see it to believe it

[whattaprick]

Who: Lambert, Carly, YOU???
What: A basic safety lesson on what to expect in the Mainframe. Don't get derezzed deleted, kids!
When: Early morning, the day after Lambert's post about the Mainframe.
Where: Center Stage
Warnings: Carly being Carly, Lambert's potty mouth, probably.

Were you hoping to sleep in today? Tough shit. Because it's early in the morning, probably right before breakfast, that Carly's voice comes bawling over the public channel of the radio.

"Hello everyone!! We've borrowed Center Stage for an important demonstration! Earlier you may have heard something from our Nightrider Lambert that there's something really dangerous about the coming location ... so we've put together something to help display what to do in the event of the worst! So come to the Center Stage quick!"

Less enthusiastically, Lambert's rejoinder follows, drawled lazily: "Yeah, you definitely don't want to miss this show."

[ ooc: A show, ask, and mingle sort of log -- Lambert and Carly will be doing a short 'presentation' and then open up for Q&A, but feel free to start your own threads to interact with each other? Other nightrunners feel free to butt in. o7 ]

Comments

PRESENTATION -- CARLY & LAMBERT

[whattaprick]

Lambert's never actually been on center stage, but he doesn't look too bothered by it, standing there with fingers hooked into the waistband of his (now thankfully adjusted for his height) pants and a loosely buttoned shirt. Despite the early hour, he seems awake and alert, golden horns and scales catching the light as he surveys their audience. He'd honestly rather be at breakfast than here right now -- no sense launching into a new world on an empty stomach, huh? -- and he suspects a good portion of whoever's actually showed up feels the same.

Does he have any idea what Carly's actually going to present? Fuck no. But hey, if it means less work for him ... besides his usual wolf medallion, he also has the badge icon the Ringmaster gave them pinned to the front of his shirt, and he adjusts it occasionally while he waits for Carly to figure out whatever the hell it is she's doing to get this started.

Q & A ???

[whattaprick]

Eventually, once the presentation wraps up with a flourish from both performers (or in Lambert's case, likely a scowl) it's ... time for the audience to ask their questions! Or latecomers to pretend they've been here all along. What now?

[insidescoop]

[This is a very SERIOUS MATTER, this...Game Stuff. Carly went all out to try and show everyone what to expect. She's even got help-Nuna is with her! So after Carly has affixed her own badge courtesy of the Ringmaster, she comes out with a nod.] Okay! Ready?

[Is that Ready for Lambert, or the audience? DOESN'T MATTER. She's hopping RIGHT IN.] Okay everyone! The Mainframe is basically the inside of a computer! It's like all the programs and things became people~

But sometimes 'Games' happen, and that's what we're here to teach you about! When a game appears, [she explains, raising a curtain of violet fire at either side of the stage,] a big purple cube will come down from the air! It's huge, and really hard to avoid apparently, so there's not much escaping it if it's coming! [She gives a look to Lambert-care to explain step two?]

ASK HER ANYTHING

[insidescoop]

[Indeed it does-] So that's that, everyone! You'll be 'rebooting' into NPCs, and given everything you need from these badges...

But no matter what, most important is that you can't lose! Whatever you do, or else all the people stuck in there with you will turn into slugs!

[....]

Ah...Or 'Nulls', I guess...

[YEAH.]

Any questions?

[kingsroads]

[ THE PEANUT GALLERY RAISES HIS HAND and let's be real, Strange totally snuck in late to this as he got distracted from something else before realizing oh damn, Carly and Lambert had that presentation, he had better attend it. Did they cover this part already? Fuck if Strange knows! ]

I'm still not entirely sure what a 'computer' is to begin with.

[ this is gonna suck ]

[insidescoop]

Ummmm...

[HMMM.]

Oh! I know~

Imagine the inside of a radio, but if the radio did even more things~ Like show pictures, or let you look for information in an instant~

[kingsroads]

So it's a radio mixed with a book?

[ Show pictures = book. Look for information = also book. ]

[insidescoop]

Sort of.

E-Books are like computers~

You can also listen to music, or watch videos- [Ah. She pauses on the stage, staring down.] ...You've seen a VHS here right..?

[The trailers do have TVs with VHS...]

[kingsroads]

[ Considering Strange's awful standard of living, it's probably buried beneath some clothes or currently holding cups that desperately need to be washed. ]

I believe so? Those are the things with the televisions, correct?

[ At least he knows what a television is, even if Strange can count on one hand the amount of times he's actually used one. ]

So it's a radio mixed with a television mixed with a book—or more specifically, a radio mixed with a television mixed with an encyclopedia. And when we visit the Mainframe, we're somehow inside of it.

[ sure, jan. ]

[stillwinningthehardway]

[Scout waves her big white tail.]

Is it true if anyone's turned into a slug we could bring them back and the Ringmaster could do a thing, but that'd add another year and they'd have dramatic slug changes? So don't lose anyway?

[Scout that's. That's not a question, that's conjecture.]

[whattaprick]

[ Whoa, wait, it's his turn to do something? Unlike Carly, Lambert doesn't have much in the way of props or special effects to bring to bear, so he shrugs and steps forward, hands turned palm-up. ]

If you were listening on the radio-- [ Pointedly. ] --you already know that this world doesn't let us use all our powers. Or changes them. Some things work, but others won't.

