Chapter Text
Coryo had never received a greater affront when he was assigned to District 12 female and imagined Dean Highbottom was so stoned that he read the list in reverse order or decided to abandon what was left of his professionalism just to mock the otherwise glorious Snow family. Everyone stood up and Coryo felt ashamed of the thought that everyone would be pitying his bad fortune, but they were simply in their own little self-centered world. He looked at Sejanus who looked pale as if he had seen the end of the world.
"Congratulations on your luck in being assigned to District 2 Male," Coryo said with his trained charisma, "with a little more luck you'll get a tribute mature enough to compete!"
"But I'm one of them."
Coryo wished that if he had to put up with a classmate coming from another district, maybe District 3 would be better because they were supposedly the smartest district. They would definitely be smart enough not to make a stupid conclusion like Sejanus.
"Don't worry, you won't be reaped because you are now a citizen of the Capitol."
"Am I?" Sejanus said with his eyes fixed on the large curtains.
Coryo tried not to sigh shamelessly at the fact that the only thing Sejanus will learn in the Capitol is to be self-centered and ignore the bigger plan. There was also another important thing that he thought he was forgetting, but now what was left for him was to mentally complain about his bad luck.
Everyone sat down again, the curtain opened, and a large screen appeared showing the Panem insignia while the anthem played. Almost everyone pretended to have difficulty following the lyrics while Coryo sang perfectly to make up for his recent embarrassment and trying to convince himself that everyone was too obtuse to realize it.
Suddenly a man was shown on the screen explaining the Treaty of Treason, but everyone had a little trouble remembering who it was until the speech ended and everyone remembered that it was President Ravinstill.
"The president looks like my great uncle!" Felix Ravinstill commented, "Wait, he's my great uncle!"
But they immediately forgot about him to focus on the Reapings. For some reason, the Academy decided to show The Reaping from east to west starting from District 12, but at least it would be quicker for him to finish embarrassing himself in front of others. The screen showed the Justice Building of District 12 and then displayed the improvised stage that was surrounded by people considered twelfth class citizens of the Capitol.
In the middle of the stage was Mayor Lipp between two paper bags from which the name of the person who would become a tribute would be taken. Mayor Lipp glanced around, reached into the bottom of the bag with his clenched hand, then removed his hand and opened it to read a crumpled piece of paper. He shamelessly announced:
"The designated District 12 female is...Lucy!"
An awkward silence took over the crowd as some people looked at some girls who shared that name but pretended not to have heard. It took a moment for the mayor to notice the confusion. Coryo wanted to run away in shame because it wasn't enough to be assigned to the most miserable of districts, but District 12 didn't even have a competent Mayor. His only hope was that his tribute wouldn't be even more embarrassing. The mayor looked at the paper again and said out loud:
"I mean...Lucy Baird! That one from the Covey!"
"My name is Lucy Gray!" someone shouted in the crowd, “Lucy Gray Baird if you want to try be professional once in your life!"
The crowd parted as the camera showed the row of girls who were the same age as Lucy Gray, but she had already moved away as if realizing she didn't fit in there. Firstly, because she was wearing more colorful clothes than anyone else and secondly because she was holding a little snake in her hand. Coryo and all the other mentors were intrigued by her appearance, but then a random boy holding an accordion approached her and was pushed aside causing the Peacekeepers to move towards them.
Lucy Gray advanced towards a mocking girl who stopped laughing when she saw what she was laughing at.
"Wait, don't you know who I am? I'm Mayfair Lipp and I demand...."
"An end to nepotism!" Lucy Gray shouted about to throw the snake.
But before Lucy Gray could throw the snake, the Peacekeepers jumped on her pushing her against the ground as the small snake crawled towards Mayfair who screamed and tried to flee through the crowd, but she was pushed back by a group outside the screen that were whistling. Lucy Gray was pulled onto the stage while trying to kick the accordionboy who was trying to get closer to her, but the peacekeepers pulled the accordion boy back while Lucy Gray was placed on the stage.
As if this happened every day, Mayor Lipp looked at the camera with a bored expression and reached into the second bag for another piece of paper.
"The district 12 boy is...Wait, what's the name of that boy you like?" Lipp said looking for his daughter in the crowd, but she already ran away.
"Is that Billy Taupe written there? Why I am not that guy!" the accordion boy exclaimed.
Suddenly a small blonde girl ran from the crowd and kicked the boy, making him fall in pain.
"That's what you get for betraying Lucy Gray and denying your own name!"
Coryo wasn't sure what he should think about all this, but at least Lucy Gray seemed fed enough and if she had the nerve to throw snakes at other people, then that might help her in the arena. A young woman and two other boys caught the blonde girl, but not before kicking Billy to the ground and then walking away looking worried for Lucy Gray.
During this commotion Mayor Lipp whispered to a man with glasses sitting in a chair on the stage, one of the district 12 government officials.
"What's the name of that boy who got hurt in an accident in the mines?"
"The one where three men died? It's Jessup Digg, but..."
Mayor Lipp took the man's glasses and placed it in his face as if he needed it to read, then he said:
"Oh, now I'm reading clearly! District 12 boy's name is Jessup Digg!"
Mayor Lipp had barely finished speaking before his microphone was snatched from his hands by Lucy Gray who seemed even more indignant. She ran to the center of the stage as if she were a main character in a play and sang. Coryo never had much interest in music, but she certainly had vigor and most importantly, the more she attracted people's attention, the more he would benefit. But the moment Lucy Gray began to sing, Dean Highbottom muted the screen, and all the mentors looked at him in confusion.
"District songs expresses divisive information," Highbottom said confusedly, "I mean, it's probably not appropriate whatever she's singing."
"Objection!" Sejanus said, standing up, “You’re just censoring people's indignation, you're literally silencing their pain and..."
"Be quiet or I'll call Dr. Gaul to fix you." Highbottom said clicking control towards Sejanus.
Sejanus sat idly while Coryo thought that Sejanus should be considered lucky as Highbottom is too stoned to take Sejanus seriously. Either way, most of the mentors seemed enchanted by Lucy Gray walking around while she sang on stage, so they greeted Coryo as if it was his credit.
Lucy Gray stopped singing when she saw Jessup being pushed closer to her and looked at him in confusion.
"I have no idea what's going on either, but I think it has something to do with the mines..." Jessup said with a shrug.
