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.
revvinguptheharley: (Nyah nyah!)

[personal profile] revvinguptheharley 2013-12-25 06:34 am (UTC)(link)
"If that's the case we're losing ground fast." She pointed out. "More then usual. I mean seriously what could we do if they could read our minds? Tinfoil hats?" She burst out laughing.
formersurgeon: (side smile)

[personal profile] formersurgeon 2013-12-27 09:57 pm (UTC)(link)
She laughed too at Harley's black humor. "Right. At least it looks like they need sensors and stuff right now. That said, I could see them mandating that we wear them. Or hiding them in our clothes or something. Implanting them into our skin."
revvinguptheharley: (Tut tut tut)

[personal profile] revvinguptheharley 2013-12-28 04:12 pm (UTC)(link)
"Well heck I was wearing on of those for months." She held up her wrist and tapped it.

"I was one of the lucky winners of a Cuff-of-shame. Were you around for those irritating little gizmos?"
formersurgeon: (worried)

[personal profile] formersurgeon 2013-12-29 03:44 am (UTC)(link)
"No." She held up her bare wrists. "God...I never thought of that. We've got to figure out if that's what those things are for."

If it was even possible to figure that out. She glanced around, looking for Sherlock.
revvinguptheharley: (Sulking like a child)

[personal profile] revvinguptheharley 2013-12-29 03:29 pm (UTC)(link)
"You didn't know?" Harley giggled playfully.

"They were like, monitoring devices. Microphones, tracers and stuff. But also they let the towns people know which of us tributes were...you know. Not entirely loyal to the cause. They treated us like dirt while we had them on." Harley pouted at the idea.
formersurgeon: (thinking)

[personal profile] formersurgeon 2014-01-03 05:46 am (UTC)(link)
"Oh, no, I got that. Sherlock has one, he's told me about it. I was wondering if they might have some sort of more sophisticated monitoring, though. Like, vital signs. Or brain waves."
revvinguptheharley: (Default)

[personal profile] revvinguptheharley 2014-01-04 03:54 am (UTC)(link)
"Ohhhh." Harley looked a little disappointed that she hadn't been the first one to tell her about it. It was so much fun being the first to reveal tasty information.

"Well I dunno for sure, I hate to be the guy who has to monitor MY brain waves. It's probably like watching cartoons on fast forward." She cackled.
formersurgeon: (contemplative)

[personal profile] formersurgeon 2014-01-04 05:08 pm (UTC)(link)
She laughed as well. "With any luck, you'll short circuit their equipment all on your own. If not, though...maybe we could come up with some way of short-circuiting it together. Everybody Rickrolling the sensors at the same time or something."
revvinguptheharley: (Thumbs up!)

[personal profile] revvinguptheharley 2014-01-05 06:54 pm (UTC)(link)
"Ooo, now there's an idea you would never wanna give up." Harley burst out with laughter. Joan was every bit as silly as she was.

The woman had real potential as an insane super villain.