A bald man in a black tailcoat reveals Becky's descent

Roger turns towards the approaching footsteps, echoing throughout the cavernous foyer with the impeccable rhythm of a metronome.

A tall, bald man in an immaculate black tailcoat is slowly approaching him, illuminated by a small glowing orb which floats just over his shoulder. As he walks across the room, candles seem to ignite themselves on the walls beside him. When he reaches the centre of the foyer, an enormous chandelier lights up above him, blinding Roger and forcing him to look away for a moment.

"I'm afraid that room has already departed, Sir Roger Carmine," the man speaks in a deep, smooth voice. "You shall find no luck that way."

"Departed?" Roger asks, blinking and squinting in the man's direction. "How can a room 'depart'?"

A hearty laugh emanates from the man's direction, though his face shows no movement or expression. "My boy, have you never heard of an elevator?"

That voice is distinctly different from the one the man had spoken in. It feels somehow familiar to Roger...

"Please follow me," the man says, moving his lips and speaking in his original voice. Without waiting for a response, he turns around and starts walking away at a brisk, steady pace.

Roger hesitates for a moment, then hurries after the man. "Wait, what about Becky?"

The laugh of the second voice comes once again. "She's fine for now, and you'll get your chance to see her soon enough, don't you worry." Roger then realises that the orb above the man's shoulder is flickering in time with the second voice. "Yes, I am up here, thank you for noticing."

The voice tugs at threads of nostalgia until the right memories are dragged out, causing realisation to click in Roger's head.

"...Grunkle Sebastian?"

The orb chuckles. "Don't sound so surprised, boy! It was my invitation that brought you here, was it not?"

"Most people don't send invitations to the reading of their own will..." Roger mumbles, perplexed. "So... are you a ghost?"

Sebastian bellows with laughter once again. Roger starts to wonder if there's anything he won't laugh at. "In a sense. The Butler here was so devoted to me, you see, that he tied his own soul to mine. So when I died, his connection tethered me to the mortal realm and allowed me to exist in this form. And when he dies, supposedly he'll follow me into the afterlife and be bound to my service for all eternity."

"Wow..." Roger gasps, in awe. "He did all that for you, and you don't even know his name?"

Roger isn't quite sure how, but he senses the orb shrug. "His name is just the Butler, or at least that's what he told me when he showed up on my doorstep. Y'know, kinda like that guy from that old British sci-fi show."

The Butler leads Roger through a resplendent set of double doors. Inside is a large lounge filled with plush sofas and armchairs, all pointed in the same direction: towards a wall which is covered end-to-end, ceiling-to-floor with either a fuckton of TVs, or a single TV more massive than the screens of any cinema he'd visited before.

The multiple TVs theory immediately jumps out as more plausible, as the wall is currently displaying many different shots of women sat in dark rooms, including...

"Becky!" Roger exclaims.

The bottom-right screen shows Becky in the room that she had been trapped inside just moments ago. She is sat in one of the chairs, staring fixatedly at the candle in the middle of the table. From what Roger can make out, her expression appears completely vacant. Glancing at the other screens, every woman displayed seems to be exhibiting the exact same behaviour.

"What's... going on?" Roger asks hesitantly.

Sebastian chuckles again, but this time the laugh gives Roger chills. "Just take a seat. We'll be back in a moment with the rest of the men, and then all will be revealed."

Without further ado, the Butler leaves the room, taking the glowing orb with him.

Roger drops into a nearby armchair, leaning forward nervously and keeping his eyes on Becky. The candle in front of her is flickering, so he knows he's not looking at a still image. Yet from how unmoving his wife is, he could otherwise have believed that he was.

He is left alone, feeling utterly tense and unsure, until the Butler returns some minutes later with a gaggle of men in tow. From the looks of them, they're all as worried as he is.

"Please take a seat, gentlemen," Sebastian says. "Now that we're all here, we can begin. Butler, please explain to our guests what tonight is all about."

"Certainly, sir." The Butler takes up position in the middle of the room, between the seats and the screen, as the men slowly filter through the room and sit down, preparing to listen intently.

Not liking where this is going, Roger does likewise, leaning forward and giving the Butler his full attention.