Union of the Stars: The 220th Hunger Games
Kayvan and Roan disembark in District 10 and begin the important job of suppressing the psionic abilities of every Mu in the area.
District 10
Time Until Reaping: 1 hour, 45 minutes
The air in District 10 is scented with a curious combination of dust, sweet hay, and the sort of must that grows in closets without air fresheners. It sweeps across the flat expanse of land without trees, mountains, or even tall buildings to stop it. Kayvan sneezed as soon as he stepped off the train, making him wish that he could wear whatever he wants, like the escorts are free to do. Then he could have worn a scarf to cover his nose and mouth. Instead, he is stuck wearing a drab Capitol-issued work uniform.
At least it's better than the plain grey outfit edged in an awfully vibrant shade of red that Roan has to wear to distinguish himself as a Mu. The people from Ten who live and work in the shops nearby eye the Mu in their distinctive clothes warily as they progress through town.
If Kayvan remembers correctly, District 10 has had quite a few rogue Mu go on destructive rampages over the years. The Capitol even launched an investigation to determine why one of the least populated Districts was producing so many rogue Mu.
Nothing ever came of it, as far as Kayvan remembers. It explains the citizens' unease, though. Several mothers pull their children behind them, just in case one of the Mu decide to lunge at them like wild animals.
Something pressing up against his side draws his attention away from the procession in front of them. Turning with a slight frown, he finds that it's only Roan leaning away from a set of avoxes coming through the crowd carrying a heavy-looking desk. He eyes the object warily for some reason, as if it might jump up and bite him.
They pass and Roan quickly falls into step behind Kayvan without even a glance at his handler. No apology, either.
Kayvan guesses that they are halfway to their destination when he hears a shout from somewhere behind him. Whirling around, his heart speeding up in anticipation of using the weapon tucked into his belt, he turns and sees a truly wild sight. A sight he could never have seen from the comfort of his home in the Capitol.
"You did that on purpose!" says a deep, gravelly voice filled with fear. A large man of approximately fifty years holds a black stick of some sort in one trembling hand. He brandishes it at Roan, who stands with two feet between them and a bowed head.
Kayvan starts forward, a protest on his lips, when he hears the people around them whispering urgently.
"Someone stop him before he gets himself killed!"
"Not again…"
"Isn't anyone going to stop it? Or are the Peacekeepers saving their own hides…"
Kayvan urges his feet to move. He shuffles over to Roan, who glances up at him with an unreadable expression in his eyes.
"Don't!" the man shouts, waving the stick in Roan's direction.
In that instant, Kayvan wonders if Capitol Mu are anything like their District counterparts. Maybe they are different species. He has seen a fourteen-year-old girl use a raw blast of psionic energy to rip a gaping wound in her opponent's side. The older, stronger Mu can even stop a weaker Mu's heart without touching them.
But Roan does not move an inch when he clearly sees the man take a swing at him, and Kayvan suspects it's not because he believes the man won't hit him.
Kayvan grabs Roan's wrist and yanks him out of the way. Roan's thin body collides against him as they both stumble back a few steps. The man gives a surprised shout and whirls around, freezing when he spots Kayvan's distinctive uniform marking him as a Capitol worker.
"Hey-"
Kayvan's words die on his lips. His training covered what they should and should not say in public. He grips Roan's wrist tighter and yanks him so he stands behind Kayvan.
"I'll take care of it," Kayvan says stiffly. "I'm his handler."
An apology isn't necessary. The people don't want to hear platitudes; they want action. Kayvan keeps his eyes narrowed and lips pressed into a tense line as he turns around, roughly pushing Roan into a walk.
But, Kayvan has no intention of punishing him. What did they do but bump into each other? If Roan really intended on hurting the man, they would likely be standing in a puddle of blood by now. He didn't even feel a spark or a slight itchiness to indicate that Roan was going to use his powers back there, as people often report feeling when a Mu activates their abilities.
Roan steals a glance at him as they fall into the crowd of personnel, but he doesn't initiate a conversation, not even to ask if he is in trouble.
Several low platforms stand at various locations around town. Kayvan supposes the citizens must use them as gathering spots during the rest of the year, but during the reaping, teams of avoxes transform the platforms into stations.
Half of the machinery is already set up, including the wires that run from the platform and join the next one somewhere a few blocks down the street. Kayvan breathes a low whistle at the sight of its dark steel exterior and the computer terminals flashing on standby.
Eventually they are shuffled into place, each given a chair at one of the long desks that has been hauled up on the platform. Kayvan receives a pair of headphones with a little microphone attached. The device connects him to Roan, who sits uncomfortably at his side.
Kayvan watched the entire time as they hooked Roan up to several wires. He is wearing a matching pair of headphones in addition to several electrodes taped to his face, hands, and chest beneath his shirt. The pendant-type suppressor he was wearing is tucked away in Kayvan's pocket.
