Datasyn Hackel,15, District 3 female
I can feel myself panting as I continue running through the track field, but I don't let up, it's cloudy outside, it's even starting to drizzle a bit. I probably would've stopped by now, but my anger is what's fueling me to keep going! My panting gets heavier and it feels like my body is starting to weigh more and more as the fatigue is taking over me and I reach my limits soon after resting the palm of my hands on my knees and gasping for air, but I think of him and I can already feel my eyes swelling, that fucking piece of shit…
I'm literally drenched in my sweat right now and sit down at one of the park benches where I sip my bottle of water, as I gradually catch my breath and just reflect on everything that's been happening. I've just been cooped up in my lab lately doing whatever I can to try and redeem myself, but my reputation is likely ruined now and now…all I do I bring shame to my family name, all because of him!
"Miss Hackel?" I hear an elderly man's voice and I look up to see it's my neighbor, Mr.Pixel, yeah odd last name, but he's literally known both my parents since they were children and this is apparently his favorite park to take walks in. I'm usually in my lab, but the occasional times I come out for air, I usually see him slowly strolling through the park with his cane.
"Mr. Pixel, good morning!" I greet him managing to paint a smile on my face.
"Fancy seeing you here again, it seems you've been visiting this park more frequently?" He smiles at me.
"Yeah, it's just a way for me to relax, works been pretty overloaded lately…" I explain.
"I imagine, are you by any chance working on a new project to try and one up him?" Mr. Pixel asks me and I think of him and I can already feel my blood pressure rising, just the thought of his fucking face!!!
"That's not a concern, he claims this project is his, but l'll show that I still have the edge over him…" I try to confidently say but Mr. Pixel seems to see right through my bluff.
"Hmmm, not so sure about that…everyone considers you a fraud now Datasyn, this new project belongs to him, and you never gave him any credit for the previous projects the two of you worked on together...that's a tough pill to swallow…" he states and I've had enough of him at this point and stand up off the bench.
"It was nice talking to you Mr. Pixel…" I mumble and walk away from him and hold my head down in shame as I plod through the district walking towards my house, but it feels so far away and it's unusually crowded in the district today.
"It's Datasyn…the fraud…I can't believe she really tried to claim his families work as her own…" I hear one of the residents loudly "mumble" and I do my best to ignore them, otherwise my fist will be through their skull.
"This is still surreal to me, she was considered a prodigy, but this was all a act, truly pitiful…" I hear someone else and I stop in my tracks and don't turn around to face them, but it's still silent.
"She stopped…" I hear another mumble and I take a deep breath before putting my hair up and fitting my lucky clip on it to hold it in place, I can think better now and the best thing to do is to just keep walking which I do but still…it just feels like my life is ruined, and it probably is now, but I won't be going down alone.
I'm still drenched in sweat right now, but I can't go home yet, I'll just overthink and it'll likely drive me insane, so I'll just walk over to my best friend's house and see if she wants to do anything. I bet at this point you're wondering just what the hell is going on right? So I'll brief you in while I plod my way towards my best friend Lincastra's house.
My family has been involved behind the scenes of the hunger games for a while. It was them who helped develop and even improve the infamous force fields that are used in the arenas and it was this that helped make my name renowned, but I didn't just want to live in the shadows of my family name, no I also wanted to be able to contribute to it in some way and I worked really hard to build up my own name and reputation and I was already well known for innovating various different projects. I'm also in the midst right now of developing high tech cameras that can be used in the arena to better visualize the tributes and environments.
I've been developing this project in secret, with only my family and best friend knowing. However my files were apparently leaked by an "anonymous" user and the very next day my now ex boyfriend formally announced the debut of "his new upcoming project" that was mines all along. It didn't end here though, He even accused me of attempting to steal "his work" to intercept any of my counters that i launched at him and even took partial credit for all of my other projects. I have an investigation being done by my team, but it can literally take months for my innocence to be proven. Obviously the media ate it all up, he was the new hero of this district and I was left with nothing…
I obviously confronted him about this like right after, but I didn't even want to hear any of his explanations, I slapped him with all my might and promptly dumped him right after. I knew he was competitive and didn't like being one upped, but I didn't think he was actually able to stoop down this low and I swear this won't be the last of it, I will find some way to exact my revenge…
I finally reach Lincastra's house, gently knock on her door and wait for her to answer. Me and Lincastra has been friends since we were 9, I always considered her a very sweet and well mannered girl and that's why we got along so well, unlike me, she didn't take a technological career path so I don't have to worry about her stabbing in the back like that ex of mines did…
The door opens and Lincastras face lightens up upon seeing me but she sees what a mess I am right now and hugs me, I have to fight back my tears though but if she continues holding me, I won't be able to so I gently separate myself from her. My life…my reputation, he's taken this all from me and i…I just feel like an empty shell now, like I have no purpose in life.
