Chapter Eight, About the Present
"Well done kids!" Cheered Effie Trinket while the stylists helped the two kids in question to get out of their parade chariot. Meanwhile, the two jet-black horses that had conducted the District 3 tributes through the city neighed happily as Beetee scratched their heads.
Artemis gave a smile, "Thank you," he said to Effie. "The audience was…" Artemis paused, thinking of a word that was not too offensive to describe an audience cheering for the death of the people in front of them.
"The audience was very passionate," concluded Silyah for him. Artemis gave her a short look meaning: thank you.
"They had every reason to be!" Confirmed Effie, smiling.
Oh yes, thought Artemis, who wouldn't be passionate about the people they are soon to watch fight for their lives. Panem had a thing for bringing down Artemis's mood.
Beetee got away from the horses and joined his team. "You made a really good impression. The cameras were drawn to you both."
Silyah's stylist attempted to give the girl a congratulatory hug despite the electric arcs still emanating from her shoulders. "Thanks for the beautiful costume, Xarone," she told him.
Ilranor smiled at the teenagers. "Congratulations. You were splendid together," she looked over to Artemis and deactivated the tributes's suits, giving one final admiring glance towards Xarone and her's creations. "I cannot wait to show you what we just made for your interviews later this week," she then added with satisfaction.
Everyone in the team except Beetee seemed oblivious to the fact that the Hunger Games were a twisted and cruel and form of entertainment… That the first impression the two tributes had just made was only meant for the audience to get to know the kids who would have one chance out of twenty-four of still being alive after the Games…
Artemis turned towards Beetee, suddenly feeling as if the countdown of the parade had been part of the countdown of his life. "When will you start coaching us?"
Beetee gave him an understanding look. "As soon as you come back from your first training session. I will need to know your actual strengths before making any plans," the man answered before looking at his watch. "I think that it would be the time to go to our room before the elevator gets too busy," he told Effie.
The woman nodded and pushed the group towards an elevator made of crystal. "This system is really simple," she said as they boarded it. "There are twelve floors dedicated to the tributes; you will have to press on the button labeled with a 'three' and voilà! You will climb up to your new temporary home."
Temporary. The word reminded the tributes that their time in the beautiful – almost heavenly – apartments of the Capitol would be extremely limited. Soon enough, the only shelter they would have would be a treacherous arena and only one person would have the privilege to see the outside world again.
Effie pressed on the number 'three' and in less than five seconds, the group was on their floor.
Two people dressed entirely in white, a boy and a girl, greeted them silently at their arrival. They then showed them the modern and expensive-looking rooms of the third floor.
There were bedrooms and private bathrooms for everyone, a nice living room area with an enormous window giving on a Capitol street and a beautiful kitchen in which food was automatically delivered to anyone who wanted something to eat.
If there was anything good in this future, this had to be it. Even Artemis had to admit that he was impressed.
Every single window in the building had an interactive feature on which the people looking through it could decide of the view they wanted to have. The showers were the same automatic ones as those in the Remake Center and the furniture was the most luxurious and high-tech one could think of.
The place was a technological and architectural marvel.
The people in white left the group as soon as they were done with the tour.
"If you ever need anything, they will come to you," said Effie to the tributes, speaking about the quiet strangers.
Silyah nodded quickly, and then decided to go explore the apartment. She had seen so many new objects and she craved to examine them from up close.
Artemis had chosen to follow Silyah; he had some questions for her.
The girl was marveling over the windows of the living room when she heard the sound of Artemis's footsteps behind her. "Amazing isn't it?" She asked him as she made the window zoom on the moon.
"Yes, truly amazing…" he nodded. "Silyah, may I ask you something?"
"Yes, of course," she turned her ice-blue eyes towards him.
"Who were these people dressed in white?"
She gave him a curious look. "These were Avoxes. Haven't you heard of them before?"
Artemis shook his head. "No, what are they?"
Silyah sat on the window's ledge. "They are prisoners of the Capitol. They were punished either for treason, or because they tried to run away from their Districts. The word Avox actually comes from Greek and Latin words that mean 'without a voice.' I guess you have noticed why."
