-Sabadosh: Day 4 of the Hunger Games-
In the shiny metallic elevator door, my distorted reflection wobbled as I was lifted towards the office. The reflection looked and acted similar to me, but it was slightly off. The artificial gleam of the metal discoloured and warped my true self. But then again, does anybody see me the way I see myself?
I shook my head and brought the folder full of files closer to my chest. "This is not the time to be philosophizing; focus."
I pulled out the dark red slip I had received moments ago, and read it one more time to ensure I wasn't crazy.
Sabadosh, see me immediately. Bring the IA's and EA's. I'm waiting.
I jumped when the polite elevator dinged to alert me of its arrival, rustling to a stop. As the elevator doors opened, my reflection was slowly ripped in two.
The tap of my heels echoed along the empty hallway; the last one lingering once I halted in front of the door. After a moment's hesitation, I resolved myself and knocked lightly on the wood.
"So what if I only have communicated with him via writing and electronic methods? So what if he is my boss and sponsor for this whole IB program? There's nothing to be afraid of? Right? Right?" I drummed my fingers along the manila envelope.
"You may enter."
The door creaked in such a way that I was sure that it came with a free 'ominous sound' feature with installation. I peaked my head into the room; it was blanketed in darkness, with a single lamp pointing in my direction.
"Sit."
I did so, beginning to cross my legs for comfort, before deciding against it and sitting down normally.
"Um, so what are we doing here? There's a big battle coming up. I kinda want to be there so-"
"The team is completely able to continue with or without you." I squinted against the harsh light, trying to make out any of this man's features, but all I could see was a large silhouette. "I have called you here to discuss a few things."
"Um, okay."
"First, how is the development of the muttation for this year proceeding? I've seen tracker jackers, jabber jays, and other boring, overused set pieces."
"Well, I-"
The deep voice had the slightest twinge of anger. "Don't interrupt me. Do I need to remind you that one the main reasons we chose you to be Head Gamemaker, and let you conduct your little IB program, is due to the fact that you're supposed to be a microbiology expert? I've seen nothing of interest."
I waited a second in silence to make sure he was finished. "Well, I have been developing a new muttation. Completely original content."
"Oh?"
"Yeah, I started by isolating the sequence in the genome of tracker jackers that develops the proteins of a part of their venom." Unconsciously, I increased my talking speed, excited for the chance to teach someone biology. "Then, I place the sequence into the plasmids of a bacteria cell. A simple streptococcuspreformed quite well. After the production went so well, I-"
He pounded his fist into the desk. "Enough. Get to the point."
"Um, well the point is...is that...um... I made a new species of muttation. Rosoideae muttanus."
"And that means...?"
"It's a rose that-"
"You made a flower." That slight twinge of anger grew steadily.
"Well, it's not just any flower. It has-"
"Does it matter? It's a damn flower. Are the candidates going to smell it to their deaths?
"No, it doesn't kill. It actually..."
"Silence. It's due to the fact that you make these kinds of blatant failures that I'm beginning to doubt if I made the right decision to fund your work."
I gripped my chair to prevent myself from storming off in indignation. "Well, if you just give me a chance to explain-"
"And another thing. I have been reviewing the candidates that are remaining in this IB program. One of them, Andrew, has done nothing but denounce the Capitol for four days straight. And, you put him on air this whole time, for everyone to listen!" He slammed his fist into the desk. " Not that the rest aren't much better. The best of them are imbeciles. The worst are downright dangerous to be on air for the nation to watch. The audience despises them."
I flicked open my folder. "What are you talking about? I have actual data here." I shoved a graph on his desk. "As you can see, these district kids have a higher average IQ than the general population of the Capitol. Plus," I flipped out another piece of paper, "the betting from the audience has been at its highest since the last quarter quell. Everybody loves them." With that, I sat back into my chair, smugly crossing my legs. "And, I have preformed t-test on this all data; 'p' is equal to .0000433, three sig figs!"
My confidence drained way at an equal proportion to the seconds of silence that passed. My gaze slowly dropped to the floor.
"You will silence Andrew. Today. Due to the fact that he has been talking in such a way, I want his death to be painful. Demonstrate your silly flowers, if you think they will actually work. I want him to know, personally, what it means to denounce the Capitol. But, make it silent; I don't want anybody to care about him."
"No! I've done the best I can to make sure everyone is given an equal chance to succeed here."
"Here's my ultimatum. Kill him, or you'll experience what a true muttation can do to you."
