lack of bothering. At least she can still pretend that she can follow her own rules this way.

She's not the only one there, of course. Security takes issue with giving an offworlder, robotic or not, free reign of the place. There's always another doctor or nurse on hand to give her orders and make sure she doesn't go haywire and tear up the place (as if that were possible to begin with) but for mundane tasks and grunt work, Luna's free to attend to patients like any other staff on hand. Most of the time, that means greeting any ailing inhabitants of the detainment center with a soft voice and an attitude far too meek for any normal nurse.

Detainment Center Visiting Room
Once in a while when a staff member feels bad for her or (more likely) gets tired of her presence, Luna's let go to do as she wants for a few hours as long as she doesn't cause trouble. The time off work is a relief at first, but Luna quickly finds that as soon as the relief passes she doesn't really know what to do with herself. She's allowed to leave the detainment center but doesn't feel much like enjoying herself in the city, and even just sitting quietly gives her too much room to stew in her thoughts. She can't even take a little solace in her music box these days, having left it in District Thirteen before the battle that got her killed. She wonders if it will get thrown away anyway in her absence despite her efforts to keep it safe. She won't blame anybody if they do.

Free time more than anything leaves her feeling aimless and alien like the early days after her creation, and like those days the end result is a crushing sense of loneliness - the kind that creates a brittle, permeating ache that comes from no external stimulus. Eventually she starts visiting the detainment center, inquiring after every name she can think of save Sigma's (he wouldn't be here, of course). Some people aren't here, and whatever reasons behind each of their cases she's glad. Too many names still are, and she can't help but request an audience with them. She needs the company; maybe they will too.

Detainment Center Visiting Room; for Sansa Stark
Luna's surprised to hear that Sansa's living out in the Capitol rather than being detained, but she's glad. Sansa deserves more than this, and Luna had feared the worst for her when Sansa remained the only District Six Tribute unaccounted for during her time in Thirteen. She dithers for a little while on whether to contact her, not wanting to drag her down by association, but ultimately goes for it: Sansa would probably have wanted the same if their positions had been reversed. She asks for a message to be sent, and a meeting time is arranged. When the time comes Luna tries to look more presentable than she feels before she comes into the visiting room, so as not to worry Sansa too much.

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Luna had guessed that Sansa might not know what a robot was, based on what she knew about the other girl's homeworld. She hadn't know how Sansa would react because of that, and apparently now that she's admitted the truth it seems like Sansa doesn't know either. But the words settle in her memory even as she double-checks them to make sure she's interpreted them correctly. They're still friends. Best friends? It's surreal, applying that idea to herself. Luna's still new to having friends at all; surely she can't be anyone's best friend. But she trusts Sansa, deeply, and it can't be a lie. So...

Her vision blurs, and Luna realizes that it's because she's starting to cry. Unlike human tears hers are just plain water, taken from a tiny reservoir hidden underneath her artificial tissue. The emotion is as close to real as she'll ever get, though, and this time without asking Luna reaches out to hug Sansa close again. "Thank you," she says, too overwhelmed to say much more. "Thank you. I've been afraid, since we met..."

First Phil, now Sansa. Even after nearly three months in Panem, she can't believe how good some of the people here are to her. It's beyond anything she ever dreamed of in the Rhizome, and whatever Sansa says she's done Luna's sure it won't change how she feels now.

"You don't have to be afraid." Sansa hugs her tight, feeling her own eyes start to fill up with tears as she strokes Luna's shoulder. "Not about that. Not ever."

Next to some of the people she's known, some of the things she's turned a blind eye to for her own safety, this revelation hardly seems worth mentioning. If Luna's pretended to be something she isn't, so what? They're all just pretending, after all - everyone here, maybe everyone in the world. Maybe not about the same things, but it's not news that someone here isn't what they seem. It would be stranger if they were.

"You don't have to be afraid," she repeats, and turns her head to press a kiss to the side of Luna's head. "It's all right. It's all going to be all right."

Luna doesn't know that everything's going to be all right. With no sign of the war ending soon she still has the specter of her reprogramming hanging over her and the fear of losing more people to the Capitol - especially ones she loves as much as she does Sansa. Because that's how Luna feels, the girl as dear as Kyle and Akane were and the thought that she could meet the same fate they did terrifies Luna.

But Sansa's not involved in the fighting and she's doing her best to reassure Luna now, so...it helps. Luna wants to believe that things really will be okay, even if she doesn't see how yet. So she nods and doesn't let go, resting her head against Sansa's. "I'll do my best to stay alive, once I'm called away. You'll stay safe too, won't you? I know it isn't as dangerous in the Capitol, but things still...happen."

"I know," Sansa says gravely. Bad things happen wherever you are, especially when there's a war. "But I'll be all right, I promise. Don't worry about me." She smiles a little at Luna. "And before too long, this will all be over, and we can forget all about this horrible war. Soon."