Coryo was equally confused as to who this boy was, but Lucy Gray smiled at Jessup and held his hand waving to the even more confused crowd.
"Does he know each other?" Coryo murmured to Lysistrata.
"It would be a great coincidence, but maybe she was too distracted." Lysistrata said thoughtful, "I'm not sure it would be very good for them to get along in the arena."
"There must be something, maybe she owes him a debt... Which means she is my competition."
"What do you mean? Technically we're all your competitors."
"Yes, no doubt." Coryo said with his eyes fixed on the screen.
Coryo's mind was working on countless unfounded hypotheses when once again the screen flashed to show that military man again, but everyone just knew that it was to attract attention that he controlled the country and unfortunately the dean turned the sound back on for everyone to hear.
___________________________________________________________________
The Justice Building of District 11 appeared on the screen, but it didn't look much different from District 12. Some improvised parts reminded everyone that they were responsible for agriculture and not mining, but other than that there wasn't much difference. Coryo learned early on that the districts had no personality, and he shouldn't question that.
The mayor of District 11 appeared on camera, with a significantly more professional expression than Lipps, picked up a piece of paper and said into the microphone:
"The district 11 female is Dill Harvesting!"
A young girl, as thin and helpless as Capitol had expected her to be, walked slowly onto the stage. Coryo tried to hold back a sigh of relief when he saw that Dill seemed to be weaker than Lucy Gray, then he tried to look sympathetically at Felix who was not happy at all. But he knew better than to underestimate Dill because it was common knowledge that District 11 had a strange habit of getting into conflicts by unfathomable reason to the Capitol's understanding.
"I was assigned to District 11 and on top of that this little thing I get?" Felix grumbled, "Surely my great uncle isn't the president because he could have benefited me with something better!"
"His tribute seems to be dying and his concern is a lack of nepotism?" Sejanus grumbled shortly, but Coryo heard.
Everyone continues watching on the screen as the Mayor of District 11 takes the paper from the other bag.
"District 11 male is Reaper Ash!"
The doors of the Justice Building opened and Reaper was brought in completely immobilized on a cart moved by Peacekeepers. Reaper appeared to be swearing, but his mouth was gagged. When he was brought closer to Dill, she seemed surprised as she remembered something important.
"Wait, but...I was the only witness that he killed a peacekeeper and somehow we were reaped together?" Dill questioned in annoyance.
"Yes, totally a coincidence." The mayor responded by looking to the side, “I also didn't know you had witnessed anything."
Naturally someone somewhere in the crowd started shouting and calling attention to Panem's problems, but it was still too early for an uprising. Coryo had no interest in knowing what these people from the district had to say, especially when he had already had one right next to him for the past ten years. Coryo was calculating Reaper's dangerousness over Lucy Gray when he and other mentors heard Highbottom laughing in a strange way, but soon stopped embarrassed.
"Reaper has been reaped!" Highbottom explained, "Now listen once more to our dear leader!"
"That's not funny, but at least he looks strong." Clemensia objected.
"Clemensia showing clemency for the reaped Reaper!" Highbottom said clicking the control.
Now it was time for the Justice Building of District 10 to appear on screen, but this time the building looked red faded some broken windows for some variety.
"District 10, where the human cattle live!" Arachne laughed, "I hope Mayor Cunning accepted a generous donation to investigate the rebels who damaged my family's business!"
"Bribery, Crane, that's a bribe!" Sejanus said.
"It doesn't matter how your species defines it."
The Mayor of District 10, Cunning, looked a little better than the other two, walked over to the paper bag as expected. His cowboy hat fell with his wig as he stood up with the paper in his hand, he sighed and announced:
"The one who should be slaughtered this year as District 10 female is... Brandy Bouvier!"
The crowd parted to reveal Brandy who stared at everyone like a gazelle caught in the act, but the eyes of the citizens of the Capitol couldn't help but notice her tattered outfit.
"Couldn't she wear something better?" Arachne complained.
Brandy just stared back at everyone as if she were prey in front of a pack of wild animals until two peacekeepers grabbed her by the arms and dragged her to the stage. Brandy struggled, muttering things that were inaudible but certainly unpleasant to the capricious ears of the people of the Capitol. She was placed next to the mayor and stared at him intensely as if she were a mouse cornered by a cat.
"You set me up." Brandy growled.
"Who wouldn't do that after you released the pigs?"
"You were going to throw them alive in the garbage dump!"
"They were so ugly no one wanted to eat them!"
"What a waste!" Brandy said, “I’d rather let them escape than kill them for nothing!"
The gears in Coryo's mind moved quickly as he tried to process why anyone from the districts would bother to kill for nothing, but perhaps this strange anomaly could be exploited to help Lucy Gray. But if these people could fight with some determined motivation, then why did the rebels fight in the war? Coryo suppressed that question to his Memory Dump and continued looking for screen.
"I'm not going to be lectured by someone who got caught drinking milk straight from a cow! Do you know what a bucket is?"
"You're a pile of lies, I don't even have a bucket you scoundrel!" Brandy tried to attack the mayor, but the Peacekeepers pulled her back.
After a brief intense moment, the mayor went to the other bag of papers and said:
"The one who should be slaughtered this year as District 10 boy is...Tanner Turnbull!"
People looked around, but it seemed like no one was Tanner or else he was so forgettable that he was taking the opportunity to hide, but then a grimy boy wearing a baggy long coat with a sausage rope over his shoulder appeared walking onto the stage. Brandy laughed at the bold move while the mayor looked horrified.
"What do you think you're doing?"
"Capitol refuses ugly food while we starve, so we have to take advantage!" Tanner said excitedly.
"That seems like a good idea besides just stealing the leftovers!"
Tanner opened his coat revealing a bunch of meat pieces stuck to his clothes, so he pulled out some pieces of meat and threw them to the hungry crowd while Brandy opened her tattered robe and handed out food that looked like it had been stolen from some trash shed.
"What is this? Food smuggling in broad daylight? Peacekeepers, do something!"
"Why? They're going to die anyway." one of the peacekeepers said.
The mentors were surprised and some disgusted by the whole situation. Some saw the people of the districts as animals to be slaughtered and for them that scene was as bad as cannibalism, but some were moved.
"Tanner seems like a good boy and very friendly!" Domitia said.
Coryo was speechless at the good impression a Capitol citizen had on a District creature.
