⇨ MAINFRAME

[ringleaders]

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.

Comments

[stillwinningthehardway]

"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."

[kingsroads]

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?"

[stillwinningthehardway]

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.

[kingsroads]

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.

[stillwinningthehardway]

"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.

[kingsroads]

"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.