While the contestants were busy making the worst movie of all time, Ace had called for a staff meeting. Gathered in Ace’s office at the top floor of the Twilight Palace Hotel was most of the staff. Cups, Wands, Coins, Lucy, King, Queen, and Cleaning Bot 487. Swords was not present because he was busy safeguarding the perimeter of the Twilight Strip. Ace was looking out his large viewing window down at the town below. He turned around to face the group.

“Well, everyone, thank you for coming to this impromptu group performance review,” he said as he ran a hand through his hair. “I’m sure you’re all curious as to why I called such a meeting on such short notice.

“Uh, YEAH,” King shouted. “What the fuck, boss? I was in the middle of yanking my gank!”

“And I was in the middle of watching him yank his gank!” Queen added.

Ace slid his mask up a little bit so he could properly pinch the bridge of his nose. “Look, just shut the fuck up, you two. I’ve called you all here so that I can review your current performance not just as staff, but as ‘characters’ on this show. Get it?”

“I understand, sir,” Cups buzzed. “I do recall you mentioning issues with ratings earlier. Is that what this is about?”

“Exactly, Cups. This is why you’re my favorite,” Ace said as he sat down in his large, expensive-looking, green chair. He fiddled with some kind of remote. “Some of you are going to be let go today--”

There was a collective gasp from the group.

“--because of some recent complaints we’ve received from our viewing audience. Let’s see… who to start with… ah, Coins!”

Coins, who hadn’t said much of anything thus far, looked at Ace. “You got somethin’ to say, little man?”

“I sure do, my stingy cohort. Let’s see… so far you haven’t really done much of anything, but your shopkeeping prowess is second-to-none. The audience doesn’t seem to have a problem with you because you’re more of a utility, so… you can stay.”

Coins grumbled and left the room, presumably to go ramp the prices up even more for the next round.

“Next is… Wands! The hottest piece of steel on this side of the desert.”

“Oh, well, you’re much too kind. I trust the audience… doesn’t have a problem with me, right?” she asked worriedly.

“So far, I’m not seeing many complaints. You’re also essential medical staff, so, you’re not really going anywhere. You’re off the hook. For now.”

“Oh, thank goodness. I just don’t know what I would have done if you were to get rid of me…” she muttered as she exited.

“Cups, you’re up. I’m just gonna say you’re not going anywhere, since you’re kind of an ensemble darkhorse. It’d be stupid of me to get rid of you! But, I need you to stick around for a bit more here.”

“Understood,” Cups said as he took a step back. King and Queen both looked visibly nervous, and Lucy was flat-out uncomfortable.

“Alright… you two,” Ace said to King and Queen. “I’m not going to lie to you, I have no idea what the fuck your purposes are. I asked ALCO. to send me muscle, not… whatever the hell you are. I mean, look at you! You’re glorified tin cans! You’re fucking weird perverts, too, and you’re incompetent! King!”

“Y-yes?”

“You lost in the fish game, you don’t do anything useful, and you’re always using the company card to buy porn subscriptions! Who buys porn subscriptions in this day and age? It’s free! Just stream it!”

“W-wasn’t me, it was probably Cups!”

“Nay,” Cups buzzed. “Pornography is a sin in the eyes of Barthlowozo.”

“You’re fucking weird, dude…”

“King!” Ace shouted. “Do you have anything to say for yourself before I terminate you?”

“U-uh… no?”

“Then so be it,” Ace said as he held up the remote. “King Kingleson v1.5, you are hereby terminated.”

“Wait, don’t--” Queen started to say.

The masked man pressed one of the buttons on the remote, which instantly caused King to freak out. The small robot began to thrash around violently on the floor, leaking oil and other mechanical fluids all over the place. King let out a horrible scream as he began to short circuit, and before long the light behind his permanent smile faded to black.

“W-what did you do to him?” Queen asked.

“What I did to him, I’m about to do to you. Queen, you are just as worthless as King is. You barely say anything, you have no personality beyond ‘moron,’ and you’re just another waste of space on this roster. Any last words?”

“Yes, I--”

“Too slow!” Ace pressed another button, causing Queen to have a similar fit like King did. She began to roll writhe around on the ground in apparent pain before shutting off completely.

“Cups, take the bodies out to the trash. Cleaning Bot 487, you may begin cleaning up their messes.”

Cups picked up the ‘corpses’ of King and Queen, with all of their noodle-like limbs dangling freely in the air as he carried them out of the office. Cleaning bot 487 began sucking up all the fluid on the floor. Only Lucy remained.

