Chương 66: Arc II, Chapter 57: Carlyle

Player Stats: Player Plot Armor Mettle Moxie Hustle Savvy Grit Riley 27/2 3 7 6 7 4 Antoine 25 7 4 5 2 7 Kimberly 23 3 9 5 1 5 Dina 21 3 3 5 3 7 Bobby 22 3 7 5 3 4 Isaac 16 2 4 3 3 4 Cassie 17 2 7 4 3 1 Player Tropes: Riley Lawrence is the Film Buff. Trope Limit: 9"Trope Master" grants him the ability to perceive enemy tropes, but at the cost of sacrificing half of his Plot Armor. As an"Oblivious Bystander," Riley remains untargeted by enemies as he convincingly acts oblivious to their presence.

"Escape Artist" buffs his Hustle to help enact plausible escape plans.

"The Insert Shot" makes allies aware of an object the player chooses. The object will be shown to the audience and its use will be buffed in the Finale.

"Director's Monitor" allows him to watch the rest of the storyline after his demise via Deathwatch.

"Flashback Revelation" allows him to communicate with allies from Deathwatch through flashbacks to his past dialogue.

"Casting Director" gives him a summary of his team's roles in the storyline.

"My Grandmother Had the Gift…" A background trope that gives Riley's character some ambiguous connection to "The Gift" through his heritage." Cutaway Death" sends him Off-Screen before the moment of his character's implied demise and allows him to exist behind the scenes Written Off if he survives the encounter." Dead Man Walking" buffs his Grit substantially after his death becomes inevitable, potentially stretching out his last moments.

He did not equip " Cinema Seer,""Coming To A Theater Near You," "I Don't Like It Here...,""Out Like a Light," "Location Scout,""The Wrong Reel," "Raised by Television,"" What Doesn't Kill Them Makes Them Angry," or " Method to the Madness." Kimberly Madison is the Eye Candy. Trope Limit: 8.

"Convenient Backstory" allows her to believably change her backstory to assist with the current task, buffing the relevant stat.

"Social Awareness" allows her to see the Moxie stat of all enemies and NPCs.

"Get a Room!" boosts the odds of important discoveries when exploring with a love interest during the party.

"A Hopeless Plea" forces the captor to explicitly deny her release when she asks to be released.

"Pregnancy Reveal" buffs her Grit when she pretends that she is pregnant and buffs the father's Mettle if she dies.

"When in Rome" buffs her Grit until Rebirth if her performance matches the tone of the movie.

"Does anyone have a scrunchie?" allows her to shift Moxie's points into another stat by putting her hair up." Carousel Academy Awards" buffs her Moxie based on the quality of her performance in the previous storyline. She did not equip " A Lip Cease," " Looks Don't Last,""Typecast," "Breaking the Veil of Silence," "The Woman in Mourning," or "That's What I Said!" Antoine Stone is the Athlete. Trope Limit: 9 His"You were having a nightmare…"

trope allows him to repress or heal mental trauma (he is not strong enough to use its plot-resetting powers yet).

"Gym Rat" buffs Mettle and Hustle by revealing athletic backstory.

"It's Part of the Uniform" gives him higher Mettle when attacking with sports equipment.

"Just Walk It Off" heals the Hobbled status by walking.

"Knight in Shining Armor" buffs his Mettle and Grit when defending a love interest.

"Time Out!" allows him to go Off-Screen during a fight, reducing enemy aggression. Brandishing a weapon is"Like a Security Blanket," buffing his Grit and soothing his and his allies' fear. Swinging it will cause his opponents to faulter, if only for a moment based on Moxie because of " Swing Away."" Better Make it Count" greatly buffs the last round of ammunition the player has available in a fight.

He did not equip " Reload After Cut," " Off the Bench,""Everyone Loves a Winner,""The Playbook","A Race Against Time," "Coyote in a Trap," or"Bad Luck Magnet." He also didn't use"Play it Cool" because he worried that Carousel was planning something nefarious by giving it to him. Dina Cano is the Outsider. Trope Limit: 8 Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

"Guarded Personality" resists all insight abilities.

"An Outsider's Perspective" alerts her to new, out-of-place, or unusual information.

"Better Late Than Never" buffs Mettle and Hustle if she waits until the Finale to assist allies On-Screen against the enemy.

