"My heart is still racing from that encounter!" Evelyn placed her hand over chest as she leaned forward from the same kind of advanced seat that Janus and Itzel were strapped into. "I hate it when Mag gets up close to those Essencima! He knows how much it bothers me!"

Both Janus and Itzel remained focused on the enormous projector of the entertainment room. Every single blade of grass and droplet of water in the swamp was visible on the massive screen. Janus squinted as he leaned forward, trying to parse whether or not the image in front of him was tangible.

"If I didn't know any better, I'd say I was right there in the swamp too," he said quietly.

"This projector is the best that Tokens can buy. Some even say it looks better than real life! But it makes all of the gore that much more... unsettling." Evelyn's face squinched as her shivered. "Just the thought of the last Hunt still makes my skin crawl. I never would have known bones could have broken like that!"

"If you're so disgusted by gore, then why are you even doing this in the first place, huh?" Itzel called out. "Don't have anything better to do with the trillions of Tokens that your family is holding onto?"

The woman nodded. "That is part of it. When you have as much as we do, you get to do everything that's legal. It gets boring after a while. Sometimes you have to find entertainment in unsanctioned ways."

"I guess doing something more charitable with your resources is out of the question," Itzel muttered under her breath.

"Oh, we donate plenty to a wide variety of causes. But we need a way to kick back and relax in between all the busy work." Evelyn turned away from the two captives to look at a screen placed on the wall to the side of the room. After some scrolling on the monitor's screen, she jumped up and down giddily. "And look at that! A viewer has even sent in a Contribution!"

"Do you even need Contributions?" Janus asked as he poked his head past the edge of his chair. "I'd assume that they'd need it more than your family does."

"We have a very specific set of viewers, Janus. Your usual Rumble Circuit watcher won't even be able to find our channel. It requires access to a very specific piece of technology, along with getting through a series of access codes and other security measures. Even though our numbers are paltry when compared to advertised Rumble Circuit Broadcast, they're very exclusive in regards to who is watching. Some of Tersaia's most important people have watched our channel!"

"Like who?" Itzel asked.

Evelyn walked back in front of the screen, shaking her head. "Can't tell you. Wouldn't want to go around ruining the preferred anonymity of our biggest and most charitable fans. But one thing I can say for certain is that you have heard of them before. Our viewers are just that famous."

"Why am I not surprised that corruption runs so deep in Tersaia?" Itzel replied with condescendingly.

"People find enjoyment in various ways. I don't judge." Evelyn smiled while shrugging her shoulders. Itzel maintained a look of disgust on her face, her lip open as she paused on forming a rebuttal. Upon Itzel's silence, the woman returned to the projection.

"Looks like that fight with the Essencima really took a toll on Mag," Janus noted. On the screen, Mag held onto his arm with his other hand. He hunched over as he and Sheila continued to trek through the dense trees that engulfed the swamp.

"Finally, a bit of hope," Itzel butted in. "Maybe that husband of yours isn't such a great Hunter after all. Every Exterminator in Labrisson worth a few Tokens wouldn't have had any problem dealing with a Jagmaw."

"H-He's more than capable of taking on a few Essencima!" Evelyn swiveled her head around and stared at Itzel with a pair of narrowed eyes. "You were there on the Transporter! You saw how he took out that Sand Carver!"

"That's because were there to help," Itzel replied. "Did he tell you that we had to help injure it? Mag wouldn't have been able to land that last shot if it weren't for us!"

Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

"That's not true!" Evelyn turned around and stomped her foot. "That Sand Carver situation... was under control! He said so!"

"Sure didn't seem like it to me. He was frustrated the entire time. Something tells me that your family was somehow involved in that Essencima showing up to derail the Transporter, but things didn't go quite as planned."

Evelyn stared back at Itzel while pouting. "You don't know what you're talking about. All of these accusations are baseless."

"Yeah, yeah." Itzel rolled her eyes. "Whatever helps you sit through this Hunt, lady. All I know is that Gurk can deal with two, maybe even three Jagmaws, no problem. Don't know how that husband of yours plans on taking Gurk out with a sore arm while having to watch over that rookie daughter of yours."

