A theater production of some play he’s never heard of.

The limo had dropped them off outside a theater, one he half-remembered his parents taking him to as a child. It was an opera, or something? He didn’t really get what happened, and his still-juvenile brain was too bored by the lack of similarities to Pokémon or Dragon Ball to try and figure it out.

Ann pulled a program from a clasp she’d been holding, and said “Our seats are T15 and T16, just do what I do once it starts.” with a disaffectation that honestly threw him for a loop. Usually she was groan-inducingly “fun” or pants-wettingly serious, this was the first time he’d seen her be so detached. Maybe this was what she was like when she actually was being serious?

Looking at the other theater-goers, that may have been the case. No one else was even remotely as dressed-up as she was. Lenny himself was probably second after her, but most of the people at the show were essentially in the outfit equivalent of jeans, a t-shirt, and a bland jacket.

It was surreal. Not only that, but of the hundreds of available seats only about fifty were actually occupied. Once the pair sat down in their remarkably spacious row, in what seemed to be the best seats in the house, Lenny took a gander at the show’s program.

“The Ate-er: A Multimedia Live Perfornance Experience That Must Be Believed To Be Seen; Part 108 of ∞—Dreams Are A Thing That One Can Only Imagine”

“What… the fuck… is this…?” Leonard wisely thought within the confines of his own mind, and not out loud next to his ostensible date. In the program was a list of directions, detailing a series of actions to be done in response to a specific set of cues and signals. Many of them required the use of extra props that it said would be supplied under their seats. To his shock, there was indeed a box full of various knick-knacks. “What the fuck…!?” he stupidly muttered under his breath.

Thankfully Ann didn’t seem to notice, saying “Good, you found the box. Remember, do exactly as I do once the show starts.” as the lights started to dim, and before she began to hold her breath in suspense.

Soon the curtain rose, though the stage was as dark as the rest of the room. If this continued for much longer, Leonard figured his eyes would have adjusted to the levels of illumination.

“!feileb sah hturt ehT !kraH” a pre-recorded voice shouted, obviously played backwards. Immediately, Ann shined a flashlight onto the left half of the stage. Leonard scrambled to find the titular item in his box, but given how dark it had become that proved difficult.

Eventually he felt something vaguely phallic with a button and a lense, and tried switching it on. Indeed it was a flashlight.

Except the one he grabbed showed a green light that projected the words “Life Becomes True Dying” wherever he shined it, similar to the bat logo in Batman’s Bat Signal.

“That’s aide 14-G, grab 14-A…!” Ann angrily whispered. He didn’t have the mental bandwidth necessary to argue with her, so instead he chose to dig for the correct flashlight. While this happened, four or five other lights slowly pointed at the same spot as his boss’ target.

As they converged on a mirror, light was reflected across the stage to other odd markings. Another recording of the previous voice said “Truth Lies with Jumbo Shrimp!” and suddenly next to Leonard’s ears an air horn played to the beat of Bee Gees classic “Stayin’ Alive”.

“Gah!” he involuntarily groaned, as he wondered if this would continue for the length of the whole show.