This...was not how things were supposed to go.
As he sat in the relative darkness of the command room, lit only by the glow of the vast wall of monitors and displays for the island he had painstakingly prepared -- he always had had a love for the unnecessarily dramatic, and had yet to turn the actual lights in the room on -- the Man in Red was suffering through an incredibly unfortunate situation and turn of events.
They had everything set and ready to go, just a short time ago. The press of a few buttons, and they could have started sending people down to the island with their gear to commence the coming bloodbath. They could have started tearing the carefully-constructed and planned façade down brick by brick with dead zones scattered seemingly at random. They could have sat back and simply monitored the events, enjoyed the show, and only worried about managing the required input every few hours. It would have been easy, like it always was.
Like it was supposed to be.
Now, though... Now he was beset by a troubling turn of events.
Whatever that thing was that Vater had called him about, it was out there. They were out there, for there was more than one. The unidentified signals had been tracked and marked, at least; unknown or not, they could at least be tracked now. There weren't many that would be much of a problem...with the supplies and equipment prepared for this game, and the gathered crowd of contestants, most of them would be more than able to hold their own and avert any unnecessary catastrophes.
Behind his mask, the scarlet showman frowned and seethed bitterly. This wasn't how it was supposed to go. This wasn't his show anymore.
"Sir?" One of the staff tentatively spoke up. "It's almost time to start. Are...are we going to cancel?"
"Cancel...?" he murmured. With the unforeseen events which had cropped up, yes, that would perhaps be for the best. Things were entirely off the rails now, that much was for sure, and the value of this show couldn't be guaranteed any longer. But...as the Man in Red lifted his gaze to the bank of monitors again, staring at the island as the waters around it frothed and burbled noxiously, steaming unpleasantly with oily purple fumes....he set his jaw. "....no."
And slowly, he rose from his seat. A snap of his fingers and the lights in the room flickered on. "No, number seven. We will not cancel. We will proceed exactly as planned!"
"Ah...y-yes, sir." The fresh round of murmuring that went through the room announced that no one thought this was a good idea, but none of them were really willing to argue about it, either. Reluctantly, they all shuffled about and took their places at respective desks and monitoring stations and computers, beginning prep work to get the event underway.
"Despite these setbacks and unplanned events...it won't change the end result." The Man in Red's eyes gleamed as he focused his gaze on a particular screen, showing one of the disgusting interlopers on his island. "This was meant to be as much a test as it was a show. And though it has escaped the initial bounds and parameters we had in mind for such a test...a test it will still be. All the more authentic, without the veneer and false pretenses of it all being staged hovering over it any longer."
"We don't need to control every aspect..." he went on, more quietly and his tone dropping to a far more cold, serious one. "We simply need to observe and broadcast it to anyone watching. And be prepared to clean up the aftermath. Just like always."
"....yes, sir." The agreement was still less than enthusiastic, but at least the atmosphere of overbearing nervousness and reluctance eased off as work began to pick up.
"Ahem..." the Man in Red's voice broadcast through the Barracks. "Good morning, ladies and gentlemen and assorted entities in attendance. The time to begin our little game has arrived at last. You have approximately..." He paused for dramatic effect, as if checking his watch. "....a few minutes to make any last-minute scrambling preparations you need to. When you are ready, kindly make your way to room zero at the end of the Barracks, which is now open to you all. Take the teleporter there one at a time to arrive at the stage for our little show."
"....I hope I don't have to stress how important 'one at a time' is, here. We don't have the funds to pay lawyer fees and royalties to mister Goldblum if there are any accidents." He cleared his throat. "Please make sure you do so in the next, oh...five minutes. Otherwise we will be forced to trigger a manual jump courtesy of a beacon in your suppression equipment, and that ride will lead to a far less pleasant arrival, I assure you."
"And do keep in mind: things are dangerous down there. You don't just need to watch out for each other. There have been some...unexpected developments in the days leading up to this little scuffle of ours, so who knows what could be lurking in the shadows down there with you all? Good luck!"
IMPORTANT NOTES AND UPDATES
1. You will arrive to the island via teleportation, voluntarily or not. If you haven't already done so, you will be fitted with your suppression collar at this point. Make sure to check the map and take note of your location, and keep it updated as we go on from here.
2. Anyone looking off the shores of the island will see the water below stretches off into the horizon, though fades into a foggy mess that obscures sight after only a mile or two at most. Most of the water itself churns and froths like the sea near the island's shores, though it also bears an unpleasant oily tinge, burbling and steaming as if boiling, letting off noxious and unpleasant vapors and gases. Those who are familiar with it might recognize this as telltale signs of unmaking corruption and activity.
3. At the start of the event, the current Dead/Unmade Zones are as follows:
A 1
A 10
A 14
B 1
G 1
G 14
H 1
I 1
K 1
K 11
K 12
K 13
K 14
I don't think anyone has started on one of these zones, but if you did you have this one grace period to move safely out of them. There will be more in the following days/phases, and they will be announced at the start of each phase as usual. On such a note, the zones for Phase 2 will be as follows:
A 2
A 3
B 14
4. This first phase begins at roughly 6 AM in-character time. The sun will be just starting to rise upon arrival on the island. Weather is rather chill, though somewhat on the mild side. Think late in winter, approaching spring. There may be unpleasantly cold winds, and those savvy about weather may spot signs rain is imminent. This phase will last until (approximately) 12 PM Eastern time tomorrow, at which point this thread will lock and the next one will go up shortly with any updates.
5. There will be several little twists and updates going on behind the scenes, as well as some extra events and chances for Special Things to happen for anyone who can get places quickly enough, so make sure to pay attention!
