Chapter Two: Reading of the Card

Quintavius Snow, 43

President of Panem, January 6th

I was sitting on my chair, watching a replay of last year's Hunger Games, won by Sook Relter of District Two. Last year, most Districts didn't supply any Careers due to the Quarter Quell this year. Districts One, Two, Four, Seven and Eleven were the only one to supply them. These ten tributes teamed up and, after the twenty death Bloodbath, they went around the small forest arena to hunt down the other tributes. I had specifically asked the Head Gamemaker, Willuna Flickerman, to have a small and interesting games, so as not to overshadow this year. She wouldn't be here this year as she had recently given birth to triplets, and was focusing on her family. She had handed in her letter of resignation after fifteen years of loyal service. I had developed a fun idea to find the next Head Gamemaker. After nineteen days, the only tributes left were the pair from one, Sook and the four boy. Sook killed all three in a quick fight and became the Victor.

His Victory tour has only ended yesterday, but I had ordered a mandatory viewing for today. This year was going to be long and the Quarter Quell card needed to be read early for the entire year of Games to take place before next years' Games. There had been a little rebellion in Districts Eight, Fourteen, Eighteen and Twenty-Four over the past two months, so I had written the most devastating Quarter Quell card to date for this year. Ever since the Five Hundredth Hunger Games, the sitting President wrote the Quarter Quell Card. My father had been President during the last Quarter Quell, so I was excited to be watching over this one. I had had this Quell idea for a very long time, planning throughout my presidency to run this year. I stepped up to my podium, and the camera operator signalled for me to start speaking.

"Welcome, welcome, citizens of this great country, to the reading of the Fortieth Quarter Quell Card!" I called. The Capitol crowd around me went completely wild, as they weren't expecting this for another five months. I knew the Districts would be shocked as well. "As usual, I will read the previous Quarter Quell cards" I had spent the last ten weeks memorising these cards, but still there was a teleprompter just in case.

"On the Twenty-Fifth anniversary, as a reminder to the rebels that it was their choices that lead to the Hunger Games, and their children dying, each District had to vote on the two tributes that would represent them in the arena. There was no volunteering aloud. This was won by Syren Hartaline of District 4."

"On the Fiftieth anniversary, as a reminder to the rebels that twice the number of rebels were killed then Capitol people, Districts were required to reap twice the number of tributes, making in forty-eight tributes in the arena for the first time. This was won by Haymitch Abernathy of District 12."

"On the Seventy-Fifth anniversary, as a reminder to the rebels of the bonds that were broken during the Dark Days, each District was required to reap a brother-sister pair. This was won by Asha Parkin of District 7."

"On the One-Hundredth anniversary, as reminder to the rebels that the entire nation could only work as one, there was one reaping bowl in the Capitol, from which twenty-four names were reaped. No volunteering was aloud. Ruby Clinton of District 1."

"On the One-Hundredth-and-Twenty-Fifth anniversary, as a reminder to the rebels of all the women who fought and died in the Dark Days for no reason, all tributes reaped were female. This was won by Leela Boudicca of District 2."

"One the One-Hundredth-and-Fiftieth anniversary, as a reminder to the rebels of all the men who fought and died in the Dark Days for no reason, all tributes reaped were males. This was won by Hiliz Leegs of District 13."

"On the One-Hundredth-and-Seventy-Fifth anniversary, as a reminder to the rebels that even their older warrior dies, all tributes were eighteen years old. This was won by Blanche Piere of District 13."

"On the Two-Hundredth anniversary, as a reminder to the rebels of all the children left without parents after the Dark Days, all tributes were orphans. This was won by Cecelia Mallows of District 8."

"On the Two-Hundredth-and-Twenty-Fifth anniversary, as a reminder to the rebels that Panem cannot run if one District is not doing their parts, only one District provided all twenty-six tributes. This District was District 5. This was won by Tesla Hickory of District 5."

