lostcarnival | ⇨ GAME START INTRO LOG!

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⇨ 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

Mmhmm. ... one of?

Yeah! I got two of you now. The other one is called... Yugi? I haven't run into him yet.

I haven't either. Um... but I can keep an eye out, if you want.

... If you don't just run the games... what else do you do?

Oh um, well lots of stuff. There's the animals to look after and, of course we gotta keep the place clean, and usually if something goes terribly wrong we gotta deal with that too. And the rides need manning and stuff like that.

It's a busy place... no wonder you need Game Operators. The Gamer's Circle is pretty big, too...

Well, you can count on us!... I think. Back home I was the Super High School Level Gamer, so I think we'll be able to do it.

The Super High School Level Gamer, huh?

[That sounds hilarious.]

Well good then, I'm relying on you to draw in the crowds.

[ It kind of is. ]

So... I just need to keep the games running, right? Fix them if they break?

I mean, if you can, but mostly we need you to draw in the crowds.

[Wink. Why is he winking? Who knows.]

H-huh?

[ What does that mean? And why the wink? ]

Draw in... how?

You know! Challenge them! Put their pride on the line! No one's going to spend a ton of money on a game if there's nothing to gain from it!

I-- uh--

[ She sputters and ducks her head to look back at her game, fiddling with it. The high score is already pretty good (outstanding for most, just above average for her). ]

I can try... [ But performing makes her nervous. She'd rather just hide in a corner and play with her games. Or maybe play with friends. Taunting people doesn't sound like much fun at all. ]

[Oh no, he must have said something wrong. He lowers his voice a bit, though it's still somewhat loud so he can be heard over the karaoke machine.]

Don't worry. Just try your best.

[He had faith she could do it, even if he didn't know anything about here. Most things were doable here, one way or another.]

What's that?

[He leans forward, peering at her screen.]

A video player?

[ She shows him. Gala Omega plays on the screen, a little ship at the bottom firing up at many alien ships.

Even with the screen turned mostly towards him, she's still pushing one trigger to keep it firing, and dodging the ship out of the way of enemies. ]

Ah, a game!

[He didn't realize at first, but now that he can see the controls it's obvious that's what it is. They'd had them on Alternia of course, but he'd never gotten to play any. When he was younger it wasn't allowed, and when he was older well... There wasn't time for arcades when you were on the run. Definitely not after you got caught, and certainly not here at the carnival. Mostly just because no one had anything like it. His eyes flick to the screen, watching as the enemies flew down towards the players ship. Was it a ship? It must have been, the background was all stars and the enemies were... Giant spacebugs. As he realizes it that his enthusiasm begins to diminish.]

Oh... You're really good at it.

[He winces as one of the ships explodes, before pulling back a bit.]

Thanks...

[ She notices his discomfort and turns it back towards her; she finishes the round and then turns it off, looking at him. ]

Are you okay?

[His eyes widen briefly as she asks him that, but it's not even a full second. He forces a smile, though it's not a very convincing one.]

Yeah! Of course. I just. Haven't seen a game like that in a while.

[ He's played before? She perks up. ] Do you want to try?

Ah. That's okay... I'm sure I'd be terrible at it.

Mm...

[ It'd probably just take some practice, but he still looks uncomfortable. She's not sure what she said or did.

She fiddles with the little console, a little unsure about turning it back on, now. ] What kind of games did you play?

Oh. I never played one before really. But I always wanted to. They look like a lot of fun.

[ She hesitates... and then digs into her coat pocket. Gala Omega isn't the only cartridge that she brought with her.

She flips a new one into the game console and powers it up. A character stands in the middle of the screen, ready for adventure. ] What about this one?

[It feels strangely personal. She hasn't let go of the thing the entire night she's been here, but she's offering it to him, even changing the game. It makes him feel like he's showing more of himself than he really means to. He can't refuse though, it's such an honest gesture. He takes the console hesitantly. The character on the screen is a speck of bright green, and when the Psionic touches the controls the speck responds. He knew that was how it worked, but he was the one doing it. There was something about that, it made him smile.]

Uh.. What do I do?

Um... go up into that cave. [ She points. ]

[He keeps moving, playing the game as she instructs. Of course he's still new to this all so it's not long before the screen flashes GAME OVER. He's not bothered though. He just laughs instead.]

That was fun... Thank you.

[ She watches while he plays, eyes flicking across the screen. Every so often her fingers twitch, at the memory of what she'd do if she was holding the game.

But he does pretty okay for a first time. The enemies just overwhelm eventually. ]

Mm... You just needed the right game.

⇨ GAME START INTRO LOG!

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