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

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?

"...Sorry." 9S rubs at the back of his neck. He hadn't considered how shocking describing the state of his world would be for a human. In hindsight, if he'd been told that android life had practically been wiped out, he'd be pretty upset about it, too. "If you saw Earth before, I guess it would be a pretty big shock to know what it's like in my time."

But he is a little envious that she got to visit what sounds like Earth during a time where humans inhabited it. He has plenty of time to grill her on it later.

"If you're not from Earth, then where are you from?"

Fortunately, Rita isn't one to stay downcast for long. If anything, she's kind of impressed at his understanding of human emotions. Especially when plenty of humans she knows can't read the mood worth a damn, half the time.

"Terca Lumireis. That's the name of my planet." She supposes she should say more, as the name alone doesn't tell him much, but it's hard to think of how to describe your own world. To Rita, Terca Lumireis is just normal. There's a delay before she continues. "As far as I can tell, there aren't any significant differences between us and humans from Earth. A lot of animals are different, though. And... if I had to say what the biggest difference between our societies is, it'd be our reliance on magic-powered technology, as opposed to their reliance on electricity."

Of course, Rita doesn't know if that still applies after ten thousand years. Civilization and technology could completely change in that much time.

Electricity is still used quite prominently, but there are other forms of power generation now. His own power source, for example.

9S considers Rita's words. If Terca Lumireis is another planet, could it actually be somewhere out the same world, but a different part of space? Androids had never bothered with space exploration, not when they were so focused on Earth. Maybe that's something they could do, after the war with the machines is over.

"If you've got easy access to magic, that makes sense." He nods, before pointing at Rita's necklace. "Is that example of your magic-powered technology? It doesn't seem like normal jewelery."

"You can tell?" Rita asks, sounding mildly impressed. She brings a hand up to her choker, feeling over the red jewel with her fingertips, and nods, smirking with pride. "That's right. This is a blastia - a bodhi blastia, to be exact. When worn on the body, it enables an ordinary human to use magic, and can be used to enhance other abilities in combat."

So it's some kind of catalyst for humans? Fascinating. "I wonder if an android could use one. We are like humans in a lot of ways."

They have a lot of features that technically make them more ineffecient, but are kept with respect to their creators. 9S can't bring himself to mind them; it's hard to, when taking them away would make him feel like there's a part of him lacking.

"Even if an android normally can't make use of it, I could still take a peek..." 9S raises a hand, hopeful. He really wants to take a peek and see if it's something that can be hacked and inspected that way. "...Since your blastia seems to be part technological and all."

Rita's hand clenches over the blastia in a sort of protective reflex. Her daemon, which appeared to be relaxing a moment ago, gives him a wide-eyed stare.

"Looking is fine, but..." Clearly, she's a bit wary about it. "I can't lend her to you. I never take off this blastia. And no messing with the formula, either." By the formula, she means a sort of program that determines the blastia's behavior, which may actually be accessed through hacking. To Rita, someone else altering that code would be a taboo far worse than any soul-touching could amount to.

Having made that clear, she lets her hand drop as she relaxes a little. "And to my knowledge... it should be possible for androids to use blastia." There are a few uncertain factors, but even if they became issues, they could be easily worked around.

Aw... He wants to peek inside so badly, but it's clear that the blastia is important to her. Sentimental, maybe? Either way, it seems like she'd probably get real mad if he messed around with it.

9S lowers his hand, but the disappointment is clearly written on his expression. "'Her'?" If his eyes weren't covered, 9S would be shooting Rita a dubious look. "Can a mechanical device like that even have a gender?"

Heck, from outward appearances, it doesn't even appear to have the capability of thought or communication.

Immediately, Rita's face turns red. "That's just..." Yep, she realizes how weird it is. They're inanimate objects. "...because to me, the blastia are more than just tools." Not that anyone can really understand her feelings on the matter, but at least most don't have the nerve to say anything about it.

"B-besides, what are you saying that for? You're mechanical yourself. Are you saying you're fine with being called it?" In fact, he didn't actually express a preference, and Rita knows full well that they're not equivalent anyway, but she's flustered and feels the need to deflect right now.

9S shifts uncomfortably on his feet. Is that how humans view that pronoun? That 'it' is an indicator of a mere tool, while gender shows a level of closeness unrelated to the target's actual ability to think?

"We are sexless by default, but..." That's probably more information than what Rita wanted to know. "I guess it feels kind of cold if you called me an it."

It's a plain fact that he's sexless but hearing 'it' directed his way fills him with a sense of detachment and dread he can't quite place his finger on. Maybe she does have a point about 'it' being used for just tools. He's made to serve but being seen as a mere tool rather than a person doesn't sit well with him.

Unwilling to dwell on that thought for any longer than necessary, 9S continues, "A-Anyway, I'm a YoRHa number 9 type S model, but people call me 9S. What's your name?"

It feels cold...? Well, maybe he does understand what she means, in some way.

"9S...?" She gives him a dubious look. For someone who looks and sounds so human, it seems kind of odd that he doesn't have a more human-like name.

Oh well. He asked for her name, and she might as well give it. "My name's Rita. Rita Mordio." She shrugs. "I've only been here a couple months, but I can probably answer any questions you have about the carnival."

Rita? Now where did he hear that name before--

"Oh!" A small smile crawls across his face as he realises who she is. "I was told you're supposed to be my roommate."

It's pretty convenient meeting her here and now, all things considered.

"Roommate? Wait... you?" Rita blinks a few times, processing that. That was fast; Childermass only just moved. She takes another moment to consider this information. Having an android for a roommate... and the pod's coming too, she supposes. After a delay, she shrugs. "Well, I guess it beats living with an old man and a slobbering dog."

In fact... this could be an opportunity to learn more about 9S and his technology. Sharing a roof might actually be to Rita's advantage.

"Have you seen the place yet? I can show you there."

An old man and a slobbering dog? Does he want to know?

"Nope. Lead the way."

If Rita starts walking towards their shared trailer, 9S will fall into step beside her.

"You know," he begins casually. "I wasn't in much of a hurry to find out where I was rooming. I always had my own room, but it's not like I used it for anything other than sleeping. So it didn't seem all that important."

He sends Rita a broad smile.

"But now that I know I'll be rooming with you, I'm actually kinda looking forward to it!"

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