"I hope so." Luna separates herself from Sansa, although she doesn't move far. "And once that happens, maybe we'll all be able to settle down. Peacefully." It's not quite sedition, but it is true to Luna's heart in a way that she knows the Capitol might not approve of. In her dreams there are no more wars, no more Hunger Games, and people who want to be together in any way can do so without fear. It's not going to happen for a long time if at all, but she can still dream. Even if she can no longer act on her dreams, she still has that.

And she still has Sansa. "Will you visit me again?" she asks. "After today. I still have a while longer to talk, but - well, I'm not going anywhere. And you were right, I haven't told you anything about myself. So...I'd like to fix that."

"Of course." Sansa smiles at her, tucking a stray strand of hair back behind her ear. "Of course I will! I'll come every day, if I can."

She means it, too. It means so much to have someone here who's a friend, a real friend. If she had to give up her privileged position in the Capitol to see Luna regularly, she thinks she probably would.

The idea makes her happy: time spent with friends is time she doesn't have to spend feeling alone and powerless. But Luna's worried that too much association with her might hurt Sansa in the Capitol, and she doesn't even know if frequent visits will be allowable by her superiors. (Maybe they will be. Sometimes her superiors don't seem to know what to do with her, robot and ex-Tribute and easily passing for human at first glance.) She'd be very happy to see Sansa every day, but is it even possible?

Better to play it safe, for Sansa's sake if not her own. "Oh, Sansa, you don't need to do that." She means to be a little more forceful with it, but the way her tone comes out she's still a little too choked up to sound completely serious. "You must have other people who want to see you."

"They can see me," Sansa says. She's still playing her usual card, sounding innocent and oblivious and just a bit stupid, but there's some force behind it, too. Just because she plays the game differently doesn't mean she's not Eddard Stark's daughter: doesn't mean she hasn't inherited at least some of his dogged loyalty and sense of honour. Luna is her friend, the best friend she's got in this place, and she won't let her disappear the way she let Jeyne disappear. She won't.

She grabs Luna's hands tightly, meeting the other girl's eyes. There's steel in her look, behind the blithe innocence of her smile.

"And I can see you. Not all the time, maybe not even absolutely every day, but, Luna, you came back. You're one of so few people I lost who came back."

Who came back. That's...it's not entirely a surprise, but it reminds Luna of the people she's lost herself and how much their loss has hurt. And for Sansa, the only one in their district who'd been left behind in the raid, the loss must have been great indeed. Luna's already too conflicted to seem firm in suggesting Sansa could stay away. The thought of really leaving Sansa alone traps anything she could have said in her throat.

She doesn't want to drag Sansa down, but she also doesn't want to cause her further pain either. Sansa is insisting, and Luna can tell she's very serious about the matter. But she has to be sure, and there's uncertainty in her expression as she looks down to where Sansa's gripping her hands, and where the cuff the other girl's given her sits on her wrist. "Are you sure? Some people may not like it if you spend so much time with me. And...I don't think I'll be leaving again, so you won't have to worry." There's no predicting the future, of course, but Luna doesn't see any reason why District Thirteen would want her back.

Sansa follows Luna's gaze down to their hands, and loosens her grip slightly, not having realised just how tightly she was holding on. It's a moment before she answers, as she tries to balance the stubborn bravery of telling Luna she doesn't care if people like it with her own precarious political position. Her uncertainty is kept off her face, for the most part, but it shows in the way her eyes flicker from their hands to Luna's face and back again: sharp, wary.

"I can't help worrying," she says at last, quietly. "Not after everything. And you aren't any threat, are you? You came back. You're here, you're helping them. Helping us." She bites her lip, squeezing Luna's hands a little. "The Capitol are wiser than that, they aren't going to think I'm a traitor just for wanting to see my friend." She knows that's not necessarily true. The Capitol is, on the whole, neither wise nor rational. But it's something Luna ought to hear, and something it can't hurt to let the Capitol hear, either.

Luna isn't necessarily here by choice, but she isn't going to tell Sansa that. Talking about her death on the battlefield is only just going to cause more fretting, the truth of her current loyalty maybe as much. Sansa has enough to worry about without adding to it. Luna opts not to tell her unless it becomes necessary; the end result is the same anyway. "It's true, I'm not a threat. And I will be helping the Capitol from now on in whatever ways I can. I hope that will be enough."

For the time being, the Capitol seem to be content with letting her use her expertise where it lies rather than train her for combat. The idea that someday it might not be enough still frightens her, but at the least it makes practical sense to leave her as is. With the restrictions placed on her she's as safe as any Capitolite might be, but that doesn't necessarily remove the stigma of being a former rebel soldier. It's only natural to worry about about ruining her friend by association given the situation, but she can't dictate what Sansa does and so she settles for a request instead. "At least be careful about it, won't you? I'd really rather nothing happened to you because of me."

"Oh, don't be silly." Sansa laughs, light and easy, although her eyes still hold Luna's. "I'm not in any danger here. They've been nothing but kind to me."

