DEAL OR NO DEAL: The Case of Eugene Krabs
PROLOGUE
"Yo, Shoujo 26, we betta hurry up our preparations 'cuz da show's gonna begin in uh… 15 to 20 minutes."
Nah, I just love being around with the lovely Shoujo 26 for five nights a week – we are off-air during the cool weekends – watching them retouch their face with some powder (courtesy of Shiva Cosmetics by Miss Tifa Lockhart), put on their thigh-high, sleeveless dresses of pure white – man, I find their shapely legs spectacular (Yo, please, don't think of me as a total pervert guy…).
"Hai, Reno-kun!" they – all 26 of them – replied with so much glee.
Yeah, I'm Reno, the guy with the spiky red hair and the royal blue business suit (and the electro-baton from my Shin-Ra days), and you'll get to know me more by later, when the show has begun. And speaking about that, it's always been a busy routine for my fellow staff at the studio. There's our lead director, Cloud Strife with the spiky blond hair, telling us what to do – and he's using Cait Sith's HP Shout megaphone, which made the voice of anyone speaking through it sound like red alert status. Then there's our producer, Barret "da Tough Gunner" Wallace, whom we always see holding a steel cup of coffee on his bionic right arm – the coffee, he claims, makes him calm, thereby pushing him off any potential trouble caused by his big mouth. And then there's the sound director, Cid "da Captain" Highwind, ready to do his groove, Air Gear style! And finally, there's our light director, Vincent "da Zombie-Guy" Valentine. I don't like him being the light director; I mean… it's ironic: with a zombie guy like him doing the lights, he's just right to dance "Thriller". Oh boy, I hate zombies!
Now, I heard that all-too familiar voice again.
"May I have your attention, everybody? This is your director, Cloud Strife, calling each and everyone of you to please go to your respective stations now, as we're about to start the show."
Almost the same line, day after day after day. Oh, anyway, I love being a gameshow host myself, considering the Shoujo 26, then the satellite cameras, then all the audience around the world with eyes glued at their respective flat-screened TVs…
"Reno, we need you right away!" announced Cloud.
Oh yeah, I almost forgot. I'm needed right there, at the middle of the studio. I scampered hurriedly along the hallway - thereby making my leather shoes create the all-familiar-to-me running noise (not runny nose, as the case of one of our Shoujo) – trying to get there as soon as possible.
"I'm comin' over there, yo, Cloud!" I yelled along the hall.