"Wow you're drenched girl! Must've went for a run huh?" she laughs and I do a slow nod.
"Yeah…sorry that I'm all sweaty and probably smelly too…" I practically mumble.
"Don't worry about it, say why don't we go out and get some ice cream or something, the weather's perfect for it!" Lincastra suggests and that actually does sound pretty good right now, anything to take my mind off of this.
"Sounds good, yeah…let's go." I agree with her and she does an excited squeal and grabs my hand as we quickly head towards the ice cream shop. It doesn't take us long to get there but on our way I encounter more people who are only giving me disappointed looks and I can only hold my head down but Lincastra holds my hand being sure to glare anyone looking at me, and that's enough to get them to back off. We reach the ice cream shop and thankfully there aren't many people in here but even the clerk is giving me an odd look, but I avoid eye contact with her.
"Hey…you want the usual flavor? Grapenut vanilla?" Lincastra asks me.
"Yeah, sure…" I mumble and she nods patting my hand and walks over to the clerk to order the ice cream and I only gaze at the television but there doesn't really seem to be anything too interesting going on right now, Just news mainly about the hunger games tomorrow but I just ignore it.
Lincastra arrives shortly after with two bowls of ice cream and places one of them in front of me and I slowly dab at my ice cream but I hear Lincastra sigh.
"Try to cheer up Datasyn, please…" she practically begs me but I only look up from my bowl and gaze at her.
"This was my life Lin…this was everything I lived for, worked for and for it to just all be swept under my feet, especially by him, the person I thought I can trust the most…" my voice cracks.
"He's piece of shit and he'll get what's coming to him, but you're such a brilliant girl, you'll come up with something better! Let him have his five minutes of fame!" she tries to cheer me up but it's honestly only pissing me off more…
"You don't understand…he didn't just steal my project, he pretty much took credit for everything I've done, he made me look like a fraud, a fool…there's no coming back from this…" tears come down my eyes and even Lin is at a loss of words as she realizes just how damaged I truly am…
"Datasyn i…" she starts.
"I know you're only trying to help and…I appreciate that, but you can't help." I hold my head down and there's a silence between us and that's when I hear the door to the shop open and I pay it no mind as I continue picking at my ice crcream
"Datasyn…" I hear Lin let out a almost inaudible whisper and I look up at her but I see her eyes are obviously focused elsewhere, so I turn in the direction she's looking at and I see the "boy" who destroyed my life only shockingly staring at me at the counter, the one who's responsible for everything I'm going through now is standing right next to me. He's not getting away from me!
I grab a butter knife off the table and glare him walking towards him as his eyes only get wider.
"Whoa…Data, let me explain, please!" he throws his hands up.
"Data calm down!" Lin tries to grab my arm but I push her off of me.
"Uhm do I need to alert security?" the clerk asks.
"Y-yes, please call them! My life is in danger!" Vector cries out, he is such a wimp and i charge at him but he immediately speeds out of the door and I chase after him!
"Help! Someone help! She's trying to hurt me!" Vector cries out running as quickly as he can but I continue running after him.
"You're not getting away from me! You ruined my life and for what!? Just so you can have something to cling on, you're so, you're so pathetic!!" I yell at him still running after him and if it wasn't for this long run I did earlier, I likely would've caught him by now, but I'm so so physically and mentally fatigued right now.
"Just let me explain to you please!" he pleads and turns a corner continuing to run and knocks down a trash can to slow me down but I jump over it and close in on him more.
"I'm not interested in anything you have to say!" I curse at him and use the last of my strength to lunge at him and tackle him to the ground and he lets out a terrified yell but I manage to pin him to the ground and hold the butter knife to his neck as I see nothing but fear on his big cowardly face!
"Data…please!" he begs.
"Shut up!"
"Give me one reason why I shouldn't slit your throat right now!" I snarl at him pressing the knife against his neck.
"A b-butter knife, really!?" he sputters but I press the knife harder against his neck.
"All it takes is just a little force!" I growl and the knife breaks his skin as a tiny bit amount of blood starts seeping from his neck and he let's out a very girlish squeal, can't believe I actually put up with this loser, it's embarrassing to even think about!
"J-just let me explain please, look I didn't mean you any harm alright I just- I just wanted us to both benefit from this!" he cries.
