The Last Straw [Chase]

Another one. How many times has Gwen Halls been traded? She lost count years ago. To many Capitolites found her defective with her mood swings and general attitude. At the moment Gwen was standing on the gray curb in front of the Training Center. She had often stood here with other Avoxes but today she was alone. The sky was letting a light drizzle meet the ground, just enough to wet the concrete but no enough to make puddles. The fidgety man next to her, who was frowning at her files, held an umbrella to protect his green hair from the tiny, harmless droplets. The man, whom Gwen had waited with on this very curb before, was shifting through files. After flipping many papers over and examining the words printed on them he looked at the avox and gave her a look that almost held... concern?

"Don't mess this up," He told her. They held eye contact for a moment before Mr. Fidget broke it to pretend to be reading from his clipboard. Gwen's stomach sank, what had that meant? Had she ticked off to many Captiol citizens? Was this her last chance it get it right? If she messed this job up would they... No, no they would not, the morals of it. Morals? Gwen huffed out breath which had replaced her laugh after the surgery. It was a mere whisper, a subtle snort that couldn't hold a candle to her original giggle, but that sound would never again escape her lips. So now she huffed the soft whisper at the thought of the Capitol having morals. They killed children on TV! the muffled snort sounded when she thought of herself having morals, which really was a laugh. Gwen had given up on those when she arrived at the Capitol and they took away her ability to speak them.

Déjà vu hit Gwen as the sleek black car pulled up again. Would this be her last ride in the car? A cold shiver ran up her back at the thought but followed the green haired man she had waited with into the car. Passing the City Circle and the Style District they started passing the towering apartment buildings of the residential areas. The car pulled in front of a large building. No large isn't the right word. In fact Gwen could not even find a word to describe this building. Candy colored glass that reached up into the clouds. The avox was reaching for the door handle when the car lurched forward and pulled into an alley way. The back way. Gwen hardly ever went in through the dazzling front entrances of Capitol buildings, instead she was escorted through the service areas which were still better than anything back home in the Districts.

Up stair ways and elevators until finally the green haired man turned onto a floor. Looking out the hallway window, Gwen almost fainted. She didn't want to dwindle on how far they were up in this massive building and looked straight forward the rest of the walk down the corridor. Mr. Fidget stopped in front of a door that was obviously owned by a Capitol citizen. He had abandoned his umbrella in the car and the various stair ways we had climbed had made him break out in a sweat. Under the gleaming brow, his eyes were saying something a lot different. They were pouring into Gwen and for half a second she understood what this job meant. Mr. Fidget quickly snapped his gaze to the door and rang the bell. Gwen straightened up and put on her best Avox face, a humble servant willing to do anything you ask. Well maybe not anything.