Calix Agnes, Gamemaker
The Capitol ~ 4 months before the reapings
The last few years have been harder than Calix could have expected. She knew sleepless nights and headaches would be the norm, they just didn't think ten years later, it would be the same story.
They should be relieved. Panem has prospered under President Anthou. She thought his transition from Head Gamemaker to President would be tumultuous but after the untimely death of the last President, people seemed eager for the change.
Calix knows she certainly was. Still, she finds themselves longing for…for peace and quiet.
They can't afford to think like that now, not with the Games so close.
(That's the thing about the Games. They're always close.)
At least they aren't Head Gamemaker. No, that responsibility gets to fall to someone else. Calix is okay with that. They've made a comfortable position for themselves on the muttations team, helping brainstorm and test their own ideas for upcoming arenas. And this year, they think they've outdone herself.
She steps into Anthou's office, shuffling her papers she prepared prior to their weekly check-in. They only anticipate being here for five or ten minutes, that's all it takes for her to run through the status of everything. Anthou talks to representatives from every team daily, typically the heads, but he's always preferred Calix.
After all they went through with the last presidency, they don't blame him.
"Good morning," he says as she takes a seat across from him.
"Sleepless night?" They ask. If the bags under his eyes didn't indicate it, the two empty coffee cups on the corner of his desk would. He runs his hand through his hair, grey strands falling on his suit jacket, standing out against the black fabric.
"You could say that," he grumbles quietly.
Calix adjusts in their seat. "What's the matter?"
He shakes his head. "Go through your list first."
So they do. They tell him about the progress they've made on upgrading some previous models, appropriately fitting the arena they locked in months ago. They go through the status of the next few sets of tests, as well as the results of some tests the team ran last week. Calix knows he doesn't appreciate sugarcoating, so she doesn't shy away from the failures and lackluster results.
It's because he knows they always deliver. They always have.
"Okay. Thank you. I think the Capitol will enjoy seeing those in the arena." A moment passes with them in silence.
"If you need something to help you sleep, or to quell anxieties-"
"No." He pushes his chair back from his desk, opening a drawer and rustling through stacks of papers. Calix doesn't shift from her spot, not while he covers the wood with sheet upon sheet of…things she doesn't recognize.
They wish it stayed that way, for when Anthou shifts more and more pages together, she starts to make sense of it.
"The Games, the sacrifices, they're not enough anymore." He shows them pages upon pages of statistics laying out how successful each Games was. At a glance, there's nothing wrong with the numbers, but with them side by side, they can see the decline as clear as day.
"Now look," he shoves that pile off and before the pages flutter to the ground, new images replace them. Stills from various camera feeds and transcripts from conversations? Calix can't make sense of it.
"The Districts are pushing back again. They're much quieter about it this time, but it's still happening. They're tired of losing their children with, what they deem, little to show for it."
He continues to ramble on about other facts and rumors but Calix isn't focused on it. Their mind is elsewhere, on a project that has lived rent-free in their head for years. The project that has always been shut down for being too radical.
"The Quell's in five years." They don't need to remind him. "Can you keep tempers low until then?"
He looks at them, first with confusion, then with concern.
"What if that doesn't work?"
"What if it does?"
Silence fills the room again. It takes more than a minute for Cassius Anthou to break it.
"Are you able to conduct a small-scale test? Perhaps in the upcoming Games?"
"Absolutely." Calix nearly jumps out of her seat, ready to sprint back to their lab to prepare everything they need, but they restrain themselves.
"Fine. I expect results."
I call this the cast reveal chapter and also next syot teaser
Before the cast list below, I wanted to thank every single submitter who sent me a kid. In the end, I ended with 45 subs which meant I couldn't accept everyone (as much as I wanted to). If I didn't accept your kid, please know it wasn't personal, and I really do encourage you to sub them elsewhere!
District One
-Mahalia Rósi, 18, she/her (amadeussss9)
-Athan Delene, 18, he/him (dd)
District Two
-Alexandra Park, 18, she/her (AstralKnight98)
-Remulus Annatar, 18, he/him (Nemris)
District Three
-Apple Flynn, 17, she/her (rising-balloons)
-Heinz Tyr, 17, he/him (Nautics)
District Four
-Ellen Graves, 18, she/her (Professor R.J Lupin1)
-Llewyn Graves, 18, he/him (Professor R.J Lupin1)
District Five
-Bristol Kesteven, 17, she/her (livinginadream0)
-Meliorn Harke, 17, he/him (AuroraMiri25 & Mykindleisawesome)
District Six
-Zohar Mirdza, 18, she/her (dyloccupy)
-Sialis Kabiri, 17, he/they (VeneratedArt)
District Seven
-Kestrel Wenbane, 16, she/her (AuroraMiri25 & FlawlessCatastrophe)
-Veron Radkova, 18, he/him (ladyqueerfoot)
District Eight
-Cyril d'Eon-Seis, 18, they/them (Little Knight Mik)
-Satchmo Chartreuse, 18, he/him (logan)
District Nine
-Alexus Ise, 16, she/her (ClearedPipes)
-Jaybird Zuva, 15, he/him (maitu)
District Ten
-Koma Cawthro, 12, she/her (District11-Olive)
-Candrin Tzu, 17, he/him (ladyqueerfoot)
District Eleven
-Nilah Fielder, 18, she/her (illegalcryptid)
-Stellan Fraiser, 18, he/him (darthnell)
District Twelve
-Eimear Duman, 18, she/her (TheWatcheroftheVoid)
-Chauncy Hemingway Joyce Mon Pile, 15, he/him (Audmirable)