Who: Fluxes and Capitolites What: Family interview When: When they were aired Where: District One Warnings: Hunger Games, etc.
“Is this thing even on?” Albus taps his microphone impatiently until one of the Avox flicks on the button on the bottom for him. He still shoots her a dirty look before sniffing the mic. Evidently it satisfies some unknown requirement when he smiles. “So,” he says, turning to look at the thinning tall boy with dark hair. “You’re Shimmer’s boyfriend?”
“Brother,” Lustre corrects.
“No, we’ll go with boyfriend,” Albus says with an impatient wave of his hand, as he pointedly ignores the odd looks given to him by the Flux family. “What do you think of Shimmer’s chances to win?”
“Undeniable,” comes the firm, confident voice of an older man - her father. “You’ve seen the grace she’s show in there.”
Albus looks sly as he says, “Well, as far as her allies are concerned, she only has one kill. Don’t you think they might see her as weak?”
Sterling shrugs. “I hope so. Underestimating her will only make it easier for her to kill them.”
“Like she did to Fannie.”
“Exactly like that,” Sterling agrees.
Albus sticks his lip out. “Don’t get me wrong - I love a good betrayal, but its even more exciting when they fight back. And I hope she works on her villainy. She’s not that compelling as the bad guy.”
Gleam, who is holding a small action-figure sized glass replica of Shimmer, jumps in front of the camera, brow furrowed in distress. “She’s not the villain!” he defends. “She’s the hero. It’s the other kids who need to die.”
Albus blinks but looks at the young boy with interest. “Are you going to volunteer for games, young man?”
Gleam’s eyes go wide. “No,” he says regretfully. “We let Shimmer eat all our food so she could.”
Albus and his camerawoman, Drusa, shift awkwardly for a moment before he says to her, “We’ll cut that out.”
The crew has moved into the back of the small house now, seeking out Shimmer’s mother. Amber is found looking out of a window in her room - she doesn’t even look when Albus greets her. Turning to Drusa he sighs and says in a loud ‘whisper’, “So, she’s as weird as her daughter.”
“EXCUSE ME,” Albus shouts louder. Over his shoulder he can see Sterling hovering. “Is she sleeping?!”
Sterling shakes his head. “No, just thinking.”
“Are you sure?”
Drusa moves across the room and waves a hand in front of her face. “It blinks at least,” she reports.
Albus throws his hand up and mumbles something about how even the people from district one are still savages.”Lets talk to the boyfriend, instead.”
Sterling doesn’t correct him.
“My sister,” Lustre stresses, “is going to have a lot of us waiting for her when she gets back.”
“What can you tell us about her here, at home?”
“Shimmer has always been really great at a lot of things. She’s been playing soccer for her school’s team for ages, and she’s been studying hard to become a mortician too. She’s always been able to think for herself and is really good on her feet. I think you’ve seen that in the arena. Even when she killed --”
Albus adjusts his spectacles and cuts in, “So, making dead people comes natural to her.”
Lustre frowns. “Well, I wouldn’t say that...”
“Would you say you love her?” Albus prods.
Lustre stares at him. “Yeah, of course. As a sister”