the theatre

[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?

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

[souredsweet]

[WHO IS DOING THIS THING... actually Kaoru knows and doesn't even bother trying to turn his head and get a better look.]

My, who could this be...?

[balzams]

Welcome...

[Even though he was worried about him before, now Latvia doesn't seem particularly thrilled that Kaoru is here. He drops the drinking straw he was holding into a paper cup about a third filled with cranberry liqueur and hands it forward]

Here, you'll probably want this after... Whatever it is that you actually drank.

[souredsweet]

Detergent. Blood. Expired juice. [he goes the whole 9 yards when it comes to making a realistic presentation, even if he has to induce vomiting to get there...

but he does look up and over toward Latvia after a few seconds, eying the cup before reaching out to take it.]

...Thank you. [it seems genuine enough. after he takes a sip:] I suppose I was not able to prove the good nature of myself to everyone as you had wished.

[balzams]

To be honest I wasn't expecting you to. Nearly everyone I thought was good natured turned out to be rather unpleasant so I didn't expect you to be any different. I doubt you really cared about any of that stuff anyway...

[With the cup out of his hands he rests his arms on the back of the seat next to Kaoru]

Oh yeah, and I heard what the hostess said. Would your prefer Miss Nagumo or Mr. Nagumo?

[souredsweet]

[that gets a bit of a laugh from him.]

It does seem as though we are all wolves wearing the wool of sheep in the end, doesn't it? With the exception of very few... Touko was right, though; you were always one of the ones far too kind for this game. [he leans his head back at that so that it's resting on the back of his own seat, allowing him a better view of Latvia. the question has him shaking his head.]

...Kaoru is fine. I am tired of the formalities, and neither title matters to me much now.

[balzams]

Really? Are you sure?

[It seems a bit too familiar, and Latvia would rather keep his distance but if that's what he wants...]

Hmm... Well I just hope everyone reveals their true colours quickly and gets this over and done with. I really need to get home soon.

[souredsweet]

If it does not bother you. [Kaoru seems vaguely amused, attuned to the discomfort and having a pretty good idea of where it comes from. he wouldn't be masterful with deception if he couldn't read people fairly well, after all.]

If we assume that the game will end once the rest of the designated killers are caught and executed, there will only be two weeks left. [a shrug! not as bad as it would be if all of the players but one had to die, anyway.]

Though I cannot say that I wish for their failure...

[balzams]

Two weeks is too long...

[The fact that he can't do anything here is what frustrates him the most]

I take it you were one of them then? So who are the others? I have a hunch that Spain is one, I knew him before I came here and it just doesn't seem like him to kill someone, no matter how superstitious he is.

[souredsweet]

[give Kaoru a day and he'll be getting just as stir-crazy... he shakes his head at that, though.]

I was indeed one of them, but I cannot recall the other two, nor the identity of the Producer. [his expression abruptly becomes venomous.] If I could remember the Producer, I would see to it that they were killed, even from this location.

[balzams]

[He really does try not to roll his eyes but some things can't be helped]

You would have thought that everyone would have learned their lesson about killing others by now...

But good luck with that, there's no way out. There's not even any windows or an outside area. All there really is left to do is just to watch everyone else go off the rails and hope the ratings are high enough to let us all go.

[Maybe it was just being trapped in an enclosed space for a week but it really was getting stuffy in here]

[souredsweet]

I will make an exception for that person. [because really, even if he can't remember the Producer's identity, he can definitely remember the all-consuming SUPER HATE that flows through his veins at just the mention of them.]

...It must have been quite difficult for the ones who have been here for weeks.

[balzams]

Mm, I can't imagine. Ukraine seems to be keeping herself busy knitting but I don't know about everyone else. I've not been here long and already I'm feeling frustrated.

The only thing you can really do is watch everyone else still in the manor, but even that's a little tiring. At this point all I really want to see is Poland's face when he finds out he's been cheating on his husband with his husband.

[souredsweet]

A week is still a while in an area as enclosed as this... What a hassle. [sighs!!

and then looks surprised... and then promptly bursts into laughter.] What? Lithuania, you mean? Oh, oh no— [OH NO COMEDY GOLD. give him a few seconds to get that down to quiet chortles.] Ah, truly... So you must all know each other, right? You nations.

[balzams]

[Latvia can't help but suppress a few giggles as well. He didn't know what he'd do if he didn't have friends from home to watch make fools of themselves]

I-it's true! In fact Lithuania is my neighbor. He and Poland used to be in a commonwealth together, I was part of it a little too. That was a long time ago...

[souredsweet]

[ah schadenfreude, the gift that keeps on giving and what truly binds them all.]

Goodness, he is going to feel quite the fool when that happens. I will have to look forward to that reaction now as well. [gold star for Latvia for giving him something to wait for!!] My... Ah, but that would explain the missing years in your journal, correct? It would seem that everyone was missing a memory or several. [again, his tone becomes a little bitter.]

[balzams]

That... Oh, no that came much later. The memories they took from me were that of being an independent nation, those years were when I was first rightfully recognised as Latvia. I remembered being in a commonwealth, I just didn't remember who with.

That really was a cruel thing to take, I nearly lost all confidence...

What about you though? What kinds of memories did you lose?

[souredsweet]

Ah... I see. So as nations who should recognize each other, the group of you had more gaps in your memories than most, surely. To think that you were forced to play as strangers, as well... [Kaoru isn't an empathetic person, really, but just the thought of being in a similar situation is enough to have his hackles raised.]

Well, cruelty is the aim of the game here. It is a good thing that such confidence has been returned to you, though. [a nod! as for the question, his expression flattens.]

I lost the memory of my only living relative's location, and I was not aware of it.

[balzams]

Well, Lithuania, Poland, Ukraine and I are all roughly from the same geographical location so it's only natural that a lot of our history is intertwined. Even if Spain is a bit further away, you can't live a few centuries without getting to know someone a little.

I see... I'm glad you remembered it then. I do wonder what kind of memories people have regained here. I didn't think about it much but you're right, depending on the person they might have a different degree of memory loss.

When you think about it it's a little unfair.

[But hey, when was this ever fair?]

[souredsweet]

True. It is clear either way that they wished for everyone to play through the game as strangers from the offset, regardless. [his nose wrinkles.]

The degree does seem to differ, and the impact as well, though they all seem to be important to the person in question. ...To be honest, though, I am quite displeased with the way mine turned out, considering my forgotten memory was the incentive given to me by the producer. [ie he was basically working for something he actually already knew all along... HE MAD]

[balzams]

If it makes you feel any better you're not the only one.

When everyone was given a desirable item mine as an incentive, was a declaration for my own independence. I would be lying if I said I hadn't considered murdering for it, but then I thought it would make a mockery of everyone who had died for it back then.

If I did kill someone for it and then find out it was something I had all along I would be furious, I don't blame you for feeling cheated.

[souredsweet]

Yuzu faced a similar dilemma that week, I think... It is a little surprising to hear that you had considered such a thing, though. But— cheated, yes... A good way to put it. [his nose wrinkles briefly.]

Well, the game was set up so that none of us could succeed from the start, anyway. I would have had to continue killing even if I did survive this trial. [and then he would just be alive and pissed off because of his incentive instead of not-quite-dead and pissed off because of his incentive.]

[balzams]

I guess that's a good point...

Even though I was angry for being scapegoated at first, considering how some people got murdered and the executions too... It was probably the best way I could have gone. At least I have my memories back, and I don't have to live in constant fear anymore. I just wish there was more to do here...

[And a heavy sigh]

I think that's what makes me most angry. It feels like everything has been for nothing. After this we'll probably all go home and then what? It was hellish, sure but what's the point of being subjected to that if there's nothing to gain from it?

[souredsweet]

Being hung is anticlimactic... Based on their desire for ratings and a "good show", I would bet that they never intend for any murderer to get away with their crime. Otherwise the execution for the scapegoats would be just as miserable, yes? [Kaoru wishes he had noticed that little discrepancy sooner, but hadn't actually believed that the ratings were important until arriving here.]

True though, I suppose, that you did not face a gruesome demise and that you have had your missing memories returned. [his expression sours.] I did not think that there is any "point" to it at all. Touko seems to believe otherwise though, and since she was correct about there being more to the game after death, I am inclined to believe her.

[balzams]

If that was really the case they could have given us a bit more help...

I suppose it's only natural to want there to be a point. I don't think anyone wants to believe that humanity is cruel for no reason, no matter what Mr. Tanaka might say...

[souredsweet]

I suppose that would be too anticlimactic as well. The show runners are picky. [and also rude...

anyway, he's looking pretty displeased now. ultra pessimist!!] Gundam certainly has little idea of what he speaks, but he has made a proper point in saying that humanity can be cruel for little to no reason.