Avilaya was a little distracted by everything going on around her that she caught sight of Gallery vanishing before the recap.  "Hey!  Wait!"  She called out.  "Don't we need wardrobe and makeup?  We need to look our best out there for the crowds right?  Or how do you guys want to play this?  If we need donor boxes then we should give the crowd something memorable."

Somehow managing a very realistic shrug with tiny metal shoulders Heidi gestures casually to wave away Avilaya's concerns, or at least suggest that she doesn't share any of them herself.  With a quick jumping flip up and backwards she grabs onto the top of the chair and tips it over backwards in what should be a crashing motion but instead places herself below it to crouch and absorb the impact with little more than a soft tick like one would expect from tap shoes.

Lifting the chair many times her own height from its back into a vertical position she carries it balanced that way through the now open doors out onto the stage before the cheering audience.  When she arrives she does something like the reverse of the procedure, throwing the back of the chair up as the legs come down, then jumping into it herself to finish the motion required to settle the chair on the stage with herself atop it.

Raising her voice to shout she can still only barely be heard even with the typical acoustic advantage of a stage, without the disruption of the chair trick to create a breath of silence she might not have been at all.  ”Hello everybody, how are we all doing this fine evening?”

Chalei'nh chuckled in response to Avilaya.

- "Yeah, pretty sure most of the footage we were on saw us with mushroom bits splattered onto our clothing, sick due to spores or beaten to a pulp like those guys with the guns from the recap. I'd say 'clean and healthy' is pretty much giving a good impression as it is."

Seeing Heidi walk out with the chair to make a show of her entrance, she turned to the others.

- "Shall we?"

After taking a few seconds to confirm her sash was where it was usually worn rather than the improvised balaclava she had used it as in the previous level, and straightening her clothes, she walked out onto the stage giving the audience a small wave in the process. Once at where they were supposed to sit down -- going by human talkshow logic there would be a couch or a line of chairs since they were scheduled as a group -- she made herself comfortable and crossed her legs as she sat down, calmly waiting for the others to arrive as well.

Malcom went for the gusto instead of the calm that Chalei'nh exuded. He leaped through the door and flapping his wings far more than he needed to get across the stage, soared over to his spot where he dropped to the floor, landing in a defensive stance for a two count. He then stood up straight, snapped his wings wide and posed for either the visible audience or for the cameras if that's all that's available.

He will smile first at his team members "Yes let's go out and wow our audience". He will try to guag3e the mood of the audience in hopes of figuring how to best make the most possible impression. He winds out spends to much studying the crowd he missed an opportunity the make a grand entrance. He will mumble to himself 'Damn it. I got to get my head in this game, missed opportunities to impress could make our next mission harder than it needs to be.'   he hope that his friends can help get this mob on their side and hope he can provide assistance to their efforts. As they headed to their chair he will also 'clue  in' on the audience to help with interacting with them and stay on their good side.

When the party moves through the doors, the feels a beam of energy move over their bodies. Everything tingles, but no apparent harm is done. However, when you look at your selves and others you find your clothes are clean, and some sort of makeup as been applied to make you look your best. Otherwise you seem the same, only cleaner and nice.

The set-as it is-seems to be a bunch of chairs set up in a format to see an audience. The audience in question is not visible, nor the host. However, you do hear them. Cheering, hooting, and hollering. Glowing holographic word hover over the stage saying just one thing.

SIT.

Once everybody does, although Hedi must leap up to the human-sized seat, suddenly everything comes into full visual focus.

The holographic crowd blinks into being. Various beings from different planets, and maybe even other dimensions, scream and cheer for the group.

Chalei'nh sees a picture of her self being held up by elf-like beings. They also seem to be floating over their seats while sitting cross-legged in midair.

Avilaya eyes light on a group of what might be humans...with inhuman colored hair and dressed like space pirates. They are clanking mugs and singing what sounds like sea shanties. However, the normal translation provided by the System AI does not seem to be working on those songs. Its clear they are singing about Avilaya, because they keep adding her name to the song-the only word anyone can understand.

Hedi's fans keep chanting very loudly "LITTLEBIG! LITTLEBIG! LITTLEBIG!" They seem to be a collection of small beings of various types. They also all have dolls based on Hedi.

