The rest of the train ride was uneventful. On the last day, when the train got into the Capitol station, I looked around in awe at how huge, clean, and downright interesting everything was. I saw bright colors everywhere, and the people were like nothing I had ever seen. People had dyed their skin, gotten claws, feathers, and even wings grafted onto them, and done some overall crazy things to themselves. I saw one woman with green skin whose hair had been somehow turned into grass, and a man who had a tail and scaly skin. I spent an hour on the train with my face pressed against the window, staring. When the train finally pulled into the station, my first thought was, "I wonder how crazy my prep team will be?" I wasn't disappointed. I was brought to the room where I would be "made pretty" for the chariot rides around the capitol. My prep team entered, and I shamelessly stared for a moment.
The first member of my prep team had wings. Large, shimmering purple wings. Purple seemed to be her signature color, as her eyes, lips, and nails were all different shades of purple. Her hair was dyed yellow, red, green, purple, and blue, and was tightly curled and styled around her head until it looked like you could bounce her on her head, it was so springy. She seemed to be dressed normally, however, wearing a simple black skirt and a purple and pink striped top. She noticed me staring at her wings, and smiled widely. "Oh, goodness, dear, they don't work!" She giggled. "No, they're just for show. I'm Shli. Nice to meet you, Cazzie!" She stuck out her hand. I shook it tentatively. She was still smiling. "Oh, but you must meet everyone else! Where's Leezan?"
As she said it, another woman came into the room. Her hot-pink hair was up in simple pigtails, and I noticed that she had dyed her arms and legs so that her dark brown skin faded to stark white at her feet and hands. She was dressed simply as well, wearing a short, glittering white dress with a gold belt resting around her hips. She was smiling mindlessly as well, and she shook my hand saying, "I'm Leezan, but you already know that. The third girl-" Here Leezan looked almost disapproving "-Should be in here any second now. Anyway, you look pretty! We just have to do a little work… Poor dear, she's a ginger…" I frowned. What did my hair color have to do with anything?
The door opened for the third time. The third and final member of my prep team definitely had the most interesting outfit – she was wearing a shiny white suit that went from her thighs to just above her chest. Over that, she was wearing a corset and a fishnet jacket that ended in fingerless gloves over her hands. Her thigh-high socks were vertically striped with neon pinks and greens, and on her right thigh she was wearing some sort of metal leg-bracelet. Her skin was light blue with green veins running through it, and her hair, black around her face, faded to brown, and then to white at the very end of her ponytail. She didn't look half as happy as the rest of the prep team, and said, "Hey. I'm Aneie," in a very neutral voice. Shli and Leezan looked at her as if they would do anything to chuck her off the roof of a very high building.