" How the hell is this benefitting me? You left me with nothing! Nothing!" I yell and prepare to slice his neck but a powerful grip suddenly grabs my arm and I turn around to see it's a peacekeeper, I try to pull my arm free but the last thing I feel is a taser pressing against my body…
Vector Wyrill,16, District 3 male
Dammit I hiss in pain as I look at the small wound on my neck in the mirror and use some of my mother's make up to cover it up. I can't believe what happened yesterday, she…she was actually going to kill me! I didn't expect her to be thrilled about what I did, but I just wanted both of us to benefit off of each other with our inventions, what was wrong with that? I hear knocking on my door however and that brings my mind back to reality.
"Yeah?" I answer.
"Are you getting out of that bathroom anytime soon!?" I hear one of my younger twin brothers Tresk shout through the door, and I suck my teeth under my breath and leave the bathroom but I only see Tresk glaring me.
"What?" I look at him but tresk only shakes his head.
"You're such a fool, idiot…" he mumbles under his breath but I only shake my head walking away from him. My twin brothers Tresk and Jenks are sports jocks, they didn't choose to go down a technological path and for that I just consider them dumb muscle headed jocks. I go into my room afterwards and begin to get dressed and I think of Datasyn again. I remember when we first met and how attracted I was to her intellect, she wasn't like a lot of these other superficial girls I hung around with in this district. I was quite popular after all so it wasn't surprising that a lot of girls flocked around me. My father's family for generations has been responsible for developing a computing system that the capitol used to organize all potential tributes for the games and I was able to contribute my own creativity to my family name, so yeah once again, the ladies loved me.
Datasyn was all mattered to me though, but as I spent more time around her, I started realizing she just may be more intelligent than me, I didn't really see it as a threat at first. i could instead use this to my advantage. I always expressed the idea to her that we should join forces and expedite our advancements in technology together but Datasyn was stubborn. Not wanting to mix her personal and professional life together. I got fed up with it though, I found out about one of her upcoming projects after hacking her and claimed it as one of my own, made sure she couldn't do anything to counter me and took partial credit for her previous projects as well.
I thought she'd be able to come to an understanding that I just wanted the both of us to achieve greatness together, she was way ahead of me and could just move on to her next project but no, she smacked me, dumped me and even tried to kill me yesterday, it is what it is though, do I feel bad? Yeah of course but what's done is done, I'll just have to move on without her. She tried to murder me yesterday and there's no coming back from that, she's a broken mess now.
Once I finish getting dressed in my striped black and white suit, I head downstairs where the rest of my family is, my mother, father and twin brothers, and my father is of course not very thrilled about what I did and simply leaves the table and walks out of the house with his mug of coffee in his hand. He thinks me taking credit for other people's work is a lowly move and can potentially damage his legacy if it's discovered that my claim was fabricated, but I believe he'll come around eventually. This'll benefit us, my announcement of this upcoming project alone has set up various interviews and promotional deals for me, Datasyn could've been apart of this greatness but it's her loss to be honest.
"Good morning mom" I greet my mother and intentionally ignore my dumb jock brothers, thankfully my mother isn't reading too much into this but she is worried for my safety like any mother would be after they got murdered. After Datasyn was taken into custody, I was questioned if I wanted to press charges but I decided not to, for her sake.
"Good morning Vector, how are you feeling dear?" she asks.
"Much better mom, thank you, just have some interviews to prep for after the reapings are done so that's what I'm focused on." I scoop some eggs onto my toast biting into it.
"I see…perhaps you should invest in some security too dear…" my mother worriedly suggests and she's alluding to what happened yesterday.
"That is the plan, eventually. There's just certain things that needs to be prioritized first." I state sipping my apple juice.
"Well what's more important than your safety? I mean you're a fraud, you stole her work, you really think this is going to end well for you?" Tresk once again hisses at me.
"Tresk…" my mother tries to calm him down.
"You should consider watching your tone, Tresk." I warn him but he jumps up from his table and stands over me.
"Or else what? What the hell are you gonna do? Datasyn had you pinned to the ground begging for your life and I'm three times her size, try me if you want to!" he yells at me.
"Tresk enough! Please sit down!" my mother slightly raises her voice. She's an absolute sweetheart, and it breaks her heart in two seeing us fight but Tresk listens to her and sits down still glaring me, and my heart is pounding in both anger and fear, I'm older than Tresk but he's a lot bigger than me, I will prefer not to get into a physical confrontation with him if I can avoid it.
"I'll be taking my leave, see you at the square mom." I stand up from the table and ignore Tresk who I still see glaring me from the corner of my eye.
