etcircenses: (Default)
Panem Events ([personal profile] etcircenses) wrote in [community profile] thecapitol2013-12-15 06:36 am

The Crowning of Enjolras

WHO| All Tributes and Victor, plus a few Capitol guests
WHAT| The Crowning of Enjolras
WHERE| The Tribute Center
WHEN| A few weeks after the end of the Arena
WARNINGS| Forced medical experimentation, needles.

The atmosphere surrounding the Crowning is both tense and secretive. The style teams flutter around listlessly, having received no information from which to draft their designs. Newspapers take bets on when it will be announced where the Crowning is being held, descending into grousing when no press release is given. Peacekeepers pour in and out of the Tribute Center, accompanied by scientists who occasionally pull Tributes aside and look at the veins in their elbows. Even the Avoxes seem jumpier than usual.

Aside from the Tribute Center's new giant marble statute of a nude Enjolras, posed like the famed David, one could almost forget the party is supposed to be celebratory.

When the day arrives, the Escorts and their assistants don't lead the Tributes to their style teams to be gussied instead. Instead, they hush the Tributes and bring them to their bedrooms, where a Peacekeeper, a white-coated citizen and several Avoxes await them. The Escorts instruct the Tributes to lay down in their bed and close their eyes, and a needle is inserted into their arms that the Escorts insist will 'take them to the party'. It's soon followed by a series of sensors taped to the forehead.

Just relax, the Escorts say, and they do their very best to make sure their Tributes feel minimal anxiety. If the Tributes resist too much, more Peacekeepers are called in, and the Tributes are forced into submission.

The first effect is a sort of paralysis - not the terrifying inability to move, but a signal to the brain that says why move? Moving is so much effort. It's quickly followed by drowsiness, and then a chill that radiates from the needle into the body, and finally, unconsciousness.

And that is when the party begins. The Tributes, now dressed in luxurious 1830's French clothing of a quality beyond even what their Stylists could manage, wake up in the front row of a large stone theater setting reminiscent of, simultaneously, Greek and French architecture. The floor of the theater is filled with buffets of every imaginable sort of food. Rose petals fall from the sky, which displays a sunset worthy of award-winning photography.

For his part, Enjolras sits in a throne made of books on the ring of the amphitheater, flanked by Marius, Cosette, Eponine, and bizarrely enough Venus Dee Milo and Ellie, seated on lush pillows and carpets made of dinosaur skin (with the heads comically attached and eyes lolling).

"Welcome, welcome, our Tributes and Mentors, to the first ever somnofestival, sponsored by Hypnogogia!" Caesar Flickerman, noted talkshow host and Games presenter, appears in a fabulous sequined toga in the center of the amphitheater. He doesn't need a microphone; the acoustics here are flawless. "And congratulations to our Victor! Let us hear it for Enjolras!"

He awaits applause.

"As you may have noticed, you're inside a shared dream, due to the just fantastic technology from the Capitol and certain, ah, biological contributions from our dear favorite Aunamee." He holds a hand out and gestures to Aunamee, anticipating wild applause. "We thought that for our most philosophical Victor yet, we should celebrate in a way that's a little bit…cerebral."

Caesar laughs and gestures at all the food, then puts a cheeky finger to his lips. "By all means, enjoy yourselves. Even the most indulgent desserts here won't show up on your hips tomorrow. The party only last three hours, so you might as well get started!"

He vanishes into thin air, leaving the Tributes to celebrate. Occasionally, the Tributes will hear voices in their heads - chatter from the Peacekeeper and scientist and Escort still in their room, in the waking world. Otherwise, this is a party like any other, if somewhat surreal in nature.

-/-

The party begins the same way for all the Tributes. For an unlucky few, however, it soon diverges as they come under an unfortunate glitch in the system.

They'll look around and find only a handful of their fellow Tributes around them. The sky, rather than being a magnificent splay of color, is now blank white, and yet the lighting in the theater seems dim. A sense of panic, detached from any conscious thoughts, surges forth in them like the tide.

For them, this isn't a shared dream. This is a shared nightmare.
hit_girl_mindy: (Wtf? (Mindy))

[personal profile] hit_girl_mindy 2013-12-28 08:12 am (UTC)(link)
"Whoa, whoa," Mindy said. "What is it? They aren't going to try and blow us up are they?"

That sounded like just the kind of thing right up their alley.
acroodawakening: (115)

[personal profile] acroodawakening 2013-12-28 08:18 am (UTC)(link)
"A friend told me that for the next fifteen minutes, they can't hear us. She said it was from a trustworthy source - and I trust her judgement on that. She's someone I trust. She said to tell anyone I trust and you need to tell anyone you trust. Just make sure they aren't someone that will leak it back to the Capitol."

He eyes were wide and imploring.

"She wants word to get around as quickly as possible. If anyone here knows anything that could help all of us but can't tell us the rest of the time they're watching, they need to know, because for right now, they can say it to whoever they need to. I only saw her a minute ago. Can you spread the word?"
hit_girl_mindy: (Wtf? (Mindy))

[personal profile] hit_girl_mindy 2013-12-28 08:30 am (UTC)(link)
Mindy listened quietly, and restrained herself from opening her mouth wide in surprise or smiling. In fact, Mindy made sure she looked just like she was taking it in as if he were talking about anything, like the weather.

But if he was watching her, there was steely resolve in her eyes. Oh, she could probably think of a few people, all right. In fact, this was just what she had wanted from the get go.

"I'll spread the word," she said, meeting his eyes unblinking. "You make sure to look a little less nervous. That might tip someone off. Gotta look just surprised enough that we're here."
acroodawakening: (115)

[personal profile] acroodawakening 2013-12-28 08:34 am (UTC)(link)
"Okay. Right. You're right. Just make sure they're people you can trust, okay? Make sure they know to only tell people they can trust, too. And keep track of the time. It's been about a minute or two."

He nodded as if he was going off to just say hi to someone else he'd seen.

"I'm going to go tell a few others."