"Alright, now, come with me and I guess this tour can start!" Casey announced, clearly still a bit put off by the fact she'd have to run it on her own, though she was doing her best to not let it show.
The group would enter the front door, revealing a grandiose room, poetically dramatic for their current setting.
"Entering the theater, you'll see the foyer, which is where we do ticketing…" Casey would start, before beginning to talk about some of the architectural details and history.
Kim had read the whole deal about the architecture of the building before, and though her lack of sleep prevented her from being more invested in this particular section of the tour, she was able to appreciate the fact that she was finally in the building to begin with, and that the theater absolutely was not disappointing her in person. She looked around her, Casey's speaking almost like white noise to her as she took in the mint marble walls, the red carpeting below her, and the velvet ropes that ran from the doors up to the ticket booth, creating a perfectly deluxe space for a location Kim considered no less than magical.
She would quickly shake her head, realizing that she had been spacing out, tuning back into the middle of Casey's sentence. "...and here, you can see the imperial staircase! Exactly fifty steps up to the auditorium each. There's also an elevator under the left staircase, actually recently bought to accommodate anyone with physical disabilities that can't get up to the auditorium via the stairs, though it doesn't seem to be working right now, and Damian doesn't seem interested in having it fixed, so it probably won't be operational until Stephen gets back, and by then, all of you will be out of here, so... yeah," she said, clearly annoyed the current circumstances surrounding the tour, as well as Damian not living up to Stephen's care for the theater, but she tried to press on as well as she can. "Well, not too much else to explore here, if nobody has questions about anything here, we'll move on," she would continue, digging herself out of the awkward pause she had created and leading the group up the stairs and into the auditorium.
"Alright," Casey said, opening up the door and holding it as the eager thespians flooded in, "and here we have the auditorium, where all indoor shows are held!" She would excitedly state, at this point, moreso trying to hype herself up than anyone else around her, since everyone else was looking around and taken in by the massive room that surrounded him, warm lights over the stage as row, upon row, upon row of seats, the velvet walls surrounded them with even more lights running across them, all the way up to the entrance. The floors were firm, though they were coated with a thin layer of carpet. There were some lanes of even ground in-between sections, but for the most part, the floor went down in an incredibly low-angle slope headed toward the stage.
As many others began approaching the stage, a small group of three would migrate to the back of the auditorium, locating a spiral staircase leading up to the control booth in the back.
"Hey, do either of you know if we can go up there?" A trembling, soft voice would ask, looking up at the man standing to her side, her figure notably shorter than his.
"I dunno, it'd be nice to be able to get an early glimpse at it so we know what we're doing tomorrow," he would respond, his voice carrying a notable bass and confidence that contrasted that of the young woman who had spoken before him, one Joanna McCarthy. "Maybe one of us should go ask?" Lamarr Johnson would suggest.
"If you two want, I can go ask quickly," the third would volunteer.
"Yeah sure, that works," Lamarr would approve, "then tomorrow we can go get our keys copied."
"Got it, be right back," Karissa Gomez would wave them off.
Meanwhile, the tour would continue on, Casey guiding everyone backstage, before heading out to the outdoor theater.
"Alright, and here we have the backstage area for the outdoor theater, which conveniently was built into the backstage area for the indoor theater through a door all the way on the side." Casey would explain, guiding everyone to the outdoor area. "When this building was being designed, Stephen Anderson requested this for two reasons. One of them being that it was a good use of the big empty space behind the auditorium, and connecting the outdoor theater to the indoor one was simply really convenient. The other reason was that thanks to this outdoor stage, he could have more than one production running in Elysium at the same time, just as long he made sure they didn't create problems for each other. Luckily, we currently have a spotless record in regards to conflict between productions."
The group split off once more, Kim splitting off into the seats surrounding the outdoor theater, taking a seat in the front and stretching her legs out as she began to lay back a little. She settled in, once again observing the area surrounding her. Of course, this wasn't where they would be performing, but it's still surreal to her that she was now in the pictures she casually perused for months.
