It's Showtime

When Melanie came back from her make up session the whole of the room seemed to stop dead in its tracks. It was already clear that, despite her young age, Jazz was a master of her profession. Somehow, Melanie looked even better than before.

"Holy shit, so you can improve on perfection!" Sophie gushed in disbelief.

"You legit look like a Hollywood A Lister now, albeit a naked one" Anna added proudly.

"Doesn't look like I'm going to be getting the top spot back anytime soon" Lucy sighed to herself.

If James could have proposed again, he would have done so in an instant. But the stream of compliments headed in Melanie's direction were stopped by the unexpected clanging sound.

"Might I have everyone's attention" Jeeves was stood at the top of the stairs, holding a small bell "If you would be so kind as to follow me, you are required elsewhere"

The entire group were escorted by their new butler to a door at the back of a mansion which led to a temporary tunnel way that allowed them to walk unseen towards a backstage area which had been constructed for opening night. They could hear the excited noises from the assembled crowds outside now, and it sounded like there were hundreds of fans present.

There were monitors in the backstage area showing what would soon be being broadcast to the world. There was a male and female presenter, both fully dressed, on stage and they were currently working up the crowd into even more of a frenzy than they were already in. The Melanie statue was unavoidably in view at all times behind the stage, though mostly what was in the camera frame was the area from her calves up to her belly button.

A producer approached the glitches and gave them some quick instructions on what was about to happen. They would be sent out one at a time, where they would first spend a few moments in front of the area where the paparazzi were assembled to pose for photos, then work their way past the fans and eventually onto the stage where they would stop for a quick Q&A with the presenters before finally being allowed back indoors. Even once inside the experience wasn't over, as what was happening in the mansion was being projected onto a large screen outside the building. They were reminded that, as far as the viewers were aware, they had never seen inside the mansion before so to act excited once they got inside. Melanie decided that she couldn't be bothered with that part, but it seemed there was no way out of the rest of it. And just in case all of that wasn't bad enough, they were reminded that, between TV and internet, the live launch was expected to draw a global audience of upwards of two hundred million viewers worldwide. With all that helpfully explained, it was time for the glitches to start being sent out.

"Can I go near the beginning" Melanie found herself asking, wanting to get this over with as quickly as possible "Not first though, maybe fourth or fifth?"

"I'm sorry Melanie, you topped the viewer popularity poll, we're saving the best for last" the producer told her "Second place gets the party started, and that's Lucy"

"Okay, I guess I'm up then" Lucy exhaled, not so much out of nerves but more in an attempt to psyche herself up into making the best entrance possible.

The music that had been playing stopped and the crowd quietened down in anticipation. Melanie's heart was already thumping hard and it wasn't even her going out there yet. This would be a scary enough proposition if it was being done fully clothed. Lucy went and stood by herself at the entrance to the lions den. Seconds later, as her name was announced and she stepped outside.