"A Haunted Past" A background trope that gives her character some past trauma that haunts her and gives her access to various tropes.

"Encouragement from Beyond" soothes her when stressed, scared, or in pain and may provide useful information.

"Outside Looking In" grants her the ability to discern ideal spots to linger and observe events without actively participating in the narrative.

"They Fell Off" allows her to quickly get out of handcuffs and similar restraints. She can leave physical or mental messages in the story that her allies can detect when in the location she left them with"Pen Pal."" Light Fingers" buffs the player's attempts at stealing items from the set. She did not equip " Savvy Safecracker," " You don't know me, but…," " Dark Secret," or " They ruined the shot…" Bobby Gill is The Wallflower.

Trope Limit: 8"Background Noise" allows him to get background information from NPCs when Off-Screen.

"The Good Samaritan" buffs his Mettle and Grit for helping allies in a crisis if they have not met On-Screen and are strangers.

"Last-Minute Casting" recasts him as an NPC that is moderately involved in the plot. The selection is seemingly random. He will get some limited background information for the character and some access to the NPC script.

"From Humble Beginnings" debuffs the player's stats 30% in the Party, then but buffs them 15% in Rebirth, the Finale, and the Final Battle resulting in a net 15% buff by the end of the story.

"Craft Services Are The Real Heroes" ensures that there is edible food and water on set somewhere during the storyline.

"My Only Role is Exposition" gives him some useful information to be relayed On-Screen but takes it away if he starts to bore the audience." Actually, I'm a Veterinarian" changes his character's background to being an animal doctor and allows certain tropes to be equipped." If you Can't see it, it Won't Bleed" allows him to temporarily mend wounds by covering them from the audience's view." Remember Me?" allows him to promote his character to main cast by pretending to know them and introducing himself.

He did not equip"The Hidden Infection," "The "Wisdom" of Crowds," or"And That's Lunch." Cassie Hughes is The Psychic. Trope Limit: 8"The Anguish" lets her see her allies' health stats from anywhere and lets her take some of their pain by feeling it herself. This can reduce their overall injuries.

"We are not abandoned…" can keep her allies' spirits high by weaving a narrative of some higher power in control. When done well, this trope can heal Incapacitation, certain forms of spiritual Infection, and even buff Grit." Reflective Jump Scare" allows her to get a glimpse of the enemy when she looks in a mirror, giving her some small insight into what is in store." Foreboding Signs" gives her insight into who will die next and how in character, allowing her to prepare for what is to come."

Empathic Shield" buffs an imperiled ally's Grit by expressing genuine concern for them On-Screen." At Your Own Peril" debuffs characters' Grit and Effective Plot Armor if they ignore her psychic warnings. Isaac Hughes is The Comedian. Trope Limit: 8"If he's still cracking jokes…" allows the player to reduce or eliminate injuries by using humor the next time he is On-Screen before the audience know how injured he is. Works on allies situationally.

"Weapons of Mass Absurdity" using humorous weapons Buffs his Mettle and Hustle. The buff extends to weapons that are used if the original weapon fails." Blood Loss Delirium" gives the player a pleasant drunken stupor when they have major blood loss and provides cover for antics." Gallows Humor" allows him to ease mental pain with dark humor after a tragedy." Let me get this straight…" allows him to buff their current plan by summarizing the situation and plan to the audience."

Trash Talk" allows him to debuff the enemy's Mettle by insulting them. ~-~ ~-~ I hadn't been transported into a role since the anthology. I was dressed differently. My hoodie was gone, replaced by a proper coat. I wore semi-professional clothing. On the bright side, the pocket of the coat still contained my luggage ticket, so I was not without my supplies. Casting Director proved to be moderately useful. I was a director who felt Carlyle Geist was stifling my career. That was it.

I didn't see anyone else's character descriptions because they weren't here with me. I really did need to stop relying on that trope. I needed to pay attention. I was On-Screen. Carlyle Geist was on the other side of the room. I walked slowly so I could gather my thoughts. On the red wallpaper, he was Carlyle Geist, The Voice. He was Plot Armor 30. He was not an enemy as far as I could tell. At the very least, I couldn't see his tropes like I could Jedediah and Lillian, but they had been dangerous.

He was just a character. Actually, I didn't know what he was. We were in a sound stage, a large building used to shoot scenes for movies on constructed sets. Carlyle was sitting in a kitchen set at a small nook table. He watched me as I walked.

