"Name."
He winced at the camera flashes that followed, aimed at either him or the ones sitting across from him. The "Capitol Investigative" Tribunal. Composed entirely of former rebels, they looked at him with slightly bored expressions. They had dozens, hundreds of cases to go through every day.
Sindi Vrikki froze. She never dealt well with large crowds, and the Tribunal's foreman didn't much appreciate her silence. He leaned in with a furrowed brow.
"Name."
Sini noticed one of the rebels militia placing his hand on the butt of his pistol. More than a few times they had to step in and deal with prisoners that did something stupid or desperate.
She cleared her throat and spoke into the microphone in front of her.
"Sindi Glee Vrikki."
The foreman shuffled through some papers on his desk, picking out one and squinting at it through his thin glasses.
"Records show that you worked for the Capitol government under the administration of President Snow. Is that correct?"
She beared the pulse of more camera flashes before responding. "Yes."
"Are you aware of the crimes you committed under President Snow?"
The hard question. They didn't let those they'd arrested watch the trials before them. Everyone had to come up with their own answer.
"I—" she began, her shoulders sulking.
"I was an editor."
The rebel didn't appear satisfied with her reply, scratching the bridge of his nose. "Please elaborate."
She squirmed in her basic, metal chair. "Every morning, I would be given a few hours of surveillance taken from all over Panem. I'd..."enhance" whatever might cast the country or Snow in a bad light. Most of it was bad, but I'd salvage whatever good I could from the stuff they gave me. Everything else I'd mark for destruction. I was given a lot of leeway to do my work; I think only twice they sent something back for a better re-edit."
She saw one of the tribunal members lean over and whisper something to the foreman. She couldn't hear it, but saw her mouth the words "propoist". He nodded, leaning back to his mic.
"What footage would you discard?"
She opened her mouth, but couldn't work up the nerve to give a straight answer. "You'd have to have a strong stomach to do what I did."
The foreman scowled at her non-answer, and placed both hands on the desk. Right at he opened his mouth, the rebel to his left whispered something in his ear. He gave her a strange look, but seemed to calm down and relax back into his seat.
After shuffling his papers again, he looked back at Sindi.
"I'm, uh, I'm gonna read a list of crimes we know were committed under President Snow. If you were witness to these crimes via the footage handed to you for editing, please raise your hand. Lower it if you did not see the mentioned crime."
She nodded, the muscles in her arm tightening.
"Arbitrary arrest."
Her right hand slowly rose from her lap, hanging in the air like a floating dead albatross.
"Inhumane holding conditions."
Her hand stayed up.
"Corruption by Peacekeepers not limited to bribery, failure to respond to noteworthy disturbances, and nepotism within the ranks."
Her fingers grew heavy.
"Unlawful seizure of goods by government forces."
They began to shake.
"Destruction of property with the objective of obtaining compliance."
Her lungs were tingling.
"Murder of innocent civilians."
Tears began to form at the corner of her eyes. It took everything she had to keep from openly weeping in the makeshift courtroom.
The tribunal talked among itself for a moment before turning their attention back to her.
"Was your employment voluntary?"
"In primary school, we were once asked to do a project to make a video glorifying Panem, you know, to inspire the other districts. I worked really hard on mine, and then one day a man from Mr...President Snow's cabinet came by my house and said I had a gift. After that, I worked at the Truth Building."
"Were you threatened if you declined?"
"Not at first, no."
"Then why did you stay?"
"I wasn't threatened at first, but after I began to work there, they started asking for more and more. Longer hours, better editing, everything. More than a few times they said they'd move my family to District 3 if my work didn't deliver."
The foreman mumbled something to the tune of "threat of forced relocation" to his comrades.
"Did you ever feel as if your job was necessary?"
"I never really knew why they didn't just toss everything away. You know, to be sure."
"What do you plan to do now?"
"I don't know."
The foreman nodded, rubbing his chin as he did so. Sindi's heart skipped a beat as he reached for his gavel.
"Sindi Glee Vrikki."
She took a deep breath.
"Please repeat to this court your transgressions."
"I—I censored footage critical to President Snow."
He picked up his wooden instrument. "However, evidence suggests you did so under a manner of implied violence. We also do not see any evidence that you did so out of loyalty to President Snow. While you were implicit in maintaining the propoganda of the old government of Panem, we cannot directly tie you to any major crimes. Based on this, this tribunal finds you Reconciled and offers general amnesty."
She blinked. "W-what?"
The foreman banged his gavel. A strong, sturdy grip squeezed one of her arms, and she suddenly found herself being escorted away from her table by a surly rebel soldier.
"Next!" the foreman said, not even watching Sindi as she was ejected from the courtroom.
None too gently pushed out the re-purposed bank's heavy double doors, she barely had time to ask what was going on when the rebel slammed the doors shut behind her. In the lobby were dozens more Capitol citizens, all having gone through the same process as Sindi. "Innocent", but almost certainly now without jobs or a solid future.
She joined them, sitting on one of the stone slab benches and huffing through her pink wig.