#bergen_county

A knock on the door of Dagmar's house

"I GOT IT" Sam calls before she checks the door.

Lupe is wearing cargo shorts and a T shirt with a Puerto Rican flag design

"Hey, promised I'd fill you in'

"Oh, hey - yeah! How are you doing?" She lets her friend in, concern resurfacing.

She enters in "Well, except for a certain asshole making trouble, I'm great, really" A nod and a look up the stairs "Can we talk in your room?" Clearly this is private stuff she doesn't want Sam's parents overhearing

"Sure. You want anything?" She checks the fridge, grabbing a soda (or two!)

"Soda's finne, thanks" A smile at that . Sam knows her flavor prefs

She offers the other can to Lupe as they head for the stairs. "So, who was Baldy?"

"He was a Get Offennded Jerkwad... a Philodox like me .. .Rails is my mentor though, thank goodnenss, or was. Baldy is... well, he thinnks I crossed a line with the Wyldlings. That's you"

Grunt. "Sounds like he's butthurt he can't make friends."

"Jackwad tried to steal our renown too. Claimed you might have laid fairy magic on it so HE should check it out. I told him I'd present it at the Caern and let them sort it out. He reminded me of the Litany that I should respect him as my superior."

She rolls her eyes. "You obviously told him to get bent - right? Trying to steal credit sounds the opposite of honorable."

"I threw the litany back in his face, I can quote it too. Then the others... well, I pick good friends, they supported me" VERY pleased at something "Damn, they were willing to throw down with me and against a badass even if he's an asshole badass"

"I like your friends."

"So, like, you know the vine-guy lies, right? Whatever bullshit he said?"

"What when he said we were just using you?" A frown "Yeah , sorry about him trying to play mind games on you"

"I mean, yeah. If he said stuff to you?" She flops on the bed, to Odin's disgruntlement.

"Oh" She sits next to her friend, further annoying Odin

In protest, he stands on Lupe.

"So, if he said stuff to you, they were lies."

"ah, right" She strokes the cat "I don't like cats, Odin" But she pets anyway as she talks to Dagmar "It wasn't a lie, it was making me face a truth. See, everyone got tested on what they were good at. I picked that. Like, you had some test of physciality I'm betting? Dolly was our champ for a fight. And, god help us, yes, Lulu won a rap battle. Me? I got tested on judgement, and leadership. Because I didn't have my group, it was... more like a holosuite, but it felt real annd I knew if it happened for real I'd make the same choices. And in the test.." She strokes Odin "I got to decide who lived, and who died... for the greater good"

Odin kneads at Lupe's lap, and purrs. Attention! "Yeah, that's... Symon told me about that, the Kobayashi Maru. Even knowing it's a test, it's hard."

"Yeah, very" A swallow "I had to choose what kinfolk would die and which would be rescued. I.. I let my mom and dad die in order to save others who were youngger, more fertile. For the good of the garou nation" She inhales, trying to fight tears again

"Remember - the test is a lie, too."

"the fact I would do it for real is VERY real" Lupe shakes her head

"The rules of the test were that some had to die, right? But here's the thing about the real world - it's not fixed."

A look over at that

"Sure, maybe you would choose to save the younger ones first. Because that's the hard choice."

"But the test is rigged. It's a binary - somebody had to die. The real world, maybe you can win all of them, even when the odds suck. The test won't allow for that, right? It is designed that if you try to run around it, then everyone dies."

"But that's not life. That's the lie."

"But the truth is, IF it came up, I'd let my parennts , who I love, die. What's that say about me?"

"No, the truth is you would try to save everyone. You wouldn't let them die. You might fail to save them - and failure hurts, and sucks, and it would be a tragedy - but that's not the same thing as letting them die."

"Because, in the test - this false situation - you only had two choices. Save one, or lose all. It's like that stupid fucking trolley meme."

"I think you have more faith in me than I do, Sam" A smile though her eyes are a bit wet.

"Fuck the 'problem.' The question acts like you can't just fucking blow up the trolley."

"Real life has possibilities. And one of those is that you WIN. The game the spirit set up - it's rigged, you couldn't win, so you took the closest thing. But that's still a cheat. What it says about you is you played the game you were given. It doesn't say you don't love your family, or you wouldn't go through fire to save them."

She laughs "You would blow up the trollery wouldn't you?"

"Well, maybe go all Hulk Smash on it. Margalita's the explosives expert."

"You'd probably ice the wheels makinng ann artificial brake effect or slip it off the rails with that kind of magic" She ponders "My tests didn't involve a trolley, but you have a point and thanks for trying to make me feel better. I ..still feel like shit about it, and that's not going to go away soon, but it WILL go away, and.. my pack is intact, my friend is safe. And I've helped my Caern. So personal angst 2, pride in my crew 30. It's a blow out in the right direction..." A cough "Jesus , Odin. I don't want your tail up my nose"

He headbutts her chin.

"Yeah - it can mess up your head. There.. I was on a quest, and I... this clown guy, he..." She frowns. "I know it can feel very real."

"Huh, sorry I wasn't there to feed that clown his shoes" She puts Odin in Dagmar's lap

He turns a little circle on her lap before deliberately stepping back onto Lupe's.

"Yeah, well. It was a lie, too."

"mmm" Lupe sighs and strokes Odin again. She wants to tell her friend that she knows her own experience was not enntirely a lie, and the part that tested her still stings, but Dagmar does have a point abou how it was preset and thus in someways false. But more importantly, , Sam might not need her own encounter with the clown cast any doubt on, however it went down First rule of packleading, you get first slice of pizza, but you also save the others from anchovies

"You know what's not a lie?" she asks

"What?"

Odin purrs and arches his back to maximize petting effectiveness.

"You are my very good friend and I love you more than peanut butter and Salsa" A smile