-Andrew: Day 4 of the Hunger Games-
"Antidisestablishmentarianism"
"Antidisestablishmentarianism"
"She sells seashells by the sea shore."
"She sells seashells by the sea shore."
"Peter Piper picked a peck of pickle prickled prit... Damn."
"Peter Piper picked a peck of pickle prickled prit... Damn."
"Andrew, will you stop playing around with the jabber jays? We have worked to do."
"Andrew, will you stop playing around with-" A rock flew into the middle of my little friends, and caused the full flock to fly in fear.
"Awww, Eric. I brushed my hair out of the way to watch the birds soar into the sky.
Eric glared at me from behind his shoulder. "I'm not in the mood, Andrew. David and I have been looking for something to eat all morning, and you have been sitting there talking with birds."
"It wasn't talking, really. The jabber jays were just repeating what I was saying, so it lacked purpose and intent. They didn't really use language; they merely copy/pasted speech."
Eric rolled his eyes and kept walking. David ignored us both. "Don't you feel bad for them though. The Capitol just waltzes in, snatches them up, and begins messing with their genome, having them replicate human speech to eavesdrop on rebels. In the end, it didn't even work. The rebels weren't idiots, unlike the Capitol, so they fed wrong information to the birds." I scanned the trees for more of them.
"If I were in charge, I would just cut the organic life forms out of the equation. Technological limitations? Can they really make a hovership, but not an electronic listening device? I mean...honestly."
Eric flashed me a glare. "Andrew, they're birds. No one cares."
I knew he still hadn't gotten over Remington's death, but that didn't give him the right to be a jerk to the birds...or me. I sighed; at least the birds listened to me.
-Sabadosh: Day 4 of the Hunger Games-
Hands shaking, I opened the door to the control room. Nobody really paid any attention to me as I walked in.
Matt's face was on the screen. "...keep your guards up. We know what we're dealing with now. We can kill her, no problem."
I licked my lips and took a deep breath – hopefully, my voice sounded confidant. "Puff, Virkler, I need you guys to come with me to control room: fish." I shook my head. "I mean alpha. Control room: alpha. Copley, you're in charge."
Puff and Virkler looked my way, and only after finishing what they were doing, did they actually stand up and start walking my way. I opened the door for the both of them, and we sat down in the three chairs.
I hung my head, staring at my feet. I didn't know how to break this to them, so I might as well just come out with it.
"I called you guys here, because we need to..." I gulped, "Um...eliminate a candidate."
Virkler admired her bright red nails. "Sure. No prob. Which one are we offing?"
"Um, Andrew." I paused. "Errr...aren't you guys concerned?"
Puff stared at me and raised an eyebrow. "It's a pretty normal procedure. I'm surprised you waited so long. Hey, Virkler, how about plan theta for this one?"
Virkler nodded. "Yeah, that'll work. Let's get this over with. Actually interesting things are happening with other people right now."
I clenched my fists.
What is wrong with everybody?
-Andrew: Day 4 of the Hunger Games-
"What is wrong with everybody? Does their entire civilization not understand that they're living under a tyrannical dictator? I mean, yeah, maybe I want to be a dictator too, but I would be a benevolent dictator, or at least, I would try to be less obviously evil."
David turned to me. "You know there are cameras watching us?"
"Haha! Yeah, I wonder if anyone is hearing my awesome ideas."
David shook his head and went back to concentrating on the path. I suggested going through the forest, but David said something about tactical visibility or something. Still, I glanced over the side of the hill, that's a slippery slope.
If I were to trip, I would probably tumble down the slope. Then, I would probably break my arm on the way down. Once my arm is broken, I will become useless to my team, and then they will abandon me, and then someone will come and kill me.
I stepped back from the edge. In front of me, Eric and David had turned the corner.
"Hey guys. Wait up!" In my attempt to catch up, my foot slid on the loose gravel, causing my face to smacked into the gravel and slide forward. "Ow."
As I spat out pebbles from my mouth, the ground shook behind me, and a loud slam caused me to jump a few feet forward.
"Holy shit. Are you okay?"
"I'm fine. I just tripped." I looked up and wiped the blood from my face.
"Uh..." Eric pointed behind me.
"What?" I turned around. A few inches from my foot sat a flat boulder, and a wide indent in the ground, dust from the impact still ambient in the air.
David ran to us, saw the close-call, and shook his head. "We need to move. Now."
