Caesar Flickerman, Interviewer

"I don't like to give away my secrets," Charm said when I asked her about her strategy. Her calculated smile communicated that she did, in fact, have a lot of secrets, but she'd be revealing them on her own time. Lovely bit of acting, really. Her impossibly complicated costume and makeup added to her mystique.

A twelve is very impressive. Do tell us how you got that," I said to Majesty.

"I killed someone. Then I went to the private session," Majesty smirked.

"Lovely," I said.

"I just think anatomy is really cool. Like how bodies are put together and stuff like that. I'm not really in this for the pain, though it does really hurt to get mummified alive. That's just an unfortunate side effect. I guess if someone sends me some painkillers I'd use them. If my subject is squirming it might mess up the process." I sat unblinking as Marley went on.

"My friends are... great," Joseph said when I asked him about the Career pack. "Really great guys. But as for me, I'm just going to fight through this and win it for Bella." He realized we didn't know who that was and I figured it out when his eyes went misty. "She... couldn't be here," he said softly.

"What's it like being back in the Capitol?" I asked Jurrien. We paused for a moment to let the crowd react to this revelation.

"I'd hoped it would be under better terms, but I'll take what I can get," he said dryly.

"That's right, folks, Jurrien here had a Capitol scholarship. With that kind of pedigree, he's a shoo-in!"

Theta smirked at me from under her bombshell makeup. I had a bad feeling right before she spoke.

"I see a lot of cute guys here. I just hope if I have sex with them it's before I'm dead!" she said gleefully. I tugged on my ear facing away from the camera, giving the rarely-used signal to delete an interview and create artificial footage.

"Not many Tributes use a rope and hook like you. Does that give you an advantage?" I asked Laken.

"I think so," he said.

"Any hints on what you're planning for the Arena?" I asked.

"Guess it depends on the Arena. Sorry, I'm bad at talking."

"You took a big risk, allying with a bunch of outliers," I said to Beth.

She shrugged. "They're really nice and fun. If I have to go into the Games, I want to be with friends."

"Not to brag, but I think I have a chance. I do a lot of sports and I'm kind of smart," Galvan said.

"What's that you have there?" I asked about the little cube he was fiddling with.

"Oh, my escort gave me this," he said, holding it out so everyone could see it. "I thought these fidget things looked silly but they're actually really fun! It gets me through boring stuff like sponsor meet-and-greets. Oops, guess I shouldn't have said they're boring."

"Gosh, I'm so glad I'm here," Wren said. "The Hunger Games are, like, my favorite thing. I kept taking out tesserae to get picked but they picked someone else every year. Finally it's my turn to die horribly!"

Valencia swept onstage in an innocent white dress.

"Hi, I'd like to take a few minutes to tell you all about Romeo Auto," she said. "First off, he's a murderer. He's killed like a dozen people. One of them was fourteen- did he tell you that? He also sells drugs that make people's skin fall off, but he doesn't care, since they pay him! And if he tries to tell you he loves his son, he's never seen him. I ran away from him since he's a piece of shit and he's been trying to ruin my life ever since. So when you spend your sponsor dollars, make sure to spend them on literally anyone but Romeo."

"I just have to get back to my son," Romeo said, his voice quavering. "I'd just do anything. I've never been a violent person but you know how a father loves his son. When I first held him he was just so tiny and fragile. I want to give him the best-"

"BOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"

Dahlia's bright red dress showed off her fiery spirit.

"I've had a lot of challenges in my life, but I won't let them overwhelm me," she said. "I've gotten this far with nothing but my own determination and that's what will get me through the Games. That, and some tricks you'll see in good time."

"When I came to the Capitol, I didn't expect to see this many pretty ladies here," Timber said, mugging to the crowd. "But Dahlia was like no one else. I'm so glad to be in the Arena with someone I love. I hope I can protect her."

"There's Panem's little sweetheart!" I said when Kade came onstage. It was eerie, seeing her like this. I'd seen Kade around for photoshoots but never... like this.

"Thanks," she said shyly. "It's been great coming here and experiencing everything you all gave me. I hope I can pay it back by winning for you."

"What's it like being an interviewer?" Mike asked.

"Hey, I'm supposed to be interviewing you," I joked back.

"That's boring. We see that every day. Can't we hear about you for once?" And so I had my first interview.

One of the stylists had a sense of humor, since Amaranth came on in a brightly colored dress not unlike a jester.

"I'm not big on bullies," she said. "There's someone here I particularly need to work on. It's hard to tell, since there are so many nasty Tributes this year, but this one takes the cake. Let's see if you can guess who it is."

"Anything you'd like to say to the people of Panem?" I asked Jack, hoping he'd do the talking so I didn't have to keep thinking of questions for a small blind boy.

"I'd like to say goodbye to my mother," Jack started, calmly. "Also I'd like to tell everyone that my father has wagered most of his money that I'll die in 22nd place, so please ruin the betting odds so he loses all his money. Also he's done a ton of other totally illegal scams. I think I have enough time to list them all."

Rainbow's pastel multicolored dress brought to mind both the sadness of rain and the joy of its ending.

"There's so many things I haven't done in life," she said softly. "I've been with so many people but I've never really loved any of them. I read somewhere people love what they can't have. I guess it's tragic then that I loved love."

Anjou clearly thought he was someone special as he sauntered onstage.

"So, ladies, it seems I'm single now. We all make mistakes but this time I'm going to do it right. So who's first in line?"

No one responded.

My smile faded when I saw Isabella. I remembered her perched on her mother's hip, and then toddling beside her father, barely able to reach his hand.

"Good to see you again," she said with a warm smile. "I guess we all knew this was coming. But we also know how it will end. Someone like me is one in a million. That's what I'll be, right up to the finale."

"People call me Smiles," Elias said. "Take a guess why. Funny thing, I was actually going to volunteer, but then I got Reaped. What are the odds? Oh well, it'll end the same either way."

"What's your plan for winning the Games?" I asked Sky. She stared at my lips and squinted, then took out a sheet of paper.

Sorry, don't hear well.

"What's your plan for winning the Games?" I said loudly.

I dunno ha ha I'll figure that out when I get there

"We learn a lot of useful things in Twelve," Zebulon said. I waited for him to go on but he didn't.

"Like what?" I prompted.

"If I told you it wouldn't be a secret."