Chapter 1
She couldn't stay here anymore. Means of escape seemed ill-advised; even her doctor said sweeping her problems under the carpet wouldn't do anything, they'd always be there. It was best to confront the fears that plagued her dreams every night. But in the meantime all she could do was ignore them, forget they ever existed and pretended along with them she did not exist as well. This lifestyle wouldn't do. She couldn't spend the rest of her days deteriorating in front of the fireplace. If only there was a way to make it all go away, to have all her fears gone in an instant. Then she came up with an idea that could make it possible.
After the rebellion Panem was left in shambles. President Paylor imposed something called the Movement where people all over would help rebuild their country from the ground up. Katniss wanted to be a part of this. Haymitch was completely against it, arguing that she was completely unstable. Katniss argued back, saying she wanted to make a difference, to help people. The approval she needed was from her doctor.
At first he wasn't so sure. She then swayed him with the idea that it would help her face her phobias. He agreed, coming up with the conclusion that exposure therapy could be a good attempt to bring Katniss closer to sanity. When he explained how this process was indeed faster at ridding her fears yet less efficient and more traumatic, it left her afraid. But it was a chance she was going to take. The sooner her phobias were gone the better. What set the approval in stone was after she agreed to have therapy weekly sessions with her doctor once she arrived. It would be the only way she could leave for the Capitol.
"Will I be able to see Peeta?" she asked Dr. Aurelius hopefully. Peeta was still at the Capitol having therapy sessions himself with Dr Aurelius.
"I'm afraid that would interfere with his recovery," he told her, meaning she would most likely be the cause of another violent flashback.
President Paylor was hesitant at first to allow Katniss to be part of the Movement committee. Though after Plutarch implanted the idea of utilizing the Mockingjay to encourage the broken citizens of Panem and recruit more volunteers, Katniss was shortly after admitted into the committee.
The first week at the Capitol was composed of hourly meetings where members of the committee tossed around ideas. It was nearly impossible to squeeze in time for Dr. Aurelius, but Katniss knew that was her only condition during her stay in the Capitol. She decided to schedule it on a Sunday where all members were relieved from their duties.
The meetings proved to be a good distraction for Katniss. And feeling as if she had a purpose made every morning a little easier to wake up to. Everyone came to agreement that the Movement was an excellent idea. But it would take more than just devising blue prints and construction. A form of government had to be found and agreed open. So far everyone had found Plutarch's idea of government acceptable; a republic where the people of each district and the Capitol can elect their own representatives to be their voice in a centralized government.
"It's like running a corporation," Plutarch began to explain.
"The corporation is one large entity made up into different departments. Each department has a manager that supervises that particular department. Their responsibility is to keep that department running smoothly. If each manager succeeds with this responsibilty in each department, then the entire corporation will be stable." It seemed to make sense.
"Of course we have the president to oversee the entire corporation, or in our case, all of Panem," Plutarch nodded in Paylor's direction.
A fellow member brought forth another idea: "What if we were to have a government in which all of the citizens of the nation together determined public policy, the laws and the actions of their state? This would require that all citizens have an equal opportunity to express their opinion."
Katniss glowed at the notion of all of Panem's citizens having a voice. For so long they were silenced, having the Capitol speak for them and being completely stripped of their rights. To have a say of what goes and what doesn't made her excited.
"Like a democracy," Plutarch clarified.
Everyone seemed to be leaning towards this suggestion but hesitated due to the frown on the Gamemaker's face.
"A democracy probably wouldn't be suitable for the reconstruction of our nation. Our ancestor's founding father's of their nation stated that a democracy is nothing more than mob rule, where a majority may take away rights of the remaining minority. Panem first constructed a democracy before the Dark Days and, as we all know, a rebellion occurred. We wouldn't want history to repeat itself."
He then presented documentations of historical events that occurred in Panem along with events from their ancestors. It was fascinating to see that Plutarch had record of all these documents of their predecessors. In conclusion he stated, "The republic is the only form of government which is not enternally at open or secret war with the rights of mankind." After more brainstorming and ideas it seemed like everyone came to the same agreement.
"Alright, moving forward," Paylor said, closing the topic for good.
"Next is developing a form of economy." Katniss thought this process would be fairly easy since Panem already carried a currency. Yet only those from who lived in the Capitol or victors from the Games actually handled the currency. Ideas were thrown around immediately. Eventually they brainstormed an economic system that would consist of an organization of production to directly satisfy economic demands and human needs, so that goods and services would be produced directly for use. Distribution of output would be based on the principle of individual contribution.
"So what you're saying is that people will be rewarded based on the amount they contribute to the social product," Katniss clarified.
There were muffled words of confirmation. "But how will we know how much each individual has contributed? It seems like everyone has to bring forth the same amount of contribution to get equal distribution." Plutarch made a sound that had everyone's head turn. "This sounds a lot like socialism," he chuckled. "And our ancestors were against it," he added. Immediately Katniss wanted to support the idea of socialism, not agreeing with how her supposed ancestors left this country. "Why?" she then implored before acting irrationally.
"Back then our ancestors believed in private property and a decentralized government. The idea of having government regulation didn't go too well with them. And there haven't been any successful socialist economies if we were to omit the countries who had mixed economies," the old Gamemaker elucidated. It seemed like Plutarch knew his history well.
Katniss pondered this for a moment. "I guess this form of economy would conflict with our government," Katniss admitted.
The topic did not come to a clean conclusion. Others were for it while the remaining were against it. Katniss wasn't even sure where she stood. All she knew was that she wanted every citizen in Panem to have their own opportunity but didn't know how to form that into words. Soon a civil debate turned into a heated argument and Paylor had to end the meeting leaving the topic undecided.
Before Katniss had a chance to clear from the Community room and head to her quarters Plutarch pulled her aside. Once he started talking to her about speeches and orations, Katniss became queasy. "I'm not sure if you noticed, but I'm terrible with words," she told him, recalling her time in District 13 where they began to film the propos. Plutarch seemed to disregard this. But Katniss explained that she was hoping for some more hands-down interaction like helping with constructing buildings and paving roads.
"Don't worry, you'll do great! Panem still hasn't forgotten their Mockingjay," Plutarch assured her, but she didn't feel relieved at all. He told her that she would need a little fixing up in order to get her camera ready. She didn't quite understand what he meant, and wondered if she would ever spend her life away from the cameras.
When Katniss came to her room, her prep team was already waiting for her. She let out a petulant sigh, hoping she could spend the remainder of the day in solitude. "Are you here to make me pretty?" she asked and her team beamed at her in response. Before she could even step further into her room she was immediately whisked away to a station that looked strikingly similar to the one she was prepped in before the Hunger Games and Quarter Quell. Her hands began to tingle as she associated all the horrible memories from this room, from those events. She hadn't realized she was trembling when Venia placed a calming hand on Katniss's shoulder. "Don't worry, we're not going to hurt you." Her chest swelled as she recalled the time she found her team shackled against a wall in 13, how they feared her. And now here they were, beaming down at her on the examine table like adoring parents. At that moment her relationship with them took an unspoken leap of undying friendship. Octavia's fingers swiped at her cheek before Katniss realized she was crying. "Thank you," she muttered and allowed her eyes to slip close and fall into oblivion.
