Time for the real fun to begin!

The boundary box the producers put themselves in.

Outside the amphitheatre, the host of junior producers was still putting in the last details for the show. They were adding tiny, hidden details that likely no one would see, putting in their own little surprises for the audience, mastress and contestants. We have included some small little teasers for those interested. You are welcome to skip it if you wish.

{reveal 'Where are they hiding stuff?'}

A squidperson placed something beneath a statue of a large daffodil amidst a garden of statues. The dust of the sandy floor blew up and stayed in the air or the water- the point of view didn’t show.

Somewhere else in a decadently decorated room, a gecko wired up a button to something. He looked lost in concentration until he licked his eyeball before snagging a fly out of the air with it.

A fairy placed a painting of a forestscape covered in a thin layer of mist with foxes, rabbits and an owl, moonlight shining through the leaves over a hole. The little critter fluttered up and away into nothing, leaving a small set of sparkles as they disappeared.

{endreveal}

Returning to our lovely cast, Jack shifted back to the beanpole with the shaven head form with the long, billowy cape draped over his shoulders. “Ladies, gentlemen, and everyone beyond or between, now is our best opportunity to explain some more of how this show works. For the group that understands what a reality TV show is, some of these concepts might be familiar.”

Beverly chirped; Ipheara translated. “She is asking what that is, and frankly I have no idea either.”

“Wait, does ‘Starfall Town’ have no reality TV shows?” Jack asked, confused.

“It is a game; of course it doesn’t have any shows beyond what is shown to the player,” Zoe exclaimed in surprise.

Jack rolled his eyes. “Yes, the player’s TV in the game has a set, limited number of programs. That doesn’t mean Ipheara’s has to also have that. Not all logic is consistent within games. Though I don’t know when it is set. That might clarify things.”

“The game is set in the early 2000s, maybe earlier; no clear date is set. You kind of have to infer based on what technology exists and is used. She has got a computer, one with a tube screen,” Robin clarified.

“Yep, that explains it. Just think of it as a television series with very little script, where mostly only what the host does and says has some level of script. The contestants usually are as in the dark as the audience - or more - and are competing for a prize. Many different strategies are valid. And yes, everyone here except for the mastress is a contestant on this season.”

Leanne was daydreaming about what Eleana had said and now Jack; she was confused. The weird, inconsistent things. Ipheara being from a game didn’t make sense to her. She had stayed on the mothwoman’s couch, right? The couch surfer suddenly perked up, having heard, “Prize? What is the prize?”

“Good question! A good place in the mastress’s harem, of course. For our overall winner, whatever you wish for, barring undoing anything that happened during the course of the show.” Jack answered. “As for how you win, does anyone have an idea based on the name of the show, Harem Hotel?”

Robin tried to piece it together. “Let me guess: be a good harem member.” Jack made a gesture to continue, but the mastress didn’t know what more there was to say.

“Okay, that is true; but what would that entail? How do we score that? Simply by you guys pleasing our wonderful mastress here.” The host gestured at Robin with his cape billowing as if to emphasise it. “The first person to do an intimate or sexual act on the show will get the double points. You can also lose points by hurting them. There is a second way: performing well in challenges, but challenges might also cost you points if you place low. This score is called Victory Points, or VP for short. We will start awarding them after our first round of transformations.”

“Sooo for the umpteenth time, what transformations?” Zoe interrupted Jack, frustration laced in her voice as she spoke.

Jack finally acknowledged the question. “I will explain that last, okay? Now shush about them, please. I wouldn’t want to force you to be quiet so that you can learn the ins and outs. You win by having the most VP at the end of the final round, which is triggered by one of you pushing past 100.”

“So two questions: Could you define a round, and is that like a finish current round and then an extra one situation, or is that the final round?” Itzel asked with a raised handlike bundle of tentacles.

“Yes, you finish whatever that round is and then continue to the final one. A round is a series of dates, each of you being the main one, no repeats, followed by a challenge, and ends with a set of transformations.”

“Wait, if there are winners, there are losers. What happens to them?” Ipheara asked, antennae drooping as she spoke. The group looked at one another at the realisation. What would a weird kidnapping, sex show even do with losers?

“We have three kinds of losers. Two who participated in the entire game and those who didn’t. Those who did make it past 100 VP will gain a positive transformation; those who didn’t don’t gain anything and don’t lose anything. You can end up not crossing the line by getting disqualified. If you are disqualified, you are eliminated. I will add that I would prefer if I didn’t have to, to be honest. So don’t attack or otherwise cause lasting physical harm to anyone, and don’t end rounds below zero, ” The host said the last bit solemnly. Elaena rolled her eyes, gave a wink to Jack and hid a smile whilst holding back a chuckle. No one responded. “Am I clear?” He asked forcefully.

Zoe looked at Elaena with suspicion. Her eyes squinted as if to pry out what she had hidden. “Why the chuckle? Why the disconnect? Why do you seem so unbothered by this prospect?” No one responded.

Jack ignored the question; he knew damn well Elaena had discussed something with the producers and knew the rest couldn’t find out. He rushed the conversation forward. “Any questions?”

Zoe asked, “So how bad are those elimenations?”

“I have hidden a video somewhere on the islands, and there may be more hints hidden. The producers might have put a lot more in a bunch of different places, but where? No clue.” Jack was serious but had gotten more playful, actually allowing a small smile. He didn’t like the subject of eliminations.

