the theater - part ii

[productions]

the theatre



You awaken in a darkened theatre.

In front of you is an enormous cinema screen. On it plays everything that's currently happening in the mansion, accompanied by appropriate sound effects and background instrumentals when fitting. The seat you're sitting on is large and plush, and while there's many of them, there's enough room in the theatre for you to fully recline the seat into a comfortable bed if you wish. Under each seat is a sleeping mask and noise-cancelling headphones, in case you'd like to take a break from watching the show.

Follow the stairs up and you'll reach what should be the projection room. There are no projectors in here, however; it is simply a large and well-lit room above the main seating area, and a good place to hang out with your fellow eliminated contestants if shouting at each other across the aisles proves too much to handle.

If you leave the theatre through the door in the back, you'll find yourself in a hall. On one end is a concession stand. It's stocked with standard movie snacks - popcorn, candy and the like - but if you're feeling the urge for something else, you'll be able to find it stocked somewhere in the back. On the other end is a table with thirty wrapped bags and a placard reading 'A star for our stars! Please accept these lovely giftbags as a token of appreciation for your hard work, sponsored by [illegible smudge]'. Each bag has a tag bearing the name of someone in the mansion; you will only be able to open the bag with your name on it. As soon as you open it, any memories that have been taken from you, including those of the other people in the mansion that you may have forgotten, will be returned in their entirety. Within the bag are also objects from your home that you may want for your stay here, though you will find no weapons.

There are no other doors in the hall save for the one leading back into the theatre room. There are also no windows; it is impossible to tell where you are and what is going on in the outside world. Any attempts to break out will fail. So in the meantime, why not sit back and enjoy the show?

Comments

Kaoru

[pandacea]

[The doors open again, this time on May. Her gaze darts over everyone frantically as she swallows, not wanting to look at the people she's condemning to die. She forces herself to fix her eyes on the ones they've agreed to leave behind anyway. She knows she is making a selfish decision here - the least she can do is own up to it instead of hiding from the consequences of her decision.]

I'm so sorry...I'm so sorry, everyone--!

Kaoru, please take my hand....

[souredsweet]

[the person who steps forward when Kaoru's name is called doesn't have much of the delicate air that he had left behind in the manor; elegance, surely, but a steely kind. his hair is cut short now, too, visually reflective of this change - this shedding of the persona that he had worn for nearly two months.

he stares at May for only a second or two, conflict plain on his face, but he won't waste any time. they can talk on the other side, after all. he gives a brief backwards glance into the theater - particularly toward Clyde and Touko, who he had grown very close to - but his expression remains fixed even then.

wordlessly, he reaches out to take May's hand.]

[pandacea]

[She's glad, in a distant way, that he looks as troubled by her decision as she is. If his expression had been pleased or smug or even the cold tranquility he had worn after his trial, it may have been enough for her to shove him back into the theater and damn the consequences. At least now she knows that even with the mask off, she hadn't been fooled by him again.

Perhaps she is just a foolish little girl. Perhaps he is no more deserving of a second chance than anyone else in this place is. It doesn't matter. She's made her choice - the two of them can bear the guilt and responsibility for it together.

She grabs onto his hand, her eyes dry and her face determined as she pulls them into the living world.