Chapter Text
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Borrowed Time
Chapter 1
The Clock Strikes Once
…seventeen, eighteen, nineteen.
Nineteen steps from her bedroom couch to her living room. It was always the same path she'd tread daily. Always the same amount of steps, which spoke to her consistency and pacing.
Like clockwork.
Like a robot.
I'm more than a cog in the wheel, Gadget thought to herself, I am alive.
Every time she wrapped her palm around the doorknob, flashes struck her with nearly concussive force. Of Binary ambushing her in the corridors between the rooms in the Capitol before they were taken to the arena. Flashes of that man, Mortimer, who fed her drugs just to make her act a certain way.
Gadget held on through the onslaught with gritted teeth, her hand crushing the brass doorknob.
Over the last few months since the Games, Gadget had learned not to cry out, not to let go, and not to throw herself back away from the door.
Daylight seeped in through her windows. The light spread. Gadget kept her blinds closed. She never opened them. The dark had become a close friend of hers in the past months. And the outside world? The one outside the walls of her manor? A new arena.
She would slip under the blankets of her bed and turn her body to the left so as to avoid, hopefully, facing the mirror that faced her on the right wall. It was covered by a sheet, but Gadget refused to wake up with the sheet fallen off.
Dreams, or rather, the nightmares, were always the same. Lace. Cato. Thresh. Peeta. Always their deaths replayed in her dreams. Always she was the cause of them.
And then the worst one. Corduroy. Stabbed and electrocuted by Binary. And then he never got back up.
Each time, Gadget would wake. Each time, she would comfort herself by the truth. Corduroy was alive. He was alive and at home. In District Eight. In a place that she was certain hated him. Hated him as much as District Three hated her.
That simple reality was why Gadget hadn't stepped outside her home once in the three months she'd been back. Seldomly, she would occasionally go to the balcony upstairs, and she'd see the various statues adorning the garden path.
And that large monument.
That moment where she burnt Binary's face off with her makeshift flamethrower.
Immortalized forever, and large and high enough on the hillside that people throughout District Three could easily see that statue, with lifelike depiction of flames overwhelming Binary's body and head.
It was not so much the violence of the scene that was being promoted.
It was the fact that Binary was also from District Three.
A constant reminder that Gadget brutally murdered her own district partner.
It didn't matter that they were technically the last two left alive in the arena. It didn't matter how vile and treacherous Binary was in comparison to Gadget, who'd lost allies and companions to circumstances or other tributes.
President Coriolanus Snow just wanted everyone to remember that Gadget killed her district partner in a fairly brutal and horrific way.
Not to mention extremely painful.
Gadget could still hear his screams of agony as his flesh was cooked off, the flames almost hot enough to reduce skin and muscle to ashes.
The guilt that Gadget expected over killing him never came. That monstrous boy was gone. He could never hurt her again. Could never plague her with dread for what new torments he'd bring upon her.
Gadget settled into her couch, palmed her holovid remote, and restarted the footage from the beginning. All over again, the 74th Hunger Games replayed for her.
Every day for the last three months, she rewatched the footage. She couldn't stop. How could she? These were the last memories of twenty-two people. People who screamed and begged as the Careers snuffed their lives out. Who were murdered by Binary. Who were murdered by her.
A choked sob passed through Gadget's lips. How was anyone supposed to survive this? How was anyone meant to kill people and move on with their lives? The trauma weighed her down.
Maybe we're not supposed to, Gadget thought. It seemed like a sufficient answer. Until the Hunger Games, Gadget had never known such cruelty.
Part of her had hoped that with every rewatch, the Games would become easier. Maybe her heart would hurt a little less. Another part hoped it would never get easier. Because if it did, would that mean she had lost her humanity?
Where once she scraped by life, now she had a routine. Sleep, watch, eat, sleep, watch, eat, sleep, watch, eat, die.
A knock on her front door snapped Gadget out of her reverie. Her brow furrowed in confusion. Her visitors were few and far between. She hadn't ordered anything from the town. And there were only so many people it could possibly be.
She paused the holovid and stood, brushing away the tears from her cheeks.
One, two, three, four…
Gadget rolled over the potential visitors in her head. A cold shiver ran down her spine. Has Snow come to collect? she wondered. She had made him a deal when he had crowned her, but so far, he had been…silent.
…five, six, seven, eight…
Maybe there were whispers. But Gadget wouldn't know. She couldn't find it in her to even leave the manor. She drew in a breath. Maybe her family had come calling? She wouldn't put it past them to try and slip their way into her home.
…nine, ten, eleven, twelve…
If that were the case…if Zeno had somehow gotten past the main gate, Gadget would need to get a Peacekeeper to remove him. She swallowed at the thought and realized just how dry her throat was. Of course it was. She hadn't grabbed anything to drink!
…thirteen, fourteen, fifteen, sixteen…
Or maybe it's Syncis? Gadget hoped. The thought almost made her skin crawl. Syncis was the only member of her family she would willingly welcome into her home. But somehow, she doubted that she would be so lucky.
…seventeen, eighteen, nineteen, twenty.
At the twentieth step, Gadget reached her front door and, without looking out through the peephole, opened it.
Oh. Right. Of course.
"...Hi," Gadget awkwardly said to Beetee.
"Hello," Beetee greeted in turn. He looked exactly the same as he did three months ago. All that was different was the concern that furrowed his brow.
Gadget didn't know why she didn't expect him or Wiress. She wanted to kick herself. Of course he was here. He was her mentor. He had looked out for her in the arena, it made sense that he would look out for her at home, too.
"How are you?" Gadget asked, feigning nonchalance.
"Worried," Beetee answered. "We haven't seen you in months."
"We?" Gadget noticed the choice of wording. She didn't understand. Why would-
"Wiress, Grid, and I," Beetee responded patiently.
Grid? Gadget blinked. She had assumed his kindness to her was a one off deal. To save her from…from… Well, it doesn't matter. It was surprising to know Grid still cared about her well-being.
"Do you mind if I come in?" Beetee asked.
Gadget didn't really want him to. But her only source of socialization had been with the people dropping off her groceries. Maybe…it will be good to talk to someone else? she ventured internally. Beetee…he should know what she was going through. He had lived through it.
"...'kay," Gadget replied softly. She stepped away from the door, her bare feet padding against the floor. Belatedly, she realized that she was still in her pajamas.
Beetee followed after her, shutting the door behind him.
As soon as the door had closed, the man was blinking in mild surprise. The windows were shut and the blinders were drawn tight, enshrouding the place in darkness that even the little bits of daylight eking through could not hope to banish.
One, two, three, four…
She began counting the steps back to the seat. She'd already memorized the steps and counts that she could do this completely blindfolded...or when ensconced in darkness.
She grabbed the remote and tried hastily turning off the holoprojector, but Beetee had been trailing after her and he already saw enough. Given that the image she'd paused on was when she'd drowned Cato.
Without the glare of the holovid's illumination, she could barely make out Beetee's face, but she could still sense his grim expression.
"Is this what you have been doing?" he asked, "Rewatching your Games again and again?"
"Not only," Gadget said defensively, "I also check the news…"
"Especially news about a certain district." Beetee nodded, confident in his statement.
It was just as well they were in the dark, so that he couldn't see her blushing.
"This should go without saying," Beetee started, "but I will do so anyway; this isn't healthy, Gadget."
"But…" Gadget wrung the remote in her hands anxiously.
"When was the last time you stepped outside of your house? Even to take in a bit of sunlight?"
"Uhm…"
Beetee sighed. "Gadget, victors have gone mad doing what you're doing."