Malcom's fans have a large paper banner of him with his wings outspread. It shows him shielding young creatures of various kinds with his wings from some sort of horrible monster. They scream loudly when he does his flashy entry.

When Nathan enters last, his crowd makes their familiar cry of "ONE SHOT, ONE KILL!". Mostly they seem to be well armed humanoids with various firearms draped all over themselves.

However, its the host that draws the most attention, after the AI introduces them...

"GENTLEBEINGS FROM ACROSS THE UNIVERSE...WELCOME TO THE BIG THREE!" The AI sounds off in it most 'game show host' voice.
This message was last edited by the player at 15:42, Thu 28 Mar.

Sure enough, despite being holographic, some sort of 30' long dinosaur suddenly roams across the stage. Despite its clear being made of light, the party can feel the vibrations that something that big would leave in its wake. Unlike most dinosaurs you have seen in the museums, this thing had six long serpent like heads. Three of the heads just sort of hung there, looking asleep or dead.

The other 3 where far more active. The heads all had some sort of headphones with a speaking mike attachment. The central one was Green. "Hello Labyrinth Lands Earth! I am your host Primary!" It said in what sounded like a bad Irish accent. However it was clear the thing was being translated by your AI.

The left most head then spoke. "I am your host, Leftos!" The Blue head said, its accent sounding like a deep  voice with a British accent.

Then the rightmost head, which is Red, spoke. Its sounded Australian. "And I am your host, Rightos!"

"AND WE ARE THE BIG 3!"

"AND WE ARE THE BIG 3!"

"AND WE ARE THE BIG 3!"

All three spoke at once, and the crowd went utterly berserk with chanting and screaming the title of the creature.

Primary then gestured with its massive tail at the Wanderers. "We would like to welcome our intergalactic champions to our show, and thank them for making it this far! Let's hear it for them!"

The crowd then goes wild for the party once more, and the creature's tail gestures to the crowd to bring down the noise.

The three heads turn about, and hover over the party. Despite the voices, the creature did look like it was about to eat them. The red one, Rightos, was even drooling.

"Well, as you are new to the show, do you have any questions for us?" Primary said with a bit of a cheery voice.

"You know the rules keep us from telling you anything that could be used for cheating?" Leftos added, its voice sounding a bit down.

"How does your species taste when seasoned?" Rightos added. Then it noticed the other two heads staring at it. "What? Its a reasonable question! The fans have the right to know!" It quickly added defensively.

The crowd laughed.
This message was last edited by the player at 15:39, Thu 28 Mar.

"We aren't a prey species but I have been told that our organ meats go well with Fava beans and a nice Chianti. And if you can ask a question like that I get to ask, What happened to the other three?" He gestures to the dangling heads.

Chalei'nh leaned over to Malcolm from where she was sitting, a smirk visible on her face.

- "When you're hungry enough, everything's a prey species. But let's not give people weird ideas now, shall we?"

As Malcolm asked his question, she looked at the multiheaded dinosaur -- hydra, she believed it was called according to Gre... Earth mythology -- and tilted her head slightly.

- "Hmm... If i may hazard a guess, our host has a brain working somewhat similar to dolphins back on Earth, in that half their brain is taking turns sleeping. By the time Leftos, Rightos and Primary would need to sleep, the other three heads would wake up to allow him to keep going, with all six heads only being awake during transitions and emergencies, correct?"

She then smiled at the multiheaded game show host.

- "Well, as you said, this is our first time visiting or, i regret to admit, even watching the show. Could you tell us more about the format? I fear we've gone in quite blind and we haven't really heard how you'd prefer to run the show."

Addressing the right most head from her perch on the chair Heidi doesn't make any effort to conceal the taunting in her retort.  ”You are welcome to come down here and find out, but I warn you, nothing that has ever tried has liked the results. . . if they even survive.”

"First off a shout out to fan base" acknowledging the fans out in the audience. "I think our species has more to contribute to the universe than just calories. Just looking around I see looking around the audiences that human culture has contributed a definite spiciness to their lives and it would be a shame if that was lost."    He will look toward Rightos "As a obvious gourmand could he tell if you can detect a difference between digitized food and the original product?"

- "Heh, a great cook and the right spices can make anything taste good."

Chalei'nh shrugged before continuing.

