The trip to Panem was almost extremely uneventful. The hovercraft moved silently and there was almost no turbulence to worry about. Effie spent most of the time mentally preparing herself for what was to come, going over her notes, practicing her accent and mannerisms, and talking to her escort on board who had actually been in Panem.
He was undercover in the Capitol, though what he did Effie could not say. He told stories of executions on live television, parties for high officials who gorged themselves on food while others in the Districts died starving, and of course, The Hunger Games.
He recounted how 7 or 8 years ago, a boy as young as 14 became the youngest ever winner. How there was a girl from his same district who won through her talent for swimming and subsequently went mad. He told Effie which districts usually have winners and which are dead by Day One. He told her of the Quarter Quell which was coming up in a few years' time- something the Gamemakers were already preparing for.
Effie was horrified, but her escort reminded her she must not react this way when they get to Panem. In the Capitol they don't see the deaths as inhumane, or even tragedies. They see it as a sport. While there are some who have favourites and are sad when they die, this usually doesn't extend long for those who have no connection to them personally.
Effie soaked in every word and tried to remember this for when she made it to her destination. She knew she would be assigned herself as an escort to the Games, being given a district in which to accompany their children to the slaughter. Effie shook her head to snap herself out of her thoughts. I can't afford to think like this if I am to do this job properly.
After hours and hours of talking, Effie yawned, and her and her escort decided that in their final hour they should have a quick nap to prepare for their landing.
When Effie awoke, her escort was gently tapping her shoulder, and softly saying her name. She almost didn't recognise where she was at first, but she quickly regained her bearings and put on her usual professional expression.
"We are ten minutes from the Capitol," her escort said. He had used his fake Capitol accent rather than his usual English one.
"Thank you, Spurius," she replied, using his Capitol name. Effie was herself not given a Capitol name, because they decided that Effie sounded close enough to a native name. However, she felt begrudged that she didn't get the opportunity to come up with a new, fun name for herself.
Almost immediately after she said this, the lights in the hovercraft went out. Effie tried to maintain her calm.
"It makes it harder to detect us," Spurius explained, sensing her tension.
"That makes sense," she replied hesitantly.
In the next ten minutes, Effie was hardly breathing. She was sure that her breathing too loud would somehow lead to their discovery.
Finally, she felt the hovercraft slow down and their descent begin. They arrived on the tarmac of what must be the Capitol's hovercraft fleet. Their hovercraft blended in seamlessly to the rest of them, and Effie relaxed a little bit knowing that no one would suspect it.
They disembarked and were met by two people in white uniforms, with patches of armour covering their vital organs, and a helmet covering their faces. They held guns and stood straight up, clearly giving the impression that they were in charge here. Peacekeepers, Effie thought. She knew all about them from her training. She felt a shiver go down her spine.
"What is your business?" the one on the left asked.
"Transporting an escort from the Hunger Games," Spurius replied, coolly.
"Oh, is there a new escort is there?" Number Two chimed in.
"Yes, after the escort from District 12 was no longer available to fill the position," Spurius answered, maintaining his calm.
The two peacekeepers chuckled, and Effie could only imagine why the last escort was no longer available. She hadn't been told why, probably because the higher-ups knew it would scare her.
"Where is she heading?" Number One asked.
"To her new apartment in the outer ring of the City Circle," Spurius replied.
Effie realised she had been quiet for far too long to maintain her image of an entitled Capitol woman. She used her Capitol accent and her best snobbish attitude to ask, "Is there a problem?"
"No problem, Miss," Number One answered, "just trying to gather all the facts. Can I ask why you two had left the Capitol in the first place?"
"We got permission from President Snow for Effie to visit District 12," Spurius said. "He asked me to escort her myself."
The two peacekeepers looked at each other like they doubted it, but obviously didn't want to be the person that had to bother the Presidential Estate to confirm. After all, they both looked like Capitol citizens. After a few moments of them looking at each other, having an unspoken argument, they turned back to Effie and Spurius.
"You two are cleared to leave."
Effie breathed a deep sigh of relief. Her and Spurius rushed out as fast as they could to a waiting car. Spurius jumped in the driver's seat and Effie sat in the back. Now that they had managed to make it through their biggest hurdle, they didn't want to risk arousing suspicion by having Effie sit in the wrong spot.
The journey from the tarmac to Effie's new apartment was 45 minutes, and in that time Effie was able to process the information she had gained in her conversation with the peacekeepers.
From the sounds of it, she would be placed with District 12. The smallest district whose major export was coal. She shuddered to think of it. How can these people still use coal after what impact it had had on the environment in the first place? Still, she knew she mustn't blame the citizens.
From her training, she remembered footage of District 12. The whole town seemed to be covered in a layer of black dust, and the people looked extremely unhappy. She knew from her conversation with Spurius that District 12 had not had a winner in 22 years, and before that was 40 years prior. They had never had a volunteer, like in the more affluent districts, because for them the Hunger Games was a death sentence. There was no chance of survival.
Her mind then turned onto the reason for the vacancy in the first place. Why was the escort, as Spurius so delicately put it, 'no longer available to fill the position'? She felt she knew the answer even if she didn't exactly know it, and the thought terrified her. She had to question whether her superiors back at the British Intelligence knew about the exact circumstances of her leaving the Games, and if they did, why they kept it from Effie.
As they were nearing the end of the journey, Effie felt she was bursting with so much dread that she had to ask Spurius what had happened.
He took a deep breath and took at least a minute to answer, obviously debating with himself whether to give Effie the honest answer or a watered-down version.
"One thing you must know is that everyone wants to be in the winning districts. The winner of the Games gets invited to all sorts of social events, and as escort you are also able to come. I guess she was sick of being in a district that never won, because the last escort demanded from her superiors that she be given a better district. Not asked. Demanded. That sort of stuff does not happen in the Capitol. Sure, every escort except those in 1, 2 and 4 want to be upgraded, but they don't make demands. Word got back to the President and…" he hesitated.
Effie decided she didn't need to know the specifics. "She is now unavailable?"
"Yes," Spurius said, delicately. "We don't know if she is even alive anymore. Usually executions are broadcast, and hers wasn't, but that doesn't mean they haven't done something else. Cut out her tongue and made her an avox, for example."
Effie felt her head spinning. What had she gotten herself into?
She felt the question forming in her head before she could stop herself from saying it. "Do… do they know? About why the position is empty?"
"They know the same as what I've told you," Spurius murmured.
This made the spinning in Effie's head worse and created a million more questions.
They pulled up to the apartment block, and Spurius got out of the car to open the door for Effie.
He walked her into the building and past the doorman, to the elevator, and into the cute little apartment that would now be hers. It was ornately decorated from floors to ceilings. A mixture of wallpapers, chandeliers, shaggy carpets, mahogany furniture, lush couches, and beautiful chairs. Effie had never seen anything so opulent, but it did nothing to stop the sickness that was forming in her stomach.
"I can tell you're upset, Effie," Spurius said, "and you must have many questions. I will be back tomorrow to debrief with you, and you can ask them then."
With that, he kissed her on the cheek, gave her a reassuring smile, walked out the door, and left Effie all on her own to think about whether she had made the right decision to come here.