The Director promoted Zack to understudy after three nights of deep cleaning and days of menial chores.

  He strode pompously away, nose in the air, and the moment he turned the corner, officially out of the backstage area, the entire troupe descended upon the understudy.

  “Congratulations!”

  “You did it, Jack!”

  “I can’t believe you stuck it out. Do you actually like cleaning?”

  Zack blinked at the smiling actors and stagehands. Since he had arrived, other than Jim, the stagehand who gave him his tasks, they had almost entirely ignored him when they weren’t having him fetch things.

  The whiplash was as intense as their newly displayed warmth.

  “Uh, thanks…?”

  One of the actresses giggled. “Haha, we all went through something like that, too.” Uninvited, she stepped forward and embraced him. Before he could react, she let go and stepped back again.

  The cast members introduced themselves. Most of their names he had picked up from [Eavesdropping], but going through the motions of introductions still had meaning.

  The stars of the cast were Sandra and Ronaldo, who played the lead roles in the play that was currently running, Lives and Love Lost. Sandra was of average height—as far as Zack was able to tell—around 5’4” with blonde hair and green eyes, a button nose and high cheekbones. Ronaldo was only slightly taller, two or three inches at most, and so he looked slightly upwards at Zack who himself was an inch shy of six feet even. The lead actor had glossy black hair and dark eyes, not unlike Zack’s own, but where Zack’s skin was pale from years in front of a computer screen and the last few days cooped up inside the theater, Ronaldo’s was a healthy-looking olive tone.

  Both the leads were notably slender.

  The actress who had hugged Zack was next: a chatterbox with copper hair, deep blue eyes, and a thicker, voluptuous build—which she showed off to great effect with her low-cut blouse and tight, hip-hugging pants—who introduced herself as Roxy. She giggled and struck a pose as Zack looked her up and down, prompting him to roll his eyes and Sandra to smack her on the shoulder.

  Roxy merely laughed, knowing exactly what she was doing.

  Millie was a plump woman, with a soft face and kindly expression, perhaps still yet shy of the age of forty though Zack knew better than to ask. She had auburn hair and pale green eyes and a cheerful smile, and her clothes were the most finely tailored of anyone’s present. Embroidered sleeves, lace edging, the works. While Roxy’s attire might draw the eye initially, Millie had class and style in spades.

  “I play most of the older women’s roles, as you might imagine,” she said with a look as though daring him to comment. After a pause, she continued. “I’m also the costume designer and sole seamstress of The Rose Theater Troupe.” She gestured at the racks and racks of costumes lining the backstage area, easily over a hundred.

  “Wow, that’s impressive,” Zack responded earnestly.

  Millie smiled, and for a second, Zack felt a sense of impending doom. It vanished as quickly as it arrived, however.

  “I’m looking forward to working with you, understudy.”

  Zack stifled a shudder.

  What on Earth did she mean by that?

  A large, hulking man stepped forward next, but gingerly, trying not to bump into anybody. “Hello, Jack,” he rumbled with a deep voice. “My name is Fyodor. Not many troupes have roles for big muscle men like me, but William always writes a part for me to play, so I am happy here.” He had the bulky build of a powerlifter, his muscles ill-disguised by his loose clothing, and unlike everyone else his head was shaved, entirely free of hair. Even his eyebrows were so thin as to be nearly invisible. He noticed the direction of Zack’s gaze.

  “I wear wigs on stage. I cannot stand having my hair dyed, it is simply easier to shave it off.”

  He leaned forward. “I am not bald.”

  “Er, I didn’t say you were,” Zack said, a little put off.

  “No, look, see? I am not bald. Look!” Fyodor leaned forward even more, pushing his head towards Zack’s face, and indeed, he could see the man’s impeccable hairline.

  “I see it, I see it,” Zack said, and the large man stood up straight, an inch or two taller and smiling smugly as though he had won an argument.

