lostcarnival | ⇨ MAINFRAME

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⇨ MAINFRAME

Who: EVERYONE.
When: Day 92 - Day 105
Where: Mainframe, the city inside a computer.
What: The carnival stops at its next location, a computer world full of computer people. Except, this time it's not the Matrix, don't worry.
Warnings: Nothing inherently suspect here.

THIS PLACE, MAINFRAME↴

After the Nightrunners have done their search, you will be welcome to enter the tree portal into Mainframe. There is no loading room this time - instead, any alternations will occur as you pass through the portal. Remember to wear your icon buttons! If you aren't wearing one, you won't be able to pass through the portal, and during your stay you will not be able to remove it. The portal is currently opening into a forested area of Mainframe, filled with a bunch of sort of low res trees.

A large section of a residential area has just been nullified by a Game Cube. A large quantity of former sprites and binomes are now wandering the city in the form of null worms, and the rest of the city is generally in a panic. You'll be able to learn about the details of what happened if you ask the locals, though they will act incredulous if you behave as if you don't know what a Game is. Just tell them you and the others just arrived from a different "system" in the "Net." Yeah, that seems to allay their suspicion. Nailed it.

Here is a convenient map of the Mainframe from the original cartoon, which this setting is more or less based on. This Mainframe is larger and lacking areas dedicated to specific characters (no Megabyte or Dot's Diner), but is laid out basically the same, for reference's sake.

► LOW RES: Your glamour will come into affect as soon as you cross through the portal, and while you are here your body will function like a weird mixture of its original self and the formatting of a program. You can eat their food and use their amenities, but if one of them were to look at your coding it would be obviously foreign to them. Also, maybe your skin has turned blue, or green, and your clothes are suddenly way more 90's scifi? Maybe you look like a giant number 7 to other people. This place is weird, aesthetically speaking.

► RELIEF EFFORTS: For the altruist out there, you can offer help to the locals that are trying to recover from the recent Game loss. The buildings that were caught within the Cube's range are twisted and burnt out, as if the energy has been sucked right out of them, and it sounds like all the losers were transfigured into slugs. You might want to avoid Game Cubes if any show up. Just an FYI. (As if that will happen.) In the meantime, you can console the programs whose family members are now works, or help try to clean up the buildings that are now falling apart. Or, you can ignore all of this. That's cool, too.

► VIBRANT CULTURE: Despite being weird computer program people made of boxes and spheres, the people of Mainframe seem to live their lives much the same ways humans do. They have TV programs, restaurants, and other shops that you can buy weird 90's computer world bullshit from. There's even a Hollywood inspired area, where you can go to shows. They also have some neato hoverboard things you can fly around on. As usual, the Ringmaster will be giving people an allowance to buy any modest souvenirs or necessities during their stay. Feel free to be creative about fleshing out sections of the city! The mods barely remember the details of this show, either.

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Scout finds this place extremely offputting. Some of it's the lack of details, the smooth, shiny, almost plasticky texture everything has when you're not at a considerable distance. Different textures are rare. If you don't squint through her glamor she's an oddly bright golden-orange without freckle or scar, her hair a solid piece, the hairs on her white tail looking like quills. Only her heavy boots don't seem much different. She put her icon on her belt.

Still, she's acquired an air kart for not much - it does tend to drift right - and got a container in the back of it, so she can take it through the devastated area and collect Nulls with tubes, like some of the locals are doing. They can cause a lot of upset and trouble if left to their own devices, apparently.

Otherwise she tends to be seen driving said air kart, trying to correct for its drift. It reminds her of a long-ago attempt to buy a speeder from another stop. Considerably less good looking though.

Strange also finds this place extremely offputting. It's a combination of his understanding about anything digital, the lack of features on anything, and residual memories from the awfulness of the Matrix. It's hard for low resolution 90s animation to format individual strands of hair, so Strange's scattered flecks of gray in his hair are shown as thicker, blockier chunks of gray, like really awful highlights. Aside from that, his skin is a dull gray, matching his eyes.