- "I'd say the 'human factor' is already mostly lost. D/Monix has essentially introduced humanity to the galaxy at large -- and multiple dimensions of it at that -- and with the exchange of concepts, technologies and ideas it will undoubtedly change what has made the human perspective so unique. And of course, the experience is somewhat tainted by the first impression having been to have everything they've built up and worked for taken away, and either participate in a death game for people's amusement or wither away in a camp somewhere with the knowledge that, should they rebuild, everything can be taken away again in a matter of seconds at the whim of another. From my perspective it was extremely poorly handled if the goal was galactic integration and the propagation of human culture so popular among many members of the audience."

She did not sound angry as she spoke, adopting a conversational style similar to how one might have a friendly debate. The instructions they had given was to 'not be dull', but there hadn't been anything about being forced to make D/Monix look good. Not to mention, she figured Earth not to have been the first planet to have received this kind of treatment, so there was that angle to consider as well keeping sponsors in mind. All the while making sure she did not sound angry to avoid falling into the common stereotype, not that she hadn't been prepared to defend every single point she had just made.

Avilaya eyes kept darting to the group of space pirates that were chanting her name.  She gestured over to them, pointing in a grand flourish which was followed up with a grand, sweeping bow.  As she sat, Avilaya would favour that same group with little flirty winks and tiny smiles, not only acknowledging them personally.  Maybe a little flirting with the crowd would work?  It never hurt to play to the fans.

"That is an excellent question, Rightos.  As our dear Malcom has pointed out it would greatly depend on the garnishes."  she replied.  Avilaya leaned a little closer and crossed her legs.  "I can't help but wonder myself just what your species would taste like?  Humans do have a very wide and diverse diet that includes a number of sentient species."  She paused a moment, as if giving thought to her question.  "But really, I'm sure that your audience is not here to see us try and eat each other.  Right?"  This last part was directed to the holographic audience and Avilaya paused for the audience reaction.  Regardless, she pressed on.

Avilaya turned her attention to the central head.  "Now Primary.  I want to ask, what are the burning questions that your fans have for us?  Surely your universe-wide audience would love to find out more about us.  Not just as human beings, but as personalities."

Rightos moves his head, and a screen appears in front of one of his reptilian eyes. "Mark down Fava beans and Chianti...whatever that is."



"Well done, earther!" Primary says. The massive head turns to the crowd. "See everyone! I told you all they are much cleverer than they look! And act. And smell like." The crowd laughs, and the green serpent head seems to smile like a crocodile.



A portion of the holographic crowd chants once more. "LITTLEBIG! LITTLEBIG! LITTLEBIG!" Rightos seems to look away from his computer list, and then looks around-past Hedi. "Did anyone hear someone talking? I could not make it out."

The crowd then responds with a "OOOOOOOOH!".



The crowd answers with a "ONE SHOT, ONE KILL!"

However, Leftos seems to turn and meet Nathan's gaze. "There are humans all over the multiverse. Your tiny blue dot is one of billions, if not more. However, you spent most of your planet's history being loathsome to each other. If left to your own devices, this world would be a barren husk before D'Monix had ever bought the mining rights."



Primary tilts its head to the side. "What makes you think the goal was galactic integration? As Leftos has pointed out, your species has not developed the unity to prove themselves good citizens of the multiverse. A species with your track record might easily prove a danger to all of us if someone where to arm you properly. Thank goodness that has not happened!" Primary then stares at the ceiling, as an image of Chalei'nth beating a Mushroom man into the ground. Its splatter all over her as she strikes it again and again. "An excellent showing of your innate brutality, and why you get such ratings! But it takes more than that to be a citizen of the multiverse!"



While the space pirates like fans cheer Avilaya's bow, Primary twists its long neck and nods at her. "Indeed! We have been watching some of your actions as well, and you have just been assigned to this group of wanderers! What where you thinking at this moment in your career?" An image of Avilaya fighting with a glowing rapier is seen, and all around her are giant spiders. She leaps, bounds, and strikes-managing to stay one step ahead of the poison fangs. However, several other wanderers are laying under hordes of spiders, being dragged away by webbed nets.
This message was last edited by the player at 18:32, Tue 02 Apr.

Chalei'nh smiled in response.

- "Well, we do try our best to be as unappetizing as possible."