One of the technicians, a woman around the same age as Kayvan's mother, snaps her fingers in his face and instructs him to face forward.
"I know what to do," Kayvan says as she starts to explain which button is which, and what each number on the screen reads.
"The last person who said that just sat there and stared at the screen the whole time," the woman snaps. Her accent is distinctly Capitol, but Kayvan has never heard such harsh words come out of his mother's mouth. He almost wouldn't believe it if not for the thickness of her accent. "Now, you are going to read these numbers out loud. Don't bother repeating them, just make sure you don't read them wrong the first time. And these, here…"
The explanation takes a good ten minutes and each handler at this station receives the same lecture. When the technicians are done, they move away from the platform.
"It's like this every year," a woman nearby drawls as she picks at her manicured nails. She turns around to wave at one of the other handlers. "Just because the newbies don't know how to tell left from right, they have to put us through this torture. Seriously?"
Kayvan turns his head to face the screen and slowly inches down in his seat. They aren't talking about him, specifically, but…
A light brush of skin against his knuckles makes him jolt in his seat. Kayvan stares at Roan, who is pretending that he hadn't just broken a rule by making contact with his handler. No matter how long he focuses on the Mu, however, Roan keeps on looking forward with a blank stare like he is supposed to.
Sighing, Kayvan turns around and waits for the signal to start.
When he hears the announcements around town informing people that the reaping will begin promptly in thirty minutes, it means that it's finally time to start speaking the first string of numbers.
"One-one-five-two-nine point zero-four-two." All around him, handlers are speaking in low voices to the Mu sitting next to them. Glancing at Roan out of the corner of his eye, Kayvan finally gets the opportunity to see a Mu's amplification powers at work.
The areas around the electrodes glow faint red, a sort of energy byproduct that Kayvan doesn't totally understand the science behind. Roan's eyes are closed in concentration, his lips parted slightly as he channels psion waves into the machines they hooked him up to earlier.
Kayvan is simply reading the precise coordinates and adjustments for him. He doesn't know how the numbers help Roan amplify the suppressors when he only understands the 'basics' of how these machines work, but this is what they instructed Kayvan to do. Apparently, it's necessary.
The psion suppressors are built into the electrical wiring of the town and District, but they are too costly to run at full power all the time. During the reaping, Mu like Roan are required to keep it running for the event. If it wasn't necessary, they wouldn't bother sending this many people out to sit around and do nothing.
As more time passes, Kayvan realizes just how easy his job actually is. He has a few chances to pause and catch his breath while Roan breathes heavily next to him.
Just after the District 10 mayor finishes her speech, Roan cringes in the seat next to Kayvan. Sweat rolls down his brow and he grinds his teeth together in pain, but he doesn't stop or even ask for a break.
Kayvan reads the next string of digits and tries to ignore the reddish glow emitting from every Mu in the vicinity. There is no other sign of their abilities at work, even though the large metal dishes emitting waves across the town hum and whirl on either side of the platform.
And he tries not to wonder just how he expected the one next to him to attack him the second they met.
Then, he hears something whisper at the edges of his awareness. At first, he thinks it must be the wind slipping through the headphones. Then, he hears it again, and it sinks in like a rapid series of vibrations against his skull. Kayan winces.
"Don't worry," says a familiar voice, after the vibrations begin to subside.
The voice spreads throughout his head, clear with a warm, reassuring tone, but it doesn't come from anywhere. It originates from within, as if the words themselves have been transferred directly to his brain, completely bypassing his ears in the process.
"Just concentrate on the numbers. I'm fine."
He opens his mouth, but a wave of urgency makes him finish the motion with a large inhale instead.
"Don't worry, Kayvan. It's easy, remember?"
Is he supposed to be doing this? Kayvan can't quite recall the rules. He knows that Mu aren't supposed to speak to their handlers on the job, but he doesn't remember if speaking telepathically counts.
"It's okay. Stay calm and keep reading the numbers to me. I can't read them off and use this much power at once."
Roan is sort of talkative, in his head at least. Kayvan still has no idea if his exact words are reaching Roan, but he does receive a soft, rumbling laugh in response, so he figures that it's working.
We'll talk about this later, Kayvan thinks.
Then he says the next string: "Seven-zero-nine-two point zero-zero-five-three."
And the next, and the next after that.
Have you ever used bone conduction headphones? I've heard that they don't work well when listening to music because they send strong vibrations through your head, but I've used ones from an audiologist's office before. You hear a tone/beep through them, same as regular hearing tests, but instead of hearing through your ears, the sound goes straight through to your head (and it's an extremely clear sound, too). It's...slightly bizarre, and what I based this telepathy thing off of.
Do you think Roan is going to get in trouble for talking to Kayvan telepathically?