sit yourself down, and meet the best inn keeper in town ( O P E N )

[checkingin]

Who: Everyone!
Where: The initial arrival rooms, the main lobby, all over the place.
When: February 3rd
What: Welcome, newbies.

ARRIVAL.

you wake up when you hit the floor in a dark room, and the air is knocked out of your lungs. the carpet is threadbare, worn with use, kind of dusty. and you're not the first person to endure this crash landing. nor will you be the last.

once your vision rights itself, you can see the well-lit hallway through the doorjam straight ahead of you. not to say there’s monsters in the shadows, but something propels you towards that door and out into the bright hallway beyond.

and once outside your room, you can hear it: the steady thrum of rain outside.

MAIN LOBBY.

there's a staircase at the end of the lengthy hallway you tumble out of. grab your suitcase and follow the dull green exit signs on the ceiling until you reach the disappointingly bland stairs that lead you down to the ornate old fashion hotel lobby.

to your left is a warmly crackling fireplace, to your right is a lobby desk. straight ahead are three large sets of doors, though only one of them is open to the public. and outside the few (curtained, permanently dark) windows is the continually steady hiss of rain.

welcome to the hotel.

FRONT DESK.

though there is a bell and a plaque designating the desk to be the main desk, the customer service desk, there are currently no staff members behind it. none shall answer your calls, either.

terribly sorry for the inconvenience.

SCREENING ROOM.

on a tall pull-down screen, a silent version of nosferatu will be playing on loop. at the back of the room, between the neat rows of fold out chairs, mounted on a wobbly table is the old timey projector, and mounted on the walls are some rather old speakers that warble out "terrifying" old timey music.

along the curtained windows is another long table, with a large bowl that looked like it once would have held popcorn. but is now unfortunately empty. same for the large hot drink dispensers labeled "hot chocolate" and "coffee".

OTHER.

the ballroom and breakfast hall are currently closed, grand doors locked.

there is no main door leading to the outside, good luck trying to find one.

the door to the courtyard is locked.

ROOMS.

you've a room key with your assigned room number on it. all the new guest residences will be located on floors one & two. while there is an open elevator in the main lobby, and the buttons light up inside, the doors will not close. all in all, you'd be better off taking the stairs.

while they're the same stairs you undoubtedly came down to get to the lobby, the door to the endless hall everyone woke up in will not reappear between the main floor and the subsequent residential halls.

there are twenty rooms per floor. feel free to get to know your surroundings; or your neighbors as they trickle in around you.

Comments

[64th]

[ she doesn't miss that he's purposely given her a non-answer, and she sighs, exasperated. ] I won last time. If I have to be in I'm looking to make it a repeat.

[engender]

What sport were you playing? [ because, really, with people betting and wins and the general language she's using, this is what derek is getting out of it. a sporting event or some kind of reality show. maybe a combination of the two. ]

[64th]

[ Cashmere laughs. it is a sport depending on how you look on it. by now she's accepted that not everyone comes from the same place she does. and he did ask. might as well explain. ]

Fighting to the death. A pageant of honor, courage and sacrifice. [ the last part is said with a clear tone of bitterness, and she looks to see how he reacts.] Let me guess, it's not a sport where you come from?

[engender]

Not put that way, no. [ But, his tone is now grave, gravelly even. ] They really call it a pageant?

[64th]

[ she nods. ] It's the highest rated show of the year. And if you win, you're a star. You never have to worry about anything ever again.

That's what they tell us, anyway. The fine print is a little different.

[engender]

It's a reality show?

[ Sick idea for one, and there are some sick ones out there. ]

The contract holds even after you win.

[64th]

Yeah. [ there's more to it, but that's gist of it. ]

There's no contracts. It's the law. Two kids from every district, every year, to remind us that that we'll never be them. So they film it and bet on us. If you're smart, you train your kids.

[engender]

Forced natural selection. Why two?

[64th]

A boy and a girl.

[engender]

I'm sorry you had to go through something like that.

[64th]

[ no one has ever said anything like that before. it visibly throws her and she shoots him a puzzled look while she tries to work out if he could really mean that. ] I - it's just how things are. Someone had to do it.

[engender]

Not where I'm from. [ he's visibly bothered by the idea. it's one thing to be hunted, trapped inside a house and burned. it's another to televise, take bets and force kids to hunt for them. ]

[64th]

Oh. [ maybe she shouldn't have shared all that. it's normal for her. and apparently disturbing for other people. ] Well. Thanks.

Maybe it's not like that here. [ she's undecided. ]

[engender]

Nobody's died, yet.

[ it may be derek's idea of lightening the mood. one may never know ]

[64th]

It's gotta be terrible for ratings. [ haha she's got jokes. ]

[engender]

Then we'll be canceled. [ would that be good or bad for the metaphor? ]

[64th]

[ that gets a chuckle out of her. ] Stick with me, I'm a favorite.

[engender]

They pick favorites?

[64th]

Sure. Everyone has a favorite. My brother won the year before I did. We're the first siblings to win. I'm good with cameras, and at the parties, and after the parties. Little girls have dolls of me.

[ is that not normal? ] You don't have celebrities?

[engender]

We have celebrities. [ He's just ... processing. ] So, the arena, filming it, that's like our Hollywood. [ In a sense. ] Where is it that you're from?

[64th]

Panem. That's the country. I'm from District One. We have twelve districts and a Capitol. The Capitol's in charge and the rest of us - well. We send our kids to die on television.

Where are you from?

[engender]

California. It's in the United States. That doesn't ring a bell, does it?

[64th]

[ she shakes her head. ] There's nothing outside Panem. Not anymore. What's it like?

[engender]

California as a whole is - liberal in a lot of places. Three major cities, San Diego, Los Angeles, and San Francisco. There's a big Hispanic population. The terrain is diverse. It sits along the Pacific Ocean. Beacon Hills is in the North.

[64th]

[ that's a lot of words she's never heard before, but she's curious so she's just going to roll with it. ] Is it big? Do you like it? What's the industry? Fishing? [ what's anything like outside of Panem?]