Author's Note: Panem's new President takes an interest in some of the victors.

….

Gameplay

"We're in demand again, Wire," Beetee said.

"Who now?"

"The President himself is coming to visit. At the request of our new Minister for Scientific and Technological Innovation, Mr Heavensbee himself."

Wiress laughed, "Heavensbee never changes!"

"Only he's in government now," Beetee continued. "It could get him burnt too. And take us with him if he doesn't know when to stop."

"I wonder what they want now?"

"Our brains and inventions again. As if they haven't stopped using us."

"They use your intelligence against you."

"And we use their stupidity against them. We're both playing the game and it continues as usual."

Beetee and Wiress were remarkably calm about being under the glare of President Elda in comparison to Three's other citizens who were to be presented to their newest leader. The district's new Mayor was nervous that they were about to walk into a trap as many of the adults who had been called up for the visit held rebel loyalties. But it was an audience selected by Plutarch Heavensbee who found it amusing that he would be showing off those who would use the opportunity to destroy the President if given the chance.

But the factory leaders were nervous, new clothes were being handed out for the occasion and machinery was being cleaned. Halley was brought in to assist the school the President would be visiting in their preparations to demonstrate how they raised Three's brightest and richest for scientific careers and Beetee as perhaps their most notable alumnus had offered his support too.

He and Wiress were content and comfortable with their strategy. They would always have ideas to offer the Capitol and this visit was no different. It allowed them to learn more about the Capitol's capabilities and provide better working prospects for their employees and connections. The Capitol would use them for their abilities and use their district's labour, but the victors were determined for their home to come out on top.

It was a sign that President Elda was listening to Plutarch about Panem's scientific and technological development. He had prioritised District Three over most of the other districts. Of course, he had visited District Two first given their importance for defence. Three's victors got to witness Brutus at his most 'Brutus' and a silver-clad Lyme putting on the acting performance of her career as a victor as President Elda visited the Institute. Elda had paid lip service to District One in a short visit just to keep their leaders appeased but he did not spend substantial time there, unlike the plans for District Three.

It was a chance for Beetee and Wiress to figure out the President's knowledge base and strategy, what they could gain from him and what they would have to sacrifice. They were both cautiously optimistic as to their prospects and knew they would be able to speak from a position of relative strength as Heavensbee would likely have their backs.

The time of the visit came about quickly, and Three's four established victors had spent considerable time going over Beetee and Wiress' pitch for President Elda. Orion had set nights spent with his family where the four others were able to involve themselves in matters they still had to keep secret from their youngest victor. So, they all cleared Beetee and Wiress' proposals and knew they could play to their strengths.

Beetee had a reputation for making engineered enhancements to household products for the Capitol. He intended to discuss some of his new ideas as a safe bet before moving on to their more ambitious plans. He had designed their signal defence system decades ago and had seen the matter as a scientific exercise. Unlike most of his other inventions, he did not have control or access to this system, and he was going to suggest an upgrade so he could work his way back in and establish just how the Capitol had upgraded their systems too.

They also knew that Pluto and his biological knowledge was not going to be around for much longer and they would need to make a move to cover their tracks and keep their knowledge base. Wiress had already established a connection to Three's system where she had been able to track production and consumption of medications and they aimed to formalise this so Three could anticipate trends, target likely production demands, and take the surplus for themselves and the other districts. The more they could control and have oversight of, the more they could turn the tables further in Three's favour.

When the day of the President's visit arrived, the victors watched with anticipation as the factory owners presented a falsified version of work under their control. Everything looked suspiciously clean, the youngest children were nowhere to be seen and people who had recently been injured were sporting clean bandages and told the lies they had been spoon-fed about the support they were receiving in their recovery and the lessons the factories had learnt because of worker injury.

Beetee and Wiress noted with irony that if President Elda visited their factory floor, their workers would not have had to be given instructions on how to lie about their working conditions. They did not employ the youngest children and operated clean and safe machinery with greater training standards and shorter working hours. But Heavensbee had deemed their factory too big a risk for disclosure of their covert operations and so their business operations themselves were avoided.