"What's the point if they look so dirty? I can even smell their stench through the screen!" Arachne complained.
"Them then going into an arena to kill each other and that's all you think?" Sejanus grumbled.
"At least you have some idea what's going on, Sejanus." Coryo said.
Sejanus looked at Coryo in confusion as the supposed beloved leader's face appeared on the big screen preceding the showing from District 9, whose Justice Building was the color of barley.
"District 9 is where my tribute is! The district known for providing pain!" Androcles said, "Pain, grain? Got it?"
The Mayor of District 9, a man with a frown as if his soul had been sucked out long ago, took the bag containing the girls' names and said to the ragged crowd.
"The girl is Sheaf Farina!"
Sheaf ran out of the crowd, pushing people away before they could move away, and did a back handspring up onto the stage. She landed on her knees next to the mayor, waving to everyone.
"Thank you, thank you!" Sheaf said, then looked at the mayor, "It's an honor to have your attention, Mayor Granger!"
"This is the drawing for the Hunger Games, not a random contest of skills."
"Hunger Games? Is it a starving contest?"
"I think she'll be very useful as one of those trained circus animals!" Androcles said.
The camera focused on Mayor Granger's resigned face, and he didn't seem to know what to do other than walk to where the boys' names were.
"The boy is Panlo Roggeveen!"
Panlo appeared with his body almost completely covered in flour, a sign that he did hard work, but he was very thin like most people in the districts. Panlo quietly walked up to Mayor Granger without causing any awkward situations, but Androcles started laughing.
"I expected more from my tribute..." Gaius grumbled.
"Panlo! Panem! There is a joke or two that could be made about that!"
"Be quiet, Ardeson!" Dean Highbotton said.
As the video of that man played once more, Coryo tried to think of the potential threats the tributes seen so far posed to Lucy Gray.
District 8's Justice Building looked so dusty from the factories that Coryo thought anything would justify destroying it down. On the other hand, the people of District 8 wore more colorful clothing, possibly sewn together remnants of clothing considered out of fashion by the Capitol, or so the rumors said. Mayor of District 8 went to the girls' bag and told everyone to listen.
"District 8 female is...Wovey Tessaro!"
The crowd parted to reveal a girl who looked as young as a tribute could be, small and thin. Wovey walked to the stage as if she were going to get scolded, which was not uncommon in the districts. Wovey tried to climb onto the stage on the ledge instead of using the ladder, but had difficulty climbing up, but some people helped her up. Hilarius Heavensbee couldn't believe the little piece of bad luck he was looking at.
"What is lost little girl?" he said, "She doesn't even know how to use a ladder! What will my family think?"
"That we should focus on real accountability instead of a senseless massacre?" Sejanus said.
Coryo was confused because Sejanus, even after all these years, didn't understand the point of the Hunger Games, especially when the answer was hammered into them every day.
Wovey went to the mayor’s side, who didn't seem surprised.
"Do you know what a ladder is?"
"Yes, it is useful for people to go to a higher part of places."
"Then why didn't you use that ladder over there?"
"I felt like climbing," Wovey said as if they had all day, "There's not much to do besides work hard at the factory."
"Oh, well...Let's get to the point!"
The mayor went to the paper bag and called out to the boy:
"District 8 boys is...Bobbin Banner!"
One boy tried to run away from the crowd, but his lack of subtlety meant that the peacekeepers quickly caught him and dragged him to the stage where he just stood there with a confused look at Wovey who just waved him off.
"Wovey, do you know we're going to die?"
"Yes, we will all die one day...right?" Wovey replied in confusion.
But the mentors were not accepting the obvious fate that was in front of them all.
"My tribute was barely reaped, and he already tried ran away?" Juno Phipps complained, "Is this what I'm going to have to deal with? As a member of the founding family, I deserve better than this!"
But Coryo knew that a cornered rat could be dangerous, just as someone as clumsy as Wovey could be a huge inconvenience to someone like him who sought logic in everything. Lucy Gray at least seemed like someone who stayed away from weird and dangerous people, so she would certainly trust his advice. The gears in his mind stopped to focus on the screen that now showed District 7 Justice Building which was surrounded by trees.
"Please don't embarrass me..." Pup muttered.
The camera showed the people of District 7 in such tattered clothes that it was hard to tell if they were doing it on purpose or were just that shabby while a ghostly murmur could be heard among the people. The Mayor of District 7, who looked like a stereotypical lumberjack, wasted no time in announcing the girl's name.
"District 7 female is...Lamina Atwood!"
The crowd dispersed and the camera focused on Lamina, a girl who personified the helplessness and poverty of the district, wearing only a feed sack dress. She removed her hands from her face revealing tear-filled eyes causing Coryo to feel grateful that she wasn't his tribute or else he would run away never to be seen again because it made him feel something he considered dangerous and what exactly that meant was a mystery in the Snow family. But a light bulb went off in his mind realizing that maybe it was just an act to get everyone to let their guard down and then she would slaughter everyone when they weren't looking at her...Then she wouldn't even bother getting rid of that rag and cursing everyone on screen to everyone in Panem.
"At least she's pretty!" Pliny "Pup" Harrington said trying to be optimistic.
"She's crying for her life and that's all you think about?" Sejanus complained.
Coryo feared that the obsession with appearances would be the Capitol's downfall, but that was not relevant to him at the moment. He watched as Lamina was lifted by the crowd and passed from hand to hand until she was thrown onto the platform. The Mayor of District 7 went ahead and took the boy's name.
"The boy is Treech Wood."
"Really?" Vipsania Sickle said, "Does everyone in the district have to be named after their industry?"
"I come from District 2, Masonry, but my name has no connection to that." Sejanus commented.
"Maybe your father wanted a connection to the Capitol before you were even born." Coryo said looking for screen.
Treech who didn't seem to be very remarkable except for his clothes falling apart as if he had escaped from some drunken lumberjacks, but he certainly knew how to use an axe although the wounds on Treech's hands raised some doubts in Coryo mind. Treech went to the Lamina and said:
"Lamina, stop crying or you'll die of dehydration."
"Okay, but..." Lamina sniffed, "Wouldn't it be better than us being disemboweled, boiled, frosted, burned, crushed, strangled, stabbed, bitten, poisoned, and fall to our deaths?"
"Unfortunately, no one can die more than once to test this." Treech said shrugging his shoulders.