That really is for the Capitolites watching. She isn't going to let them think she's frightened of them - it's a small step from that to thinking she has something to hide. Better to keep up her guard; better to be small and flighty and a little stupid. A little bird, repeating the song they taught you. Well, it's kept her alive this long.

She clasps Luna's hands, leaning over to kiss her on the cheek. "I'll be careful," she says, but lightly. "Don't worry about me. Everyone here is ever so good to me." Then, pulling away, "Listen, Luna, what sort of pastries do you like? I get paid tomorrow, I was going to buy myself something. I'll bring some for you!"

Luna has many doubts about the Capitol, but the fact that Sansa insists despite the potential danger makes her just a little hopeful. She wants to believe that Sansa is telling the truth in that they've been good to her, and Luna's own current status means that there probably shouldn't be any threat to Sansa in order to keep Luna herself in check. So she relents, and feels relieved for a moment before Sansa mentions pastries.

"Oh, um..." Luna dithers for a moment, feeling awkward again. "Actually, I can't eat food of any kind anymore. I think when I was brought here the Capitol made me a new body because my old one wouldn't be able to function here. But now they've given me one more like the one I used to have, and I'm not built to eat or drink like humans do." She does need to have her internal batteries recharged every so often, but that isn't quite the same thing. Times like these, Luna feels the difference keenly.

Oh. Oh. Sansa's taken aback by that, and it shows. She blinks owlishly, and it takes her a moment (not a long moment, but still) to regain her balance. She feels sheepish too, especially since she can see that it's made Luna uncomfortable. "I'm sorry. I... I didn't realise. I shouldn't have assumed."

"No, no, there's no way you could have known." Luna waves her hands insistently, unwillingness to let Sansa blame herself overcoming her mortification at pointing out their differences. "I don't know why they changed me, to be honest...maybe they needed time and help to make me as I am now, since it's more convenient for the Capitol."

She debates mentioning the reprogramming that's been done on her and shies away from it. She's worried Sansa enough for today, and hopefully it will never have to be relevant to their friendship. She smiles, to make up for the awkwardness. "Why don't you get yourself two pastries? You can enjoy them enough for the both of us."

Sansa pulls a face, clearly indecisive. It sounds gluttonous, put like that. After a moment, she shakes her head. "I'll think of something better to bring," she promises. "I'd feel very stupid, sitting and eating by myself when I could be talking with a dear friend."

"Oh, no, don't feel that way!" Luna's not really used to this kind of consideration, and she's a little flustered as a result. "I don't really need much. And in my own world, I served a family, a human family, so I'm used to seeing others eat." But the less said about them the better, since most of them are gone. "Humans need food to live. And it was...nice, while I could."

It's a strange topic for Luna. The human experience of eating was distinctly something while she was in the first body they'd given her, but she can't remember the exact sensations anymore. Something about her current body, maybe.

"I suppose," Sansa says after a moment, with a little smile, "it explains why you burnt yourself on the tea, that first time. I did wonder a little about that."

"Oh! Um..." Luna had honestly almost forgotten about that, but she does still remember the incident Sansa means. "Yes. That was really the first time I'd ever had tea. I didn't expect it to be so...hot." She smiles, to show she's joking. Mostly. "I got used to it, and now I can see why people enjoy good food so much. So I won't mind if you bring food next time, or anything else for that matter."

Sansa considers for a moment, then brightens. "I could bring Lady," she suggests, with a sudden, sunny smile. "I don't think you've met her, have you?"

"Lady?" That's not a familiar name, and Luna looks surprised for a moment. "Is that one of your friends in the Capitol? Well, if she wouldn't mind..." Any friend of Sansa's is a friend of hers, after all - or so she hopes.

Friends in the Capitol? It's kind of sweet that Luna thinks she has those, but the truth is, Sansa isn't sure she does. Allies, maybe. Fans. But not friends. She shakes her head, laughing.

"She's my dog."

"A dog?" Luna takes a moment to absorb that statement, and then she smiles sheepishly. Embarrassed? Definitely. "Oh. Um, well, I'd love to meet her! I haven't...I've never met a real dog before. If they'll allow her in, of course." She doesn't know the visiting policy on dogs, but surely there can't be too much reason not to allow them?

Sansa smiles back, and if she's noticed Luna's embarrassment, she's doing a good job of hiding it. "Oh, you'll love her. She's very friendly. And really, really fluffy."

"Oh. That sounds delightful." Luna really hasn't met a dog before, but she has seen pictures of some and she would very much like the opportunity to play with one a little. Fluffy is an added bonus.

She takes Sansa's hand again and squeezes it briefly, in thanks. "I'll look forward to seeing both of you. I'll let the people I work for know about what we're doing, so maybe they'll give me time when you come." It's not guaranteed, with how Luna's expected to work...but then again, the staff doesn't entirely know how to handle her yet. She thinks maybe she can make it work.

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Animals, Things and Elements possess a soul which man does not yet know.

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