(open) someday the flowers will wither

[bunnyhopped]

who: hana song and you!
what: did someone call for more memory share logs? + catchall for aftermath
when: october
where: various
warnings: violence

1 | CONSCRIPTION | first-person

[ It's all over the news— the latest simulations for the Korean army's new, recalibrated piloted mech units show that even the top air force pilots cannot produce the same results as the programming the previously unmanned drones had been equipped with. Headlines for every news site, both locally and internationally, all read similarly and much the same as Hana scrolls through sites on her phone: WHAT HOPE DOES SOUTH KOREA HAVE NOW?

There's a feeling of uneasiness at all of this, but it's not borne out of hopelessness. Rather, it's coming from a strong feeling that something big is about to happen. The army has been blowing through pilots ever since the colossal omnic permanently compromised MEKA's drone control networks. No one has been able to pilot the machines like there were no pilots inside to begin with. No one has the speed and reflexes—

That uneasiness rapidly melts away into that sinking, sinking feeling in her stomach that happens when one’s fears have become reality when she looks up and finds her father handing her an envelope addressed to 송하나 - Hana Song - from the Mobile Exo-Force of the Korean Army.

Carefully, she opens the envelope the unfolds its contents, casting uncertain glances up at her father as she does so. The look on his face is just as uneasy, creases on his face betraying his demure composure - it's the look on his face that she knows means he's worried. She doesn't have steel enough nerves to be able to read what the letter says in any coherent way, but her eyes zoom in on words enough that she knows what this is about - in fact, she's known what it would be about before she even opened the letter.

Aptitude. Skills required to operate Mobile Exo-force armored units. Pilot. Duty. Mandatory service. To her country. ]

Dad, I—

[ Her voice comes out shrunk and the rest of what might have been a sentence is swallowed in the quivering of her voice, and then by her dad's arms around her.

"I know. It's going to be alright, bunny. Everything is going to be alright. You're going to become the best pilot they've ever seen, I just know it. I’m so proud of you, Hana. So proud...”

In the silence that passes between father and daughter, the breaking, just-in news report airing on the television in the other room just confirms what they've been dreading: DESPERATE FOR RESULTS: MOBILE EXO-FORCE CALLS UPON TOP GAMERS FOR PILOTS ]

2 | UPRISING | third-person

Dad, I’m about to beat the gym leader! Look here!

[ —calls twelve-year-old Hana Song out to her father. Her request falls on deaf ears; her father is busy watching news pour in of the Omnic uprising in King’s Row, counts of casualties of human and omnic alike - where is Overwatch? Should they be deployed? - and what the Uprising could mean for omnics around the world.

”Not right now, bunny,” he says, and Hana sinks into her Pachimari plush with a pout, shifting her gaze back down to her handheld console. The sounds of her game are drowned out by news broadcasts of videos taken by people in London - screaming and raining gunfire and explosions - and then by the prime minister remaining steadfast in decision: they have the situation under control, and they will not be seeking outside help. They will not call for Overwatch. ]

That’s so dumb.

[ She doesn’t even bother looking up from her handheld. ]

If Overwatch is willing to help why doesn’t he just let them? That city’s getting wrecked just because he doesn’t want outside people helping. So stupid.

3 | DRONES | third-person

[ Hana is seventeen years old, the reigning Starcraft II champion in the world—

and she has no idea how much her life is going to change.

She’s lived through a few of the colossal omnic’s attacks, by now - but the story always ends the same. MEKA leads the way, and the omnic is defeated, but not destroyed. Victory is short-lived as the somber reminder that it’s still out there hits. That it will come back and it will be stronger than it was before. That the time spans between its attacks have been getting shorter and shorter over the years, to the point that the army has to rely on reading seismic activity to figure out when the omnic is on the move in the depths of the oceans. That the day that the decade-old strategy they’ve always used to fight against it finally gets beaten may be much closer than they all think, or believe.

Social media is the first to buzz about a new attack. Civilians and news agencies alike report that they have visual on the omnic - civilians within the coastal cities are to evacuate into shelters immediately - and MEKA is deploying. Hana feels relatively safe in Seoul - but everyone looks out for each other whenever one of these attacks happen. Several of her teammates on her pro team are from other cities, coastal cities included, and for their sakes she keeps her news feed fresh.

It’s not long before confusion strikes across any and all reports. MEKA drones are being spotted in cities further inland. In Seoul. There’s no word from MEKA and evacuations continue in the coastal cities as the colossal omnic approaches the shores. Hana is huddled with a few members of her team in their house, all watching tweets go by on one screen and messaging their families on another. Hana is on the phone with her parents, who live just outside the city. ]

I’m fine, you guys. Promise. We finished training for the day so we’re at the dorms. I know, we’re looking at the news, too. I don’t know what’s happening. But I’ll see you guys this weekend, okay? Love you.

[ Hana ends her call just in time for one of her teammates to scream.