- "Indeed. This can be traced back to prehistoric times, or our prehistoric times anyway, with respect to the more established species out there of course. When compared to Earth's fauna, humans are distinctly subpar when it comes to natural abilities. We are not apex predators, we did not rise to the top through the strength of our teeth or the sharpness of claws. Rather, we banded together for protection not because we necessarily wanted to, but because we needed to. And so, we began to rely upon social packs bound together by common interests. These packs included nonhumans as well, wolves and sometimes tigers appeased and partially tamed with food and be accepted into the social pack against common enemies alongside the humans. This became so ingrained that, once tools had compensated our weaknesses to the point that this cooperation between man and beast was no longer strictly necessary, rather than discarded they became domesticated into dogs and cats respectively as we moved from hunter-gatherers to primal farming communities."

She took a deep breath before continuing.

- "This is the origin of the constant duality between nature and nurture that humanity is dealing with. An apt description would be that we are, and always have been, a pack of barbarians that have reached a working compromise. And therein lies the problem: By taking everything away, D/Monix has left us with nothing to compromise with or for, leaving us with nothing but to default upon... shall we say, less developed tendencies. In addition, they have also scattered social packs across the globe, with numerous people -- those that did not join the Labyrinth -- being either gone or displaced. In doing so, i foresee D/Monix being viewed as an instinctual enemy of mankind, one whose destruction is considered necessary for the stability of the species' own continued existence. Only a minority may actually act on this, but on a population of billions, that's a lot of homemade shivs."

She then motioned at Primary and his other heads in a sweeping measure.

- "So you see... From my point of view, there are two options available. Either the galaxy moves to appeal to the social side by trying to smooth things over by trying to convince humanity that the current string of events was an exception rather than the rule, or we may very well see my species shift to rampant xenophobia and focus on the creation of a fleet for the express purpose of opening fire on anything venturing within a few light-years of the solar system. Either option may take a while, true, but my species is nothing if not stubborn, and has always had a penchant for reverse engineering."
This message was last edited by the player at 12:04, Wed 03 Apr.

Malcom leans forward and gives Chalei'nh a raised eyebrow. "And where was all this when we were trying to devise a battle plan?"

As the crowd started chanting the tagline they had themselves determined for her Heidi started jumping up and down on the chair, gaining a considerable amount of height with each jump and landing with a fairly quiet tapping noise and a very small rattle to the chair itself.

The long description of the human condition does not at first draw her attention, but eventually it overwhelms her focus on the audience and she lands on the chair with a slightly harder thud quickly converted into the classic hero pose three point landing.  Only after the requisite dramatic pause and a moment spent adjusting herself on the chair does she comment as well.  ”I think that about covers it.  Perhaps we can find out what our next challenge is going to be rather than dwelling on what is now effectively ancient history?”

Avilaya had been unabashedly flirting with the crowd during the interview, her answers to their hosts questions were light and playful.  That changed once the footage rom her last adventure was shown.  The smile slowly slid from her face as she watched the fight footage.  There she was on the holo, laughing and grinning as she leapt about the fight, using her glowing sword to thrust and slash at the giant arachnids.  "...I...it felt.."  she stammered, her soft words buried beneath Chalei'nhs monologue.

For all of her agility and acrobatic prowess, there were some close calls of course.  Holo-Avilaya landed and rolled to the side, narrowly avoiding the dripping mandibles of a giant spider.  It attacked her again, it's mandibles closing on the spot where she had just been.  Her sword swept out, it's mystical glow leaving behind a brightly coloured trail like a sparkler, cutting off both mandibles before finally thrusting home, embedding itself in between the spiders eyes.  Holo-Avilaya whooped as she cartwheeled away from another strike to carry on her battle.

That wasn't what Avilaya was focussing on though.  She remembered the fight and how she felt.  Carefree, invincible, and in a sense she was.  At least at the time.  Watching the battle from another angle, Avilaya was not watching herself but the rest of her party.  She watched as one of her party was fell beneath one of the giant arachnids, it's mandibles biting deep into its victims chest.  He was the first to fall.  Holo-Avilaya evaded another spider attack, laughing like a mad-woman as she spiralled away, leaving another team mate to face the brunt of the creatures attack.  It was only a small wound, but enough to inject a measure of poison and slow them down.  Avilaya couldn't turn her eyes away as she watched a second party member fall.

