Rise To Stardom - Chapter 123

Chapter 123: Where Do You Wanna Start?
Having already defeated Kralak, The Curator, didn’t need to say much before the rest of The Balrogs, knew what needed to be done.

Asides from realizing that they should, never, ever reiterate their mistakes less they piss off the one person who had taught them a lesson twice now, they quickly began to return all the kidnapped aliens, back to their original locations with a proper teleporter.

Previously, when kidnapping them, a phase shift teleporter, one which could instantly switch their locations was used, although it wasn’t exactly the safest due to having certain side effects.

As for the kidnapped humans though, they were with The Curator.

Having ensured that the aliens were rightfully returned, The Curator, along with Jasmine, Professor Sanders, Beatrice and a few other humans, employed the same teleporter to head back home.

Landing in a secluded alleyway, one that was close to the college, Professor Sanders and Beatrice, along with the other humans, finally glad to be where they were meant to be, soon shook off the fear they had been experiencing and finally decided to ask the important questions.

Yet, before any of them could, they all collapsed to the ground in synchrony, the stress from it all, finally catching up to them.

{The Curator – Tenth Season | 9th April 2020 | Act 2 | Scene 7 | Take 1}

“Beatrice! Prof!” Kiera swiftly moved over to them, checking if they were still alive.

“Ah~. Nothing like polluted, fresh air from the alleyways…” The Curator on the other hand, stated as he deeply inhaled and exhaled, his expression casual.

Angling his gaze downwards, he then spoke to Kiera;

“Phase shifts, aren’t exactly the safest. They’re both fine though. Just, dealing with a small case of phase lag.”

“Phase lag? Is that like jet lag?” Kiera who was cradling Beatrice in her arms at the moment, asked in a mix of confused curiosity.

“Yep. Jet lag in space, basically. Although, its effects, are a bit stronger than the typical thing…” The Curator casually replied as he continued;

“Fainting and a bit of memory loss. They’ll all wake up without even the slightest idea of what happened today… or yesterday.”

Squatting down to Kiera’s level, checking their pulses, The Curator, spoke to the lady with a gestured palm of request;

“Phone, please?”

A bit wary, especially since Mason went bankrupt the last time he used his smartphone, Kiera’s eyes showed reluctance. Reluctance to be put in the same situation as the bloke.

“No. It’s an emergency call, on earth.” The hybrid chuckled a bit, seemingly reading Kiera’s mind.

Still, not quite sure if she could trust his words, Kiera reluctantly retrieved the phone and placed it in his palm.

“Thank you.”

“Cut, Print. Check The Gate.”

– – –

Dialing 911 and requesting for an ambulance, The Curator and Kiera, watched from a corner as the health-care officials, took care of Beatrice, Professor Sanders and all the other humans after they had arrived.

After ensuring that they were well attended to, The Curator, left the area, Kiera trailing closely behind him.

Yet, for the actual actors, the entire scene was shot in a green room.

Typically, they’d never have done it here but, considering it would make shooting the next scene after, so much easier with smooth transitions, their director opted to go down that route.

“Alright everyone. Lunch break.” Tiana declared.

No sooner had she said that, almost everyone on set, headed to the cafeteria.

Shooting a series undoubtedly, was hard work, especially considering how everything needed to be perfectly regulated before each shot.

Hunger after a few hours of working, wasn’t unexpected to say the least.

“Hope to see you again soon. By then, you’d probably be an even bigger star!” a man on the thinner side of a fairly average build in his early forties, laughed as he spoke to Kyle.

He had a thin, rectangular-rimmed glasses framing his dark-brown eyes and messy black hair. He was also the extra who had been playing Professor Sanders.

“You too Ray. I wish you the best in your future endeavors.” Kyle grinned in response with a firm shake.

As for Carla, the extra who played Beatrice, she was currently exchanging hugs with Jasmine.

Soon, both individuals left the expansively wide, prop hall.

They had filmed all of their scenes in the show, including those that would be used later in the other episodes.

A few minutes after, Kyle and Jasmine, along with Tiana, began conversing over a few, necessary details regarding the upcoming episodes they were yet to shoot.

It seemed like they were going to be travelling to quite a few places for some of the later episodes.

A while later, after parting ways with their Director who was currently going over a few things with their cinematographer, Kyle and Jasmine, soon began having their own conversation as they made their way over to the cafeteria.

“I’m excited for the future episodes.” Jasmine spoke softly, her honey-colored irises full of anticipation, one to which Kyle responded to with an approving nod and a light smile;

“So am I.”

There was a similar gaze of anticipation and a glint of excitement in his eyes.

“Also, Lily’s gonna be on set next month!” the lady quietly squealed in excitement afterwards!

To that, the Kyle tilted his head in genuine curiosity.

Sure he had come to realize that Jasmine could be quite exuberant, it was more or less a side she only showed to people she was comfortable with.

As a result, he couldn’t help but ask almost immediately;

“You guys kept in touch after the celebration party?”

“‘Course we did! Turns out, we have, quite a lot in common!” the sexy actress, responded with a happy grin, one Kyle was replying to when;

“Well I’m not too surprised. Both of you are abso-”

“Absolutely brilliant! There, stole your thunder.” Jasmine directed her gaze over to the young man who was almost about to say the exact same words, a smug smirk on her lips.

“Oi! That’s cheating!” Kyle countered with a slight squint.

“Not in my books. Now it’s 2:1!” the lady giggled mischievously, walking a bit faster as she made her way over to the elevator.