But that afternoon, Beetee and Wiress were dressed in their smartest clothes, being escorted to meet President Lucian Elda in an office set up for the occasion in the Mayor's home. They found the President to be unassuming in person and not fixated on creating a sense of danger and threat for them, unlike their encounters with Snow. Yet, like his predecessor, he left them no uncertainties as to who was in charge during their meeting.

"Latier, Pascal, you may sit down," President Elda started, gesturing to the seats in front of them.

"Mr President," Beetee said as they took their seats.

"You're victors, the pair of you. A strange species if I may say so. You're clearly district, but different."

"We're engineers, Sir," Wiress said.

"Victors too. But of course, if you consider yourselves engineers, I can be content with that. I have no time for the celebrity status attained by some of your peers. It is entirely unnecessary. You live in the luxury granted by the Capitol and deserve nothing further."

"Sir, Wiress and I, well, each of us in Three have simply used the advantages afforded to us by the Capitol's great generosity to embrace what we could achieve and the ways we could apply our knowledge. Celebrity is not something we have sought."

"We like to live quietly," Wiress added.

"Whilst I understand that, Mr Heavensebee has made clear that the two of you are ambitious and have ideas that could benefit us all."

"We like to explore new possibilities certainly, and we are grateful that through his time as Head Gamemaker, Mr Heavensbee has seen that from us, Sir."

"That is what we are here to discuss, are we not? Not to hear you stumbling around trying to justify your existence. Your status has been granted by the Capitol and I am not here to argue with the precedents established through the Hunger Games."

"Understood, Sir."

With that, Beetee was able to take the President through his most basic ideas and found easy agreement to his and Wiress' ideas on upgrades to household and other items the Capitol deemed useful. It had always been an easy win for both victors and they were relieved to find that the same attitudes prevailed under the new leadership.

When it came to the more complex ideas, President Elda invited Plutarch into the room for his input on the scientific basis of Beetee and Wiress' proposals. Unsurprisingly, Heavensbee posed no obstacle and asked questions that Elda would deem sufficiently probing but which Beetee and Wiress would easily answer.

But the two victors did not walk away with everything they asked. They knew they were unlikely to, but they needed to drive a harder bargain than they had anticipated. There was a limit to Plutarch Heavensbee's authority after all.

They had achieved seventy-five percent of the funding and half of the factory expansion they had wanted for their mainstream household products meaning that they would have to be incredibly selective when choosing their workforce. Beetee had secured the President's agreement to the upgrade of the signal defence system, but he knew not to ask for anyone else to work alongside him.

Even Wiress had needed to confirm that she would not be involved in working on that particular system and had been assured that documents to affirm this would be sent to her and consequences would follow for them all if there was found to be a breach. President Elda was uncomfortable that the only person with full knowledge of that particular defence system was a victor from District Three and Beetee knew that was to be expected. He had been surprised by the Capitol's naivety when he was first given the role.

They had been granted permission to work on the healthcare supply system under the strict supervision of Plutarch Heavensbee and the oversight of the Health Ministry. Plutarch would be able to cover their tracks and had told them afterwards in private that he would work on the President to secure the full amount of funding they needed to manage the project to its fullest extent. He could pull the wool over the Health Minister's eyes and cover their tracks sufficiently.

Overall, Beetee and Wiress had deemed the visit a success. They had walked away with useful information on how the President perceived them and the status of their fellow victors and an understanding of his mindset.

"He's not a man of science," Beetee said.

"No. But he doesn't need to be."

"That's very true. We know he can do politics and scheme; look how he got his rivals out of the way. We just need to make sure we don't end up an enemy."

"Similar to Snow, except Elda does not want us to justify ourselves every time we meet."

"I don't think he wants us to speak very much at all. But it is nice to know where we stand. He does not see our existence as a threat at all, we are merely an oddity."

"He'll tolerate us provided we don't cause a fuss."

"We carry on, Wire. Keep our heads down and on the right side of him until we can't anymore."

"He's underestimated us," Wiress laughed.