Her breathing quickened along with her pulse.  "...I should have...the others..." she said softly, struggling for the words as the violence on the holo continued.  It was violence that she had been present for but had not noticed.  So wrapped up was she in the joy of such easy movement, that Avilaya had neglected to watch out for her teammates.  To protect them.

Tears formed in her eyes as the holo images began to mix in with memories.  The Elven rogue pinned against the wall by a spider web, calling out for help, became a soldier in desert camouflage crying out while a red stain slowly crept across their uniform.  A giant arachnid rearing up on its legs into an attack position became an explosion of mixed sand and metal.

Avilaya looked away from the holo recording, and brushed away a spot of wetness running down her cheek.  Maybe their hosts would be too busy with Chalei'nhs philosophical discussion or Heidis jumping up and down to forget about the question asked to her.  She didn't want to answer, for she didn't like what her answer would be.  She'd been selfish, self-absorbed in her newly acquired abilities that she had forgotten the basic tenet of any squad; look out for each other.  She hadn't, and people died.

Chalei'nh chuckled in response to Malcolm, wagging her finger as she replied.

- "Applicable knowledge, my boy... For example, i could tell you the type of mushroom that likely caused the zombie outbreak, but that wouldn't be of much help when they're trying to bite you in the ass."

When Heidi spoke up, she gave a brief nod in agreement, already having said what she wanted to say and wanting to avoid turning the interview into a scientific debate. With her attention now on two members of the party, she decided to check the reactions of the others, which was when she noticed Avilaya's current mental state.

- "Hey Avilaya... You okay?"

The audience laughs at the banter.



Leftos moves closer to Chalei'nh. Its reptilian eyes gazing into both of hers. "Are you...threatening D/Monix on behalf of your species? That seems like a lot of bravado for a group that has had most of its planet taken in seconds. Not to mention none of you seem to be able to remove yourselves from you current situation. Still...its what makes humanity somewhat entertaining to watch."

All 3 heads then move closer together, and speak in unison.

"Somewhat."

"Somewhat."

"Somewhat."

They all sigh, and even roll their eyes as they say the line. Given the crowd reaction, you might expect this to be the Big 3's catchphrase.

It was after that Primary decided to invoke  Avilaya's past and the hologram showing the result. Her clear emotion reaction causes the crowd to silence itself, and she can hear almost a dirge-like song from her space pirate fans. However, the translation function of her AI still fails to come up with any results.

Primary seems confused by her display of tears. "I notice humans do that a lot. Is that some sort of eyewash in reaction to the air? Your atmosphere processors should working fine..." He says, although there is a bit of a sense he knows precisely why she is upset.

"There is no need to mock lesser beings, Primary." Leftos points out.

"Yeah, why should she care? She was powerful, they where weak. She's better off without them!" Rightos adds its two cents in.

Leftos glares at its own red head. "Its is the purpose of the more evolved to show grace to the less evolved. Its one of the reasons I don't tear off your neck most of the time!" Leftos growled.

"That's big talk coming from a book wyrm!" Rightos snapped, quite literally as it nearly takes a chuck out of Leftos' neck.

Primary quickly gets between the two growling and hissing heads, causing all three necks to entangle themselves.

"That's enough you two! Don't force me to call on the other three, ok?" It says, looking from Leftos to Rightos.

The other two heads merely nod and move apart, disentangling themselves.

"What?" Avilaya was startled by Chalei'nh talking to her.  Lowering her eyes, she brushed the cuff of her shirt across them.  She just wanted to meld into her seat and hopefully be ignored for the rest of the interview, which was a stupid thing to think considering that they needed to make a good impression on potential fans and donors.  Putting on her best fake smile, she replied.  "...Oh...uhm...I'm right as the morning snow...or mail...whatever.  Why do you ask?  Anyone else finding it...uh...dusty in here?"

Avilaya wiped at her eyes once more, as their three-headed host turned its attention to her.  Just great, she thought.  Now the focus was back on her, which was the last thing that she wanted with her emotions all raging to the surface.  "Look, you're both sort of right." she said to the bickering heads.  For a moment Avilaya glanced back at Chalei'nh and the others, and took a deep breath.