Casually trailing behind her, the young man simply shook his head in resignation and then, pulled up her status screen, comparing it to Lily’s;

___________________________

{Jasmine Faye} – 24 years

Acting › Level 13

Dancing › Level 9

Singing › Level 8

Skills – [Enhanced Assimilation], [Enhanced Perception], [Gymnastics]

___________________________

___________________________

{Lily Lockhart} – 22 years

Singing › Level 12

Acting › Level 10

Dancing › Level 9

Instrumental Mastery (Violin/Piano) › Level 9/7

Skills – [Stage Presence], [Vocal Control Mastery]

___________________________

“Yeah. Absolutely brilliant, are the words.” Kyle muttered to himself as he closed the panels with a thin smile, casually making his way over to the elevator as Jasmine selected the floor to the cafeteria.

Jasmine was already pretty high up, getting almost close to Bruce’s and Jeffrey’s levels of acting at such a young age.

Added to that, it was also nice to see, that just like him, Lily was growing as she made advances in her solo career.

…

…

…

Although the last scene of the second episode, only involved Kyle and Jasmine, everyone on set was around to watch it happen.

Usually, this exact scene, was one of the big reveals to both the companions of The Curator, and the audience themselves.

A reveal, that was always one of awe, regardless of how many times it was done over the years, and despite the various iterations of The Curator.

Even Kyle and Jasmine were visibly excited for the scene as both, suppressed the emotion the best they could to try and get into character.

Soon though, having effortlessly gotten everyone on set to keep quiet, Tiana gave the order to begin shooting;

“Start.”

{The Curator – Tenth Season | 9th April 2020 | Act 2 | Scene 8 | Take 1}

“Question. How did we hear, Beatrice’s screams, even though no one else in college did?” The Curator said to Kiera as they made their way across the quiet alleyway.

That was quite literally, the only question in Kiera’s mind as she gazed at the enigma beside her with a curious expression.

The backdoors to a few buildings were present, some dumpsters and even a piece of newspaper and some nylon, due to a mild gust of wind, gently blew across the air to settle down on the concrete flooring.

“Conjecture. Because we were in a pocket dimension of our own.” he responded to his own question with a light grin while continuing;

“Proof. Dimensions, of all kinds really, naturally exist in time and space but, they vibrate at a different frequency, beyond what humans are typically able to sense so it goes unnoticed, most of the time.”

To that, Kiera, couldn’t help but bite her lips in contemplation for a few seconds.

At first she had reasoned that The Curator was a top-notch spy who worked for the government.

But, after seeing everything that had happened today, along with all that happened a month back, she was now certain that the man before her, if he could even be called a man, was not someone she could wrap her head around, or even try to blur out of her mind.

As a result, instead of being confused, she then asked curiously;

“How… how do you know all this?”

Angling his gaze towards her for a few seconds, amused by the fact that she wasn’t doubting his words, The Curator responded with a light grin;

“You’re about to find out.”

Stopping before a random door in the alleyway, The Curator began to speak;

“Certain pocket dimensions, using different frequencies, can exist and overlap with the real world and other pocket dimensions, at the same time.”

“Some, even have the ability to maintain that phenomenon, outside of its pocket dimension for a while.” he casually continued as he retrieved a bizarre-looking key from his pocket.

“The moment you walked into the office, you entered mine. My pocket dimension. That’s why you could hear a scream, even from another dimension away.” he concluded, inserting the bizarre key, into the door hole.

As Kiera watched, wondering how the weirdly-shaped key was even supposed to open a random door, The Curator pushed it open and instantly, the sight Kiera was met with, was that of the office she and The Curator had met this morning.

That was already enough to get her quite amazed.

However, with a snap of his fingers, the office morphed into something that was beyond befuddling for Kiera.

At that was really saying something considering all she had seen all day.

Yet, not even a moment wasted, The Curator, gestured to her to walk in.

Glancing over, her genuinely astonished gaze shifting between a smiling Curator and the massive library before her, Kiera stepped in.

Vintage-styled with a touch and a sprinkle of modernity in the form of fluorescent, warm lights and shiny, lustrous, metallic flooring, was a massive hall, filled with towering shelves, each brimming with well-maintained books.

“It’s called, The Index.” The Curator closed the door behind her as she gazed about in genuine amazement, only to get hit with another bout of awe at the other structure she landed her eyes on.

Its size was humongous and its hourglass-shaped vintage clock, made of gleaming brass and mechanical pieces, had beautiful celestial symbols adorning, its bodice.

Added to that, was what seemed to be a silvery holographic pendulum made of pure energy, each, seamlessly swinging back and forth in sync between both the upper and lower chambers of the hourglass, a mechanical panel full of a multitude of round things (buttons) and a big lever, present at its base.

Truly, it was a technological marvel.

“And that, is The Horologium.” The Curator pointed out with an excited gaze as walked forwards whilst explaining with gestured arms;

“The Index, captures every event that has ever occurred across the vast history of the Earth and The Horologium, can travel anywhere in time and space!”

Twirling around, The Curator grinned mysteriously at an awe-struck Kiera while stating;

“It’s a brilliant combination, isn’t it?”

“And you know what the best part is?” he asked Kiera who was now laughing lightheartedly in genuine excitement, her eyes, showing just how curious she was for the Curator’s next words.

“It’s mine.” The Time Traveler, proudly stated while flexing his long coat.

To that, Kiera couldn’t help but gaze at The Enigma before her with a genuine gaze of awe and interest once again as he spoke, arms gesturing outwards;

“So! All, of time and space!”

“Everything there ever was, everything there ever probably will and, a subverted, Bootstrap Paradox to resolve!”

“Don’t worry, I can always get you back to this exact moment in time too so, fear not, your normal life, stays unaffected!” The Curator clapped, landing his gaze on the young lady;

“Now, Kiera Snow, with all that said…”

“Tell me, where do you wanna start?” The Curator asked the young lady with a jovial, inviting smile.

“Cut, Print. Check The Gate.”