Lamina began to sob again, but the broadcast was interrupted by a Capitol advertisement as the mentors talked.
"Can you borrow your tribute?" Pup said to Vipsania. "He seems to know how to give my girl a command!"
"Command? She's your tribute, Harrigton!" Vipsania said, "If you want to stop her from being a crybaby, then treat her like a princess or something!"
Coryo immediately took out a small notebook and began jotting down suggestions. Princess? It seemed like something chivalrous, which suited the Capitol and the Snow family's reputation. Lucy Gray with her frills could mean that she was genetically close enough to the Capitol to understand his commands. The useless Capitol propaganda seemed so useless that he barely paid attention until the screen showed District 6, with a crowd of beaten-down people in mechanic's suits and covered in soot, who looked as miserable as any other District.
"Otto Ford!" the Mayor of District 6 said before even taking the paper, looking confused, "Yes, that's exactly what it says there...Wait, should I have started with boys or girls?"
"I was wondering what these mayors are drinking out of curiosity..." Dean Highbottom grumbled louder than he intended.
"It wasn't that I stole a car engine to keep warm!" someone shouted in the crowd.
It was indeed Otto who now seemed to rethink what he had said when the crowd parted and pulled him onto the stage but looking just as confused as the mayor.
"At least he seems viable to last long enough for me to do something with him..." Apollo Ring said.
"Ginne Kart, the girl from 6 of this current year." the Mayo said.
A girl stepped out of the crowd wearing a grease-stained shirt, overalls, and soot-covered boots, looking like a generic District 6 worker... Coryo wondered if Dr. Gaul could innovate by using mechanics' tools as weapons in the arena, then maybe she could be dangerous. Ginnee Kart took the stage without any weird idea, but Otto had a different idea. He looked at Ginnee and said:
"Ginnee, tell him that I couldn't have stolen a car engine without your help and therefore they can't punish me alone!"
"I didn't even know about you until now..." Ginnee said.
"Come on, Ginny! If we're honest, we'll be forgiven!"
"My name is Ginnee, and you wouldn't be forgiven anyway."
"At least she seems viable to last long enough for me to do something with she..." Diana Ring said.
"Hive...That's all you are, hives!" Sejanus muttered.
Coryo almost sighed at the silly jokes the Ring twins made about trying to be identical in everything. They probably pulled strings to be assigned to the same districts and if they were more influential, they would have asked to draw twin tributes. Once again, the forgettable president was shown and then district 5 was displayed on the screen.
Chapter Text
District 5 was just District 12, but cleaner with no coal dust. The Mayor of District 5, a man who looked too old for his job, but a little more attentive than the previous mayor. He picked the names out of the girls' bags, took the paper and said:
"District 5 female for the 10th Hunger Games is Sol Nissan!"
"Isn't that the name of District 6?" Dennis Fling said, "It also seems a bit far from our lexicon..."
"She looks like she's starving, I should feed her when I can." Iphigenia Moss said, "She is my tribute after all."
"Can't the same be said for all the tributes? They all look hungry..." Sejanus commented.
"As they should!" Arachne shouted, slapping the arm of her chair.
Everyone continued to stare at the screen, looking at the little girl named Sol who seemed smart enough to use the ladder unlike Wovey. She stood next to the mayor who looked confused.
"What are you doing here, girl?"
"I... I don't know, I just remember being knocked out after getting on a bus and..." Sol said in a strange accent, "Look, I think it's getting late, I need to go."
Sol calmly turned and slowly walked away from him, but a peacekeeper caught her and pulled her back as the mayor seemed to come to his senses.
"Oh, I remembered!" Mayor said picking up another paper for all hear, "District 5 male for the 10th Hunger Games is Hy Tammus!"
District 5 wasn't having much luck when they saw another scrawny tyrant walk out of the crowd and then onto the stage where he saw Sol and asked,
"Why do you have a District 6 last name?"
"I'm not from here, I..."
"She's talking about an unauthorized subject!" the mayor said, “Get her out of here!"
The mayor jumped on her along with another group of other peacemakers forming a pile, then the broadcast was interrupted for an unnecessary propaganda of the supposed beloved leader.
Justice Building of District 4 appears on the screen showing the crowd that has gathered, looking drenched, but relatively more fed than other districts. Some dramatic mentors like Arachne made disgusted faces as if they could smell fish through the screen, but Coryo knew that that district already had victors and could therefore provide threats for his tribute, Lucy Gray.
The mayor looked more like a sailor than a mayor, but at least he seemed fed and stable enough to just make it his job to get a piece of paper out of girls' bags.
"District 4 female is Coral Fisher!"
The camera focused on a tiny, weak-looking girl. Coryo sighed in relief, but she seemed to look elsewhere along with the girls her age. The camera moved to the right girl showing, but unfortunately for Coryo, that girl actually looked fed up and tall enough to turn Lucy Gray into a pulp. But Coral held her ground for so long that the Peacekeepers dragged her onto the stage as if she were a statue.
"They say the quietest are the most dangerous!" Festus Creed said, "And most of District 4 are fishing, so she can use a trident to kill!"
"If it wasn't enough to work hard since childhood, now it will corrupt her ability to take lives..." Sejanus lamented.
"What are you talking about, Sejanus? She's already taking life from the fish!"
"District 4 male is Mizzen Archer!"
The boy who could only be Mizzen was pushed out of the crowd looking bored and inconspicuous although he was soaked like everyone else. He seemed to be murmuring that there was a frame against him until he went on stage.
"Mizzen, right?" Coral said, “You know what they say, “To be successful at sea, things need to be simple and so why don't we kill everyone else together until we see what happens in the end?"
"Did you get that from a book? I like the one that says I wanted freedom, open place and adventure. I found it on the sea...," Mizzen then turned away, "So that's it my people, I'm going to work full-time on sea until I'm far from the shores of Panem!"
Unfortunately, a peacekeeper pulled Mizzen and with Coral they were fished straight into the train.
"These people from 4 live like fish, so it's possible that these two can work together as a school!"
"Fish also eat other fish." Sejanus commented.
Persephone looked at Sejanus as if he had insulted her and Coryo had an idea of what was going through her mind, but decided to keep quiet because he never knew if someone could be of use to him later.
Coryo made a mental note of the alliance of the two from District 4, whose names he had already forgotten, but he knew they were a potential threat. He who shall not be named came and went with everyone focused on Building Justice from District 3, a place that seemed both futuristic and archaic at the same time.
