thecapitol | (no subject)

Who| Joan and Dan
What| Joan told Dan to come find her so they could talk. Hence.
Where| District 11 suite
When| After the Capitol tells the Tributes what's actually going on.
Warnings/Notes| Talk about alien-thingies, possibly about violence/injury/death as well?

Joan usually doesn't watch the screens, considering their penchant for programming chock full of violence and death. Since returning to the District 11 suites after checking out the barriers, though, she's been sitting in the common room and watching the coverage of the "crisis." When the messages come to the Tributes, letting them in on what was actually going on, Joan rolls her eyes, shakes her head. Of course. The Capitol officials are liars. Who lie.

In addition to the frustration, however, there's also worry. Dan is out there, on the "wrong" side of the barriers, barriers that are pretty much meaningless, since the evacuation area is expanding. And he's a Peacekeeper, so it's his job to fight these things and possibly die in the process.

Aside from the necessary lack of trust, she doesn't want to see him hurt. She had wanted him to come see her so she could get him to tell her what the Capitol was actually up to, of course. But she was also telling the truth when she said she wanted to know he was okay.

So she waits. And watches. And worries.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

She tilted her head. He didn't know about drug-resistant bacteria. She wonders if it's the bacteria part, or the drug-resistant part.

"Do you have antibiotics here?"

"Yes of course. Our medical facilities are top-notch."

She smiled a little. "Maybe you've solved this problem. Where I come from, when you use anti-biotics, you kill, say, 98 percent of the bacteria making someone sick. Great, that person gets better. But that extra two percent that was resistant to the antibiotics for whatever reason? Those are the ones that survive to reproduce. It might take a while, but eventually the medication you have doesn't treat that strain anymore, because you've basically made it so that the resistant ones survive and thrive."

"Evolution, basically, all be it forced," he pointed out and nodded a bit. "Makes sense, but we don't have that problem here. We won't have it with our people either."

"I guess we'll see."

She was about to say "I hope you're right," but she doesn't. She doesn't want this civilization to collapse, but she also doesn't want these murderous people to remain in power.

"I hope not. Whatever is going to happen, I don't really want to see it in my lifetime. I want peace to be what we have until long after I'm gone."

Even a peace built on death and destruction, she thinks but does not say. They're arguing in circles. It makes no sense to keep going around. So she'll change the subject.

"Why did you become a Peacekeeper?"

Dan smiled a bit, but it was tinged with embarrassment. "When I was a kid... I thought it'd be a little like being in a brotherhood of heroes."