-Mia: Day 4 of the Hunger Games-

Nine knives. Ten knives. Eleven knives. Twelve knives.

One by one, I collected my bounty of knives, retching them out of the tree. Some poor thing must have been obliterated by this career. I didn't really care why the career simply left without any of her weapons, but I didn't really care. I can actually use these.

About to simply toss all of the knives in my bag, I stopped and internally sighed. I did a quick twirl to locate any nearby cameras. Two feet behind me to my left. I turned towards the camera and pluck a knife from the pile.

"Yay! Knives." I giggled and stared at the shiny blade. Reflecting back at me, a seemingly crazy smiling girl.

For good measure, I flung the knife just above the camera, laughed, and sprinted off behind the tree it was stuck to. I waited a few moments, and then tiptoed around the tree to retrieve my knife, carefully avoiding the camera's eye. With only my fingertips, I pinched the blade from above the camera, and I tossed it into my bag. Scene over and materials collected, I strolled in one direction until I came to a hovel.

I did another twirl. No cameras this time: I'm in a "dead zone." I knew Sabadosh would no doubt send in a mobile device if I stayed here, so I enjoyed the privacy while I could.

I folded my legs together and sat down on the least muddy area. My fingers untied my pouch, and from it, I pulled out a soy-burger, given to me by the third parachute I had received. Avoiding the arsenal of pointy objects now in my bag, I grabbed a fork, butter knife, and dressings for the food; from the fifth parachute. I spread the condiments and took a bite, at least partially thankful for the Capitol's "generosity." Without them, I would starve. There's not soy or tofu waiting to be hunted in the arena.

And, I can't just kill an animal, that'd just be wrong. They didn't do anything bad to me.

As if hearing my internal monologue, a squirrel, an acorn still in his mouth, hopped from a nearby tree and stared at me.

"Awww, here you go little guy." I held out a piece of lettuce. He didn't move a muscle. "Um, are you not hungry or..." As I trailed off, muffled whirring sounds filled my ears. I tossed aside the lettuce and jabbed the critter with my finger. The bottom of the squirrel scraped against the dirt, and my finger only made it to the fuzzy fur before hitting an aluminum shell.

"Stupid, robot squirrels." I mumbled to myself.

Well, I suppose Sabadosh is quicker with the mobile devices than I thought. With uninvited guests watching me eat, my meal seemed a lot less appetizing. I placed the soy-burger back in the wrapping and tied up my stuff.

After making sure that thing was watching, I leapt from my sitting position and pointed my finger to the sky, declaring: "There's no time for this. It's been too long since my last kill; eating won't satisfy the deep hunger inside." I held the pose for a second, and glanced at the mobile camera from the corner of my eye. It turned its head slightly.

"Well, I mean, I'm still a little thirsty..." From up above, I could see yet another parachute floating towards me. I could just let it drop, but why not get two things done at the same time?

The squirrel still watching, I grabbed a fresh knife from the bag, tossed it around to get used to the weight, and, after a short moment of aiming, sent it flying towards the parachute. It cleanly it, and lodged itself in the tree.

I wiggled the knife until it came out from the bark, and dropped the package. I looked around; no squirrel. Evidently, there was another camera that took over its job. After twisting off the cap, I dumped out the contents of the container into the palm of my hand.

The soda can made a nice crackling sound as I popped it open.

While it's a lot of work, my advisor was right; all the masses want is a good character.

-Mia: 4 Days until the Hunger Games-

"Bigots!" He slammed his fist into the desk. "They're all bigots."

I raised my hand; this got way off topic.

He swung his foot onto the desk in front of us. "If the Capitol thinks they can do whatever they want, well they have another thing coming."

I was still raising my hand. Are you ignoring me, Thompson, or are you really just blind like that?

He pointed at me. "You're the next generation. Are you going to take this?"

Might as well just speak. "Um, you're my advisor. Aren't you supposed to be teaching me how to survive this IB program?"

He puffed up his chest. "I am, aren't I?"

"Well..."

He waved his hand to cut me off. "Please stop taking. The first thing you need to know, before actually surviving, is how to perform."

"Um, shouldn't I be learning how to throw knives and run around and kill people?"

"You will. It's just that it won't be me who teaches you that." I stared down at my nearly empty note page. "Here's the thing. The Capitol doesn't really care if you actually know how to survive the IB program; all they care about is if you can it on a good show. So all you need to do, um...uh...is that a squirrel outside?"

I glanced behind me to see an adorable squirrel skirting about on the other side of the window.

I jumped as he banged on his table. "Hey, Mia, pay attention. I'm lecturing here. Anyways, all we need to do is make up a character for you, one that will impress the audience."

"Shouldn't I, you know, just be myself and find my way of doing thing?"

"Nope, if you want to win here, the most important thing is to get the Capitol to think that you are interesting. Any ideas?"

I grinned to myself. "Well, I can do a good crazy person laugh."

"Fine, let's roll with that. Now step one, cameras..." He was actually writing on his board!

-Mia: Day 4 the Hunger Games-

Seven parachutes and counting, all from putting on a nice show. Is the Capitol really this dumb? I sipped on my soda.

Yes, apparently, yes it is.

I tensed up as shouting came from the distance.

"Andrew!"

"Andrew. Where did you go?"

Perfect. It's about time I make up for running away a few nights ago.

I smiled to myself, and turned toward the camera.

"Hahahahahahaha"