Test Drive Meme

[etcircenses]

Welcome to Panem. You have been selected to participate in the 75th Annual Hunger Games!

Premise: This Arena is designed to be a small mock arena not all that dissimilar to the in-game arenas we run here at The Games. The party is similar to some of the gathering logs we have inside the Capitol when an Arena begins. Our hope is to give new and prospective players a place to get their feet wet, and get a feel for the fun (and bloody) mess that goes on around here.

This meme is open to anyone and everyone who would like to play. Current cast members, veteran and new, as well as anyone just wanting top drop in and have some fun!

How To Play.

Current cast members - you may tag into this arena in any way you choose, even cast members who aren't or are no longer tributes.

***An important side note, as it is within the confines of the Area in-game, all powers are lessened/nullified to bring any character down to a vincible level. (I.E. Make more magical/super-powered characters easier to actually kill for a normal person). Rule of thumb: If it's a physical difference, the Capitol will not mutilate it out (wings, etc), but other wise it's gone.

The Arena.

Tributes are raised in a circle around the Cornucopia; they are all dressed in safari outfits, including the little hats, and slathered in bug spray and sunscreen. They look amongst each other at the start of the Cornucopia. At the center of the circle is a fountain where a dancing hippo spits water into a circular pool around it. There's an engraving in embossed letters around the one-foot rim of the pool: PANEM NATIONAL ZOO.

Floating in the water of the brass fountain are supplies that the Tributes should find useful: medical kits, sleeping bags, and most importantly, weapons. Ropes, bo staffs, nunchuks, daggers and spears are all in ready supply a mere hundred yard sprint from the Tributes.

There are four paths away from the Cornucopia - into a swampy pit to the south, which, unbeknownt to Tributes, hosts alligators and crocodiles who've missed their scheduled feeding. To the west, into a dark building where boxes cut into the walls reveal that there were once tanks for creepy crawlies, but the glass has been removed. Through a gift-shop to the north, stuffed with plush animals (many of which are filled with razor blades, or other sweet little surprises). Or down an asphalt pathway to the east, winding through tall cages that may provide shelter from the other Tributes - but not necessarily the enclosure's inhabitants.

The countdown blares out in the humid air.

3...2...1...

Let the Games begin.

-/-

The Party.

Back in the Capitol, the Cornucopia is being celebrated with a lavish party. Animal couture is all the rage, and Capitol celebrities have dressed for the occasion by having their teeth elongated and their irises surgically altered to give the appearance of slit pupils. The wine is flowing freely, and the centerpiece of this particular viewing party is what appears to be a pig the size of a hippopotamus being roasted on a spit.

Screens throughout the large ballroom in which this takes place are showing the gruesome footage of the first bloodbath of what promises to be a delightfully ugly Arena. Tongueless Avoxes carry platters with little quail eggs in cups, silently offering them to all the guests. Caesar Flickerman, trademark blue hair now replaced by what appear to be feathers growing directly from his scalp, announces every gorey detail between oohing and ahhing over the dinner. Tributes die; Citizens feast.

Everyone who's anyone is invited.

Comments

Luna Lovegood / Capitol Bioengineer / Party

[delightfulloony]

Ms. Lovegood was in awe of the splendor of her first fancy Capitol party. She had toiled hard for a number of years now creating and tending to Muttations for the arena and now...perhaps as a joke, she had been invited.

The reasoning was a mystery to her as she was not the most popular scientist in the lab, but perhaps word had spread of her "creative" stories.

Or perhaps, people in the resistance had caught word that she was tired of seeing her biological masterpieces destroyed in the arena and wanted to contact her in a public place.

Either was she was there, with talon boots, a golden dress and beautiful little wings flapping casually on her back with each step. By far the most eye catching feature was her lion headdress.

Finding a comfortable place on the sidelines she sipped a glass of punch and explained to some unfortunate party guest about how the "Mr. Fizz" soda company was sponsoring the universal transportation research because they had mined too deeply out in District 12 and the planet was off balance.

Re: Luna Lovegood / Capitol Bioengineer / Party

[omnicorp]

Most guests try to avoid Ms. Lovegood; politely, of course, but the excuses range from finding the restroom to an emergency wardrobe adjustment.

Raymond Sellars isn't one of those people.

He has a reputation for the unorthodox, even for the Capitol, and while he might not indulge in the latest fashions (he always, always settles for so-comfortable-it's-fashionable-again), he does have a keen ear for business. That keen ear says that he's very interested in what Mr. Fizz is doing and he believes that it's worth the risk of getting his eye poked out by Ms. Lovegood's atrocious lion headdress. Raymond leans away slightly to avoid the lion as he sips at his champagne, privately thinks that this party could have done so much better on the drink selection, and smiles and nods.

