The Cage - Chapter Ten

The eleven stood there with stupid looking expressions on their faces, staring at everything, especially Seth. People around them were laughing and pointing and snapping photographs. Mr. Boss casually wheeled himself over, escorted by the two police officers. He was smiling pleasantly, but did not receive the same smiles in return.

“Hello, my friends, welcome to—”

“Friends?” blurted Bishop. “You’re lucky your police protectors are here, or I’d show you just how good of a friend you are.”

“I understand your being upset, Mr. Riggs. But I think, as everything is explained, you will understand. Now please, come with me to the table, where Mr. Wynchowski is waiting.”

Seth stood up when they arrived at the table. “Hey guys,” he said, smiling. The others could only stare at him in disbelief and confusion. “Weird huh?” he said.

“This will also be explained,” Mr. Boss said. “Please, have a seat, and help yourself to snacks.” They all sat around the table, with Mr. Boss taking up the empty space at the end. In front of him sat a laptop. He clicked around on the screen for a few moments, and then the small televisions that were sitting on the table turned on.

On the screens were images of the twelve of them, sitting around the living quarters talking. The images of Bishop and Alan were arguing with other, and Bishop punched Alan.

“Now this is entertainment,” Mr. Boss said.

“Entertainment?” Alan said. “How is Bishop punching my lights out entertainment?”

“Maybe not to you, at least not yet. But to the world, this is entertainment.” He pointed at the television screens. There was some cheesy background music, and a logo that said “The Cage” appeared. There was silence for a few moments around the table.

“For the last few weeks, you have been the subjects of a reality television show called The Cage. Your every move and every word has been recorded. Everything was set up just the way we wanted it to be. Other reality shows are mostly scripted, but not this one. The world has gotten to see you as you really are, no acting.”

“What kind of crap show is this?” blurted Bishop. “Kidnapping people for the entertainment of others?”

“Sounds somewhat sadistic, doesn’t it?”

“Yes it does,” Mr. Boss replied happily.

“Is the government behind this?” said George.

“No, Mr. Henderson,” Mr. Boss answered. “Though your conspiracy theories have been greatly entertaining for our audience, and many laughs have been laughed at your expense. Anyway, in times of low quality television programming, where it seems every show is a remake or rerun, you have to do something daring to stand out and succeed in the business. This is the way of things. And our way has created the most popular, successful, and profitable television show in history. Every night, millions of people have tuned in to see what crazy thing will happen next.”

He held out his palm, which looked empty.

“I know you may not see anything, but in my hand is a tiny camera. So very small, yet the quality is astounding. There were literally hundreds of these placed strategically all around the area.”

“All around?” asked Jendy.

“Yes, everywhere. We wanted to always be able to get the best view. There were cameras in each room. Nothing about your lives over the last few weeks has been secret or hidden.”

“Don’t you feel, at all, like this is wrong?” said Sally.

“Wrong? I’ve been in the entertainment world for all my adult life, seventy years of it, and this is the first time I’ve been able to make it big. Now that is wrong.”

She nodded sadly. “More wrong than locking twelve people up for a while? Kidnapping them, playing God, and profiting off their hardships?”

“Just temporary hardships. And besides, we really didn’t lock up twelve people.”

“What?” said Alan.

“Here is a surprise for you. Each of the surprises think they know everything, but in fact, they have a surprise also. Please stand up, Mr. Jones and Miss Pearson.”

Harry and Ally stood up, looking awkwardly at each other.

“These two are professional actors, and we planted them in the show to make things more interesting.”

The other ten peered at the two of them, feelings of hurt appearing on their faces.

“Each of them was told to be rowdy, hostile, and annoying. They were also told to make sexual advances on other people, which they both failed on. We were at least hoping they’d find each other in that respect,” Mr. Boss said, shaking his head. “However, since they were unable to coerce others into sexual activity, their paycheck will not be as large as they had hoped.”

They both frowned.

“I just couldn’t,” Harry said, “on national television? I would’ve felt just wrong.”

Ally rolled his eyes. “Well, I tried, but he rejected it.”

“Well,” replied Mr. Boss, “that’s too bad. My guess is that we won’t need either of your acting services in the future, since you were unable to live up to expectations on a simple assignment such as this.”

Harry sighed.

“Any questions so far?” asked Mr. Boss.

“Things were always changing,” said Alan. “But none of us ever woke up.”

“Ah yes,” said Mr. Boss. “Around two o’clock on those nights when we wanted to change things, we would use a gaseous sedative to put all of you into a deep state of unconsciousness, where we could move things and people around at will. The bars between the inner cage and the main living area could be moved up and down and out of the way at will. We had a lot of fun with it, and I think the audience got a good kick out of it.”

