⇨ GREYSOL

[ringleaders]

Who: Everyone!
When: Day 155 - Day 169
Where: Greysol
What: The carnival resumes its tour, this time heading to Greysol, a city tied deeply into the fabric of the multiverse. Here, everyone has an animal companion from birth that is the second half of their soul - and thanks to the Ringmaster, so do you. (Remember, joysweeper is our guest event runner for this location, and location specific questions should go to them.)
Warnings: Individually marked!

THE CITY OF GREYSOL↴ The carnival arrives in a manicured park in the center of a big city that sprawls out along where the river reaches the ocean. It’s spring, early enough that nights are chilly, warm enough in the days that people and their souls savor the weather, and sometimes shelter together from the rain. Greysol was designed from the bottom up to accommodate the human-dæmon bond. Go out and see! ► THE SHAPE OF YOUR SOUL: The dæmon-forming spell kicks in at about four in the morning. Most characters will wake up with their souls in some small form, curled against them. Even if they were awake, they became dazed and unfocused while their souls were being drawn out of their bodies and have little memory of how it happened. Until that evening every character's dæmon is able to change shapes, and children and some teens will continue to do so. Most will settle on their permanent forms by evening. Characters without dæmons will just look on, and the few who are thousand-pound bears have to handle being really big. ► IT’S GOOD TO SETTLE: Elaine Tavis Aracari, sixteen-year-old daughter of two actors and a moving pictures sensation herself, just ‘settled’ - her dæmon Tavis stopped changing shape - as a stunning blue peacock. Settling is a major coming of age milestone and celebrated as such in different ways all over the world. She and her family are throwing a massive party in the central park and inviting the public to join in! Enjoy easy access to free catering, live music and showings of moving pictures, and displays of mostly trivial magic. There are also form readers from across the country setting up booths, happy to accept a small fee to inspect your dæmon’s settled or most favored forms and tell you what they mean. Is there anything to these analyses? Eh, maybe, but they’re flattering and fun. ► WITCHING HOURS: Characters who are clearly witches for this event will often be assumed to be in town for a lover, and people, witches and not, may want to know who that is. Humans usually regard them with wary respect and interest. Real witches living with their human families or on business quickly suspect that something’s up, but without clear and present danger take a relaxed wait-and-see attitude. Wait for long enough and any possible decision will come around again, they believe. There isn’t time to learn much witch magic, but witches, real and carnival-made, have an inherent power: the ability to fly using branches of “cloudpine”, an attractive soft-needled tree common in the park. Witches usually ride large branches as if they’re steeds but can use even short sprays, and you’ll probably see the few witches in the city coming to the park to do so. Why not try? ► BEAR PUN: Human-panserbjørn relations have historically been troubled, but have warmed in the past century. It’s the 65th anniversary of the breaking of the Siege of Bertin, a much-mythologized time when Spectres flooded Greysol and a company of panserbjørn arrived and directed efforts to get the survivors out of the city. A statue is being erected and many florid accounts of the story are being told. If you’re in a panserbjørn shape for the duration of the visit you will probably get thanked and celebrated by people trying to hide their nervousness of you. Expect someone to ask if your dæmon would be a human - it’s a common supposition. ► KERNER ISLAND: From the harbor you can see a wooded island. Although there are no rocks to speak of it sports a tall lighthouse, and nearly all boat traffic avoids it carefully. On a clear day someone with binoculars or a particularly sharp-eyed soul can see loads of trash, birds and various other animals that don’t seem local, and… children? Adults and settled teenagers will see tall vague shapes moving about too. When asked about it the most important thing adults will tell other adults is don’t go there. They’ll hold their dæmons close and tell you that on that island are things that eat souls. They may also admit with mixed pride and shame that it’s been a source of wealth and innovation for the city. There’s a facility there that can open windows into other worlds, and the children who can reach it can cross through and bring things back. Many of the children are recruited by research and development teams on the lookout for items they can use, but there are also kids out to have adventures or who’ve run away. More on this later.

Comments

9S | OTA

[dressedtothe]

[An Arrival | Day 155 ]
There's a new face around the Carnival. A new face with an unsheathed katana floating at his back, seemingly held up by a glowing, circular ring surrounding its hilt. Despite the blindfold over 9S' eyes, 9S is rapidly turning his head from side to side as he looks around, absorbing the influx of new data before him.

"So... this is where I'll be working, huh?" It looks kind of small compared to the likes of the Bunker. He really hopes the Ringmaster keeps her end of the contract, otherwise he's gonna get totally bored out of his mind.

Hovering about 2 metres off the ground is his robotic companion, Pod 153. When Pod 153 speaks, its voice is robotic, but with a tone that would clearly be identified as female.

