Idols Child : Bowed In Shadow

Prologue

\ \ June 4, 2015 \ \

                 A man walks down the hallway, an electronic tablet cradled to his chest. He pushes open a glass door where a group of men sit around a U-shaped table. No one spares him a second glance as he walks through the door and makes his way across the room in an easy stride, each wrapped up in their own individual conversations to pay much attention to anything else, much less the rather simply-dressed newcomer.

He's not as fancily dressed as some of the men in the room,    He muses, but it doesn't phase him. After all, he's not the frontal face of the company as these men are. In fact he prefers it that way. He stops at the head of the table, next to a man, who, by his looks, seems to be in his late 40s. Upon seeing him, the man makes a sound in his throat, effectively interrupting the conversation of two colleagues next to him. They immediately cut off their conversation as the one man quickly gets up from the chair and hurries to the end of the long table. The older man gestures to the newcomer to the seat, which he accepts.

             Then the man coughs deep, catching the attention of the rest of the group as they turn to the source of the sound.

"Good morning Gentlemen!"    He says, opening his arms towards the group as a slideshow projects onto the wall behind him.    "Today we are gathered to discuss a very important matter. As you all know, May 19 marks the anniversary of our quinquennial project. The Star Birth. Our one goal, to create the biggest entertainment group that this country and the world has ever seen."

Applause sounds from the table.

"Each year we debut a group with a certain concept.

"We can't do that, remember what happened to the -Choral snappers?-"

Looks of visible disgust and cringe contort some of the men's faces. They had lost a lot of money with that group, going as far to debut them and send them on an international tour, which only flopped when accusations arose on the Internet, accusing the deemed leader of the group of bullying and vandalism at his former high school. Unable to disprove the allegations, the company forfeited contract with him, but unfortunately without the star, the remnants of the team barely held its own. The group hit an early retirement only 2.5 years after their debut.

"I assure you, we have taken very thorough background checks on our trainees."

"Another issue in Choral snappers is the loss of audience, because of lack of morale.

"After the last scandal, we've lost a huge following."

The meeting room suddenly gets loud as the men raise their voices, trying to let their voices to be heard.

"Gentlemen, gentleman."

"it's simple. We change things up." He spreads his hands as if presenting a magnificent display, "Why not a reality TV show?"

"A TV show...?" A thin man with glasses asks from his seat, twisting a ring around his bony hands, unsure.

"Not just any plain reality TV show, but a Survival reality TV show."

An interested hum buzzes through the group, the men starting to become alive at the new prospect.

"Sir, the financials." The glasses man speaks up again, his sharp features jutting out of his face agonizingly as they twist into a painful expression.

A jolly man next to him swings an arm around his shoulders, startling him and knocking him forward.

"Don't worry about the darn financials, Henry."

As the men stand to congratulate each other, the director turns to the newcomer.

"Hello Dennis, I trust you have news for me."

Dennis nods.

"Yes Director, I think you might want to see this."

He sets his tablet up on the desk and presses play.

The director's face lights up as he watches the young man performing on the screen.

"Well, well, well, after all these years. And just in time for the unveiling of our new group. Well done, Dennis."

Dennis bows slightly, before turning away, leaving his tablet in the director's hands as he watches the rest of the clip.

"The world will finally get to meet you, Benjamin Parker."