“A good kick out of treating us like animals?”

“Someday, you’ll see the entertainment value in this. Maybe when another show does something similar, and you get to see it happen to other people, you’ll chuckle at it, then chuckle at your own experience.”

“I surely hope not,” said Sally.

Mr. Boss smiled. “The show started taping a couple weeks before you all came here. We taped each of you receiving your letters in strange and interesting ways.”

The televisions showed images of Alan taking a letter out of a Bible, George finding a letter in a road map, and Maria finding her letters taped under a park bench and inside a dumpster.

“We scouted out hundreds of potentials for these ten spots. We were looking for certain types of people. Poor people in desperate situations. We have skillfully exploited your situations in order to create this program. We felt that great entertainment for millions was worth the suffering of less than a dozen others.”

“Less than a dozen?” said Sally. “We’re still people!”

“It’s all numbers to me, Ms. Feathers. Especially the numbers that follow dollar signs. But, as I said before, these hardships were temporary. No permanent damage. Not even for Mr. Wynchowski.”

Seth smiled.

“Oh yeah,” said Bishop. “How is it that you’re alive again?”

“All part of the show,” Mr. Boss said. “His death was faked.”

“So that was just a fake body we had hanging in there?”

“Oh no,” said Mr. Boss. “The body was real, but it wasn’t Seth’s.”

They stared at him.

“It is good to have connections with morgues and makeover artists, among others. We got that body looking just like Seth. Thought it would be an interesting aspect for the show, sharing space with a corpse. And it fit in well after Seth’s little mental breakdown. While you were all sedated, we removed his sleeping body and hung up the corpse. This is also when we cut holes in the wall and floor so Harry could find the tunnel, which of course he already knew about.”

“How is all this legal?” said Alan.

“Nothing we did was illegal. We took no one against their will, and did not hold them against their will. All of you signed a contract stating this.”

The screens continued to show them in the room. Conversations, arguments, people changing and showering, all uncensored. The image of Jendy ran out of the shower and into the living quarters completely naked.

At the table, Jendy’s eyes widened.

“I assume certain things will not be shown to the whole country.”

“They already have been,” Mr. Boss replied. “The whole show was broadcast live to the world, with no censoring.”

Jendy covered her mouth. “But, but, how is that legal? Children could be watching this!”

“You must not pay attention to law at all, Miss Vorshank,” Mr. Boss said, grinning. “Censorship laws have all been revoked. There is no such thing as censorship anymore. We can put whatever sex and nudity on daytime television that we want. Which, of course, we were a little disappointed that were was, in fact, no sexual relations between any of you. We tried to match you up so that would happen.”

“I guess lying in human waste for a while kind of took me out of the mood,” Sally said.

“You people must not have a conscience!” Jendy snapped.

“No conscience? Now let’s see here,” Mr. Boss said, once again clicking away on the laptop. The images of Jendy, Bishop, and Maria appeared on the televisions, standing in the living quarters near the cage.

“It’s a one-way mirror,” Bishop’s on-screen image said. “They can’t see us.”

Maria scowled. “Why would they do that?”

“I don’t know,” he answered. “Another mystery.”

She nodded, peering into the cage. “We’ve got it made compared to them.”

“Well, at least we can’t smell them,” Jendy said, sitting on the couch and playing with her hair. “I mean, come on. Gross.”

“That’s the least of my concerns right now,” Bishop said. “I just wish we could help them out of that tiny space they’re in.”

“So they can what, be trapped here too?” Jendy replied. “I say, let them keep their smell in there, cause I don’t want it out here.”

Bishop frowned at her.

“It wouldn’t really be much of an improvement, were they to be out here instead of in there.”

“They’d have a toilet and some more room.”

“So?”

“Maybe you should have been in there with them!” Bishop snapped.

Jendy gasped.

“Me? In there? Without a toilet and a soft bed? What are you crazy?”

“Do you think you’re some kind of princess or something?”

“I just know that I deserve better than they do.”

Around the table, there was silence. The members of Group 1 stared irately at Jendy, who sunk deeper into her chair.

“Now, what other questions are there?” asked Mr. Boss.

“Wait a minute,” said Ally. “I wasn’t sedated at night. I was up and I helped the crew and did interviews. How is it that I never saw Harry?”

“Ah, yes,” Mr. Boss said. “The two of you, in fact, were sedated, just at different times. We thought it would be a neat twist to have two different people as actors, but not have them know that someone else is an actor too. Clever isn’t it?”

“Genious.”

“You kidnapped our friends and family too!” said the skinny man.