  “So, what color is your hair then, if you don’t like dying it?”

  “It is—” Fyodor stopped, and froze. His hand rose to his chin and stroked it. “What color was it…?” he muttered.

  The last of the main actors sighed and stepped forward. He was a tall, very thin man with a pinched face, a long, straight, prominent nose, thin lips, and a jutting chin. His red eyes looked small on his face, and, frankly, he looked like a villain with his slicked-back black hair. “My name is Vlad,” he said, placing his hand on his chest and bowing the slightest bit, showing off the black paint on his nails.

  His age was impossible to guess. He might have been eighteen, he might have been forty-eight.

  There was another dozen or so actors who played minor roles, to round out the cast, who also worked as stagehands, ushers, or sellers of concessions and tickets. The stagehands were led by a man named Jason, and of course, there was Jim, who had been supervising Zack for the last four days.

  Zack did his best to remember everyone’s names and faces, even the extras.

  But the conversation moved on.

  “We’ve been told by the Director that you are here for… [Skills], was it? And you don’t intend to make a career of the theater?” Ronaldo asked.

  “Aww, you’re not going to stick around? Boo!” Roxy said.

  This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.

  “Yes, I’m mainly here for [Skills], although the Director did say I was ‘promoted’ to understudy.”

  Millie giggled elegantly behind her hand. “Ohohoho, ‘promoted,’ you say.”

  Fyodor frowned, but then his expression shifted to thoughtful. “Hrmm… Normally if you were joining the troupe you would start as an extra and work your way up through the minor roles, but… Understudy… I do not envy you, Jack.”

  Zack furrowed his brow. “Is there something about understudies that I’m not understanding? I thought it was a backup in case an actor got sick and couldn’t perform.”

  "At most theaters, yes..." Vlad drawled, somehow yet impressively ominous in his delivery. "But this troupe is smaller than most, and therefore lacking in persons for each role to have an understudy. In fact..." he grinned, revealing a long canine tooth, "you are the only understudy, as of today."

  “Then, whose understudy am I?” Zack asked, glancing at Ronaldo.

  “Bold, aren’t you? Understudy to the lead on your first day?” Ronaldo grinned, showing he was merely teasing. “Sorry to say, but no. If either of the leads can’t perform, for whatever reason, the show is canceled.”

  “The Director is very particular about performances.” Sandra leaned in as though she were confiding in Zack. “He would rather cancel the entire show and refund everyone’s tickets than put on a mediocre play.”

  “Aye, that he will, but he’ll complain about it for weeks afterward!” Fyodor said.

  “That’s why we’re all suuuuuuper careful with our health and don’t party too hard,” Roxy said, throwing her hands in the air and bouncing in place.

  And everything that comes with bouncing.

  Vlad rolled his eyes. “Roxy, please…”

  Millie, less restrained, smacked Roxy upside the head. “Girl, I’ve told you a dozen times to knock that off in the dressing room!”

  Roxy crouched down, clutching her head. “Ouch! Millie, how could you! ...You’ll mess up my haaaiiir!” she whined.

  Everyone sighed, then Sandra leaned in again. “Roxy’s a shameless flirt, just try to ignore her.”

  Vlad nodded. “If you stick around long enough, you’ll get a [Skill] for it.”

  “A [Skill]?” Zack asked, feeling split between intrigued and deeply concerned.

  “Yes… [Resist Allure]. Roxy is inordinately proud of her [Allure] skill and she is almost always using it.”

  “It really sucks,” Fyodor mumbled. “If you get used to using it and forget to stop, all the girls in town wind up looking super bland.”

  “Nyahahahahaha! Roxy laughed triumphantly, jumping up, putting her hands on her hips, and puffing out her chest. “Sandra may be a better [Actress], but I’m this theater’s sex appeal!”

  Zack averted his gaze as everyone else heaved a great sigh. He wasn’t sure if he wanted a skill like [Resist Allure], but as he had that thought…

  *ding!* The skill [Resist Allure] has been acquired!