< Alert: Unidentified lifeform approaching >

At the warning, 9S turns, his gaze focusing on the stranger... Not that they would be able to see it. Uncertain of how to approach this situation -- they're not going to be androids, he reminds himself -- 9S offers a cautious, "Hi," in greeting.


[It's good to settle]
Observing Greysol from a distance at first, it's easy for 9S to put together the pieces that these humans have a close bond with the biological lifeforms that follow them, given the way they interact with each other. It's strange... he'd been promised the opportunity to meet humans as his contract, but he's never heard of anything like this in his records of humans in the Old World.

He's a little skeptical, but in the end, curiosity wins out and 9S wanders into the city itself, leaving Pod 153 (and more reluctantly, his sword) behind at the Carnival and placing his blindfold into his bag prior in a minor attempt to blend in... Or at least, not stick out. A red glamour butterfly follows behind him.

He immediately gravitates towards the party in Central Park, attracted by the noise and then distracted by a showing of the Greysol daemon inclusive version of 'The Wizard of Oz'. 9S watches quietly... until the introduction of the Tin Man, exclaiming, "Oh come on! There's no way a machine could get a heart!"

Maybe someone needs to shush him before he gets kicked out.

[Wildcard]
[ooc: You know the drill. I match formats and can be reached at jesii for plotting!]

arrival

[anti_nonsense]

Rita just happened to be crossing paths with the newcomer, but upon seeing the robot hovering next to him, she veers straight into their direction. Her newly-formed daemon, presently in the shape of a caracal, slinks along beside her. The robotic alert brings a surprised look to Rita's face, but that only deepens her curiosity. It detected her? Interesting.

She stops next to 9S, staring up at the floating robot with a hand cupping her chin, studying it with great curiosity. It's after a few moments that she even acknowledges 9S, but his greeting goes ignored. "What is this?" she asks, not quite looking at him.

[dressedtothe]

Wow. 9S has never felt more ignored. Even his operator usually deigns him with a response before disconnecting him. He can't help but pout, just a little.

Though, to be fair, he's just as absorbed studying this stranger. The basic body structure makes her look human, but then there's the feathers and the wings and the tail. Curious, he tries scanning her while she's distracted by Pod 153, wondering if she would register as human, or something else completely, or just be completely unidentifiable. His gaze turns down towards the daemon. What is that...?

"So now you want to talk," he grumbles under his breath. Louder, he answers, "That's my tactical support unit, Pod 153."

[anti_nonsense]

She is human, though perhaps slightly different on a molecular level from those on Earth. The bigger factor, however, would be the influence of fae magic on the structure of her body, which is most apparent in the tail and wings, which may reveal higher-density traces of some vaguely magical substance.

"Tactical support...?" She turns to face the boy with a questioning look. "You mean for combat?" The katana at his back supports that notion (and she wonders how he keeps it suspended like that, while her eyes detect no magic at work there), though his stature and blindfold make her wonder how capable he could be in battle.

[dressedtothe]

She's human, but weird. He can't quite make sense of it.

After a brief moment of consideration -- Pods aren't classified information -- 9S responds. "Not just combat. It has transmission capabilities and monitors the status of the immediate surroundings and myself."

Pod 153 hovers a little lower and he gives Pod 153 a pat on the back of its boxy 'head' before Pod 153 floats back up again.

But 9S wants answers, too. "You look human, but the rest of you... What are you?"

Arrival

[chronosynthesis]

It isn't 9S that grabs Syrlya's attention as he walks by, but Pod 153. The tone is different, but that robotic alarm is so familiar after hearing the background noise of however many golems (and having to take out a few haywire ones). He turns, raising a brow, but it's quickly apparent this is not an Asura and their golem. He... looks human, at any rate.

He offers a slight smile despite the blindbold, in polite habit. "Hello. Can I help you with anything?"

[dressedtothe]

It might not look it, but 9S can see perfectly fine from behind the 'blindfold'. And he can see perfectly fine that he's never seen any living being look quite like this person either. He's both excited and wary, and discreetly scans this stranger to try and get an idea of what exactly is his biological make up. Will he come up as a plant? Something else? 9S isn't expecting human, despite the humanoid shape.

"I want to know, what are you?" 9S" has a curious lilt to it. "I've never seen anyone like you before."

Granted that's because everyone else was usually either a human or an android.

[chronosynthesis]

Syrlya is definitely scanning as plant for 9S's sensors. Whether or not he can detect that it's magical plant is another matter entirely.

Syrlya's brow only lifts further before he realizes that blindfold is probably sheer material--which makes him wonder just what it's purpose is. "I am a Sylvari. And my name is Syrlya."

9S didn't ask that, but he's going to offer it anyway as an immediate introduction. Most people have simply waived Syrlya's strangeness off given their own changes, so he's a little thrown off at the brazen curiosity. "We are people native to Tyria, it... would not be surprising that you are surprised, if Tyria is not your home."