Still, he's a nightrunner so he's at least got to pretend to explore the area and take notes. As he spots Scout on her air kart, he sees through the glamor almost instantly because something something magic and something something moving the thread along. He waves her over, gesturing for Scout to fly over.

"What is that thing? Some sort of flying car?"

It's disorienting recognizing someone by their glamor. Ugh. What's with the shine? Luckily voices at least haven't turned into early 90s synthesized voices too.

Obligingly she brings the kart down with only minor trouble. "Hello to you too, Strange. You're looking as terrible as everyone else. This isn't a real flying car, I didn't have enough on me, but I'm not clear on the difference besides the cars being bigger and having an actual chassis."

"Well, you still probably know more about these things than I do. I've only ever seen cars once or twice before in my life!" One of the perils of being from the 1800s. Strange knows what a car is, again thanks to the awful nightmare that was the carnival's time in the Matrix, but don't ask him how it works.

So, he just walks right up to Scout's car as she lands it and starts to look around, paying absolutely no attention to the fact that dude, this is kind of rude, at least ask how she's doing before you stick your nose into other people's belongings. But hold the phone, something Scout said has him confused.

"What do you mean a real flying car? There are others here?"

"Where I'm from they call them speeders or airspeeders and none of them have wheels. The marvel of repulsorlift technology," she says lightly, and watches him nose around. This man's priorities are unique. He had enough sense to stop trying to touch her lightsaber, she supposes.

Scout snorts. "Haven't been downtown, huh? All right, go strap yourself into the passenger seat, I'll show you."

Strange just gives Scout a blank look at the words 'repulsorlift technology.' He has no clue what it is and it shows! Still, that doesn't stop his natural nosiness and inquisitive nature. He clambers into the passenger seat, looking around before finding the seatbelts and strapping himself in.

Of course, Strange being Strange, he's talking all the while.

"You're right, I haven't been downtown yet. I've spent a fair amount of time investigating that burnt out area brought on by the last game cube. It's...honestly, I'm a bit impressed by the sheer destruction." Though his tone of voice implies that he's also a bit worried.

The kart is very lightweight and low to the ground, kind of a metal basket. Four plate-shaped zip boards extending out from it give it lift.

"Yeah, it's not quite a bomb, isn't it? I feel sorry for the people who live here. Knowing those things can come down and do that, and often, but not just where or when would mess you up. You'd think they'd all live in speeders that zip out of the way whenever a cube materializes." Having buildings means not being able to see the cubes and clear the area as fast as possible. This doesn't seem like a place with weather, so it's not that.

She brings the kart up. It rises with an unnaturally fluid motion, none of the engine vibration Scout expects from a flying vehicle. "Stay strapped in. If you go over the edge I'll try to catch you, but I can't say if I'll succeed."

Yeah, as soon as the car rises, Strange's grip on the side of the car just tightens as his knuckles turn white. Logically, he knew the kart would rise up. After all, he saw Scout pilot it over towards him. But his stomach just plummets For someone who's only ridden a roller coaster once or twice in his life, this situation is still far too weird.

"Trust me, I don't plan on falling over the edge. I doubt even my magic could save someone from falling—and I certainly don't want to try and see if that's the case!"

He is keeping his butt planted firmly in this seat and the straps firmly keeping him in, thank you very much. Also, just ignore the fact that he's very obviously tense and nervous about this whole flying thing. First time for everything!

"Oh, dear," she says, trying to keep a smile off her face. "Guess I shouldn't do any tricks. Don't worry too much. It's safe enough - this one tends to veer to the side if I'm not constantly correcting it, but I've got it." She's not the fantastic pilot a lot of Jedi are, but she's not bad, either.

Skimming well above the ground at faster than a running pace, it doesn't take long to join a stream of traffic. Sprites and binomes standing on zip boards or riding in karts, wheel-less 'bicycles', and cars drive along as if multi-level traffic is utterly mundane.

"Don't feel obligated to take things slow on my account," Strange lightly says, trying to seem like everything's cool, he's got this, this is perfectly fine, while still gripping the side of the car in a fashion that obviously implies this is not perfectly fine in the slightest. Still, new experiences, new worlds, he's not going to be the sort of person to stay behind in the carnival, not while there's something new to explore.

