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I never liked Kamino, which did seem to be the general consensus among the population save the Kaminoans themselves, but the mess hall was an entirely different beast. Where the endless hallways, medbays, and training rooms were impossibly sterile and cold, the mess hall held a certain chaos in the air. And chaos is great, don’t get me wrong, love chaos – this chaos, though, always held a certain quiet judgment at every table besides ours. We’d walk past with our trays of bland GAR provided meals, and that shouting dimmed to quiet whispers and barely stifled laughs as they stared directly at us. Not exactly subtle. I try to make the process as speedy as possible, grab my tray and fill it up with anything that looks even remotely appetizing (if I won’t eat it, Wrecker will) before walking so fast some may classify the speed as a light jog to the table towards the back. Always the same table. Always the same whispers.
Today was no different. Scratch that, today was slightly different. Hunter, Echo, and Wrecker got there before the rest of us, tasked with inventory duty after a prank gone wrong. Today, Tech and Crosshair joined me for my little routine. Today, I actually slowed my pace a bit, too engrossed in conversation to even notice the identical glares from each passing table.
“It doesn’t sound like much of a game,” Crosshair plucks the toothpick from his mouth staring at it with consideration, clearly debating if he should toss it on the ground or at a reg, any reg, “only one rule. Too easy.”
I glance over my shoulder, smile falling to a scold before I balance my tray in one hand to snatch the toothpick from his fingers. “Come on, we just had to save your ass last week, I don’t wanna sit in the medbay with a sore loser all afternoon again.” That earns me an incredibly dramatic eye-roll as I drop the toothpick onto my tray. “And it’s fun, it’s like a mind game, you love those.” Another eye-roll! Two in a row! I let out an exuberant laugh as we near our unassigned-assigned table, drawing the attention of our resident demolitions expert who throws a massive hand in the air for an animated wave.
“I, for one, find it quite interesting, how is a winner chosen?” I figured if I could rope anyone into the game it’d be Tech. He set his tray on the table, still looking at me for an answer.
“That’s the thing.” I take the seat across from him, next to Wrecker, putting my tray down rather unceremoniously to point a finger at the genius. “You don’t.”
On the other end of the table, Crosshair takes a seat next to a very confused Echo; his brows knit in confusion, he waits for his brother to sit down before leaning over to quietly ask, “What are they talking about?”
The sniper sighs, picking up his fork to take a bite of whatever the greenish-brownish mush may be. Beans, maybe? Not meat, I hope. He doesn’t bother looking up to give his answer. “The game.”
Perplexed, Echo looks between Crosshair and I, "What's the game?"
My attention snaps to their end of the table, smile wide – quite nearly crazed, depending on who you ask – much to the confusion of everyone besides Tech and Crosshair, who only wait for me to explain myself. “You just lost the game.” They still look confused. I jump in before Tech can explain, if only to correct just one thing. “Okay, first of all, it’s not ‘the game’. It’s The Game. There’s one rule, don’t think about The Game. If you think about The Game, you lose The Game. And when you lose The Game you gotta announce it, drag everyone else down with you. And now you’re all playing.”
They still look confused. I thought that was a really good explanation.
Tech, of course, steps in. “So, there are two rules.”
I wave a hand frantically, dismissively. “Semantics.”
“And we have all lost, does that not mean the game is over?” He continues. I deadpan, he knows what I’m about to say. “Apologies, does that mean The Game is over?”
I give a single shake of my head, leaning onto my elbows. “Nope.” With a fork, I push around the mush on my tray, letting out a quiet laugh. “When you lose you just start back over. Everyone is already playing, they just don’t know it yet. When they find out, they’ll lose, then they’ll start over, tell more people, they lose. As long as you can think about The Game, you’re playing The Game.”
“I didn’t know I was playin’ a game.” Wrecker crosses his arms, abandoning his utensils in something between skepticism and indignation.
“ You’re not, Wrecker.” Crosshair quips, not looking up from his meal. “I’m not either, it’s pointless.”
Wrecker lets out a quiet, “I’m not?” I pat his arm, he’ll get there, I just have to explain a little better.
“You were, even though you didn’t know. Now that you do know, you’ve gotta start from square one.”
I can see the gears turning in the big guy’s head. Then I see it click. He lets out a large gasp, his hands falling slowly back to the table. “And now it’s in my head so I have to forget it!” My smile widens again as I nod.
“That sounds… aggravating.” Echo’s brows furrowed with doubt and eyes wide with shock. Next to him, Crosshair sighs.
Still smiling, I point a finger at him. “It is.” Hunter’s been awfully quiet, I notice. When I look past Wrecker to turn my attention to him, he’s sitting with his elbows resting on the table and his forehead resting against his fists and he’s sporting this tired, knowing, deep frown. My own frown creeps across my face, gently questioning, “Hey, what’s wrong?”
He inhales, for a good few seconds, then he slowly releases the air while raising his head just enough to turn and look at me. “I just lost the game.”
On instinct I bring a hand to my face when I gasp, hiding the way my jaw hangs open in shock and delight. “No way.” I’m in disbelief, I assumed if the game ever made its way to the GAR everyone would be in on it. “Where did you…”
I trailed off, but Hunter picked up on my incomplete question. “Couple of the guys from the 104th were telling me about it during that mission on Birix. That was months ago. Forgot all about it until just now.”
“Well,” I nod once with a sigh, my devious grin returns, “looks like we all get to start over at the same time. Let The Game begin.”