”The drones are attacking!”

Sounds of explosions and gunfire that Hana is used to hearing through the speakers of her phone or headphones when she sees the news— suddenly sound very, very close. And so are the screams of people outside. Their team manager bursts into the room, yelling,

”Everyone get out of here! Get downstairs! Hurry! The city is under attack!”

They scramble to get out of the small room that they all usually sleep in - racing down stairs, several teammates crying out wondering what was happening and others already claiming that they were going to die. Whatever is happening, it hasn’t quite sunk in, in Hana’s mind, until another explosion shakes the building.

The drones are attacking. The same drones that had helped protect the country and all of them for all these years - they’re attacking. They’ve turned against the people they’re supposed to protect. They’re basically defenseless. They colossal omnic is going to beat them.

Everything feels like a blur and Hana feels - she doesn’t know how she feels. She’s confused. Anxious. Worried. Scared. She and her teammates are shuffled into a room in the basement of their building and from there, the explosions and gunfire and screams are muffled. It’s dark except for the light of everyone’s phones as they continue to keep track of what’s going on - and as they try to reach out to their families. Hana’s phone is buzzing with messages from fans from around the world, who’ve undoubtedly heard, themselves, what’s happened - and messages from her parents. She feels - numb. Like this must be some sort of horrible dream. This isn’t really happening. Her teammate is crying, now, and Hana puts her arms around the other girl in a gesture of comfort, but she feels nothing.

Am I going to die…? ]

4 | FAME | first person

[ Hana is greeted by cheers and nearly-blinding flashing lights as she steps out of an armored vehicle that has transported her from the MEKA headquarters to her new apartment building in the city of Busan. She’s escorted by soldiers in uniform and her manager, too, trying to act as a barrier between her and the crowds that have gathered at her residence. Hana, herself, is dressed in her army service uniform and heels click against the pavement as she tries to just - go home for the day. She’s tired, her arms and wrists are sore, but she can’t let any of that show. Instead she walks, smiling, waving at the press and at her fans putting what little energy she has left into looking okay.

”D.Va! Your first mission as a pilot was a huge success! Do you have anything to say about it?”

“You’re my hero, D.Va!”

“Please let me take a selfie with you!”

“Hey! Are you ever going to return to the pro gaming scene?”

“Miss Song— you’re fighting against real enemies now, not virtual ones. Aren’t you afraid?”

Hana stops in her tracks. The crowd falls silent as she does, only the sounds of camera shutters firing off fills the air. And she turns, slowly, to a camera - any camera, even if it isn’t the one for the reporter who’d asked if she’s afraid. Her courteous smile has subdued into something more cold and professional, a look that not even her opponents from her competitive days would see on her. ]

I’m not afraid. I’m going to fight with everything I have to defend our country and its people, and I know my fellow pilots are going to do the same.

[ Liar. She’s afraid. If you mess up in a video game, you get to restart from your last save point. Or you get revived and you get to keep going.

There are no extra lives in real life.

But she has to put her smile back on and raise a hand, flashing a victory sign at the camera— ]

So please keep on cheering us on, everybody! Thanks for the support!

[ —before she spins on her heel and finally, finally makes it into her door. ]

((ooc; new and existing cr alike are welcome! feel free to hit me up at camerata if you have any questions or wildcards to throw! ))

Comments

[bunnyhopped]

[ When she felt his grip tighten around her shoulder she moved, falling to her side to lean against him more and her head turned, forehead resting against his shoulder as she closed her eyes. She didn't want to watch anymore - she was so tired of seeing this over and over again. And Shiro was there - offering her solace from it with his presence.

She appreciated so much that she didn't have to spell things out for him. So at his words, she just nodded against him and hummed. ]

Mmhmm.

Me and a few other pros got drafted. No one else could pilot the mechs efficiently enough. So it had to be us.

[lionunchained]

[He didn't say anything as she closed her eyes. He'd seen his enough to know that whatever was going on around him was not actually happening. It was not something that he needed be concerned with. The young woman next to him, exhausted and trying to avoid watching this again, was the priority.

No, he didn't really need the explanation from her. It was pretty obvious from the explanation]

I understand the logic, but I am sorry that you had to do it. Given what you needed to fight, that had to be hard.

[bunnyhopped]

[ She didn't offer anything else, at that point. She just hummed, again, just to show that she heard him. There was nothing more she could say - so she let the news being shown and the muffled sounds of distant explosions, the tremors in the ground convey everything Shiro would find out about this memory of hers. ]

I'm sorry. I don't know what else to say. I just want to wake up, Shiro.

[lionunchained]

[Shiro didn't press her for another answer, wrapping his arms around as she leaned against him. Yes, maybe it was an attempt to protect her against something that he couldn't actually stop. That neither of them could actually stop. But he was going to do it anyway]

I know. Hopefully soon. I'll be here until that happened.