Mmm. I wouldn't call it a story so much as a history lesson.
[So, uh. Strap in.]
In 2028, there was a pandemic. A virus called Radical-6. Many believed it to be biological warfare, but no one could prove it - only that it originated in Nevada in the United States and spread like wildfire. Over two million people died. Containing it became close to impossible, and society quickly started to collapse. People started to starve to death, or grow ill from the bodies that piled the streets.
In a desperate attempt to eradicate the pathogen and save what they could of humanity, in April of 2029, the remaining world leaders set off eighteen antimatter reactors across the world. I... can't really explain it right now, or we might be here forever, but... that's an equivalent explosive force over 180,000 times what was contained in the atom bomb dropped on Hiroshima, Japan during World War 2.
The resulting radiation wiped out the virus... and many, many people. Between the initial pandemic, the collapse of society, and the explosions... 6 billion people were killed.
[Akira's interested expression quickly morphs into horror as Luna continues. as though a pandemic itself wasn't enough, learning that her world's leaders were okay with killing billions of people in an attempt to eradicate the virus is absolutely and utterly horrifying]
Do... you know what nuclear winter is, Akira? It's the ecological result of air pollution, either from manmade waste, fire, or extremely large explosions, like that of an atom bomb or a large volcano. Debris is knocked into the atmosphere, and can block out the effects of the sun.
In Earth's case... there was no direct sunlight for over seven years. I've heard there's been some regrowth, now that a few decades have passed, but... most plant and animal life went extinct.
While some survived, and there is some form of civilization still operating, the world has become a... a wasteland. There's so much ash that... the sky is no longer blue. Light can't reach that far anymore. So... it's red.
[his expression twists. all of this is. . . very difficult to imagine. it's something that only happens in fictional books, right? not. . . in real life, right?]
[except it happened on Luna's world, and that's just. . . difficult to comprehend]
...It is. The stories I hear are... are always so horrible. I wasn't constructed until after all of the fallout, though, and I... um... I never got to visit Earth. So all I know is from stories and history logs.
[To imagine an Earth with green continents, blue ocean, white clouds... it sounds ridiculous.]
Many people have established colonies on the moon for purposes of research. That was the case for the project that purchased me. That's all I've known.
The one we saw during trial. The one involving the older man-- [to whom she felt feelings of warmth, even while her body moved on automatic, forced to do so by an unseen hand. he tries not to frown]
[Her eyes flicker, a hurt that barely registers at the surface, but aches deep down.]
He's... um... a very busy man. We don't talk much, outside what he requires of me. But I understand. I just... really know what a kind person he is. He's done so much for everyone and for his work, and he's intelligent... I can't help but admire him.
[a hurt that he can still see, if only because he's studying her expression so carefully, trying to read every little emotion that crosses her features]
["admire" is one way to put it. . . and it gives those warm feelings he felt from her in that memory just a little more of a shape]
Is he the one who gave you that necklace you're always reaching for?
...Yes. [Though she unfortuntely doesn't have it in this thread so RIP.]
The old woman and Doctor Klim both kept very, very busy. I was tasked to help as needed, of course, and I helped take care of Kyle when he would allow it, but... most of the time, I was just... alone. Due to the limited range of my body, I wasn't allowed outside the facility.
...It was really hard. To be lonely... I feel it must be what it feels like to slowly suffocate... like I would fall apart.
That's when the Doctor gave me that. It's... actully a music box. He said it belonged to someone he once deeply cared for. I thought about it for a while, and I took it as a way of him saying... "Luna, happiness is closer than you think."
[he hates thinking about her trapped in that facility, though. hates thinking that people used her as nothing but a tool for their own convenience. it shows in his features, in the way he frowns, brows furrowed]
[. . .]
Happiness is closer than you think. . . [. . .] Was it?
It's a complicated statement, isn't it? I... found I had to think about it a lot.
[That's not really an answer, of course... but she would feel a little empty if she didn't try to explain herself.]
Do you know about Maeterlink's "The Blue Bird? It's a famous play about two children who covet for the items of the rich. They catch sight of a bluebird, and go on an adventure through a mysterious land. When it is all over, they arrive at home to realize the bluebird had been there the entire time, and they come to be grateful for what they have.