Artemis frowned. "Prisoners," he murmured, clearly displeased. "Are they not allowed to talk?"
"Not only are they forced to work for the Capitol like slaves, but they also undergo a very painful treatment," Silyah shivered only by thinking about it. "They actually got their tongues cut off…"
Artemis looked slightly sick. "They… That's macabre!"
Silyah nodded, a sad look appearing on her usually joyful face. "Don't try to socialize with them, I heard that if they tried to communicate, either by writing or by sign language, they would get in even more trouble."
"That's just sick…" He lacked a better word. "How can a world be peaceful if people are treated like that?" Artemis clearly didn't like this new piece of information.
Silyah shrugged. "That's why most people prefer to follow the law and tolerate the Capitol." She looked back at the moon in the digital window. "Sometimes I wonder how it was like before all of this…" She pressed a button on the window's remote and an areal view of Panem appeared on it. "That's why I love to learn about History."
Artemis closed a fist. If he ever got back into the past, he would do anything he could to prevent this madness from happening. "So, you know about the past?" He asked to bring the subject to a lighter place.
"Well, you hear me the other day when I was speaking with the teacher…" she replied. "I don't know that much about History, but that's because no one will let us, District kids, know…"
She had a point. "How much do you know?"
"I read about a few things here and there about places like North America and Europe. Most things I could find were geographical facts," she paused, recalling a few of the most interesting facts she had learned. "I also found a book about mythology in various countries," she added.
"Mythology? Found something in particular?"
Her eyes lit up, remembering a page that she had read a long time ago. "Artemis," she whispered. "Oh, that is why your name sounded so familiar! I did read about it." She smiled. "She was a goddess of the moon right? The Goddess of hunt?"
Artemis nodded with a smirk. "Indeed."
"Lovely name…" She looked at the boy. "And what about you? What do you know about the past?" She wondered, curious.
Artemis gave her a mysterious grin. "More that you'd imagine…"
"May I get a sample of your knowledge, Master Fowl?"
The grin widened. "What would you like to know, Miss Silyah?"
The girl thought about it. There were so many things she could ask about… "Do you know about the era just before all of those natural disasters began to affect the planet? About the way the people lived back then?"
"Let's see… The twenty-first century?" He asked in his teacher-like, lecturing voice. Silyah nodded. "The people back then lived very differently than in the Districts, as you might have guessed. In most countries, they had more freedom. Technology was a very important part of their lives."
"I read that humans once traveled to space…" Silyah added thoughtfully.
"Yes, they did, multiple times," he nodded, briefly wondering what had happened on Earth – or perhaps in space – for spaceships to disappear. Artemis and Silyah were quiet for a moment, each of them thinking about the past. "Most countries were trying to live in peace and agreement… They were attempting to cooperate through a system called the United Nations. The world's leaders wanted to remember the past in order not to repeat the same mistakes as their ancestors," he explained.
Silyah's head dropped down. "Well, they clearly are making one big mistake right now…" She replied, referring to Panem. She however felt like slapping herself for having said such a thing while being inside of a building owned and monitored by the government. "I think that humans back in the days made stupid decisions about how they treated the planet, but they seemed to live in good conditions when it came to political judgment… Or at least, they lived in better conditions than what we know now."
"I can't but agree. People seem to have gone back to the Stone Age, or rather back to Rome, with the Colosseum."
"Ancient Rome. Yes, that's very true," Silyah smiled, looking up. Her expression was halfway between sadness, nostalgia and tiredness. "Where did you learn about those ancient societies?"
Artemis thought about it, choosing his words carefully. "I have always been fascinated with them… If you do enough research on something, you will eventually find what you are looking for," this strategy had indeed proved itself useful when he had been searching for the People.
Silyah was about to reply something like, "maybe I'll try that one day," but she realized that it might not even be possible anymore. She frowned and went back to playing around with the window's features. She zoomed in on a busy street of the Capitol. "Just look at them…"
People were coming and going, not worrying about how much money they could spend in one store, how much food they could eat in those expensive restaurants or how many modifying surgeries they could get. All of them had not idea about what was truly going on elsewhere.