[dressedtothe]

9S has never heard of Tyria, but given that this is a dimension travelling carnival, he's not particularly surprised. Especially after introducing himself as a Sylvari, which he's also never heard of.

How does a plant gain sapience? He's seen plants grow into enormous sizes, choking buildings with their trunks, but they had all been silent and still. It's all very strange. At least with androids, they had human creators to give them thought and emotion. Plants just... are, as far as he knows.

"It isn't my home," he confirms. And because Syrlya had introduced himself, 9S does the same. "I'm 9S, from Earth." But more importantly, "You're some sort of plant, right? Why the human shape?"

settle!

[kingsroads]

"That's what you're most annoyed about?" pipes up Strange, who had been watching from the back but decided to take a seat next to 9S...right as the kid started complaining about the film. He's also a bit grumpy, though he's taking out his annoyances with the film on a large bag of popcorn. Some of the popcorn is set on the ground for a large gray seal, who's happily eating it.

"Somehow, the scarecrow's sentient. Oh, it surely can become animate through magic, but there's no magic that I know of that could bestow sentience on something, let alone give them a brain. This wizard must be a damn liar if he goes around telling people that much."

And thus, a classic film accidentally gets spoiled.

[dressedtothe]

9S tilts his head towards the newcomer, attention drifting from his new companion and his daemon. 9S desperately wants to touch the creature, but he resolutely keeps his hands to himself. He also wants to try the food the man is consuming, but being cut off from the bunker or any sort of maintenence crew makes that a bad idea; he hasn't forgotten shutting down because consuming a mackerel glued up his insides.

"What's it need a brain for anyway?" Now that 9S has someone to complain with, he's not going to stop. "It's not biological and it clearly has motor function without one."

[kingsroads]

"Oh, did you miss it earlier? There was an entire musical number about why it wanted a brain," said with a roll of his eyes and an 'I can't believe this is actually happening' sort of tone. Because really. Strange can't believe this is happening. Surely this had to be an exception and the rest of the media at Greysol couldn't be this...silly.

"Truth be told, it sounded like the scarecrow wanted education more than a literal brain. Of course, if I were in the thing's shoes, I'd ask for common sense over either of them. It seems to be in short supply with some people."

Strange isn't naming names, though it's obvious there's a few people he's thinking of in particular.

[dressedtothe]

That 'musical number' had certainly been a... thing. It had almost been as awful as the machine rendition of Romeos and Juliets. It may have been so bewildering that his processor hadn't finished computing his attempts to understand what was going on.

But there's a far more pressing concern he has on hand right now. He blinks, gaze sliding to the stranger, his glamour butterfly coming to rest on his wrist. "What's education? Or common sense?"

Settle!

[soft_focus]

[Reira, for her part, understands very little of the point to this play. Something about witches, and going home? The matter of the heart however is something that assuredly hits close to home though, enough that her daemon holds form for a solid sixty seconds instead of the typical thirty as Reira frowns confusedly to 9S.]

...Why not? Why can't a machine have a heart?

[dressedtothe]

[OH BOY. You have opened a can of worms, Reira.

9S peers down at the small human. This would be a child, right?]

Machines don't have feelings or emotions. They're just mimicking humans. There isn't any meaning to what they do.

[He says it all with absolute certainty.]

[soft_focus]

[Definitely a child, and....Definitely not believing him at all.]

...How do you know it's faking it then?

[The question comes with a particular edge to it, and a frown comes on her face. It'll likely lighten if she has any reason to think this is a matter of differences in worlds, but for now.... ...Well she's pretty sure machine duel monsters at least have hearts sometimes, so it's enough to be irritated for now.]

arrival

[pipers_son]

Well, now isn't this a sight? Although not the kind of sight that Joker is too unused to seeing, with the places he's been and the people he's seen. So he grins lazily at the new arrival, waving his one good (if gnarled and wooden) hand to the blindfolded boy. That he's looking around is a little odd, but nothing too strange.

"'Lo," he says, thick accent relaxed. "New ta the carnival and gettin' a feel for the place, are ya?"

[dressedtothe]

9S had just met someone who is a plant, and met someone who is human but not. Now this guy looks like a combination of both. Curious, 9S discreetly scans the stranger, wondering if he registers as human, human but weird, or just something else completely.

It takes a brief moment to process the accent; it's unlike anything he's heard before. But his voice recognition systems quickly adjust.

"That's right." 9S doesn't return the gesture, though his own posture is relaxed. "My name is 9S. I was hired for repairs and scouting duties as required. What is your name and role here?"

[pipers_son]

Oh, Joker is mostly human, really. There are the fae changes, of course, but that's easy enough to tell. Something else is just a little bit off however... Being an angel has made quite a confusing mess of things, at least on the spiritual level.