He stepped forward, gently reaching for the remote and taking it out of her hands, placing it on the table. He then took her hands in his, causing her to flinch, something he did not miss.
"Humans aren't meant to live in complete isolation," he said. "You've already hidden yourself for over three months."
Gadget knew. The holovids helpfully provided the date and time. She counted the days since she'd been separated from Corduroy.
"You need friends, Gadget," Beetee remarked.
She lowered her gaze, staring at their hands. "My only friends are either d-dead, or...in another district."
Her tone was mullish, and she hated that she still could get a stutter every now and then.
She'd worked hard to get over that, and to stand tall, for Corduroy, for Lace, for Peeta.
Still holding on to her, Beetee said gently, "That's not true, Gadget, you have me, Wiress, and yes, even Grid."
Gadget had the sense to feel ashamed for not thinking of that, and lowered her gaze to the ground.
Beetee gently raised her gaze back to him with a finger to her chin. "I only ask now, that you give yourself a chance to live and keep going."
She struggled internally for a moment. Logically, she knew he was right. Even back then, before the reaping, she'd seen some folk who lived in the junkyard like she did, who'd isolated too much, lost their minds. Just screaming and running. Some attacked other people, or acted violently until a Peacekeeper captured or shot them.
One just ran headlong into a jagged metal bar.
Remembering that made Gadget shudder.
"Okay," she said, "I'll go...out…"
Beetee nodded, a gentle smile on his face. He adjusted his spectacles, and squinted around.
"We can start small, for now," he said. "Try letting some light in."
With gentle urging, and his consistent support and presence, Gadget took hesitant steps towards the nearest window, and slowly, painstakingly, began to peel the curtains back and apart.
It felt painful, yet invigorating all at once.
Beetee stood right beside her, basking in the light of the sun.
"And the best part," he said, "it's natural. It's real."
That was what he seemed to want to ground into her mind.
She was not in the arena any longer, watched by millions across all of Panem. She just needed to accept that.
Yes, she was still being watched, but only by a very select few, and some of them even had her best interests at heart.
She just needed to believe and accept that. To accept that unconditional support.
She was not alone.
She never was.
...forty-five, forty-six, forty-seven…
Gadget counted the steps from her home to the gates leading into the Victors' Village.
Two Peacekeepers stood guard facing within, six guards stood on the other side, facing out, and if Beetee, Wiress, and Grid were to be believed, there were four more Peacekeepers inside the neighbourhood, spread out, unseen, sniper rifles at the ready.
It was not unheard of for victors to earn scorn and vitriol from their own district. They lived apart from their own district for numerous reasons.
Victors were essentially the President's pawns. His pieces to do with as he pleased. They, and their families, lived at his pleasure.
In turn, this afforded them some exclusivity, privileges, and protection. An attack on a victor was an attack on the President and the Capitol. That still didn't stop some people from trying their luck if sufficiently motivated or angry.
Given Gadget's results, she was confident about being one of the most reviled in history at present.
Beetee then told her about the District Twelve's only surviving victor and what happened to him.
Haymitch Abernathy had won his Game by dodging a thrown axe. He was at the very edge of the arena, and they had erected forcefields by this time. That forcefield repulsed the axe right back into the skull of his opponent.
The Capitol, and the President had viewed this as an insult, since he won by using the arena to do the killing for him.
The Capitol wanted to see tributes spilling each other's blood, not using loopholes or technicalities.
As punishment, his family and even his girlfriend were executed.
"How do you think his girlfriend's family felt about him?" Beetee had asked after he finished telling her the tale.
Gadget had been suitably horrified.
Her thoughts came to an abrupt end as she reached the gates.
The guards looked at her, and as one, nodded, before turning their gazes away. The gates swung open on their own, and with excruciatingly hesitant steps, she exited her neighbourhood for the first time in months.
It had been six days since she had the intervention by Beetee. Three months and six days since anyone anywhere had seen either hide or hair of Gadget, the victor of the 74th annual Hunger Games.
Beetee had warned her that the victors always drew attention when they exited their place. Despite this, she was still unprepared for the amount of gawking onlookers who had been going about their business until they saw the gates opening, and Gadget shuffling out.
She gripped her elbow nervously with her right hand, forcing herself to meet everyone in the eyes.
Grid had taken the time three days ago to explain to her why she needed to face the district without Beetee, Wiress or the other victors following her around.
They were not her guardians, family, or protectors. Yes, they would do all they could to support one another, but they also needed to be able to stand on their own. They were victors, champions, and had a certain image they needed to project. A representation to make, whether they liked it or not.
They. Were. Pawns.
What surprised Gadget was how, after the initial shock of seeing her after so long, and once the murmurings began, there were as many admirers as there were angry, hateful, or disgruntled looks.
"Everyone has an opinion," Grid had said, "and you're going to very often be the target of their opinions, good, bad, and especially ugly."
Now, so many people gazed at her with varying expressions. So many adults. Some with dislike. Some with admiration. Even kids. People her own age. They smiled at her, eyes full of such gratefulness that Gadget had scarcely seen directed towards her. But what she wasn't surprised to see was the looks of loathing. To them, she wasn't the girl they'd wanted to have come home.
Even a fraction of admiration was more than Gadget expected to find. She had expected to find hate for her and nothing else.
A feeling of uneasiness built in the pit of her stomach. One of these kids that looked at her with either admiration or hate was going to be reaped next year. And when that happened, Gadget was going to be the one to mentor them.
She swallowed. There was not a chance that she could help someone survive what she had miraculously done. The Games would never end. Someone would always die because of her. Lace. Peeta. Thresh…
Weakly, Gadget waved at the crowd of people. A few of them waved back. Most did not. Gadget's eyes sank to the ground and she soldiered onward. She had no destination in mind as she walked, counting each step she made with careful accuracy.
What was she supposed to do when the Games came back around? And this year was a Quarter Quell. A Game that happened every twenty-five years with a special twist. A twist to make the Games even more cruel and punishing than usual.
Somehow, Gadget knew Snow would punish her. Her and Corduroy. All for making him look like a fool. She would be lucky if the tribute she mentored made it past the Bloodbath.
And despite her promise to him, Snow hadn't made any demands of her yet. Why? Why had he been so silent?
Gadget tried to shake the thoughts away. But they gnawed at her. Just…think about something else, she told herself. She had to think about something else. Something different.
She gazed around at her surroundings as she wandered. The urban environment was so much more comforting than the false nature of the ar-
Gadget cut that thought off. Stop thinking about the Games, she scolded internally. Her mind was still in the arena, all this time later. She couldn't stop thinking about it. All that death and the people she killed…
District Three still looked the same. Gadget had changed so much, and yet the district remained exactly the same. Each storefront she passed hadn't changed. Some of them she had stolen food from in the days she had nothing to eat or nothing to trade or buy with. Days where she was without the meals her school provided.
The district still had a lot of trash and scrap shards littering the street. Gadget wondered if people would clean it up leading up to her Victory Tour. It wouldn't do for a dirty district to be seen on camera, after all. More likely, however, was that the Capitol would set her on a preordained path that they would record.
"Hey!" someone called out, and Gadget almost miscounted a step.
She twisted her head around in the direction of the new voice, trying her best to ignore the stares and whispers of nearby strangers. A girl stopped short a few steps from her. She was only a little older than Gadget.
But Gadget recognized her. Oh, did she recognize her. She looked healthier. More filled out. Considering that they starved together in the junkyard, that was an impressive feat.
Gadget didn't know her well. Their paths crossed once every few months. District Three was a big place, after all. She didn't even know the girl's name. Because of that, Gadget had taken to calling her 'Shine' because of her shiny hair. Her hair wasn't so shiny now.
