I would like to dedicate this chapter to two sophomores from my high school who died early yesterday morning in a car crash. They made a series of bad decisions that led to their losing control of the car but no one deserves to die like that. Please keep their families and friends in your prayers; they will need them. –SpockSnapeStephen, 11/20/11

Captain Kirk, Mr. Spock, Lieutenant Uhura, Doctor McCoy, Mr. Sulu, Ensign Chekov, and President Flint were in a darkened room. The seats were made of soft red velvet and sunk about three inches when one sat in them.
An Avox was preparing a film of the thirteen districts and the Capitol to show the newcomers. Sulu had recently found out just what an Avox was. At first there had been stunned silence and then the crew of the Enterprise began to yell. Except Spock, Sulu reminded himself. He just stood there with no expression on his green face, the heartless hobgoblin. It felt good to take a page out of Doctor McCoy's book, even if it was just in his head. Avoxes just weren't right, Sulu thought angrily.
The large screen flickered to life, exposing the plush interior of one of the many rooms in President Flint's mansion. The patterns of gold (which, President Flint informed them, were made with actual gold) depicted scenes of the president's own Hunger Games. Unlike the few other victors Sulu had seen in interviews and such, Flint did not shy away or try to forget. She embraced it, studied it, and forced everyone to watch it before the start of the Hunger Games.
"Welcome to Panem," a booming male voice announced.

"I am Caesar Flickerman, your host of the Hunger Games and commentator for this film." The video swooped over green treetops and swaying plains of golden plants before soaring over white capped mountains to expose the shimmering sea. Dolphins jumped out of the water and the camera dove under to show slopes of sand. The rolling underwater hills morphed into looming mountains.

"District One," Caesar Flickerman, "Producers of luxury items for the Capitol. District One is the wealthiest district of the thirteen but even its wealth cannot be compared to our glorious Capitol." Sulu had to agree with that. Every citizen seemed loaded. In their free time they threw parties, threw up, and continued to eat. When they were bored, they got surgery to change their skin, hair, and eyes. Everyone was mangled in some way. Apparently it was the "fashion." Something most everyone follows.

"District One's past victors are…" Caesar rattled off a list of pompous names like Gloss and Cashmere. With each name, a picture flashed on the screen.

"The mentors for District One are Satin Pike and Fabulous "Fab" Shriner." A curvy girl with strawberry blond hair and a perfect complexion appeared on the screen in a seductive pose. After her, a picture of a hulking man with muscles bigger than hubcaps and a scowl that would make trees lost their leaves was shown.

"District One is a mountainous district with a chilly climate. It rains often and expect to bundle up in the winter. District One is also one of the most scenic districts."
"District Two provides weapons, trains, stones, and Peacekeepers. The current District Two mentors are Aloysius Gamaliel and Enobaria Demarius." Aloysius was a tall man with scars running up and down his body. Enobaria had dark hair, light brown skin, and an arrogant, knowing smile.

"Aloysius got those scars in his Hunger Games. That was the year of the deadly plants. He fell into an especially thorny plant on the second day but he fought nearly every contest in the Games… and won," President Flint said admiringly.

Sulu was disgusted by it all. Her words, her tone, the Games, the Avoxes. He stood up and marched out of the room. Out of the corner of his eye he saw Uhura make to stand but the captain put an arm out.

"Let him go," Sulu heard Kirk say, "He'll come back when he's ready."
0o0o

Sulu came back around District Ten, the livestock district. Uhura rose to greet him, her soft face twisted into an expression of revulsion as well.

"It's horrible but you haven't missed much," she whispered.

Sulu settled back into his seat in between Chekov and Mr. Spock. Spock turned to him.

"Are you well?" he inquired.

"Yes," Sulu replied, bright eyes downcast. He was irritated; Sulu did not want anyone to think he was weak. Spock nodded calmly and Sulu's attention turned to the fields they saw in the introduction.

"The mentors for District Eleven are Fabian Heters and Ikuyo Siyanda." A short girl with brown hair and gently sloped eyes showed on the screen, her arms crossed. Sulu thought she was beautiful. Unfortunately her picture was quickly replaced with a not so beautiful man. Fabian was tall but extremely fat with a grumpy expression and a seriously messed up face. The only nice thing about him was his hair; it was like the sand of District Four. Except covered in dead, washed-up fish. Sulu just quit trying to find something nice about the man. Maybe he had a good heart.

"District Twelve is the mining district of Panem. District Twelve's previous victors are Haymitch Abernathy, Gemma Stone, Peeta Mellark, Amber Haldis, and Katniss Everdeen." Sulu's ears pricked forward. Katniss was the one to spark the second rebellion.

"The mentors for District Twelve are Peeta Mellark and Gemma Stone." Peeta's picture was flashed on the screen. He had wavy blond hair and eyes nearly as blue as Doctor McCoy's. He looked about the same age too, Sulu realized with sharp eyes. Ms. Stone had reddish-brown hair and pale blue eyes with a thin ring of black at the edges of each iris.

"A Kayser-Fleischer ring," murmured Spock. Sulu looked at him.

A what?

"The dark ring around her eyes is called a Kayser-Fleischer ring. It is a sign of Wilson's disease," Spock explained detachedly to the question Sulu hadn't even voiced. Sulu merely wondered at Spock's knowledge for a moment before returning his gaze to the screen.

"District Thirteen," Mr. Flickerman concluded, "has a continental climate, cold winters, and warm summers; however, the northern part of District Thirteen is colder than the rest of the district." The same shot from the beginning played as Caesar Flickerman concluded with, "Thank you for watching "Welcome to Panem" and may the odds be ever in your favor."

0o0o

"Captain, I suggest we remove ourselves from the Capitol as soon as possible. President Flint's highest priorities are keeping the districts under control and keeping the citizens of Panem happy. I believe we will soon become merely a way for her to continue doing so," stated Spock.

"Oh shut it Spock. You're just jealous she has a better poker face than you do," Doctor McCoy grumbled. Spock did not dignify that statement with a response.

"Gentlemen," Kirk placated, "Spock, we can't leave until Scotty fixes the Enterprise but I agree with you. President Flint doesn't let anything happen that she doesn't want to. It's enough-"
Something large and heavy slammed into the door to Kirk's room. They reached for their phasers and Kirk motioned for Spock to get by the side of the door. The captain opened the door quickly, only to get punched in the face full-on by a large man blocking the doorway.