Enigma Fenn (13) D1F

I didn't like Extravagance the second I stepped onto the train. I could tell from the moment I saw her that she was going to be surprised by me. Oh! You're the volunteer this year? But you're so little! Normally they choose the adults. I could see it in her eyes that she was about to say that. People were so predictable. I hoped Satin would step in for her, just so I wouldn't have to be mentored by someone who wouldn't take me seriously. I needed someone who would nurture my strengths, not condescend on them.

"The volunteer this year is a kiddo? That's weird. Normally they choose adults. What makes you so special?" Extravagance asked when I sat down. I was amazed. My guesses were almost never that far off. She wasn't surprised. She wasn't in awe. She was just intrigued. I figured my guess was a bit biased, and I shouldn't really be surprised that a trained Career - a Victor, I reminded myself - wouldn't be as totally predictable as some people.

"I'm really good at reading people. Some people have said it's exceptional. I always knew which people were going to say that. It radiated off of them in waves. I guess One figured I could make sure the male won, since just knowing what people do isn't always enough to win the Games, and I never showed them my other skills. They don't even know that I have any," I replied. Extravagance was professionally interested in what I had to say. I could see the gears grinding in her head as she was thinking up a plan so that I would win. Join the Careers. Betray them. You'll be all right, was the most normal response. Almost everyone said that. Extravagance wasn't going to, but I wasn't going to risk losing my confidence by guessing at a loose cannon.

"All right then. That gives you two options. You can either be a Career and win, despite being a kiddo, or you can not. Spit in the face of the Academy, since you clearly don't like them, and join an outlier or be a loner. You could tear apart the Arena, you know." Bingo.

"I thought about that. It's been a given for a while that Careers end up in the Pack, but I'm really a special case. Tiger's made it very clear that he wasn't interested in having me as an ally - both verbally and physically, he's a totally open book - and the other Careers will, more likely than not, not be interested in such a young ally. If they do keep me around, they're only going to keep me alive until the sponsors run out, or until they decide they've gotten enough gifts, and even a genius can't fight off five fully-trained Careers." I'd thought about that time and time again. Of course, I had back-up plans. Even in the District, I had known that Tiger didn't like me. He didn't like how much of a show-off I, admittedly, could be. He didn't like that I was more famous than he was. He didn't like that I always outperformed him in intelligence tests. Mostly, though, he didn't like that he thought I'd be a dead weight despite all that.

"That's all true. Which means it's pretty clear that you shouldn't be a Career. Throw them way off course, because they're planning on you being a casualty of the split. Help an outlier with all of their special secrets, and send them to their death. You won't have a problem knowing who you can manipulate." I had been so concentrated on planning that I had hardly tried to guess at what Extravagance was going to say. Planning was distracting me. I would have to do it all before I got into the Games.

"That won't work. If I don't become a Career, Tiger will let everyone know not to ally with me. He'll tell them I'm an unpredictable brat, or he'll threaten to kill them first if they do. Trust me, I know the guy like he knows himself. I'm either a Career or a loner, unless I can find someone who just wants to screw over the Careers... So I'm definitely a loner. But the Careers don't have to know that," I said, the plan all coming together in my head. I'd have a big fight to prove myself after Tiger tried to get the other Careers not to accept me. They'd end up trusting me more than they trusted him. I'd get information, and I'd know everything that was true and anything that wasn't. It wouldn't be hard to tell when you had skills like mine.

"Now that's an interesting new development. You're gonna be a double agent. I like it," Extravagance said. She didn't seem just professionally interested anymore. She seemed impressed, and honestly so. I liked that. She wasn't surprised. She was just pleased with what I could do.

"And then the Careers won't bother to threaten anyone who tries to ally with me, because they won't know any better. This all actually makes perfect sense!" I hardly recognized the emotion I was feeling as I said that. I was looking forward to the Games, and a bit of electricity seemed to be in my stomach. I hadn't felt that feeling since I was still a kid, not an adult in a child's body. Having a schizophrenic mother made me grow out of most of my emotions, to the point where it took me a few seconds to realize that, for the first time in years, I was excited.

So it turns out that Enigma is really easy for me to write. I should have just accepted her into a story instead of forgetting about her xD