Alastor signed the paperwork.

Irin strides after the woman and the rest of the team, examining the hallway as she went by. Her mind snaps back to reality when she is given the contract. She looks it over, reading it carefully. She didn't want to sign something she didn't really want.
"So... Process for what? Why do we need to head to a lab for the prizes? The trip to Belize, the money reward, the scholarship, and the others I've heard about don't mention anything I would find relating to a lab area."
Her rather basic brown eyes match the steadiness of her tone. Her voice is something unusual. It isn't monotone, but it seemed it might be if she took away even the least bit of life from it. It was dull, raspy, and a bit hollow, as if she was eating ice while she spoke.
After a moment's hesitation, she signed.

i sign the contract quickly, handing off the pen and offering the woman my contract.

"we are using the Lab as it is currently the only empty room not currently being used, it has been cleared of all lab equipment and a desk has been set up with some chairs for you to sit in while we film" the woman says, accepting the paper from me.

the elevator dings as the door slides open, revealing exactly what she described; a mostly empty room with no windows, but a generous amount of ring lights and cameras on tripods pointed at a desk with four chairs set up in front of it.

aside from the cameras on tripods, there are a number of drone cameras resting in their chargers, ready to record from all angles to get the prefect shot. on the desk is a small plaque that reads "Mina Liao". that must be her name. she takes a seat behind the desk, gesturing for us to sit at the other four seats.

Link: https://www.sylestia.com/forums/?thread=97723&page=2#13 Author: Stringworms Time Posted: 4/20/2021 at 11:13 PM i sign the contract quickly, handing off the pen and offering the woman my contract. "we are using the Lab as it is currently the only empty room not currently being used, it has been cleared of all lab equipment and a desk has been set up with some chairs for you to sit in while we film" the woman says, accepting the paper from me. the elevator dings as the door slides open, revealing exactly what she described; a mostly empty room with no windows, but a generous amount of ring lights and cameras on tripods pointed at a desk with four chairs set up in front of it. aside from the cameras on tripods, there are a number of drone cameras resting in their chargers, ready to record from all angles to get the prefect shot. on the desk is a small plaque that reads "Mina Liao". that must be her name. she takes a seat behind the desk, gesturing for us to sit at the other four seats.

Eris skips over to one of the desks, taking a seat. She blinks a little at the change in light, allowing her eyes to adjust, but gives everyone a big thumbs-up in encouragement. So ~now~ we're getting started. How thrilling~!

i join the two people at the desk, sitting next to the pink haired girl. i slip my pencil behind my ear, putting my sketchbook in my lap so it can't be seen. the woman pulls out four manila envelopes from her desk, setting them beside her as she rummages for something else.


as she does this, the cameras give a little beep, signaling they're recording, and the drones whizz to life, flying circles around the room until they reach their pre-programmed spots. i watch them as they fly, trying my best to not let them distract me.

"if the rest of you will seat down, we can begin" she says, smiling.

Alastor slowly walk to the chair and sat down in the chair that was next to the blonde male.

Irin closes her eyes when they reach the room. She's half blind in the ring lights and misses the well needed thumbs up of encouragement. She has never liked the ring light way of lighting a room and a slimmer of her feelings of discomfort and wariness showing in her mostly blank expression as she opens her eyes again. She stumbles to the chair, the tips of her ears turning red with embarrassment when she runs right into her chair before sitting down. Irin tries a smile, but it feels and looks just as forced and out of place as before.

"alright, if you guys are ready, i'll hand these out and you can learn you prizes" she says, picking up the stack of manila folders and flashes us a bright smile. i glance around at the others, before nodding. "i think we're ready" i say, accepting the manila folder she hands me.

once everyone has a manila folder, she tells us to open them. i carefully open mine, heart hammering in my chest as i pull out a massive stack of papers. i glance around in confusion, spotting that everyone else has the same thing.

glancing at the paper, i see the word "enhancements" in bold at the top of the paper. i skim over the paper reading about the enchantments the paper is talking about. a few words stick out to me "enhanced strength" and "increased speed" and "augmented agility"

"what does all this mean?" i ask, looking up from the stack of papers in my hand. "you four have been selected to be the next participants in Kill Count" she explains, gesturing to the papers "these are the base enhancements you will get, we will give you nanites to heal any wound you may get, and you strength, agility and speed will be increased"

Alastor eyes widen from reading the paper and asked rudely, "So we are people's next entertainment?" He looked up at the lady.

Irin blinks away the spots the blindingly bright ring lights left in her sight as she reads over the paper. Without thinking, she releases a sigh of relief at the reveal. It wasn't something she felt incapable of receiving.
Being in the Kill Count wouldn't be the end of the world, in fact, it might just unlock new opportunities for her. She believed in her skills and abilities. She was confident in her experience which gave her expertise. She had nothing to fear; the possibility of dying and the task of killing was nothing new. A small grin allows itself to show as she thinks about all the possibilities this would open up for her.
If she kept the enhancements, just imagine how much easier hunting would be! This would definitely be a boost of fame and her name would be feared. And ... and everyone would know that she, Irin, the random passerby, was Konrad, the feared bounty hunter. That would be a problem. On top of that was the terrible thought that she wasn't going to be able to see her girlfriend for a while. That was more bad news.
Irin's gaze hardens again and the ghost of an actual smile disappears. The poker face she spends so long behind is back up as she looks at the drones, the people next to her, and the woman across from her.
Let them do what they may. She would get out of here as soon as she could; she would go to triumph in less time than anyone has managed so far; she would bet on leaving everyone else in the dust; and she would use her past experiences to boost her performances. The others didn't have a chance against the storm that's coming their way.
"How many years do we start off with?" Irin asks. She was already calculating for the potential of actually killing someone, a punishment of ten years, for around three to four less permanent kills, three years each, and the risk of dying at least twice, causing for six to be added on to the original sentence, etc.