That was what I had thought of, when the doctor gave me this. That maybe... maybe he'd meant sonething like that. But one day, I realized... the original story ends a little differently.
The children do come home to find the bluebird. But when they open the cage to feed the bird, it escapes and flies away. And then the story ends.
I... struggled with that for a little while, I think. The idea that just when you find happiness, you might very well lose it again.... it was hard.
But it the end, it didn't really change how I felt. I... decided how I was going to look at it. Not that it would always be there, or that you would always be destined to lose it... though I don't know if that's what the Doctor had ever meant, but...
I... I think that happiness is something you should always be looking out for, because it's the act of pursuing that happiness that will make you truly happy.
[you should really ask about it at some point you numbskull]
I wouldn't really say that. I just... know what it is that's important to me, I suppose. Even if there's things I would rather have different... I think it's better for me to look at what I have, and find what I can there, than... than ache for something else.
I guess it's why I've been so torn about being in this place. It's... it's horrible. Part of me still thinks that it has to be a punishment. But...
I remember looking out the window, and seeing a blue sky... and thinking about how wonderful it might be to see a blue sky the next day, and the day after that... to feel a breeze or sit in a field of grass or listen to birds sing.
It's... almost cruel, in how nice it all is. I don't really know how I feel.
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
DONT LOOK ANDIE
[So, uh. Strap in.]
In 2028, there was a pandemic. A virus called Radical-6. Many believed it to be biological warfare, but no one could prove it - only that it originated in Nevada in the United States and spread like wildfire. Over two million people died. Containing it became close to impossible, and society quickly started to collapse. People started to starve to death, or grow ill from the bodies that piled the streets.
In a desperate attempt to eradicate the pathogen and save what they could of humanity, in April of 2029, the remaining world leaders set off eighteen antimatter reactors across the world. I... can't really explain it right now, or we might be here forever, but... that's an equivalent explosive force over 180,000 times what was contained in the atom bomb dropped on Hiroshima, Japan during World War 2.
The resulting radiation wiped out the virus... and many, many people. Between the initial pandemic, the collapse of society, and the explosions... 6 billion people were killed.
no subject
[oh]
[Akira's interested expression quickly morphs into horror as Luna continues. as though a pandemic itself wasn't enough, learning that her world's leaders were okay with killing billions of people in an attempt to eradicate the virus is absolutely and utterly horrifying]
[his response is breathless, eyes wide]
Six. . . billion people. . .
no subject
Do... you know what nuclear winter is, Akira? It's the ecological result of air pollution, either from manmade waste, fire, or extremely large explosions, like that of an atom bomb or a large volcano. Debris is knocked into the atmosphere, and can block out the effects of the sun.
In Earth's case... there was no direct sunlight for over seven years. I've heard there's been some regrowth, now that a few decades have passed, but... most plant and animal life went extinct.
While some survived, and there is some form of civilization still operating, the world has become a... a wasteland. There's so much ash that... the sky is no longer blue. Light can't reach that far anymore. So... it's red.
no subject
[his expression twists. all of this is. . . very difficult to imagine. it's something that only happens in fictional books, right? not. . . in real life, right?]
[except it happened on Luna's world, and that's just. . . difficult to comprehend]
That's. . . horrible to think about.
no subject
[To imagine an Earth with green continents, blue ocean, white clouds... it sounds ridiculous.]
Many people have established colonies on the moon for purposes of research. That was the case for the project that purchased me. That's all I've known.
no subject
That memory we saw, then. . . did that take place on the moon?
no subject
All of them did, yes. Though... I guess you might be thinking of something specific...?
no subject
The one we saw during trial. The one involving the older man-- [to whom she felt feelings of warmth, even while her body moved on automatic, forced to do so by an unseen hand. he tries not to frown]
I kind of wanted to ask you about it, anyway.
no subject
I... I figured that you might. [She looks almost....bashful about it? HOW MANY PEOPLE SAW THAT....]
What... um... what would you like to know?
no subject
Who was that man?
[the one for whom she had those warm, soft, gentle and kind feelings? Akira is no idiot; he could tell what they were, too]
ANDIE DON'T LOOK FOR A WHILE
That's Doctor Sigma Klim.
