Chapter 3 Evaluation
Cressida followed her usual instinct when something went wrong onscreen – point the camera somewhere else. She wasn't literally in control of the camera here, but if she moved the camera would probably follow her. So she walked to the boy's bowl.
Once more she rummaged a bit, before extracting and unfolding a paper. "Sam Sunning".
The reaction was a little different on the boys' side. Instead of their drifting away from the chosen one, she saw some agitation in one of the groups, ending with the boys pushing somebody out of the crowd – presumably Sam.
He glared at the other boys, but as a Peacekeeper approached he sullenly began walking toward the stage. As he got to the top of the stairs, Cressida offered her hand to shake, but he just glared. "Stay away from me, bitch."
Cressida stiffened, startled at the blunt insult. When you insulted somebody in the Capitol, it was preferably done subtly and with irony. Here he had not only uttered a vulgar insult, but had done so before a crowd of thousands, many of whom seemed amused. What was worst, she remembered that reapings were televised and shown all over Panem. She hoped one of her colleagues would edit out the offense before it got transmitted.
Fortunately the Peacekeepers reacted to the aggression. Two of them basically grabbed Sam and escorted him through the doors of the Hall of Justice. A female Peacekeeper took Andromeda's arm and guided her indoors as well. The girl still looked as if she was in shock.
After going through an anteroom, they reached a hallway. Andromeda was taken to the right and Sam to the left.
"Farewells to their loved ones," explained Bunyan. "We're not allowed to intrude. But it gives us time to find out what we've got.
He guided her through a set of well-guarded doors. The Peacekeepers on guard seemed reluctant to left Cressida through, even though she was clearly from the Capitol. But they recognized Bunyan, as one of the few Victors of the district, and he vouched for her.
"Security for the Peacekeeper Computer," he explained to Cressida. "The Peacekeepers need the technology, but they want to keep it out of anybody else's reach in the District, so the computer is physically isolated and has no network connections, not even to the Capitol."
They went through the final door and found themselves in a windowless room. A female Peacekeeper was typing on an old-fashioned keyboard.
"Do you have their dossiers?" asked Bunyan.
"Yes, sir. We looked them up the instance we heard their names," said the woman. She handed them two stacks of printouts – another thing that looked quaint from Cressida's point of view. In the Capitol she would have used an electronic viewer, but she had not been allowed to take one out of the city. Too much danger of them falling into the hands of people in the Districts.
"We can look at them in detail on the train," said Bunyan. "I just want to see whether there are any red flags." He sat and looked through one stack. "Hmmm. It says Sam got in a fight with a fellow hand at the District Ranch, and broke his arm. Sentenced to a whipping, but the Ranch talked the Peacekeepers out of it – said they couldn't afford to have TWO strong workers incapacitated. But they did reassign him to the lowest-level duty – mucking out the barns."
"I don't know that term," said Cressida.
"Do I need to spell it out?" asked Bunyan. "Shovelling s****."
Cressida winced, deciding that Bunyan did not have to spell it out that clearly.
"Winning in a fight might actually be an advantage, in the Games," went on Bunyan. Unfortunately he's not likely to appeal to sponsors, if they see the Reaping tape. Unless there are some sponsors that enjoyed seeing a tribute insult you."
Cressida realized that Bunyan was being subtly condescending, in a sophisticated Capitol sort of way. Dominating the conversation, finding an excuse for a rude word, hinting that some people might like the way Cressida had been insulted. From his point of view he was a Victor who had fought his way into an elite; she was a Capitol featherbrain. To acknowledge it would be embarrassing; to stop it she had to control the conversation more.
"Some people can win without sponsors," said Cressida. "There was Johanna Mason. Acted so frightened and helpless that nobody would sponsor her. But before she could starve, she managed to catch another tribute off guard and kill him, winning his supply of food from the Cornucopia. Ended up winning that year."
That killing was a famous coup de theatre in HUNGER GAMES history. Johanna had stripped naked and allowed one of the Careers to catch sight of her in the woods. One of the Careers saw her and sneaked off from the others, probably more interested in sex than in killing. Once he had put his own supplies to the side and was engaged in taking off his clothes, Johanna had picked a fallen branch off the ground and clubbed him on the head. Being from the lumber district, that was a particularly appropriate weapon for her. The Gamesmasters had had to edit that tape for public concept, because of a rule against showing tributes naked, but the unexpurgated version circled among the media people and Cressida had seen it.
"True. Well, let's see about the girl." He opened the second stack and perused. "Hmm, no red flags. In fact, it says she was awarded a horse of her own as a reward for good work. That's a high honor, in District 10."
"So I've heard."
"Trouble is, it would mean nothing to sponsors in the Capitol. And they will see her, almost crying, on the Reaping tape. That'll be a handicap."
"It's a matter of spin, and I know spin," says Cressida. "Tell you what. You concentrate on marketing the boy, and I'll concentrate on marketing the girl." It seemed a sensible approach, plus it put Bunyan and herself on an equal level.
"Very well."
Cressida had heard, from other escorts, that the tributes were often dazzled by their first sight of Capitol luxury, and that made them more cooperative. She had therefore directed that a dinner be set out in the train, where the Tributes would see it on their first entrance.
"Wow, lookit all that grub!" cried Sam. He rushed to the nearest table and started gobbling it up.
Andromeda followed slowly and looked down at the table dolefully. "How can you think of eating at a time like this?"
"Why not? Eat,drink, and be merry, for tomorrow we may die. Not to mention other pleasures. Like - OOOW!"
"Keep your hands off of my butt!"
"Yeah, awright. Unless you ask me in the future – ouch!"
Cressida looked at Bunyan triumphantly. "It looks like the girl CAN defend herself if necessary."
"Yeah, if her adversary makes the mistake of patting her ass."
The train made a jolt, as it started to accelerate down the tracks. Andromeda lost all interest in Sam and rushed to the window. To Cressida, looking out at the view, it was just endless farmland and filthy animals. But to Andromeda, it may be her last sight of home.
TO BE CONTINUED.