[Role cards are passed around the table. Amber and Jayden receive “Active Player” cards; Elizabeth and Hunter receive “Musician” cards; Nina receives a “Player Choice” card and chooses to be an Active Player this scene.]

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[Based on the events of last scene, in which Amber’s and Jayden’s characters happened upon the diary of their long-lost sister, the two Musicians secretly choose their emotions. Hunter picks Tenderness, expecting the Active Players to express fondness toward the written presence of their sibling; Elizabeth picks Fear, hoping the diary will hint toward something the whole party has been dreading.] 

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[The Musicians begin to play. They clash a bit at first—Hunter’s going for a soft melody on his violin, Elizabeth for sharp, percussive rhythmic figures at the bass end of the piano—but they lock into tempo with each other, sharing a grin as they align their conflicting patterns.]

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[After a short introductory overture, the Active Players enter as their characters. The Musicians quiet down, but continue to play underneath the voices.]

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Jayden: So… should we read this? Isn’t it kind of, y’know, invasive to read someone’s diary?

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Nina: This is our best clue yet, though.

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Amber: How about we flip to the end so we’re only reading stuff that could be relevant?

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Nina: Yeah, that sounds good. Let’s see…

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[Before the dialogue can proceed, Jayden claps his hands for an Interjection. The Musicians pause as well.]

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Jayden: Interjection! The last five or six written pages have been ripped out of the diary, and all the pages afterward are blank.

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[Jayden looks toward Elizabeth for a solo. She plays a low, rumbling sound on the piano; it gradually picks up speed and volume, ending in an abrupt accent.]

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Jayden: Hmmm… Fear?

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Elizabeth: Correct!

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[Jayden puts his Fortune Token in his cup for extra points at the end of the scene. Elizabeth gathers her five Emotion Tokens and secretly chooses a different one—Sadness. Hunter begins his melody again, and Elizabeth joins him on her viola; this time, their ideas work quite nicely together.]

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Amber: Well, that’s not at all foreboding.

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Nina: Maybe the other pages are around here somewhere. I’m gonna check that cabinet again.

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Amber: While you’re doing that, I’ll read through the last page that’s still in here.

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[Amber claps and everyone pauses.]

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Amber: Interjection! This last entry only talks about about how weird her coworkers are. Nothing relevant here, as far as we can tell.

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[She signals Hunter for an interjection. Hunter plays a softly falling line.]

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Amber: Is it… Sadness?

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[Hunter shakes his head and resumes playing.]

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Amber: Should’ve gone with my other guess. Hey Nina, how’s that cabinet looking?

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Nina: Let’s call an Apex to see what I find.

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[It’s time for the Apex: each player picks two emotion tokens that they think match Hunter and Elizabeth’s playing, and they place them secretly in their cups. Once they’ve picked, the Musicians stop playing and everyone reveals their tokens.]

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Hunter: Tenderness // Elizabeth: Sadness

Amber: Tenderness, Happiness

Nina: Sadness, Tenderness

Jayden: Tenderness, Happiness, +1 Fortune Token

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[There are 4 matches on the table—plus one for Jayden’s Fortune Token—and the most-represented emotion is Tenderness, giving the group a score of Tenderness 5. They look this up on the Apex Table: “Your connections and the people around you come together to accomplish great things.”]

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Nina: Looks like I found the pages—and you all helped me do it?

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Jayden: Yeah, maybe once Amber and I finished reading we came over and helped you look, and we found all of the pages.

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Amber: They were in a secret compartment at the bottom of one of the drawers, bound up with a note that said “Extremely Top Secret,” probably.

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Jayden: Amazing. Next scene?

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[Each person passes their role card to another at the table. They get ready for a new scene.]