video and spam

[witness_this]

Spam

[Furiosa spends most mornings in the gym. Honestly, she'd prefer the Enclosure, but she needs to be moving long and often enough that she can't justify using more than her share of the precious time in the false environment. She works out quickly how to run on the treadmill, but most of the other machines remain a mystery to her. If the right person is using them, they may see her watching, or so may decide to approach.

Some mornings her prosthesis is on, and others it is off, tucked protectively and nearly underfoot, out of habit, though this doesn't seem like the kind of place where anyone is likely to get any ideas.

When she is done, she usually ends by slipping upstairs, showering quickly, and permitting herself what feels like the decadent luxury of putting her feet into the pool. It takes her until about the fifth time to get up the nerve to walk in to the water, to lower herself down in it until she feels it lap up around her neck, then to hold her breath and gingerly, cover her mouth and nose, and cautiously, gingerly slip under the surface and just let herself float, suspended.

She can be found in any of those places.

Still, a workout isn't the same thing as practice, really, and the conversation that has been going on here has weighed heavily on her, though she hasn't participated. So, finally, she takes a break one morning in the gym and turns on the feed.]

Video

[She has to clear her throat to start, and wipe the sweat off her face. She's sitting in the frame, bare feet apart, elbows rested on her knees, metal arm down at her side. Furiosa isn't comfortable, exactly, talking to a little plastic box that will take her words all over the ship, but this is important to her.]

My name is Imperator Furiosa. I'm human. No powers. I'm in the gym.

If you need, I've been teaching people a little about how to fight. If you don't need, but you're--

I could use the practice.

[Short, unceremonious, she disconnects.]

Comments

spam;

[ukan]

[He studies her, his attention focusing narrowly on just her, his voice soft so as to fully exclude anyone who wanders through the gym around them.]

It's like revisiting every time in your life that you were weak, that you were helpless and beaten, and being given the power to change it. Forever. It's like getting control of the wheel after your car has slid too close to a cliff. It's knowing that you can find your enemies no matter how far they run, and it's knowing that you can terrify them on such a fundamental level they will never sleep again.

It's like knowing you have a purpose and that purpose will fulfill you no matter how alone you are. But it's also knowing that if you're strong enough, you will never be alone again. You feel things in the world you never knew were there. You can feel the earth beating, or dying, under your paws. You can smell the way a flower changes under starlight.

[He falls quiet, and a corner of his mouth twitches] Does that answer your question?

spam;

[witness_this]

[Her heart is a little in her throat by the time he's done.

She nods.]

spam;

[ukan]

[He ducks his head a little, removing some of the intensity of the moment.]

They won't tell you that. Not the other wolves I know. Certainly not the people who make up lore about us.

Most of the lore is wrong.

spam;

[witness_this]

I don't know the stories.

[Not really.]

spam;

[ukan]

There are hundreds. Thousands, maybe. And they've been more or less the same from every person I've met here.

Werewolves change with the full moon. We're compelled to eat. We don't remember the things we do when we've changed. A bite will turn someone into one of us. [He shrugs] In my case, all lies. Obviously.

Do you have campfire stories where you're from?

spam;

[witness_this]

Just about cannibals in the Wastes, but-

[Those are all real.]

Or stories of old, when the satellites come out in the sky. Back when everyone had shows.

spam;

[ukan]

We have those. And it's true where I'm from. Even I had a show, once.

[He sounds easy about it but that's from practice. It's a bit chilling to hear her talk about things he knows as if they're gone, with that arm and those scars as proof that it's all different.]

spam;

[witness_this]

[Her brow furls. She hates to keep derailing, but;]

What is a show?

spam;

[ukan]

[There is no way to explain it all without acknowledging how ridiculous modern entertainment is. So. Okay.

Brace yourself, Furiosa.]

Groups of people would get together to tell stories and record them--sort of like how we broadcast things on our network devices. The stories were mostly fake. All the actors dressed up for them, took on fake names or voices, and we used to put music to it all to make it more emotionally compelling. We'd give out awards for the ones that made us laugh or cry the hardest.

We also had reality tv, though. And that was just the same as if I followed you around recording you on my device for everyone to see how you live every second of your day.

Ideally you'd be doing something few people could do: make a fantastic cake. Rebuild a car in two days. [Actually, looking at her arm, maybe she can do that.] But you'd have to have a rival. Someone to give the audience drama.

spam;

[witness_this]

The way we watch fights.

[You can bet they don't end so peacefully.]

Everyone gathering for the entertainment- but based on little skills, or on told stories and legends.

[Okay, it sounds like a very intricate way to do something very simple, but she follows.]

spam;

[ukan]

Exactly. The written stories were all meant to make people think about a certain aspect of themselves. The reality tv was pure diversion.

And we did film fights, too. But ours were regulated. There were rules and padded gloves. No one was supposed to die.

[He grimaces]

And maybe I'm out of date. I quit watching when I was turned. I don't even know how my favorite show ended.

...Say you put one together, what would it be about?

spam;

[witness_this]

I'd have to see one to really imagine.

[She admits, with a shake of her head. No one has explained the TVs to her yet.

But now they're in the gym, on the mats, and she's kicking her boots off.]

So, what do you already know?

spam;

[ukan]

[He steps up, stopping just out of her range]

I'm not sure how to explain. Let's just go, and see what I can and can't do.

spam;

[witness_this]

[They fight. Lark is good, but Furiosa lives in a post-apocalyptic hell, so has some things to show him, and throws him around hard while she does it, gives him a few good bruises to show for his efforts. She's pleased with his progress though, and very occasionally nods her approval.]

spam;

[ukan]

[He's got endurance in spades; in a real fight she'd have to kill him fast to stop him. This isn't real, though, and it brings out a liveliness in him that most people don't get to see. Violence is a natural state for him, and it's as welcome as a good hard run, even when he's getting thrown down and hit.]

Re: spam;

[witness_this]

[Furiosa would normally be able to meet him, but she's had a few fights today, so is the one to end the match, sitting back and breathing deep, head tilting up.]

spam;

[ukan]

[He backs off a step, and sits in front of her]

We'll wait a while before we try this with the wolf.

spam;

[witness_this]

[Still a little out of breath, Furiosa nods.]

Water?

spam;

[ukan]

[He gets it for her, a cup offered delicately from the palm of his hand.]

Have you thought about what you would do if you were an inmate here?

spam;

[witness_this]

It's difficult to imagine, because it's so different from the last time I was taken.

[She explains, rubbing the back of her neck, unconsciously- then catching herself, with a wry smile.]

They were more... physical.

spam;

[ukan]

[He eyes where her hand is. He saw the brand as they fought, and he gives her a slow, curious look.

Because it's a personal subject, he offers something of his own first. Bartering for information is getting tricky around here.]

I've got a microchip in my back. That's an implant, that lets people scan me and see where I'm from, who owns me.

spam;

[witness_this]

Same principle.

[She agrees, lowering her hand.]

It can make it- hard. To be sympathetic. About every part of it.

[Which is a terrible thing to admit, but she glances up, and hopes he understands.]

spam;

[ukan]

I don't know much about your world, but I can imagine. It's hard for me sometimes, too, and my life has been fairly- easy. Compared to some.

There's a boy here who has been starved for water. That happens where I'm from, in certain countries, but never to anyone I knew.

spam;

[witness_this]

Nux.

[She says, with the utmost interest. He's talking about Nux. The thought of him being here is bittersweet, to say the least.]

[ukan]

Yeah.

[he smiles with genuine fondness.]

He punched me when my back was turned, is that normal or just a lucky quirk he has?