Ivy Rose

Age 12

President of Panem


Being the president is hard. You have political opponents constantly spreading dirt about you and trying to topple you from power. You need to juggle the situations in each District and suppress riots. It's worse if you're a woman; you have a tougher time getting people to respect you. And it's the absolute worst situation you can be in if you're staggeringly adorable.

Unfortunately, I am all that and more. I am the president of Panem. Now let me guess. "You're a little girl! How the heck are you president?!" First of all, if you have a problem with that, how does vacation in a tank of hungry sharks sound?

Second, how does any other person get into power? That's right. Lying, cheating, and manipulating, which is what I did to land my position, who cares about my age. My dear father, Mortimer Rose, was the most incompetent president ever. My lovely mother, Argenta Rose, was his top advisor, and therefore, actually held the power in Panem.

I was a child prodigy; learning to read at an age of one-and-a-half, I knew words most adults didn't at age two. My mother oppressed me the minute it became apparent that I, in a modest sense, was a genius.

I knew I deserved that power. My father was the most useless, most idiotic, and dumbest person alive. And I knew I could do better than my mother. So what did I do? I may or may not have accidentally dumped thallium into my mother's tea.

My poor, incompetent maid. Perhaps she didn't deserve to die by firing squad, but she still did. After all, I did pin the blame on her. Child's play for a smart little girl like me.

After that, I became my father's top advisor. I constantly insulted his intelligence and made powerful ties with the Districts. In the end, my father, realizing at last how hopeless he was, named me President and resigned himself to my caretaker.

Finally. All the power in Panem. It feels so good.

Anyways, I'm sitting here in my lovely office with my high-backed chair. The wallpaper is all pink with hearts, plastered with posters of the best anime in the entire Universe: My Lovely Unicorn Kitty. It's a story about a group of magical girls who save the world from evil, together with their partners the Unicorn Cats! And also… I could just go on forever about this, but if you don't agree with me, I have a cage full of lions who are very hungry.

I'm sitting in my chair, playing with Cutie, my very fluffy little cat. I'm making those involuntary noises you always make when you're near a cute animal. You know, the noises you make which make you stop and wonder what the heck you're doing.

"Miss President…?" I jump in surprise and slam a button on the desk. My robot Unicorn Cats which I had the scientists make leap out of the walls to point their wicked sharp horns at the perpetrator. Five of them spit fire. Eight of them have lasers. And all of them have wicked-sharp claws. I gave every robot Unicorn Cat a name. Minty hisses at the man in my room, who cowers under its gaze. Candy Cane stalks forward and scans the man for facial recognition.

"CONFIRMED. IDENTITY: ZANE PYTHON, HEAD GAMEMAKER" Candy Cane mewls in a robotic voice. The robots dip their heads and crawl back into the walls. Zane sighs in relief and looks at me nervously.

"D-Did I startle you, M-Miss President…?" Zane stammers. I glare at him, petting Cutie in a threatening manner.

"Just saying, Mr. Head Gamemaker, if you mention to anyone what happened in here, there's a lovely tank full of sharks waiting for you," I say, in the tone which sounds both sweet and menacing at the same time. Zane gulps.

"Y-yes, Miss President. I just wanted… to finalize the arena for this year's Hunger Games with you…" Zane stammers. I glare at him unblinkingly, the smallest of smiles creeping across my mouth. I think back to My Lovely Unicorn Kitty.

"About the mutts, Mr. Zane…" I begin. Zane gulps. I only call people by their names if it's serious.

"A-are they not t-to your liking, Miss President?! I-I can fix them, I-I promise!" he cries. I shake my head, my smile widening.

"Oh no, Mr. Zane, your mutt designs are fine. But… we want to make this year unique. How about a few… helpful mutts for once? Although 'mutts' might not be the best term…" I say, almost to myself. "How about… yes. Two cat mutts. As big as German Shepherds. Their names will be Sun and Moon. They will be helpful to whomever can track them down and tame them…" I think for a moment. Then I smile. It's the first real smile in days.

"Yes… I think that will be wonderful." I grab my drawing book and start sketching in a frenzied manner. I've never been more excited about a concept before. It's like I'm creating my own original character for My Lovely Unicorn Kitty! ORIGINAL CHARACTER, DONUT STEEEEELLL! I finish the designs in a matter of seconds and shove them to Mr. Zane.