"I hate to meet you in person under these circumstances," Carlyle Geist said.

"I need to get some answers about this script. This scene we're supposed to shoot tomorrow is terrible. I was told by Baron that I had you to blame."

"Me?" I asked. I was a film director in this story. I must have been directing the film in question. I didn't know who Baron was.

"You are Riley Lawrence, the hot-shot young director who's here to bring the studio back to relevance, right?" He said it with an ironic humor. His voice was deep, clear, and intelligent sounding.

"That's me," I said. He opened the screenplay up and spread it out on the little table between us. I read the front quickly.

"Untitled by Elliot something. December, 1983." Carlyle smoked his pipe calmly. He was around the same age Jedediah had been when he died. They looked alike, though Carlyle had a vigor that Jed did not. He began to do a mix of reading the script aloud and commenting on it.

"Our heroine exposes her breasts, her honor almost contained within frame. She turns to the mirror and gazes at herself. She is looking for imperfections but finds none. Okay, whatever. I'm sure that was a useful direction for casting. Dialogue with mother, basic filler setting up the character. There's a dance of some kind, it doesn't matter." He skimmed through the scene until he found the right page.

"Here it is," he said.

"While heroine is modeling her tight sweater for the mirror, the camera pans to a face in the window. The face belongs to a mask and the mask belongs to the killer." After he was done reading, he looked up at me.

"What is this? She's changing clothes in a room with the blinds open. Okay, fine that is not without precedent. This script implies nudity or near nudity which is worse because it's cowardly. But this is not tasteful in the least bit. We are meant to cheer for this young woman. Why do we spend two and half pages discussing how full her breasts are?" It was an eighties script. Carlyle must not have kept up with the times. Artless nudity of that era was a different animal from the stuff from decades prior.

"I think the goal," I said, "Is to have the viewer distracted by her… assets so that when the face appears, the scare is more effective. Also, every fifteen-year-old and his buddies are going to get their older brothers to buy a ticket for them when they hear there is nudity in it."

"It's disgraceful," he said.

"Nudity in horror is meant to heighten the sense of vulnerability. Juxtaposing nude characters with clothed ones is supposed to suggest moral turpitude versus innocence. It's shorthand. The stuff in this scene, this is pornography. She is a strong-willed character who fights to the very end to survive. This scene confuses the message and makes our heroine out to be some sort of meat for sale at the butcher. I won't have it."

It was a strange mix of values, but nothing I hadn't seen expressed in countless horror films. Innocent characters never engage in sex or rock and roll. They never change clothes alone in their rooms, either, apparently.

"You want her to remain clothed," I said.

"I don't want our audience focused on that aspect of her, but the problem is bigger than that," he said.

"The killer is supposed to be this out of control psych ward patient or something."

"That's actually a misdirect I think," I said. The script didn't reveal who the killer was exactly in the part I had read, but it ham-fistedly suggested it was an escaped mental patient. I thought it was the psychiatrist framing the mental ward patient based on some subtle clues, but I hadn't read enough to be sure.

"Whatever he is," Carlyle said.

"He looks like a pervert. The audience will feel like a pervert. Is that what we want?" Off-Screen. That was an odd place to go Off-Screen, but I supposed getting lectured by an old school film producer was not the most titillating stuff for the audience. I did my best to look like I was being scolded.

"No," I said.

"Baron tells me you were dead set on this scene being shot the way it was written," he said. I shook my head.

"Sometime Baron uses other peoples' names to share his opinions as a shield." Carlyle looked at me funny. That remark was a mistake. I didn't know Baron. Normally, a player could improvise a line like that and Carousel would go along with it, but Carlyle was likely not connected to the script. He couldn't adapt to my improvisation. I sat as he looked at me and waited to see if my statement about the mysterious Baron was acceptable. It didn't take too long. Carlyle started to laugh. I laughed with him.

"Baron has been my intermediary for years. I suppose he couldn't have maintained the post unless he knew how to shift blame." He laughed again.

"You know when I was a decade older than you, I wrote the script for the original Prognosis Terror. This was before it was an anthology. Did you know that?" I shook my head.

"I put my heart and soul into that script. A mad doctor, killing, butchering, turning his patients into animal-human hybrids. It was complete garbage, but everyone told me it was wonderful. Everyone, except my father." He leaned back as far as the metal chair would let him and his eyes drifted up to the ceiling as he thought back.

