001 | Text

[burger_king]

The year is 2018 and the Red Scare is alive and kicking. Worlds collide as we're brought here under mysterious circumstances, given gifts we couldn't dream to prepare for. Trapped without hope for escape we ask ourselves - will we ever see our homes again? Our loved ones? Will we embrace our new lives and is it a question of when - not if - that these powers turn on us? So many questions, and yet the biggest mystery is something else entirely.

Best burger joint. Give me your suggestions. Bonus points for cheap menus.

Comments

[perfectible]

So what are you going to do to fill up your time?

[burger_king]

Work. Write. [ He shrugs. ] Other than that, I don't know. [ Not school. ]

Are you registered?

[perfectible]

[ She gave up on school too. There wasn't a point at the moment. If it seemed like she might be staying longer... she might go back.]

Not yet... are you?

[burger_king]

No. [ He draws a breath. ] And right now I'm leaning towards not doing it.

[perfectible]

[ She looks at him sideways, trying her best to sound nonchalant.]

Why is that?

[burger_king]

I don't like the idea of pledging allegiance to a government I don't trust.

[perfectible]

[ Her mouth quirks a little, amused.] Do you trust any government?

[burger_king]

Lately? Less and less. [ He had some sort of faith in the system not too long ago. ] I've been talking to some people here and judging by what they've been telling me, I'm better off on my own.

[perfectible]

And the people I've been talking to have told me the opposite.

[burger_king]

What've you heard?

[perfectible]

Registering means that I don't have to worry about paying for things, the things that... [ She stops short of saying our-- ] The things that my parents always paid for, for me. Like healthcare.

[ Like her therapy.]

[burger_king]

[ Right. That's the thing, isn't it? He's never really had that support. ]

The nanites are supposed to keep us healthy, aren't they? [ He gets it, but also is that enough to sign yourself away on? ]

[perfectible]

[ Her mouth twists slightly.] My therapy. It would cover that.

[burger_king]

[ Ah. He furrows his brows, apologetic. ] All I'm saying is that I don't think I'm going to do it.

[perfectible]

If that's what you think is right... [ She can't force him to register especially not when she's still on the fence about it herself.]

[burger_king]

I don't know about right, but... I think that, for me at least, I'm better off not doing it. [ If that makes sense. ] It wouldn't be that different from home.

[perfectible]

[ She smiles at him, gently.] Staying off the grid and damning the man?

[burger_king]

[ He smirks back at her. ] Hey, I have to keep up this whole image of being the bad influence from the wrong side of the tracks.

[perfectible]

At the risk of sounding cliche, I love you no matter what side of the tracks you're on or from.

[burger_king]

I love you too. No matter what. [ He gives her a kiss. This is what he's always loved about her - she cuts through the labels. Sometimes that doesn't turn out so great, but she always has the right intentions. ]

Want to show me the rest of this place?

[perfectible]

Same here, trust that. [ She doesn't believe labels, she doesn't think that it should dictate one's happiness or path in life. For someone who appears to care about the way she looks to others, it's Jughead who worried about Betty's position in his world (he's trying to protect her), something she'd probably be fighting against for a while to come.

She loves him, that's the only label she cares about. ]

I would love to.