If only she were more awake for it.
Meanwhile, Karissa approached Casey about the sound and lighting booth.
"Hey, so, I'm a member of the crew for this production, and I was wondering when we'd be getting the keys to get into sound and lighting. Do we pick them up somewhere, or...?"
Casey turned around, "I'm gonna level with you, that's not really a question I can answer, I don't generally take care of giving room access to people, that's Stephen's job... or I guess, Damian's, since he's taking his place. If you want, since I have access, I can take you up there and give you a quick look at the place right now before you go to-"
"Alright! Everybody out!" Damian would suddenly yell, walking out from the stage. "The theater is closing for the night, it is ten-thirty at night, please go back to the hotel at this time!"
"Hey, I thought we closed at eleven?" Casey interrogated, "Why the sudden close?"
"A kind man from the hotel near us called about two people with stolen theater property just sort of hanging out outside of the building. I don't know what they're up to, but I'm calling the police to ensure they're taken care of," Damian explained. "And I simply do not want there to be anyone aside from staff and police during this situation, who knows what they're doing".
"So there are just people with stolen theater equipment, and instead of trying to escape or anything, they're just... hanging around outside?" Casey asked, confused, and honestly not buying his story. "Why wouldn't they just leave?"
"I don't know, but there's likely some deliberate reason for that, and I can't in good faith leave these kids here when someone like that is within proximity of them." Damian responded.
"Makes sense... I guess," Casey would comply. She still found this whole thing a bit weird, but it was a cohesive enough story and it meant she got to leave early. She did feel bad about the tour getting cut short, but she rationalized that they'd be able to figure it out. They're adults, they can figure it out. "So should I start locking up, or...?"
"You go ahead and do that. I'll start getting people out of the building," Damian instructed, before walking off to the larger group.
There was a brief beat of silence as Casey looked on, still a bit weirded out by the story.
"So... should crew check back tomorrow for keys, or...?" Karissa would once again chime in, breaking the quiet.
Casey turned around, sighing, "No, sorry, looks like he wants everyone out for tonight, I'll try and get them to you first thing tomorrow".
"Alright then, whatever you say", Karissa responded, before leaving.
"Kim, Kim~, Kim!" Sherry yelled repeatedly, now standing next to her friend, who had just woken up from a nap she had accidentally begun to take out on that seat. "I know you love this place, dude, but I'm pretty sure you didn't mention luxury sleeping conditions during any of our calls," she spoke, other students leaving behind her. "Now come on, we're supposed to be leaving. Something about people outside of the building who could be unsafe... whatever that means".
Kim blinked multiple times, reconstituting herself, before getting herself up on her noodle legs. "Wait, what's happening?"
"I just got done telling you," Sherry snarkily responded. "Jeez, aren't friends supposed to listen?"
The insult woke Kim up a little bit, "I mean, yeah, but the fact that we're being kicked out because of some creeps outside the building warrants some interrogation, no?" she playfully responded.
"I mean yeah, but I couldn't tell you a lot about what's happening. This is basically all that the tour guide girl told us."
"Hm, fair enough. Besides, maybe it's a good thing we're going back to the hotel early. Don't get me wrong, I'm exploding with excitement on the inside, but I think it'll show a lot more after a good night's sleep."
"I can picture it now, you wake up tomorrow, realize that this wasn't some bus dream and that you've been here for a full night, I walk into your room, and I find everything engulfed in flames because your head spontaneously combusted."
Kim chuckled at this as she began walking, Sherry quickly following.
"Oh, in any other world it would totally explode tomorrow, but there's so much I have in line to do here. So many doors could be opened if this goes well, and I wouldn't miss that even if all of my limbs were broken."
Kim yawned a little, both women passing Casey as they made their way out of the auditorium and back down the stairs, before Sherry would speak once more.
"Yeah, it'll at least be a lot more interesting than tonight."