137 FIFTH BLAST

"Let me tell you what I wish I'd known

When I was young and dreamed of glory:

You have no control

Who lives, who dies, who tells your story."

Avarette de la Lune, 28, Head gamemaker

Stars and stripes, Ava feels old. She never meant to be in this job, she didn't choose it, didn't run into the Capitol's arms like a lamb to the slaughter, as many assume, but still she is here. And she cannot afford to wallow in the sorrows of somebody else, to think too hard about what she is doing, because there's a baby to care for. A mouth to feed.

Avarette knows that many call her cunning, meddlesome and remorseless; some even label her frivolous. Let them. She will not sink so low as to allow their assumptions to dictate her joy—what little there is left.

"Hi yes, I'd like to speak to the president please and thank you!" she rattles off to the doorwoman on the other side of the buzzer.