Jacqueline Muriel, 28

Assessment Box, Capitol

Acting Head Gamemaker

July 4, 329 AEDD

Even at seven months pregnant, Jacqueline Muriel was unstoppable. She was in charge of overseeing the Hunger Games amid domestic strife and her partner was right there beside her. At the place of honor in the assessment box, draped in the ceremonial purple of the Head Gamemaker, she consulted her notes one last time, smoothed her hair, and made sure she didn't need to go to the restroom. She had gone five minutes ago, but still. She touched up her lipgloss and smiled at her boyfriend.

"Call in the first tribute," she instructed. Derp lifted the receiver off a tabletop telephone linked to the loudspeaker in the tribute antechamber.

"We cordially invite District One Male Orpheus Adello to report for his private assessment at this time." Derp replaced the receiver. There was a short delay. After a minute or so, a wall panel slid open and Orpheus sauntered into the room. He walked towards the Gamemakers, observing from their balcony, and centered himself in front of them. This was the introduction: it was traditional for tributes of all districts to greet the Gamemakers and state their name and business, although Career tributes were, as in many other aspects, showier than outliers.

"Orpheus Adello, age eighteen, of District One, may she ever prosper. Today I will demonstrate my agility for you by simulating a Bloodbath scenario with twenty-three opponents." He recited his introduction without commenting on Konstance's absence. If he noticed it, it didn't throw him off guard.

"Will you display your skills with the usual automatons, or would you prefer to engage in live combat with trainers?"

"Trainers, please, ma'am." Jacqueline extended a casual index finger towards Derp, who fired off a message on a concealed tablet. Instantly it reached the trainers waiting to be summoned. Twenty-three strolled in, covered in protective armor and equipped with various weapons. Orion Zenobia stood at the front of the pack, wielding a battle axe. Orpheus did not seem daunted by his presence. Instead, he selected a rapier from a rack.

"I am ready to begin whenever you see fit." Derp tapped out another message, which cued the beginning of the combat sequence.

"Start now," said Jacqueline. The trainers lunged forward. Orpheus began by cutting down a few easy targets. He rolled, slashing at the ankle of a trainer reloading his bow, stabbing one in the side, and tackling another at the legs. Then several trainers with long-range weapons teamed up, attacking Orpheus from multiple directions. He ducked and bobbed, avoiding an onslaught of projectiles, and grabbed a spear that had just missed him. He held it horizontally to clothesline an oblivious swordsman, then used it to lash out at a few nearby short-range trainers, taking them down. Finally, he threw it. Taking up his thin rapier, he dove into the fray, deftly weaving to avoid being sliced to bits.

Such continued the session. He saved Orion Zenobia for last and dove between his legs as he lunged, whipping around from behind and pinning him to the floor. The battle axe flew from his hands. After completely subduing him and holding him down for a moment, Orpheus grinned and helped Orion to his feet. They shook hands. Jacqueline eyed her timer. Only a few minutes had passed. She suspected that Orpheus had chosen a fast and furious approach to conserve energy for the coming trials, while still proving his competence.

He stepped toward the Gamemakers. "Ladies and gentlemen, you know the offensive capabilities of Career tributes. Today, I have shown you that we can also possess great defensive strategy. Thank you very much for your time." He gave a slight bow and waited for dismissal.

"Thank you, Mr. Adello. You're free to go," said Jacqueline. She waited until he had disappeared through the exit door before instructing Derp to summon the next tribute.

"District One Female Nascha Eirena Czarin, we invite you to report for your private assessment at this time." Nascha took a few minutes to show up. She stood before the Gamemakers and smiled politely.

"Good afternoon. I'm Nascha Eirena Czarin from District One, and I plan to show you that I am a promising future Victor by demonstrating my endurance. With your permission, I wish to spar with the Head Trainer using my rapier."

Orion Zenobia walked onto the training floor and chose a rapier. He faced off against Nascha in a circular ring on the floor. Jacqueline signaled the beginning of the match and watched. Nascha was a strong combatant and didn't lose focus for an instant. She didn't get a touch, but then again, neither did Orion. Mentally, Jacqueline contrasted the performance of District One's tributes. They were both highly skilled, but they'd chosen personal and unique ways of showcasing their abilities. Nascha didn't lag a bit even as she hit minute fifteen. Jacqueline called the match as a stalemate, and Nascha dipped her head.

