Anthem - Day 3

Artemie's chin slips off his palm, drooping eyelids torn open suddenly. In his attempt to catch himself, his elbow smacks against a button on the control panel and the Anthem begins to blare over the loudspeakers. Fifteen minutes too early. "Meant to do that." He assures Lauren and Ekram, laughing aloud "It's a boring anthem anyway. Might as well get it over with." It's not his fault he was dozing, their tributes had spend the better part of the evening playing with worms and bones.

Those animatronics were pretty cool, though, Artemie had to give that to Ekram. He had nothing but respect for their puppeteer, in fact he watched the man carefully as if to memorize all the ways he knew how to pull on strings. "I think it's time we let her out to play. She was so much fun to watch when she was alive." Artemie looks over the screens towering over him. Each remaining tributes flickering back at him, subject to the anthem with no ghosts in the sky.

He should ask Lauren if he wants to start placing bets on who will survive, is that unprofessional?

"Imagine how much better she'll perform now that she's entirely under our control."

Artemie is slow and deliberate as he turns up the temperature in the arena, before flicking the switch at the center of the console.

"Good luck, Portia."

The anthem fades and you realize there's still ten tributes left between you and victory. A strong wind picks through the idle dunes, sending sand and stardust skittering across the sprawling landscape. The sand is parched, gorged on blood one day and starving the next. You should fear the consequences of starving.

The neon lights stain the sky as the sun descends below the horizon, it takes much longer for the heat to fade than it did yesterday.

Congratulations on surviving Day 2!