"Guards!" Evelyn cried. The two BRUTE robots in the room came to her side. "Don't make me—"

"Not this again. You know keeping me quiet by having your bots point their guns at me isn't going to change reality, right?" Itzel's voice was clear and confident. "Mag's in over his head. It hasn't even been half an hour and he's already gotten an injury. And by the way your daughter figured that gun and the look on her face when she did it, looks to me that she's in over her head."

"You're just trying to worry me! You think I'm going to fall for your tactics?

"I'm just pointing out the facts. I'm familiar with Broadcasts. I know what people want to watch. You just got a Contribution. Does your Broadcast also support comments?"

"Of course it does!"

"Then why don't you give them a look? If you really got a bunch rich folks looking for some 'high-class' and exclusive content, I'm sure they got a lot to say about what just happened."

"N-No need. I'd rather focus on the Hunt instead."

"Sure. That's the real reason why. If you're too afraid of seeing your daughter get criticized, I don't blame you. Might make you even more worried," Itzel said with a coy grin.

Evelyn's face soured. Her lips curled upwards as she lifted one finger, ready to scold her captive. But before a word could escape her mouth, her husband's voice made her turn around.

"Dammit Sheila!" Mag screamed. His voice echoed throughout the entertainment room as if he was there with them. All three kept their eyes focused on the screen. Mag pulled onto Sheila's arm as she stood knee-deep in a pool of mud. "I told you to follow my steps exactly! You know how the soil here can suck you in if you're not careful!"

"I'm sorry Father!" Sheila took her other hand and grabbed onto her father arm. Mag slowly retreated, bring Sheila slowly but surely out of the mud.

"I thought you got a high score on the simulation! Why are you making such novice mistakes?"

"I-I don't know!"

"Yeah," Itzel said. "I can see why you don't want to check your Broadcast's comments right now."

"You know what? Let's see how the others are doing. Perhaps we can get a better idea of how the Hunt is going for everyone else." Evelyn waved her hand and skimmed through a few other feeds on the screen.

Bodahn appeared first. He held a gun in each hand and was blasting away at a few Spittlers that hid behind the charred remains of a bush. With two quick shots, one from each pistol, the Essencima that hid away promptly terminated with a single head shot.

"That's what I'm talking about!" Bodahn exclaimed. He twirled his guns around his fingers before holstering them.

"Seems like he's doing just fine," Itzel remarked. "Isn't he Sheila's age? Already got two Essencima kills and he doesn't even have a mentor with him!"

"Oh, be quiet. Bodahn is a good shot."

"Better than Sheila. He didn't spend half of his clip mowing down the trees behind his target!"

"It's just first Hunt nerves getting to her! Give her an hour so and she'll have her bearings straight! I have complete faith that my daughter will excel."

"That's why you changed the Broadcast, right? Because seeing Sheila wade through mud like a toddler taking her first steps inspired so much confidence."

"I'm not going to talk to you anymore. You have been the most ungrateful of guests." Evelyn made sure her back was placed to Itzel. She continued to look at the screen, but an expression of anger still lingered on her face.

"Change it back," Itzel said. "If you really had confidence in your daughter, you'd be watching her go after the intended target instead of watching this guy blasting away at Essencima!"

Evelyn remained quiet. On the screen, Bodahn killed one more Spittler with a well-aimed headshot from across the black and soot-coated plain.

"If she's still alive, that is."

Evelyn's lips trembled. From her crossed arms she performed the motion to the channel. After flipping through some stationary views of various areas of the Eco-Dome, she came across her family again. Both Sheila and mag left the mud. The young woman used her hands to brush away the muck that had caked on her legs.

"Do we need to send you back to the estate?" Mag said just below a shout. "You can't be making mistakes like these! It's not a simulation! Our lives are on the line!"

"No Father. I'll do better." There was a strong tremble in the woman's voice, as if she was on the verge of tears.

"Another blunder like that and I'm calling this whole thing off! Is that understood?" Mag stood in front of Sheila, pointing a finger in her face. She kept her head down and her arms dangling behind her back.

"Yes, Father."

Itzel snickered. "How much do you want to bet she won't even make it to see Gurk?"