An expression mixed between eagerness and nervousness splayed out across Shine's face. She seemed to debate with herself. Eventually, she said, "Hi."
"Hi," Gadget said in return. She entwined her fingers together in an attempt to keep them busy.
"I'm not sure if you remember me," Shine said, her voice dropping an octave. Gadget didn't remember this girl being so nervous. Mysterious, with a small dose of confidence.
"I do," Gadget answered. Her voice cracked, which made her grimace. "I remember…"
Shine's lip turned upward into a smile. And then, without warning, she lurched forward.
An alarm bell rang in Gadget's head. For a moment, she was in the Games again. Attacked by Binary or Clove. But this was Shine. Not an opponent in the Games. Just a girl that was spared the same fate as her. The tension in her body evaporated bit by bit and Gadget realized, belatedly, that Shine was hugging her.
"Thank you," Shine whispered to her.
Gadget flushed. Over Shine's shoulder, she could see people stop and stare at the scene happening in front of them.
"Why are you doing that?" Gadget asked in confusion. What had she done to earn something like this? Especially from a girl that she barely knew? Her hands hovered awkwardly in the air about Shine's body.
Shine pulled away. That confidence that Gadget recalled seeing her with had returned. "You won," she stated.
Gadget offered a weak smile. "I did…" she said. As though confirmation was needed. She didn't feel like she had won anything. There were two simple mercies she had been granted. As long as she played the part demanded of her, Corduroy would still live. And the second?
Binary is dead and buried.
Shine took Gadget's hand without permission, and suddenly dropped to her knees. Gratefulness shone through her eyes. Gadget could only watch, open mouthed. "It's because you won that I have a place to stay now," she said, emotion spilling out of her every word. "The orphanage has more funding!"
"Oh." Of course. How had Gadget forgotten about that? With her win, the Capitol had been kind enough to offer District Three some of their prosperous wealth.
It could be retracted as easily as it was offered.
But Gadget didn't want to think about that. Her winning the Games had given the people around her a better standard of living. People could, for the moment, be more comfortable with their lives. Kids who had no place to go could be taken in.
"That's great!" Gadget said. Because it was true. She smiled at Shine. "Is it…comfortable?" She could only imagine the sudden shift. Going from being utterly alone, to living with more people than you could count.
Shine scoffed, but the smile remained. "Anything is better than the junkyard," she stated.
Not…everything, Gadget thought. Stop. Thinking. About it. "I'm glad that becoming a victor could…bring some good," she said.
She tried to ignore the fact that if Binary became the victor, Shine would probably be telling and doing nearly the exact same thing.
Shine released Gadget's hand and stood up again. "Maybe I'll see you around sometime," she said as she started to leave.
"Maybe you will," Gadget replied. The statement earned her another smile from Shine, but Gadget didn't know how true she was being.
Beetee had told her that if it felt like too much, she could return home. Even stepping outside through the Victors' Village front gate was progress. But Beetee had also told her that she should make friends. And that was…not something that came so easily.
"W-Wait!" Gadget called before Shine could disappear. She turned around and looked at Gadget with a raised eyebrow.
Gadget could feel her face burning. Her fingers clasped together again and she tried to ignore the stares and whispers as people stared at her. Maybe this was a bad idea. Maybe she shouldn't even entertain the question burning on the tip of her tongue. But…she had come this far, right? Might as well try.
"Would you want to…uh…maybe…join me?" Gadget asked, her voice becoming quieter and quieter with every word that passed through her lips. She was certain she was wincing by the time she finished speaking.
Shine blinked, her eyes flaring as brightly as floodlights, as though she hadn't expected the question. Gadget kicked herself. Of course she wasn't. She was just being nice. There was no reason for her to do anything for her or with her-
"Okay," Shine said.
Gadget's thoughts spun to a sudden stop. Okay? "Y-Yeah?"
Shine nodded. "Yeah."
"Oh. Great!" Gadget shot Shine a small smile. She stopped wringing her hands. "I'm, uh…heading to school."
Shine stepped towards Gadget. "Do victors need to go to school?" she asked.
"No," Gadget stammered. "But, uh, I guess it's something to do."
"Sure," Shine said, nodding in agreement. Pausing as she reached Gadget, she seemed to realize something. "You don't know my name, do you?"
Gadget felt her face burn again. "No," she admitted. "I'm…sorry."
"It's fine," Shine said with an easy shrug. "I don't know why you would." She offered her hand to Gadget. "I'm Lumen."
"I'm Gadget," Gadget responded automatically, taking Lumen's outstretched hand. She grimaced. She knows that, you idiot, she thought.
Lumen smirked. "I know."
"Yeah," Gadget said lamely, embarrassed.
Progress was made.
They walked together, side-by-side. Gadget didn't know what to say, though her mind searched desperately for something. Anything. Lumen didn't seem to mind the silence, though. It seemed like something she was comfortable with.
"Sorry," Gadget said eventually. Her eyes found her feet. Her mind ticked away each step made. "I'm not a good conversationalist."
Lumen chuckled. "No worries. I prefer the silence," she said. "In the orphanage, you can't get enough of it."
Gadget nodded. She supposed that made sense. That many people in one place? Silence must be hard to find. Shine - or, Lumen, rather - had been quiet during the brief times they had each other as a companion in the junkyard.
When they arrived at school, and as Lumen stood by as Gadget registered, she was more than certain that whatever came next would be nothing short of disastrous. Gadget wondered if she would see Lumen again, or if this was a one time deal. Then, before she knew it, the next day came. A day that Gadget fretted about.
When she stepped out of the Victors' Village, it was all the same looks all over again. The only change was that they came from different people. Admiration and hostility and all.
That admiration was going to wear off when the next Games happened. Gadget cast a look at the younger people. The reaping aged people. Maybe it should be best to prepare for the moments that the furious parents blamed her for her inevitable failure. Her failure to bring home another tribute. Another innocent person murdered by the Games. The last victor District Three had was Wiress.
Twenty-five years ago.
Gadget drew in a steadying breath, then resumed her walk.
…forty-eight, forty-nine, fifty…
She could feel the stares burning into her. Good and bad. Gadget readjusted her satchel strap. It had been lent to her by Beetee. She had wanted to refuse, tried to refuse, but he had wanted her to take it.
He told her it had once belonged to his son.
Gadget hadn't known he had a son. She didn't need to ask what happened to him.
The further from her manor that she walked, the fewer stares she received. Down, down, down the hill she went, until she reached the town that she had struggled within for most of her young life. When she and Lumen wandered here the day before, Gadget's heart had thumped hard in her chest. Worried. There was a real fear that she could stumble into Zeno. Or Micra. Or Flux.
Fortunately, she hadn't, but that didn't mean she wouldn't ever run into them. Every minute of every day she spent beyond the safety of the Victors' Village, she risked running into one of them. And whatever ensued from such an encounter would probably be on her...no matter the circumstances.
With that thought in mind, Gadget turned into an alleyway. Staying out of the public areas could help her avoid them. Even if it meant avoiding Syncis, too.
She knew these alleyways. If she wasn't living in the junkyard, she was wandering through the alleys. Under the foolish hope that maybe, just maybe, someone would be kind enough to help her.
Few people ever did.
There were very little edible scraps tossed out around here.
Gadget stopped briefly to look around at the alley around her. "Is…someone there?" she asked quietly. She could practically feel someone's stare on her, even as far as she was from the public areas.
Peacekeeper? Gadget speculated. Of course. It only made sense that now that she was a pawn of Snow's, she was always being watched. There were probably all kinds of bugs and microphones in her manor, recording everything she said, where someone turned over any potentially 'worrying' talk over to Snow.
