Chapter 1: The Antechamber

[Regular programming will resume in a few minutes]

"You've got 5 minutes"

"What a drag, I didn't even get to finish my sandwich"

[[Back in 3]]

"Is my gorgeous face looking perfect?"

[[2]]

"Tell John his order will be arriving soon"

[[1]]

"Ugh, move it, girl; I'm already ready"

[[On air]]

"HO, HO, HO; MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ALL! TO THOSE SWEET LITTLE PSYCHOPATHS JOINING US ON THIS EVE!"

"I'm Martina Álvarez and… I've had the absolute pleasure of being with you for this savage edition of…"

"THE FIFTH CIRCLE"

"I HAVE NEVER HAD SUCH A GOOD TIME"

"That's right, and you should all know I keep a very close eye on every nasty little thing you say on social media…"

"Where's Julian? Well…"

[[Don't say anything]]

"Nobody cares!"

"Come on guys, focus on what really matters today"

"As you'll see in the video now playing on your screen, the location chosen for this battle royale is a tropical island, far, far away from here."

[[Mention the spiciest contestants]]

"Oh, yes; these are the ones who'll probably steal all the attention — or your money, both work for us; ha ha ha"

"Rebeca V: 19 years old, ex-convict; she should still be behind bars, but one of our sponsors pulled her out of that hellhole and set her free — told her that if she made him a lot of money, she could walk; not that she had much of a choice anyway, since only one person walks off that island alive"

"Mar Thompson: a university professor…"

"…"

"Just kidding, there's a lot more to him than you'd think: harassment, theft, assault, first-degree murder, parricide, kidnapping, child support evasion, hate speech… and blah, blah, blah, hundreds more charges that are a pain to read through — and I love reading them"

"Yuki J.H: a prisoner of war from the Eastern Front, her captor; J.K.K, gave her that name and entered her in the show; legend has it she has the ability to drain the blood out of anyone she touches; interesting… truly"

"Brimerthon Julius Jacob Brian Ryan Tengu Shima: nothing else to add, his name is just weird and that alone is enough — he deserves whatever's coming to him, tsk; ridiculous name"

"Phew, if I kept reading through everything production sent me I'd be completely drained — and not in the way I'd prefer, ha ha ha"

"Oh, right; I'm being told we'll be doing an interview with one of the sponsors, go ahead, John"

[[Cut]]

(It's been a while since I last did this, honestly my throat hurts a little from all the yelling)

[[Don't worry, you're doing great]]

(I hope so)

[[Back in 15 minutes]]

Martina Álvarez — December 23rd, 2048 I've been put in charge of hosting this presentation — they've handed me the public face of this project; I just hope it doesn't fall apart.

[[Returning to the studio]]

"Wow, that was truly spectacular — I wonder how much longer until the big deployment?"

"Only 10 minutes!"

"This is giving me insane anxiety, I can't wait to see guts and brains flying everywhere"

"We'll be right back after the commercial break"