Unaware that anything might be happening, Joker gives a cheery little salute. "Joker! Stage Manager here, I help keep the performers on track. So yer with Peridot and Lambert then, by the sounds of it. Meet 'em yet?"

arrival leading into jobstuff

[whattaprick]

"And just what is that supposed to be?"

The man standing in front of 9S isn't looking at him, but at the device that he's pretty sure he just heard speak. Judging by the expression on his face and his arms folded across his chest, he's not too impressed with what he's seeing. His inhuman features mark him clearly enough as someone who's been at the Carnival for some time -- or at least long enough to have some of the bigger changes wrought on him.

He also fits whatever description of the Nightrider, although he doesn't seem very professional as he steps forward to shamelessly prod the pod, tapping its shell with a claw. When he moves, a small, furry shape scuttles out from behind his legs, undulating against the ground before coming to stop by one of the pod's feet and sniffing.

"It's a machine," the creature pipes up, in a clear, female voice that has none of the robotic quality of the pods. Her gaze swings to 9S, head cocked. "Is it yours? What's it for?"

[dressedtothe]

Pod 153 has automatic evasive manoeuvres when targeted by someone or something that isn't its registered user. So when Lambert goes to tap it, the pod drifts away, hovering out of immediate reach.

But 9S recognises the stranger. Or at least, he fits the description he had been given of the Nightrider. Who, on a scan, appears to be human but different at his core. Strange, considering others he's met were human while their inhuman features were not. Still, the man is one of his bosses here, and a human -- albeit some strange mutant of one biologically. His gaze briefly drifts to the animal -- what IS that? -- before it snaps back to the human. Not that it's obvious when his eyes are hidden behind his 'blindfold'.

"Sir." 9S adopts the YoRHa version of a salute; same straight posture, but his left arm is bent at the elbow, hand held horizontally at his chest. "That isn't a machine." Machine lifeforms are his enemy after all. "That is my tactical support unit, Pod 153. Its role is to provide long range support during combat and assist with my scouting duties by monitoring the status of the surrounding area for hostiles."

It is also capable of much much more but without the Bunker, they're irrelevant.

His hand drops to his side. "You're the Nightrider, right? I'm 9S. I've been assigned to work for you as a scout.

[whattaprick]

The daemon granted to Lambert by the Ringmaster's magic is a strange thing. It's not actually biological, a scan would show, but what it is made of is hard to quantify. It seems solid enough, and it's a convincing simulacrum of life ... but it isn't, not really. It's just spirit made flesh.

It's the 'sir' more than anything that catches Lambert's attention, if only because nobody ever addresses him by that -- in a non-mocking way, even. He'll turn his attention away to focus on the android instead. He'd already taken in his unusual appearance -- the floating blade, the blindfold over his eyes -- but he hadn't really considered it in the context of how it might all relate to him until 9S introduces himself. The daemon, too, breaks away from her curious exploration to focus on the new arrival, both pairs of golden eyes studying him unwaveringly.

The question is easier to address, so that's what he does first. "That's right, I am. Name's Lambert." His tail sways lazily behind him, golden scales glinting in the light.

"So is that just for show, then?" He raises a clawed hand with a smirk, indicating his eyes -- he means 9S's blindfold. Can't be much of a scout if he can't tell Lambert what he sees, after all.

arrival

[mirrortide]

Lapis is definitely not an android, and the fact that she's completely blue probably gives the idea that maaaybe she's not exactly human either. Either way, she was less approaching him, and more attempting to walk past him. The carnival magic might be affecting her and changing her shape, but thanks to the inherent Gem skill of shapeshifting, she's still keeping a more "normal" form most of the time until she gets too tired to keep it up.

She does, however, stop when she's addressed. "Uh, hi?" What's with the blindfold and the floating robonoid?

[dressedtothe]

Yeah that blue skin's definitely leading to 9S checking her out scanning to figure out what kind of lifeform she is. Human? Not human? Something else? Heck, 9S had even met someone who scanned as a plant but he was clearly sapient. This place is full of strange irregularities.

"I'm 9S and I just arrived. I'm here to work as a repairman and scout, but I need to report to the Engineer and Nightrider." Well, he doesn't need to, but he figures he shouldn't really put off meeting his bosses. "Do you know where I can find them?"

[mirrortide]

Her form will likely be picked up as just hard light, though the gem in her back will come off as, well, a gem. Likely different in nature from a normal gemstone. Close, though. There's no organs or anything else like that.

"Sooo you need to talk to Lambert and Peridot." She crosses her arms in what might be a dismissive fashion. Maybe. "I live with Peridot. No clue where to find Lambert, though." She seems to weigh her options, before motioning for this '9S' and his weird floating robonoid to follow her. "I'll show you our trailer. She might be around."