these are monitored lines [pierre/vasco]

V A S C O

How much more work was there to be done with an election that was called the moment no one had stood in opposition?

A wave had been building inside of me since the lock-down. Watching silos burned to the ground and my people starved, it was as though I’d come through the other side, ashes at my feet with a steady determination that’d been missing. As though all the grief that the capitol had threatened us with had been burnt up with those fields, escaped to the sky and disappeared.

Freedom had come with no one to run against; now was the time to bring together not just the district, but to convince the hearts and minds outside these walls that a change was coming.

I spent hours pacing around my office taking visitors and constructing an array of initiatives for the next year. Imposed training for any peacekeeper that would set foot on our soil. An incentive system for donating and delivering from our food pantries. Road paving, and a look to trade for materials that could let our citizens get their hands on bikes to get around the district.

When the phone rang, I’d been writing out thoughts on a proposal for citizen enforcement (an alternative to the overseers that broke backs and imposed harsher punishments).

“Pierre! Amigo! It’s been some time,” He was in the unenviable position of running against a family member. I couldn’t imagine it – though when I tried, I kept finding Elias’s face popping up (that made sense). “A visit? You’re welcome any time you would like, after you’ve won. You know, I was hoping to invite a few of you after the elections anyway. Maybe have a summit to talk about all of our ideas.”

I smiled as I twisted the cord of the receiver between my index finger. “You know. For the better of Panem.”

V A S C O

District Eight had been the last visit before the whole of panem had locked down. Pierre and Birdie had been kind enough to show me a window into the world of eight, but I couldn’t help but feel a sense of guilt for all that’d they’d gone through, too. When Pierre mentioned the issues with eleven, I thought of the burning fields and flaming silos. Whoever had managed to start them left no real clues, at least, not enough for us to figure out who they’d been.

Emma had mentioned the case that it may not have been one of us, either.

“Birdie is such a delight, Pierre. I’m so happy to hear from her. It’d be good to have you both in eleven,” I replied. His sister had kept in touch, through letters and even a phone call. It was the mark of someone who, struggle as she might, knew the important of friendship. “Yes – it was a pity what happened here and there.”

I paused a moment, and shifted in my seat.

“Strange days. All of those things happening at once. I wish we’d been able to be in touch. How nice it would’ve been for all the mayors to be able to work together to address a national tragedy, hmm?"

V A S C O

I was relieved to hear Pierre agree. Not that he didn’t seem the pragmatic sort of man, but he felt a bit stuck, to put it lightly. Perhaps that was the culture of eight, stiff at first glance with plenty more lurking underneath. In this part of eleven we’d always worn our hearts on our sleeves, so it was harder to judge those that kept to their own and stuck to pleasantries. I liked him, though. He’d been the sort of man that would do the right thing, even if it took some urging.

“Well, to be honest, even without anyone to run against, it’s been rather freeing. I can talk about what’s important to me, what I’d like the district to stand for,” I looked out the window toward the square. “There’s been so much change the past year, it feels as though there’s a hunger for more, you know? And I’ve put a lot of thought into how we talk about how to fix things, but – I want to go for something bigger than that.”

I thought about the explosions in the square those years ago.

“We have a real chance, Pierre. I spent so much time thinking about how to fix this district last time, I got lost in the forest for the trees. It’s not the district, it’s…” I twisted the cord between my fingers again. “… it’s what’s been built to make it that way. And I want to bring people together to think of a better way. A new way.”