Masquerade Mingle

[thespaceopera]

[The night has finally come--the Gravity Rush is nearly upon us! What normally serves as a large performance hall has been gutted, emptied of its boring furniture and rigged up into a fantastical mismatch of technology and old culture. No matter where you go tonight, you're encouraged to move around, dance, play games, whatever helps you sleep in late tomorrow morning.

If you aren't one for scurrying around a ballroom all night, there's always plenty of people-watching to do. After all, so many people are wearing extravagant costumes and elaborate masks. How can you even tell who is who? Get lost in a crowd of sequins, chatter with a sun and a moon, or try to beat the guy in the monster-mask at a game of cards. Meet your friends or make some new ones--this masquerade party has begun!]


[[ooc: All sections are up now, have fun! A related ooc post is HERE for any questions or plotting you'd like to do.]]

Comments

[precedented]

[ He listens thoughtfully. ]

And your mind as well?

[pain_train]

[Long silence as she looks at him. Well, it's not like she makes a secret of this stuff. Lying and being secretive takes up too much thought, too much memory.]

I forget things. I've forgotten a lot of things.

[precedented]

[ Gentle, soothing. ]

Do you miss them?

[pain_train]

I guess?

I miss the idea of it. Like thinking I came from somewhere. But... I miss sunsets. Because I remember sunsets, and then I didn't get to see them any more because the dome got closed. I know what's gone. It's not the same when it's just... [Vague handwave.] A shapeless idea.

[precedented]

[ Leto can't picture it. Not really. Everything was in fully formed concepts and ideas when he was born. He never had a chance to picture or imagine anything. He's able to draw out any skill, any piece of information at any time. Books became dull, learning became a chore.

Watching her, he can see how the opposite can be fraught with its own problems. ]

I've never felt anything like that before.

[pain_train]

I don't think a lot of people have.

It's like... there are holes in my brain, sometimes. Like once I remembered... I got field promoted to Lieutenant, and that's when I became Wrath, because before that I was in Envy platoon. And there was a reason I wasn't in Wrath platoon, because the CO--and it just stops, right there. I know there should be more, but I can't remember it no matter how hard I try. It's just gone.

[Excised.]

Other things, I just don't know at all. I don't remember anything before the army. [Shrug.] There's not even a shape to it.

[precedented]

I was in a place where we lost our memories, but what happened to you . . . was cruel. I'm sorry.

[ His words are heartfelt. ]

[pain_train]

Thanks.

[She shrugs one shoulder.] Non-compliant behavior. So it's kind of my own fault. [She still half-believes it, and half doesn't. It's hard to sort out in her own head.]

But I survived. Other people didn't.

[precedented]

Surviving is the greatest skill one can possess.

[pain_train]

I think it's just luck. Really dumb luck.

[precedented]

Perhaps. Perhaps not. Who can really say?

[pain_train]

When you survive a battle with a casualty rate of over 70%, you can tell.

[precedented]

Would you have preferred not to?

[pain_train]

I wouldn't dishonor the sacrifices my brother soldiers made that way.

[She's felt that way recently a few times, but it had nothing to do with that battle.]

[precedented]

[ Kindly. ]

I think calling it luck would be a little unfair to them as well.

[pain_train]

Why? It's shitty luck that killed a lot of them.

[precedented]

Perhaps. But it reduces their lives to the whims of fate. They fought to their best ability.

[pain_train]

But that's what it is.

You can't stop a bullet, no matter how hard you fight. You just have to hope that today isn't the day it hits the crack in your visor.

[precedented]

[ Truth rings clearly. ]

They live on in you as well.

[pain_train]

[This guy makes zero sense.]

If you say so. [What is even happening.] Maybe I don't remember?

[precedented]

About them or the battle?

[pain_train]

If I don't remember, how would I know?

[precedented]

I think in your heart, you would know. The memories might slip by, but your feelings are steady.

[pain_train]

I think you're right. Even if I don't remember things, I still know some stuff. [Mostly, she knows what she should be afraid of.]

[precedented]

You know your heart and more.