-Sabadosh: Day 4 of the Hunger Games-
I crossed my arms and watched both the technicians. Behind me, a camera watched all of us.
Puff sighed. "What a bother."
Virkler spun a knob, keeping her eyes on the screen. "Yeah, I thought something simple like that would work."
"Do you want to try plan phi?"
"Yeah, hurry up though, I should be on my lunch break."
"Sure, prep the nozzles."
-Andrew: Day 4 of the Hunger Games-
I lurched upwards as David wrenched me from the dirt.
"Wait, what's going on?" The sky and ground blurred together, and my face still prickled with pain.
David shoved me away from the rock. "You pissed them off. Move."
My fingers brushed through my hair, pushing it out of my vision, and I began stepping in my comrades' direction. When I had finally regained my balance, a small hissing sound, like a snake the size of a bee, reached my ears.
"Um...guys? Do you hear a-?" That tiny snake was growing at a disquieting pace; going from a small hiss, the sound began to transform into a small roar. Eric spun back and forth, trying to find the source. David froze, and after a second, unzipped his bag and began searching for something. After a few exasperated seconds, David turned to me.
"Andrew, do you have the rope?"
"Um yeah." I flipped my backpack around. "Just a sec." Overfilled with miscellaneous items, I struggled to find the rope under the organized mess. "Well, I know it's here somewhere..." The sound grew to a roar. What the hell is that?
"Too late. Brace yourself." The sound hit its maximum, and as it poured over the cliff side, the source of the mysterious hissing noise revealed itself: a torrent of water heading directly for us.
In the time it took me to realize all of this, the water wasn't exactly waiting for me to say hi. All I could was plug my nose, as the fist of Poseidon smacked me in the face.
Up was down. Down was sideways. And sideways was kicking my head. The noise of water filled my ears, yet at the same time, there was almost a peaceful amount silence. Between wild thrashes of water shoving me in every direction, I enjoyed this womb like sensation. Then, I remembered: I kinda have to breathe.
I flailed my arms, hopefully pushing myself in a skyward direction. After a few limp strokes, my head broke to the surface. Contrary to my conscious will, I inhaled immediately, catching splashes of water in my mouth. I coughed it out, but I was immediately sent back into the flood.
I took a moment to collect myself in the relative calm underwater. Twigs and debris smacked and scrapped my body. I got to get out of this.
I poked my head out of the water one last time, and spotted a sturdy tree, which somehow survived the beat down. Trusting my usually wonky sense of timing, I watched the tree near closer to me. At the last moment, I dove for the trunk.
My heart start stopped for a moment; my fingers slipped from the tree. Water pulling me away, I reassured my grip, and thankfully, it stuck this time. Timing my breaths between the slam of waves, I began to scoot up the tree. Escaping the force of the water, I climbed to the highest branch that would fit my weight and leaned against the bark. I stared down at the raging water and thanked the mercy of the Elder Gods for my luck.
I yelled over the water. "See guys? I told you I wasn't crazy. The Capitol is out to get me!" My eyes darted around, seeing nothing but trees and mist. "Guys?"
My question was answered by the crashing of waves.
I wiped a drop of water running down my face. I used my deep voice: "Guys? Where'd you go?"
My voice carried across the bare landscape.
-Sabadosh: Day 4 of the Hunger Games-
Virkler slammed the keyboard. "Why won't you just die already?"
Puff yawned. "Detaching alpha-branch in three...two...one-"
"Wait!" Both of them glared over their shoulder at me. "I...I want to test something." I swiveled the console in front of me. "Activating Rosoideae muttanusversion gamma. Sample voice: Remington."
"Are you going to flower him to death?" They snickered.
This better work. He's watching.
-Andrew: Day 4 of the Hunger Games-
Water dwindled from the ground beneath me, but I couldn't tell if my luck was changing or not. I was about to try my chances and slide down, when the bark by my face crackled. Out of the small crack, popped a thread-like tendril of a green plant.
"How symbolic. A flower grows out of the harsh bark after the storm. Now, after this struggle, I too shall prosper." The small seed bud fast forwarded through a normal development, springing from the tree and thickening. "Um, is this thing radioactive? Possessed by demons, maybe?" I poked the visibly growing stem.
Reacting to my touch, the tendril coiled around my finger. "And people say that watching grass grow is boring! Haha!" I looked around me, but it was completely silent. On the branch above, a jabber jay flapped its wings at my joke.