“Just actors, Mr. Black, that is all,” Mr. Boss said. “It’s amazing what you can do with makeover artists and a blurry video feed. But rest assured, your family members have been at our necks the while time, constantly complaining about the situation, begging us to release you back to them. But they had no legal foot to stand on, nor did they know your location. So they couldn’t do anything.”

“Where are they now?” asked Sally.

“At home, I would assume, watching this on television. Yes, even this is part of the show, currently being broadcast live. Now are there any other questions?”

“Are we getting paid?” asked Bishop.

“Paid? You will be reimbursed your work salary for the time you missed.”

“That’s it?” Bishop snapped. “You took weeks of our lives and that’s all—”

“Would you prefer nothing?”

Bishop was silent.

“This was all stated in the contract, and you would have known it, had you read it. George read some of the contract beforehand, but not quite enough of it, it seems. Anything else?”

They stared at him.

“Good. Please follow me.”

Mr. Boss wheeled himself out of the area, still escorted by two police officers, and followed by nine people, leaving Harry, Ally, and Seth behind. They walked through a hallway and entered an area Maria had seen before: a large parking area. There were nine limousines parked there, and next to each one stood a driver holding a sign with a name on it. Maria approached her sign.

“Good evening, Ms. Goldsmith,” the elderly driver said. Maria stepped into the back of the limo, and it drove off. A small television screen opened from the ceiling, and Mr. Boss’ image appeared.

“You will be taken home now,” he said. “You will be given a complete DVD set of the show, once it is completed. Full of behind the scenes extras and crew interviews! That will be quite a collector’s item,” he said, smiling happily. Maria rolled her eyes.

“And please feel free to take any of the snacks or other items in the back of the limo. They are our gift of thanks.”

Well, that’s something, Maria thought to herself. Wait a minute, I have no home! Where are they taking me?

The limousine stopped and she stepped out, the car driving away behind her. She was on the sidewalk next to skyscrapers, the same place she was originally picked up. 179 Washington. Maria stood there motionless for several minutes. Is that it? she thought. Am I just back to where I was before? Reimbursed for the time I missed from work? I didn’t have a job! What am I supposed to do now?

Later that night, she found herself back underneath a park bench, sheltering herself from the rain. She fell asleep, once again dreaming of her children. She awoke in tears, and started talking to herself out loud. “Some kind of cruel trick,” she said, punching the underside of the bench. “Thank you, Mr. Boss, for taking away all of my dreams and all of my hope!”

“Not all hope,” came a voice. Maria quickly rolled out from under the bench and stood up. It was Matthew, her ex-husband.

“Hi,” he said, smiling nervously.

“Matthew!” she said, throwing her arms around him. “How did you find me?”

“You’ve been on camera the whole time,” he said. “I saw on television that you came here. We’re probably still on TV.”

“Doesn’t the show ever end?” she said. “My life is not the world’s entertainment!” she screamed into the night.

“Come on,” Matthew said, “let’s get out of the spotlight.”

Matthew’s car pulled up to his large house, and the two of them stepped out and walked inside. Maria excitedly looked everywhere, then looked at Matthew.

“They’re not here,” he said. “I took them to my parents’ house after I saw you had left the show, before I came to pick you up.”

Maria frowned. “When will I get to see them?”

“Soon,” he said, smiling faintly. “Listen, Maria, I know you’ve been through a lot. And I’m sorry about how I treated you before all this happened. I feel somewhat responsible for your having to go through this whole ordeal. I want you to stay here while you get back on your feet.”

Her eyes widened and she smiled brightly, hugging her ex-husband again and kissing him on the cheek.

“Oh, thank you, Matthew!” she squealed. “I can’t tell you what this means to me! But,” and she paused, “what about the judge? And I didn’t think you trusted me.”

“Well,” he said smiling, “the place you’ve been for the last few weeks has been well stocked with alcohol, and you never touched it once. Never even looked at the bottles. Considering your circumstance during that time, I wouldn’t have blamed you had you reached for a drink. But, since you didn’t, I think that’s definite proof that you’re on the wagon.”

There was a knock at the door, and Matthew glanced at Maria. “Sit tight,” he said, standing up and opening the door. His parents entered, and his mother looked over at Maria.

“Hello, dear, I—”

“Mommy!”

Two small sets of feet scampered through the door and into their mother’s arms. “My babies!” she squealed, holding her children tightly. “Oh how I’ve missed you so!” Maria said, starting to cry, kissing both Dixie and Nevaeh repeatedly on the head and cheek. “You’re all I’ve thought about for weeks! You two are the only things that have kept me going!”

“I’ve missed you too, Mommy!” said Dixie.

Maria didn’t leave their sides for the rest of the night.