Vera couldn't help but fume while she stomped through the gilded hallways and the luxury suites at Branch Tower. She knew if she went back to their suite, that Jenna and him would be fucking, that he'd be drinking away the guilt like he always did and that she'd storm away in disgust, as always. How that become her lot in life was beyond her, but she was supposed to be thankful for even being alive. Branch hadn't invented mind control—yet—but the "gift" of that girl and the unlimited booze was the easiest way to keep that brute from thinking for himself. She didn't hate Jenna, nor was she jealous of her, really, but she always felt like another way that Branch could control his "champion" into not questioning his own frail existence under the iron fist of Jordan Branch and his arena.

Will's luck would run out, no matter what she tried to do for him, and that scared the shit out of her. The night had mellowed into an eerie calm, the Branch elite resting their weary heads on their feather pillows in the face of humanity's extinction after a night of ultraviolence. She walked silently through the hall to the greenhouse on their floor, the superfluous one that wasn't needed for food production but existed as a hobby for Branch's elite guests if they felt so inclined, overlooking the arena, of course. There were a lot of things to do in Branch Tower for an industrious woman such as herself. None of them were related to what she was good at. None of them were official jobs she was supposed to be doing, either. It had just seemed to her that everyone else was awful at their own jobs. Whoever was in charge of the greenhouse on this floor, for example, was lazy and didn't seem to know how to tend to any of the crops. There were rows of tomato and lettuce, which just about anyone could grow under normal circumstances. Yet she'd find herself in the greenhouse every so often to see them wilting.

Vera grabbed the old, tin watering can and filled it up, the hose taking a while before it went from sputtering to pouring a steady stream of water out thanks to how the water purification system worked on-demand and kept little a supply of clean water. Apparently they didn't want to keep giant tanks of water around, each floor having its own reserve tank that emptied rather quickly, meaning that at times like this she'd have to wait for the system to purify water when she needed it. While it was a nuisance, she understood that outside of those walls, the fight for water was a true struggle, especially clean water that wasn't contaminated by the bombs. Sometimes it was difficult to remember that while things within the confines of Branch Tower weren't great, there weren't many options. The little slice of humanity that she saw outside wasn't any better than what they found inside of there. At least they had food, water and a roof over their heads.

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"Oh, sorry," a voice startled her. "I didn't know that there was anyone in here."

"Christ," Vera took a deep breath, turning to see TK Gabriel standing in the doorway. "You scared me half to death."

"Sorry."

"Wait, you are that movie guy, right?"

"I guess."

"We all were a lot of things before, weren't we?"

"Now we're puppets for a raving madman. Seems like an even tradeoff."

"If you mean Branch..." she said, "I'd keep that to yourself if I were you. He doesn't take kindly to being questioned. The walls have ears and all of that."

"Too late for that, I reckon."

"So you are leaving, then? You just got here and had a big welcome party thrown for you."

"And I'm already being asked to earn my keep," he said. "Since there don't seem to be any movie sets or cameras around, my best guess is that he wants to throw me into that pit with his monsters and put on a show for these people."

"Oh," a sudden feeling of shame consumed her. "You know, not all of us agree with the arena. It's just... a part of life here."

"Some life. Doesn't seem worth the price of admission to me."

"No, it doesn't," she said. "I mean, you were a movie star, I was an astrophysicist, now the only thing of worth that I do is water these plants and make sure that William's gauntlet is in working order."

"Farrington?"

"Yes, Farrington... why?"

"So you made that thing?"

"Oh, yeah, it's pretty cool, right?" She perked right up. "It's like the only thing that I've been able to do since everything fell apart that made use of my talents. William might seem like a brute and all, but he's not that bad. He actually was the one who brought me here and—"

"I should really be going..."

"Oh," she said. "Okay, I, uh, nice meeting you?"

"Right." With that, he exited the room, leaving Vera alone inside of the greenhouse feeling uneasy.