Do you hear the people sing? Because they're all pissed off

[inforapenny]

[There is no announcement at noon on Tuesday. The hour itself, in fact, seems to hang in grave remembrance of a friend no longer with them. B's absence is still heavy in their group every time that they look at the graffiti'd box office.

But they can't be silent forever. They won't be silent forever.

There's few enough of them left that Billy can find each of them individually, slipping a sheet of paper into their hand.]

MEET IN THE FIRST FLOOR WOMEN'S ROOM, 2 PM.

(Men's room light is still out. Sorry.)

Comments

The Gunshot and the Producer

[inforapenny]

So, did, uh. How many people heard the gunshot last night?

[trettende]

[ Yeah, that sure was a thing.......... ]

Kind of hard to miss. What happened? Was it a crew member again?

[inforapenny]

Yeah. Winslow and I caught one. We got to, uh. "Interview" him a little bit, but then a couple of his cohorts came and rescued him.

That was the gunshot. And also- also why there's no light in the men's room.

[trettende]

They shot the light? Why?

[ I mean, last time they shot a person so that's good news? Ish?

Hans isn't even gonna ask about the air quotes, he'd have done the same thing. Good job, Billy. ]

Did you learn anything useful from him?

[inforapenny]

I guess so that the breaking glass and darkness would cover their escape. We didn't actually hurt him, despite his whining to the contrary.

Yeah. We learned that he was part of the show that came before this one. They called him The Producer, but according to the photos that Anna found his name is Max.

[trettende]

[ He shrugs. He would've been okay with hurting him but ok. ]

So he survived to the end of the last show? Was it a show like this one? With the murders and trials and everything?

[inforapenny]

I mean, if he's part of the stage crew, I'm pretty sure he didn't die.

[Ask a stupid question, Hans.]

I think I saw some like crime scene-style photos in the ones that Anna found, so my guess is that yeah, it was the same kind of show.

[trettende]

People have been brought back to life before. Seymour remembers dying, for instance.

[ Stupid questions aren't so stupid when you have stage magic, Billy! ]

So do you think they'll ask us if we want to join at the end of this? What exactly do they gain from joining, anyway?

[pennyless]

Even if that is true- [How can somebody remember dying, ffs] they don't seem too excited to bring back our friends--

........

[o shit.]

[trettende]

[ Ask him, not Hans-- ]

Exactly. Maybe they could bring them back?

[pennyless]

But if that's the case-

[Shouldn't we take it, too?]

Why even bother with the whole show in the first place? What's the point of such high stakes when you can just- flip a switch and take it all back?

[trettende]

Well, if we go by the theory that the cast members are haunting the opera, perhaps... there's more to it than that? I don't know.

[ Unless... ]

Maybe we have to earn it somehow. Flipping that switch only works if we work for it?

[inforapenny]

What if the previous cast members are still trying to earn it?

What if- what if their show got boring, so Management offered them new roles?

[trettende]

That... that certainly sounds like the kind of thing the Management would do. They're always insistent on having everyone play their roles.

Do you think they'll offer us the same deal, if we don't have an "exciting" ending?

[inforapenny]

I, uh. I'd guess that we're probably past the point of not being "exciting" enough.

Ghosts

[dontfeedplants]

... So I'm pretty sure there are ghosts here. Too many weird things have been going on for it to be just a coincidence.

[He is honestly willing to believe in anything at this point so at least this isn't too bad of a revelation for him.]

[dechagny]

[As much as he's denied the existence of Phantoms and ghosts back home...]

I...find that I must agree. There are far too many strange things going on, not to mention the mural...

[trettende]

[ Ah yes, Hans has finally experienced the ghosts. He's a believer. ]

Do you think it's... the people we've lost?

[ Sounds better than the people who've died, right? ]

[dechagny]

I...I want to believe that it could be. I don't know if it is. But, looking at the mural...it is somewhat reassuring to know our friends believe in us.

[Though he does still worry for D-ne in the vaguely defined afterlife, but...he's probably the only one.]

[trettende]

[ Ah yes, the mural... That shit was uncanny. ]

Even if they're only with us in spirit, they must still be here.

[dechagny]

And...certainly, they will lend us their strength if we are in need.

[pennyless]

...About the mural - Other than the obvious, that we have no proof that it isn't just- just management invoking our dead friends to mess with us -

You saw the message from J, right? Because that one definitely didn't read like something Javert would say.

[dechagny]

[Yeah, they have no proof, but...]

It was definitely a strange message. "I know it was you who shot this girl Fromme"?

[inforapenny]

The way "Fromme" is written makes it sound like a name.

[...Gonna take a shot in the dark here (AYYYY)]

Somebody other than Natalie knows who shot her. And more importantly, knows the shooter by name.

[dechagny]

How did Natalie know who shot her?

[inforapenny]

I don't- I don't know if she did, but the point was that, well. There's- there's two people we know who were there. Natalie wrote us her own note, and...

[He glances at Hans, awkwardly, from the corner of his eye.]

This "J" referenced the showrunner, so it's probably not-

[dechagny]

Probably not any of the people who've been brought here for this particular "production".

[pennyless]

[I mean he was going to say "probably not The Balladeer" hence the awkward look at Hans given the feelings jam they had about this earlier but.

That works too.]

Assuming that J is right, that means that "Fromme" is one of the stagehands.

...We can probably assume that anyway, whether or not J was right that they were the one who shot Natalie.

And- actually, I have seen a stagehand with a gun.

[sunshineprincess]

Oh, I know there's ghosts! I had one in the bakery with me, and I think it may have been Eliza. I don't know who else would bake a pie and be like a mom here. And then there was the ones in the ballroom with me, messing with the memorial. Valjean's candles lit up and Astarte's locket was trying to escape. That's all I've come across so far.

[trettende]

Mine wouldn't let me drink.

[ Dead stare. ]

That could have easily been anyone, I'm more surprised they haven't been haunting me for being the Mole.

[dontfeedplants]

Some ghost kept playing these weird movies in the Media Room before they threw a disk at me. And another person left a flower in the garden for my, uh, memorial.

[... He still isn't exactly eager to tell everyone what his memory this week was.]

I don't know who they were. They're both vague enough that I could see a lot of people doing that.