Disclaimer: I do not own the Hunger Games; the series belongs to the lovely Suzanne Collins.

The 197th Hunger Games

Prologue

Shoving black and electric blue curls back from his face, Dekkus Roman grabbed the always warm mug that was right beside his right hand. The mug was kept constantly full by an assistant who was most attentive in her singular duty. The mug warmed his hand as he lifted it to his mouth and took a long swallow. Coffee. He drank enough of the stuff that it must have been vying for water as the majority liquid in his body. It kept him going on endless days like this one. Of course, the past few weeks had been endless days, so he was certain he was subsisting only because of the high levels of caffeine in his bloodstream.

Dekkus groaned and set the mug down. Construction had slowed in the northern part of his arena, something about the support beams not being shipped on time. On top of that setback, he had received word that his more biologically-based designs were showing certain flaws. That was a true blow since those were the shining finish to his design, but hopefully the flaws could be worked into the game or be worked out by the time the Games began. And now, according to the media coordinator, there were issues with the newest prototype camera that was supposed to be able to get even better night shots.

Being the Head Gamemaker wasn't as easy as it should've been.

"Sir?"

"Hmm?" Dekkus turned and saw Madeline standing by his elbow, a datapad clutched in her periwinkle hands. She only came up to his chest when he was standing and had the most adorable alterations that included big white rabbit ears and a fluffy puff of a bunny tail that poked out of her pink mini skirt. She was the cutest intern at the Game Central, and Dekkus had demanded her as one of his assistants the moment he had become the Head Gamemaker. "Oh, are those the reports on the—"

"Yes, sir," she said, handing him the datapad, "Julian sent them just now. The materials you wanted came in, and they've started in on the detail work for the Park."

A glance at the datapad told him that it was true, and one more piece of his masterpiece was sliding into place. This was going to be an Arena that people would be talking about for years. Dekkus grinned. "Thank you, dearling. You're more efficient than I could ever hope for."

Madeline smiled and nodded her head, a coquettish, pale pink curl bouncing against her cheek. "Happy to help."

As he watched her leave his office, Dekkus thought about how he was going to make her enjoy the night when he finally asked her to come over to his apartment, how she'd scream with pleasure. He was waiting for the perfect moment, a weekend when his wife was at a spa retreat and the kids were visiting relatives. He'd take Madeline home and see just how supple and soft that velveteen body of hers was, and it wasn't like she was going to say no. Being connected with a Head Gamemaker got you places, and he knew that she had her eye on being a Gamemaker herself one day. Every opportunistic employee here did, and if she could use her body to get to that position, she'd do it. Dekkus was going to make sure she earned his recommendation, though.

He leaned back in his plush chair, his golden hourglass eyes trained on the hologram that rose from the table in front of him. His Arena was beautiful, a true work of art that would be appreciated by the masses, and perhaps it was spectacular enough to secure his place in the running to be the Head Gamemaker for the Bicentennial Hunger Games that were going to be held in three years. The 197th Hunger Games might be just a stepping stone for better things, but that didn't mean he had to hold anything back.

Now, if the forsaken Districts would just provide him with some semi-decent Tributes…