He's the man who built me.
no subject
[his mouth twitches a little]
Did he just build you? Or. . . is he the one who programmed you, too?
[or was that Akane. . .? Akane, who he can't stand, so like. . . is he going to have to metaphorically fight Dr. Sigma Klim too???]
no subject
[A pause. Her hand drifts to that empty spot near her collarbone, one where a necklace had fit so perfectly once before.]
He... he's very important to me.
no subject
[okay. so he doesn't have to fight Sigma. good. still just Akane]
Are you two close, then. . .?
no subject
[Her eyes flicker, a hurt that barely registers at the surface, but aches deep down.]
He's... um... a very busy man. We don't talk much, outside what he requires of me. But I understand. I just... really know what a kind person he is. He's done so much for everyone and for his work, and he's intelligent... I can't help but admire him.
no subject
["admire" is one way to put it. . . and it gives those warm feelings he felt from her in that memory just a little more of a shape]
Is he the one who gave you that necklace you're always reaching for?
no subject
The old woman and Doctor Klim both kept very, very busy. I was tasked to help as needed, of course, and I helped take care of Kyle when he would allow it, but... most of the time, I was just... alone. Due to the limited range of my body, I wasn't allowed outside the facility.
...It was really hard. To be lonely... I feel it must be what it feels like to slowly suffocate... like I would fall apart.
That's when the Doctor gave me that. It's... actully a music box. He said it belonged to someone he once deeply cared for. I thought about it for a while, and I took it as a way of him saying... "Luna, happiness is closer than you think."
It was so... kind.
no subject
[he hates thinking about her trapped in that facility, though. hates thinking that people used her as nothing but a tool for their own convenience. it shows in his features, in the way he frowns, brows furrowed]
[. . .]
Happiness is closer than you think. . . [. . .] Was it?
[did she ever find it. . .?]
no subject
[That's not really an answer, of course... but she would feel a little empty if she didn't try to explain herself.]
Do you know about Maeterlink's "The Blue Bird? It's a famous play about two children who covet for the items of the rich. They catch sight of a bluebird, and go on an adventure through a mysterious land. When it is all over, they arrive at home to realize the bluebird had been there the entire time, and they come to be grateful for what they have.
That was what I had thought of, when the doctor gave me this. That maybe... maybe he'd meant sonething like that. But one day, I realized... the original story ends a little differently.
The children do come home to find the bluebird. But when they open the cage to feed the bird, it escapes and flies away. And then the story ends.
That changes the lesson, doesn't it?
no subject
Yes. . . it does.
[guess what he's thinking about now? her plaque]
no subject
I... struggled with that for a little while, I think. The idea that just when you find happiness, you might very well lose it again.... it was hard.
But it the end, it didn't really change how I felt. I... decided how I was going to look at it. Not that it would always be there, or that you would always be destined to lose it... though I don't know if that's what the Doctor had ever meant, but...
I... I think that happiness is something you should always be looking out for, because it's the act of pursuing that happiness that will make you truly happy.
That's what I believe, anyway.
no subject
. . .
That's such an optimistic take on it, Luna.
[and he can't help but feel the slightest warmth of admiration when she says this]
You're. . . a very strong person.
no subject
I wouldn't really say that. I just... know what it is that's important to me, I suppose. Even if there's things I would rather have different... I think it's better for me to look at what I have, and find what I can there, than... than ache for something else.
I guess it's why I've been so torn about being in this place. It's... it's horrible. Part of me still thinks that it has to be a punishment. But...
I remember looking out the window, and seeing a blue sky... and thinking about how wonderful it might be to see a blue sky the next day, and the day after that... to feel a breeze or sit in a field of grass or listen to birds sing.
It's... almost cruel, in how nice it all is. I don't really know how I feel.
no subject
Knowing what's important to you is a type of strength, in my opinion.
[. . .]
When all of this is over and done with, you should come visit my world.
[oh??]
no subject
It catches her by surprise, enough that she can't even seem to form words.]
You... you mean to Tokyo?
...
I... I don't think I really could...
[She's... she'd dead, Akira.]
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