Prologue

Coriolanus Snow, 20, First Son of Panem

Coriolanus tries to look engaged as the Gamemakers discuss the upcoming Hunger Games, but it is difficult to wrap his head around what they're saying. It was his father's idea to have Coriolanus shadow the Head Gamemaker this year and, as the President of Panem, what Albinus says goes. It's not that Coriolanus doesn't want to be here, it's simply that he doesn't want to be forced to attend the meeting. He was told last night that he would be expected here today and that hardly left enough time to prepare. It's unfair of his father to throw him in without a life jacket, but trial by fire has always been Albinus' strategy when it comes to Coriolanus.

"What do you think, Coriolanus?" Claude asks and the entire table turns to look at him. This will be Claude's sixth year as Head Gamemaker and he has become a staple guest at the President's Mansion since he was inaugurated. It's clear that Claude wants to involve Coriolanus in this meeting, likely also his father's doing, but he hasn't been paying attention for the last couple minutes.

"I'm more interested to see how you will handle it, Claude." It's a cop-out answer and Coriolanus knows it, but Claude doesn't dare call him on it. The Gamemakers go back to discussing the topic and Coriolanus tries to tune back in, but it's terribly boring. He glances down at his watch and sees that a couple hours have passed but can't remember when this meeting is supposed to end.

"Citizens don't understand the voting process," Annika says simply. She looks to be no older than Coriolanus, and must be Claude's new assistant that he heard about from his father. She doesn't look like any of the Gamemakers, in fact if Coriolanus didn't know better he would mistake her for a stylist. Her green eyes appear keen, but she is still dressed like a regular citizen. The other Gamemakers, besides Maude the Head Stylist, are dressed in business attire. Coriolanus would try to remember to mention it when he next speaks to his father. Annika continues, her eyes fixed on Claude to gauge his reaction. "They pick the most attractive ones and put their money on them. It's no wonder they're inaccurate."

"Looks do play a role of course," Maude interjects, but Claude waves his hand dismissively.

"The citizens have little else to base their opinions on," Claude says. "How could they know which tributes possess transferable skills? They don't comprehend the intricacies of the Hunger Games."

"Then why don't you score them?" The words have left Coriolanus' lips before he can decide whether to interrupt, but the answer seems so obvious. Who better to understand the tributes' chances than the Gamemakers? Citizens could then base their bets on these in addition to the tributes' various appearances. It would make the whole betting and sponsorship process feel more legitimate and encourage people to take part. Coriolanus is certain that citizens would be more likely to spend money if a tribute was endorsed by the Gamemakers with a high ranking.

"Excellent," Claude says, smiling as he leans back into his chair. The other Gamemakers give nods of encouragement towards Coriolanus and he can't help but sit up straighter. It feels good to have their praise. His idea is good and, most importantly, it is separate from his father.

"I don't mean any disrespect," Annika says cautiously, giving a curt nod to Coriolanus. "But would it not appear a bit biased for the Gamemakers to rank a tribute as 1st place and then have them win? It could look like we are manipulating the outcome."

"Perhaps," Coriolanus says, deflating for just a moment before another solution pops into his mind. "Then we should get rid of the current scoring system. Create a new one altogether so that we are not predicting tribute placements at all."

Annika looks like she might say something, but Claude holds up his hand to stop her. Instead, he addresses Coriolanus directly. "What do you propose?"

Coriolanus lets himself think for a moment, he isn't exactly sure what he is proposing but he knows that he has to say something. Simplicity is key in this situation as they are dealing with the public. The new system needs to be easily understood by anyone that comes across the values. "Score the tributes from one to ten based on their training performance. These are the skills that they will use in the arena so they would likely best correlate to success. A higher score would indicate a tribute with higher prowess in necessary domains."

"Simple," Claude says quietly, stroking his chin as he considers the idea. Coriolanus can't help but be nervous at what the Gamemaker will say next. Of course, Claude wouldn't dare humiliate Coriolanus in this setting but he could turn down the plan kindly. That might actually be worse. "I love it. We're not telling the citizens which tribute in particular will win, just which tributes have the skills to win. It's genius."

"How about a score of one to twelve, for the twelve districts" Annika says, her eyes locked on Coriolanus. It is bold of her to tack onto his idea, but Coriolanus admires it. Claude looks pleased and Coriolanus is almost disappointed that he didn't think of it.

"Are there enough of us to score watch them all throughout training?" Yulia asks. "That seems like an awful lot of time away from our duties."

"The tributes typically perform for the cameras on the final training day, correct?" Coriolanus asks, directing the question to Claude.

"Yes," Claude responds. "We added an additional half day of training to allow for it this year. Mentors said that the cameras are too much of a distraction and tributes didn't have enough time to train."

"This year, tributes will perform for the Gamemakers instead," Coriolanus says boldly. It is already apparent that Claude is invested in his idea and Coriolanus can feel the rush of power that comes with that. It feels good to have people listen and he can understand why his father enjoys it so much. Coriolanus is not like his father, but it's interesting to know that some traits have been passed down. "Each tribute will have a private session to show off their skills, away from the other tributes. That will also allow us to see any skills they might wish to hide from their opponents."

Claude stares at him across the table for a moment before a grin crawls across his lips and Coriolanus knows that he has done well. Perhaps this meeting wasn't as much of a waste of time as he'd originally thought. This might be his chance to make a name for himself, even if just among the Gamemakers, away from his father's influence. Coriolanus smiles out to the room as they begin to discuss the tribute's private sessions. His father isn't the only one who can change Panem, and maybe Coriolanus can begin to make an impact sooner than he thought.

A/N: Tribute submissions remain open until June 10th, but I thought it would be a good time to introduce some of the changes that will be happening between this story and the previous ones in this series. Along with the progression of the Career movement, there is now also the addition of training scores to replace viewer rankings from previous stories. More changes will be revealed as the story progresses, this is just a small piece of them.

Thank you to everyone that has submitted thus far. I will be posting the final prologue, tribute list, and blog after the deadline and then we will get started with the rest of the story. I've received some very exciting characters and I'm looking forward to introducing them to you all very soon.

As always if you have any questions don't hesitate to reach out! I'm usually up for a chat.

~ Olive