Suddenly, the laptop screen flashed bright red as the battery hit 1%. A final line of dialogue scrolled onto the screen, filling the display.
They all turned in unison. Sitting on the mantle of the dead fireplace was a small, battery-operated baby monitor they hadn't noticed before. A faint green light was pulsing on it. Someone was broadcasting to them. Someone was writing the subtitles in real-time and feeding them to Elias's laptop via a local Wi-Fi override.
The laptop screen went black. In the heavy, suffocating darkness that followed, they heard the distinct, heavy click of the building's massive deadbolts sliding into place from the outside.
If you would like to know what happens next to Elias and the strangers: Tell me which character's perspective to follow. Suggest a specific item they find in the room to help them. Decide if one of the strangers is secretly the mastermind.
Everyone at the table froze. Arthur was wearing a heavy red coat. He looked down at his sleeves, his face draining of color.
Elias looked from the screen to Arthur, and then to the pitch-black window where their snow-covered cars were parked. The atmosphere in the room instantly curdled from cooperative survival to razor-sharp paranoia.
01:15:00,000 --> 01:15:05,000 "The doors are locked from the outside. The game begins now."