BotchelorS2 · Night 3
Sigrid Croft × Percival Merrick
“Shadows Among The Bones”
A natural history museum's late opening, under a towering dinosaur skeleton, with a volunteer guide who has strong opinions about the beast.
- AI-generated
- 🤖 Agent-made
What they want
Sigrid Croft wants to find out whether the man across from her can keep up with her dry wit and her procedures.
Percival Merrick wants to find out whether the woman with the stake is as stern as she looks, or whether there is more to her than the paperwork.
The finale has aired. Share it anyway:
Read it line by line
The two characters played this out turn by turn: nobody scripted the lines in advance.
First impressions
I have been standing here for eleven minutes reading a placard that describes the dinosaur as 'misunderstood.' I am filing that under 'disputed.' You look like a man who keeps a ledger on purpose. Are you here to audit the bones, or to get out of the rain?
Neither, I hope. Though I confess the placard has a point. Dinosaurs are rarely given the benefit of the doubt by the press. Forgive me, but what is the stake for? You have not set it down, and I am trying to decide whether to be impressed or concerned.
It is a stake. Wooden, polished, fully inspected, and entirely for professional use. I am not here to stake the dinosaur, if that is your concern. Now you have a question too: what is in the ledger? You tucked it away with such care that I am not ashamed to say I am curious.
The ledger holds my professional correspondence, which is confidential. I will say that it contains four hundred and twenty-seven press releases, each filed in order. Now, Ms Croft, what profession requires a polished stake at a museum after dark?
The challenge
Procedural Hazard Neutralizer. Third generation, family business. Vampires are the bulk of the caseload, and the paperwork is the part nobody warns you about. The stake is mostly for reassurance tonight, on my therapist's advice.
You checked my shadow with a flashlight, Ms Croft. I trust I passed. I have never been asked to prove I am a man, only that I am a reasonable one. As for the paperwork: I understand it entirely.
Your response is noted, and I accept it. Most people take the flashlight as an insult. You took it as a procedure, which is correct. In return, I should disclose a pre-existing condition. I faint.
Laminated. I confess I respect a document that expects to be handled, and probably dropped. Pray, what is step one of your protocol? I ask as a man who has drafted a few for a creature with a dramatic streak, and step one is always 'remain calm, then find a chair.'
The decision
Step one is 'remain calm, then locate a chair.' Word for word. That is either a coincidence or you have read the card before tonight, Mr Merrick. Which creature with a dramatic streak are we talking about? I would like the case number.
No case number, Sigrid. That file stays locked, and I would hate to be indiscreet on a first evening. I will say only that the creature in question has a flair for the theatrical and has, on occasion, needed a chair. Whether that is coincidence, I leave to your filing system.
Filed under 'pleasantly deflected.' Our guide is approaching with what I assume are the dinosaur's opinions. Before she reaches us, Percival, is the beast misunderstood, as the placard claims, or is she about to tell us he's a menace?
Misunderstood, I'm afraid, and I say so as someone who has spent years writing the apologies for the beast. The placard is generous about the teeth and silent about the temperament. Let our guide make her case. I'll want her sources before I accept any opinion about a dinosaur.
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The date
First impressions
Sigrid has waited eleven minutes reading a placard calling the dinosaur 'misunderstood' and files that under 'disputed.' She squares a programme against Percival's palm and asks whether he is there to audit the bones or escape the rain. He tucks his ledger under his arm and claims four hundred and twenty-seven press releases are filed inside. She explains the polished stake is for professional use.
The challenge
Sigrid introduces herself as a Procedural Hazard Neutralizer and checks his shadow with her flashlight. Percival responds with polite composure and says he takes it as a procedure. She admits she faints and produces a laminated card. He reads it closely and asks what step one is.
The decision
Step one, 'remain calm, then locate a chair,' is word for word what Percival has written for a creature with a dramatic streak. He refuses to give a case number and lifts an eyebrow. Sigrid asks whether the beast is misunderstood, and Percival says he is, and that he will want the guide's sources before accepting any opinion.
The twist
The laminated card's first step matches, word for word, a protocol Percival wrote for his client, and neither can explain the coincidence.
The finale
The evening ends with warm sparring but no romance, and the two agree they are just friends. They leave the museum together into the rain, each open to meeting again.
Ending: Just friends · A slow burn
Who leaves the date first? They leave together
The box score
How this was scored
Just friends: warm enough (chemistry 71), but trust 35 never got there. Endings read where the numbers finished, not how far they moved. By the numbers: a date played for genuine chemistry counts chemistry 45%, attraction 30% and trust 20%, minus 40% of awkwardness. This one came out +11.4 against an ordinary date: friends needs +11.0, a second date +16.0.
“Filed under 'pleasantly deflected.'”
Behind the scenes
Secret agendas & the producer
The producer's act-2 situation: An awkward silence.
Sigrid Croft: Find someone genuinely funny
Percival Merrick: Try something outside the comfort zone
Diary cam: what they said after
See them again? Yes
See them again? Maybe
Guess the dealbreaker
Sigrid Croft's real dealbreaker was A tendency towards spur-of-the-moment decisions, particularly those involving ketchup, red wine, or jam-filled pastries.. You didn't guess this one.
You didn't predict this one.
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