Under Rubble & De-Brie [II AU]

intermission a

word count: 1.6k
no special text format (written like a standard novel)

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01. PREREQUISITES

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CLICK CLACK CLICK

BEEP BEEP

I slammed the keyboard in a fit of frustration. The shrill sounds of failure reverberated through my skull.

Weeks. It must have been weeks since I'd first sat myself down at the monitor. I've taken breaks, of course, but it feels like I've been cooped up in here forever, trying to get this plan to work. I might be getting hay fever.

My phone vibrated nearby. I picked it up with hope.

[Remember to get a breath of fresh air today. You promised,] It read. Oh, a reminder. Of course. Nobody messages me. Nobody knows who or where I am. Why would I hope for anything else?

There's nobody left to message me, anyway. They're all in... there.

I glanced back up at the screen, eyes aching for some sort of release.

Right... the reason I'm doing this.

I input a quick command before pushing the keyboard under the desk. The microphone was kind of high up; I had to get as much space as I could to lean over the desk and be heard clearly. It was a hassle, but it was a small price to pay for the sake of the plan.

"Hello?"

No response. I tapped the microphone.

"Mic check, 1, 2, 3?"

Nothing.

I sighed, sitting down and pulling the keyboard back out. So much for getting some fresh air.

"You'd think we'd have been more prepared, considering how far in advance we started planning..." I looked through the list of contestants again, comparing them to their instances on-camera. "You'd also think we'd get a better connection. Or, at the very least, a second monitor." That's too much work, though. It's also very suspicious. What would I tell the person at the Meeple store? 'Don't think too hard about where I'm getting the money to buy thousands of dollars of technological equipment; it's for a gaming setup?'

Maybe buying from a Meeple store in the first place wasn't the brightest idea. Either way, I already made my purchase, so I can't whine about it... I'll have to make do with what's available.

I took a moment to stare longingly towards the metal exit, rubbing my temples to soothe the oncoming headache.

I'm going to be here for a while. The microphone's connection is out of my control, so... the least I could do is prepare before we get busy. I flipped through the camera feed, pulling up a notepad file.