001 - Every time that I wake it's like I only wake into a dream

[want_take_have]

[she dreamt of a picnic.

Mayor Wilkins was there. Happy. Whole. Cracking his stupid, corny jokes that should have made her roll her eyes...except they didn't. There was a nagging sense of deja vu, like she'd seen this before and it hadn't ended well, but they finished their meal and he talked with her and...nothing happened. It was perfect.

She was content enough that she laid back on the grass and closed her eyes, just enjoying the breeze against her face and the fact that, for once, she didn't have to be on edge.

When she woke, she could still feel the hint of that breeze. An illusion, of course. Something left over from her imagination, because you didn't get wind in prison cells. She kept her eyes closed though, trying to pretend, because she wasn't quite ready to let it go...except there was a dull ache between her shoulder blades that wouldn't let her fully relax. Finally, she swore, grit her teeth, and opened her eyes-





...And stared.

It takes a few minutes of quietly freaking out before she finds the journal, and a few more before she gets ahold of herself enough to attempt to use it. She was from Sunnydale...She could handle screwed up. She'd figure it out as she went. Right?

When she actually speaks, she sounds pretty chill, especially to anyone who doesn't know what she sounds like when she's wigged.]

So...not saying I totally buy the whole "this is real" thing, 'cause this is all kinds of messed up...but pretending I did...where's a girl gotta go to get a hard drink around here?

[because she really, really needed one]

Comments

[want_take_have]

[if she expected some kind of understanding, she doesn't get it. Instead, the expression that flashes across Faith's features is almost panicked]

Broke out? Why?

[she'd thought about it a million times, of course. It would have been easy. Too easy. And, God, some days it was all she wanted. But she'd made a promise.

What the hell had made her break it?]

[voice]

[want_take_have]

Shit.

[herotypical]

Trouble in paradise. A big bad looking to not only off you and me but any girl with the potential to ever be a Slayer. As far as I heard? One of them came after you, behind bars.

[want_take_have]

Couple of months. [she makes a small, considering sound in the back of her throat] Woulda figured B would find a way out of here by then.

[voice]

[want_take_have]

Program what into what?

[want_take_have]

[and it's that little detail that keeps her from completely writing Amelia off. Because she's already learned that, and the discomfort of it flashes across her face as she looks away and down at the nearest rack of clothing]

Yeah...I heard something about that.

[want_take_have]

I take it that didn't really go the way they planned.

[hearing that it was for a good cause helps, but she still sounds uneasy]

[thedicearecast]

...From someone you know.

[It's not really a question, after the look Faith just got.]

From your future or your past?

[herotypical]

A lot of girls died. Then again? A lot more survived. We won. [ and here came the truth in a terrible rush: ] Thanks -- in no small part -- to you.

[want_take_have]

Future.

...I guess. [she shrugs] And she ain't really the lying type.

[want_take_have]

[there's a long pause, followed by a question that's...probably not all that reassuring]

..So I'm one of the good guys?

[thedicearecast]

It's the same for me. On both counts.

[Which had left Amelia with some unwanted knowledge.]

You supposedly don't remember anything from here when you go home, which means you can't change anything. In case you want to ask them not to tell you anything about what happens.

[herotypical]

So much so that I don't think you'd believe me if I told you about the good you've done...

Re: [voice]

[cop_an_attitude]

[Yeah, that pretty much sums it up.]

I'm not sure if it happens to everyone.

[jewitch]

...We're working on it. [She echoes the response Buffy gave her during her own expository Q&A. Mostly because Buffy is her friend and how dare anyone else criticize her! And also because she repeatedly reminds herself of that fact due to her own misgivings about Buffy's length of time here and what that implies about any possible escape routes.]

[hisdarkmark]

So you're used to these situations?

[voice]

[godbent]

Battle Dome. It's- [...] one of the largest buildings here, the largest outside of the apartments. You can program simulations into it, from basic things like a track field to more complex things like, I don't know, maybe the final days of Nobunaga's campaign, complete with enemy soldiers.

[want_take_have]

Bit late for that.

So what's the point in playing mix 'n match with history? They just trying to fuck with us?

[want_take_have]

Well, damn.

[it's soft...disbelieving...and grateful. She's not sure she buys it...but she really, really wants to]

[want_take_have]

Yeah...I kinda moved past the whole Russian Roulette phase of my life. Not really lookin' to dive back in.

[want_take_have]

Yeah. Right. 'Course you are.

[she clears her throat. This would be a great time for an apology. Or an explanation. Or...something. But she's got nothing. So, instead, she changes the subject]

Guess you guys are probably all comfy somewhere in town, right?

[want_take_have]

I got a bit of a history. Though, I gotta say, this is still ranking pretty high on the weird-o-meter.

[voice]

[want_take_have]

Sounds like my kind of deal.

[except...]

How hard's the programming thing?

[voice]

[godbent]

About as hard as html. [...] If you know what that is, I mean. It's not that difficult, and even if you can't manage it it keeps a record of what everyone else has done so you can use other people's stuff as pre-mades. And there's a few defaults it just has on there as a result of people who show up here. Like... for example, I'm sure it has vampires because of Buffy.

[thedicearecast]

Ah. [Well, Amelia tried.] Sorry, then.

It's about as likely as anything else. For everything that seems good in this place, there's a reminder that it's really not. No one starves or dies of thirst, but everyone gets experimented on or kidnapped or sent off to fight in a war.

[Amelia hesitates, considering, before she offers a bit more carefully.]

Or you get here and meet people you care about, only to learn they're dead.