Elaena looked over with the most serious expression. “Whatever is on that video, I suggest you don’t go looking for it. Unless you are into horror and want to see whatever terrible things might happen to you. So on a scale from slap on the wrist to whatever you think is the worst outcome for you, closer to the latter.” Jack gave an appreciative nod for the assist. Had he said something similar, he would have felt like it was a threat that they could interpret as they wished. From her, it was a warning from someone in a similar situation.

“Where is that compilation hidden?” Zoe followed up.

“It isn’t much of a scavenger hunt if I told you now.” Jack shot down the question with a wry smile.

“So anything else you think we should know before we go to the transformations, BP, date details, am I forgetting things?” Elaena said with an impatient smile. “I would love to see what the audience has come up with for me.” She fluttered her eyes as she looked at Jack, who promptly ignored the comment and reacted to the question instead.

“Well, that is the smartest question any of you have asked yet. Do you guys want to know about the rules of the date or Bonus Points first? I will end with the types of polls before moving on to the transformations.”

“I suppose the date, it is the one you picked first and the first in round order,” Eleana replied with a noncommittal shrug.

“As I said, each of our contestants has an assigned date night with the mastress. We will also award bonus points for getting the best date. The date has to have started by six in the evening but you can, in theory, start your date at any moment you so wish. You need to be in the sleeping quarters of the mastress by ten and can’t leave before sunrise the next morning. This goes for anyone in the room after ten who isn’t staff.” Jack paused briefly for questions.

This choice was rewarded as Nyx asked curiously, “So we can have others join if we want?” Jack merely nodded, suspecting a follow-up might come and not wanting to get interrupted by the rambler. “So none of us has to do anything with the mastress on our date. Not that I don’t want to do anything with you, cutie, just making sure. I definitely wouldn’t ignore you sweetie, this is just seeing where the limits are.”

“I do suspect that might be hurtful if you did that to the mastress.”

“I wouldn’t do that. Don’t you even dare suggest that, you evil shapeshifter.” The bouncer interjected, walking up to Jack as if to make a threat.

The host didn’t feel the least threatened and continued. “Unless the mastress has specific kinks, that is.” They glanced toward Robin as they spoke. “It isn’t, by definition, wrong to do things without involving the mastress but should it harm them, you lose VP. You won’t gain any from it, thus worsening your position, and it might make you lose if you go below zero and don’t recover it.”

“Wait, you are saying we are allowed to date around within the harem but only as long as we don’t hurt Robin’s feelings? What kind of fucked up freak show are you guys running?” Ulyssa shouted, lunging forward, but something stopped her from moving forward.

“More questions before I move on to Bonus Points, its uses, and how to get them?” After a momentary pause in which no one spoke up about the date situation again, Jack continued. “BP can be earned from two polls and special events. The two polls are the aforementioned best contestant poll and the best date poll. Special events are small, limited-time events, and their rules will come up when they do.”

“Who votes in these polls anyway?” Robin asked, not seriously considering that the answer had been mentioned a thousand times.

“Simple, our lovely audience. Now there are three frequently recurring polls with a fourth for specific circumstances. In the best date poll, the audience votes on what they believe was the best date. This is subjective and can be the date they enjoyed most - even if it was a disaster - or the date they would like to go on the most; the best contestant is the same. Their whims are infallible but can be manipulated.”

“Wait, how can they be manipulated?” Nyx blinked as she spoke. “Like flashing or something? Or more like threatening them?”

“I will not hold your hand on that one. You should be able to figure it out yourself.” Jack said with a wink and a smile. “Okay then, how does one use BP? You find one of the many stores and buy something there. This can be an upgrade to a transformation or a new transformation. Maybe more interestingly, there are plenty of one-time items, other physical appearance changes, clothes, long-term magical gadgets, and a whole lot more. There are more stores than I can count and presumably more being installed as we are speaking. We have quite a large crew who all want to leave their mark on the season.”

“Like the spiderman who kidnapped me?” Ipheara yelped.

“Ohh, he was nice once he realised he couldn’t stop me,” Elaena said with a chuckle. The rest looked at her in shock. Ipheara took a few steps back. This hammered home that, unlike them, she had chosen to be here knowing these rules already. Zoe was seriously considering if she had gone mad. Not just her, but everyone who didn’t seem to have a problem with this. The skater girl still felt compelled to shout, “Or the chicken who kidnapped me?” And Nyx shouted, “Or the fox lady?” Wielding her stun gun, Ulyssa added, “The nightmare creature?”

“Yes to all of the above! Again, do not attack anyone with that.” Jack pointed to the stun gun. “Play if they are into that, yes; attack, NO. Any questions about BP?” Jack said, spreading his arms wide, with a smile. No one seemed to, and he continued. “Lastly, we have the transformation polls, which allow our lovely audience to pick from three transformations pulled from our hat of suggestions, where our lovely audience put them in. One will be pulled for each of our contestants' paths. Second place vote caries over so that our lovely people at home can assess it again at the end of the next round. The path with the fewest votes will be dropped and replaced with a new one. The mastress doesn’t have a set path for fun. Questions before we move on to this poll?”

“You still haven’t explained what a transformation is!” Zoe shouted. Eleana chuckled at the antics, but no one actually addressed it.

Jack transformed into a rabbit with a top hat and a poncho, looked into the auditorium without a visible audience and said, “Everyone, please give each of our contestants still a fair last thought and add something new to each of the hats.”

The Hats (Transformation submission forms):

Beverly: