The headquarters of the Integration Initiative was a nice, professional looking building on the outside, but a surprisingly homey, comforting space within. Apart from the offices taking up most of the first floor, it was largely taken up with a somewhat dormlike setup, with comfortable common areas and plenty of windows. It was one of these common areas, a living room set up with couches and chairs set up in a circle, that the main members of the Personhood movement met up now.
Adele Nakamura, Ultimate Lawyer and survivor of season 49, perched on a chair holding a large envelope, somehow looking as professional as ever despite her excited grin and blue jeans. Next to her sat Carlos Hernandez, a brown skinned man in his late thirties and one of the survivors of season 35. He was one of the oldest survivors who hadn't chosen to try to hide from the spotlight, and the founder of Integration Initiative. He'd made it his mission to help survivors since he'd made his fortune selling a memoir of his own season. In recent years, he'd thrown the full support of the initiative behind the push for rights and personhood for former and future 'cast members'.
Across from him sat Jonas Becker, a tan man with blonde hair and big blue eyes, sprawled as always across his chair in an unlikely fashion. Only a few years younger than Carlos and one of the survivors of season 38 he was another prominent face for survivors and one of the few who'd actually chosen to make a living with his given Ultimate Talent. He'd spent years doing a one man acrobatic comedy show, banking on his reputation as the ultimate Circus Performer. He'd only gotten involved in the Initiative after the spectacular events of the most recent season, and Carlos still hadn't entirely forgiven him for that.
Next to him sat Hikari, another survivor of season 38. Despite having very publicly been at each others' throats for most of their season, they'd lived together for almost a decade. No one entirely understood how a woman so opposed to speaking about her experiences in the show or even referencing her given Talent managed to cohabitate with Jonas. It was commonly speculated amongst the 'fandom' that the short haired Japanese woman was dating him, but all who knew her knew this to be laughable, as she had about as much interest in men as he had in women-none.
Directly across from Nakamura on a comfortable sofa sat the trio who'd caused so much fuss. Himiko, now almost a foot taller but still clad in her oversized pointy hat, Shuichi, with slightly longer hair, and Maki on his other side, her hair now cropped short. The three of them still lived in the building, finding it far more comfortable than venturing out into a world where they were still incredibly controversial celebrities.
Nakamura glanced at her watch and over at the doorway. "Is it just us?" She asked Carlos. "I'd like to get started soon."
He checked his phone and nodded. "Yeah, Lei's still not back and Yume's manning the front just in case. We can go ahead."
Nakamura nodded and grinned. "Okay, good. I have the official response from the Company. Their legal team sent it to my office earlier today. I looked it over earlier." Judging by the smug look on her face, everyone in the room started to smile as well.
"So, they're going to work with us?" Shuichi asked quietly.
She nodded. "Other than some quibbles on the monetary side of things, they've agreed to all of our demands. Even better, they have a plan for making it happen."
"Okay but… how exactly are they going to do all that? I know the point was to aim for the sky and all, but how are they gonna actually manage it?" Jonas asked with a frown.
"They've decided to film the entire season from within the Neo World program." Nakamura replied. "It'll be like a video game. No one really dies, memories can be dealt with any way they choose once they wake up."
"But doesn't that program turn everyone into cute little sprites?" Himiko asked.
"And dying in that game still killed Miu…" Shuichi sounded troubled
"Apparently there is the option of utilizing realistic graphics and expanding the setting to accomodate an entire killing game." Nakamura shrugged. "And they're also capable of putting a buffer in to prevent in game deaths from automatically killing the person in real life."
"Why the hell haven't they used that before, then?" Maki demanded
"Probably because it was easier to stick to the formula." Jonas sneered. "The Company hasn't generally been big on change. Their formula has been making them money for decades, after all."
Hikari sighed. "And everyone knows the last time they tried for fewer deaths, ratings dropped. The two *probably* weren't connected, but they used it as an excuse to get even more brutal. It used to be unheard of for fewer than five people to escape, after all. Nowadays you were lucky to survive with the three of you."
"That's…" Shuichi went pale.
"That's fucked up." Carlos replied flatly. "But for now lets focus on the good stuff. Adele, they're using the Neo World program?"
