graveyard

[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 castle, 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.

Past the hall is another door, this one wooden and seemingly decayed. If you go inside, you'll find a fairly simple, wooden room, that is empty except for a very large machine. It is difficult to tell what the machine is for; it has a touch screen that appears to be a control panel, as well as a large open space that seems to be part of the machine, but the machine is dead and won't turn on no matter what you do.

Still, at least you aren't alone here. You have your fellow players, as well as a few guests to keep you company.

Oh, and one more thing. At midnight following each execution, once all those who've died that week have woken up, a video will begin to play on screen.

Comments

[speakveryclearly]

What?

[She can't feel her fingers twitching against their will, and Peko expressing interest in her well-being is frankly a shock on virtue of being un-tool-like alone.]

I'm alright-- [Fine is what that Justice guy says and lawyers speak a foreign language of lies and Wright has reminded her.] Just a little... surprised at this turn of events. [How does she explain this and keep her trauma tidily compartmentalized?] The producers recycled some architectural elements.

[perfectstrike]

[Peko has been doing her best about the tool thing, she really has. Since she can remember everything up to right before her execution on top of all the castle stuff.

Also Kanaya standing up and starting to glow again out of nowhere is kind of alarming in a 'what's this alien girl going to do now' kind of way.]

In what way?

[speakveryclearly]

[She literally covers her eyes with her forearm, which is technically considerate given they're huge yellow headlamps but not so effective on the "looking totally fine" front.

It must be hard, to be a tool. Kanaya still hasn't thought her way out of being a space vestal virgin. The color jade still stains her blood, after all.]

How much did you see of it? What I mean to ask is, had you ever been in there yourself, outside of the trials.

[perfectstrike]

In the smoking room? Not at all, it was a restricted area.

[And for some reason her breed of yakuza is very concerned with Following Most Rules.]

Which leaves the question of how Peixes was able to access it.

[speakveryclearly]

[Kanaya's arm relaxes at her side all at once, making a soft thump as it strikes the plush of a theater chair. Her eyes are a little less bright now as she looks at Peko, still rather fondly, but distant, no longer seeing her.] The host said at the beginning, when you were searching for secret passages, that for an arbitrary player to have one in her room would be completely unfair, and opportunities would be equal.

This leads to three conjectures for Feferi's presence out of turn. First, she found a secret passage: Probably impossible, as the post-exposure investigation is suggesting. Second, Feferi is an individual with such special privileges as the mastermind possesses: An absurd proposition given her direct, dangerous involvement in a murder.

So if Feferi were not the only person who could access the room, and yet as you yourself know the access to the room were restricted so not every contestant could enter... what is the third possibility?