And really, the longer they're in the kart, the more relaxed he becomes. It's a slow process, but it's happening.

"It's odd," Strange casually remarks, as he looks down below at one of the other karts zipping beneath them. "I find this far too confusing, but for the programs who live here, this is all entirely normal. I suppose it just shows how radically different these worlds can be."

"Really? Should I go vertical then?" She does not actually move to do that yet, however quickly he's adjusting. "It's the best way to get through a turn at speed, or to get or shed height in a hurry."

She passes a pair of binomes that appear to be singing along to a radio, though probably they wouldn't call it that.

"Normal is completely relative! If any of these people contracted with us they'd have huge worldshock about just about everything. Water and weather and having bones."

"Absolutely not," Strange quickly adds in as Scout jokes about going vertical. Because that will definitely make him uncomfortable and possibly airsick as well. No, we are keeping everything nice and level and flat, thank you very much.

But Scout's right. Even though none of the carnival members come from worlds remotely close to this one (at least, to the best of Strange's knowledge, none of them do), there's always the possibility that the Ringmaster would pick up somebody digital later. It's honestly a bit confusing and something that he needs to keep reminding himself every time they go to a world slightly weird.

"They'd be confused about magic as well," he can't help but add, still a little bitter about the whole power-nerf thing. Still, if he dwells too much on that he'll spend the whole ride sulking, so Strange changes the conversation a little. "It's a pity there's not any weather here. I prefer the climate mild at best, but there's nothing wrong with a good rain every now and then."

"Okay. Let me know if you change your mind!" she chirps. "Look, these bigger and more enclosed colorful ones are the 'real' flying cars. They look better too." Well. Some of them. A few manage despite graphical limitations to look like rusty beaters.

"Mm." Scout had been about to comment on the few beings that do have significant powers here, but sure, she'll go with a subject change. "They don't have water here, or things that need it - but it is weird having an open sky that doesn't change like this."

Strange, who has no clue what a real flying car would look like, just nods, taking Scout at her word. She says it looks like a real flying car? Awesome, then that is 100% what a real flying car looks like! He decides to push the conversation a bit closer towards the weather because while Strange does love learning more and talking about new things, he's not entirely sure how much of this conversation he can carry on by himself.

"I wonder...I can create rain normally. If I had my magic, would I be able to do that here or is there just something in the fundamental being of this world that rejects water?" And then, he gives Scout a small little smirk. "And, who else can we bother that does have some form of their abilities and can create rain in the first place?"

Scout devotes some energy into correcting for the kart's drift. It wants to veer into oncoming traffic.

"Don't ask me! All I can do about the weather is complain. So, do you generate water? Not take it from the air or anything?" Moisture vaporators and any rain-making technology she's familiar with uses existing water.

And Strange shrugs! For all of his arrogance and certainty about his magic, there's still so much that he doesn't know in the first place (and he certainly doesn't know anything about rain-making technology to begin with.)

"All I know is I cast the spell, I ask the rain to fall, and it does. So I suppose that would mean I take it from the air." Based on his tone of voice, however, he's obviously not a hundred percent sure about that assessment.

"You should experiment," she says firmly. "See if it's any different if you perform it near a body of water or when it's humid compared to drought conditions. Can you do it inside?"

This line of thinking can only end well. But Scout's a thorough sort who likes to know a lot.

"I can," Strange remarks, with a little puffed up smile. He obviously thinks highly of his skills and can't help but gloat a little as he talks.

"Weather magic is quite easy to cast—any magician worth his salt knows about weather magic. Of course, I can't do any of that magic here. The Mainframe seems determined to stymy my magic. However, I'd be happy to experiment back at the carnival!"

It obviously pains him to admit that he can't really do much magic in the Mainframe. Strange puts a lot of emphasis on himself and his powers so even saying that he can't do the thing is as if he's admitting to a great fault of some sort.

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⇨ MAINFRAME

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