As he sat in the relative darkness of the command room, lit only by the glow of the vast wall of monitors and displays for the island he had painstakingly prepared -- he always had had a love for the unnecessarily dramatic, and had yet to turn the actual lights in the room on -- the Man in Red was suffering through an incredibly unfortunate situation and turn of events.
They had everything set and ready to go, just a short time ago. The press of a few buttons, and they could have started sending people down to the island with their gear to commence the coming bloodbath. They could have started tearing the carefully-constructed and planned façade down brick by brick with dead zones scattered seemingly at random. They could have sat back and simply monitored the events, enjoyed the show, and only worried about managing the required input every few hours. It would have been easy, like it always was.
Like it was supposed to be.
Now, though... Now he was beset by a troubling turn of events.
Whatever that thing was that Vater had called him about, it was out there. They were out there, for there was more than one. The unidentified signals had been tracked and marked, at least; unknown or not, they could at least be tracked now. There weren't many that would be much of a problem...with the supplies and equipment prepared for this game, and the gathered crowd of contestants, most of them would be more than able to hold their own and avert any unnecessary catastrophes.
Behind his mask, the scarlet showman frowned and seethed bitterly. This wasn't how it was supposed to go. This wasn't his show anymore.
"Sir?" One of the staff tentatively spoke up. "It's almost time to start. Are...are we going to cancel?"
"Cancel...?" he murmured. With the unforeseen events which had cropped up, yes, that would perhaps be for the best. Things were entirely off the rails now, that much was for sure, and the value of this show couldn't be guaranteed any longer. But...as the Man in Red lifted his gaze to the bank of monitors again, staring at the island as the waters around it frothed and burbled noxiously, steaming unpleasantly with oily purple fumes....he set his jaw. "....no."
And slowly, he rose from his seat. A snap of his fingers and the lights in the room flickered on. "No, number seven. We will not cancel. We will proceed exactly as planned!"
"Ah...y-yes, sir." The fresh round of murmuring that went through the room announced that no one thought this was a good idea, but none of them were really willing to argue about it, either. Reluctantly, they all shuffled about and took their places at respective desks and monitoring stations and computers, beginning prep work to get the event underway.
"Despite these setbacks and unplanned events...it won't change the end result." The Man in Red's eyes gleamed as he focused his gaze on a particular screen, showing one of the disgusting interlopers on his island. "This was meant to be as much a test as it was a show. And though it has escaped the initial bounds and parameters we had in mind for such a test...a test it will still be. All the more authentic, without the veneer and false pretenses of it all being staged hovering over it any longer."
"We don't need to control every aspect..." he went on, more quietly and his tone dropping to a far more cold, serious one. "We simply need to observe and broadcast it to anyone watching. And be prepared to clean up the aftermath. Just like always."
"....yes, sir." The agreement was still less than enthusiastic, but at least the atmosphere of overbearing nervousness and reluctance eased off as work began to pick up.
~ * ~ * ~ * ~
"Ahem..." the Man in Red's voice broadcast through the Barracks. "Good morning, ladies and gentlemen and assorted entities in attendance. The time to begin our little game has arrived at last. You have approximately..." He paused for dramatic effect, as if checking his watch. "....a few minutes to make any last-minute scrambling preparations you need to. When you are ready, kindly make your way to room zero at the end of the Barracks, which is now open to you all. Take the teleporter there one at a time to arrive at the stage for our little show."
"....I hope I don't have to stress how important 'one at a time' is, here. We don't have the funds to pay lawyer fees and royalties to mister Goldblum if there are any accidents." He cleared his throat. "Please make sure you do so in the next, oh...five minutes. Otherwise we will be forced to trigger a manual jump courtesy of a beacon in your suppression equipment, and that ride will lead to a far less pleasant arrival, I assure you."
"And do keep in mind: things are dangerous down there. You don't just need to watch out for each other. There have been some...unexpected developments in the days leading up to this little scuffle of ours, so who knows what could be lurking in the shadows down there with you all? Good luck!"
~ * ~ * ~ * ~
IMPORTANT NOTES AND UPDATES
1. You will arrive to the island via teleportation, voluntarily or not. If you haven't already done so, you will be fitted with your suppression collar at this point. Make sure to check the map and take note of your location, and keep it updated as we go on from here.
2. Anyone looking off the shores of the island will see the water below stretches off into the horizon, though fades into a foggy mess that obscures sight after only a mile or two at most. Most of the water itself churns and froths like the sea near the island's shores, though it also bears an unpleasant oily tinge, burbling and steaming as if boiling, letting off noxious and unpleasant vapors and gases. Those who are familiar with it might recognize this as telltale signs of unmaking corruption and activity.
3. At the start of the event, the current Dead/Unmade Zones are as follows:
A 1
A 10
A 14
B 1
G 1
G 14
H 1
I 1
K 1
K 11
K 12
K 13
K 14
I don't think anyone has started on one of these zones, but if you did you have this one grace period to move safely out of them. There will be more in the following days/phases, and they will be announced at the start of each phase as usual. On such a note, the zones for Phase 2 will be as follows:
A 2
A 3
B 14
4. This first phase begins at roughly 6 AM in-character time. The sun will be just starting to rise upon arrival on the island. Weather is rather chill, though somewhat on the mild side. Think late in winter, approaching spring. There may be unpleasantly cold winds, and those savvy about weather may spot signs rain is imminent. This phase will last until (approximately) 12 PM Eastern time tomorrow, at which point this thread will lock and the next one will go up shortly with any updates.
5. There will be several little twists and updates going on behind the scenes, as well as some extra events and chances for Special Things to happen for anyone who can get places quickly enough, so make sure to pay attention!