"OK, dear just be safe please…" my mother reminds me, and I nod before leaving the house. I make sure to stand upright and confident as I take my walk there. After the announcement of my project, I've naturally been the talk of the town, and my popularity and stock has risen quite considerably. I appreciate the attention, but it's almost overwhelming. I will be basked in greatness though, so it's a small price to pay.
I make sure to take a route where there aren't too many people cause If I'm stopped every two seconds, it'll literally take me all day to reach the square.
"Oh hey Vector!" I hear a familiar voice and I turn around to see it's Raquel, a former class mate of mine, we used to hang out a lot before I met Datasyn but we've fell off quite a bit since.
"Good morning Raquel, you headed to the square?" I ask, I'm not in the mood for conversation so I'll try to get rid of her quickly as we walk towards the square.
"Sure am, I'm loving the suit though!" she compliments me.
"Thank you, you look well yourself…" I state and she seems to really appreciate that.
"Well thank you, I heard about what happened yesterday though, talk about jealousy huh?" she continues.
"The way she reacted is understandable, she's an ambitious girl and can't stand the idea of someone one upping her, I'll forgive her and that's why I haven't pressed charges yet." I calmly say as the square is now in my vision of sight.
"So I guess it's safe to say you two are done now huh?" she asks.
"Well if it wasn't already clear enough, yes we are." I say with some irritation.
"I see…well Vector, I do miss hanging out with you." She admits and I only give her a blank look, but she continues looking at me waiting to give her a response, but I'm not interested.
"I see." is all I can really say.
"So…you don't miss hanging out with me?" she asks and I can sense some sadness.
"You were a good friend back then, but I outgrew you, nothing personal, but you're just not the kind of company I want in my life right now." I bluntly say.
"Wow…well ok, well see you around Vector…" she holds her head down and walks ahead of me and I let out a small sigh. I probably could've been less harsh about it but I didn't want to string her along, she'll find someone who truly appreciates her. After getting myself checked in, I join the 16 year old boy's section as our new escort Esther who definitely seems to be more relaxed this year is getting ready to play the introductory video but I zone out and don't really care to watch it.
"Heard he went out like a wimp yesterday, he got overpowered by a girl and begged for his life…" I hear a group of boys giggling across from me but I do my best to ignore them…
Once the video is over its time for the actual reapings to begin.
"Alright everyone, well let's start with the ladies first shall we?" Esther does a bow before walking over to the female's bowl and snatches out a name.
"Datasyn Hackel!" she calls and my heart drops, Datasyn, geez she just can't catch a break huh?
It takes a moment and it's to the point where the peacekeepers have to start walking towards her area but she stumbles out of the crowd in her burgundy dress complete with a ruffled top, sheer long sleeves, a gold belt and hesitantly walks towards the stage. She looks completely broken right now as she only holds her head down and moves towards the stage and I can't help but have some sympathy. Maybe if she would've announced this project, she could've pitched it, sold it and would've been viewed as an irreplaceable figure and likely would've been granted protection from being reaped but no, I took that away from her too...
Datasyn reaches the stage, her head still down and clasps her hands together and I can see she's trembling a little, i…I wish I can comfort her…
"Any volunteers!" Esther calls but as you already know, no one volunteers.
"Welp, off to the gentlemen then!" Esther walks over to the male's bowl and plucks out a name.
"Vector Wyrill!" she announces and I gasp aloud, what!? This can't be, Dammit this is real! I can't make a fool of myself so I put on my most confident look and walk towards the stage but on my way up to the stage Datasyn finally lifts her head up and she looks right into my eyes grinning at me! She's, she's actually happy I got reaped and I feel a lump growing in my throat and it feels like I'm going to vomit any second. I walk up to the stage and make sure I'm standing a far distance from her but from the corner of my eye, I can still see her grinning at me, oh god…
"Any volunteers?" Esther asks and just like that, I'm trapped here with her. She's going to use every ounce of her strength to get back at me for what I did, and I need to stay as far as possible from this girl. She has already shown that's she's willing and capable of killing me, so I need to immediately start coming up with a plan to intercept her!
"Please welcome our two tributes representing district 3 this year! Shake hands you two!" Esther happily announces.
I instead walk off the stage and start heading towards the justice building, just picturing that look on her face as she realized I was reaped, shes going to ensure I'm dead even if its the last thing she does, but I'll be ready, no matter the cost, it'll be me having the final laugh!
Here we are with district 3! i'm just glad i was able to get this out relatively quickly. these reapings are such a slog, but things will for sure be picking up once we're past that. i don't really have much else to say, but i'll see you guys soon with the next chapter! Till next time!