"On the Two-Hundredth-and-Fiftieth anniversary, as a reminder to the rebels that the rates of starvation quadrupled in the Districts after the Dark Days, each District had to reap four times the number of tributes. This was won by Daffodil Sablone of District 12."

"On the two-hundred-and-seventy-fifth anniversary, as a reminder of the power the Capitol has over the district citizens lives, the tributes were handpicked by the sitting Head Gamemaker, Raptimus Flavnir. No volunteers were allowed. This was won by Buzzer Toplink of District 3."

"On the three-hundredth anniversary, as a reminder to the rebels that the same punishment will happen if they decide to rebel again, two Hunger Games were held, and the two separate Victors were then forced to fight each other until the lone Victor emerged. This was won by Denim Rheys of District 8."

"On the three-hundred-and-twenty-fifth anniversary, as a reminder to the rebels that they were heartless killers, all tributes were convicted murderers. This was won by Carat Ashton of District 1."

"On the three-hundred-and-fiftieth anniversary, as a reminder to the rebels that both their strongest and weakest were destroyed by the Capitol, only the districts with the highest and lowest number of Victors competed. These were District 2 and District 13. This was won by Antigone Gress of District 2."

"On the three-hundred-and-seventy-fifth anniversary, as a reminder that the Capitol is kind, gracious and believes in second chances, forty-eight fallen tributes from the past twenty-five games were revived to have a second chance at victory. This was won by Victor Jakobsson of District 2, who had perished in the 370th Hunger Games."

"On the four-hundredth anniversary, as a reminder to the rebels of all the parents that abandoned their children and fought in the rebellion, parents between ages twenty-five and sixty were reaped. This was won by Padraig Moloney of District 19."

"On the four-hundred-and-twenty-fifth anniversary, as a reminder that even the smartest district citizens pale in comparison to the intelligence of the Capitol, the tributes were reaped from the top two percent in their schools' academic records. This was won by Miller Aljoy of District 9."

"On the four-hundred-and-fiftieth anniversary, as a reminder to the rebels that they sent children into the war, the tributes were all twelve years old. This was won by Ahia Watti of District 23."

"On the four-hundred-and-seventy-fifth anniversary, as a reminder to the rebels that they would be lost without the Capitols guidance, the tributes were of mental or physical handicap. This was won by Mia Aaberg of District 21."

"On the five-hundredth anniversary, as a reminder to the rebels that, for every person they sent into fight, six people were left grieving at home, each district provided six times the number of tributes. This was won by Smokey Brokeroot of District 12."

"One the five-hundred-and-twenty-fifth anniversary, as a reminder to the rebels that the President of Panem has control over the entire county, including all the citizens, the sitting President, Violet Hawke, This was won by Katine Abbott of District 9."

"On the five-hundred-and-fiftieth anniversary, as a reminder to the rebels that they chose to enact the Hunger Games, due to their choice to rebel, all tributes were required to be volunteers. This was won by Dylan Odair of District 4."

"On the five-hundred-and-seventy-fifth anniversary, as a reminder to the rebels that they cannot always rely on others to help them, there were no volunteers. This was won by Autumn Preston of District 16."

"On the six-hundredth anniversary, as a reminder to the rebels that even their leaders of the rebellion made choices that killed rebels, the living Victors of each District were required to decide on which tributes entered the Hunger Games that year. This was won by Sirius Triton of District 6."

"On the six-hundred-and-twenty-fifth anniversary, as a reminder to the rebels that people of all ages died in the Dark Days, due to the rebels, the age range of reaped tributes was increase to include ages five to eighty. This year was won by Elzone Holzier of District 11."

"On the six-hundred-and-fiftieth anniversary, as a reminder to the rebels of the direct relation between their actions, and the consequences of those, each district provided the number of tributes equal to the number of living Victors that district had. This was won by Mônica Bonfim of District 18."