  “Ugh…” Zack groaned softly, and Roxy stopped laughing and put on a shocked expression.

  “What?! You already got the [Skill]?! Noooo! I wanted to tease you more…” She made a face of profound sadness, to the point that Zack found himself actually feeling bad. But before he could respond…

  “Seriously?” Ronaldo said.

  “Oh my!” Millie exclaimed. “I guess the Director was right…”

  “Right about what?” Zack asked.

  “Oh, he said that we were to train you to get [Skills], and that it shouldn’t take too long.”

  “Yeah! He has a whole plan worked out!” Roxy said loudly, no longer sorrowful in the slightest.

  Ronaldo cleared his throat. “Ahem, as I was saying, you won’t be my understudy. You’ll be everyone’s understudy.”

  Sandra followed up. “Yes, you’re to learn as much as you can from each of us so that you can become proficient in the [Skills] an [Actor] typically acquires.”

  “Normally an [Actor] doesn’t need every [Skill], and most [Actor]s usually just get the [Acting] skill and call it a day,” Fyodor said.

  “However…” Vlad interjected ominously. “At this theater, in this troupe, the Director does things differently.”

  “The Director’s all about developing talent! Like, he has to be, otherwise nobody could put on his crazy plays!”

  Millie put a hand on her cheek and sighed. “The Director’s a genius, but his standards are so high, and he’s always demanding new costumes…” But then she looked at Zack and her eyes twinkled.

  It was, amazingly, more ominous than anything Vlad had done or said so far.

  “But with an understudy! Why, I might even get to take a break with someone else to share the load!”

  Ronaldo cleared his throat again, but Sandra cut him off.

  “Yes, it’s good you want to learn [Skills], because you’ll definitely be helping us all enough to acquire them quickly.” Sandra smiled. “The Director—”

  Ronaldo interrupted her. “The Director has put together a plan for you to learn the [Skills] as efficiently as possible, based on his experience in training [Actors]. First, you will acquire the [Memorize] skill."

  Sandra resumed, "The Director says that having that skill makes it easier to learn other [Skills], but I don't know..."

  "That's because you already had the [Acting] skill before you came here!" Roxy cried. "Learning to [Memorize] was super helpful!"

  "Once you have the [Memorize] skill, you'll be helping me with the costumes!" Millie said cheerfully. "I'm supposed to help you learn the [Disguise] skill, and the best way to do that is by helping sew costumes and apply makeup! Ahhh, free time, whatever will I do with myself..." she trailed off at the end, staring out in to empty space.

  "And then I'm going to teach you how to be sexy!" Roxy proclaimed.

  This time it was Sandra who smacked her upside the head, once she noticed that Millie was still off in her own little world.

  "Ouchie!"

  "No, Roxy, that's not part of the plan."

  "Boo! Boo to the plan!"

  Sandra turned back to me. "After [Disguise], we'll have you do [Mimic] exercises until a certain point, then we'll have you practice your [Enunciation] and work on expanding your vocal range until you acquire the [Voice] skill.”

  "Normally I'd teach you to [Sing], but since you're not going to do minor roles..." Fyodor trailed off.

  "It's better anyway, it's harder to get the [Voice] skill if you already have [Sing], since you wind up just trying to [Sing] instead of actually vocalizing," Ronaldo claimed.

  "Quite so, quite so." an old man said.

  Zack whipped his head around, because he hadn’t met any old men among the extras and stagehands, and quickly realized it had been Vlad.

  He sounded super old!

  "I... will be the one..." Vlad wheezed, "who will teach you the ways of the [Voice]."

  Zack couldn’t help himself. “Whoa…

  Internally, he was getting excited.

  This was exactly what he needed.

  Once he had these [Skills], he’d be free to break cover.

  And then…

  The world would be his oyster.

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