"Ow." I ripped my index finger from the plant; a singular drop of blood shone on the finger tip. I stuck the finger in my mouth to stop the pain.
I looked up from nursing my wound; a finely crafted red rose opened in front of me. A sweet aroma fluttered into my nose. Once again, I reflexively inhaled, causing my brain to absorb the perfume.
A sense of dizziness swept over me. Through my now blurry vision, I examined the rose. It seemed normal, red petals and a bright green stem. I inhaled again, and my slight dizziness morphed into the world rocking back and forth in front of my eyes. I hugged the branch for support.
At that moment, I wanted to invent a method of time travel, so I could go back in time and punch my previous self from five seconds ago, paradoxes be damned. It's a muttation. Why didn't I see something so obvious?
I covered my nose from the fumes, but the damage had already been done. Around me, the earth was shaking, and a small murmur whispered intelligibly into my ear.
"Oh, Capitol." I wiped drool from the corners of my mouth. "You won't get me this easily. I can fight this," I yelled to the cameras sure to be nearby. "Huh, was this tree always pink?"
Dammit.
The tiniest voice whispered into my ear. "Andrew. Hey, Andrew."
I wanted to turn around to see who it was, but I was afraid that if I were to let go of the tree, I would sink to the ground.
The jabber jay from before glided to the branch in front of my eyes, crooked his head, and stared at me, probably wondering something along the lines of: "why are you going to sleep in a tree, human? You're not a bird!"
And now I'm personifying a bird...whatever they put in me is apparently pretty powerful. Or was I always so crazy?
"Andrew? Andrew, did you kill me? Do you know who kill me?"
Now, I'm hearing Remington's voice. I'm not so crazy that I hear dead people speak. Well, I guess I am now.
"Okay, I'll give you this one, Capitol. This is pretty intense." My head slammed into the branch, unable to hold itself straight. "But you haven't won completely. I can still do something. You'll pay for this.
Lazily, my mind twitched around, hoping to find a way to back up my threat. Thankfully, it landed upon my little friend: the jabber jay. Perfect.
-Sabadosh: Day 4 of the Hunger Games-
"Why are we losing vital signs?" I tapped on the keyboard, trying to click my way to an explanation.
Virkler raised an eyebrow. "Isn't that what poisonous gas is suppose to do?"
I shook my head. "No, no, no. It's supposed to bring on vivid hallucinations, not kill the person. It should have gone through more trials. It's not ready, yet."
She laughed. "Looks like it's working fine to me." Her smile wilted to a frown, and she pointed at the screen. "Wait, is that a jabber jay?"
Puff nodded. "Yup, the boss said he wanted this silent and without any of the other tributes knowing anything, so I'll just shoot it."
Through the screen, I stared at Andrew. He opened his lips to give his last speech. The poor kid had been right this whole time and everybody ignored him. Nobody listened...Well, that's not true. I listened.
I slammed the stack of papers on the desk.
Everyone needs to get an equal chance to prove themselves.
"I'm locked on."
I rose from the chair. "Stop."
After glancing each other, both stared at me. Virkler broke the silence. "He's going to get word out to the rest of the tributes. He'll ruin everything. Evidently, you don't know what you're doing. I'll take over for this."
She began to turn back toward the screen, but I pulled out her chair. "I'm Head Gamemaker, and I decide when to intervene." Our eyes met; this time, I won't back down.
Virkler broke the gaze first, and she crossed her arms. "Fine. As you wish."
I pushed it. "As you wish, ma'am."
Gritting her teeth, she responded. "As you wish, ma'am."
I crossed my arms in victory and glanced back to the screen. Let's see what you got, Andrew; I gave you one last chance. Make it count.
-Andrew: Day 4 of the Hunger Games-
The jabber jay stood before me, but it took too much energy to keep my eyes open, so I simply closed them.
"Assuming you're not a mirage as well, my friend, I need you to do something for me."
"Andrew!"Yelling into my ears, the vampiric voice grew in power as I weakened.
"Shut up, Remington. I'm talking to a bird, here. Anyways, my little friend, repeat after me: Don't stop and smell the roses."
"Don't stop and smell the roses."Good. Just my style: cryptic and enigmatic with a small bit of beauty in there.
"Now, shoo. Go find someone, anyone, and tell them that." I swept my hand across the branch, and heard the flapping of wings gently fading into the distance.
Slipping from the high branch, I smiled. Someone will listen to me, somewhere.