Even outside the arena, she was being watched. Privacy didn't exist for her anymore. The second her name was pulled from the reaping bowl, her life no longer belonged to her.
The weight was insurmountable. How did the other victors survive this? One wrong word. One wrong action. That was all it took for Corduroy's life to be void.
Snow's lack of demands was frustrating. Just tell me what to do! Gadget begged. She wanted to scream the words out. She wanted to allow the microphones and bugs in her mansion to pick up the words. She needed to know that Corduroy was safe.
Her feet slid across the ground, moving her automatically. On her one thousandth one-hundred and first step, she stood just outside her school. A woman, one Gadget recognized as Ms. McDonell - a guidance counselor - ushered the arriving students inside.
"Everyone into the auditorium, please!" she called, waving the students towards her, then into one of the larger buildings.
Her school was sleek in its design. Large square buildings with many windows decorating the walls. Each building was interconnected with one another. Silver and blue and nearly no other color. There was a long pathway that led into the school, with numerous benches and places for students to store their hoverboards.
It was just like before. As the students filed into the school, none of them noticed her. They brushed past her without a word. Once again, she was invisible.
But then the spell was broken when Ms. McDonell looked at her. She frowned, a distinctly uncomfortable expression on her face. "Eve-" She cleared her throat. "Everyone into the auditorium, please!" she called again.
Gadget dropped her gaze. This is…not a good idea. She didn't have to do this. There was no need. Victors were free from continuing their schooling. And…and she wouldn't have to look the people who preferred Binary in the eyes. She could be free to ignore the teachers, just as they ignored her.
But Gadget followed the directions that McDonell pointed her in. Nerves bundled up inside her, just beneath her skin. She wrapped her arms around herself in a hug.
You went through the Hunger Games, Gadget, she told herself. You can get through a day of school. A day of school with the same people from before. People who hated her or, at best, were apathetic towards her.
What was she before the Games, after all? A pathetic homeless girl who was hated and abandoned by her own family. If even her family didn't think she was worth rooting for, why would anyone else?
…one thousand one-hundred fifteen, one thousand one-hundred sixteen, one thousand one-hundred seventeen…
Her legs guided her forth automatically. She had all the time in the world to stop. But she didn't. She joined the pack of students that shoved their way through the school's front door. None of them seemed to notice her, too focused on their own worries to realize that she was there.
There was a comfort in melting into the crowd. Invisibility was something Gadget wished she still had. It was gone now. Taken with everything else the Games stole from her. Replaced with a mansion that was a reminder of just how much the Capitol owned her.
At her one thousandth one-hundred twenty-second step, Gadget passed through the school's entrance without incident. She paused in place for a moment, beginning her count from the start. Students brushed past her, some of them talking with one another as they went in the direction of the auditorium.
The auditorium was typically only used when the school had to make an important announcement. Gadget hoped it had nothing to do with her. The headmaster, a man named Acer Hunt, hadn't ever done anything for her. He turned the same blind eye against her that the teachers did when it came to Binary's torment.
One, two, three…
Gadget turned on her heel and walked in the direction of the rest of the students. This was the first time she had truly been in a crowd of people since the Games ended. Gadget didn't include the party she had been forced to endure following her victory.
Anyone could step out of the crowd and attack her. Anyone could sink a blade between her ribs. Anyone could do what the tributes in the arena failed to do. Anyone could do what Binary failed to do.
This is a mistake! Gadget cried internally. There's too many people! She had dived in too quickly, and now she was going to pay for that mistake.
Did the people around her hate her enough to try to kill her? Oh, who was she kidding? Gadget knew they were. They hated her. She was unloved by her own family. Binary had a family. A mother.
Her heart pounded so hard against her chest. Loud, loud, louder.
…thirty-one, thirty-two, thirty-three…
She should stop. It would be easy enough. Stop in place, then turn around to go back the way she had come. It wasn't too late. Hadn't she made enough progress? This was the furthest she had walked in three months.
It can't get any worse than this...was the bitter comfort and thought.
She was so wrong.
There, in the center of the stage in the auditorium, was Binary's mother, standing before the microphone on the podium, and behind her, a large screen showcasing images of Binary. Some from before the Games, and some from the Games itself.
There were platforms on which students laid flowers and various other objects as tribute to him.
I should stop making assumptions about how much worse it gets.
Gadget turned to look at Ms. McDonell's face, and though it was schooled into a stony expression, she suspected that the woman might be really smug.
Of course, Gadget thought, they found out I'm coming to school and decided it was a good chance to punish me.
Even though they're benefiting from her being a victor, they weren't above petty vengeance.
It didn't matter that Binary was a burgeoning intentional killer in their midst. No doubt he wasn't on the level of Cardinal from District Nine, but he was a true killer, and one who felt no remorse for the lives he took.
Gadget regretted almost every death. Even Cato's and Clove's.
Mrs. Nemec was sobbing, and she blindly looked towards the gathered audience, searching.
Gadget made herself as small as possible.
"My s-son wa-wasn't perfect," Mrs. Nemec said, managing to just barely speak the words. She sniffled and brought a hand to her mouth, muffling the sound of her sobs.
Gadget lowered her head as far as she could while still being able to look at the stage. Beside the stage was the headmaster, Hunt, with Stattick standing right beside him. Both had their faces drawn in sorrowful expressions. Stattick was one year older than Binary, and two years older than Gadget. He had a thin, gangly body, and Gadget could recall how she once thought he was attractive. He had a slight underbite that had the side effect of jutting his chin out. A long stream of brown hair fell around his shoulders.
"Bu-But he was-was my son," Mrs. Nemec continued, struggling through her tears. "H-He wa-was a g-good kid," she managed to stammer. "So-So man-many friends." She glanced off stage at Stattick. "An-And he had you," she added, turning back towards the student body, gazing blindly again through her tears. "He nev-never onc-once came h-home ups-upset about schoo-school."
Gadget grimaced, wringing her hands together again. Probably because he just finished bullying me…
"He ma-made so man-many peop-people happy," Mrs. Nemec said, laughing lightly through the tears that streamed down her face. "Eve-Every day, I-I would wak-wake up smiling because-because of him. He was m-my son and…and…"
Gadget felt her heart sink. Mrs. Nemec trailed off as her gaze landed on her. For the first time since she returned home, she and Mrs. Nemec were in the same room. Gadget wanted so desperately to leave. To go back home and forget this miserable day had ever happened.
"Binary…oh, Binary…" Mrs. Nemec mumbled, and she broke down completely. She took her head in her hands and Hunt darted up the steps onto the stage, and gently put a hand on her back. He guided her away, out of sight while beckoning Stattick with his free hand.
Stattick went up the steps and approached the podium. Now what? Gadget could only wonder. What cruel and disparaging remarks would he make towards her? She steeled herself as she waited for it. The heinous words. The claim that she should have perished in the arena instead.
That was how Binary and Stattick worked when they were together. Cruelty that only ended when Binary was bored of his plaything. When there was no more trauma they could inflict, they would instead wait until the next available opportunity. Wait until she picked herself up a little bit before the torment began all over again.
An image of Rolly flashed through her mind. The desperate cries to save him as Binary crushed her pet beneath his foot.
"Hello," Stattick greeted mildly, grabbing the microphone from off the podium. He circled around it so that he stood directly in front of the stand.
"Hello," the student body greeted in turn, a hundred voices together spoken.
Stattick took a long breath. Gadget waited for the first insult.
"Binary is not our victor."
Huh?
