Maybe the best way to experience pain,
is to embrace it, to surrender,
to let the agony seep deep into your bones.
To let the frown take over your face completely.
That way, you become one with the pain itself.
That way, you won’t even feel a thing.
Numb and weightless.
***
“Welcome back, Dara.”
I saw an unfamiliar man in front of me, smiling, waving at me. I looked around. I wasn’t where I supposed to be. This dimly lit room was so spacious only to be occupied by this guy and me.
I blinked, and my vision blurred for a view seconds.
I blinked again, and something electrified me.
“Am I in the Healing Center?” I asked. Even my voice sounded hoarse. How long had I been out?
“Sure. Healing center, whatever you say..” he said without taking his hands away from the keys and buttons in fronf of him. A couple of seconds later I realized I was standing in front of him all the time. Surprisingly I wasn’t laying on any bed, or attached to any infusions.
By reflect I raised my hands, and gazed all the way down my body to my toes. A white, edgy dress was covering my skins. This was more than what I expected, the dead-white patient gown I used to wear after the Games. What are they performing to me here?
“Don’t worry, you look pretty. Capitol Style.”
By the end of his sentence, I looked down and spotted something else beneath my stylish stilettos. To be exact, that something.. is nothing but thin air. Apparently I was floating in the air the whole time. I wanted to say it out loud but a little bug inside my head told me it was normal. Perfectly normal, because I didn’t scream in shock, I didn’t even cringe.
But that was a different case for my curiosity. Next thing I knew, I spilled those cliche words to the nerdy guy and his computer. “What’s..happening to me? What are you doing?”
“..mm.. you’re too curious.. gotta fix that later..” he mumbled, typing something into his computer and I felt like everytime he pressed those buttons, some little tickling sensations swirled inside my stomach. And my face. My arms. My legs. My hips. My eyebrows. My smile.
Wait a second.. am I smiling right now? What is- -
“There you go! That’s the smile the tributes would see when they arrive in the Capitol. Chic and minimalist. Not much emotions there, perfect.”
What?
Chic smile? What is he talking about?
What is this, I can’t stop smiling!
“Stop it! Whatever it is.. it’s weird. Stop it!”
He giggled a bit, “I watched you in the arena last year, and the years before that too. You only smile a little for the camera. Now is your chance to smile more, girl.”
His boney fingers danced across the keys in excitement and I started to think that this guy is the type who wouldn’t listen to anyone’s story but his. I turned around to get a hint of this odd situation, but my neck wouldn’t let me. I was only able to stare straight at the guy a couple of inches below me, like my neck was tied to something invisible.
As I was looking at him, the guy went all insane again. Mumbling to himself, touching the holo-screens surrounding his desk. Pretty creepy.
“A couple of etiquette tips from me: when you greet people, keep your head straight. No wild glances. Never worry about how you look, only worry about your intonation. Ah but I can always make some voice recordings, hmm.. okay.. scratch that.. “ he mumbled again, “.. let’s try it out.”
A jolt in my throat startled me. Before I knew it, I started to talk, and the voice itself wasn’t even mine. I moved my muted lips according to the words playing in the background.
“Hello, you have arrived in the Capitol. I hope you enjoyed our service along the trip. All your accomodations have been prepared at the Training Center. Please follow- -”
“Perfect! Whoa, look at you..” he said, as he pressed another button. With that, my body spinned slowly, facing another wall full of glowing machines and stuffs, I bet only the Capitol could have. As I spinned around, I caught my reflection on one of the glass display cases. That was probably the weirdest dress I had ever seen in my life, and that guy decided to had me wearing it. Even my stylist wouldn’t do this far.
I kept spinning and my reflections were getting clearer as I met another mirror glass. I waited for my body to spin again, but the guy had pressed another button. I stopped, facing the mirror, staring at my floating reflection there. I looked like a ghost.
“Wanna meet someone?” he asked, suddenly standing not far next to me. Before I could even respond to him, he had put his finger on some kind of a scanner next to the mirror. A soft glowing light appeared around the edges of the mirror, and slowly, my reflection was replaced by something else. I saw a girl inside the container, sleeping with a thin layer of hospital gown covering her body.
I squinted my eyes, making sure she wasn’t any of the tributes I would know. Some names came across my mind, but none of them resembled this girl.
I blinked.
Wait a minute, I knew her. I knew the girl.
I turned to the guy whistling next to me, “That’s me.. what’s going on..?”
The guy kept whistling, wanting to let me know that I asked the wrong question.
I stared at my sleeping body inside the container. I was there, I knew it by heart. So what am I? What am I doing floating here inside this dress? What is this body I’m breathing in? I wasn’t even sure if I’d been breathing..
“Am I dead?” I asked him.
“You’re well and alive, honey. Still in development, but we have lot of time to improve your sound quality. Hmm.. and those ugly glitches too.. don’t worry dear, I can fix that.”
Right after he said that, I noticed how my body was twitching, like a broken television. My hands looked so hollow, I could see the tiles on the floor clearly through the back of my hand.
He locked the container and it instantly transformed back into a cold mirror glass standing against the steel wall. Using his buttons, he made me spin until I faced his computer again.
“Okay, enough for today..” he said, typing something on his keyboard, “..I shall name the progress today: ‘DARA version 1.0’.” he waited for my reaction before continuing, “Hahahaha get it? Get it?? Since you’re from District 10 and all, so this version suits you... kekekekekee...”
I didn’t find the joke funny at all.
“What are you people doing to my body?” I asked, but he was still laughing from his own joke.
“Good night, Dara! ” he waved at me, “Shutting you down in 3, 2..”
“HEY WAIT! ANSWER ME!”
Click.
***
Hoy hoy~XD
Sorry for all the weird stuffs XD
Do you guys had any idea from that cheesy little piece earlier?
Kekeke long story short, I'm going to be on a hiatus as tribute :3
Can't keep up with both rp and college, so I thought of this cheesy stuff and discussed it over with Prez if I could play this role during my absence as tribute :)
Hmm so yes, Dara wouldn't be thrown into the Cornucopia on the following Games, instead she'll stay on the Training Center, or maybe showing up at the city as a holographic software developed by the Capitol, using her appearance and personality to welcome the citizen and tributes at the Capitol.
She'll be like a ghost around the place, and you can still talk to her, but of course she couldn't eat anymore, or drink, or pee, or highfives you, but she could joke around, develop feelings and relationship, hmm as human as she could be~~^o^ (it's still a mistery, even for me OvO~)
Maybe I need to explain further, but it would be too long then :3
Yeah so.. I don't know if I could return as a tribute in the near future, but I'll visit often as Holo-Dara and derping around like one of those ghosts in Hogwarts~ #SLAPPED
See you soon humans!
-Dara v1.0-
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