#plot event 001 - the soundbooth.

[cherrybombusa]

GROUP TWO  - THE SOUNDBOOTH. FAILURE.

PLAYERS:

THE THESPIAN - Dominic Logan. THE SLACKER - Jamie Dyer. THE FALLEN ANGEL - Alice Alder.

MEMORABLE MOMENTS:

- JAMIE FELL 50 FEET FROM THE SOUNDBOOTH’S EMERGENCY EXIT AND BROKE HIS LEG.  - ALICE DIDN’T ELECTROCUTE HERSELF DESTROYING THE SOUNDBOARD. - THE GANG USED ALL THREE TRIES IN THEIR PUZZLE AND FAILED. THEY DID NOT FIND THE KEY TO SAVE THEIR FRIEND.  - THEY WERE BLAMED FOR THE CANDY GIRL’S SHOW. THIS WILL COME BACK TO BITE IN-GAME.

Setting up for shows had never exactly been smooth-sailing, but with Mac missing for the last ten minutes things were slowing to a halt. Everyone seems frustrated - nobody seems to know where he’s gone… Except for a forgettable boardwalk worker who looks like they’d rather be anywhere else. He says he watched Mac go up to the sound booth across from the Main Stage. Typical musician. Jamie better go drag him back before their set is supposed to start. @indyerneed​

 Plans between the twins shouldn’t have even really been called plans; plans had the unfortunate chance of falling through. No, when they said they were going to do something, it was set in stone - so when Libby isn’t anywhere to be found before the ribbon cutting ceremony…? Well, it’s certainly grounds to be worried, isn’t it? People are crowding into the area around the stage, but it’s only a moment before one of the Boardwalk workers taps Dominic on the shoulder. Apparently Libs found a better place to watch: from the sound booth across from the main stage. Damn her connections to the Hargroves, right? Oh well. Dominic better go find her before the show starts. @dominiclogan​

Alice, Alice, Alice. The Candy Girl’s fascination with the Fallen Angel of the group had rhyme and reason, but somehow it was still a mystery of it’s own. Did she really favor the girl, or did she just have plans for her? Did she want to avenge Alice, or torment her - just like Lux did before she died? Who knows. Either way, when the message came in, ‘I want to meet.’ How could anyone refuse? They picked a time and a place - 7:30pm in the sound booth across from the stage. Her special instructions? “Bring no one.” I guess she didn’t want anyone crashing the little party she had planned. @alicealder​

THE NARRATOR: Reunions were supposed to be pleasant occasions, weren’t they? They were supposed to bring feelings of joy, and nostalgia; you were supposed to forget the awkward haze that had plagued your senior year of high school, and pretend like the good old days were actually just that. Good. Absence did make the heart grow fonder and all that, didn’t it? 

Though, maybe it’s silly to wonder why this little reunion, in the Sound Booth that towered above the boardwalk, might not be so pleasant. It was only a week ago, after all, that they were all huddled into Harvey’s basement, playing at the whims of a suspected lunatic. Not even ‘a Day in Carousel Cove!’ could smooth over that awkward little blip, could it?

Still, the three of them made their polite, albeit stilted conversation. Jamie laments about being late for his set, and Dominic insists he has to go find Libby… Alice may or may not be wondering what the hell is going on! But the unmistakable sound of the lock clicking in the door behind them should be enough to stop all conversation. Jinkies, kiddos! Wonder what’s in store for you this time.

MAKE A CHOICE: SOMEBODY RESPOND.

DOM: If it had seemed like they’d stumbled into a bad horror movie before, things were apparently only going downhill from here. As if having to make painfully stilted small talk with the two people in this god damn town that he did not want to be stuck anywhere with wasn’t bad enough already, the sound of the lock clicking behind them made his head whip around. “You have got to be fucking kidding me,” Dominic muttered under his breath, heading straight to the door to try the handle -- because maybe, he was just finally going insane and hallucinating the worst case scenario.

THE NARRATOR: A clock in the corner of the room strikes 7:30pm just as Dominic tries the handle - truly, and surely locked - but it’s only the beginning of the panic. It’s time for the festivities to begin - whether they’re all there or not. 

Dean Hargrove steps  onto the Boardwalk’s stage that’s laid out below them; Lux’s parents entered only a moment after. It really would be a lovely place to watch the show… If the Candy Girl hadn’t had other plans for the gang that day. Hargrove hardly says Lux’s name - hardly gets into his plan to honor the girl with the ‘Lux Lewis Memorial Carousel’ before  he’s cut off by a voice they don’t quite recognize. A voice that might just damn them all.

CANDY GIRL:  “REST IN PEACE TO OUR DEAR OLD LUX, BUT I HAVE NEWS THAT THE CHERRY TIMES IS TOO SCARED TO TELL! THIS WAS NO SUICIDE. LUX WAS MURDERED. THE QUESTION IS - WHICH ONE OF HER FRIENDS DID IT?” THE NARRATOR:  At that moment, a sheet unfurls behind Dean Hargrove, and a projector that’s been crudely wired into the soundboard flips on. The image it casts is a shocking sight to the crowd - you might even be able to see a couple of them wince if you squinted hard enough - but to our little ragtag slice of the gang, the Cherry Bomb logo was all too recognizable. It was a blown up version of her latest issue, and - surprise, surprise! - Lux is once again the star.

