They're really territorial, so in nature it'd be whatever came into their space. [ in nature, but they didn't get the name from being in nature. ] But for gambling, people put bettas with other bettas and bet on 'em.
[ which is a near perfect replication of Andyr's life, down to cramped arenas, and rich people waving money and shouting at all sides, with a handler prodding at him through a grate to get on with it. or just shooting him up with adrenaline before tossing him in with another clone. and some days, another template. ]
They only live about two to three years, come in all these pretty colors and like small habitats with little current, so a lot of people keep them in one or two gallon tanks or glass bowls. [ it isn't terrible for them, but it does ring very true of andyr's life back home - kept behind a bulletproof, soundproof glass wall, for passersby to spectate at. bettas may be content with it, but he's not a goddamn pet. much as they'd like to make him one. ]
Pretty smart for a fish, too. They can learn tricks and shit, play with mirrors and algae balls, get used to routines, all that crap.
[ It's a surprisingly astute representation of Bucky's life, too -- right down to the tank they put him into when they're done with him. The other Winter Soldiers, the ones who had never quite responded as well as he did, the ones who now sleep within a forgotten base.
Bucky listens quietly, thinking of the cold, white Siberian wasteland. He wonders what Andyr's thinking about when he relates this to him, if he's lived a life like the betta's own. He thinks of multi-colored fish then, of all the things Andyr says they can do, and he feels a strange sort of sympathy for the fish. Never mind that they're smart, and are good with learning tricks and routines -- they're still captives, right? Colorful little creatures trapped in a bowl. ]
Did they treat you like that? [ The people who kept Andyr and forced terrible things unto him. Bucky thinks he'll never forget the wild fury in his eyes when the man had come at him, all that anger masking something Bucky immediately recognises -- because he sees it in himself, too. ]
[ A long stretch of quiet follows the question, the elephant in the room. he'd seethed about where he came from to barnes before, when he was fresh out of reliving the worst of it, but to just sit and discuss it, without the fury and the violence and the hate, feels too exposing, in a way. like admitting to something, to a thing you couldn't stop and couldn't resist. his voice does come, eventually, with a sort of hollowness to it. detachment. ]
I don't take well to tricks or routines. But yeah. Living in something close to a glass bowl. Soundproof, bulletproof glass bowl. [ after he shattered the glass once - bulletproof. after he made a lot of people unwilling to traverse that hallway by screaming profanities and the most disturbing bits of narration his mind could come up with through the glass - soundproof. silent and still, that's what they'd wanted. ] There's a bed, some books, a bathroom, and the longest wall's all glass, right out into the corporate hallway. Learned how to lip read pretty quick.
[ all of this present tense, because it isn't what they did, it's what they're still doing. it's the nightmare fortress he's returning to as soon as either the Ingress sends him back, or they get to that planet that's supposed to fix it. ]
Usually it's the clones that do cage fights, the expendable ones. But every now and again one Houses pitch one of their Templates against another's. See which one came out closer to dismembered. Best advertisement places like Hapsburg have, a way to prove their products comes from the best blueprints. [ they'd never let one or the other die, or at least, would try not to. too valuable. but there's a lot of damage you can do to a KN1 geared for combat before it's gone too far. ] But most often for quality testing. Clones always get a fraction of the natural augmentations their Templates have, but they want to get as close as they can.
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[ which is a near perfect replication of Andyr's life, down to cramped arenas, and rich people waving money and shouting at all sides, with a handler prodding at him through a grate to get on with it. or just shooting him up with adrenaline before tossing him in with another clone. and some days, another template. ]
They only live about two to three years, come in all these pretty colors and like small habitats with little current, so a lot of people keep them in one or two gallon tanks or glass bowls. [ it isn't terrible for them, but it does ring very true of andyr's life back home - kept behind a bulletproof, soundproof glass wall, for passersby to spectate at. bettas may be content with it, but he's not a goddamn pet. much as they'd like to make him one. ]
Pretty smart for a fish, too. They can learn tricks and shit, play with mirrors and algae balls, get used to routines, all that crap.
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Bucky listens quietly, thinking of the cold, white Siberian wasteland. He wonders what Andyr's thinking about when he relates this to him, if he's lived a life like the betta's own. He thinks of multi-colored fish then, of all the things Andyr says they can do, and he feels a strange sort of sympathy for the fish. Never mind that they're smart, and are good with learning tricks and routines -- they're still captives, right? Colorful little creatures trapped in a bowl. ]
Did they treat you like that? [ The people who kept Andyr and forced terrible things unto him. Bucky thinks he'll never forget the wild fury in his eyes when the man had come at him, all that anger masking something Bucky immediately recognises -- because he sees it in himself, too. ]
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I don't take well to tricks or routines. But yeah. Living in something close to a glass bowl. Soundproof, bulletproof glass bowl. [ after he shattered the glass once - bulletproof. after he made a lot of people unwilling to traverse that hallway by screaming profanities and the most disturbing bits of narration his mind could come up with through the glass - soundproof. silent and still, that's what they'd wanted. ] There's a bed, some books, a bathroom, and the longest wall's all glass, right out into the corporate hallway. Learned how to lip read pretty quick.
[ all of this present tense, because it isn't what they did, it's what they're still doing. it's the nightmare fortress he's returning to as soon as either the Ingress sends him back, or they get to that planet that's supposed to fix it. ]
Usually it's the clones that do cage fights, the expendable ones. But every now and again one Houses pitch one of their Templates against another's. See which one came out closer to dismembered. Best advertisement places like Hapsburg have, a way to prove their products comes from the best blueprints. [ they'd never let one or the other die, or at least, would try not to. too valuable. but there's a lot of damage you can do to a KN1 geared for combat before it's gone too far. ] But most often for quality testing. Clones always get a fraction of the natural augmentations their Templates have, but they want to get as close as they can.