The Trial Games.
"Haa, Haa- as Sin would say, these games are going to be a huge hit!"
"-it was a tad predictable though, with the crossbow boy winning. I was hoping that the Mayan girl would win. She was always having conversations with herself."
The Gamemakers table was buzzing with pride. Their Trial Games had gone off with aplomb. The private audience of authority members and people in high positions had all expressed a definite interest in sponsoring a yearly event as a way of punishing the Districts.
The President sat at the head of the table, but he didn't look as pleased as the remainder did. He examined his fingertips, rubbing them together as something plagued his mind.
"-Mister President, is something bothering you?" One of the Gamemakers noticed his fixture. "Aren't you pleased with how the games went?"
For a while, the President said nothing. Finally, he lowered his hand to the table, propped his head upon the other and gazed at the head Gamemaker on his right.
"...we need to make a few... changes." He said curtly. "Firstly, I believe all weapons should be in the Cornucopia from the beginning, not hidden around the arena."
"-ah that's right! There'll be a bigger fight at the beginning that way!" the Head Gamemaker realised. "Is there something else?"
"I believe we should discourage rape, it would make the games seem... degrading. To that same extent, we should probably remove bodies once they're abandoned."
A few Gamemakers muttered amongst themselves at this. Though none of them would admit to enjoying watching the Maya and Crux portion of the tape once more- they certainly had been counting it as a crowd favourite.
"Yes... what else?"
"...keep the arenas 'outdoors' next time; it'd keep the bodies... more accessible for our hovercrafts." The President finished simply. "We don't want another girl hidden away under a stage."
The Gamemakers had already been to collect all twenty-three bodies and the victor, and it was true. Getting to some of the rooms was made difficult with the conditions they were in. It would be much easier using a ship.
"-so aside from that, everything's good to be released?" The Head Gamemaker smiled at his superior, looking for approval. "This is going to be an instant success, especially with the characters that these children turned out to be-"
"You will not be releasing this to the public."
The room fell silent as the President stood from his chair. The Head Gamemaker stammered as the man of Panem pulled on his coat and prepared to exit the room.
"-but sir, we've edited the tapes, produced the videos-!" The Gamemaker scrambled to his feet, stumbling after the President. "We've already printed up the guides, the bios-"
"Burn it all, no one is to ever know of what transpired in that arena." The President's gaze was cold and almost murderous. "We want the games to be a surprise, and that is what they shall be. This was merely a test, a run through."
"-b-but, w-what about the boy? Crux won, he's entitled to-"
"Kill him too, and his family." The man cut through the weaker's stutters. "See that the sponsors will not breathe a word of what they witnessed to anyone, ever."
The door clicked shut, and the Head Gamemaker frowned. As he pressed the numbers to execute the orders he had just been given, he reached deeply into his pocket for the video and guide he had been about to give to the President.
He'd burn them all... except these... he'd worked too hard for it all to just be a memory... a memory to be overshadowed by the many centuries of games to come. After all, this game would be the first- the true original...
...he'd hide them, stash them away... where the President wouldn't destroy his hard work...
"Please... be safe..."
Plutarch clutched his head in his hands, unable to watch as the boy tried to scream over his love's alarm. The faded, dusty booklet guide laid open beside the new Head Gamemaker- which he had found bound with the tape hidden deep within the Hunger Game's records room, stashed beneath the old floorboards.
It was worse than watching any of the Hunger Games he had ever had to observe. This game, this monstrous creation was worse than any other game.
The children had no idea what they had been in for. They had no warning, no reapening- and the winner had not even been allowed to bask in their survival. There had been notes, edited into the booklet that explained- quite clear that the writer wasn't pleased – that Crux had been killed by lethal injection later the next day for security purposes.
All the while screaming- '-you killed her- you killed her!'
No one else had ever watched this tape judging from its old, dusted form. The tape had been unlabelled, but the guide had intrigued Plutarch enough to sneak it back home and view it in its entirety. Because of this, he saw a side of the games he hadn't known.
It was a lot less edited than the games were now. It showed the girl screaming for 'their death'. There was rape, slander of the Capitol- and disfigurement of the bodies. Plutarch knew he would hate the kids had this been a recent tape, but these children...
He couldn't let any more games happen. If they did, how many more would happen like this? In fact, how many had already been- but cleverly cut and edited to fool the audience?
"...I'm so sorry..."
End.