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Chapter 9

District 11 Tribute Train, three years previously…

She was staring at him again.

Thresh couldn't help but be slightly unnerved by it. He couldn't see her from her hiding place underneath his bed, but he could feel her piercing eyes as they followed his every move. Right now he was sitting on the small couch of his sleeping quarters, watching the replays of the reapings on the television. He knew that the girl –– alias Kale Ponderosa, real name Artemis Hecate Gossamer –– was also watching the reapings, but her eyes were more focused on him.

Unanimously, they had decided that Rue would slip food for the young fugitive, while Thresh gave her protection and a place to hide. If she was discovered, Thresh would have better chances of lying, and fighting if it came to it than tiny Rue would, and quite frankly he did not trust this disheveled Capitol girl to be alone in the same room as Rue, especially with that knife on her personage.

But he could tell that even though Artemis tried to hide it and actually succeeded quite well, she was more scared of them than they were of her. There were things that she wasn't telling them. How she had gotten onto the train. How she had somehow disabled all the cameras in the rooms she would be in. How, exactly, she had gotten to District 11 in the first place. She never addressed any of these topics on her own, and when either of her protectors tried to ask, she turned hostile and stony silent.

Thresh focused back on the television. Right now, they were showing the reaping from District 12, and the commentators were remarking on how unusual it was for there to be a volunteer. Thresh was pondering this for a few minutes until he registered something faintly in the fringes of his consciousness. Maybe it was a tiny sound, or maybe it was that unidentifiable sixth sense alerting him of something unusual, but when he turned his head he found that Artemis had somehow appeared behind him and was staring at the television with those large, curious, intelligent brown eyes. She was balancing on one foot, with the other propped up and pressed against her knee. One hand hung limply at her side, and the other was crossed over her chest and holding the opposite arm. It was a very peculiar and precarious position. Artemis noticed Thresh looking at her and held up her arms in a "what?" gesture.

Thresh only shrugged. Artemis retreated from her strange position and dropped her bare foot back down to the floor. It was strange, thought Thresh to himself, that instead of fussing about her appearance and changing clothes immediately, Artemis had remained in her rags and dirt. She was wearing nothing more than a tattered linen tunic, cross-bound leggings, and her knife in its sheath.

"It's for your own good," she had said to Rue. "If I get caught, and I'm wearing clothes from your wardrobe, they'll be suspicious of you. But if I'm in this, I can claim that I've been hiding the entire time and that you haven't helped me at all. And it'll be believable, so long as you stay with it."

Instead of retreating back under Thresh's bed, Artemis surprisingly circled around the side of the couch and sat next to Thresh. She hugged her legs close to her chest, then leaned forward and balanced entirely on her feet as she crouched on the cushions, as if ready to spring up into the air at any moment. In this strange position she sat, eyes trained on the television screen. The replays of the reapings were over now, and they were showing the highlights of the previous Hunger Games. Thresh reached for the remote control to turn it off, but Artemis raised her hand and said one word. "Wait."

He glanced at her. Her gaze was entirely fixated on the gory scenes of the Seventy-Third annual Hunger Games, which flashed across the screen. "Why?" he asked.

"You don't have to watch," said Artemis. "Just wait."

Thresh watched anyway. On the screen a clip of a Gamemaker-made storm was showing, and Artemis seemed extremely interested. Her mouth opened a bit as she watched. "Wouldn't it be amazing," she whispered, mostly to herself, "if one could have the technology to override the Gamemakers' commands and control the Games?"

Thresh just stared at her. "What do you mean?"

She returned his gaze calmly. "What if someone could cancel what the Gamemakers make in the arena and control the Games themselves?"

"Well, first they would need to answer the question of how the Gamemakers make it in the first place," remarked Thresh.

Artemis actually seemed a bit impressed. "Very good," she said, "but that question has already been answered. And from that answer we get the more important question –– not how do the Gamemakers make the simulations, but how do they send the commands to make the simulations in question?"

Thresh understood about half of it. And yet at the same time he understood entirely. He knew what she was getting at, and he knew it could be big. The glint in her eyes was enough to tell him that. He had a creeping feeling he knew what word would be used to describe such a venture, but it wasn't confirmed until Artemis said it herself.

"It would be revolutionary," she almost whispered, not out of fear but out of giddy, almost insane defiance. "Think about what would happen if such a device got in the hands of the district people, or even the tributes themselves –– "

"That would be horrible," blurted Thresh. "It would be the Dark Days all over again. That's treason at best."

She cocked her head. "Is it? It is merely an idea. I have heard about the strains of 'treason' and rebellion in the districts. I have heard about the oppression and the hunger and the sacrifice; I have witnessed it firsthand. I have heard about the injustice, and about the growing tension. I am merely stating that in order for that tension to reach its full effect, the districts need something to set it off. I am only giving one idea of how to light that fuse."

"So you, a Capitol citizen, are telling me that your idea could start another rebellion?"

She gave a small, dry laugh. "'Capitol citizen'. Oh, how you say that title so accusingly, as if it has meaning. Just because I am from the Capitol doesn't mean I necessarily agree with their principles. But do not suppose that just because I spent nearly a year in your district under the burden of poverty does not mean I necessarily agree with all of your principles. Truth to be told, I agree with neither side completely. The Capitol wishes for a complete dictatorship. The districts wish for complete anarchy. Neither will succeed in the long run. A republican form of government is required; we just do not have it yet."

"What kind of government is that?"

"A government where the people rule through an elective system. If you study ancient history, you will find that the governments that allowed the people relatively free rein lasted the longest and were the most prosperous, and they only fell when either their system started turning into something that it wasn't supposed to be or when another country took their freedoms away. The Capitol officials, namely President Coriolanus Snow, want us ditzy Capitol people to remain in the oblivion about these facts, which is why ancient history is not taught in schools. But hotwiring holoboards is not taught in schools either, and yet I learned how anyway. Sometimes one just needs to know where to look to find the right information."

Her unnerving smile, paired with the devious glimmer in her eyes, gave Thresh the impression of a madwoman. Artemis was not whom he had at first thought. She was not just intelligent. She was a genius, whether it be for good or ill. "People have tried it before," she continued after a long pause. "They've never made a truly good one, because they were spending all of their time trying to figure out how to hack into the Capitol's security and hiding from Peacekeepers. But I already know how, and am still a child. And as a bonus, also the daughter of the fourth most blameless man in Panem. Suspicion can't be drawn to me, and if it is, Daddy will just bribe the officials."

Thresh raised an eyebrow. "Who's your father?"

She did not hesitate. "Treasurer Apollo Gossamer. Everyone loves him because he gives out money."

Thresh considered this. "That would make sense."

"As soon as I get back," said Artemis, mostly to herself, "I'll try to find the others' research notes –– at least, the ones that weren't destroyed. Maybe then, once I have the general idea of how to make one, I can build one of my own. And maybe, when the time is right, I can place it in the hands of a tribute who will use it. And maybe, if I play all of these cards correctly, change might come."

"What is 'it'? That thing you're going to build?"

That unsettling smile was back. "A control disk."

Let's see if I can hit the 10 reviews mark! I know there are that many people reading! (I think...) Yes, I know I have 8 right now! T_T For that reason, I cry...

If I get at least two before my next update, the reviewers all get strawberries, given personally by ME! All you have to do is review, and they're yours!

Caius: Hey! Those are mine!

Me: Correction: those were yours. Until I took them.

Caius: I was going to eat those... I hope the reviewers like them.

Me: At least, if there are any reviewers...

Caius: Nice attempt at optimism.

Me: Shut up.