"He was my best friend," Stattick said, shaking his head lightly, a fond smile playing on his lips. "We did so many things together. Any game we could think of. Built so many inventions together." He raised an arm towards the row of teachers closest to the stage. "So many projects we did together."
The teachers nodded, mumbling in agreement with smiles.
"Well, what we could, anyway," Stattick amended. He swallowed, his throat bobbing as he slowly paced the stage, then turned his back to the students. "But one thing I couldn't do was follow him into the Hunger Games."
The auditorium was totally silent.
"Binary is not our victor, but Gadget Trevelyan is." He turned to face them again, and his blue eyes found Gadget's in the crowd.
She recoiled. Why…
So many questions burned on the tip of her tongue. But she didn't dare to ask. She didn't want to break the trance that the student body was under and face their punishment for the death of Binary.
"We have a victor," Stattick said without taking his eyes off of Gadget. "She isn't the one that most of you wanted, but we have her." He resumed his pacing. "And you know what? She is living in her own personal hell."
A wave of murmurs spread through the students. Gadget didn't understand. What was this? Why was he saying these things? What was the goal?
"So even if she deserves it, you don't," Stattick continued, extending an arm out towards the students, finally looking away from Gadget as he did so. "You don't," he repeated, dropping his arm down by his side.
Gadget's mind spun. What was Stattick saying? Forgiveness? Why? Was he asking the students to forgive her? More and more questions swirled through her head. Did he regret his actions? Was he trying to join the wires of his fate around her own? For money? Opportunity? Something else?
Stattick didn't say anything for a few seconds, and Gadget thought he was letting his words settle in. But before he could speak again, a teardrop slid down his cheek. A tear of blood.
She watched as he touched a finger to where he felt the blood, then examined his hand. "Excuse me," he muttered, reaching into his pocket for a handkerchief.
Gadget had nearly forgotten that Stattick suffered from haemolacria. It had always frightened her when she would see the tears of blood leak from his eyes. They never seemed to bother him. Or at least, she had never heard him go into detail about his thoughts on his condition.
He wiped the blood away and slid his handkerchief back into his pocket. When he looked out at the audience, Gadget thought he must have seen some concerned expressions because he smiled lightly. "It's nothing, I promise. A benign condition."
And Gadget suspected that was the last he would say about it.
"I think Headmaster Hunt would like for me to wrap this up," Stattick said, earning him a few chuckles from both the students and teachers. "So I'd like to dedicate the upcoming Inventors' Tournament to Binary, and every single tribute District Three has lost in the Hunger Games!"
The students pounded their feet, while others clapped. A few shouted their agreement as Stattick placed the microphone back on the podium, waved, and then left the stage.
All attention was on him as he departed. Some even shouted his name, or Binary's, coupled with wordless shouts and cheering. Some looked upwards, pumping their fists as they chanted Binary's name.
Oh, is that the conclusion? The desired result?
Pour attention and focus on Binary, and just...ignore and isolate Gadget?
She lowered her gaze as she pondered on this.
So this was his intention?
She pursed her lips and curled her fists, then relaxed.
I can live with that.
It wasn't too different from before she had been reaped. Most just ignored her or pretended she didn't exist. If anything, Stattick may well have done her a favor.
Now that the event was over, and once the student body calmed down, Ms. McDonell ushered the students back out to begin their classes.
Because she'd started three months late, she was thrown mid-way through the course of the term. Technically, her grades didn't matter, but her previous results nonetheless allowed her to catch up with the rest.
Stattick's speech and its effects began to be felt throughout that day.
Once again, Gadget mentally kicked herself for thinking it'd be so easy.
They weren't...completely ignoring her.
But instead, there were open whispers, whilst pointedly looking at her as they did so as she was moving to her next class, making especially sure she was also looking at them when they did so.
If she tried not to look at them, keeping her gaze downcast, she would instead hear them raising their voices clear enough for her to hear.
"...saw the deals she made with those other tributes? What a coward."
"...couldn't even look them in the eyes. Knew she was not worth the space."
Those were some of the kinder ones she heard.
Part of her wanted to whine to Beetee about this...then she'd quickly remember the satchel strapped to her, and who it belonged to.
A son who'd never get the chance to finish school.
She'd noticed that the relatives of victors, those who were of reaping age, had a higher tendency of getting reaped. An unnecessary and cruel reminder that though the victors themselves were safe from getting reaped ever again...those closest to them were in greater danger. Another means to incite resentment towards the victors.
Micra and Flux are more likely to be reaped now, Gadget realized. She didn't feel particularly upset about that. Though Zeno might feel inclined to attack her as a result. The downsides always outweighed any upsides.
Just then, an extended foot caught her unawares, and Gadget went tumbling to the ground in a heap and a yelp.
"Clumsy, Trevelyan," a large boy a year or two older than her said. "Can't believe you actually made victor in his place."
There were some voices of agreement amongst the student body whilst others laughed openly.
Best not guess that it can't get any worse, Gadget thought to herself.
She was slowly pushing herself back to her feet when she noticed a number of things.
The hallway had gone oddly silent. There were still students about, and there was a pair of feet right in front of her.
Her gaze slowly and pensively rose to look up, to find a girl her own age. Compared to Gadget if she were standing, the other girl was shorter, perhaps average built, though on the thinner side. She wore her long auburn hair in four thick ponytails, her skin was very pale, and she had eyes that looked almost crimson in color.
And she was holding a hand out to Gadget to help her up.
There was a small smile on her lips.
"Ya planning on crawling to class?" she asked, her voice holding a playful lilt.
Gadget realized now that the other students were watching to see what other fun was going to be had at her expense.
Mentally sighing, Gadget decided to play along. She had no chance, and even if she thought to fight back, she could just see Corduroy's body being thrown into a compactor. She'd have to endure it.
Yet, when she reached out to accept the proffered hand, the other girl did nothing except help her back up.
Gadget was right in that she was quite a fair bit taller. Practically a foot and a half taller.
"Dattery Kozen," the girl introduced herself, "jus' call me Booster."
She winked and then half-hopped, turning as she did so, and was now marching to their class together.
Gadget almost glitched there and then. She could comprehend Lumen's friendship and gratefulness, but Dattery…or Booster as she preferred...made no sense! What did Booster stand to gain by being friends with her!? She would be scorned alongside Gadget. Maligned. Picked on!
She had to find out!
"Booster, uhm...wh-what…?"
"...is our next class?" Booster finished for her. "Tech Economics."
The other students slowly began moving around her, openly murmuring about what transpired.
"Booster," Gadget tried again, "they're talking about you, now."
Booster gave an indifferent shrug. "An' yer point?"
When Gadget looked down at her, she was looking back with a playful smile.
Booster really didn't seem to care one bit.
In the end, Gadget just returned the smile, albeit much more uncertain.
When she looked around again, just before she entered her class, she finally saw something. Something different, and maybe a little more pleasant.
Not everyone had accepted Stattick's call.
Now that she looked for it, she saw that some gave her supportive smiles, and one boy even gave a quick thumbs-up.
For as many people whispered or made snide remarks or sneered at her, some nodded at her. Some ignored her or just went about their own business.
She felt like she needed time to process this, and thus, couldn't give her full attention in the class.
The lesson plan provided them with several parts, circuit boards, and various devices. The class was a bit more advanced than what she'd had in previous terms, and they'd moved up to fairly versatile designs.
The teacher was explaining how they could make a variety of products, which the students could actually make and use for practical applications and for jobs when they graduate. Students who passed this with high marks and advanced designs could begin securing a prospective position as an apprentice to the tech companies that fielded products to the Capitol.
It was a high incentive for the students as securing such jobs came with unspoken perks and conveniences that the average citizen did not get access to.
