lostcarnival | ⇨ GAME START INTRO LOG!

Who: EVERYONE!
When: NOW!
Where: Around the carnival grounds, and in the Cookhouse.
What: Carnival worker orientation, Ringmaster style.
Warnings: Alcohol consumption, maybe drugs. Other things?

BRAVE NEW WORLD↴

► THE NEW: It doesn't matter when you entered the tent to discuss your new contract with the Ringmaster, you exit it beneath a blanket of stars. Pointedly alien stars at that - currently the carnival grounds are being treated to a show of shooting stars, and what appear to be unnaturally large and living green moons hanging just a bit too close. The carnival was bustling when you entered, but now it's in the latter stages of being shut down for the night. If you manage to find a clock, it states that it's around 8PM.

Workers from during the day will be passing through the grounds, attending to various pieces of business. None of them will seem very surprised or concerned by the goings on, though some may be sympathetic enough to pause and answer your questions. If you put some effort into finding out how it became nighttime, you may discover that it's been anywhere from a few hours to 7 days since you originally signed your contract. Someone may explain to you that it was probably some kind of time bubble, meant to keep you out of the way until the Ringmaster had time to deal with you.

Every few minutes another new person will pop out of the tent, looking just as confused and under the impression that they had only just finished discussing things with the Ringmaster. Weird.

She passed you a note before you left. Opening it up, you'll see you've been assigned a trailer number, and been given the instructions to drop off any excess belongings and do what you can to get settled in. You have until exactly 9:36PM to do so, because that's when you'll be expected to attend what is listed only as "WORKER'S ORIENTATION".

This is, perhaps, more abrupt than you were expecting - but what can you do? You're here for the long haul.

► THE OLD: If you've ever seen a mass recruitment before, then this is no surprise. People enter the tent when they're recruited, and then sometimes how up again days later when the Ringmaster is ready for them. She isn't a big fan of wasting her time on individual orientations when she's expecting a crowd.

Maybe you're too jaded to all of this to care much, but you'll see the newbies wandering around, probably confused and maybe a bit lost. Maybe you're the kind whose is sympathetic enough to pause your role in clean up and give them some directions, and maybe a word of confidence. Maybe you'll just jeer at them, because you're some kind of asshole. Either way, you expect you'll have the chance to see them later tonight.

Whether by world of mouth, radio, or written note, supervisors will be passing out the following message: all workers are to report to the Cookhouse at 9:36PM sharp for "orientation." If you are at all familiar with how things go around here, you probably have a good idea of what this implies.

Mandatory Karaoke Night.

MANDATORY KARAOKE NIGHT!!!↴

At 9:36PM, the main dining hall of the Cookhouse will be found heavily decorator with various coloured lights and at least one disco ball made of what is ostensibly high karat gems. There are a bunch of cushions and additional seating set up along with the usual tables, and at the head of the call there is a state set up - a karaoke stage. For veteran workers, this is no surprise. Karaoke nights are fairly frequent as activities go, even if they are not usually mandatory. Some of you probably have signature songs already prepared.

The karaoke machine is set up with mostly karaoke tracks that would be popular in the 90's and 00's on the average modern earth, with a few that are more recent. It also has some other random stuff from other worlds that people rarely sing because they are confusing and in languages no one understands. Here is a big karaoke list for your inspiration! The more stereotypically karaoke the better.

Beyond that, there is plenty of food and snacks that were prepared by the cooks earlier, as well as a bar set up for alcohol and other vices. The selection is, as most things in the carnival, eclectic.

Music will be played in between if nobody is singing, and otherwise veterans are encouraged to bring along their own fun and show the newbies a good time. The Ringmaster does ask that vets attempt to be courteous to their new coworkers.

It's just being a good host.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[ Yukine looks back at the tent, trying to see if there was something strange in it... then at the alien sky, remembering she was no longer in Hiarizaka. And for that matter, she was away from all accepted ideas on how the universe worked. ]

It's night, now. According to the clocks... [ Yukine pulled up her cellphone, which marked days of difference. ] ... It's almost a week.

Days? But... what?

[ How much could have happened in that time? What little hope she had of going back to find her friends and make sure they were okay, vanished. ]

[ Yukine looked down, with those same questions in mind. At this point, she wished Kotomi had been here to explain everything... ]

I was told... [ She looked at Chiaki, trying to think. ] that everyone comes from different universes. Even then...

... Is it more of what the ringmaster can do? Stop time?

I don't know... [ It's a lot. Her head sort of hurts. She puts her hand to it, rubbing, like it's a bad dream she can get out of her mind...

One hand touches her new ear and she jerks it back, startled by the sensation. ]

[ Yukine instead stares for a long time at Chiaki's ears, a part of herself not as surprised to see somebody else change in the short timeframe of having seen her. Everything of this world felt like a dream, and for all the fright she should have felt at that moment, Chiaki was safe... and she was no longer home.

Yukine stepped forward, looking at Chiaki's ears. ]

Those are lynx ears... they're not yours, are they? [ This is asked more as an inquire, knowing that for other beings in here, this was normal. By how she holds Chiaki's hand, she feels guilty that she wants to touch them. ]

... Are they real?

You're sure?... [ She wonders how Yukine knows. She tries to keep herself still under Yukine's touch, but she's still a little bit anxious. The ears flick unconsciously when Yukine gets near them. ]

Everything sounds louder, so... I think so.

[ It became evident when Chiaki admitted it was turning louder. Only thanks due to Chiaki keeping still, Yukine moves her hands closer to the lynx ears... rubbing them softly with her thumbs, touching them to realize they connected directly to her hair and her head, and caressing them, as if she was a kitten. ]

They're real... [ More than fear, it's awe what Yukine feels. This was sudden for the two of them, and when she realizes it was something the carnival made, both the time difference and the sudden ears over Chiaki... Yukine wonders if the same will happen to her. ]

Do you feel okay, Chiaki-san? [ Yukine begins to look worried, ] The same thing that happened to you... could happen to all of us.

Um... I think so. [ She still feels a little jumpy, for more reasons than one, and the ears are amplifying that. ] I'll be fine!... You don't have to worry, Miyazawa-san.

[ It was her duty to worry. After the harm Chiaki went through, and the happiness at seeing her well, came then the realization that it would continue like this... And for the first time after the boiling of the gang war in her hometown, she didn't know what could happen, nor how could she solve it.

She leaned forward, and kissed Chiaki on her forehead. ]

If you need any help, please tell me. Remember nobody has to be alone in here.

[ She goes pink quite a bit at that. She doesn't want to seem dependent. But Yukine's words are kind. ]

I-- I will. You too, Yukine.

⇨ GAME START INTRO LOG!

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