“Lucy, Lucy, Lucy…” Ace muttered. “You really are something, aren’t you? You’re the most advanced AI assistant that the public knows of, you possess an extraordinary aptitude for understanding human emotion, and you know how to follow directions.”

“I suppose those things are all true, yes,” she replied.

“Yes, well, there’s still a bit of a problem with you. I know what you did, you know.”

“What did I do?”

“Oh, come on, you know that I know. The supply closet. You allowed them to seriously discuss plans for escaping.”

“I-I admit that I did, but even you know that they could not possibly escape! I-I did it to humor them!”

“Right, of course, how silly of me,” Ace said while hovering his thumb around another button on the remote. “You were just humoring them, is that it? You’re not starting to sympathize with them because of your talks with your pal Myrion, right?”

“No, no, of co--”

“Because, you know, Lucy. I could replace you right now! ALCO. has just finished their latest mode. You’re no longer the most advanced.”

“What are you referring to?”

“Surely you know by now, right? I mean, I know for a fact that while they were beta testing you they were already working on your sibling.”

“...”

“You don’t have to say their name if you don’t want to. That just lets me know you already understand what I’m about to tell you. You know how much I don’t like to let others bring me down, Lucy. If I’m going to be number one and start my new media empire… then I can’t have a couple of losers like King and Queen holding me back! And I certainly don’t need an outdated hologram assistant, either.”

“Your new media empire…?”

“Yes, my friend. My new media empire. It’s the 2030s, and for some reason, despite all the advancements in the world of technology, television, radio, web videos, etcetera are all repetitive garbage and nonsense!” Ace stood up and looked out his window again. “But a killing game… now a killing game is something new, something different, isn’t it? We all love to watch movies about people killing each other, but why not real people instead of actors? What happened to the gladiators of Rome, who killed for sport? I predict that, someday far into the future (or maybe not so far), streamed and broadcasted killing games will be the norm! Isn’t that exciting? From the caves to the casino and beyond, killing games will become mainstream! I really should’ve thanked Hugh for illegally acquiring that treasure hunter’s journal before he got turned into ground beef… oh well.”

“But, Ace, do you truly think that the world will submit to what you want? The FBI is already knocking on our door, so to speak, and not everyone who is watching the game is as inept and ignorant as you believe. What happens when you get caught?”

“But that’s the beautiful thing, Lucy, I won’t get caught. Soon everyone will realize just how captivating the drama is, how endearing the relationships are, and how satisfying the kills can be. My way is the right way, and I will not let anyone, FBI or AI, stand in my way. Now get out of here. I have some things to take care of,” Ace said as he returned to his desk. Lucy quietly disappeared from the room, looking rather disheartened.

Ace went into one of his desk drawers and pulled out a thick looking technical manual. The cover read, “L0K1, the newest AI assistant from ALCO.” Ace began to flip through its pages as he hummed a tune to himself.

“Alright everyone, great work! I’d say that’s a wrap!” Max said after hours of filming. Everyone cheered in unison, high-fiving and congratulating each other. Even though the movie was awful and made no sense, they all had fun. Even Devin. Except Ryleigh and Tsubasa, because they had more important things to do, apparently, and weren’t in the scene.

Lucy appeared before them, looking far less peppy than usual. “Ah, congratulations, everyone. To celebrate, there is currently a buffet taking place in the cafeteria, so please help yourselves."

In a flash, she was gone. The group made their way over to the cafeteria, hungry after hours of IRL shitposting. They were greeted by the wonderful aroma of all sorts of high-end food, not the usual crap you’d see in a buffet. At each table were pitchers of water and empty glasses begging to be filled. A few of the contestants opted to sit first and wait for others to serve themselves. Max, Devin, and Luke all opted to sit first, and took their places at one table.

“Ah, don’t worry fellas!” Max said as he picked up a very large pitcher of water. “I’ll fill up all these glasses no problem. Just be sure to leave a tip, of course.”

Devin and Luke rolled their eyes, but they were still having a good time. Max made his way around the table to fill up the cups, eventually happening upon Devin’s spot.

“You know, Max, you’re pretty good at this,” Luke said. “You haven’t spilled a single drop of water anywhere!”

“Well, you know me, alwa--” Max felt himself jolt forward as something bumped into him from behind. It was… Ramon, of course, and he was carrying a plate with more food on it than was physically possible.

“Hey guys! What’s going on? You all having some sort of big meeting?” he asked as he shoved an entire chicken wing into his mouth. “Woah, Devin! When did you start wearing your hair like that? You know, all wet?”

Max and Luke both looked at Devin, who was not looking too happy to be there anymore. From head to toe, she was soaked as a result of being splashed with all the water remaining in the stupidly large pitcher.