lostcarnival | ⇨ GREYSOL

Entry tags:

⇨ GREYSOL

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.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

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.

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."

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.

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?"

That question takes Rita by surprise, and she gives a start before settling on a long stare at his face, her brow scrunched in a look that's both offended and confused. Her daemon, sensing her unease, rubs itself against her legs in an attempt to soothe her.

"I'm human," she answers forcefully. The fact that she doesn't look entirely like one, and that she might, in fact, not be entirely human anymore, is a bit of a sore spot. But she gets why he's asking, and after a moment, offers some clarification. "This carnival's full of fae magic. I don't know how, exactly, but prolonged exposure to it causes unnatural changes in people's bodies."

But there's a reason his question surprised her so much. He said she looks human? In a snapping tone, Rita adds, "How the hell do you see anything with that blindfold on?"

It's not just that she seems human but not that's caught 9S attention, but the pendant appears to be some kind of mechanical object that's more complex than it looks.

Unnatural changes? It's not like WCS is it? And would he be affected too?

But why's she so mad anyway? He didn't think he'd said anything insulting... Holding up his hands in an attempt to diffuse the situation, 9S says, "It's not a blindfold but a combat visor. My visual systems are improved by it, not impaired."

Rita pauses, outrage dissipating, then leans in closer to his face. From where she's standing, it still... looks like a blindfold.

She squints, seemingly still having some doubts about him. "Visual systems? You mean vision?" Her tone is mildly sarcastic. "Or is that what people normally call it where you're from?"

9S doesn't back away from the close inspection, though he is tracking both the movements of herself and the animal. Undoubtedly Pod 153 is doing the same.

"That's what they are, ma'am." If she's human but changed, should he still be respectful? Better err on the side of caution for now. "I'm a YoRHa number 9, type S model. In other words, an android. I'm not biological like you are."

Rita's about to protest being called ma'am, but what he says next leaves her stunned.

"An android...?" Rita steps back, looking him over. "You mean like... a robot?" There are a lot of questions running through her mind, but for starters, she just wants to wrap her head around those basics. He gave a number and model... so he was manufactured? And there are others like him? But he looks just like a person...

Her daemon, curious as she is, shifts into a small red-black bird that flies up, perches on the goggles sitting atop her head, and stares along with her, periodically cocking his head.

9S huffs, mildly insulted. "I'm not a machine."

Rude! But also... is it normal for animals to change shape like that?

"We androids are created in the image of humans. Because of that, we have thoughts and emotions even though we are mechanical."

Rita gives him a weird look, as if to say what's the difference? He seems to think his capacity for thought and emotion are what sets them apart... but if even those processes are mechanical, wouldn't that just make him a highly advanced machine?

Well, whatever... it's a semantic argument that probably isn't worth it.

She's still struggling to believe that this guy's a mechanical construct, rather than a human being. He's not just pulling her leg, is he? But then, he wouldn't be the weirdest thing she's encountered here. For now, Rita has a lot of questions, most of them broad, as she's never heard of anything like this before. "What do androids... do, exactly?" She supposes they must have been built for some particular purpose.

It is very definitely is not worth it.

"We exist to protect humans."

That's the general gist of it. Protect the last remnants of humanity and prepare the Earth for their glorious return by wiping out all the machines. A pretty lofty goal, but hey it means he's never out of work.

"YoRHa like me are built to fight in the war against the machine lifeforms who've propagated all over Earth. My role is scouting, infiltration, and data collection." His lips curl into a grin. "We Scanner models are pretty good at that sort of thing."

That answers a few of her questions (if machines are the enemy, that might be why he resents the term so much), but it raises several more. Rita can see why using androids with advanced intelligence and reasoning skills could be advantageous for the specific roles he described... but when designing something meant to fight in a war, why give it emotions?

But then, she doesn't know what sort of emotional range he really has. Or if there really is some purpose in making androids so human-like...

Those critical thoughts aside, his capabilities actually sound really interesting. "Scanner model, huh...? Sounds like someone like you would be pretty useful for research." She meets his grin with a slight one of her own. "What kind of data can you collect?"

9S rolls his shoulders in a facsimile of a shrug. "If it has a digital data storage unit, I can hack it. The kind of data depends on what's stored in the first place." The words are said with confidence; it's his area of particular expertise. "If you're looking for field data, I can return topographical maps as well as locate and analyse biological and machine lifeforms."

Though his ability to analyse the biological is a bit more limited, thanks to many species dying out.

Digital data... There isn't a lot of that around the carnival, but she'll have to keep that in mind next time they're in an advanced world. Maps and analyses could be useful in a variety of settings, though...