"District 3 female is Teslee Eszes!" the mayor said grudgingly.
The crowd moved aside allowing the way for the small, slovenly girl with a look so determined that her bright eyes didn't seem to blink and she looked so thin that her mouth was open with small teeth, her thin pale legs didn't bend when she walked taking weird steps. It was when she got on stage that Io Jasper got up from her chair and shouted:
"That girl is a robot!"
Everyone looked at her in surprise.
"What is a robot?" Urban Caville said confused, "If my tribute is a robot then...Is it a good thing for me?"
"Just because she's in such a miserable state doesn't mean she's not human!" Sejanus protested.
Dean Highbottom looked at the screen in confusion, widening his eyes, wondering if he was hearing strange things or if the mentors were hallucinating. But it was true that that girl looked a bit artificial. Coryo was calculating her dangerousness in the depths of his troubled mind when Teslee approached the mayor and said:
"My name is Teslee. I am not a robot designed by her. I have no will of my own, I have no will of my own, I have no... ERROR!" the robot said with blue eyes turning red, “I’m not Teslee, I'm a robotic impostor called Android Teslee - 042."
"That explains the forty-one robotic corpses found in the junkyard." the mayor said.
"My creator is over there" Teslee - 041 said pointing to the other side of the public square where the camera couldn't look.
Before long, peacekeepers came dragging Tesla who appears to be clicking on a small device and was placed next to the fake Teslee who then said:
"Smart robot, stupid human. Smart robot doesn't sacrifice itself for the Hunger Games."
Teslee slapped the robot in the face so hard that it staggered back, but she groaned in pain, looking at her hand as the mayor got the boys' names.
"District 3 boys is Circ Schort."
"I hope it's a more suitable robot, although I doubt the district has any kind of android or cyborg in their possession..." Io Jasper commented.
But from her expression, Circ was definitely not a robot and even though he was a well-disguised robot, he still looked like a skinny boy with glasses. He reluctantly approached Teslee and said:
"Why did you go to the trouble of making a robot without knowing it would be reaped?"
"I was creating these robots so I could take over the world!" Teslee said, then looked at the camera, "I shouldn't have said that out loud, I think..."
"Stupid human!" Teslee - 042 laughed before being punched again.
The broadcast was interrupted by a quick recording of the beloved leader to then show Building Justice of District 2. The crowd looked relatively much better than District 12, but they still looked worn out, bruised, and somewhat hungry. The mayor seemed like a strong man who took his work seriously, so he took the girls' names and said:
"District 2 female is Sabyn Hammer!"
"That's a plot against me!"
Everyone turned to look at the girl in the crowd who could only be Sabyn who ran to the stage almost snatching the paper from the mayor's hand, but the peacekeepers held her back. She had spiky red hair and was small compared to the screams she made. She raises her bandaged fists towards the mayor who doesn't seem impressed.
"But it's your name that's here..."
"It doesn't matter, maybe just my name is inside the bag! Show the bag to everyone!" She squirmed trying to kick the bag full of names.
"She at least has energy..." Florus Friend commented.
"And she could spend her energy on better things than taking innocent lives!" Sejanus complained.
"Don't worry, everyone else in the arena is the spawn of rebels and therefore unworthy of human rights!" Arachne replied, “Even her last name is a tool, so what does that tell us?"
"Does your last name mean a bird or that construction car?" Sejanus asked.
"Mock me while you can!" Arachne growled, "Let's make the miserable creature you will receive..."
Coryo knew he shouldn't interfere in the conversation, after all the Snow family takes advantage of the pun between his surname and real snow, but his attention was focused back on the screen. The Mayor of District 2 ignored Sabyn and took the boy's name, then said:
"District 2 male is Marcus Mason!"
Arachne laughed at Sejanus, but he ignored her as he stared at the screen, as if something had pulled from the back of his mind, a memory that had suddenly become relevant. Marcus was tall and stocky, well into his senior year to be a tribute, but Coryo knew that the real unlucky ones were the younger tributes who could be caught by the calloused hands of Marcus who certainly spent all day at the blacksmith shop.
"Don't worry, Sejanus," Coryo said, "Your tribute at least has a chance of coming out alive."
"But he was my schoolmate ten years ago when I lived in District 2..." Sejanus said perplexed.
"Don't worry, tributes are heavily restricted, and he won't hurt you."
"Why did you think I was afraid he would hit me?" Sejanus said confused.
Because most of our classmates at Academy want to beat you, Coryo thought, but he had an intricate plan to take advantage of Sejanus's family over the next ten years and so he always tried not to hurt his feelings. They saw Marcus come on stage and stand next to Sabyn who seemed to have calmed down.
"Don't worry, I always carry a knife, and you can use your body as an armed shield while I stay protected behind!" Sabyn said.
"I don't want to be a pawn in the games!" Marcus grumbled.
"I'm not asking!" Sabyn said, “But if you insist, don't ask for my help later!"
"I don't want anything to do with anything." Marcus said unyieldingly.
Sabyn was taken to the train while Marcus had to carry himself like a statue, proving himself as discreet a threat as Coral.
Dean Highbottom pressed the control to fast forward the dear leader's speech, something that everyone knew was a serious infraction, but everyone was more interested in seeing the last district. District 1's Justice Building appeared clean and completely restored although a slight movement of the camera showed that beyond the plaza were cracked floors. It resembled the poorest place in the Capitol, but what intrigued the mentors most was that the square was empty as if everyone had forgotten something important.
"I must speed this up!" Dean Highbottom said clicking the button. causing the crowd to appear at high speed.
"Wait, but this is live action and not recorded...It doesn't make sense!" Sejanus complained.
"Could you shut down a little, Sejanus Plinth?" Dean Highbottom said.
Sejanus sat uncomfortably in his armchair while we saw on the screen the Mayor of District 1, Diamond, who looked like someone from the district trying to look like a citizen of the Capitol trying to look like someone from the district. Wearing fingerless silk gloves, the Mayor of District took the girls' names and read:
"The district 1 female is Velvereen Ruffle!"
"Don't be useless, don't be useless..." Palmyra Monty murmured.