"He took the script and chopped it down, combined it with three other shorts about medical horror and that is what made it into theaters. I didn't even get a credit for it. He told me, 'It's my name that sells the movie, son. Mine.'" He started to laugh.

"I suppose you imagine that that is exactly what I'm doing to you?"

"I didn't write the script," I said.

"That's true," he said.

"But still. I know I am stepping on your toes. I don't do it because I deem you incapable. I watched your directorial debut, you know. Subject of Inquiry, wasn't it? About the Mercers."

"Oh," I said, slightly caught off guard.

"Yes."

"Not bad. Science Fiction is not something the studio does a lot of. You played a role in the film too, didn't you? I didn't realize that until I got a look at you in person." I laughed nervously.

"I died in the second act," I said.

"Yes," he said.

"Torn apart by an invisible monster. You'll have to tell me how you made it look so real." I smiled.

"It felt real too." He laughed and picked up the script in his hands and handed it to me.

"What would you fix about this scene?" I took the page and opened it up to the marked section and read it quickly. It was a simple, cliché scene from a slasher. Nothing fancy. Carlyle's summary had been accurate.

"Well," I said.

"We don't want to reveal the killer this early into the film, but we need his presence felt. We could do the shot from his point of view." Carlyle seemed interested.

"Expand on that."

"We move the camera around the outside of house from where the killer's eyes would be. We see him checking doors, making sure the neighbors' lights are off, checking the woodshed." I said.

"We show he is being meticulous and careful. Then, he sees the light flick on in the main character's room. She is changing but we don't see anything. We see her step up to the window in each outfit, her… umm, breast covered each time so she can look in the mirror. We hear her conversation with her mom on the phone. The killer is in a safe spot to hide, or so we think. He tries to move, she hears something. She looks out the window. She's alert. The audience knows she won't die easy."

"She's alert," Carlyle repeated.

"She looks confident, clever."

"She could even say something like, 'Let me give the phone back to dad.'" I said.

"But she's alone in the house," Carlyle said.

"The killer doesn't know that," I said.

"He can't risk it. He leaves out of an abundance of caution, which helps foreshadow that the killer isn't a mental patient but is actually," I flipped to the pages around the place I felt the reveal would be in the finale, "The psychiatrist, like I said. That also explains why he doesn't attack her that night. There's no explanation for why he moves to his next target in the current script. He just does." Carlyle laughed.

"I like it. The killer's point of view for the camera… We've done that before, of course. Useful technique if done correctly." I nodded.

"You can use it to tell the audience information about the killer. How they move, what they focus on, how big they are. That sort of thing."

"If the killer was extraordinarily tall, that would be intimidating," he said.

"Or very small can be scary too," I said.

"Who would be afraid of a short slasher?" Carlyle asked playfully. I shrugged my shoulders.

"Maybe it's a child's doll possessed by a voodoo serial killer, I don't know. Could be effective." Carlyle laughed.

"We'll have to do one like that. Sounds like an absolute ball." On-Screen. The phone started to ring. I almost ignored it out of habit from our strange phone at the hotel. Carlyle wasn't the sort of man to answer his own phone and we appeared to be the only two people in the studio. I got up and found a phone on the wall next to a door that lead to some offices.

"Hello?" I said.

"Bensen Geist for Carlyle Geist," the other voice said. It was a woman, likely Bensen's secretary.

"I'll put him on," I said. Carlyle heard what I said, so he was up out of his chair in a moment to come take the phone.

"Who is it?"

"Your son. Bensen," I said. Carlyle rolled his eyes and took the phone.

"Yes, I'm here." I could hear a voice on the other end but I didn't know what it said.

"Son," Carlyle said sternly.

"I am working at the studio." Some more talking.

"You wanted to be CEO, you're CEO. Why are you still calling me?" The person on the other side spoke again. This time, Carlyle looked alarmed.

"I see," he said.

"I'll take care of it." He hung up the phone.

"I am the only person in this family that can handle an emergency, aren't I?" he said under his breath. He turned to me.

"Riley, it had occurred to me that my driver is away doing errands. Could you drive me up the road?" I nodded my head.

"Thanks," he said.

"There's been a break in at one of the factories."