3X3CUT1V3 & Director PR1M4 D0NN4 - Lax Security
Sevantha Saa
((Performance Review - Highlight Reel Black Box, Deck 17, USPS Showrunner))
Now in the hot seat, PR1M4 faced the reason she was restrained, while B345T continued to flail about like an agitated toddler that had missed his naptime. 3X3CUT1V3 had put the spotlight on her, framed her for disloyalty when she was pushing the boundaries, trying to transform and elevate their people.
PR1M4 D0NN4: I entered my show to save it from my lazy crew, not to undermine N37W02k… ::She looks at them fighting her bonds to use her hands to speak:: I felt a rush I hadn’t felt in ages, what if the audience could participate in their choice of stories! The rush of being with all these different species and engaging as one of them… to any of our shows! Thousands of hours they could not only watch but experience!!
PR3ST1G: What you say has worth, PR1MA D0NN4.
Surprise touched her features as PR3ST1G spoke in her defense.
M217BS: (bored) This has all been done before.
B345T: Was this like your first show, D0NN4? ::beat:: It’s not that hard to make them act their parts.
Eyes narrowed on the rival young director who flaunted his freedom despite his continued lack of success. All talk yet no capability to perform. How common for men.
PR3ST1G: Do not pretend their willingness to act was because of any success on your part.
PR1M4 D0NN4: Really? How’d that trite little concept regarding a family band go for you again?
3X3CUT1V3: Enough. ::He cut them off:: The audience has made their preferences well known. They no longer desire to perform.
Snippy comments and antagonism between participants was good for ratings but their conversation subject was not one for the cameras. Any changes went through N37W02K first in a proposal which he either implemented or did not. It was a simple process. Debating it in front of a live studio audience was for politicians, and they were not in the proper arena for any of them to make a career change. Not that any of them had the capacity to work beyond N37W02K and into the greater government that relied on their services to pacify the people. They were not the politicians but the people who helped pacify the people, to sway favor, politicians were some of the most ruthless individuals he’d met.
One he knew had manipulated two directors into conflict over his election coverage and promotion. He’d exchanged favors and access to them both, while pretending to be two separate candidates. Only after the two nearly killed one another had the game been revealed, and he for his masterful game, got ratings, publicity, and favoritism from the audience. 3X3CUT1V3 was certain he was still in office today.
PR3ST1G: It was that way once, you know.
3X3CUT1V3’s lips pursed. Despite his power, he was younger than PR3ST1G, born into the world after the change. He knew little of the old world and its way and felt no compulsion to look backwards. Progress meant moving forward without feeling nostalgia for history. Those who did were those who were bound to their content, the masses of the population who needed to be told what to feel and think, because they no longer wished to exist in the ways they once had.
PR3ST1G: Once we told our own stories, and we took part in them. Those were the glorious days of our civilisation.
M217BS: Here we go again…
PR1M4 D0NN4: Glorious?
3X3CUT1V3: …
He noticed PR1M4’s mind working, the gears practically spinning as her tendrils flickered about. The next words out of her mouth better have been progressive, or, they’d meet the same fate as AP3X who had lost their prized FEARLESS cast. He’d done the sin of letting the show end.
B345T: Response
PR3ST1G: None of you are old enough to remember those days, when we were a part of it all, not just observers.
M217BS: I think PR3ST1G is just trying to get out of her performance review!
PR1M4 D0NN4: …But we could modernize this concept!
B345T: Response
3X3CUT1V3’s did not speak, only focused on PR3ST1G.
PR3ST1G: Once upon a time, our kind graced the stage. We weren’t just dictating the stories, we were living them. You are all too young to remember, but I do. And N37W02K does. We are the last, we two, of our generation. Once, he shone as bright as the brightest star. Ask your master, 3X3CU71V3. Ask if he remembers. Time has taken much from him, but surely it hasn’t taken that.
M217BS: Oh please, save us your maudlin memories. The past is dead, you can’t look back. True artistry looks forward!
3X3CUT1VE: In that… we agree. ::He turns:: PR1M4 D0NN4, the audience will decide your approval.
PR1M4 D0NN4: But what if we-
PR3ST1G/B345T: Response
On the board, the numbers danced, high to low, building tension. PR1M4 D0NN4 was young, outmatched, even with PR3ST1G speaking for her which might have simply hindered her more to corporate. PR3STIG’s
M217BS: Corporate can do what corporate wishes… I for one am eager to get this charade over with and back to my director’s seat. I have some… ideas…
PR1M4 D0NN4: What if we used the people we collected as personal avatars that the population could choose to experience the show. Pick their own hero, protagonist for the experience. Every Astrachthoni could have their own hand-picked actor putting corporate further into their homes. Cameras worn to give the audience the in person experiences I felt! Networks with the biggest actor pools would dominate-
The idea was the first interesting thing PR1M4 D0NN4 had said so far, but it was too late. The 3X3CUT1V3 turned towards the board as the numbers flickered,
Zero disapprovals
3X3CUT1VE: …Hm.
That was certainly incorrect.
His expression did not change, but the sharp pivot of his body towards PR1M4 D0NN4 spoke volumes. Disapproval, anger, and rage showed in heavy, slow footsteps. The silence was a continued accusation of betrayal.
Then a camera drone would pop up, out of place, wandering the stage openly, and then another one. His expression did not change, but he had to do the unthinkable: pause the review.
3X3CUT1VE: …Ad break. Pause filming.
He did not immediately explain himself. Instead, he pulled out a device and started a scan of the security logs.
PR3ST1G/B345T: Response
M217BS: That is outrageous! Uncalled for! I won’t stand for it!
PR1M4 D0NN4: What!? It isn't my fault it they like me!
PR3ST1G/B345T: Response
As the directors fussed and antagonized, the 3X3CUT1V3 turned to each of them.
3X3CUT1VE: Attempt to access your allocated film drones. ::Stares at them:: All of you.
PR3ST1G/B345T/M217BS: Response
PR1M4 flailed her restrained arms to animate the point she couldn’t move. 3X3CUT1V3 was unmoved and remained suspicious still of her involvement.
3X3CUT1VE: Consider yourself lucky, PR3ST1G, the review must wait, though N37W02K has his own plans for you. Enjoy what time you have.
PR3ST1G/B345T/M217BS: Response
Clearing her throat, PR1M4 risked it all to make a point back at the 3X3CUT1V3 he’d hurled at her earlier.
PR1M4 D0NN4: …What about that lax security?
3X3CUT1V3 turned to stare at PR1M4 D0NN4 for a long minute before returning to his device.
PR3ST1G/B345T/M217BS: Response
[[To Be Continued…]]
PR1M4 D0NN4
Actor, Writer, Director, Designer, and Producer
USPS Showrunner
&&
3X3CUT1V3
