The Life Of Gamemaker Z

March 12th age 79

I walk into Layla's room. I routinely check in with the Tributes. Just a few more days till the 60th Game. I'm humming that old song "Stressed Out" by Twenty One Pilots, and I stop only when I see she's leaning over some photos with aged frames. 

"What are you doing?" I ask.

She looks up, scared. 

"You heard me. I asked, what are you doing?" 

"I'm j-just looking at photos..." 

My right hand rests on my hip. "You brought them?"

Layla nodded. 

"You know Tributes are only supposed to bring one Token, don't you? Extras are confiscated." 

"Please don't take these!" 

I sigh. 

"Why should I give you special treatment?" 

"Please. My friends gave me these. One of them is from my sister! These...are from my family." 

"What's so special about pictures your family gave you?" You may think I'm heartless to ask, but everyone brings pictures of their family. It's sweet, and necessary for many of them, but all of them get just one Token each, and that's a rule. I'm asking what's special, more deserving, about those photos. 

"It's one of the only things I have from my dad." 

"Oh."

"Both of my families are dead."

She ran away because her parents told her to, for her safety, and the thing that would've gotten her killed her parents soon after. She kept running, found two boys in love, and they adopted her. Those two boys were Tributes, one, then the other. Billy and Teddy. So was her long-lost brother, Eden. I have dealt more (however indirect) blows to this girl than almost anyone else. 

"So...are mine," I tell her, meaning both of my parents, as I didn't have two families, "This is when my sister, Zoe Snow, was happy." I show Layla an open locket, containing a picture of my two parents, Daria and Max, and Zoe and I. "This is when my parents were alive. Zoe's done horrible things, I don't agree with her methods, I wish the Games would end...but she only felt safe with them. She went crazy after they died. I guess it's when I was happy, too..." 

"Alright sure." She looks up at me. "B-but that - that doesn't -" I get what she's trying to say. That doesn't forgive anything I've done. I regret so much. My family life gets ruined, so what, that doesn't mean I needed to...huh. "My family died a long time ago. A boy took care of me, and then you killed him."

"Yeah. I watched him die." I pause. "It was painful, but you do think I can just stop? Cut cold turkey, as they say?"

"I don't know, can you?" 

"No, and you know why, no matter how much you don't like thinking about it. She'd kill me if I 'resigned.' It's human nature to not want to die. You can forgive a little human nature, can't you?" Actually I do want to die. But there's something in particular I'm waiting for first, and that's none of her business. 

"I guess." I nod at her, signaling that she can keep the pictures, "Thank you for understanding." 

"It's fine," I'm not looking at her, "This should stay between us." 

She nods quickly and begins putting her pictures away. "Thank you so much, these are so important to me..."

I close the locket, and tuck it back under my shirt. "So is this."

I walk away.