As it was autumn now, most wore warm or thicker clothing.
Gadget wore an insulated long sleeved shirt and pants that had plenty of pockets, something she always cherished ever since Septimius picked out an outfit for her after she got reaped.
Booster, who had appointed herself as Gadget's class partner as well, wore a plain dark green sweater under a grey vest and a thick red plaid skirt that extended to her knees, and thick shin-high socks.
She seemed focused on the device she was building in front of her, but Gadget soon noticed tiny tools and parts were surreptitiously slipping under the long sleeves of her sweater, or the vest pockets.
Whenever she did this, she made overt movements with her other hand, seemingly working hard on the product.
She felt Gadget's gaze on her, and gave a playful wink and smile, then went back to her work.
In the end, she revealed to Gadget that they were making a hand-held holoprojector that could produce very realistic three-dimensional visuals. For her presentation, she chose to project a river with a variety of fish swimming through.
The teacher was quite impressed.
It seemed like Booster had all the same classes as Gadget, and followed her everywhere, leaving her very baffled.
"If they have a problem with it, it's on them," Booster said easily during lunch. "Do ya want me to leave?"
Gadget shook her head, but she still didn't know how to take this. She'd never really had friends before this. Binary took care of that.
When school let out for the day, Gadget's initial decision to not attend anymore had been put on hold...for now.
Beetee wanted her to get friends her own age here. A friend had literally appointed herself for Gadget. There might be a long-term betrayal in play though, and Gadget remained wary of that possibility.
"Ya gonna head back right now?" Booster asked.
"Uhm…" Gadget was going to.
"Wanna see my place?"
It turned out, it wasn't a choice, as Booster lightly grasped Gadget's free hand and tugged. For her size, she was strong, and fast. Then again, so was Clove. Looks could be deceiving.
As hasty as Booster's pace was, Gadget mentally kept count of all the steps it took, all the paths they wound through. To her great relief, it was nowhere near the neighbourhood where Zeno and her brothers lived. In fact, it felt like it was on the far opposite side.
Booster's home looked...nice, really. It was the standard double-storey terrace house, roughly square shaped, with identical windows and white walls with tiled roofs. Each house had a garden and a pathway for vehicle storage.
Though given more conventional vehicles like cars were no longer so easily available to most people, the storage often had simpler vehicles like bicycles or small, solar-powered vehicles that barely had a full frame. Booster's family appeared to possess one such vehicle, and it looked positively compact, egg-shaped, with two large wheels in front and a third smaller wheel on the back.
She was apparently an only child, with both parents at work. She dragged Gadget upstairs to her bedroom, which doubled as some kind of mini workshop.
"Have a seat!" Booster urged Gadget.
Meanwhile, she unbuttoned her vest and took it off, then upended it, dumping an alarming number of parts and tools.
"What do you need all of these for?" Gadget asked while trying to hide her panic.
They could get in trouble for this. Peacekeeper trouble.
"Cool yer firewall, Victor Trevelyan!" Booster laughed. "I'm just working on something."
Gadget watched with interest as Booster hefted a large heater onto her workbench and opened its outer casing.
Now she understood why Booster filched so many screens and solar boards. With the winter season coming along, everyone was going to need heating. Even for homes like Booster's, the Capitol provided the barest minimum of comforts and needs.
Or rather, allowed them to have.
But that said, most Peacekeepers turned a blind eye to people building or making some simple perks for themselves to improve their quality of life. So long as you didn't get caught filching parts like Booster had done. And now Gadget began to wonder about the origin of the girl's nickname.
Was she always boosting hardware?
"Done!" Booster declared as she put the casing back over the heater. "Hey, give a girl a hand?"
Gadget ended up hefting the heater back downstairs, where she found a very obvious alcove that had a slot for the heater. Once she had it in place, she dashed out the back door of the house, because Booster told her what she was going to do.
She found her spritely new friend already on the roof, carefully navigating the tiles until she was next to an old solar panel, and began to work on unscrewing, removing the old panel, and replacing it with the newer one.
She spotted Gadget below and flashed a thumbs up, her face alight with wordless joy, as she climbed back down.
"Woo!" Booster cried. "Come on, let's try that sucker out!"
She grabbed Gadget again and ran back in.
"Ugh it's been getting so cold lately! Ya'd think winter would have the courtesy to wait its turn!"
She activated the heater, and Gadget finally noticed that the interior of the house had panels in the ceiling corners that released heat or cold.
The house began to quickly warm up in a matter of minutes, and Booster made a delighted noise.
"Oh thank goodness, it worked! Mom and Dad are gonna be so glad."
She got some plates of food for them to snack on for the next hour as they talked and got to know each other a bit better. Gadget also got Booster to call her by her given name.
That was when she finally noticed visible relief and happiness in the oddball girl.
Did she...not have friends before? Gadget suddenly realized she'd not seen Booster talk to anyone else.
Thinking back, she wasn't quite sure they'd ever noticed each other before she got reaped.
She finally decided to let her guard down a bit more around Booster. The more she thought about it, the harder it was to see what kind of long-term malicious plan she might have for befriending Gadget.
As it neared evening, Gadget felt more anxious, and Booster must have seen the expression on her face.
"Hey, if ya need to go, lemme know, yeah?" Booster said.
"Well, I should, it's a bit of a walk back to my place," Gadget replied, and she was especially afraid of running into her brothers or worse, Zeno.
Booster nodded, then frowned. "Don'tcha got a hoverboard now at least?"
Her background of basically being a junkyard rat was well known, and Gadget, having isolated herself in her mansion these last few months, meant she never considered getting herself any transport of convenience.
Booster must have drawn her conclusions when Gadget failed to respond, and she prompted, "How about skates? A bicycle!?"
At Gadget's shaking of her head, Booster pinched the bridge of her nose.
"Well, come on."
She led Gadget out the front door, and opened the panel door to the egg-shaped...mobile wagon. A single headlight was attached in front and the panel window in front was mirrored on the outside. She'd seen a few of these vehicles rolling around the district. They were fairly slow, but still a lot more convenient than having to go around on foot.
It was a two-seater, but was still quite cramped. But since it was rare to find a fat person in the districts, space was not too much of an issue.
Still, Gadget was touching shoulders with Booster as she powered the vehicle and drove back to the Victors' Village.
Mere minutes later, they were at the gates.
"Here we are!" Booster declared with a flourish of her hand. "Hey, Gadget?"
"Yeah?"
Booster grinned. "Thanks for not givin' a hard time about the stuff I took."
Gadget nodded. "No problem...thanks...for being with me."
Booster laughed, and lightly punched Gadget on the shoulder. "Ya don't need to thank me for that!"
Just as she opened the door panel to get out, Booster piped up again.
"Oh yeah wait. Here, take this." She handed Gadget a flat three and a half foot long board.
"It's old," Booster said. "And the front left repulsor kinda tilts you to the side a bit. But knowin' ya, it'll be workin' fine in no time! See ya tomorrow!"
Gadget could barely get her thanks out as she clutched the hoverboard against her while Booster drove away.
She counted her way back in, but headed towards Beetee's home. The Avox in her house was hardly conversational for obvious reasons, and she needed someone else to talk to after all that transpired.
Beetee must have seen her arriving, as he opened the door to greet her.
When they settled down at the table, he eyed the hoverboard she still clutched to her chest.
"Well," Beetee started, "how did it go?"
He had a subtly pleased look, as Gadget slowly lifted her gaze towards him. "It was...eye-opening."
Her next day was much more enjoyable.
Booster had been right, and after making some adjustments and repairs, the hoverboard worked perfectly. Apart from being a floating device, it had micro rockets that allowed it some measure of propulsion.
