Background Video 1

Morning came, and you sit in the main cabin near the dining table and contemplate how badly you screwed up. Outside, the sky had cleared up and the water was still. The power had come back to the ship, and you were eating a premade sandwich left in one of the fridges. Jenna had been in the washroom when you left the bedroom.

What were you going to say to Jenna? To Paige?

You really didn't mean to... No that was a fucking lie. You wanted it. Was it just a one-time thing with Jenna? You didn't want things to stop between you and Jenna. You care about Jenna. At the same time, you didn't want things to stop between you and Paige either. You care about Paige. What the fuck were you going to do? Obviously you had to buy more time for the Relationship Party to level them up and make them more tolerant of your wishy-washy mind.

A loud horn interrupts your thoughts, and you head out to the deck to check it out. Another boat, less ornate as the yacht you were in, had arrived with a smiling Captain Francesco. You see him waving, and you wave back. Jenna came up later, and the two of you shared a brief guilty look, not knowing what to say to each other.

You and Jenna board the "rescue" ship first and greet the ship captain who boards his old yacht with another technician or shipwright of some sort. Gary, who was still sick, was being helped by some production members who came aboard. Gary, the cameraman, was promptly berated by the team for not capturing any footage, and he excuses himself to go to the latrine once more.

Jenna and you stand next to each other on the deck overlooking the sea, your hand's yearning to reach for the others like leaves reaching out to sunlight on the rail.

“We probably shouldn’t have done that,” Jenna says. “I’ll tell Paige it was my fault.”

“No. It was my fault. I’ll explain it to her.”

Jenna shakes her head.

“I know how she’ll take it, and I can best explain it to her,” Jenna said.

“I should be there too. It was my fault.”

A silence fell over you, and the only sounds were waves and the ship’s motor. Jenna reaches over and holds your hand and then rests her head on your shoulders as the ship you boarded motors back home.

"I don't regret it," Jenna whispers.

"I don't either," a part of you thought.

“Hey! Look who’s back!” Liz shouts.

Islanders gathered around when you and Jenna made your way back into the center of the island resort.

“Dude, what happened? We heard you guys were shipwrecked,” Tom asks.

“No, our ship lost its engine power or something, and we were stuck at sea. They only got us now,” You explain.

In the corner of your eye, you see Jenna approach Paige. You couldn't escape the crowd that was walling you and barraging you with questions. The two stroll into a deserted area and start talking as you explain the events to the other islanders. Jenna talks and Paige starts tearing up, you can see Jenna try her best to calm her down.

“No, I’m fine. Excuse for a minute,” You say and went after Paige.

“What did you say?” You ask Jenna as you came up to her.

“I was just asking her if you and I could talk to her privately to clear up some things. I didn’t say anything yet,” Jenna says.

“Ah fuck,” You sigh.

“I’m really sorry, Matt. I really didn’t say anything yet.”

Rubbing your temples, you try to think and say, “No. Again… this is really my fault. I’ll go find her.”

You scour the main villa house for Paige and saw no signs of her. The only place you didn’t check was the downstair’s bathroom, and the door was locked. After rattling the handle a couple of times, you knocked and call out, “Paige? You in there?”

“Go away! I don’t want to talk to you right now,” Paige answers in fits of sobs.

12:32 – Paige Affection has decreased by 10 – She realized you slept with another woman

Great. Just fucking great.

“Paige… I’m sorry. I told you I still had feelings for Jenna, and one thing led to another. It was my fault, but I still really care about you.”

More sobbing comes through the doors as she hears you confirm her worst fears.

“Just go away,” You hear her say.

Pacing in front of the bathroom door, you try your best to figure out what to say or do. You had no answers. Checking your phone, you call it for some kind of response and it answered.

You received a new data item – Background Video 1 - Unlock for 5 AP.

A video right now? I don't need a video! I need a fucking miracle. Level up Paige's Relationship Party level or something!

Sighing, you guess there were no other options. It must be an important video for it to come now. What else could you do? You wanted to wait until Paige left the bathroom and try to apologize or calm her down and tell her you still cared about her but it was hard with the sobs that were coming out and a door locking you out.

After unlocking it (You had 90 points after completing the previous night mission and now have 85 points after deductions), you pull up a chair near the outside of the bathroom and sit and open the video.

The video opens, and it is in POV perspective, similar to a first-person VR game. The person in this video must be small or short and had tiny hands.

The tiny POV person is in her bedroom. Teddy bears littered the pink furniture in the child's bedroom. The person in the POV gets up from the bed and goes downstairs. Near the bottom of the stairway, the POV sees an older man with grey streaks in his red hair and a woman with blonde hair talking at the doorway.

“Daddy, who is that woman?” The POV child speaks, it is an infantile female voice.

“Oh… sweetie… you’re up. Umm… this is Carol. She’s one of my coworkers. She just came by to drop off some of my work,” The older man said. “Carol, this is my daughter, Paige.”

“Hello, Paige. How are you? Roger, I have to be going. I’ll be late,” The unknown woman says, and the two, old man and strange woman share a look the little girl has never seen on her daddy’s face.

The screen fades, and it cuts to another POV shot. This time in a lodge of some kind with the POV person looking out a window. The person in the POV is now much taller. She is in a ski lodge of some sort and on the phone, looking out onto the snowy mountains. There is a reflection in front of an attractive red-hair girl in her early teens in the glass where she is looking out into the distance and holding a cellphone to her ear.

“You’re not coming?” the POV teen asks the person on the other line.

“I’m really sorry, sweetie. I know you have your skiing competition today, but Eve is really sick right now. Carol and I are at the hospital trying to figure out what’s wrong with her. I’m truly deeply sorry sweetie.”

“Snowboarding, dad.”

“Oh right… sorry... snowboarding competition. I’ll make it up to you this weekend when I have you, Paige. I promise,”

“Sure.” The girl responds. She sighs and looks out into the endless snow.

"I love you, Paige," The man says.

"Sure."

The screen fades again and cuts to another scene.

The POV person is now sitting in bed. The mirror in front of her shows an identical twin of Paige, though her hair was tied up, and she wasn’t dolled out and dressed in oversized hoody and sweatpants. She is looking at her phone through pictures of some attractive young guy with another blonde girl. Tears form in her eyes, and a couple of droplets fall onto her phone screen.

The phone changes to a call screen, and Paige picks up.

“Hello, this is Paige Green," Paige answers, wiping away the tears from her eyes.

“Ms. Green. I’m Gil Steiner, a producer on the show, Island Amour. I’m calling you today to ask if you’d be interested in doing our show and perhaps finding love? I was directed to your number by a friend who’d say you’d be perfect for it.”

The video cuts off there.

What was the AMA trying to do here? Make you feel guiltier? Well, it did. You thought the AMA was supposed to help you, but all this shows is why you should feel shittier for your actions. You run your hand through your hair and lean back on the chair.

You feel you had to get up and try apologizing to Paige again somehow even if you didn't know how, but a yell rings out throughout the villa.

“WE GOT A TEXT!”

As always, things just never seem to stop. The next challenge was up and, oh boy, was it a doozy.