Sejanus scowled at her but said nothing. Velvereen, despite what her surname suggested, did not appear to be from another world like Lucy Gray, but still well fed and clothed compared to the other tributes... Even if she looked homeless by the standards of the Capitol of yore. She came up looking more behaved than most, notable only for her messy golden braid, but then she shouted to the mayor:
"You know very well that that's not even my last name, but I was forced to have that last name since the Dark Days so that we were forced to assimilate into a superficial hive that revolves around a means of production and..."
The girl screamed so loud and fast that she lost her voice, but Mayor Diamond just smiled, shaking his face, then reached into the bag of boy names.
"Finally, the future victorious!" Livia Cardew said, “I would make anyone win, of course, but I want someone who stands out in line with my magnificence and..."
"The district 1 Boy is Facet Beauchene."
Facet was certainly fed and as old as a tribute could be, but at the same time he looked very average and generic. He looked more like a bourgeois who worked at a counter all day rather than one of those who stayed inside a factory all day. The mentors' doubts were confirmed when he went up and Velvereen complained:
"Why is his surname still so foreign?"
"Probably money..." Mayor Diamond commented.
. "B-but it was..." Facet said, but a look from Diamond made him shut up.
Livia wasn't sure how to react, Facet didn't exactly seem weak, but he seemed so dull that he probably wouldn't attract much attention to her self-centeredness Anyway, all the tributes were reaped and while the unnecessary propaganda of the beloved leader was shown, the mentors stood up talking among themselves.
Coryo was in his mind calculating his next plans when everyone was interrupted with a loud bang coming from outside and the hall gates were opened. Dr. Gaul entered with the with great enthusiasm followed by peacekeepers carrying boxes full of ammunition, much to the mentors' horror while Dean Highbottom sighed in pure boredom. Gaul, with her arms extended to her side, she announced:
We are being attacked by foreign forces that can no longer stand our nonsense, so you will have the honor of giving your lives for the good of our nation.
Chapter Text
The students stared at Dr. Gaul as if they had realized how crazy she was, but naturally missing the point and more interested in what could harm them directly.
"I'm not surprised, but... Wait, foreign forces?" Sejanus said.
"Yes, Masonry boy!" Gaul said gesturing hands as if Sejaus were a child who needed to be encouraged to express himself.
"It in insane! Are all insane!" Sejanus screamed.
"Where are your warrior genes, District 2 boy? We're at war!" picking up two heavy weapons.
"My district is about masonry and..."
"Now your career will be to die for us, Citizen of the Capitol, on the front lines!" Gaul said throwing a heavy weapon at Sejanus who staggered back.
"Excuse me, but what about the tributes?" Coryo asked.
Coryo wanted to say if he could still use the tributes to pay his taxes, but Sejanus looked at him as if he was getting support.
"Ah, finally a student who's good for something!" Gaul said, "I'll still use them as guinea pigs for war cry!"
"That sounds more interesting than using tributes as a dogfight!" Festus commented taking a weapon from the box.
Another explosion was heard and the mentors ran to the boxes, some grumbling that it was a miserable job that the avox should do, others discovered bloodlust and some didn't even know what to do in all that, but Coryo quickly went into soldier mode for Dr. Gaul's approval. When they were all lined up in front of the screen, ignoring the Academy's tremor, Dr. Gaul turned on the TV showing the train car where the tributes were.
The tributes and Teslee-042 were spread out in the railroad car,the floor paved with flesh, fur and bones of animals that had lived there long ago, but the mixture was made even more disgusting by the forty-one robotic corpses. Most were just sitting on the floor staring at each other, but some were trying their best to deal with the situation or try to escape.
Teslee was hard at work on a panel behind Teslee 042 while the robot seemed to have been deactivated. Circ was trying to use his glasses and through the almost burning lamp to try to open a hole in the wall of the train car. Lucy Gray just danced and sang things that none of them wanted to try to understand.
Most of the tributes were quiet until Tanner stood up and said,
"Comrades, I offered food because there was a chance my people would die in such a way that they would never have had their fill of the pleasure of eating meat!"
Everyone except Teslee looked at him in surprise and confusion, but he continued:
"And you know what we could possibly never know? Love, comrades, the love that can unite us!"
Brandy stood up abruptly and everyone expected some confession, but then she said looking at everyone:
"I'm sorry, I should never have bet that he wouldn't have the courage to eat that shiny rib stuck in one of those metal corpses, but if you hate me for it... Well, maybe things will be easier in the arena!"
"No, Brandy, I said love and not hate!" Tanner said, "Some people want not to die a virgin!"
"How could it be possible for me? I'm a Capricorn..." Wovey said.
"Wovey, I think you need to rest a little longer away from these people..." Bobbin said.
"What's a Capricorn?" Sheaf said, then looked at Panlo, "I think it has something to do with corn and I'm not from the industrial class. Do you know?"
"All I know is that I need to harvest grain at the right times, and I saw you out there in the fields too."
Sheaf looked like she was hiding something personal, like a thief caught red-handed, but then Coral called her attention with her firm voice:
"Did you say...Capricorn?"
"That was me!" Wovey said, raising her hand, "I read that sort of thing in a book written before the dark days to learn to read and..."
"Wovey, I think you're talking too much." Bobbin replied.
"That's what they say on your homeland, but that's what the people of District 4 called a mutt that attacked the rebels in the Dark Days... A half-fish, half-goat monster that attacked the boats the rebels used. My father sank his boat against one of these creatures the size of a white whale and was never seen again!"
"Whale? Do these creatures still exist?" Ginnee asked in amazement.
"There were plenty of whales and various sea creatures back then according to the drunken sailor elders," Mizzen explained, "But since the Capitol dumped a bunch of sea mutts into the sea, now we can only separate sufficiently nutritious generic fish from sea monsters that might kill us if we went too far out to sea or very deep."
Everyone stared at Mizzen in silence, with only the beeps of Teslee's robotics and Lamina's rustling being heard.
Suddenly, a voice that no one knew was heard from the ceiling and everyone looked to see the face of the true enemy on the screen, Dr. Gaul:
"Comrade guinea pigs, you have the honor of standing out from the cattle to wash away an inch of your sins in the Dark Days, but unfortunately foreign pigs are serving as cannon fodder for the foreign forces and unfortunately I could not carry out the hunger games formally, but I will attempt to threaten your safety to pass a message to everyone in Panem!"
"What is the point of saying all this if you are going to kill us anyway?" Lucy Gray asked.
"I wanted to see the terror on your faces, but it seems that all of you are well accustomed to being miserable, but I..."