"On the six-hundred-and-seventy-fifth anniversary, as a reminder to the rebels of that danger of ever thinking they are safe from the Capitols power, forty-eight victors were revived from the grave and fought in an all-stars Hunger Games. This was won by Bayanai Thomas of District 14, who had also won the 559th Hunger Games."

"On the seven-hundredth anniversary, as a reminder to the rebels that eight people became orphans for each Capitol citizen who died, there were eight times the number of tributes. This was won by Basil Everdeen of District 12."

"On the seven-hundred-and-twenty-fifth anniversary, as a reminder to the rebels of the power the Capitols decisions, the Capitol citizens will all vote for what happens in the arena, for example, a tsunami was voted to occur on day two, and a feast on day seven. This was won by George Cooper from District 24."

"On the seven-hundred-and-fiftieth anniversary, as a reminder to the rebels that even those closest to power and fortune cannot overcome the Capitols power, all the tributes were related to a past Victor in some way. This was won by Kara Timbell of District 15, grand-daughter of Polly Timbell of the Six-Hundred-and-ninety-first Hunger Games, also of District 15."

"On the seven-hundred-and-Seventy-Fifth anniversary, as a reminder to the rebels that even the smallest victories come with a huge cost, the Victor of the games, would stop their District from reaping tributes until the next Quarter Quell. However, the first District to lose both their tributes would be required to reap twice the tributes until the next Quarter Quell. This was won by Ascia Pernice of District 22. District 13 was required to send in double the tributes."

"On the eight-hundredth anniversary, as a reward to the rebels for eight hundred years of loyalty, two victors were allowed. This was won by Pliny Woodrow and her new-born daughter Cherry Woodrow, both of District 7."

"On the eight-hundred-and-twenty-fifth, as a reminder to the rebels that the Capitol will always remember their names and actions, the tributes were immediate family to the tributes of the previous Hunger Games. This was won by Selina March of District 10, sister Rosa March from the 824th Hunger Games."

"On the eight-hundred-and-fiftieth anniversary, as a reminder to the rebels that the mayors were the main instigators of the rebellion, the tributes were reaped from the children of the mayors and officials of each district. This was won by Bert Paulsen of District 17."

"On the eight-hundred-and-seventy-fifth anniversary, as a reminder to the rebels that they can never trust anyone, apart from the Capitol, there was only one reaping bowl in each District, from which one name was picked. This reaped tribute was required to pick the tribute of the opposite gender to enter the Arena with them. This was won by Damien Hin of District 20."

"On the nine-hundredth anniversary, as a reminder to the rebels that one twelfth of Panems' population was killed during the Dark Days, each district provided twelve times the number of tributes. This was won by Keel Ness of District 12."

"On the nine-hundred-and-twenty-fifth anniversary, as a reminder to the rebels that for every two rebels, one was a Capitol spy, a third reaping bowl was in each district that was full of mixed genders, this was won by Claire Addams of District 14."

"On the nine-hundred-and-fiftieth anniversary, as a reminder to the rebels that they chose to bring more people into the rebellion, thereby leading to their death, each reaped tribute had to choose which person of their gender would fight in the Hunger Games. This was won by Ruhi Tahana of District 23, who was chosen by Pipi Topia,"

"On the nine-hundred-and-seventy-fifth anniversary, as a reminder to the rebels of the Capitols generosity and power, each tribute was given two lives in the arena, due to a clone being created before they entered the arena, and after the death of the first body, the clone was put into the arena twelve hours later in a random location. This was won by Mardell Parma of District 9, who didn't even lose her first life."

I took a breath, and a drink of water. I then signalled for my daughter to come up with the box of Quarter Quell cards. I picked the card with the golden '1000' on the front. I opened it carefully, and took out the card for the Fortieth Quarter Quell.