"Here. The designs. Make it happen. And also, make two extras just for me," I say sweetly. Zane takes the papers with trembling hands. He bows, making his way out of my office in a hurry.

I smile and scratch Cutie behind the ears. Being President is so much fun.


Zane Python

Age 23

Head Gamemaker


I close the door to the President's office and walk down the hall, trying to look unconcerned. But before I even realize it, I'm running full speed down the corridors towards my office.

I slam the door to my office shut and promptly collapse onto the floor, sweating bullets. As young as the President was, she was quite menacing. She could kill you if you looked at her wrong.

I take a few deep breaths, stand up shakily, and place the papers on my desk. At times like these, I wonder whether or not being Head Gamemaker is worth it, after all. I groan as I realize that I'm going to have to make yet another change to the arena.

I grab my phone and open the messenger. The Gamemaking team shares a group chat on a secure network. Not even the President knows what we talk about here. I think. Not that she's interested… I hope.

Upon entering, I am immediately greeted by Z.

"AYYYYY Z 2.0! What's up? President didn't bite your head off, I assume?"

Z is the mutt expert of our team, and they're my best friend. They're a little eccentric and energetic, and strangely, Z is a hacker in their spare time. No one knows their real name, so everyone just calls them Z.

"Hi Z," I reply. "And don't call me Z 2.0, please. I still haven't forgiven you for somehow hacking into my alarm clock on my birthday." I can picture Z rolling their eyes clearly in my head.

"Well, you were turning twenty-two, how could I not play that song?!" Z types. Chrys cuts in.

"You two are the strangest pair of friends I have ever met." she laughs. Chrys's real name is Chrysanthemum Cherry, but she hates the name, so we all just call her Chrys. She is the flora and fauna expert. No surprise, considering her name. Also, she bakes the best cookies.

"Sfud6wey89j4oh" Z replies. I sigh in exasperation. Z was always either spamming song lyrics or just typing random letters and numbers.

"Z, cease your eccentricities, or I shall have to remove you from the chat again." Blizzard orders. Blizzard's real name is Bridgette Lightwood, and she's always serious and cold. We call her Blizzard because she is the climate expert, and last year she had a really huge blizzard in the arena. In addition, Blizzard is the moderator of the chatroom, while I am the admin.

The chatroom beeps as SOLARIS enters the chat.

"Hello, Solaris." I greet him. Solaris is silent.

"Do you think he croaked at last?" Z asks hopefully.

"Of course not. He's probably just slow." Blizzard retaliates. The second Blizzard says this, a message from Solaris pops up.

"Howdoyoudoaspace"

I face-palm, and I can clearly picture all the others doing the same. Solaris Hyacinth is the oldest in our group, about 68 years old, and he's technologically incompetent. He is the arena expert, and he is very grumpy.

"There's a button at the bottom of the screen which is blank, Solaris. That's the one. We've told you this like seventeen times in the past week," Z complains. I can't help but to agree. I'm about to type something else when-

"EMERGENCY! EMERGENCY! IT'S A CRISIS!" my assistant and little sister, Jacquelynn, pops into the chatroom, typing in a frenzy. I nearly drop my phone in shock.

"What os it?! Wjat's weong?" I type in a frenzied manner, cringing at the typos. Jacquelynn take a while to respond, and then…

"MY HAIRBRUSH IS MISSING!" I groan and bang my head on my desk. Jacquelynn, or Jacque as I preferred to call her, tended to be dramatic about the stupidest of things.

"THE MOST TERRIBLE OF CRISES! FEAR NOT, FAIR MAIDEN JACQUE, FOR I, Z! THE DEFENDER OF JUSTICE! SHALL FIND IT FOR YOU!" Z types.

"Please don't encourage this, Z…" Chrys sighs.

"Oh thank you, Z! You're a true… gentle...person…. Ugh." Jacque sighs. It had always been tough for her to refer to Z as a they. I decide to get straight to the point, or we'd never be able to get the President's request done.

"Okay everyone, so… I met the president today, and… she wanted to make one more change in the arena." I explain. Almost instantly, the chatroom is filled with complaints about the President.

"Anothrr one but we are done with ebething," Solaris attempts to type.

"Goodness, yet another one? I'm worked to my limit already…" Chrys sighs.