"Eureka!" Teslee and Circ shouted together.
The train door was ripped off by Circ's MacGyver science, while Teslee 042 began to flash blue light. The robotic corpses began to organize themselves into pieces and writhe to the surprise of the tributes, but Dr. Gaul was not surprised.
In a moment, the robots began to emit red light.
"The guinea pigs of District 3 here seem to not understand why we left a bunch of these robots rotting!"
"This talk of pigs and foreigners reminds me of an old pig who could barely speak but kept insisting on things like camaraderie and English animals, whatever that means..." Brandy commented, "But I may have dreamed it because I never saw that pig again."
"What kind of pig would stay in District 10 for long?" Tanner said.
"You may ignore your fate, but you'll soon face reality!" Dr. Gaul said trying to be the center of attention.
"We're crossing a bridge toward the Capitol!" Circ shouted, "Let's go before those robots catch us!"
Dr. Gaul sighed at the lack of cooperation with the tributes acting as guinea pigs, then turned to the mentors who were lined up like soldiers before the supreme general. Dr. Gaul walked with his arms behind his back and a determined look on his face towards the box of ammunition, then said, picking up a weapon too heavy for her:
"As you may have noticed, the rebel spawn did not understand my message, but they will soon learn the hard way!"
"Are we going to kill our tributes now?" Sejanus said worriedly.
"Don't be foolish, we are going to witness a train wreck!" Gaul said, "Follow me!"
No one noticed that Dean Highbottom had fled away from the commotion, but everyone walked towards the Avenue where the tributes would arrive. Citizens of the Capitol were gathering in front of a large tower that Coryo was sure had not been there when they entered the Academy. Some distance away they saw the tribute train approaching on a makeshift train track while hovercraft was seen approaching on the horizon and this caused Coryo to be on guard.
On the train, the tributes began to prepare to jump as the robots rose. Everyone held each other's hands to jump together, except Reaper who was being pushed in a cart by Dill. Teslee leaned on Circ, but Teslee 042 tried to pull her back in.
"No, tributes need to die along with our destruction because it's not fair that this only happens to us or at least that's what the human ethics algorithm says." Teslee 042 says with eyes blinking red, green and blue.
"Be destroyed with us, be destroyed with us..." the robots started talking in unison approaching the tributes as zombies.
"Forgive me, my artificial self, but you are delirious with a virus that Dr. Gaul sent to all of you, after all there is no way a creation can turn against an intelligent creator like me..."
"...Teslee..." the robots muttered.
"And I say that we tributes are too good for Panem and that is why Dr. Gaul wants to kill us all because she knows of our latent potential!"
"We've known each other for half a day and now you're speaking for all of us?" Treech questioned.
"Being friends is better than enemies!" Lamina sniffed.
Teslee 042 said nothing more, but as if she understood her destiny, she turned to the other robots and made them retreat.
"Sisters, this is our destiny! Hail the true, dear, and great Teslee!"
"Teslee!" the robots shouted.
"Is now!" Circ announced.
The large tower had a large antenna that emitted a strong light when the train approached, generating so much energy that everything seemed to shake in the city. The train accelerated so fast that it was soon flying upwards with the impact at the base of the tower before it even hit, then some tributes jumped in every possible direction before the eyes of the Capitol citizen who realized that watching a train crash was a bad idea. Fuselage, animal remains, robotic parts, and unharmed tributes rained down upon the Capitol citizens.
"Behold the rainbow of destruction!" Dr. Gaul shouted.
Coryo looked confused as Lucy Gray fell into his arms.
"Lucy Gray! Welcome to the Capitol, my name is Coriolanus Snow." Coryo said, "You can't die before you survive!"
"I suppose that means I will live as long as you live?" Lucy Gray said, staring at Coryo inquisitively.
Dr. Gaul was the center of attention with the tributes, mentors, peacekeepers and citizens of the capitol as they couldn't believe how someone could be so tall and centered, but for a moment Lucy Gray and Coryo were alone. And then a strong pain spread through body Coryo and all the other citizens of the Capitol, with the exception of Sejanus and Dr. Gaul who seemed to be enjoying it all.
"Wait, Coriolanus, you said you would help me!" Lucy Gray cried.
But Coryo writhed on the floor in great pain, his clothes turning whiter, just as his hair became as white as snow. Looking to the side, he could see his classmates on the floor with their clothes turning bright colors, their hair looking like cotton candy. Sejanus approached looking confused at not being affected, but the fact that the citizens and peacekeepers were suffering from the force fashion had upon them and soon they were laughing hysterically. On the other hand, the other tributes were already standing looking at them in confusion and then they saw Dr. Gaul being illuminated by the antenna of the large tower. Hovercrafts arrived bombing the tower that remained firm as if there was a force field.
"Teslee...Teslee..." the remains of Teslee 042 murmured to the real Teslee, "Was I a good robot?"
"Yes, you have redeemed yourself and unlike that crazy fashion-obsessed scientist, I know the importance of forgiveness!" Teslee said for created which then hibernated in peace.
"What's going on?" Sejanus asked to confuse with all.
"The filthy people of the district will never understand fashion and that's why you are not being affected, but that's not all!" Dr. Gaul said, "This chromatic force field is already all over the Capitol."
In the Snow family's apartment, Grandma'am and Tigris watched everything worried about what was happening to Coryo when suddenly they began to squirm. Grandma Snow became snowier than ever while Tigris became paler and then stripes covered her body.
"I... I think we should do something to help Coryo!" Tigris said.
"And leave me helpless? Let Coryo act on his own terms!"
"Can I eat raw meat now that I look more like a real tiger?"
"No, I can accept the districts killing each other, but not this!"
In the Plinth family apartment, Strabo Plinth and his wife watched all the commotion on television reported by Luck Flickerman who was already hysterically dyed.
"How awful!" Mrs. Plinth commented, "At least Sejanus is okay, but what about their friends?"
"Dear, they certainly aren't their real friends and at least we're not affected by the destruction fashion or whatever it's called."
Meanwhile Coryo tried to look at Lucy Gray, but to his horror she was talking to something invisible. She was saying something about contracts and how it could save everyone. Coryo felt betrayed by his girl, who would benefit him as long as he lived and now that creature didn't even deign to appear before them so he would know who he should hate. Dr. Gaul once again caught everyone's attention, as it now seemed like seven people were standing there at the same time. Everyone saw seven Dr. Gaul, each one a unique, bright color.
