Eurydice Shakira, 53
Center of Gamemaking, Capitol
First Lady of Panem
June 30, 329 AEDD
Avoxes deftly glided around the oblong conference table like spectres, fetching silverware, serving platters of refreshments, and refilling a great many crystal glasses with different sorts of alcohol. The diners, Eurydice Shakira and the twenty-four Victors who had been selected to mentor that year's crop of tributes, varied greatly in many ways, such as age, appearance, personality, mentoring philosophy, dress sense, and, most noticeably, level of drunkenness.
Eurydice had decided to host a meeting for the mentors in a sort of multipurpose room on one of the rarely-frequented floors of the Center of Gamemaking. She had her personal fleet of Avoxes distribute plenty of food and drink, partly because she had a reputation for hospitality that she intended to maintain and partly because she wanted to lull the mentors into a false sense of comfort so they wouldn't freak out when she gave them their orders.
Her gaze swept the table. The newest Victor, Griffin Cadbury, a slender but fit boy from District One, seemed clumsy and unaccustomed to the luxury. No doubt he was anxious about coaching his first tribute. He had refused liquor and was instead nursing a cup of coffee, which Eurydice guessed wasn't doing much for his nerves. It was, after all, a little less than a day until the Reapings would take place, and his status as a Career added an extra layer of pressure.
The other twenty-three mentors were all present as well. There were some that Eurydice was indifferent to, some that she liked, some that she didn't care for, a handful that she wholeheartedly adored, and one that she despised with all that was in her. Without even realizing she was doing it, Eurydice's eyes narrowed at Mae Lowland.
Mae was Eurydice's sister in law, the wife of her younger brother Linus, and Eurydice wasn't exactly approving of their relationship, but what really bothered Eurydice was Mae's treatment of her son, Derp. No child named Derpamachus Cannon was going to have an easy childhood, but Mae had a way of making everything worse. Mae was never a stable guardian, forgetting to feed him as an infant, regularly abandoning him in public as a child, and limiting her interactions with him in his teen years to carrying out cartoonishly disproportionate punishments for the most minor of offenses. Mae's neglectful parenting (a word Eurydice used very loosely), total disregard for Derp's safety, and constant binge drinking made for an unpleasant eighteen years under her roof.
Mae's behavior infuriated Eurydice, not only because Mae had duped Linus into obeying her every whim, which included ignoring his parental duties, but because as a result, Eurydice had been forced to step up as a young child's authority figure a decade before she actually chose to become a mother. And while Eurydice and Willoughby had taken it upon themselves to care for their nephew and raise him up right, they never should have been put in such a position in the first place. Eurydice would do it again in a heartbeat, but she thought that Derp deserved to be taken care of by his actual mother every now and again, and it pained her that it would never happen.
So, looking at Mae, Eurydice had a hard time staying calm, especially in light of Derp's imminent fatherhood. After Ivan Cardozo's shady talk show claimed that Derp had gotten Jacqueline Muriel pregnant, Eurydice had paid him a visit and inquired if it was true. Derp and Jacqueline told her the whole story, and when they had broken the news to Mae, Eurydice was enraged by her callous and crass response. "I'm gonna be a grandmother. So what, boy? I didn't care one whit about you—mind you, I still don't—and you're expecting me to suddenly put in effort just because your girlfriend made my mistake all over again and didn't keep her legs closed? How stupid do you have to be?! I don't care one whit about the greedy, noisy, filthy sack of fat you're gonna be saddled with in a couple o' months. Now piss off, will you?"
The other Victors had given Mae a wide berth, allowing her a fourth of the table to herself. It could have been because of her foul-smelling perfume, which she applied in great quantities each morning. It could have been because she had a cigarette clenched between her brown, tobacco-stained teeth, as well as a habit of blowing the smoke into the faces of people she considered to be less important than herself. But most likely it was because of her nasty temper, abrasive personality, and objectionable opinions, which she tended to share with the people around her whether they liked it or not. (They did not.)
Eurydice pitied whatever unfortunate girl became this year's District Nine Female. There were some mentors that it was best to avoid. On the other hand, there were some mentors that truly excelled at their jobs—Lura Dellacova, Britta Morrigan, Ethel Linnenem, and Johnnie Amaranth-Miller came to mind—but they couldn't always step in to save the day. Eurydice knew that this year's tributes had lucked out in terms of mentors. There were only two that were really bad, and the majority were a helpful bunch who would advocate for their charges as much as possible.
But Eurydice was not at that oblong conference table to observe the mentors. She was there to issue commands, commands about the plan to uncover the treacherous Peacekeeper. She waited for the chatter to die down as the Victors cleaned their plates, and then as the Avoxes retrieved the empty dishes, until the room was quiet at last.
"We have a great deal to do," Eurydice said. "But first, I want to take this opportunity to thank you. I want to thank you for attending this banquet. I want to thank you for your continued devotion to Panem. And I want to preemptively thank you for your completion of the tasks I'm about to assign to you. As you may know, there has always been a rebel presence in Panem. Throughout our long and storied history—"
"Get on with it!" Mae heckled, taking a long drag of her cigarette and exhaling a tendril of smoke that drifted directly into Klicka Mendel's eye. "Spit it out! Keep it moving! This is boring as hell!"
