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[The feed flickers on. BRONTË and ABACAXI wait patiently. It’s been a bit of a mess getting the needle figured out, but thankfully, they’re finally ready for the fifth contender to arrive.]
[BRONTË]: Alright, one last subject. This one should go smoothly. She doesn’t have a bomb strapped to her chest, she’s supposed to be here. Simple.
[In a flash of light, what appears to just be some floating clothes fall daintily into the interviewing chair. Of course, this is actually ELISE DARNELL, the invisible influencer. She takes a moment to look around the room before saying anything.]
[ELISE]: Hm.
[BRONTË]: Oh, right. I’ve got to do the whole spiel again. Hello, I’m-
[ELISE]: Now wait, before you go on your whole host speech, let me just say I am very excited about this opportunity, and I am glad that you’ve chosen me for this competition.
[BRONTË]: Wh- huh?
[ELISE]: I would usually be angry about this sort of thing, tricking me into opening a letter that I thought was for something else, (something far more important to me as well, mind you), but I can’t see this one taking too much of my effort so, I’ll give you two some slack and still participate.
[ELISE]: Now, about my room-
[BRONTË]: I’m- I’m sorry, how do you know all this?
[ELISE]: Well, context clues for one. I can put together the pieces of a “tournament where you fight others and obtain victory” pretty easily, especially since I’m an obvious choice for one.
[ELISE]: But also, the envelope with the ticket literally had a letter explaining the whole deal too.
[BRONTË]: Oh. An actual invitation, huh.
[ELISE]: Uh, yeah? I don’t know what you’re so confused about. Aren’t you supposed to be the host?
[ABACAXI]: oh right, forgot to mention, added a letter to her invite.
[BRONTË]: I see that, Aba.
[ELISE]: Anyway, back to what I was saying, I have a list of requests for my room if you have a little, intern or whatever to take it. Clothes, makeup, bedroom things.
[ABACAXI]: …did you make that in the… three seconds you’ve known about this?
[ELISE]: [She shakes her head.] No, I just always keep a list of demands in my notes app. Speaking of, you two really need to work on the cell service. How am I supposed to send snaps of my victories if there aren’t any bars?
[BRONTË]: …I mean, we’re pretty much in space. This is a spaceship.
[ELISE]: [She rolls her eyes, or, well, it looks like she does at least.] Okay, fine. I guess I’ll have to just take selfies and post them later. God.
[BRONTË]: …Okay. Elise, I know you think you have all the answers and whatnot, but we had a sort of… protocol for these interviews? Including, actually asking you questions? So if you wouldn’t mind waiting just a minute longer…
[ELISE]: …I guess I can answer a few questions.
[BRONTË]: Alright. Now, you’re related to the invisible man, correct?
[ELISE]: Um, yeah? He was my great grandfather. Totally great scientist, and as you can see, I inherited some of his good looks too. [She laughs.]
[BRONTË]: Well. You know that he went and caused pain and suffering in multiple places, including murdering townsfolk, right? His whole idea after becoming invisible was to terrorise anyone he could.
[ELISE]: Psh, and Dracula drinks blood. It’s just what some people do.
[BRONTË shakes her head, and jots down ‘fan of terrorizing townsfolk? pro murder??’ in her notes.]
[ABACAXI]: wait, doc. i got a question for her.
[ABACAXI]: so, you’re like, famous right? ‘cause of the invisibility thing.
[ELISE]: Duh. Everyone at school treats me like their queen, and I’m popular all over the internet. Everyone knows about the Invisible Girl. I’ve been on a few talk shows, and have millions of followers…
[ABACAXI]: …but that still isn’t enough, is it?
[ELISE]: …what?
[She’s taken aback for a moment, before regaining composure.]
[ELISE]: I mean, obviously. Being an internet celebrity is fine and all, but why would I settle if I can get even more eyes on me? That’s why I was so focused on the Monster Clash invite, when I get in there and beat all the other competitors into dust… the whole world would have no choice but to care about me.
[BRONTË]: Huh. Wow. Aptly put. I can’t guarantee immediate fame and success here, but at least you can use it as practice.
[ELISE]: Oh, I wouldn’t need practice to win that competition, and I won’t need it here. Now, are we done?
[BRONTË]: Yes, Elise. You’re free to go. Just have our AI assistant Cync help you with your… requests.
[ELISE walks out into the lobby, her attention back on her phone.]
[BRONTË]: …Well, she’s a little rude. But it’s nice to have at least one person actually interested in competition.
[BRONTË]: And I have to hand it to you Aba, giving the subjects actual info with the ticket was a good idea. What did you write down in it?
[ABACAXI]: oh i didn’t write it, cync did. i just needed a fake invite to fool her, but i guess cync actually wanted it to be real lol
[BRONTË]: …okay. I retract my ‘good idea’ compliment for you.
[BRONTË]: It's about time for the actual event to begin. Let’s just prepare to introduce them all to each other, and hope the competition runs smoothly from there.
[ABACAXI]: can-do, doc.