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

[aozaki]

It still doesn't explain the setup, nor how we've all been taken out from our respective time and worlds, and that's not getting into how they seem to know everything about us. Besides, possessions don't work that way. What's the host body? I suppose it could be created, but then what's the purpose of this entire theater?

[she looks vaguely annoyed.]

If he wants to be killed, he doesn't have to wait for much longer. The talk of the disease, however...

[speakveryclearly]

[She nods.] I do worry about that. What if our garments are infectious, and we spread the plague to the rest of the multiverse? It wouldn't surprise me if that's what he really wants.

[aozaki]

[the idea is immediately dismissed with a small scoff.]

Don't let your imagination get ahead of yourself. Different places operate under different rules, that plague of his can well be ineffectual if taken somewhere else. It'd surprise me, actually; he could've been a lot more destructive if he wanted, and it takes a special brand of crazy to want to end all life in the universe through illness for one petty grudge.

[...

she shrugs.]

You really think he's the type?

[speakveryclearly]

I don't know anything about his type. He did seem to be very amused when Alice chastised him for involving as few as "twenty-nine" people. I'll stop worrying about infection for now but can we really deny it might be cathartic to burn everything we ever wore in this realm anyway?

[aozaki]

Burn this manor down? Is anyone NOT in favor of that, alive and 'dead' alike?

[she cracks a nasty smile at that, but it is an ironic one.]

[speakveryclearly]

Ahahaheh. I think even Lithuania is an advocate of that, in all candor.

[aozaki]

He can join in once he explains himself.

[and whatever's left of him. THEY WERE JOKING (??) ABOUT BEATING HIM UP

...

BUT THEN STUFF HAPPENED?!]

[souredsweet]

[he opens his mouth, closes it again - the discomfort he feels seems to spike. he takes a bite out of his mochi to keep himself preoccupied, but even that doesn't last long enough. eventually, hesitantly:]

I... don't like this. Nothing is adding up. The disease, the rules that he is made to follow - does he not arrive in the theater when he dies? Surely he would know about the ratings revival, being the Producer...

Or were we correct earlier in assuming that Lithuania is not at the top in terms of power?

[aozaki]

That's my problem with it, the dissonance with everything else we've been told so far. He admitted himself he has connections to make all this possible, I wouldn't be surprised at this point. A deal of some sort must've been struck, the ratings could mean something else.

[but what... she's just idly toying with the handle of her cup, while staring off at nowhere in particular.]

[souredsweet]

Touko... [he's long since dropped the polite way he used to address people, but there's something particularly unsettled in his tone now. the more he thinks this over, the bleaker the picture seems to become.]

To only have the connections to make it possible... but to not be capable of it himself, yes? There is a dissonance here in particular; either he is lying about wishing to die, his own role allows him to bypass the rating system, he truly does not realize that our own lives are apparently tied into said system, or that promise was a lie from the start. Which do you think is more likely?

[aozaki]

[this is her actual face im too lazy to renew] It's a hideous soap opera, actually. I fail to see any point to it that would coherently connect to everything else that's happened so far. ["I don't feel like solving it either since we're supposed to be DEAD" but haaaah]

At this point? I can only say with a bigger grain of certainty that we're still here and watching for a reason. It could be because the promise is still valid, or it could be something else entirely. If they're throwing plague spirit out now, there's absolutely no telling how much lower they can sink.

[souredsweet]

[the room of unamusement...

he, on the other hand, is actually very invested in figuring out what's going on if only because he still wants desperately to continue with his own goals in the land of the living.]

This has all become such a mess. [like it wasn't from the start...]

[aozaki]

[tmw she was sort of right

SORT OF]

That was the only potential outcome from the start.

...

Ever heard of virtual simulations, Kaoru? Or as an oni, youkai, whatever you like to call it - got any in your world capable of elaborate illusions or shapeshifting?

[the lack of -chan of touko's part enforces this...]

[souredsweet]

[CLOSE ENOUGH.

his foot taps against the floor in an agitated but measured rhythm. his brows raise at the questions, though.]

I have not heard of the first, and I have never met an oni capable of shape shifting. We have an alternate form; that is all. Illusions, though... It may be possible.

[aozaki]

[She shrugs.]

Well, it's all the same in the end. Temporal and manipulation of mass through dimensions should take a tremendous amount of energy. The rules may be different here, but the fact remains that copies of an original are much easier to manipulate than getting hold of the 'real' thing.

[a beat, and her eyelids droop.]

Hard to say at this point, but who knows? I only say this as a puppet maker, what I haven't precised is that my trade includes acute body modification and creating clone bodies that a soul can transfer to after the original one is too damaged, hence establishing a fake form of immortality. It's only worth mentioning because that process is possible in my world, so it's not unreasonable to assume that another dimension has a modified or more advanced form of similar craft.

[souredsweet]

[it would make sense, but he doesn't seem a huge deal less agitated.]

So you believe that this entire place may be a hallucination of some sort, or that we may not truly be ourselves?

[aozaki]

Hallucination isn't likely, it doesn't make sense with the reality TV setup. Copies are possible, on the other hand.

[souredsweet]

[it's a little beyond his ability to fully comprehend, but what he does comprehend leaves him feeling a little relieved. if they're just copies, that means the real him is still off pursuing Chizuru, which is the only thing he really cares about.]

...I suppose that we will have the chance to ask him ourselves soon enough.

[aozaki]

[how roundabout...

still better than nothing, though.]

Think he'll actually show up here, if he's being coerced by the real production also? It does make sense, we did mention earlier that it would benefit the real mastermind nothing to put themselves on the direct line of fire. Lithuania just said the real one is still among the 'living', though. You believe him?

[souredsweet]

[the agitated tapping picks up again, but only lasts for a few seconds.]

I do not believe that he would have a reason to lie about that. As for whether or not he might arrive here... Who is to say? Sonia broke the rules, but not to the extent that he has.