"On the One-Thousandth anniversary, as a reminder to the rebels of the mass death during the Dark Days, each District will reap forty-eight tributes each, twenty-four male and twenty-four female. These tributes will be placed into twelve Hunger Games with ninety-six tributes. Twenty-four tributes will survive each games. These two-hundred-and-eighty-eight tributes will be placed into six games of forty-eight tributes. Twelve tributes will survive each games. The seventy-two survivors will then be placed into two games of thirty-six tributes. Again, twelve tributes will survive each games. Then, these remaining twenty-four tributes will be placed into one Hunger Games, where the lone Victor will emerge. Their survival will necessitate the death of the other one-thousand-one-hundred-and-fifty-one tributes."

Cue even more cheers from the Capitol audience, and from a small screen I had view of under my podium, shock, horror and fear from the Districts. I waited for a few minutes for the hustle to die down.

"Now then, as this is such a big thing, there are going to be some slight rule changes. The first reaping will take place tomorrow, and each Hunger Games is required to be finished, from reaping to survivors being announced in two weeks. The first week will consist of the chariots on the evening on reaping day, three training days, a day for solo evaluation. Then the day of the interviews. Before the interviews, the score will be announced. This means that the pre-games festivities will take five days. Which also means that the Hunger Games themselves must be completed within nine days."

"As another note, there will be twenty-one separate Hunger Games, so, after the resignation of Willuna Flickerman, there will be ten separate Head Gamemakers. Every single games, I will draw another name, and that person will be the Head Gamemaker for that one Games. Each person will have two chances to lead. After the first twenty games, there will be a nationwide vote on which Head Gamemaker will control the final and the entire team from this year on. Every citizen of reaping age or higher will be required to vote." I motioned to the ten people sitting in the front row of the audience, from eighteen years old to seventy-one, they were all different.

"A third note, to still keep it fair to the potential tributes, the age category you will be put in is the age you will be during the reaping for a normal year, for example if you are right now eighteen, but turn nineteen before June 23rd, you will exempt from the reaping. Conversely, if you are eleven now, but you will be twelve by or on the 23rd of June, you can be reaped."

"As a final note, due to the size of these games, there will be more rewards for the District then usual. Each tribute in the Final, but not the tip eight, will earn their District one years' worth of supplies. Each tribute in the top eight, but not the final three, will earn their District three years' worth of supplies. The tribute who places third will earns their District four years' worth of supplies. The tribute who places second will earns their District five years' worth of supplies. The Victor will not only earn their District ten years-worth of supplies, but also their District will not have to reap tributes for ten years. In penance for losing, the first District to lose all forty-eight of their tributes will be required to reap twice the number of tributes for the next ten years."

I clicked my fingers and two reaping bowls were brought out. One contained balls with the Districts Numbers, and the other contained the names of the twenty people I had selected to be Head Gamemaker this year.

"The first two Districts to fight will be District 6 and District 13. The District of Transportation and Graphite Mining. The reaping will be tomorrow. After the tributes survive, the next two Districts will be drawn."

"The first Head Gamemaker will be, Mimosa Seathorne!" The thirty-one-year-old women cheered, as the others clapped.

She came up to the microphone, "Greetings everyone, as you just heard from our dear President, my name is Mimosa Seathorne. In terms of what Hunger Games, I love small but natural arenas, where food and water is plentiful, allowing for lots of fast paced, exciting action. Thank you, I hope you all enjoy my games and vote for me in the Gamemaker vote." She waved one more time at the cheering crowds and stepper down. I liked the same style of games she did, I had chosen her for that particular reason.

I stepped back up to the microphone, and the cheers died down so I could speak. "Good luck Mimosa, and to the tributes, may the odds be ever in your favour! As one final note, I have told all the Gamemakers to have no deaths by traps, mutts or natural causes. All deaths must come from a tribute, be it themselves or a different tribute." I said. "Now, go back to work!" The transmission cut to the anthem and I stepped down. I could still hear the wild cheers of the Capitol crowd.

I took a deep breath. This was going to be a long, and fun year for everyone in the Capitol, not so much for District citizens.

A/N: Yes, I have changed this chapter a little bit. This is the new version with updated Victors for the various Quarter Quells.