Lucky for us, we've got these. [ He gestures at the badge pinned on his chest. ] When you're caught in a game, tap this twice and you'll 'reboot' -- [ He stumbles over the clearly unfamiliar word. ] --which mostly means you'll get new abilities that will work so you can accomplish the game's objective ... beating the Users.

[insidescoop]

'Users' are basically the player characters! [Carly explains from there.] The heroes of the game! They're the ones who look like knights, or maybe just your opponent in general-this is because the game could be all kinds of things!

You might not even have to do anything other than beat someone at chess. In which case, you better be really smart!

But like Lambert said-if you just Reboot! [she taps her button,] You'll be given all of the things you need automatically...

Including how to play the game!

So, if we were in a game where it was fighting...

[insidescoop]

Well, the thing is, they seem to lose all their semblance of self as well.

So, you'd be all mindless and irrecoverable, apparently! [She pauses.] It's really best not to risk it!! Especially since if one loses, EVERYONE loses!

And that includes the people who live there already, so let's not be mean to them.

[insidescoop]

Yeah, those are them!

So if you imagined the insides as their own little town and city, that's where we're going~

Or, well, not in ours. It's in someone else's computer, obviously.

[JAN INSISTS]

[walkonedge]

[ So he's slid in the middle of the presentation, but enough to catch the thing about being trapped in the Game in a computer mainframe.

YEAH, OKAY THIS IS STARTING TO SOUND FAMILIAR. Basically it's the thing with Diaboromon all over again except that he's not going to be as disadvantaged as the last time he was forced to do something inside the Internet. ]

So how will we know when the game ends like. If we end up killing all the Users we'll all go back to normal? Or is it only for those of us who are still alive when the users die?

[ CAN THEY RESPAWN, OR ARE THEY DOOMED TO SLUGS FOREVER, is the question that he's actually asking, but he has no idea how to ask properly. ]

[kingsroads]

[ Strange siiiiiiighs, obviously annoyed. ]

I understand the concept but it's still baffling in practice. Magic makes more sense than this digital nonsense.

[showmystar]

Wait, so . . . we're the villains???

[THAT IS THE OPPOSITE OF WHAT HE WANTS]

[whattaprick]

... you'll probably find yourself with some kind of weapon, if not a whole new body entirely. [ Lambert finishes. ] From what we've been able to pick up, you don't get to choose what that is.

If you end up with something you don't know how to use: keeping the pointy bit away from you and away from your friends is usually a good rule of thumb.

[ His baleful stare across the room suggests this is a low, low bar of competence he's pretty sure most of the Carnival will fail to meet. ]

[stillwinningthehardway]

[Scout's not sure if nothing could be done. This is exactly the kind of really knotty problem smart people contract the Ringmaster for. But it's certainly beyond what ordinary workers could help with, and Scout may not have the enmity others do for their leader but that doesn't mean she really trusts her to see what the problem is and act accordingly. So she shrugs.]

Lots of damage left, yeah.

Do you want to talk about non-Game dangers or should I?

[promnibusanctis]

She had been up far, far earlier than one might think, so while the voice had at first startled her, it did not wake her. Early mornings, later evenings, and no real sleep has been her thing for two centuries. It's not a habit she'll work herself out of anytime soon. She is probably one of the first to the stage area.

Helen takes in the information, writing notes in a small books she's found god-knows where, a bit like the purloined pen she's using to write those notes. It sounds complicated but, as she's used the word all too often of late, fascinating.

"For those of us who are decidedly new," she says, "and want to stretch our legs, I assume we're all allowed to do so without exception?" Helen knows full well, she will probably find trouble. "And if so, should we explore with a partner for safety's sake?"

[whattaprick]

Lambert's attention fixes on Helen immediately, brows raised as he crosses his arms. "Depends. If you know how to look after yourself, I don't see why not you can't go alone. We're not your minders. But--" And he raises a finger, warming to his caveat. "Should go without saying: try not to do anything that could get the rest of the carnival in hot water."

He unfolds his arms, hands resting on his hips. "Nightrunners are supposed to get people's asses out of trouble. If you're really stuck somewhere you can't get out of? We won't leave you high and dry. But I don't give a shit about people who make messes for other people to clean up. Not everyone here is a fighter, and it's their asses on the line when people fuck up."

[promnibusanctis]

"Good to know," Helen says with a nod. "Is there a length of time out of the carnival we need to be worried about?" Because that is a valid question when it comes to a faery carnival with rules she might not fully understand yet or rules that are essentially unspoken.

Helen Magnus is nothing but thorough when it comes down to it.

[insidescoop]

....

[Okay Strange. But. Consider-]

...How do you know it's not both?

[MAGIC... AND SCIENCE....

TOGETHER...

AT THE SAME TIME...]

[insidescoop]

[Honestly if Scout asks her about it later when there isn't an audience, she'll point out that mostly it's to deter the guys that really...Don't care too much about the state of the world they're visiting.

Sometimes that extra YOU WILL DIE is super important!] Well, the presentation was more for the Game stuff, but I guess you could talk about those again... ...I'd sort of hoped we got those points across on the radio already...

[insidescoop]

Well, when the Game ends, it leaves, so we'll be back in the mainframe~

It's only after the game is over that people become slugs-and that's only if EVERYONE loses! [she insists.] Eh...but kill really isn't the best word for it!!

These are people playing computer games-in reality, they're all probably sitting on chairs with doritos, or mountain dew....or both....

[Anyway.] Plus, the game might not be something where you have to kill each other!

You could just be playing tennis for all we know!