"What about mechanical devices other than machine lifeforms? Or... identifying things like chemical components, or energy patterns?" As Rita's questions grow more and more specific, it might be easy to tell she isn't asking out of idle curiosity.

"Yeah I can deal with mechanical stuff other than machines. The other stuff..."

Energy patterns, maybe. Chemicals... a little, but it's not really his area.

"Do you have something in particular you want to analyse?"

"Well... not exactly one thing..." More like a lot of things, including things she hasn't encountered yet but surely will in the future.

It looks like Rita might as well just show him her hand. It's not like she has anything to hide. "I'm a researcher specializing in magic and magic technology." She says it with pride, and even the bird on her head puffs up its red-feathered belly to match her mood. "I came here to learn about systems used in other worlds, to find knowledge that can be applied back home for practical purposes."

Sooo... a data analysis freak?

9S always likes trying out the new tech that R&D develop; the promise of new technology being ready for him to trial is like dangling candy in front of a child.

"You want to learn about other world tech, huh?" 9S watches the bird's behaviour. Man, he's never been so close to one before. What's that sort of body language even supposed to mean? "I'm here to learn, too."

He's not here to necessarily distribute practical knowledge when he returns, but technology has always been his particular area of interest. His own little indulgence.

"Maybe we can work together?"

"Sounds like a win-win to me," Rita agrees with a nod. It's good to work with someone who's cooperative, but even better if he's enthusiastic about research himself. There's a part of her that wonders, though, if that aspect of his personality is something he was programmed with, or if he developed it somehow. The idea of a machine that learns... not just by being fed data, or collecting it passively through some predetermined algorithm, but seeking it in the same way a human being with curiosity would... it's incredible.

"But... I can't imagine your world would be lacking much in tech. What exactly did you come here to learn about?" Rita supposes most technology around here must be primitive, compared to him.

"Humans and the Old World."

His area of specialisation is supposed to just be humans and old world records, but he's... easily distracted......

"In my world, most of humanity and their civilisations were wiped out. There's still humans left in hiding, but they're waiting for us androids to take back their home from the machines."

Okay, so hundreds of thousands of humans is still a lot for a species that was almost wiped out, but it's a lot less than the billions that used to exist.

"We want to restore their home to what it was like before they left, but all we have left are fragments of records from the Old World. It'd be easier to just... see it all for myself, you know?"

"The Old World..." Rita muses. A world where humans were nearly destroyed? But, wait...

Her eyes widen with a sudden realization. "You said Earth, right? What year?" It might not be Rita's home, but she considers herself pretty familiar with it. There are a lot of carnival workers who come from that world, too.

If it's been so long that they don't even remember what human civilization was like... Rita's not sure she can guess how much time that would be, but at the very least, it would be a few generations.

Hm? Did he say something weird? Well, other than humanity getting wiped out. Yeah okay that probably would get some kind of reaction from someone who was/is human.

"11,945 AD. Why?"

At first, there's silence. It's hard to even comprehend that kind of gap in time. The Earth Rita saw was in the early 2000s, she remembers, and he's talking about something from nearly ten thousand years after that.

"What do you mean, why?" It takes a moment for her to snap out of it, but the first thing she does is snap at him, for some reason. "You're talking about the destruction of human civilization! Of course the first thing a person would want to know is when, or..." The bird on her head starts pecking at her, leading Rita to trail off and swipe at him with her hand. He takes off flying, but stays nearby, circling them. "...how," she finishes, her anger deflating as quickly as it flared up.

9S openly follows the bird's movement with his eyes, tilting his head up when the bird flies off.

All things considered, 9S is pretty detached from the whole thing. It happened so long ago that it wasn't in any androids' living memory, as far as he knows. Human civilisation being wiped out is something that's been a cold fact of life for so long...

"...It was a disease. White Chlorination Syndrome."

He doesn't know the full details of it. Never looked into it much further than the fact it was caused by maso particles, which now there is very little of on Earth. Androids aren't affected by it and with the decline of the particles, by the time the machines are routed, the particle would likely be eradicated completely.

"By the time the aliens and their machines came, most of humanity was already gone."

A disease? Rita's tempted to ask what kind, but in the end, does it really matter? Aliens and machines too... it almost seems like humanity didn't stand much of a chance. She also wonders how people have been living in hiding since then, but... the answer might be depressing.

"I'm not from Earth, but..." Rita glances away. Her daemon returns to her, landing on her shoulder and shifting into a palm civet. He then curls up there, nuzzling his face into her neck comfortingly.

"I've been there before, or to some version of it. It's hard to imagine it becoming... like you're describing." Full of machines. Devoid of humans. She wonders how the carnival workers from Earth would take this kind of news. What if it was Terca Lumireis?

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