Again, she wasn't going to break land-speed records, and determined runners would easily catch up to her, but she could travel a lot more easily than on foot. She also could rush through any of the more...risky places that she might encounter her brothers or Zeno.
But for safety and to avoid being marked for habits, she planned to take different routes each day from her home to the school, and again another route on her way back.
Lumen had been surprised to see Gadget going by on the hoverboard, but waved when Gadget waved at her.
School was the same, though the sullen faces had increased slightly, which dampened her mood somewhat. But she no longer felt as isolated as she had the previous day.
She attended her classes and did her best.
In the late afternoons to evening, she'd spend some time with Lumen, and/or Booster, who remained a constant presence around her now.
It was very comforting.
On the third day, she brought Booster to the Victors' Village. The girl was understandably nervous around the Peacekeepers. But they were soon forgotten as Booster darted towards the monuments. She admired the statue burning Binary's face for quite a while, and seemed to be studying Gadget's weapon closely.
Then she smiled and commented, "Wonder what it'd take for them to make it real flames and how they'd keep it going day and night."
Gadget grimaced at that and did not answer her.
She showed Booster Beetee's home, who was sitting at a table outside and waved at them.
Wiress was not at home, so they didn't linger long there.
They walked down the path a little further, where they reached Qwerty's mansion. Gadget wasn't sure if she was home either, but as they were still not on talking terms, she decided it best to leave her alone.
"Whoaaa," Booster exclaimed quietly as they reached Grid's mansion.
It was one of the oldest mansions, given when Grid had won his Games, so it wasn't too surprising that it was slightly smaller and more modest. But it still held a grand austere to the design.
The two girls were busy gawking whilst they stood on the garden path.
Idly Gadget wondered if Grid had been allowed to determine how his home would look, because the stern elegance of the design seemed so…him.
That was when the double doors to his home flew open and Grid gazed at them with a thunderous expression.
"Get off my lawn!" he yelled.
Gadget yelped and Booster, upon hearing Gadget, also squeaked and they both ran out of there, all the way back to Gadget's own mansion. When they reached the front deck, Booster collapsed into a hanging chair, catching her breath. Gadget just stood in front of her, hunched over.
After a while, Booster began laughing, and before long, Gadget joined her.
She never imagined she'd ever laugh again.
It felt...so good.
"Is he always that cranky?" Booster asked.
"I've never heard him raise his voice…ever!" Gadget replied.
"Goodness, I was reminded why he's a victor."
Booster stayed over for a small meal, but her eyes nonetheless bulged at the dishes being served to them.
"Gadget, I think I might marry you…just for the food," Booster said jokingly.
She honestly understood where Booster was coming from. Food was hard to come by, no matter how well off one was. Snacks were a luxury, and she'd heard some districts like Twelve were particularly hard-pressed on top of harsh work conditions.
The somber reminder of the reality of their lot in life made both girls become silent, and very grateful for the little perks afforded them by Gadget's victory. And that was just how the Capitol liked them to be kept.
The next day was when things took an intense turn.
Over the last three days since her return to school, Gadget had noticed some of the alliances - no - the cliques that were around.
Stattick, without Binary, was now the new leader of a gang of sorts. Some of the prettier girls and a group of particularly robust boys.
They were her, and now Booster's main tormentors - or instigators, rather. They were the most outspoken ones in criticizing or making snide remarks where they could hear. Rather oddly, Gadget noticed that Stattick never took part himself.
Lumen, understandably, kept her distance from Gadget when she saw Stattick and his friends. She couldn't afford the confrontations, or she'd risk losing her spot in the orphanage.
Pylon, one of the boys, and the same one who'd tripped her a few days back, was attending the same homeroom class with them. He gave Gadget a very ugly sneer as she entered the class and took her seat just two rows in front of him.
Booster was already seated at the desk to Gadget's left. She merely tilted her head slightly enough so Gadget could see her smile and peripheral gaze before returning to the book she was doodling on.
The relative quiet murmur of conversations were suddenly interrupted by Pylon's voice, "You should have died, Trevelyan."
Gadget let out a soft, tired sigh.
But Booster suddenly had the angriest scowl Gadget had ever seen, and the short girl was on her feet in a flash, holding her personal backpack in her left hand.
"You deserve this!"
Her ominous declaration was followed by her reaching into the bag and whipping out a near-perfect replica of Gadget's flamethrower from the Games.
That was why she was studying the monument so closely! Gadget realized with alarm, and the students nearly all stood up almost as one.
Pylon was so shocked he'd simply sat in place staring at the very object with which Gadget executed the district favorite. When his brain finally caught up with him, his scream of panic set off all the other students as they gracelessly threw themselves at the door.
Ms. Thompson quite possibly set a new record for a hundred meter dash, as she was the first one out of there.
Two girls and one boy actually fainted dead away.
Pylon, quite ironically, got his foot caught in between his chair and desk and crashed to the ground, and he made panicked gurgling noises as he crawled backwards, never taking his eyes off of the weapon Booster held.
The girl leveled the flamethrower at Pylon's face and before Gadget could even plead for her friend not to do this, Booster's finger squeezed the trigger, and a gout of bright orange-yellow flame shot out of the barrel.
Pylon shrieked in a high pitch and raised his hands uselessly to fend off the fire from his head, soiling himself, and continuing to scream as he thrashed violently on the floor.
The fleeing students morbidly turned to watch, only to realize, along with Gadget, that the flames didn't seem to actually be burning Pylon at all.
After almost ten more seconds, the boy finally stopped screaming and thrashing as Booster lifted her finger off the trigger, and the flames vanished.
She grinned at the stinking boy and aimed the weapon at her left palm, squeezed the trigger. Once more the flames and a built-in hairdryer activated and after a few seconds, she pulled her left hand out of the fire, wriggling them rapidly, showing she was completely unharmed.
A holoprojector!
Gadget stared in amazement. Booster was grinning like a lunatic.
"We literally did a project three days ago, an' you all saw my projector! Can't believe you all fell for that!"
Pylon now scowled and pushed himself up to his feet, and then the other classmates were snorting and pointing.
Everyone could see very clearly that he'd soiled himself.
He shot out of there like a rocket.
Ms. Thompson pushed through the crowds of students and glared at Booster.
"Kozen!" she barked. "Headmaster's office! Now!"
"Worth it," Booster whispered to Gadget with a mischievous wink as she coolly sauntered through the crowds that quickly parted for her as she let off another gout of false flame.
Gadget was in awe of her friend.
She stood up for me! she thought.
Another new experience for her.
She owed Beetee so much thanks.
She told him as much that night, after inviting him, Wiress, and Booster over for dinner. Nobody interrupted her eager recap of events. Booster had a smile on her lips throughout most of it, clearly proud of what she had done.
Gadget could feel a warmth in her heart.
Impressed though they were, however, Beetee and Wiress cautioned Booster not to play pranks like that in the future. It wasn't impossible for the Hunger Games to be rigged.
They had been rigged in the past.
Booster's expression hadn't changed. She merely looked back at Beetee and Wiress, then at Gadget, and said, "I'll do it again if I have to." There was no fear or regret in her eyes.
Gadget smiled, ducking her head. Booster impressed Beetee and Wiress with her loyalty and courage.
The next day was the last day of school for the week. Students were eager to get out of class. But Gadget noticed that they weren't making any more snide remarks towards her.
I guess Booster's stunt earned some…freedom, Gadget thought cautiously. Booster didn't make a comment about it as they settled into their class.
It felt good, having a friend. Gadget couldn't help herself. She smiled at Booster, who returned it with one of her own.
"What're ya smilin' about?" Booster asked with a small grin.
Gadget looked away, pulling her things out of her satchel. "Nothing…" she said as she set them on the desk.
Booster shrugged. "If you say so, Victor Trevelyan."
Gadget had asked how Headmaster Hunt had punished her, but Booster just smiled at her and said, "Made me write an apology letter."
For the first time in a long, long time, Gadget felt like she was the child she was supposed to be.
The lesson started, and Gadget could see how Pylon was far quieter than before. He made no noise, but she did see him glaring towards Booster.
"Pylon's looking at you," Gadget muttered as they got to work on their assignment. A makeshift battery.
"Let 'im look," Booster said. She smirked. "A li'l girl half his size made 'im shit himself."
Gadget felt the smile creep up her face. She couldn't help it. The mere thought that someone defended her was something she would cherish for the rest of her life.
Besides Beetee, Wiress, and Grid, the only other living person who defended her was Corduroy. And he was far, far away. Gadget's fingers stilled as her mind wandered. Was he okay? She hoped his experience in returning home was better than her own. She hoped he still had his friends that he could be with.
It was a lonely thing, surviving the Hunger Games. It was even lonelier being the only victor with a fellow survivor. A survivor that she couldn't talk to. Until the Tour happened in the next few months, would she ever be able to see him again?
"Victor Trevelyan? Gadget?" Booster's voice snapped Gadget out of her thoughts. Gadget looked at her and found Booster staring at her with a raised brow, and concern in her expression. "Are you alright?"
Gadget let out a breath. "Yeah. Sorry. I just…I was thinking."
Booster smirked. "Thinking, huh? Yer big brain-"
The doors to the classroom flew open with a bang, making all the students jump, and Pylon shrieked. Whatever Booster was going to say died away as she and Gadget, along with all the other students and the teacher, looked up to see a squad of Peacekeepers marching in. Their footfalls echoed through the now-silent room.
Gadget froze in place. Fears and worries burrowed themselves into her mind. Were they here for Booster because of that stunt she pulled? Did Snow find out and decide her act was too rebellious? Or sufficient grounds as inciting a district? It would seem like an empty point, but people had been killed for less.
The Peacekeepers' heads swiveled around, staring out through black visors until they landed on Gadget and Booster. Almost as a single unit, the Peacekeepers made their way over to them.
Gadget glanced at Booster, but she couldn't see any fear in her expression. The only sign of her nerves was the slight wobbling of her lower lip.
Or maybe someone had reported Booster for stealing those materials? Had someone seen her do it, and sat on the information until her stunt with Pylon? Gadget had no idea. Possibilities swirled around her head until she felt dizzy.
The squad stood before the girls. The class was completely silent. Nobody dared to speak. Gadget's eyes were unable to resist a glance at the heavy rifles slung across their backs and the sidearm strapped to their thighs.
"Gadget Trevelyan?" the Peacekeeper closest to her desk asked.
"Y-Yes?" Gadget stammered, and she instantly kicked herself for it.
"Come with us."
"O-Okay," Gadget stuttered. She stood, packing her things back into her satchel.
"What's going on?" Booster asked, breaking the otherwise oppressive silence. "Where ya takin' 'er?" Concern and worry etched into her voice.
The Peacekeepers didn't answer and Gadget minutely shook her head at Booster. She frowned in return. Gadget didn't want her to get in trouble for asking questions. Peacekeepers ruled with impunity. One wrong word and that was all it took for someone to be sent to the gallows for treason.
Finished packing her things, Gadget stood and allowed the Peacekeepers to guide her out. At least it's between classes, she thought as they led her through the hallways.
She paused as they led her through a section of the school she had avoided. None of her classes brought her here, after all. But her stomach sank deeper at the sight of one of the lockers, with flowers scattered around the foot of it. The locker itself was covered in paint.
It was another memorial for Binary.
One of the Peacekeepers placed a heavy hand on her shoulder, gently but firmly urging her onward, and she resumed her walk. Forcefully escorted to a place she didn't know.
What was it about Binary that made people so upset by his death? Gadget wished she knew. They loathed her and loved him. Why couldn't they accept her? Because she killed him? They all saw what he had done to her! His endless cruelty! It was not a secret how he hurt her even before the Games.
Was it because he had a family - a mother - who loved him? Whereas I have no one…?
The Peacekeepers shoved the doors open to the outside, where a car awaited at the end of the path. One of the Peacekeepers opened the door for her, then slammed it shut when she entered.
It was like going into the Games again.
There was a thick tinted glass wall that prevented her from talking to the driver, and Gadget surreptitiously tested the door handle. It was locked. And from where she sat, there was no way to unlock it.
What was happening? Where was she being taken? Was Snow finally making his demands? It was the only thing Gadget could think of. Why else the reason for the secrecy?
Gadget gazed out the window, watching as building after building went by. It took her too long to realize when the route became familiar.
The car came to a stop in front of the train station, where a legion of Peacekeepers awaited her. Even if she wanted to run - if there was a point to it - they would stop her instantly. One of them popped open the door for her and she climbed out.
No one needed to say any words for Gadget to understand that she had to follow them. Follow she did. They led her to the station platform, where Gadget was surprised to see that Beetee, Wiress, Grid, and Qwerty were already waiting. The former three talked in low tones with each other, while the latter, Qwerty, stood far away.
"What's happening?" Gadget asked as she reached them.
"We're not sure," Beetee admitted.
"A Capitol stooge is coming, would be my guess," Grid said. Gadget realized, belatedly, that he was leaning on a cane. Her brow rose. That was a new development.
"Grid," Wiress murmured warningly.
"What?" Grid barked. "I'm an old man. What will they do? Kill me?" He laughed, thumping his cane against the station platform.
Gadget looked around. The Peacekeepers hadn't followed her onto the platform, but they did guard the entrances.
"What does…Qwerty think?" Gadget asked.
Beetee and Grid looked towards Qwerty while Wiress kept her gaze straight ahead.
"Don't know," Grid said with a shrug. "She hasn't spoken to me in a week."
"She hasn't talked to us since we came back," Wiress said quietly.
Gadget frowned deeper.
In the distance, she heard the sound of a speeding train. Whatever it was they were waiting for was about to arrive.
"Game faces on, boy and girls," Grid grunted. He made his way to the center of the platform, and Beetee and Wiress followed.
Gadget glanced one more time at Qwerty, who held her gaze. There was something in her expression that Gadget couldn't identify. But then Qwerty turned away to view the coming train.
Gadget swallowed. Whatever this was, it felt like the last byte before a drive was overloaded.
The train rolled into the station with a deafening scream, slowing down bit by bit. Gadget clutched her hands over her ears as it rolled, rolled, and then stopped.
Then, silence.
A minute passed. Then another.
With every passing second, Gadget felt more and more unnerved. The Peacekeepers brought them here. Someone wanted them here for reasons she didn't know. There was a point to this that she didn't understand.
Finally, a ramp formed beneath one of the train doors as it opened. A flood of Peacekeepers came out, standing in a row to guard the way into the train. Yet, they ignored Beetee, Wiress, and Grid, who stood in their path.
Then an Avox stepped out of the train and Gadget felt her heart shatter.
Septimius looked so defeated.
Gadget wanted to run to him. To hug him. She wanted to tug him away to a place where they could be alone. She wanted him back.
This was another cruel punishment, then.
Gadget waited for President Snow to step out of the train, but he never did.
Finally, someone stepped out. But it wasn't even one of Snow's ministers. Or an escort.
It wasn't even someone from the Capitol.
It was Burgundy Volke. The District One victor of the 40th Hunger Games.