User has received 1 Point!>
Jaff was pleasantly surprised by the message and confused as to why it only just showed up when it didn't work when he tried on the way to the staff residential area.
<FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
When can you use the CaSTE System? The CaSTE System is only available during 'off-screen' moments. This includes jump cuts, fade to blacks, cut to blacks and other transitions that move the episode to a new scene and/or location. Exceptions to this include montage transitions (as the Character will still be visible), and off-screen dialogue.>
Jaff mulled over the information as he slowly returned to the orientation lobbies. The System was finally using some of the television show terminology that he was familiar with again.
Entertainment media (novels, television shows, movies, etc.) tend to only show the most important and entertaining moments to grab and retain an audience's attention. Locational and/or time 'cuts' or 'skips' to new scenes happen often, as showing the minutiae of every single detail is usually considered 'boring'.
However, if you were able to step inside the lives and existences of the characters in that media as if they were not fiction and did exist, then you would not have the same luxury. That was what was happening to Jaff currently as he stepped into the creaky elevator in residential area 6.
Since the System finally reappeared in front of him, that meant that in the story of the show 'The Metal Pusher', his journey back to the orientation lobby is one that happens between the end of act one of the show, and the beginning of act two. Narratively speaking in the context of the TV show, nothing critical will happen to him during this journey.
He followed the logic that the System information revealed and realised that other possible cuts during the 'show' could have included the time he was anesthetised for the N-HUD implant and the portion of time after Waden-Shi left him alone and before the other staff member yelled at him to move on since the CaSTE system was available back then too.
He frowned at a thought that came to him whilst thinking things through:
Does that mean the TV show is currently being shown to whoever or whatever is watching it as a show?
A notification popped up in front of him.
<FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
Are my current circumstances being observed in a TV show format? Because of the temporal differences in the different dimensions between 'the audience' and the User, and the impossibility that either party could understand the other, it is difficult to answer this question accurately.
However, in relation to the User's perspective, the answer is: Yes.
Possible Follow-Up Question Detected: If my whole reality is a TV show, does that mean there's a script?>
Jaff's eyes widened. Since so many things had happened to him in quick succession, and he hadn't had a lot of time to think critically about his situation, the thought of dimensional travel didn't even occur to him. Though now that he was told of the existence of another group of beings named 'the audience' existing in a different dimension, after all that he experienced, it didn't seem too much of a stretch.
The whole process of waking up in this reality and the orientation process after being defrosted even distracted him enough from concluding that if his current reality was a TV show, then there might be a script outlining the events of the 'episode'. He prompted the System to answer the follow-up question as he exited the elevator and walked out of Residential Area 6.
<FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
If my whole reality is a TV show, does that mean there's a script? Yes, there is a script, though the User's concept of a script. The User can do whatever they want during a scene if their actions are congruent with the characteristics of the Character. Consequences may apply if the User strays from the intended portrayal of the Character.>
Jaff stopped in his tracks and stepped to the side to stay out of the way of other staff members.
He thought of the three available functions of the CaSTE System, and when he thought about checking out the 'Character', the Status Screen automatically opened.
Role: Eponymous Character
Character Synergy: 59%
Unlocked Skills: (none)
Points Available: 1
Current Objective: Complete Episode: "PILOT">
Two things stood out to Jaff as he read the information displayed on the Status Screen:
One, 'Character Synergy' seemed to indicate his accuracy to the characteristics of the Character he was currently inhabiting. Considering the warning that 'consequences may apply' if he didn't portray the Character of Jafferson Palmount as originally intended, it seemed that the threshold where those consequences started to affect him seemed to be low since he was only in the middling percentage area of 59%.
Two, the fact that he had an 'objective'. The System's description of the objective was vague, but at the very least it gave Jaff something to work for.
Jaff started to walk again when a question popped up in his head and the System automatically answered him.
<FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
What happens if I don't complete the objectives? User objectives are extremely important as they are tied to the health of the TV show. If the User does not complete the objectives, the show will be dropped and cancelled and the universe the show is occupying will be deleted.>
The answer caused Jaff to suddenly stop again, this time, a person behind him ran into him and knocked him heavily onto the ground.
"The hell?!" the person who ran into Jaff yelled. His voice sounded familiar to Jaff. The System displayed an alarming message before it disappeared.
Jaff turned around and felt the blood drain from his face as the broad-shouldered man that he had accidentally insulted during orientation stood over him.
"It's you." The man's voice lowered and the menace that laced the two simple words almost made Jaff physically tremble.
"I-I'm so sorry," Jaff's soft, scratchy voice trembled as he tried to get back up on his feet.
The broad-shouldered man grinned maliciously and shoved Jaff back down on the ground and knelt on the ground. He pressed his hand against Jaff's chest and held him down in an awkward lying position on his back.
He leant closer and said in a low voice, "Look at me, I'm so lucky to run into you."
"I-I'm not looking for any trouble, I didn't—"
"Listen to me, you little shaik!" the broad-shouldered man snapped, "you lucky there're people around, 'therwise I would destroy you."
The man spat on Jaff's chest as he stood back up. As he left Jaff who was still on the ground, he called out, "Watch where you're going, never know when something knock you."
Jaff groaned in disgust as he awkwardly tried to wipe the spit off his clothing without directly touching it.
The System reappeared in front of his face as he stood up.
What followed was a fully-formatted write-up of the scene.
[INT. WALKWAY – DAY
ESTABLISHING SHOTS OF THE MAXO'S LIGHTBRINGER.
The camera is only a documenter of life aboard the Cryo-Ship. A shot of workers in the ENGINE LEVEL keeps the ship orbiting. Another of a massive MESSHALL of many as many more workers are eating their rations. A third shows another poor soul getting their N-HUD implants as we get closer and closer to JAFFERSON'S location on his way back towards the orientation zone.
The sounds of life aboard the Cryo-Ship are front and centre before we CUT and focus on the ensuing scene:
BUMP!
JAFFERSON is knocked down heavily and hard onto the ground.
UNKNOWN VOICE
The hell?!
JAFFERSON groans and then turns towards the direction of the voice. His face pales visibly.
The voice belongs to the BURLY MAN who grins menacingly when he sees who he just toppled over…]
Jaff quickly glanced over the script as he carefully continued to make his way towards what the script called the "Orientation Zone".
A new notification that appeared after he finished reading the impromptu script both lifted his spirits and brought forward new questions about the situation that he found himself in.
Congratulations! User has improved their synergy with their assigned character!
59% —> 63% (+4%)>