Author Games: Dacnomania Nexus Accourt

Letter from Leporis Honeyman - The Twist

TOP SECRET. NOT TO BE REMOVED FROM THE GAMEMAKER COMPLEX ON THREAT OF IMPRISONMENT.

Dear Gamemakers and staff,

Following the delivery of the information requested, my staff and I have come to a final decision on the abilities to be attributed to each individual tribute. Due to the amount of planning, these are totally and completely final. The range may be wider than you are expecting, as during the two years of experimentation, science has moved forwards enough to allow possibilities that there were not before. The longest of modifications will take no more than two days, thereby fitting perfectly with schedule and slotting between the Parade and the Assessments, in place of training.

For your convenience, we are providing a list of the abilities which will be attributed to the tributes, as well as a brief explanation of the extent and limitations of the aforementioned ability.

Efflorescence, Shardonnay – elasticity. The ability to stretch limbs to an extra half of their length at will. Otherwise known as ‘rubber-limbs’, the extended limbs also have the ability to twist at will. Limitations: lack of control.

Bloom, Laurent – night vision. The ability to see at night as if it were daylight. Limitations: no perks during the day.

Blake, Bellona – super-speed. The ability to run at extreme speeds almost beyond human comprehension for a short space of time. Limitations: can only be used for short stretches of time, usually five-ten seconds. Requires at least a half-hour’s recovery time per ten second burst.

Garroway, Vilmos – super-strength. Enhanced strength; tests on Avoxes have shown that although the actual outcome is highly individualised, all test subjects are able to lift up to twice their usual strength. Limitations: lack of discipline could lead to a loss of control over the ability.

Spark, Dayta – perception alteration. The ability to cause brief, intense hallucinations in others. Limitations: requires strong focus, leaving the test subject vulnerable. Even with strong focus, the hallucinations are hard to control. Hallucinations last for five seconds at most. Mentally draining.

Dynalad, Luminio – sui-precognition. One of our toughest challenges; the ability to see a few seconds into the immediate future. Limitations: can only see incidents relating directly to the tribute themselves. Can only see a few seconds prior and has almost no control over the visions. Temporarily disables the tribute.

Trout, Sirena – hydrokinesis. The ability to control water with the hands. Limitations: physically draining (recovery time typically ten to fifteen minutes for five seconds controlling 100ml of water). Can only use water that is already available.

Ericus, Cander – temporary invisibility. The ability to become completely invisible for several seconds. Limitations: only affects cells containing the tribute’s DNA (so clothes will not be affected). Can only be used for brief, ten second bursts, requiring a whole hour of recovery time.

Nocturne, Rhea – contortion. The ability to manipulate the body to fit into small spaces with ease. Limitations: can cause stiffness of the joints when the body remains still for prolonged periods of time.

Vuider, Matthew – photographic memory. Perfect recall of everything seen before. Limitations: have so far been unable to recover lost pre-alteration memories.

Davenport, Opal – enhanced gymnastic ability. Improvement of body’s natural flexibility to the bounds of non-enhanced possibility. Exceptional balance. Limitations: if left to normal tasks for two to three hours, the muscles stiffen to normal very quickly. Requires constant warm-up.

Winthrow, Benjamin – mild telepathy. Ability to see the thoughts of others. Limitations: requires strong concentration, rendering the tribute vulnerable while the ability is in use. Not everybody is susceptible to reading.

Fortis, Circe – enhanced empathy. Ability to read the emotions of others with ease and accurately, whatever they are attempting to portray. Limitations: cannot be turned off and is often distracting. (drove one test subject mad as they were unable to work in a crowded environment).

Woods, Caleb – binocular vision. Enhanced vision; can see up to two times further without losing clarity. Limitations: can be a strain on the eyes when they are tested to the full extent on an untrained subject.

Gregory, Natalia – latiores-precognition. Ability to see a few seconds into the future. Differs from Luminio in that visions are only seen that do not include the self. Limitations: visions are impossible to control and hard to place, as they do not involve the test subject. Mentally draining.

Vuiton, Seward – empathetic manipulation. The ability to briefly manipulate the emotions of others. Limitations: cannot influence strong emotions. Requires extreme concentration to continue for any time over five minutes. Relies on the tribute being able to accurately judge the emotion of the target.

Erik, Dylan – pogopremineo. Otherwise known as ‘springy-feet’. Allows the tribute to jump up to two and a half times their own height from a two-footed standing position and more than three times their own length. Limitations: extended us can be physically draining. Landing ability relies on the balance of the tribute.

Durum, Pepito – emotional suppression. The ability to withhold almost all emotion. Limitations: currently unable to repress strong and violent emotions such as love and hate. Extended use can lead to violent and unpredictable behaviour.

Levinon, Fayra – feline claws. One of the more simple ‘abilities’. The tribute will be fitted with retractable claws, similar to those of a cat and which project from the fingertips. Limitations: without extreme care and discipline, the claws tend to appear and retract at random moments.

Scarlett, Hatice – desceased. Cause of death: extreme stress leading to heart attack in surgery. Replaced by:

Tommy Barton - super-strength. See Garroway, Vilmos.

Drimore, Elesa – photosynthokinesis. The ability to control plants. Limitations: requires intense concentration, therefore rendering the tribute vulnerable. Mentally draining, requiring a recovery time of one hour for every five minutes of controlling a biomass of 500 grams.

Winsor, Rowan – enhanced stamina. Test subjects have shown stamina increases of up to 50% and have been able to go for forty eight hours without sleep. It is believed that, when pushed, this figure can rise to sixty. Limitations: does not improve physical ability of tribute, only ability to continue for longer.

Lasair, Colére – tempoalteration. The ability to manipulate body temperature. Limitations: the body’s natural limits remain (several early test subjects have frozen or heated themselves to death). Is limited to the tribute’s own body only. Recovery time of ten minutes for every degree of difference.

Thorne, Strider – super-speed. See Blake, Bellona.

Masen, Cara – heightened reflexes. Modifies response time to be almost instantaneous. Limitations: has been known to cause dramatic alterations to test subjects, making them jumpy and leaving them unable to focus.

War, Atilius – super-strength. See Garroway, Vilmos.

Cabot-Elphinstone, Orchid – temporary empathy manipulation (extreme). The ability to manipulate and cause extreme emotions in others. Limitations: requires intense concentration, leaving the tribute vulnerable. Effects are short-lived (one minute maximum) and violent reactions from subjects have been known to occur. Mentally draining, requiring at least half an hour of total rest for recovery.

Cola, Lynx – enhanced stamina. See Winsor, Rowan.

Any questions are to be directed to me at my usual address. My staff and I look forwards to your exemplary company during the Parade and offer our best wishes for the Games.

Yours,

Mr. L. Honeyman and staff