The door slams open, but the fall of feet is louder still. The sergeant stands before the security room with her hands on her hips, as backlight from behind the door illuminates her in a blaze. "Enjoying the show so far?" she asks.
Plastic casters screech under the weight of even Bethany, who is a short and frail woman with hair like unspooled string and a lovely smile that nobody ever sees. She scuttles upon her rolling chair to first address, and then ignore the interloper in favor of her work. It is her profession to ignore such things, and the such thing she is currently ignoring is the one paying her preciously with other people's money to do so, so there should be no hard feelings. Plus, the woman is chewing. There is currently a bare beef patty flopping from the corner of her mouth. Bethany bites down and tosses the rest of her dinner like a Frisbee to where its wrapper lay open as a plate, and the other frivolous accessories, such as a bun and sliced vegetables, have been set away. Paper crinkles under the weight of even the fast-food burger, which is thin and unsubstantial, as Beth slides it further from view with her off-hand and glances up at the sergeant while swallowing the last of the evidence. But the sergeant had already noticed, found it disturbing, as was currently judging whether or not Bethany seems like the type to speed–it seems unlikely–to decide how long ago, on top of the eight hours Bethany has been at work, that hamburger must have been cooked. Oh well.
Bethany, no longer chewing, says this: "I don't know, it's hard to get much out of it without sound." It is an anticlimactic response.
The sergeant had forgotten she had even asked, and would have rather the inquiry be left forgotten if she had known the response would be so milquetoast. "Well," she thinks, "the next act won't be so dialogue driven. You can make the 'Boom!', 'Pow!' sound effects yourself if you like, honey. Anyway! How are they taking it?" The sergeant strides to the desk and reaches over Beth for control of the keyboard. "If you wont give me feedback yourself..." she drawls as she focuses on the assay of monitors before her. The camera screens glow and glisten off her eyes, but appear purple against Bethany's pale countenance. The sergeant sees a streak of irritation take over the narrow, gaunt face and remembers her manners. "May I take a look?" she inquires.
"You're the sheriff 'round here." Beth kicks out at the floor, sending herself rolling out of the way.
The sergeant stares blankly ahead, all the screens showing sunspots and blaring white noise, her eyes squint as she strays further from focus. At her waist is a rabbit's foot screwed on a keychain. The flesh is falling from the bone in areas, yet she finds herself rubbing at it. Her mind is absent, not only in space, but in time as well.
Beth leans into her. "What?"
"Oh I... I umm nothing." The sergeant blinks back to life, trying to remember what she said in the first place–if anything. Light glares back at her. Her brown eyes feel red, the security cameras develop like photographs and she can once again see what she is watching.
They retell the story of the sergeant's descent but in reverse. One screen shows the nucleus of the mine, where the curious crystals are more abundant than stone. Giant jagged monuments strobe crimson light into the narrow straits carved around them. Outside the miners are congregated, working to bore into the nucleus well enough that their heavy machinery can marvel at it as well. Many monitors show this same scene, as tunnels are being dug towards the gemstones from all directions, creating a maze difficult to traverse. A few flights of stairs above that mess, lays order. One camera shows the outside of the base, the door and the keypad and empty space before it as it should be, and a few more cameras display the insides. Tables left empty at the moment, and all the hallways other than the one leading to this room are dark. Further inside, the hold is quiet, and not just because there isn't sound, the sergeant can feel the silent anticipation emanating from what she sees, and she smiles. Further above is Michael, who she would barely be able to make out in the indigo inlets if it weren't for his hi-vis vest and his orange hat. Then the tunnels leading to him, which she always hates watching, because if you do so for long enough you start to see blurs appear in the dusk. The whole thing is a blur, that's why.
At last, there is one camera in which you can see the night sky. Below the stars stand two men in uniform, waving lanterns out at the world and guarding a big old hole.
"Alright," the sergeant says, standing up straight with a smile. "I've done enough of your job for you. See you later."
"See you always," Beth retorts.
With a slew of sarcastic finger-guns, the sergeant turns and exits.
Bethany leans back and shouts over the screech of her chair. "Lock the door when you leave."
|-TASK ONE-|
In this task, you can write pretty much anything you'd like in order to introduce your story, as long as it is centered around your character going through the cave system. The goal is to establish your setting as well as your character's relationship to it. The basic set-up of the main shaft of the cave is laid out above, and the town of Idle above it is basically a dark and dilapidated version of what it was before–a tourist-trap town based off of the old west and set in a desolate desert landscape. I will be looking for solid description as you explore deeper into the caves, as well as some answers about your character's role in their environment. What are they doing here? Are they supposed to be here or are they in hiding? Which of your fellow competitors are you gonna murder in cold blood first? Okay maybe not that last one, you don't have to kill people, and really these are all just examples, so don't feel you HAVE to answer any of them. One thing you do have to do, though, is end your entry with this: your character finds the door to the base unlocked, the keypad on the interior wall busted and fizzing with electricity, and further inside the door to the security office is swung open, and nobody is inside.
|-WORD LIMIT-|
1000 words.
|-STAKES-|
Nobody will be up for ELIMINATION this round, unless you fail to turn in, in which case, you're a goner. However, all of you will be up for votes. Voting will be for the BEST entry and the winner will get 10 points added to their score for next round. I will have a vote same as everyone else, but that will be the end of my influence for this task. I can already tell the level of competition in this contest will be insanely high, so you will want those points. Meanwhile, use this task to become acclimated to the schedule and rule set of this competition and I suppose, if you must, have fun.
|-DEADLINE-|
Sunday September 11th 10:00 PM EST
Remember to email your submission to me at crocorocker@gmail.com before the deadline. EVERYONE must submit like this. If you would like additional feedback, you can ALSO share a Google Doc with the same email before the deadline. Good luck!
