The Price of Fame

Prologue

'OK, we're live in two minutes. Everyone get ready.' 

The voice echoed as Dez woke up. Feeling numbness in his arms, he looked around at his surroundings. In front of him was a podium, which was unoccupied, with a studio wall behind it, which covered the whole area. So, he was on set then. Next, he noticed a woman talking to the floor manager. A painfully familiar woman. 

'No.'

The woman, hearing him, strode over to him. 'Oh good, you're up. Wouldn't want you to miss this. It's your grand finale after all.' She smiled and added, 'Quick question: what would you like to happen to your remains? Cremated? Would you like to donate your organs?

 'What would you suggest?'

'If you'd like my personal choice, it's yes to the donation of your organs. Parts of the human body are so hard to come by, what with so many people being uploaded to the Uninet. And anyway, given the situation, it would be selfish to refuse.' 

With that, she knelt down and pressed something. Dez felt something behind him manoeuvring him into a standing up position. With a gradually increasing sense of horror, he tried to move his arm, and found that he couldn't. He had been strapped to a gurney. Trying to control his fear, he ventured, 

'There's been a mistake. I'm not the person you want. Check the computers.' 

The woman smiled, showing her white teeth. 'The computers barely ever malfunction like they did in the old days. We've found solutions for that sort of thing now. We're not in the Dark Ages anymore. Rest assured, it's nothing personal.' She strode off towards a technician, who was busily fiddling with something on the podium. 'Electrodes ready?' 

'Yeah, they should be.' the technician replied. 

'So, I just have to press the button and then..'

'Yeah.'

A lump formed in Dez's throat. They were going to electrocute him. He'd hated the thought of electrocution. The sheer force of the electricity as it hit the body, the smell of burning flesh. It was his worst fear. Electric shocks had always terrified him. He'd not carpeted his stairs. Not for the convenience, but to avoid getting a static shock. And all for nothing, it would seem. 

'Sorry. You're going to electrocute me. Is that what you're gonna do?' he asked, but he knew the answer already. 

The woman turned. 'Well, that is implied, isn't it? 

'Live on air.' 

'Yeah. In about a minute, we'll be live. Well, you will.' She laughed at her own joke, which didn't make Dez feel any better.

 'Why?'

'You know why.'

'It's not true. You have to believe me. I didn't do it.' 

She stood over him, her arms crossed. 'You posted derogatory comments on your Atmosphere page about the Animalia. People who are born human, but who identify as animals. Let me read you the post.' She waved her hand and a hologram appeared of Dez's Atmosphere post. 'These people either want attention or need a reality check. So no, they should not be able to enter the Earth Olympics, as they're not human.'' 

'You're wrong. I didn't make that post. I looked one day and it just appeared. Listen, I know what I'm saying sounds false, but it's true. Please believe me!' Dez pleaded, but knowing it was too late. 

'Not what this says.' The post disappeared, and she turned back to Dez with a sad expression in her eyes. 'I'm sorry, but, next to a cheat, the one thing the public hate is a bigot. We're live in thirty. Best make your peace.' With that, she strode away from him and went into the wings, her steps echoing Dez's heartbeat. He was going to die, in the most terrible pain, and for the wrong reason. 'OK 5, 4, 3, 2, 1....' 

They were live. 

The woman strode on stage smiling, as though the only thing she was going to do was a stand-up comedy routine. She got to the podium, and then spread her arms wide. 'Hello, Earth Empire!'Resounding cheers came from the left side, just below the podium. Dez couldn't really see it clearly, but from the sound, it was a live audience. An audience for his death. 'I'm Miss Brightside, your host, and welcome to The Price of Fame!' 

The cheers and clapping got louder, often accompanied by whooping from the audience. 'As you know, this show takes place every month. The person who has lost the most popularity points is eliminated at the end of each month. Tonight's person posted appalling, offensive comments about the Animalia on Atmosphere. Who saw them? Raise your hand if you saw them.'Dez couldn't see, but he guessed that hands shot up. Miss Brightside continued, 'I must thank those that reported these offensive messages. But, the damage is already done, and our guest tonight must pay the price. Let's bring him out! Ladies and gentlemen and variations thereupon, I present Desmond Parkin!'

A technician grabbed Dez's gurney and wheeled him out. When he was driven onto the stage, the audience started booing. Someone shouted, 'Bigot!' and he could clearly see some people giving him the middle finger. But these things barely registered to him anymore. Now was the time for waiting. The woman continued. 'Now let's take a look at his popularity score.' With that, the walls turned neon green and his name appeared in white capital letters. DESMOND PARKIN. 

'OK, at the start of the month, Dez here had 500 popularity points, a reasonable amount, as I'm sure you'll agree.' As she spoke, the number 500 appeared on the walls. 'But, due to events a week ago which revealed his true nature, he now has 4 popularity points, as you can see here.' The number 4 then appeared on the screen. Jeering and laughing ensued, but Dez barely registered it. 'That's a total loss of 496 popularity points!' This number also appeared beneath the 4 and the 500, which made the laughter get louder. 

'But enough of that. Now, the moment you've all been waiting for. As you know, the result of the survey on Atmosphere was how to deal with him. Over 50 million people took part in this survey. 40 million of those people voted for electrocution. More cheers from the audience. So, we have attached electrodes to his chest, ready to deliver a dose of electricity. But, I want you to decide how many volts of electricity that will pass through his body. Let's start off at 10,000. Any higher?

A man from the audience said '20,000!' which just caused more and more people to put in their suggestions. 

'30,000!'

'50,000!'

'100,000!'

And up and up it went, until one person suggested, '1,000,000!', which was enough to silence the audience. 

Brightside responded, 'Any higher?' 

Nobody said anything. 'Right. One million it is. Seb, could you set the generator to one million volts please?'

Strangely enough, as the generator was being adjusted, Dez felt nothing except a wish to get it over with. He'd had enough of life. 

'Any last words?'

All eyes were on him. Eventually, he spoke. 'Just get it over with.' 

Everyone laughed, including the woman, who then proceeded, 'OK, let's do the countdown.' 'Five, four, three, two, one...' 'Zero!' Miss Brightside trilled, and pressed the button. 

 A wave of unbearable pain rushed through Dez's system. He could hear himself screaming, his body being fried. He could see the smoke billowing out into the studio, the faces of the audience eagerly watching him. But then, he saw no more.

A/N: If you liked this, please consider giving it a vote. There's also part 1 available to read as well, so read on if you wish.