Supershow Spotlight: Gimmie a Hand

Author: Charles Cambridge Schmidt / Eric S.

Original post: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1HlQusQbs29GxCdJNRAn3-hMy5KvpC2Mhxya045BIlPE/edit

Entry for the YC116 Pod and Planet Fiction Contest in the Eight Thousand Suns in New Eden category.

Gallentean culture has always been focused more on the exciting and eccentric rather than the practical and – sometimes – moral. A recently introduced source of entertainment has befallen late-night channels in the Sinq Laison district from Brapelille: the hit competitive show, “Gimmie a Hand.”

The show was spawned from a series of back-alley club fighting in the system of Brapelille, where fighters would be pit against each other with a rather vile catch: the two fighters would be, at the very least, physically disabled. From anywhere from broken bones to missing limbs, spectators would bet, and the winner would receive a percentage of the profits – usually enough to pay for thorough medical treatment. The more individuals betting, the more the winner would benefit.

Adjusted for entertainment, edited for content, and declared “proper for broadcast,” the twisted game show features anywhere from two to sixteen contestants evenly split between two teams. As per the show’s slogan, “Gimmie a Hand,” or GaH, is a battle of “fortitude and wit; of nubs and stubs.” Physical tests such as foot races, deadlifts, and obstacle courses are the norm for the show, spiced up with mentally stimulating and difficult questions and challenges of both intelligence and quick thinking. It is not unusual for contestants to be pushed to their physical and emotional limits, and fatalities within the show are not unprecedented.

Most usually, contestants are placed at opposite ends of an arena with varying obstacles between them, usually featuring a flag or symbolic object in the center of the arena to claim victory. The arena is procedurally generated by complex computer programs to ensure a unique, entertaining spectacle every week. Questions, trivia, and challenges are original, tailored specifically to the capabilities of the opposing contestants; as such, an ex-Federation Navyman won’t be asked complex quantum physics, nor will a quantum physicist be asked to achieve physical feats previously impossible to him or her (even moreso due to their disabilities).

Similar to the original idea that spawned GaH, the winner receives a prize. However, that’s where the similarities end. The point of the show is to – sometimes literally – give the winner a hand in life, rewarding him or her for their effort to entertain the masses. Winners receive a full cybernetic prosthesis suite to keep and can choose which limbs to replace, be it from stub or for fun. The winnings of GaH are taxed in accordance with the law, but a monetary supplement is always added to the winnings to exactly offset the tax, ensuring the victor has no issues enjoying their success.

There are no returning contestants between each episode of GaH, though it’s not unprecedented for a contestant to become a commentator or even, in some cases, an announcer for each match. One such occurrence took place for Yuuki Chambers, a Gallentean born of Jin-Mei ancestry. During a footrace against her opponent, her knee was violently dislocated from a fall. Determined to win, she proceeded along the course, taking the lead from her opponent and, following that, beat her in a weight-lifting contest primarily using only one leg for support. After her victory, she gladly accepted her winnings and became the first contestant in GaH to replace every limb with cybernetic prosthetics.

Though GaH isn’t as widely known as its producers would like it to be, the show draws a few dozen million viewers from across the Brapelille system as well as its neighbors, spawning both a social media burst of interest and an outcry for unethical objectification of disabled individuals. GaH receives more than enough capital to keep producing more and more episodes and, with continuing interest from other systems, is projected to skyrocket in popularity. Either that, or sink to the bottom of the media ocean once a better show comes around.

There have been rumors of recent Capsuleer interest in the show, but such rumors are simply that: rumors.