One Man's Rebellion
Chapter 4
Disclaimer: This work of fan-fiction is not intended for personal profit. All characters utilized herein which are not creations of myself belong to Suzanne Collins.
The Sixty-Third Hunger Games are about to begin.
It's Reaping Day for the districts, and all of the Gamemakers are in the Training Center's underground meeting room. There's a vast underground complex that the tributes never see when they come for training. This is just one of several rooms we Gamemakers have access to.
It's got a large television screen along one wall. We're the first to see the Reapings. They're transmitted almost-live, routed to us first. Ostensibly it's for us to get a sense of the tributes that are coming to the Capitol, but another purpose is for us to censor any untoward images before the Capitol audience gets to see them, never mind the Districts.
The room is laid out like a movie theater, so nobody's vision is obstructed. However, we have comfortable couches instead of individual seats in the Gamemaker area. The single chairs are the rear seats near the entry doors. That area's for the Assistant Gamemakers as well as other staff.
Fulvia's not here today. She's to take a confidential written message to Haymitch Abernathy that's as innocuous as I can make it. I dispatched her on the train to District Twelve, and when she looked at me a little funny, I said, "I know you don't like him, but it's a Gamemaker's prerogative. I also want you to make sure there's no problems on the train."
I've already got a glimpse of what my future life will be like: gauging trustworthiness, giving people incomplete information, pushing some boundaries and seeing what's safe and what's not.
It's a test for her and for Abernathy, and I feel somewhat guilty for manipulating her. But I need to know if she can resist the temptation to start wondering about her unusual mission and peeking at things she shouldn't peek at.
The invitation to the District Twelve mentor is just for a working dinner at a restaurant near the Training Center. If asked by anyone, I'll have to lie and say I wanted to see the laughingstock of Panem up close.
The Panem anthem swells over the speakers, and as tradition demands, we stand up as the insignia comes up on the screen.
After the words "District One Reaping" flash across the screen, we sit down. I'm next to Gamemaker Dannon. He's got a small computer with him to make notes about the various tributes. I always ask for a complete recording to be sent to me so I can watch at home and get a feel for the scores they'll get during training.
At this stage, I want to focus my attention on the tributes and not be distracted by a notepad or a computer.
The District One boy tribute is a seventeen-year-old volunteer. The girl is an eighteen-year-old and refuses to let a volunteer take her place. They seem well-dressed this year. They must be children of comparatively wealthy people who would like to add a Victor to the roster of accomplishments their children have.
Seneca Crane's a couple of seats to my right, and he doesn't raise his eyebrows. It's always somewhat debatable whether we should show that people being Reaped can insist on staying in instead of being replaced. On the one hand it encourages independent thinking against what appear to be iron-cast rules. On the other, we want the Capitol people to forget that the Districts don't really have a choice. One boy and one girl – save for the fiftieth Hunger Games – will end up in an Arena one way or another.
Seneca usually doesn't censor things like this, and it doesn't look like he'll censor this one either. The tributes from One will probably rate an eight.
The succeeding Reapings are staggered, so District Seven comes up next.
The seventeen-year-old boy seems fairly strong. He must already be working in the sawmills in that District. The girl, however, is only thirteen. Nobody volunteers. I'll rate them seven and three, respectively.
The tributes from Two are both well-muscled and have blank expressions on their faces as the Capitol escort announces them as tributes. The boy is an aggressive-looking fourteen-year-old who shoved a much taller boy out of the way to make it to the front. The Victors had a quick huddle, then pointed at him and gestured him up. The girl is eighteen, and is an eager volunteer.
Just for the hell of it, I mentally rate the boy a ten. If he can shove people heavier than him aside, he'll probably show similar skill in training.
District Three produces relatively nondescript tributes. I mentally assign them fours.
It goes on like this, with Districts Eleven and Twelve not producing anyone memorable. I do notice Haymitch Abernathy is fiddling with a piece of paper before he shoves it in his pocket and slumps on a chair while Effie Trinket gives her usual bright smiles to attract attention to herself.
Fulvia's hanging well back, almost in the doorway of the Justice Building. Good. She'll be just another Capitol flunky making sure the train runs on time.