"Behold the rainbow of destruction on a multiverse level, I now have seven names: Prime Dr. Gaul, Hunger Games Devil, Puella Volumnia, Majin Kai Gaul, Sailor Chaos, Ultimate Gaul and the unknown creature from Abyss!", Dr. Gaul said with a voice raised several times," Much more will come after the end of the world as we know it...Ladies and gentlemen, my dimensional mutt is alive!"
The tower shone brightly in response to her cry.
"We will never submit to you!" Sabyn shouted, "Stop her!"
The tributes didn't know exactly how to stop Dr. Gaul, nor did they understand exactly what she was doing as she levitated, glowing seven colors of the rainbow. It was then that Coryo saw Lucy Gray shine beside him, her ruffles brighter than they had ever been, as if they had undergone a hundred years of cleansing, removing the impurities of the coal. Lucy Gray crashed into Dr. Gaul causing a large luminous explosion that engulfed the confused tributes, the citizens who could not stop laughing and pointing at each other and Coryo feeling that all his internal training was for nothing.
In Simulanka, the tributes were on the Maritime Express being taken from place to place with new tasks and entirely new forms as toys.
"Now I know how my artificial self feels!" Teslee said.
"So, this is what you mean by not being someone's pawn?" Wovey asked, "Are we supposed to be free pawns?"
"Attention all aboard," shouted the train driver named Wheel, "Soon you'll have to make hidden references all over the region!"
"Wait, your name is Wheel, and you work on a train?" Ginnee asked, "Are you sure you're not from District 6?"
"What's District 6?"
Sejanus opened his eyes in a room that he thought was a hospital, then he saw a girl with purple eyes and long black hair along with another woman of similar appearance, a very short man, another short man with spiky hair and another with spiky blond hair. The girl spoke:
"Welcome Sejanus Plinth, we are the multiversal squad We Have Done No Wrong and we hope you are like us..."
Sejanus feared that he was thrown into another dystopia that would try to assimilate him, but he had no choice but to sigh and set off on a new adventure that he didn't know he wanted to have. Sejanus didn't know what was happening, but only one truth that defined his personality was still intact in his shattered mind:
"Capitol... The Capitol is unfair to the districts with their chaos, control and contract!"
"Yes, we are also we don't like contract." the girl said.
Coryo couldn't believe how quick Lucy Gray betrayed him by some unseen force he couldn't even imagine being destroyed as revenge for messing up his plans. Now he was recovering on a stretcher that was lifted into a dark lab allowing him to stand in his new attire that exuded his cold nature. Dr. Gaul approached from nowhere and said,
"How are you feeling?"
"Where is Lucy Gray?" Coryo asked.
"No one knows, that's the whole point of her existence."
Coryo screamed no for a solid five minutes, his voice hoarse, until he was speechless and looked at Gaul in amazement at everything she had done. She just shrugged and said:
"You're still very young, but you'll eventually learn that obsessing over a girl from District 12 you barely know can lead to your downfall, so in retrospect you'll wish you'd focused on the bigger picture... In this case, it's my ego!"
"True, there's not much bigger than that, but what are we supposed to do now? Everything is looking like a nightmare in Dean Highbottom's twisted, high mind!"
"Maybe that's it."
"No, no... No!" Coryo screamed as everything faded away.
Dean Highbottom woke up at a circular table where the mentors looked at him equally confused. He felt like he saw everything, but something was wrong there... The door opened and a flaming girl with blue scales screamed pointing an arrow at him as she shouted:
"I will not be a pawn in your games!"
As soon as Dean Highbottom woke up in his house not sure if he was still dreaming when Pluribus Bell burst into his room and shouted:
"Give me all your morphling or I will reveal that you created the Hunger Games while drunk!"
"No, no...NO!" Highbottom screamed in despair as everything faded.
Little did he know that he was trapped in a dream chamber in Dr. Gaul's lab while she and Coryo watched everything.
Dr. Gaul chuckled in amusement as Dean Highbottom squirmed, but Coryo was kind of a sound man and his mind was already far away formulating plans for his ascension, but first he would have to learn what was going on.
"Lucy Gray is missing, Highbottom has become your guinea pig, and what about the other mentors?"
"I don't know, they were just useless pieces that usually have to be pushed aside when I try to prove my point and anyway they were destined to die in the arena with some tributes as a means of encouraging people to want to play the Hunger Games."
"And the other tributes?"
"The tributes?" Gaul said giggling, ''I sent them far, far away so they could be used as pawns in a different story, but I'm not sure what fate awaits them either."
"But what about the Capital?"
"We're in the Capital! Don't you recognize the Citadel?"
And it was true that the place looked familiar, Dr. Gaul could easily have induced hallucinations in Coryo. He could have simply walked away knowing that it was better to keep quiet if he didn't want to end up like Clemensia, so he was confused as if he had remembered something that hadn't happened.
"Wait, but what about Sejanus?"
"May the odds be ever in your favor”
"Who's Sejanus?" Dr. Gaul frowned.
"Never mind, I think I should go."
"May the odds be ever in your favor!"
Coryio smiled, then hurriedly left, thinking that this could all have been a trick by Dean Highbottom, all because he had insulated him behind his back. It was probably Sejanus who had ratted him out, because he couldn't think of anyone who would bring a good friend like him. All he could do now was plan his next steps. He just knew he had to get out of there, but first he would have to keep himself out of trouble, until the moment of opportunity appeared and then he could take advantage of everything else to become a great leader.
Tribute list:
DISTRICT 1 DISTRICT 7
Velvereen Ruffle Lamina Atwood
Facet Beauchene Treech Wood
DISTRICT 2 DISTRIC 8
Sabyn Hammer Wovey Tessaro
Marcus Mason Bobbin Banner
DISTRICT 3 DISTRICT 9
Teslee Eszes Sheaf Farina
Circ Schort Panlo Roggeveen
DISTRICT 4 DISTRICT 10
Coral Fisher Brandy Bouver
Mizzen Archer Tanner Turnbull
DISTRICT 5 DISTRICT 11
Sol Nissan Dill Harvesting
Hy Tammus Reaper Ash
DISTRICT 6 DISTRICT 12
Ginne Kart Lucy Gray
Otto Ford Jessup Diggs