"They were my team mates.  We were supposed to look after each other, have each others back, and I...I...why is this so bloody hard?  I need a drink."  Avilaya exhaled.  Drinking wasn't going to help.  That, she'd already proven back on Earth before all of this stuff with the aliens.  There was nothing else but to power through this and ignore those pesky doubts and feelings.  Maybe she'd have a break down later, off camera, but now she had to come up with something good or she risked letting down another squad.

"I learned in the military that a squad was only as strong as it's weakest link." she started soberly.  "I might have appeared to be the strongest one of my old team but I was really the weakest one.  No one is going to get through these challenges alone, you need someone watching your back, standing at your shoulder.  That was me, I thought.  Avilaya, team player.  But..."  Avilaya sniffed, feeling those damnable tears coming back.  "...I was so excited...no...overjoyed...to be able to walk again, thanks to D/Monix, and be able to do amazing things, that I lost sight of that.  Instead of the strong protecting the weak, it was the strong having fun and ignoring everything else around me."

Avilaya turned to the holo once more and pointed at it.  "That's what you are seeing up there.  I should have been helping the others out.  It didn't matter if they were weaker or less evolved, they were my squad mates, I mean team mates.  And I...failed them.  And they died.  My failure is your entertainment, but seeing that stabs me right here,"  She thumped her chest.  ", and it isn't the first time that I've experienced loss like this so...it's bringing back very bad memories."

Chalei'nh seemed taken aback by the reply.

- "Threatening? Oh no, not at all. The only headaches i plan to give D/Monix is having them struggle to come up with something new once we make it past the lower levels. I was merely attempting to point out what, going by precedent, the likely reaction of my species would be to oppression by force as opposed to peaceful integration. This is not just restricted to my own species, mind you, this is true even for several species of animals on our world, most notably lesser evolved primates among them. A... necessary matter of decorum between one civilised species and another. I shan't bring it up again."

She then turned to Avilaya as she shared what had happened to her earlier groups.

- "As bad as it sounds... it happens. I got stuck in a bad group when i first joined, with everyone going their own way and not agreeing on anything. I spent so much time hiding and sneaking around that spider level it surprised me i even qualified for a levelup at the end of it. But then i got to this group and not only did we beat the level with no casualties, we saved a member of a different group in the process. So things are improving."

She motioned to where the display had been projected a moment ago.

- "Point is... this can only show you what you were, not what you are. And if the current you is trying to correct the mistakes of your past then that's good enough for me... though, admittedly, convincing yourself may take more effort."

Having seemingly placated her own fans Heidi settles herself down into the chair, with her shoulders leaning at an angle up against the chair back her fully extended legs still don't come anywhere near the edge of her seat.  She seems quite content to avoid the aimless banter at least until there is something interesting she can actually do.  If you hadn't seen her get into the chair and jump around earlier her current pose would be completely indistinguishable from that of a discarded child's toy simply resting where it was last posed until picked up again.
This message was last edited by the player at 21:53, Thu 11 Apr.

Many of the audience, not just Avilaya's fans, cheer her statements. Her retelling of events clearly draws them in. Chalei'nh's confrontation with the Big 3 seems to cause a round of 'Oooooooohs' among the crowd. They seem to quite down when she starts making her points, clearly being more the 'pro wrestling' type crowd then 'political debate' fans. Hedi's fans where very excited to see her face down one of the Big 3.

Eventually, the Big 3 dominate the conversation with...themselves. At one point Leftos and Rightos seem about to rip into each other. Primary quickly ends the conversation.

"I would like to thank our wanderers, and look forward to seeing what they have to offer on the next level! Next up, we look at the odds for earther survival, and look at the game stats! We will be right back!"

The crowd begins to fade from view, and the Big 3 scans over the group once more with all three heads.

"It will be interesting to see how many of you make it."

"It will be interesting to see how many of you make it."

"It will be interesting to see how many of you make it."

Then the huge creature fades from view as well.

The image of Gallbry appears as the doors open once more. The room is now empty of all other holograms save her.

"Well, you bunch did a good job. You will be getting more loot boxes from that little...free for all. You will be able to access them in your guildhall at the next level. Do you have any other questions? Remember, I won't be able to tell you everything you want to know..."