"Interesting," Raymond says and means it. "Ms. Lovegood, you really should go into a different business! Consulting, maybe. You'd be incredible. It's a crime they keep you in muttations after all these years."

After the party, Raymond's company OmniCorp will immediately start digging up dirt on Mr. Fizz, edging it out so they can take over sponsorship of the research. Thanks to Ms. Lovegood's tip, he's confident he's got one up on another minor rival.

Re: Luna Lovegood / Capitol Bioengineer / Party

[delightfulloony]

She smiled warmly at his praise "I enjoy working with the Muttations." She explained. "I have plenty of new things to work with every day." Her deep eyes seemed to radiate peace and calm.

"Seeing a Muttation brought to life is a life changing experience really. It shows us how far science has come. I only wish so much of it didn't have to be destroyed."

Re: Luna Lovegood / Capitol Bioengineer / Party

[omnicorp]

"Maybe you should suggest mutts that don't have to be destroyed," Raymond has to dodge the hat again. Maybe if he'd bothered to come with his own eyesore of a hat, he'd at least have a line of defense against Ms. Lovegood. "Think bigger than the Arena!"

He can think of plenty of applications. The problem is after the war, muttations seem to be restricted to just the Hunger Games when they could be used much, much more widely. Unfortunately Raymond's line of work is usually weaponry and transportation, not biological research: if he wants a piece of that pie, he'll need Ms. Lovegood's help.

Re: Luna Lovegood / Capitol Bioengineer / Party

[delightfulloony]

She watched him thoughtfully, taking perhaps too long to answer like something in his eyes had distracted her.

"It's a slow process. They're gradually becoming more comfortable with the idea of Muttations in the Capitol, like the tribbles. But they want most of our focus to be on creating unique creatures that the audience can be amazed by."

And oh what a strain it was sometimes. Scientists without an abundance of ideas or imagination never lasted long. Some had even resorted to drugs to help their inspiration come.

"But I think you're right, we should be thinking bigger then the arena." she added cryptically. Glancing up at the screen she smiled seeing one of her Lion-beasts giving chase to a speedy little tribute.

Re: Luna Lovegood / Capitol Bioengineer / Party

[hit_girl_mindy]

There was no reason at all to be talking to the nut job that was Luna Lovegood, at least not by any of the standards that Mindy usually kept. Her interactions at parties like this were usually clipped with a familiarity of the Games, a willingness to talk about the Capitol in the most casual of voices, and even then, it was never a stylist. Yet here she was, being amicable.

Granted, their conversation was even more unorthodox.

"And you're sure, that the planet is going to be turned upside down in a few years time?"

Re: Luna Lovegood / Capitol Bioengineer / Party

[delightfulloony]

She didn't seem to confirm or deny it with the peaceful way she smiled, she just enjoyed that someone was engaging her.

"Of course the polar ice caps will have melted and flooded us so it will be impossible to tell anymore."

Re: Luna Lovegood / Capitol Bioengineer / Party

[hit_girl_mindy]

Oh why not? Mindy needed a little bit of madness in her that wasn't her own, right?

"That's pretty tragic. Can't imagine the Capitol will want to sit in their hands while that happens."

Re: Luna Lovegood / Capitol Bioengineer / Party

[delightfulloony]

"Likely not." Luna agreed. "I'm hoping that if the Terraforming efforts fail they'll consider my plan to give everyone gills so we may live and explore in that sort of world."

The mysteries of the deepest ocean were still that even after all these years and so much technology had been created.

Re: Luna Lovegood / Capitol Bioengineer / Party

[hit_girl_mindy]

"Somehow I don't see the Capitol doing that," Mindy said. "Do they usually buy into your theories?"

Re: Luna Lovegood / Capitol Bioengineer / Party

[delightfulloony]

"Not usually." He placid expression didn't waver in the slightest. "I'm used to being ignored. It's understandable." She explained calmly.

"Whatever happens, is going to happen. All I can do is offer my advice and do my job." She concluded.

Re: Luna Lovegood / Capitol Bioengineer / Party

[hit_girl_mindy]

"Sounds depressing," Mindy said. "They should use you to their full potential. Who knows what useful info you have?"

Thinking of Penny, she made a face. "Then again, maybe you shouldn't be their top dog."

Re: Luna Lovegood / Capitol Bioengineer / Party

[delightfulloony]

If Luna was bothered by Mindy's face she didn't show it.

