POV #9: False Advertisement

FALSE ADVERTISEMENT

It’s January 1st, 2021, and the city of Quarantine is advertising a new opportunity. One that includes an all expenses paid trip to Sydney, Australia, where the participants will have the chance to attend the live premiere of a new competitive reality show called “Sabotage”, and a five night stay at a five star resort. Unbeknownst to the five “lucky” prospects who are selected by random draw for the trip, this is a trip that will challenge them in ways they wouldn’t see coming. Out of 200 applicants, the five people selected by random draw are: Hilary Banks, Theodora Crain, Robbie Mercer, Max and Baby Yoda. The lucky five eagerly pack their bags for their trip of a life time and head to the airport in a private jet for Quarantine Airlines. Halfway through the flight, the turbulence begins to increase, and the 5 players see the big screen on the wall begin to glitch. A masked figure appears on the screen and says “welcome contestants”, much to the passengers’ surprise and confusion. The masked announcer continued, “As you are aware, you applied for the trip of a lifetime to attend the premiere of the new competition show, ‘Sabotage’, in which the contestants are put through tests of will, mental strength and physical strength for a grand prize of $1,000,000. What you did not know is that the premiere is live, and you are the chosen contestants. I hope you all are enjoying this luxury first class flight to Australia, but for four of you, you will fall short. Only one lucky contestant will be crowned the winner of sabotage, the grand cash prize and the trip at the 5 star resort. But to be the best, you must beat the rest and sabotage their chances of winning. You will be put through three stages, with at least one player being eliminated each stage for performing the worst, and the best performer of each stage earning the right to sabotage another contestant in the next stage. Eliminated players will be sent to the drop-off, where you will be ejected from this flight immediately.” Everyone gasps loudly. “With a parachute of course. Let the games begin” the announcer says before chuckling maniacally. The screen transitions to the description of the first stage, “Gluttony”. At this stage, the contestants will have to eat three samples of Balut (a Filipino delicacy), which is a fertilized developing egg embryo that is boiled and eaten from the shell. The last player to finish the delicacy will be eliminated. The flight attendant approaches the contestants with individual servings of balut, the alarm sounds and the game is on. Max is the first to finish the meal, followed by Robbie Mercer and Hilary Banks. After 24 minutes of Struggling to eat the balut, Theodora and Baby Yoda begin to cry as the pressure builds. A 30 second countdown appears on the screen. Both begin to shovel the balut into their mouths struggling to keep it down. 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, the alarm sounds and the announcer says time is up. After reviewing the plates, Theodora barely beats Baby Yoda. The flight attendants escort and supply Baby Yoda with a parachute and to the drop-off. When Baby Yoda steps into the drop-off room, his heart starts to beat at an increasingly fast rate, and suddenly the floor falls beneath his feet, dropping him out of the plane. A piercingly loud scream is heard from inside of the jet, the final 4 players wide eyed and jaws dropped. The game continues. As the winner of stage 1, Max must select one of the other three players a punishment, sabotaging them in the next stage. “You were the second one to finish the platter, and nearly beat me, so I choose to sabotage Robbie”, Max says. The screen displays the second stage “Mazed & Confused”. In this stage, the players will have to successfully complete a large table maze with a pulley rope system and landing a ball in the goal. The last player to complete the maze is eliminated from Sabotage. For his punishment, Robbie will have to land two balls instead of one. Four large table mazes are brought to the players and the alarm sounds. Hilary Banks lands the ball into the goal first. Just as Max is about to land the ball, it falls into the trap hole, forcing him to start from the beginning. Theodora falls through the trap hole and Robbie lands his first ball. Theodora pulls ahead of Robbie and Max, but shifts the table due to the turbulence and falls into the trap again. Robbie lands his second ball and is safe. Max moving at a slow and steady pace gets to the near end, but makes a risky maneuver and it doesn’t pay off. Theodora is able to land her ball in the goal, forcing Max to take a trip to the drop-off, eliminating him from Sabotage. As the winner of the second stage, Hilary decides to sabotage Robbie. The announcer comes onto the screen and tells the three remaining players to go to the three drop-off rooms in the rear of the plane. The announcer then tells the players that they will undergo a test of endurance by holding onto a bar for as long as they can while suspended over the dropped floor and having the weight of the parachute to deal with. The last player holding on will be declared the winner of Sabotage. As the sabotaged player, Robbie has to start the challenge first, holding on for 30 seconds before Hilary and Theodora begin. As the alarm sounds, Robbie gets a good grip on the bar and the floor falls suddenly, feeling the wind power and the turbulence, Robbie begins to struggle already. Once the 30 seconds is up, Hilary and Theodora begin the challenge. After an exhausting 15 minutes the sprinkler in the drop off rooms turn on, making it even more difficult to hold on to the bar. Theodora’s hands slip and she is the third player eliminated. The turbulence continues and gets even more intense, and Robbie’s punishment of starting 30 seconds early, makes its impact, causing him to let go of the bar and becoming the fourth player eliminated. The floor raises and closes, and the announcer says “Congratulations Hilary Banks! You have outlasted the other players and are the winner of Sabotage”.