Derp called in Tybalt, who seemed very confident, as befitting his prediction of first place tribute. Tybalt selected his weapons first, then made his introduction quickly. "Gamemakers, my name is Tybalt Alistair Martell, and I'm so delighted to meet you. Please sit back and enjoy the show." One extremely strong showing later, Jacqueline met his district partner, Haylia, the predicted runner-up.

"I'm Haylia Boaz of District Two. I'm sure you've already previewed my weaponry skills during training, so I'll use my time with you to prove how, as an unarmed Career, I might respond to a betrayal by the rest of the Pack. Six trainers please, two with rapiers only, one with rapier and machete, one with trident and scimitar, one with spear, and one with javelin and crossbow." She also requested that the training floor be cleared of possible cover and concealment. Jacqueline watched intently as Haylia used hand-to-hand combat to take down the six expert trainers with weapons while providing running commentary of each choice she made. She didn't get out of breath in the slightest and expertly neutralized all six opponents in under a minute, then performed a quick knife-throwing demonstration. Overall, Jacqueline had been very impressed with the Careers and felt that they were all at a similarly advanced skill level.

Beemo was the first non-Career tribute to make an appearance. "Madam Deputy Head Gamemaker, my name is Beemo. I'm from District Three. Between you and me, I've been studying poisons and learning to handle a blowgun proficiently, but it's in my interest to be underestimated. Instead, I'm going to identify some plants, set some snare traps, and prepare a few simple herbal remedies for common arena ailments. I feel like this will earn me a score between four and six, and I look forward to learning whether my prediction is correct." Jacqueline beamed at him. He was the first tribute to acknowledge her role as Deputy Head Gamemaker all day long, but the Careers were probably afraid of offending Konstance. A valid fear, but still, it was nice to be recognized.

"Acting Head Gamemaker," she corrected, just to put the information out there. "But yes, I am Konstance DuMouchel's deputy. Unfortunately, she was unable to make it today, but rest assured, I am perfectly capable of carrying out the duties of her office." After Beemo left, Twyla came in.

"Hi there. I'm Twyla. I'm not very good at public speaking, sorry, but I'm going to show you some survival skills."

"Go right ahead." Then it was back to the Careers.

"My name is Nathaniel Lewis of District Four. I look forward to showing you how a prudent and well-informed take on my fellow tributes' abilities can supplement traditional spear technique."

"I'm Odicci Harbore, and I hope you're doing well today. I'm going to demonstrate my skill with the trident and scimitar."

"Aran. District Five. Give me a robot, or—you got any Peacekeepers?"

"No, Mr. Casteel, but we can provide you with some trainers to practice with live."

"Can I actually hurt them?"

"You may not."

"Robots, then."

"I'm Amy Kawasaki." She curtsied politely. "I'm sure the other tributes have been very boring. I'll begin by demonstrating the properties of human blood with a kukri knife and a live test subject. May I please have an Avox to model?"

"No. May I suggest a training automaton?"

"That's a robot, though, not a human. It doesn't have a pain reflex."

"We can pretend as though it does, Miss Kawasaki, in the interest of preventing mess. I'd rather not be bleaching Avox blood out of my training mats for twenty minutes before the next tribute can come in."

"Oh, all right." Jacqueline's patience was beginning to wear. Thirty minutes with the Fives was far too much.

"Hello Mrs. Muriel, and um, other Gamemakers. I'm Danny Maddox from District Six. Thank you for your time. I'm going to show you what I can do with a Genoese stiletto dagger using a dummy." Jacqueline smiled again. Danny could be a difficult tribute, but she'd been pleased with his progress. And he knew her name, which earned him invisible brownie points.

"Hi! I'm Vica. Today I'd like to show you some survival skills and knifework."

"My name is Tom Leary. I'm from District Seven, and I'm going to describe wilderness water and food safety practices."

"Hey there. I'm Brielle, and I'm a chef. I've spent these three days learning how to adapt my knife skills to the Hunger Games, so I've prepared a short defensive demonstration. I'll also show you a quick, easy, and delicious arena meal made only from common edible plants."

"I'm Kenny. I'm gonna use an axe. Uh, you met my brother Travis a couple of years ago. He got a seven. I don't think I'll do that well, but it's all fine. Let's do this."

