Electra Magneta
It was good to be from Three. I didn't need to crowd in with all the others in the training room. I got everything I needed in Acee's room. Nobody else would see me learning, and nobody would know what I could do.
"Take a look at this," Acee said, and she pointed out the elephant in the room. It was a metal rod with a sphere on the end of it. It was humming, and I could feel the energy coming off of it.
"Electricity is alive. It is a force more powerful and dangerous than anything except one thing. That thing is you. Only a man- a woman, in our case- can bend the very underlying forces of the universe for our own ends. Electricity can warp metal or set a city ablaze. And you can make it your own," she said. She tossed a tissue into the air above the sphere. As soon as it brushed the metal, it jerked back like a ghost had yanked it and erupted into flames. Then she put her hand on the metal.
"Gah!" I yelped. I jumped back and my heart stopped. But Acee didn't burst into flames or go into spasms. Her hair puffed up like a dandelion, but that was it.
"Electricity can warp metal. It can't go through rubber," she said with a smile. I noticed she wasn't wearing the elaborate heeled shoes most Capitolites favored. Hers were simple flats. I hadn't noticed how thick they were. Acee let go of the metal and pushed a smaller rod against the sphere. The energy in the air dissipated.
"Electricity won me my Games. That and a bomb," she said.
"What if there aren't any wires in the Games?" I asked.
"There's always something. If things had been different, I might have made a projectile launcher or an acid rain. Don't make a plan and search out the supplies. Search out the supplies and from them make the plan," Acee said.
"Like, for example, what would you use if electricity was the best bet?" I asked. Acee looked around the room.
"The cameras are on, but they're not listening unless we start talking about the Capitol. When I was in the Arena, the girls had bras, even the flatter ones like me. Underwire bras," Acee said.
"What about for an energy source? The Arena will probably be outside," I said.
"Citrus fruits conduct electricity. So do potatoes," Acee said.
"What if... theoretically... I didn't know much about making circuits and stuff?" I asked.
"Then you've come to the right place," Acee said.
Desiree Redwood
Electra kept bugging me to train. I already knew how to throw and axe and all that. Plus I was a giant. I couldn't improve my admittedly slim chances with a few swipes of a sword. I wanted to go out and see what the Capitol had to offer. I finally managed to convince her to come along by saying we could stop at the science museum a few buildings away. We were almost out the door when Bubbles showed up.
"Where are you two off to?" she asked pleasantly.
"Nowhere," I said. Unfortunately, Bubbles picked that exact minute to grow a brain cell. She gasped in delight and secretively narrowed her eyes.
"You two are sneaking out," she said.
"Of course not. The guards would never let us leave," Desiree said. The pair of Peacekeepers by the door did seem rather imposing. It was silly to think we could get past them.
"Ooh! Can I come?" Bubbles squeaked. She lowered her voice like she had a saucy secret. "They won't question you if I'm there."
Yeah, no one would question your responsibility, I thought. "Go crazy," I said. But it was too late for that. Bubbles was off like a shot.
"Heeello, boys!" she purred at the Peacekeepers like a fangirl who had just seen Panem's hottest stars. "I'm so happy to see you keeping us all safe!"
As she buttered up the Peacekeepers, Desiree and I slipped past and out of the building. Bubbles followed soon after, blowing a kiss over her shoulder at the two smitten Peacekeepers. She was good for something after all.
We would never have been daring enough to go farther than a few buildings, so we went straight to the science museum. Electra had swiped two hooded shirts from her closet, and we kept the hoods up so we wouldn't get busted. It was hardly necessary since, as might be expected, the Capitol science museum was deserted. Again, it was all going fine until Bubbles butted in.
"Ooh, it's Pray and Ava! Hi, girls!" she said. Electra and I desperately shushed her, but there was no shushing Bubbles. Pray saw her and did a double take in confusion.
"What on Earth are you- you," she said when she saw us. She stalked over with Ava following close behind.
"What the hell are you doing? If anyone sees you here we'll all get Avoxed. Well, the rest of us will. You two will get executed," she hissed. She kept up that line of conversation, but I lost her after the first few words. I was distracted by something much more interesting and much sexier: Ava.
I'd seen Ava on TV, of course, but she was ever so much more stunning in person. I didn't remember her being so flawless, and I suspected the Capitol had tampered with her. It was a pity, since she was perfect before. She caught me peeking and I looked away innocently.
We didn't get to see much of the science museum, since Pray shooed us out pretty quick. Luckily we were already a few rooms in when we met her in the armor exhibit. Ever more luckily, the best exhibit was standing right next to her.
We realized our folly on our way to sneak back into the Games Center. Electra and I glanced at each other as we made the connection at the same time.
"We should, uh, probably not tell anyone we did this," Electra said.
"Of course. It's a secret. Oh, I love secrets!" Bubbles said. It was hardly reassuring. There were many, many things Bubbles didn't know. Among them, almost certainly, was how not to talk.
Maybe it's not so realistic that Des and Electra could sneak out of the Games Center. But their submitter sent it in and I usually go with it. It's earlier in the Games and someone has to be the one to make a need for new rules, like that kid who threw himself off the roof. It sounded funny, so I bent realism.