"This president of ours is making an most ridiculous request!" Blizzard fumes.

"And if Zuzu gets more work he'll push some of it onto me!" Jacque whines.

"8u4eirgfuhioehbjn9U8FDIFHJDOIFB7" Z spams. I sigh and wait for the comments to stop scrolling before I continue.

"Really, it's just more work for Z," I type.

"UNFAIR!1!1!11!" Z cries. I ignore them and work out a date which we can meet, send the designs the president drew to Z, and turn off the messenger. I collapse back into my chair with a sigh.

"Is this job really worth it?" I wonder out loud.


I usually walk home alone. But most of the time, I wish I'd taken some bodyguard with me. I tend to avoid the main streets and wear discreet clothing, and yet…

"KYAAAAAA! Oh my god! It's Zane Python!"

I cringe and take off running. Too late, because the paparazzi are already here.

"Smile for the camera, Zane!"

"Zane! Zane! Look this way!"

I cover my eyes as the camera flashes almost blind me. I silently curse my looks. Both Jacque and I were born with stunning looks, but Jacque relished in the popularity she gained. On the other hand, for a shy person like me, a face like this was pure torture. I break through the crowd and run. After a while, I realized that I was no longer being followed. I sigh with relief and look around at where I am.

"GET OFF MY LAWN!"

Oh no. I've wandered onto Solaris's property. I turn around, and Solaris is standing in the doorway of his house, angrily waving his cane at me. He stops when he sees who I am.

"Oh. Zane Python," Solaris growls. I sigh. Solaris is always mad that those in power are younger than him. I raise my hand in greeting.

"Sorry, Solaris. I was just leaving-"

"Trying to avoid your fan club, eh?" Solaris scoffs. I nod, surprised. I thought Solaris didn't keep track of our struggles. He's glaring at me with fire in his eyes. I remember that I'm still on his lawn and hastily step off his property.

"Have you considered taking the back of a Residential area?" Solaris says. "You'd avoid fans by being in their midst."

I blink. That was actually a good idea.

"Thank you, Solaris. I'll try that," I say. I wave at Solaris as I turn my back on him. I smile to myself. Solaris might be a grumpy old man, but perhaps he was just misunderstood.

"GET OFF MAH LAWN, YOU DEGENERATES!" I hear his scream behind me. I sigh. Then again, perhaps not.


"Finally home…" I sigh as I set my bag down on the floor. Two seconds later I'm tackled from behind.

"Zane Zane! What up!"

"Z?! What the heck are you doing here?! How did you get past my alarm- oh, of course. Hacking." I groan in exasperation. Z is standing proudly in front of me, a computer bag slung over their shoulder.

"Zuzu, I've just finished up most of the mutts that the President requested. But I can't stay at my house right now because it's been infested with cockroaches," Z explains. I cringe. No one except Jaque is supposed to call me Zuzu.

"So? What does this have to do with- you want to stay here of all places?!" I screech, putting two and two together. Z snaps their fingers.

"Bingo!" Z laughs. I am about to argue, but I suddenly feel so tired that I don't feel like it.

"Guest room is down the hall to the right," I sigh in defeat. Z smiles brightly and rushes away. I collapse onto the couch.

"I hate this job." I say half-heartedly. But deep down, I know that I'm lying to myself. The art of preparing the Hunger Games each year is far too exciting to let go. I just have to hold on for a while.


The Second Rebellion never happened. The victors are different. And Panem is as peaceful as it can be. Many things are different, but many other things are the same.

The Hunger Games. Every year, twenty-four tributes are Reaped from their homes in the Districts, and pitched into a fight to the death in an arena designed by the Gamemakers, which are unique and different themselves.

In this world, the stories of the twenty-four tributes intertwine infinitely, and it is impossible to tell what will happen next.

And on top of it all, this new Panem has a new President. A very… strange, new President.


AND THAT IS THE END OF THE FIRST PROLOGUE! I really hope you enjoyed the introduction to all the Gamemakers! This chapter did not take long to write, but we had to post it when I got back from camp, so that's why it's late.

Chapter Question (OPTIONAL): What do you think of all the Gamemakers? Who is your favorite?

So thank you guys so much for reading and me, NyanToDaMax145, will seeya guys next time! BOOOOOIII!