What they weren’t expecting, though? The crime scene photos that the projector begins flipping through, one by one.

CANDY GIRL: “AND TO THAT LITTLE GANG! MAKE SURE TO CHECK OUT THE LATEST ISSUE. IT’S FULL OF FUN, NEVER-BEFORE-SEEN IMAGES OF LITTLE LUXIE’S DEMISE, AND A SPECIAL SURPRISE JUST FOR YOU: SOMEONE IS MISSING, AND YOU’RE THE ONLY PEOPLE WHO CAN FIND THEM BEFORE IT’S TOO LATE. GOOD LUCK!” THE NARRATOR: It would have been impressive timing if it weren’t so fucking frightening, but at just that moment, their very own issue of the Cherry Bomb slides beneath the door, skidding to  a stop, right at their feet.

The cover is collaged with photos of Lux, the inside? Those same crime scene photos. There’s no pictures of her body, of course - that would be crude, even for the Candy Girl… kind of. But images of the blood soaked into her carpet; still pictures of her bedroom, flaunting a life once lived, those are there. A shot of her suicide note, ‘I’m sorry, I love you,’ and all.

 And right there, in the middle of the spread, like a centerfold? A note, written in Sharpie - just for the gang, of course!

CANDY GIRL: GET OUT,,, GET OUT, WHEREVER YOU’RE LOCKED!!!! NOT A FAN OF SMALL SPACES?? I’LL STICK YOU IN A BOX. SOMEONE IS MISSING, BUT I WON’T SAY WHO… FIND THE KEY, AND FIND OUT WHO. 

YOU MUST STOP MY SHOW, AND YOU’RE ON THE CLOCK!  BUT LET TIME RUN OUT, AND THEY STAY IN THE BOX. WILL THE TIDE COME IN? HMM, MAYBE IT WON’T. OR BETTER YET? MAYBE YOUR FRIENDS WILL FLOAT.

DO YOU LIKE IT, FREAKS, DO YOU LIKE MY NOTE? I HOPE YOU DO, BECAUSE IF YOU DON’T! ALL OF CHERRY WILL FIND YOU UP THERE… 

AND ALL OF THE BLAME WILL BE YOURS TO SHARE.

THE NARRATOR: Oh...my. Now, that’s a predicament, isn’t it? I suppose we’re at least lucky that the Candy Girl leaves the rules simple, right? Find a key, stop the show, and get out before someone can blame all of you for the horrific slideshow!

MAKE A CHOICE: YOU MUST ESCAPE THE ROOM, BUT FIRST YOU MUST FIND THE KEY. YOU MUST ALSO STOP THE CANDY GIRL’S SHOW… THAT IS, UNLESS YOU THINK THE THREE OF YOU CAN GET OUT BEFORE SOMEBODY FINDS YOU UP HERE.

WOULD YOU LIKE TO STOP THE SLIDESHOW? OR DO YOU THINK YOU CAN GET OUT IN TIME?

THE NARRATOR: Is stopping the slideshow selfish, or noble? It’s not exactly up to me to decide - yet - but either way, with the hell that Cherry has been through lately - and Lux’s parents at that - the town probably deserves this one. 

The soundboard had clearly been tampered with long before they found the gang found their way in the soundbooth. There’s wires that have been ripped out and duct taped into new places - there’s a soldering iron off to the side that was still warm to the touch. Whoever did this must have worked quickly… and gotten out right before they arrived. Fucking creepy. It looks like there’s a few ways you can stop the show, though.

There’s always the route of champions - pulling wires until something goes dark. You could look for a power source - it all has to be plugged in somewhere, right? Or… you could just destroy the board.

MAKE A CHOICE:YOU MUST STOP THE SHOW. DO YOU START PULLING WIRES [LUCK], LOOK FOR A POWER SOURCE [PROBLEM SOLVING], OR DESTROY THE BOARD [FIGHTER]?

ALICE: It seemed like the most obvious solution, right? Pulling the wires could, like, electrocute them… right? Then it wouldn't matter if they were caught, because they'd be bacon! Searching for a power source? ...Too long. And they had to stop it some way! “Alright, that’s enough.” And with that… Alice went Wreck-It Ralph on the projector.

THE NARRATOR: It was a crude solution - that much is true - but hey! If it works, it works… And what else could you really expect from Alice? It takes a few minutes, but before long the board is sparking and the projector is stuttering to a halt. They can’t exactly figure out how to stop the music, but, somehow that seems like a lesser priority. 

Congratulations! You’ve stopped the show… but you've taken away an option that might have helped you out later. Woops.