She nodded and looked back down at the document in her hands. "Apparently they're using that program alone to fulfil most of our demands that don't have to do with the profits. I guess it's convenient. They can put the buffer in to prevent true death, including frequent 'backups' of the participants. They can use that buffer to select whether the original personality or the created one 'wakes up', or if the two decide to try to blend into one new person…. There's a lot of details of their pitch for the specifications for how all this will work…"
Hikari held out her hand with a sigh. "Pass that to me. I'll translate it."
Jonas looked surprised for a moment, but it quickly smoothed out into a smile. "Thanks, Hikari."
Nakamura handed it over with a small grateful smile. "I appreciate that, Hikari. I'll leave that bit to you, you can check through it for anything hairy I might've missed. As for the rest of this…" She flips through the remaining pages with a satisfied expression. "Pensions and benefits have been approved, there's a check here for each of us I'll hand out later. They sent over plans for a memorial at the museum… And they've invited us to choose a few people to participate in the creation of the upcoming season to supervise and be an advocate for the new 'class'."
She looks around at all of them. "Hikari, you've been specifically invited, for obvious reasons. As has Jonas, presumably for his showmanship sensibilities, and… Shuichi."
"... Me?" Shuichi tensed up a bit.
Maki quietly clasped his hand and glared at Nakamura. "Why would they want him? He doesn't know anything about technology or storytelling or psychology."
"Thanks, Maki." Shuichi grumbled weakly
"Oh, you know what I mean." Maki told him with an exasperated smile.
"She's right, you know." Himiko piped up with a glare of her own. "This sounds like a trap to me. They hate all three of us over there."
"You may be right." Nakamura admitted, looking over her glasses at the three of them. "I doubt they've forgiven any of us. But… They do say they want him as a consultant for the murders. It's not an unreasonable request to ask the only Ultimate Detective who hasn't died or vanished to do so, especially since you are also so involved in the advocacy efforts."
"And it is only an invitation." Carlos interjected, smiling reassuringly at all of them. "You're not obligated to do anything. You have every right to stay away from all that."
Shuichi sighed, and Maki scowled at him "Don't even think about it." She told him flatly
He shook his head. "I have to. If there's a chance I could actually help them…"
"You really have to stop being so self sacrificing." Maki replied quietly "Be selfish for once?"
"You know I can't" Shuichi replied, while the others pretended not to hear the clearly private conversation. He turned back to Nakamura. "I'll do it."
"Fine, but I'm coming." Maki's tone and expression made it clear she would not let anyone argue."
Nakamura nodded. "Alright. Good. I'll send over our counter offer in the morning. The haggling over the money will probably take a while yet, but I'm guessing they'll want to start working on the new season as soon as everything is finalized. Expect to get started by the end of the month, I'd guess?"
"Hang on there. They are going to *pay* us, right?" Jonas demanded. "On top of the pension? I don't work for free."
"Oh, yes." Nakamura replied, adjusting her glasses. "There are offer letters for each of you specifically invited. I suggest you haggle a bit, get as much as you can" She produces three envelopes and sets them on the table in front of her. "It says that salaries for any of the others are negotiable. Maki, I expect with your skill set they'll likely pay you quite well."
Maki scoffed. "I'm not in it for the money."
"Take it anyway." Carlos suggested. "Take everything you can get from them. Don't give them anything for free. They've taken too much already."
"He's right, Maki." Himiko smiled grimly at her. "You don't want them thinking they can just use you. Make them pay."
Maki nodded. "You have a point. Alright."
Nakamura looked around at everyone. "Any more questions?"
Everyone looked at each other and shook their heads. "No, I think that's everything for now, thank you Adele." Carlos told her with a smile.
"Alright, I'll send all this in in the morning, then. Thank you all for your time."
Thank you to everyone who's submitted a character! There was a small problem with me not getting notifications about my PMs, but everyone who's submitted that way will hear from me today. I'm really excited for the crop I've got so far! I've accepted eight so far, which means there are eight more slots left.
So far we have:
-Ultimate Figure Skater
-Ultimate Caretaker
-Ultimate Artist
-Ultimate 'Goddess'
-Ultimate Occultist
-Ultimate Biological Engineer
-Ultimate Filmmaker
-Ultimate Medium
A friendly reminder that Ultimate Lawyer, Ultimate Detective, Ultimate Assassin, and Ultimate Magician are still off limits, but other than that, keep them coming! I'm planning on (roughly) a bi-weekly posting schedule from here on out, provided I get my cast filled out in time. Thank you in advance to all the rest of my submitters, and I'll see you all next time!