"Hello. I'm Ash Maris from District Eight. I've got a little bit of an unconventional request. Could you please clear the training floor? I'm going to build you a type of shelter—they'll go up very quickly, so they won't be perfect—for each of the following biomes: desert, tundra, temperate forest, rainforest, and prairie or savanna. I'll use three minutes of my time to construct each shelter. I intend to prove that I am prepared for all types of arenas and am a credit to my alliance."

"I'm Jeremiah King. I deserve at least a nine. Let me show you why." He was loud and confident. Maize was much shyer, struggling to look up at the balcony of Gamemakers.

"Hello up there. I'm, um, Maize. I know I'm not the most appealing tribute, but I hope you'll understand what I've been working towards these past few days. I want to show you all the progress I've made with swords, and then I'm going to run a little bit."

"I'm from District Ten. Fahad Azerola, but you, uh, know that. I've got a sword thingy and I'm gonna wave it around a little for a few minutes. I know I kinda suck, you know I kinda suck. Sorry for boring you, but I promise I'll be quick."

"My name is Mare Duster. I've decided to show you some basic defensive moves, inflict a few deep wounds on a still dummy, and then perform emergency first aid on it."

"I'm Pace. I'm not very good, but let's begin."

"Xanthe Sparacello. I'll pass." Xanthe dismissed herself. Then it was Nikita's turn.

"Good evening, Gamemakers. I know you've been here for hours, and you must be tired by now. I'm going to use all fifteen of my minutes, but I was born and trained in District Two before moving to District Twelve on Peacekeeping assignment. At Morrow Academy, my primary weapons were the javelin and the crossbow. Today, I'll use both in offensive and defensive ways to show you that despite my hiatus, I can compete on the Career level and make my district proud." After a strong Career performance, very welcome to the exhausted Gamemakers, it was time for the last tribute.

"Hi. You know that I'm Aspen, and I know that you're the acting Head Gamemaker. That means you've read my files, so I'd like to respectfully request clemency: you also know that I'm an established rebel, but I'd be very grateful if you scored me in accordance with my abilities rather than my actions in the past."

"Of course, Aspen. And please don't be concerned; I promise that score fixing is a thing of the past. I've been very satisfied with your activities over the past three days." Jacqueline smiled in what she hoped was a friendly way. "Let's get you started, okay? I'm excited to see what you can do."

By the time Aspen had returned to the District Twelve suite, Jacqueline was deep in discussion with the other Gamemakers. Together, they reached consensus on a fair score for each tribute. Some would be pleasantly surprised, others disappointed, but such was the way of the Games. The earlier tributes had been waiting a few hours already, and Jacqueline wanted to give them results as soon as possible so they didn't have to worry. Still, she decided to take a beat, drink some coffee, and make sure she was pleased with her decisions before she officially submitted the scores.

It just felt strange. Konstance DuMouchel wasn't showing up to work or returning her calls. So yes, as acting Head Gamemaker, she had the power, the responsibility, of assigning the scores. But it seemed wrong. Jacqueline had always run everything by Konstance, but that couldn't happen right now. She reminded herself that she had a right to oversee the Games and make her own choices.

She grew a spine and submitted the scores. Then she called acting President Will Shakira, Jr. "Hi," she said. "I know I've called already to discuss Konstance DuMouchel's absence and my appointment as acting Head Gamemaker, but I'm just letting you know that I submitted the training scores."

"Yeah, thanks," said young Will Shakira. "Is there anything else?"

"Yes, actually. Konstance has not been here in three days and I need to definitively know who's calling the shots during the Games." She drew up all her courage. "So what I'm saying is that since nobody knows where Konstance is, she's basically gone AWOL and quit during the Games. I'm asking that you make me Head Gamemaker."

"I'll do that right now. We'll make the announcement tonight with the scores. I'll ask Nikolai to clear out her office before tomorrow morning, so you have your own private space to make Games arrangements."

"Really?"

"Hey, my father might reinstate her when he's back in charge, but I'm on your side. If I have the chance to fire her, you bet I'm gonna take it."

"Thank you, sir."

"Of course, Jacqueline. Glory to Panem."

"Glory to Panem." And then Jacqueline Muriel, despite her back pain and swollen ankles, ran to tell Derp the good news.

Hey y'all,
Twice in one day! We're only four chapters out from the Bloodbath. I'm having a super awesome time, and I hope you are too. Where's Konstance, I wonder? Oh well, no matter. All in due time. I'm so pleased to be approaching the end of the Pre-Games. Next chapter will be the score announcement, and it'll feature six tributes and a mystery subplot character.

—LC :)