Chapter 12: Their Hearts Were Merry.
Peik had been sitting and watching in disbelief all that was taking place on the twenty-something monitors in front of him. People - normal people - were ingesting otherwise inedible substances, and others were having nervous breakdowns, believing they were shut off from the rest of the world, lest their problem-solving skills would come to their aid. One elderly man sitting on the toilet, sobbing violently with his head in his hands. Another young woman was tending to her man's injured shoulder.
He got sick, uneasy of watching and began looking around to see if he could get out of this area that had 'walls' of felt, framed in by wires that were poking out from random places along the back wall of the stage itself. The only opening was the one he had come from, meaning it led back up to the stage. He had a grape, which was wrinkly and sour - he got it down and away to have half a banana. It was slightly easier to ingest, so he decided to accept his current captivity and to keep watching, trying to enjoy himself for a little while. After all, he was famished to the point it hurt even just eating that grape, and he probably needed some sugar in his blood flow.
A young guy with a cap and round, thick glasses resting on his pointy but narrow nose came into the backstage area to check on some wiring, and he proceeded to sit down on his knees right by the screens, his loose jeans revealing his butt crack to anyone in that room. Peik was now fully captured by the live footage rolling in to notice he wasn't alone at this point, and he focused on a man standing in front of his mirror, working away at something over his sink. The camera angle shifted to reveal his project - he was clipping away pieces of the 'brushless' side of his toothbrush with a nail clipper. It was looking pointier and pointier.
Peik shook his head in disbelief, and the 'cable guy' looked up at the screens for a while until he saw the same thing he imagined Peik was reacting to. "Yep, that's a shiv, alright", he noted, and shifted back to his task at hand. Peik was slightly startled at someone talking from the screen, looked down from them, and now became aware of the exposed upper rear side of a random guy in there with him. "Look away if you are easily emotionally scarred by visuals", he told him and seemed fully unaffected by what could be taking place on live TV right in the same building as them.
"Wait, is that normal? Is no one going to interfere?", Peik asked intently. The cable guy turned around and looked at Peik for a short while with raised eyebrows.
"Do you mean you haven't seen 'SuRuST' before? Have you been living under a mountain or something for the last 30 years?", he asked, perplexed at Peik's unfamiliarity with this concept while adjusting his glasses. Peik did not appreciate his tone and his choice of words and was about to retaliate. "Wait! You're the first one to solve the first puzzle, right? Dang, man! You did so well, I can't believe you're new to this!", he suddenly erupted, and rested his hands on his head and looked at him like he was a god at this point, eventually running out of words in all his admiration. Peik was taken aback at this whole show of adoration which he had never been the subject of.
"Wow, ok... Listen, kid. I really did not want to be a part of this. I have been confined to the space of a bathroom for, what... Half a day already, right?", he asked somewhat rhetorically. "And for what? Why are we ...", and Peik pointed to himself and to all the screens, "... All of us doing this? And why is no one taking action when you can clearly see that man there is about to end his own life - on live TV, and in this building? Are you all mad?", he said, and got to vent out some of his frustration and feelings of helplessness. The young stage technician took a couple of steps back during this whole rant, and Peik soon realized who he was talking to. The young man adjusted his hoodie.
"I'm not really sure, honestly", he admitted. "They say the winner gets all this stuff - great stuff, no doubt", he said, looking insecure by now. "Just do your best, and pull through, I guess ...", he mumbled and went away disgruntled, then lifted up a flap in the felt wall just to Peik's right, and scooted off through that hole. Peik then went right out after him, realizing an opportunity to get away from it all. No one came to stop him, which he figured had to mean he could go if he pleased.
He went past the stage area and came to where all the audience were seated. Plenty of people were sitting in rows, illuminated by the light from the humongous hole in the roof, and some were sitting around tables while eating their 'lunches'. Families, even with toddlers, stuffing their faces with snacks in the middle of the day, watching the things unfolding on the giga-screen as they were spellbound and were not physically able to look away or turn their heads from it. Peik just sighed and went towards the stairs to his floor. They were nowhere to be found, yet he still was standing where they should have been. He figured the whole staircase was behind a cylinder-shaped metal plating that had not been there the day before, and that they had shut off the access to the upper floors while the show was live. Peik mustered up some much needed will power, and went down to the reception area.
"Hey there, mister", the receptionist said before he had even gotten down the escalators. "You're quite the celebrity", he said and had already managed to get under Peik's skin.
"Skip it. Why can't I get to my room?", he said, wanting no pleasantries. Just information.
"Mister, we value community and togetherness very much here at the Dome. This means we do not stay in our rooms during the daytime", the receptionist said, having switched to his 'fake, service-minded autopilot speak'. He had most likely gotten that question hundreds of times before.
"Alright, then what do I do to pass the time?", he asked, still with a direct tone to his voice.
"I don't know... How about getting a bite to eat in one of our 62 different dining destinations? You're in the 'SuRuST', and I bet round two will start in not too long. Just sit down and watch the show - just don't go outside", he said, trying to be helpful. Peik thought maybe he was sincere this one time. Peik sighed again, thanked the guy, and turned around to notice a scrawny, but confident figure walking in off the pavement outside. This person was wearing a big hood and took it down upon entry. He looked like an ordinary man - broad chin, rounded nose, big forehead, a high hairline. His sneakers squeaked along the marble floors as he approached the reception desk. "Welcome back, mister! Enjoy your stay - this year's 'SuRuST' is already underway", he informed him.
"Thanks so much", he said calmly and flashed his wrist to the built-in scanner in the desk. Peik thought there was something wildly familiar with him, as he studied him all the way through his entire interaction with the slick receptionist. "All good, mister?", the unknown said, awkwardly meeting Peik's ghostly gaze. He was embarrassed and fumbled for a reply in his internal mist of confusion.
"Yes, yes, all good", Peik responded quickly.
"Alright. Have a good day, the both of you", the stranger said, as he strolled over to the escalators.
Peik leaned back into the receptionist. "Who was that guy?", he asked him whispering, as he was still just halfway up the escalators.
"He's the only two-time champion ever! Maybe he's here to fight you in a later round", the receptionist said, snickering sarcastically. "He survived a fall from 50 metres once, he's really tough", he continued.
"Everyone to the show area, please!", an announcer said over the speaker system. "Next round beginning shortly", it concluded.
"Good luck! Make the audience happy!", the slick receptionist exclaimed at Peik, as Peik rolled back up to the main floor.
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone