Act 1, Scene 1: CEO ☆ S2FpYmE=

[opening_act]

[ A notification on your phone goes off, letting you know the purchase of your meeting with Exael has gone through.

There is an attachment. Where are you, when you open it? ]

Comments

[bluescreenwhitedragon]

[Just stares at the notification for a few moments before moving to the office he's "secured" in the upper levels of the hospital. This was a secluded place as any.

Let's see how this is going to shake down.

Opens the attachment]

[opening_act]

[ It contains a map. It appears to lead to somewhere south of shinjuku.

The map is directing you, more specifically get there via the Ichigaya subway station. ]

[bluescreenwhitedragon]

[Sends a text back to the originator, knowing that it probably is going to end up in the abyss. Whatever]

Don't want to be seen near the Hotel?

[Grabbing a few odds and ends before heading to the subway station]

[opening_act]

[ the lights flicker off behind him as he goes, a long line of them dead and dark in the hallway. ]

《It's sweet for you to worry about me ☆ 》

[ the stairs down to the subway are, like the hallway before, dark ]

[bluescreenwhitedragon]

You took a risk. The other yahoos don't even bother setting foot on the stage.

That earned my respect.

[Keeps one hand skimming along the right wall as he descends. One - to make sure he doesn't get turned around and two - for balance]

[opening_act]

[ That strategy serves him well, as he descends into the abyss. There is no light down there. Even the light of his cellphone serves only to illuminate itself, not casting any further visibility into the darkness. His steps down the stairs go further, down deeper yet into the earth. There's no indication of how much further he will need to go, until, eventually, the wall and stairs end. He puts his feet down on solid ground.

There is still no illumination, but the train is visible in the abyss. Like something made of black light. Because it's pitch dark, you maybe didn't notice it before, but when the doors open you can tell there are other people in there, as they block view of the windows on the other side.

The display lets you know this is the Shinjuku line. ]

《 No respect for the stagehands and production staff at all. Only the actors curry favor with you. 》

[bluescreenwhitedragon]

[There's only a second of hesitation before he boards the train, even as he's scanning the other passengers aboard]

Oh? So the Game Tower wasn't fixed with magic? That was work of the stagehands?

1/2

[opening_act]

[ You have messages from B.

They're photos of... Tokyo-F? Almost tokyo-F. The buildings are the same shape as Tokyo-F's highrises at ground level, but if you look up they start to contort, spiraling.

Then there's another photograph, this one of the ground. The cement in the road has broken away to show slick black smooth material on the ground where it's cracked away. ]

[opening_act]

《 It's a big leap of faith to think stagehands don't have magic. 》

[ The other passengers don't seem to be quite occupying the same space as you-- they have black outlines that radiate body heat as they go past, like walking past a furnace but without tangibility you can reach out and touch. Their silhouettes are something like people.

The doors slide closed, not long after you board.

Next stop, Shinjuku Station. ]

[bluescreenwhitedragon]

[Oh shit, B. Did this activate for him, too? Did he have his bodyguard with him? FUCK.

He takes a picture of the train, crowded with the forms of the people that were there and not there. And a quick picture of the sign indicating that the next stop is Shinjuku station.

He sends them quickly followed by the message: Is anyone with you?

Before replying to Exael's text:]

A fair point on both accounts.

Send me their number and I'll send them a proper thank-you card.

[opening_act]

[ Your messages go through. B has not responded yet. ]

《 Oh no, I couldn't do that. 》

[bluescreenwhitedragon]

What if I left it in the Game Tower "lobby"? Would someone pick them up?

[Reaching out to put his hand to "touch" one of the other passengers on the train. Can he even get their attention?]

[opening_act]

《 I leave maintenance and R&D alone. 》

[ If you brush against them, they ignore you. If you place your hand into one of them, it feels like you've put your hand into furnace. The core of that radiating heat flares, and recoils, moving away again.

Are you going to try again?

You have a message from B:

[No I'm alone. Should I wait for you?] ]

[bluescreenwhitedragon]

[Not at the moment no.]

I'd like to have B here with me if possible. Is that a request you're able to grant?

[opening_act]

《 I thought you wanted a meeting with me. You can meet with him all the time! 》

[opening_act]

[ B has sent you another picture.

The picture is of a building not in your Shinjuku. The second story up, it is covered in fragmentary display screens, between stained glass. The scene looks like a giant game, a board set up according to rules you don't know— and some of this glass is clear, not stained with color. Maybe fifty uncolored orbs, surround panels made to look like doors, little windows into the games you've played!

It's a movie theater. There's a lot of figures around it, it seems pretty popular. ]

[bluescreenwhitedragon]

That didn't answer my question.

And yes, first and foremost I want a meeting with you. But I figured you might also enjoy spending time with one of your own.

Who are the train people? More staff?

[To B:

Negotiating. Don't wait.]

[opening_act]

《 That isn't one of my own~

Audience. 》

1/2

[bluescreenwhitedragon]

. . .!!!

[bluescreenwhitedragon]

Damn, really? I had you pegged as an AlcheME! Are you not a graduate?

[Pulling out some paper and starting to write something down really quick]

[opening_act]

[ The train arrives at the station ]

This round is different from the last round, and the round before that, and the round before that!

[opening_act]

[ A message from B:

go straight to exael or secuirty will come for you lol oops I'm fine ]

[bluescreenwhitedragon]

. . .

[Well shit. Thanks, B. He stuffs the letter he was going write to the audience in his pockets and just waits for the train doors to open.]

[To B:

Idiot! Don't do anything that is going to put yourself in danger! Understand?!]

[And to Exael:]

So you played in the games before you became an actor?

[opening_act]

《 Do you really want to spend all this time on my past, rather than talking about your future? 》

[opening_act]

[ The train doors open to let him out. The station is not lit, persay. But the quality of darkness is interrupted by solid quantities of hue in the darkness, visible the same way the train was. A spiral stair climbs up from the abyssal Shinjuku station, to the way above ground. ]