graveyard pt 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 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]

["All the Hakuoki characters" is a good plan in general. For all Kanaya knows there are even more hiding as the people Chizuru was protecting (though she's still unclear on just how central they were and that makes her eyes twitch). Frowning at the tray as she realizes the association (though Chizuru does not want to hear her awful aggrandizing idiolect) Kanaya takes out a second tray. Though it's the same time, this brings the total up to eight.]

We can put in three each... or we could put one on the top and one on the bottom of the stack?

[derepressed]

Mm...

[She takes one of the trays and starts placing drinks in them experimentally - first she does three, just to see how it feels when carrying them that way.]

...it's unbalanced like this. If we're in a hurry, it may cause more problems than it solves.

[speakveryclearly]

[Frowns.]

It does look very precarious in practice. We could make some strategic cuts and rearrange the receptacles into an even shape, but then the tray itself would have less structural integrity. We might have to just put the drinks into a bag...?

[derepressed]

...but if the cups jostled each other and the lids came off, that would be so messy...

[A DILEMMA.]

[speakveryclearly]

[The struggle is real.]

We could box them but that will take a lot of time and even then there's still a risk.

[if they all have to individually carry them she's just walking out already]

[derepressed]

...

[She looks down at the drink trays again, a little dubiously.]

Maybe if we're very careful, it will be alright, even if there are four...

[speakveryclearly]

[Kanaya believes in Chizuru's ability to overcome her fears!!] I'd always gotten the impression their numerology, when applicable, was more "Western" anyway.

[derepressed]

[don't believe in that kanaya so many people have gotten hurt for believing in that]

...mm. If it's Western numbering, and none of us are speaking Japanese, it should be perfectly fine. [She'll just... uncertainly put in the fourth cup...]

[speakveryclearly]

[Success... success... she really hopes they don't come to regret that. And this is Murder Manor, meaning that they will, even if it's just that they made too much tea. But this is the best idea they have, and the tray hasn't started floating at them yet.]

The boxes will be easier to seal, though up until now I haven't bothered with giving them tops. [She kneels to pick up a bunch of those. Her plan is to demonstrate the theory before they select any actual foods]

[derepressed]

It shouldn't be too difficult to do. [She takes one of the boxes from Kanaya's bunch and slips her hands under them to demonstrate by pushing at the edges.] This... "cardboard," it's more flexible than it looks. So long as we don't pack them too fully, it should work.

[speakveryclearly]

Yeah... [With a flat hand she indicates an as-of-yet imaginary surface over the edges of the box.] Below this level should be largely safe.

[She takes the thin edge of another box between her fingers.] I take these apart for the internal dividers. In fact using them as lids will be less wasteful. [Essentially two edges can be made into a cross for quadrants. She notches them with a tear in the middle to demonstrate the theory, but:] We might use a knife for these since they'll be transported further.