she_sells_seashells | in a supposed democracy

Snow's death is announced on television the day after it happens. The announcer speaks of "sudden illness".

There are going to be emergency elections to replace him in three days. Without advance notice and the standard scheduling of elections, they're going to be setting up polling places in the Capitol at a limited number of sites. Some outlying neighborhoods will be served by schools and the like. But most of the city will be congregating at the Memorial Dome to cast their votes for the next president.

(There follow thirty solid minutes of campaign ads. The district imports comptroller, the chairman of the traffic control commission and former Gamemaker, the deceased Snow's personal assistant, and a handful of lesser individuals are running. Bell hates them all.)

"Suppose the Memorial Dome caught fire," she says to Sherlock and Tony, frowning at the TV.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

From:

ferratus

"I have friends. The kind of friends who'll send a train if I say I wanna visit."

From:

she_sells_seashells

"Will I be stowing away again, then?"

From:

ferratus

"Yeah. Although how much hiding you have to do depends on who I call."

From:

she_sells_seashells

"...Should I be feeling vaguely sketchy about you calling Capitol friends to get things done? Or should I not even ask that question?"

From:

ferratus

"If you're talking about how I met them, then yep. Sketch as hell."

From:

she_sells_seashells

"But not so sketchy that you wanted Isabella to curse any of them for you?"

From:

ferratus

"Nope."

From:

she_sells_seashells

"Okay." Bell is now done asking questions about that. "The train station's at least functional enough again that a train could appear at it and stop and accept passengers. The next question is where to put me. I can do it from a block away, but I won't be able to see as much detail about what I'm doing. If I'm up close I can start the fire near a celebratory torch or a heating vent with something flammable near it, and it won't look as suspicious. Are any of the friends you could call observant enough to find it suspicious that our train station catches fire and then we get on a train at it and then the Memorial Dome catches fire?"

From:

ferratus

"Some of 'em, but I'm not gonna call those ones."

From:

she_sells_seashells

"Okay, good. Where can we put me relative to the Memorial Dome without getting caught?"

From:

sicaria

"As close as you like," says Sherlock. "I will take care of that part."

From:

she_sells_seashells

"You're victors, you can show up anywhere and people will just assume you have a reason to be there, but insofar as I'm recognizable at all it's not in a way that has me looking like I belong in the Capitol," says Bell slowly. "I certainly don't look like I live there; I'm covered entirely in colors that are found in nature. You have some place where I won't be looked at and still has a good view out?"

From:

sicaria

"We can alter your appearance so that you fit in just fine, which will also make you unlikely to be recognized."

From:

she_sells_seashells

"Ah," says Bell. "Uh, do we have specific alterations in mind here? I can live with dyeing my hair blue and painting little white triangles all over my face, but I'm less enthusiastic about cosmetic surgery."

From:

sicaria

"Superficial adjustments will be sufficient," she says. "Plenty of people who live in the Capitol have no surgical alterations at all."

From:

she_sells_seashells

"Okay. Dye and makeup and one ridiculous Capitol-fashion outfit from Bar, I guess, and then I stand around looking like I'm... waiting for somebody? before I go in and vote? and find a place to start the fire, and then I suppose I have to run away looking terrified when everyone else does - where can I go then? I don't strictly need to see what I'm doing but I can keep the collateral damage down much better if I can."

From:

sicaria

"I can accompany you if you like," says Sherlock. "I have some leeway to wander around the city by myself."

From:

she_sells_seashells

"Even with the Memorial Dome on fire? You don't think a Peacekeeper will insist on escorting 'you and your friend' to a safe place?" asks Bell. "Even if you can take a Peacekeeper, having to take a Peacekeeper isn't very discreet."

From:

sicaria

"I am very good at finding places to hide and then hiding in them. I cannot tell you right now from memory a good vantage from which to watch the Memorial Dome burn without being disturbed, but I can find one when we get there."

From:

she_sells_seashells

"Okay," says Bell. "We'll go with that, then. Since Tony can't always find a door - might be a good idea to look for one to Capitolize me starting now? I completely made up the triangles and blue hair thing, does that make any sense or should it be something else?"

From:

sicaria

"That would be adequate but perhaps not optimal," she says. "Geometry is good... I will think about it."

From:

ferratus

Tony gets up and opens a door.

From:

she_sells_seashells

"Nice, first try," says Bell, getting up. "May as well start with the blue hair. I know blue hair is a thing. Unless it became terribly last season when I wasn't looking."