"We need to keep it that way. We can use it to our advantage too. We keep on working, acting like we're helping them. We're simply engineers after all. Orion won't be expected to become a celebrity either and we can use him as our wildcard."

"We need to figure out how."

"Once Halley finds something he is interested in, we will see what we can do. But out of us, he is the fighter."

"You have ideas?"

"Some, yes. I will need to run it past Orion and Halley first, but I would like them to find something of their own accord."

"I'm sure Halley will find something, even if Orion doesn't himself."

"We're going to need to be patient with him, he has come to us from a different place and has a lot to learn."

"Halley is teaching him."

"She is, and I share your confidence in her abilities. This is what she has wanted for so long and she is prepared. It will all turn out as it should in the end."

….

Changes were afoot in District Four. Commander Hadrian had served his full term as Head Peacekeeper and had retired back to District Two, where Lyme welcomed home her greatest asset with open arms. He was replaced in District Four by his deputy, shaped by Hadrian and the influence of Four's victors with the intention that everything would continue as it had before.

Commander Thread, as the new Defence Minister was initially resistant. He had wanted to install his own man, fresh from District Eight. However, Commander Hadrian had managed to exert his influence and popularity amongst the peacekeepers to maintain the status quo in District Four.

Thread was a man of force and violence and had been outmanoeuvred in politics for the first time, but he did not quite see it. He had been presented with an option to maintain peace in a district where there was no trouble and had taken it, on the basis that he could wield his control in the troublesome districts to the east. District Four remained in rebel hands and the Capitol were unaware.

Chloe was also intending to retire and hand over the reins to Finnick. She knew he was in a comfortable place with the other victors. They trusted him, reported back to him with ease with the intelligence they had gathered and respected his position. Lyme had defaulted to his leadership as to Calista's victory and for Chloe, that was an indicator of Finnick's ability to drive them forward.

She was due to turn eighty-one and slowing down was long overdue. Mags had reached eighty-five and Chloe knew her time was dwindling. She wanted to enjoy her final years with Coral at her side without worrying about the trappings of leadership. Liev was getting tired too and she wanted to give him the excuse to pass on the reins to Linden for leadership in the Victors' Village and their inter-district efforts.

Finnick was thirty-four, full of energy and had decades of leadership in him if that was how long it would take. Chloe sincerely hoped it would not, but Finnick had both the youth and experience to carry them forward with stable leadership for years. She trusted him implicitly, knowing that Mags had trained him well. She had tried to continue on that path, but Finnick dared to carve his own way and Chloe felt content to let him.

It would be a different leadership style, compared to her quiet, steadying hand, but it would work for the younger victors. Even though many of their key players were older than Finnick, they seemed to thrive off his exuberance and energy too.

Ossian had developed brilliantly under Noah and Finnick's guidance and now controlled their communications with some of the wealthier residents in Four. Whilst many were not yet ready to shake off their allegiances to the Capitol, they were feeding useful information and Chloe knew that the young men could use their influence at the right time. There would be no gaps in Four's commitment to the rebel cause this time around.

District Three was in a prime position too. Beetee had reported back on his meeting with the President and Chloe felt reassured by their ongoing connections and the new possibilities their work could bring. Halley was busy, mentoring her first victor, but Chloe knew that Three's woman would always have time for Finnick and would provide the counsel he required.

Poppy was ready to step up and direct efforts in the east. They needed the country's eastern districts to work together, to be as connected as they were in Panem's west and Six's woman was not afraid of the challenge. She had the time and the relentless energy to pursue what they wanted, had remained connected to Cecelia in Eight and was building communication channels with Katniss and Peeta in Twelve. Chloe and Finnick had also discussed asking her to re-attempt communications with District Thirteen to assess their position and if support could be expected within the next five to ten years. Finnick wanted a timeline to work to and whilst he knew that so much depended on the Capitol and the mistakes they all knew they would make; they would need Thirteen's military support.

Back home in Four, Chloe and Coral had instructed Song to take over their role with the peacekeepers. Rowan was known to cause trouble, Finnick would be distracting and Noah's leadership of their 'bandits' would be problematic, leaving Song their best option to ensure that the Village remained connected with the Head Peacekeeper's office.