"Thank you for that insightful observation," Eurydice said coolly. "I'm giving you some background information, and no, it's not all that exciting. However, there's only twenty more seconds of it, so I kindly bid you to refrain from further interruptions. Now, as I was saying, throughout our long and storied history, there have always been those who seek to undermine our government and wish to plunge the country into civil war. It has been discovered that there is a rebel in our fair Peacekeeping force, as well as one in the upper echelons of high Capitol society, in a position where they can influence this year's Hunger Games. I am requiring that you aid myself, my husband, and the Head Peacekeeper in rooting out these moles so that Panem may continue to prosper. Are you with me?"
Everyone was. Mae took another languid drag of her cigarette, this time snorting the smoke into Fabian Maldeiva's eye instead of Klicka Mendel's, before agreeing, but even so, she was on board. Eurydice was immensely pleased with how things had gone thus far, but she wasn't done yet. "Fortunately," she continued, "You will not be alone in this endeavor. We will be recruiting the entire country to hunt down the traitors, but you will be the elite operatives. Keep an eye out for sneaky or evasive behavior. Be vigilant. Pandora Mink, the Master of Ceremonies, is making an announcement as we speak. She's in the process of informing Panem's entire population of the search for the spies, and we must be prepared for passionate responses from Capitol and District folk alike."
"But Madam Shakira," asked Mahogany Yates, "Won't there be backlash? I expect that not everybody will like this new directive. Being told that you can't trust anybody, even those close to you, is hard. What will you do with the dissenters?"
"I understand that this is not an easy thing to hear, but there's not much I can do except ignore them or punish them. And I am not going to punish them for having a valid position about a complicated issue. We will simply have to respond with compassion and understanding whilst affirming the importance of supporting the President and all of Panem. Now, it is crucial that we…" Eurydice trailed off as the room's double doors burst open. Nikolai Fassnacht charged in, frantically waving a stack of papers in the air. He was panting with exertion, three buttons on his shirt had popped off, and his suspenders had fallen to his hips. His normally meticulously gelled hair had drooped limply to the side as he thrust the documents into her waiting hands. He wheeled around and caught the arm of an Avox.
"You! Go to the Gamemaker Control Room and fetch Jacqueline Muriel for me right this minute! Make it snappy!" He snatched another Avox forward by his lapels, as the first one opened her mouth in silent protest. Eurydice rose, stepping between her and Nikolai.
"She doesn't have security clearance to–"
"I don't care!" He jabbed his finger at the female Avox. "It's an emergency! Now, for the love of Panem, go!" She dutifully scuttled off, and he directed his attention to the male Avox. "You, take my, uh, necktie! Run along to the Broadcasting Studio and give it to Pandora Mink, she'll know what to do!" He pointed to Eurydice. "Run to your mansion and take those documents to Willoughby!" He beckoned forth three more Avoxes. "You! Run to the tribute lodgings and find Flossie Merveilleuse! You, to the Gamemakers' laboratory! I need to speak with Linus Cannon at once! You, to the Office of the Head Gamemaker for Konstance DuMouchel!" He gestured broadly to the twenty-four befuddled mentors in front of him. "You lot, go raid the Training Center for weapons and get me Orion Zenobia while you're at it!" Everyone rushed to obey, and then Nikolai turned to the last person still in the room with him. It was a young male Avox, certainly no older than eighteen or nineteen, who was looking up at Nikolai with the most fearful expression imaginable.
Despite the chaos of the moment, Nikolai immediately recognized that he was confused and afraid and in no condition to run, and, at slightly closer inspection, was in the midst of a panic attack that his lack of a tongue had made almost inaudible. Nikolai cursed himself for not noticing earlier, and he cursed himself for not being able to help at once, considering the circumstances, so he did the only thing that he could.
He scooped up the terrified Avox, wrapped his arms around him protectively, and sprinted towards the Center of Peacekeeping.
Hey y'all!
I know that was a bit of a hectic chapter, but I promise things will be mostly explained in the next one. However, if you have any questions, feel free to lay them out in a review or PM so that I can make sure to address them in the final prologue, which is from Pandora Mink's POV and is set to pick up exactly where this chapter ends. I have only one more prologue in store for you, and it will be released on 28 August. As a reminder, tribute submissions close on 28 AUGUST, 8:00 A.M. PACIFIC STANDARD TIME. Sorry for typing in all caps, but I want to make sure there's no confusion about the deadline.
I've received a total of twenty-three tributes so far, and all of them have been so awesome, but we've reached the point where I have to start making those difficult decisions about which tributes to accept. I know a few individuals who are planning to submit certain tributes to certain slots, and you know who you are. If we've talked, the following message does not apply to you: I have no need for more Careers; I have no need for more boys.
I've received more than enough boys, and I already have to reject a couple simply because the number of male tributes outweighs the number of available male tribute slots. I am, however, still short on girls. If you're planning to submit a tribute in the future, please consider submitting a female. Also, if you've submitted a male tribute but would be open to genderbending them, just shoot me a PM and we can talk. Point is, I have too many guys and not enough gals. I absolutely won't reject any new boys or Careers, but the chances of them getting in are slimmer since there's more competition, and it's tough when I get too many kids in one place and not enough in another.
I'm so excited to push out the final cast list on 28 August, but before that day arrives, I have a few more immediate remarks. First, this is the final prologue before I make my decisions regarding tributes. If you have questions, the time to reach out is now. One day before the submission deadline is not the optimal time to inquire about worldbuilding. Second, please periodically check out the blog! It's clearly listed on my profile under the heading "Reprisal SYOT Blog" and I add new info to it all the time. And third, please feel free to PM me at any time if there's anything you'd like to know. I'm right here if you need me!
–LC :)