"And now look at this," Silyah pressed on the remote. Images of the twelve districts of Panem began to appear on the window. The streets were empty; people were working their lives away in order to put food in their plates.
"If this is supposed to be a good world, I would almost prefer it being bad…" Artemis frowned. "What happened to all people are born equal?"
They contemplated the windows, which Silyah had programmed to show the moon once again. "Some people are more equal than others," she answered.
"George Orwell's Animal Farm?" Artemis raised an eyebrow, recognizing the statement from Orwell's short novel.
Silyah nodded, grinning. "Yes, my uncle actually managed to find that book and gave it to me for my birthday."
Slowly, the girl got up and stretched. "Do you want anything from the kitchen?" She asked Artemis.
It was now Artemis's turn to nod. "Why not," he said getting up.
"We might as well take advantage of the unlimited food supplies," she winked.
The two tributes were seated at the kitchen's table, each of them with a cup of hot chocolate in hand, when Silyah said, "You know, even if all of these horrible things are upon us, I can at least say that I am in good company in this crazy adventure."
"You find Effie to be good company?" Artemis raised an eyebrow. What a joke. What was this place doing to him? Or maybe it was not the place, but the girl he was trapped there with…
She laughed softly, locks of her hair, which was already starting to curl again, falling in her eyes. "But of course! She is very delightful!" Her fake Capitol accent was an exact copy of Effie's.
"That imitation is not so bad, you've got a talent. Show that to the Gamemakers and sponsors and they'll adore you."
"Who knows, maybe I could imitate Effie in the arena and bring someone to a death of despair," she chuckled.
"That tactic might actually work…" Artemis leaned back in his chair, bringing the cup of hot chocolate to his lips.
Silyah starred at him, still very amused about Artemis's previous hot chocolate mustache.
Artemis raised an eyebrow towards her. "What are you looking at?" He asked, letting the cup sink. No mustache in sight this time.
"I'm sorry," she said, taking a sip in her own cup. "Still thinking about that fashionistic mustache of yours."
Artemis raised the other eyebrow. "Oh," a smirk formed across his lips. "I would not look so amused if I were you."
"What?" The girl tried to find a reflective surface in the room.
The raven-haired boy grinned. "You look so fashionistic," he said, doing a remarkably good imitation of the Capitol accent himself.
Silyah's hand went to her face. She wiped the corners of her mouth; there was nothing there. Maybe the boy was just teasing her, she thought… But then, she saw it. On the tip of her nose was a treacherous spot of whipped cream.
Artemis laughed at her expression. He had a nice laughter… Sad thing this might be one of the only time Silyah would get to hear it.
With the back of her hand, she removed the cream from her nose as blush rose on her cheeks. Though the look in her eyes was slightly mischievous, she was laughing too.
"Now we're even, cream-nose."
Effie was about to go in the kitchen when she heard laughter. She peeked inside of the room and sighed… Artemis and Silyah looked so happy and strong when they were together. Suddenly, the woman dreaded the moment when they would have to split them apart to watch them die.
The lady cleared her throat. Two pairs of joyful eyes looked at her, losing only a slight bit of lightness while doing so. "You better finish up what you were doing and go to sleep if you want to be in shape tomorrow," said Effie in a tone much softer than her usual one.
Artemis briefly wondered about Effie's her change of pitch, but he nevertheless agreed with her. "Effie is right. We better be at our best for the training, right Silyah?" Artemis got up from the chair, but in reality, he was worried about the training; he had no physical skills to speak of.
The two teenagers dropped their empty hot chocolate cups in the sink. "Did I miss anything?" Effie asked Artemis when he walked beside her.
"Not much, just something about hot chocolate and whipped cream," the boy replied, his good mood seeming strange. "Good night, Ms. Trinket."
Who would have thought that one could feel almost relaxed when they knew that their imminient death might be closing in?