Phantom of the Hurried Opera

Location: Medibay
Time: Watch Melted Overnight
Present: Tara, Allie (Phil), Keto
"Are you all right Mr FeBuggure?" asked Keto, stepping towards the
hologram with a bottle of his latest ointment (and wondering vaguely
what would happen if he were to pour it over a hrd-light hologram)..
"I'm fine," replied Phil, so Keto shrugged and replaced the ointment,
making a mental note to attempt using one on a hologram at some point
in the future.
"Very well then," he said, as nurse Tara burst into tears. Dealing
with this via the tactful method of cold-heartedly ignoring it, Keto
turned back to practicing his lines with Shakespeare.
To where Shakespeare had been.
Keto frowned and looked around. Then he stood in thought a second.
"You're forgetting something," said a little voice in his head. It
was the same voice that urged him to perpetually create ointments,
and so he knew he could trust it.
Keto blinked. What could he be forgett...
Location: Cargo Bay (Stage Area)
Time: About Thirty Seconds After the Above
Present: The Cast of POTO
"Raoul!" hissed the stagehand (who had been hurriedly recruited by
McKenzie, stopping him from performing some vital maintenance on a
certain ship system), "Enter, in a wheelchair!"
The intended effect was somewhat spoiled by Keto skidding hurriedly
onto the stage, looking appreciatively around the auction room, then
suddenly realising his mistake and leaping healthily into the
wheelchair, dragging on a fake white-haired beard and rimmed
spectacles.
"Ah, the auction of the Opera," he nodded slowly, trying to act as
old as he possibly could. As he wheeled by a poster placed on the
nearby table, he looked at it.
"Lot Number 472," announced the auctioneer (likewise recruited
hurriedly by an extremely flustered McKenzie), "A poster depicting
the nefarious Phantom of the Opera. Do I hear forty pounds?"
This hopelessly-optimistic bid was expected to be met with stony
silence, but as Raoul raised his hand tremulously in the air, the
auctioneer's eyebrows raised and he hammered enthusiastically on the
gavel*.
"Sold to the extremely old gentleman in the wheelchair!" he
announced, smiling. Raoul nodded once again, his neck beginning to
grow sore, as he took the poster from the table and stared at it.
The words 'The JMC Needs You' had been hurriedly scribbled out
and 'The Phantom of the Opera' written in their place, with a rapidly-
painted picture of a white-masked figure below it. Unfortunately the
blanking out of the previous slogan had been slightly unsuccessful,
so the poster now read "The Phantom of the Opera Needs You!"
How ironic, Keto thought, looking back up at the auctioneer.
"Now, the one we've all been waiting for!" said the auctioneer,
receiving no response from the crowd before him (both of them).
"Lot Number 473: The Chandelier!"
As a large trolley bearing a golden and glass picture of
magnificence was wheeled in to the auction house, faint music began
playing over the speakers concealed among the set. Raoul looked at
the chandelier as it was borne towards the auctioneer's stand.
"Do I hear four thousand?" called the voice, but Raoul paid it no
attention. His entire mind was focussed on the glinting lights
reflecting off the chandelier.
"Four, thank you sir, I have four thousand, do I hear five? Five
thousand, good, do I hear...nine thousand, did I hear?"
The golden mass of the chandelier had hung far, far above the
seats, Raoul remembered, swaying majestically too and fro...
"Twenty thousand? Twenty-fi...thir...forty thousand?" rang the
auctioneer's voice, sounding more and more incredulous.
Slowly, as the lighting began to fade, there was a cry of, "Going
once! Going twice! SOLD!"
The set fell into darkness...
=========
*The gavel is (I hope) the small wooden base that auctioneers
hammer. If not, I've just severely hurt a small person called Gavel,
sorry.
Take it away with Act Two, if that's right (must read that
script...) ;)