"I enjoy my work. Being able to create new and interesting creatures is fun. Even if they only get to live for a short while." So much work that had only lasted for so long.

"But even if they don't last for long, it's still nice. Like a smile."

Re: Luna Lovegood / Capitol Bioengineer / Party

[hit_girl_mindy]

"I guess? And you're fine, seeing them die over and over?"

Actually, there was another question she had: if she was actually ok with what these animals DID.

Re: Luna Lovegood / Capitol Bioengineer / Party

[delightfulloony]

Luna's eyes seemed to be focused on something just beyond Mindy's shoulder as she answered softly in that distracted sort of manner.

"We all have our purpose in life. Some are just more tragic." She commented idly.

"It's not their fault for being created for a purpose that's more clear then most people."

Re: Luna Lovegood / Capitol Bioengineer / Party

[hit_girl_mindy]

Mindy couldn't help but look dubious. In a way, maybe that made sense. In another, the ripping and tearing of skin and bone for sport was something no one should have to stomach.

"So they're ok because people are fucked up more? That logic is losing me."

Re: Luna Lovegood / Capitol Bioengineer / Party

[delightfulloony]

"Is that what you think?" Luna asked thoughtfully, looking and sounding genuinely curious like Mindy had been the one to suggest that line of thought in the first place. Or perhaps Mindy had misunderstood her?

Re: Luna Lovegood / Capitol Bioengineer / Party

[hit_girl_mindy]

"It's what you SAID. You said their 'purpose' is clearer than most people, and they're not at fault. But they're still ripping and killing people, which most agree is pretty bad. Technically, yeah, they're made for a purpose. To kill us. It's horrifying to anyone still running in the games, knowing someone is building a better and more efficient monster skilled at fucking up their day."

Re: Luna Lovegood / Capitol Bioengineer / Party

[delightfulloony]

She listened carefully to Mindy's reasoning, though her eyes seemed always to wander. It was hard not to with so much going on.

Still when her eyes settled on Mindy's they seemed to look right through her.

"An interesting philosophical question then." She mused.

"Are the creatures bad, because they were created to do something that the creators believe is a bad thing? The creatures only behave as they were intended to. So if they do as they were intended they are considered a success. But if they are successful at something that you dislike to that in turn make them bad?"

She didn't seem offended, nor even bothered by Mindy's feelings. Just curious.
"Or is that a matter of perception?"

Re: Luna Lovegood / Capitol Bioengineer / Party

[hit_girl_mindy]

"If you ask the people they munch on, I'm sure you won't find them thinking about how the poor creatures are just being used for the purpose of entertainment. More likely they're thinking 'ah, you fucker, stop eating me, my insides.' That kind of shit. It's not that I can't agree with what you're saying: I'm just not at the liberty of putting myself in the place of the monster. Got my tributes to think about."

In a truth, Luna was right. In theory, Luna was. But in reality, when she was watching her tributes attacked and savaged, she couldn't really muster the sympathy.

Re: Luna Lovegood / Capitol Bioengineer / Party

[delightfulloony]

"That's reasonable." Luna agreed before adding "Though some would say that there's little difference between the Muttations and the Tributes except that the Muttations can't win."

Which was a roundabout saying that humans were not that different from the monsters.

"But we all are influenced by our positions in life. Our experiences."

Re: Luna Lovegood / Capitol Bioengineer / Party

[hit_girl_mindy]

"The difference is that the muttations are there for the purpose of blood, and only blood. The tributes are there for the sport. We're the performers. In order to live, we have to be smarter and more brutal than the monsters."

So yeah, Mindy actually agreed with you there.

"Oh, definitely. That's probably true even for you, right?"

Re: Luna Lovegood / Capitol Bioengineer / Party

[delightfulloony]

She offered a gentle nod.

"Even if I try to make sure I look at things from all sides, I know where I begin." It was a very zen sort of statement despite being so simple.

"I've asked if it would be possible for the Muttations to win. Just once. They were not very receptive."

Re: Luna Lovegood / Capitol Bioengineer / Party

[hit_girl_mindy]

Yeah, this girl. There was something annoying about how she was technically right about the things she said, even though she knew they were wrong and pissed her off.

"Well, you know the answer will be no. Can you imagine if a Muttation won? Things were bad enough for them when Katniss did."

Re: Luna Lovegood / Capitol Bioengineer / Party

[delightfulloony]

A slow relaxed blink, like she was in a waking dream.

"How do you mean? Katniss is one of our most celebrated victors."

Either it was a rhetorical question, or she didn't know about the rebellions.