As the image on the screen fades to black, the lights come up and Seneca stands. He says, "All right, everybody, it looks like we've got a fairly usual crop of tributes this year. I want final preparations made for the Training Center to be ready, and for the stylists and prep teams to have what they need." He turns and points to the Assistants. "I want you people in the back to help wherever you're needed. Any last-minute problems, contact a Gamemaker."
The meeting breaks up, and I find I'm anxious to meet Abernathy in person and see if I can trust him. I also wonder what Fulvia has to say about the Reapings when she sees them.
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The next day, I'm at my desk at six in the morning. The work's moved into high gear.
Even as District tributes enter the Capitol, sparking frenzies of adulation and curiosity at the train station, we Gamemakers scurry around, mediating last-minute disputes among stylists who've suddenly changed their minds and want this District instead of that District, making sure all the supplies they need are in stock at the Remake Center, double-checking that the Training Center is ready to go and doing the hundred and thirty-seven odds-and-ends that seem to come up at the last minute each year.
A newbie Assistant videophones me in a panic, swamped by anxious prep teams who're missing the hair wax for the tributes' bodies. I decide I'd better settle the matter personally, as the stuff damn well should have been ordered weeks ago.
I rush over in my hovercar, breaking all the speed limits and parking in the back of the Remake Center with a whoosh of air. Before the car has even started shutdown mode, I'm barrelling through the back door, swiftly walking through the cavernous chariot stable room, and quickly taking the stairs to find out what in Panem is going on.
The prep teams have converged on Assistant Gamemaker Orchus Setala in shipping and receiving, demanding in their high-pitched voices to know what's going on.
I bellow, "What's the matter here?"
Everybody shuts up and looks at me. I bark, "Gimme the manifest, Setala."
He hands the datapad over to me with shaking hands while one of the women shoots him a dirty look, and I quickly page through it, looking for the part number for HAIR WAX, and then cross-referencing it against the delivery schedule and the locator beacon on the pallet.
A few taps of my fingers later I find out what's happened. There wasn't any more room, so it was redirected into the far corner of the downstairs stable, and I happen to know the boxes look almost identical to the ones for the special feed meal for the horses. It's Setala's first year and he's still learning the ropes. It can't have helped that he got completely flustered due to upset prep teams.
I decide to bail out the Assistant, handing him back the datapad and saying, "Setala, get downstairs and find a couple of Avoxes to help you get the pallets up here. Even better, some of you folks on the prep teams should go with him. The wax boxes are downstairs, by the chariots."
Orchus breathes a sigh of relief and wipes the sweat off his forehead. Everybody in the shipping and receiving hall scatters, off to finish getting things done.
I decide to quickly check things out in the Remake Center, nodding at other Assistant Gamemakers and quickly chatting with Dannon, who's on his way back to Gamemaker central to confirm nothing's wrong with the cameras in the Arena. I end up by the glitzy front entrance to the Remake Center, noticing a sizable crowd of anxious people has already gathered, awaiting the tributes who'll shortly enter.
I get roped into a quick interview with the Reaping announcers, as there's some curiosity as to what we think of the tributes.
I'm not allowed to say very much, but I'm an old hand at this.
The purple-haired, rainbow-eyed man says, "Gamemaker Heavensbee, what prospects do you see for the District One, Two and Four tributes this year?"
I smile and look into the camera and give a quick wink. "Well, that part's confidential but I can tell you we just might have a few surprises in store for our viewers this year."
Bait. Shark. Chomp.
The guy's voice tightens in excitement as he gushes, "So you're saying we can look forward to a real upset in the Hunger Games?"
I'm reminded of the sharks in District Four's waters with the way this guy is so eager for something to show the audience.
He's getting dangerously close to my notion of seeing how the Careers respond to the lake, so I have to throw him off. "Anyone from any District could win. That's the way the Games are, as I'm sure you know. Keep your eyes open, and keep an open mind in the days to come. Unfortunately, my time is up and I need to get moving. It was a pleasure."
His eyes flash at not being allowed any more tidbits, but his tight smile shows he knows how the audience gets played. We shake hands, bowing slightly to each other on camera, and I get back into the Remake Center, yanking my mobile phone out of my pocket to check if Fulvia has come in yet.
As it turns out, her train is just rolling in now. She'll be at the Remake Center any minute now, and I tell her to meet me in the back at my car.
It's almost like fate is letting things fall into place for me.
Author Notes: Thanks to SkyWriter9 and xXKillerxxCupcakeXx for the beta work here! :)