There were also the younger peacekeeping recruits on their first district posting to convert too. With Song's leadership of their Centre, she would understand the dynamic many of the new peacekeepers had come from, having spent time in Two's Institute under Brutus and Lyme. As Song was a similar age to Brutus and of similar standing, they would be inclined to listen to her and see her as an authoritative figure.

Finnick would never care for mentoring, but Chloe found that had not affected their successes in the Capitol. He remained a draw for the sponsors and despite having to reduce his celebrity status, his number of Capitol contacts had not diminished.

He continued to use his 'clients' as a source of information and secrets and used the network of associates he had built up to increase their knowledge base. Chloe knew that they would continue along the right path with the intelligence they could gather, and their younger victors would ensure that they remained aware of the trends and gossip of the Capitol.

Halley was already in direct contact with Plutarch Heavensbee so she would be able to continue with one of their main contacts and keep the direct link to the rebel efforts in the Capitol. Finnick had been attending meetings and Chloe gradually passed over more decision-making responsibilities to the younger victor, so she knew that he was ready. It would be a heavy responsibility and one that Chloe would gladly be rid of, but she knew that Finnick would be able to manage. It would be his game to take control of and Chloe knew they were in good hands.

….

Wiress said a tearful goodbye to Pluto and left the room with Orion in tow, promising Halley that she would take care of their younger victor. Beetee and Halley remained at the older man's bedside, each holding one of his hands and taking turns to talk to him.

They had all known that his health was deteriorating and weeks after Orion came home, Pluto confided in Beetee that he was stopping the tablets he had been taking for the tumour as he no longer thought they were working. He knew that his life would be shortened but he was feeling unwell and was constantly tired. With the Village having a new victor who could benefit from his support, Pluto wanted to be there to help him, and to support Halley in her first weeks and months mentoring a victor. The side effects of the medication would prevent him from being there, so it was time to give them up.

Beetee and Halley reminded Pluto of the times they had shared and the plans they had put in place as the older victor slipped in and out of consciousness. They thanked him for the time and effort he had put into them both, and each of the victors in the earlier days of mentoring. Three's newly retired Mayor and a longtime friend of Pluto had left a message to be read and the two victors relayed his words. They did the same for the letters written by the other victors who had received the news of Pluto's ill health and watched as he slipped further from them.

By the time the next morning came around, an exhausted Beetee decided it was time for him to leave. Pluto would be okay, and he would manage too. Sometimes people wanted to slip away in the quiet of their surroundings with nobody else present. Pluto valued his dignity and Beetee realised that he may want to pass on alone, knowing that nobody was watching as his life ebbed away. Halley was sleeping in the corner, unlikely to wake any time soon, so Three's man whispered his goodbyes to his mentor and longest-standing friend and quietly left the room.

Beetee was lifted from his slumber barely an hour later by the sounds of Halley's tears from the next room. He knew then it was done. Halley had woken from her sleep to find that Pluto had stopped breathing and there was no pulse.

"It was as he would have wanted," Beetee whispered. "No fuss, nobody watching him. We were both asleep and he could relax."

"We'd said everything we wanted to say," Halley replied and Beetee noticed her hands start to shake.

"Go to Wire. Let her take care of you. I'll look after Pluto."

Halley knew when her composure was slipping, and she did not fight Beetee. Instead, he watched her leave and reach Wiress' house before he turned to his mentor.

"It's been a good life, Pluto. I hope you're proud of it. We wouldn't be where we are today without you. Wire and I have plenty to be doing, and lots of fun to be had. Halley is good too. You know that. You picked your time. You've seen her get her victor and our numbers are not depleted. Orion will come through. Wire will take care of Halley and I'll make sure everything is as you wanted.

District Three will do just fine too. You can trust us with your vision because you've made sure we share it. Everything will happen as it should, and I'll make sure we're all here to see it, don't you worry. Sleep well, old friend, and if you have found that there is something after here, I hope it's as you wanted."