For her last day of training, Sylvia did all the mandatory activities that she'd neglected for the previous two days. Then she finished it off with one more permitted hour at the fire-starting station.
She sat patiently and talked with the Fire Spirit as she waited for her private session to begin. This drew odd looks her way, especially when she laughed at a rude comment about the Weatherman so loudly and shrilly that it caught the attention of every single person in the room.
The two Peacekeepers standing guard exchanged a look.
The tributes sitting on either side of her (Markus and the boy from Six) shifted further away from her, so much so that Markus was practically sitting in the lap of the girl from Eight.
Finally, it was Sylvia's turn in the next room and the remaining tributes breathed a silent sigh of relief as soon as the door slid shut behind her.
The Gamemakers watched with interest as she headed straight for the fire-starting station. They'd heard from the instructor about her apparent love for that station, and so they were intrigued to see more.
Sylvia quickly got to work piling up as much wood as she could in one corner of the station. She reserved two pieces of wood and placed them into position, just like how she'd been taught.
She then began to frantically twist the top piece relentlessly over the bottom piece. Before long, wisps of smoke trailed up from the bottom and Sylvia's face lit up in an excited smile.
The small flames slowly but surely began to envelop the wood. Soon they grew bigger and bigger and Sylvia couldn't be happier.
She carefully picked up the blazing wood and threw it onto the prepared wood pile and watched gleefully as all that wood too began to burn ever so brightly.
As the smoke rose up towards the ceiling in thick wafts, the instructor approached with a fire extinguisher in hand, ready to put the fire out, now that Sylvia had demonstrated her proficiency in fire-starting.
Sylvia didn't realize what that cylindrical red object was until it started spraying foam all over her hard work.
And just like that, it was like a switch had been flipped.
Sylvia lunged at the instructor.
He collapsed under her weight and she used the opportunity to kneel on his chest and press her hands down hard on his throat. Her eyes were full of a burning, intense rage.
He was working for the Weatherman! She just knew it! He was an imposter! He acted all kind, showing her how to create the beauty of fire, then he turns around and puts it out!
He betrayed her! He betrayed the Fire Spirit!
Well, if she can't kill the Weatherman, then she'll kill his minions!
Right as the instructor's face was starting to turn a hideous shade of purple, two Peacekeepers rushed over and roughly pried the two apart. One helped the instructor to his feet. The other held onto Sylvia tightly as she kicked and thrashed, screaming all the while, "He's with the Weatherman! He's with the Weatherman! Kill him! He has to die!"
Sylvia was quickly subdued and handcuffed. She was forcefully escorted to her floor. The elevator doors chimed, and as Berry and Logan watched on in horror, Sylvia was sat in a chair and restrained to it.
Two Peacekeepers stood next to her, guarding her, as a third explained to the shocked mentors what had just transpired.
"She WHAT?!" Berry screeched.
"What on earth possessed her to do something like that?" Logan said, incredulous.
"Beats me," the Peacekeeper shrugged. "She kept screaming about the weatherman and how he has to die, I think?" He glanced over at Sylvia fighting her restraints and his comrades tightening their grips on their weapons. Frowning, he turned back to Berry.
"That's not a girl you're mentoring," he said with disgust, "that's a wild animal."
"I'm starting to think you're right," Berry responded, her voice barely above a whisper.
Later on, the District Seven team were gathered around the television screen to watch the scores. Sylvia sat by herself, far away from everyone else save for the two Peacekeepers who, annoyingly, continued to flank either side of her.
All the Careers got nines and tens. The highest-scoring outlier, the boy from Six, received an eight.
Markus scored a three.
For her efforts, Sylvia was awarded a one.