MAKE A CHOICE: YOU MUST ESCAPE THE ROOM, BUT HOW DO YOU IT? THERE HAS TO BE A KEY SOMEWHERE, SO HOW DO YOU FIND IT? BY LOOKING FOR CLUES [PROBLEM SOLVING] OR BY TEARING THE ROOM APART? [LUCK]

JAMIE: Jamie gave Alice’s destruction a disparaging look before glancing at the other two. The question of ‘really?’ was dry and all in his eyebrows. He shook his head and started surveying the obvious surface before methodically moving to concealed space, looking for clues that might lead them to the key out of there. “No point in making any more of a mess here if we have to find a needle in a damn haystack.”

THE NARRATOR: Good thinking, Jamie. While he stays focused on the sharpie scribbled riddle in the ‘zine while the other two raid the room for something useful. Not so useful, but strange enough to take note of? A cherry red briefcase, shoved into one of the dusty, storage lockers.

Not only that… but maybe there’s actually more to the note than they thought.

CANDY GIRL: GET OUT,,, GET OUT, WHEREVER YOU’RE LOCKED!!!! NOT A FAN OF SMALL SPACES?? I’LL STICK YOU IN A BOX. SOMEONE IS MISSING, BUT I WON’T SAY WHO… FIND THE KEY, AND FIND OUT WHO. 

BUT WATCH OUT, WATCH OUT! YOU’RE ON THE CLOCK! LET IT RUN OUT, AND THEY’LL STAY IN THE BOX. WILL THE TIDE COME IN? HMM, MAYBE IT WON’T. OR BETTER YET? MAYBE YOUR FRIENDS WILL FLOAT.

MAKE A CHOICE: YOU MUST FIGURE OUT THE PUZZLE. GET THE BRIEFCASE OPEN TO FIND THE KEY.

DOM: This was absolutely ridiculous. Dominic was here to see his sister, not play god damn games. Speaking of which -- all that talk about someone being in a box and his sister decidedly not being here continued to ramp up his heart beat with every passing moment. “God damn it -- here,” he paused to lean over Jamie, fingers working quickly to put in the code: 2, 1, 3, 4.

MAKE A CHOICE: WRONG CODE. TRY AGAIN.

ALICE: You know, there were a lot of red flags popping up right now. The threat of a friend (yes?) dying (drowning, she took it? So much aquatic language!) was really just… overdoing it. “Let me try,” she sighed, pushing Dominic away from the briefcase and entering ‘3214.’

MAKE A CHOICE: WRONG CODE. TRY AGAIN.

DOM: They were running out of time and stable nerves. They had to get out of here, they had to find that god damn key and figure out what the fuck was going on here. So, with a last effort, Dominic reached forward again, this time entering 3421.

MAKE A CHOICE: WRONG CODE. YOU'VE LOST ALL CHANCES OF SAVING YOUR FRIEND.

THE NARRATOR: The sound of the clock ticking in the corner of the tiny room is almost ominous as it continues on in it’s effort; keeping a steady beat to their struggle. They’ve lost all hope of saving their friend, but they still have to get out, or they might be framed for the Candy Girl’s little show at the Ribbon Cutting ceremony.

At least they have a few options. They could always try to break down the door - it would take some might, but it’s possible. Maybe. Someone could always climb out of the window, and take the emergency ladder down - it would be easy to let their friends out from the outside! Just watch out. It’s a long fall down if you miss a step. 

Or, if they’re really desperate… They could always try to call for help.

MAKE A CHOICE: YOU MUST ESCAPE THE ROOM. DO YOU BREAK DOWN THE DOOR [STRENGTH], TAKE THE EMERGENCY EXIT [BRAVERY], OR CALL FOR HELP? [SURVIVOR]

JAMIE: Jamie stared at the stubborn suitcase only for a single beat, deciding that they were wasting a lot of time. “Yeah, okay. Plan B, I guess,” he said without fanfare, moving to the window and shucking it open. Really, it was the thought of Mac that compelled him sling his leg over the barrier. He wasn’t thinking about how much he wouldn’t have minded a long fall down or how the other two were were probably worth more noble deaths. “I’m gonna try and get around. Wouldn’t recommend looking out here if you don't hear from me in a bit.”

THE NARRATOR: Don’t look down. Don’t look down. It’s nearly fifty feet off of the ground - a single slip might mean a broken leg, but somehow they manage to keep their footing… That is, until they don’t anymore. It’s a split second of hesitation, but they slip, and down, down, down they go! They’re not dead - they know they’re not dead once they hit the ground. Their leg, on the other hand…? That's probably broken. Definitely broken.

-

Bruised, broken, and thoroughly played by the Candy Girl’s games, maybe this little ragtag slice of the gang wasn’t expecting a rescue… And a rescue didn’t exactly come either. They waited for nearly half an hour - Jamie outside, fifty feet down and trying to scream for help over the music. They were all convinced they would spend the night here - but when the door swings open, it isn’t anybody looking for them out of concern… It’s Dean Hargrove. And he wants to know what the hell is going on here. 

Maybe if they had been a little more cunning - maybe if they had made better choices - they might be able to talk him out of his accusations. They might be able to convince him that they weren’t responsible for the cruel show… But it’s no use. The Candy Girl set up the trap, and now they were going to be paying the price. So much for saving your friend.

MAKE A CHOICE: YOU FAILED YOUR EVENT. YOUR FRIEND MAY MEET THEIR DEMISE.