He signs, they all do

The threats to their loved ones seal the deal. Scared of what might happen if they refuse, the men all take a contract in hand and sign them. Roger takes a look around and is met by varying expressions. Most do seem frightened or at least worried, but Roger is more interested in those that look different, confident. Almost knowing.

“As I see, you all made the right choice, for you and the people you hold dear. So now I can enclose more details about the upcoming game. The maze your female companions populate is positioned on a plane you will shortly enter yourselves. The door over there will lead each of you to different starting location. From there you are on your own and it is upon you to prevail and make up a new generation of servants for this esteemed manor. As you navigate through the maze each door you come across contains a female companion. Shown on the screens behind me, the women are currently in a state of trance. At the moment their door is opened by one of you, the setting will change. A unique location and scenario will be generated for your coupling.”

The Butler takes a glance through the would-be inheritors and the faintest of smirks can be seen on his lips. Without a prompt the screens all switch from the identical rooms containing the spouses, relatives and friends to a colorful array of locations. Roger can make out an office, a barn, a beach, a ski lodge and the deck of a cruise ship among others.

“The woman involved will firmly believe her surroundings and the scenario to be reality. Well, for all intents and purposes each rooms settings are reality for the people involved. You will be the sole exception. It is on you to find a way to bed the woman in question and impregnate her. Should you succeed, the woman will be transposed to a safe location and you may use any given door to enter the maze again and search for your next target. Whoever brought that woman here will be taken out of his scenario and immediately sterilized. The only ways to fail are you forfeiting or your woman being impregnated.”

A thump echoes in the distance and the door the Butler pointed to earlier starts to glow.

“Ah, the rooms are ready. So I’ll cut my monologue short, ask you to form a line in the following order and wish you all the best of luck.”

The Butler starts to read the attendants names without any clear order, at least not as far as Roger can see. While he tries to make sense of the twisted game he got himself entangled in, a flickering orb appears on his shoulders.

“Hey knucklehead, stop mulling and start celebrating. This is your chance to bang a whole stable of different girls, get rich and create the most powerful man of the world. Or lose your manhood and get your wife impregnated by a stranger. That’s a possible outcome as well I guess…. But don’t think about that, your old Grunkle will get you through this!”

Roger is startled a moment by the sudden appearance of his great uncle. His dead great uncle. His dead great uncle as a glowing orb on his shoulder. Damn, this is a strange honeymoon.

“Tell me Grunkle, am I the only one weirded out by all this supernatural stuff? I don’t know why I didn’t freak out earlier. Or why everybody seems shocked about this game, but doesn’t question disappearing rooms, entranced women and **** sterilization.”

“But I know. No one is freaking out, because all your invitations were subliminally conditioning you to react to the supernatural elements of your stay, but not question it. And in case you didn’t notice, you are the only one able to see me. Aside from my better half over there of course.”

In fact no one is looking at Roger or the entity on his shoulder.

“They can’t see me, because their souls have no connection to mine. You on the other hand are special and I put my faith in you to make me proud. The Butler thinks you’ll fail horribly, but what does he know, right?”, the ball of light visibly chuckles ion Rogers shoulder.

“…Roger Carmine..”, the Butler rattles on and waves him to the door.

Now or never, Roger thinks and moves to the door.