lostcarnival | ⇨ THE PRINCE IS DEAD

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⇨ THE PRINCE IS DEAD

Who: Everyone!
When: Day 178 - B1: Day 6
Where: The Carnival and sometimes on top of the Heart of Stone.
What: Now that the Prince is dead and gone, there's a lot left to sort out. As the remaining servants are liberated and those captured by the Prince are tended to, it's time for recovery and goodbyes.
Warnings: Nothing in particular.

HOME GROUND↴

At long last, it is over. The Prince is dead, and all of his stolen Names have been restored - all that's left to do is treat the wounds and move on. For the first day or two, the Ringmaster will be arranging passage for the servants that are left, all of which have remembered their names for the first time in years. The earth elemental that had been trapped and forced to serve as the Prince's manor, the Heart of Stone, is happy to help for the moment. It appreciates the Ringmaster's mercy, and is free after untold eons of imprisonment.

Yet, there are plenty of aspects that are far from simple. There are still servants left mad and transformed into beasts, with no easy way to change them back. The Prince's spells outlive him, and those bearing his poison and his curses will have a difficult road ahead of them. Though most of the bestial servants have been rounded up, and a large number that had been reduced to unmoving statues returned, even the Ringmaster can't return them to normal so simply.

The next week is for rest and for settling remaining affairs. If you want to bid farewell to any particular NPCs, or assure care is given where it's needed, now is the time to do it.

► A CURE: The Ringmaster will tell everyone simply - there is no simple way to undo another fae's magic. The Prince's powers were essentially on par with hers, which means that those who have been transformed to stone and those that were cursed into beasts and driven insane are not something she can trivially fix. It will take the work of the carnival and a couple weeks of treatment to shed the curse of stone, and the maddened servants are an entirely separate matter. She will do what she can, but for the most part she is arranging for the Prince's servants to be cared for elsewhere. At least for now, the Ringmaster will be animating the stone portions of people's bodies with magic, though those portions will still be a bit clumsy and numb feeling.

► THE NEW HEARTSTONE: In the absence of the prince, the Heart of Stone will be taking over the remains of the Prince's realm and preventing it from collapsing into void. As it turns out, the manor had been an earth elemental all along - a form of Wyld Fae almost on par to the Prince and Ringmaster themselves. How the Heart of Stone was enslaved is a long story presumably, but the Ringmaster considers it to be a sign of the Prince's own depravity. The Heart will be allowing visitors for the first couple days of this period through the portal, but keep in mind you are essentially just walking around on its body. At least the realm has a floor, now, instead an endless abyss surrounding it.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

He is really appreciative of that right now. Anyone that has come and gone already seems reluctant to stay around for long.

"Pod 153? That's a rather dull name. Ralph suits it better or Walter."

Not to mention he tends to give everything nicknames. Nor does he really know sometimes technology only responded to respective code strands.

"It would be a shame if you had to do everything yourself, Mister Nines." Nickname acquired even if it isn't all that different.

Wow, that manor cheated and it knows it. He was just going from room to room.

Yeah, seriously! Imagine if he had to clean his and Rita's shared trailer himself! It had been pretty bad when it was just Rita. It had been a sty, even. Luckily for both of them, Pod 153 is perfectly capable of tidying up.

He does brighten up considerably when Tyki uses his nickname, though. Wow, yet another human who uses his nickname without him even telling them!

"Pod 153 is just what it's called." Even though it has a robotic voice that could be interpreted as feminine. "Why Ralph or Walter? Those names are totally different."

At least Nines makes sense!

"They are common names. Plus, it looks rather fancy if you really look at it. One bow tie right about there," he says as he points, "could suit him well. Or even on top of her head."

Common servant names to be exact. He couldn't tell the difference if 9S used him as a servant or not. He was not one to assume.

"There are a lot of them in your world that serve as companions then if it is 153?"

9S follows Tyki's finger and tries to imagine it. ...Yeah, nope, he still doesn't understand how a bowtie would suit Pod 153. What's with humans and assigning features that are irrelevant to the object in question? First it was Rita and her gendered blastia. Now it's giving a name to Pod 153, which doesn't even have emotional AI like androids do?

"Yeah, there's a lot, since a pod is usually assigned to each YoRHa unit. There's actually even more, since pods come in threes. The one with me is actually Pod 153b. They swap out when one's getting maintenance done... I think."

To be honest, he never really paid much attention to the pods. They've always just kind of been there in the background, taking care of the menial tasks that would be a waste of resources if an android was assigned to it.

Because sometimes 9S humans like to live a little outside of necessity. It's called being alive and doing what one wants to do. If he wants to put a bowtie on a pod then let him put a bowtie on a damned pod. Not everything had to have a reason. He needs to teach this boy to indulge already.

"I was wondering what would happen if your boy stopped working. Thankfully you have plenty of them so you don't have to break your back doing your own work." He's teasing of course but if 9S doesn't pick up on that he won't care.

"Still, they are handy by the sounds of them."

But Pod 153 isn't even in the shape of a boy!?

"Yep." They sure are handy. And not just because they have four hands. "I mean, I could do things myself, but that would just be so boring." 9S glances meaningfully over at Tyki's considerable pile of potatoes.

In fact, here is Pod 153 with that water for Tyki. Hovering up to Tyki, Pod 153 offers the glass with one clawed hand. < Water obtained >

Exactly. It has no shape or identity other than its name. Why not make it something cute or fashionable. He knows if he had one he'd probably put something on it to make it seem less plain.

"I feel the same way. It's likely why he thought this task so punishing." Because it really was the boredom killing him.

He should feel awkward about taking things from machines given his era but Tyki surprisingly has no qualms about it at all. His servants at home were Akuma after all. Magics and machines after all. He'll take the water and will drink a good portion of it. He was always thirsty with this poison in him. "Thanks."

Boredom is a special kind of hell. 9S commiserates deeply.

With the water given, Pod 153 will return to 9S. 9S waits until Tyki finishes his water before he speaks. "Hey Tyki. So, uh... I just want to ask. You seem human, but you're kind of not, too. What are you?"

Oh. That's a subject he wasn't expecting. He is aware that others are able to scent and scan him here but it is an interesting question all the same. Does he lie or tell the truth? Was keeping anything a secret worth it anymore?

He tilts his head back against the stool and does a quick once over on how many souls are in the area around them. Only then does he speak again with his fingers now tracing the rim of the glass, "In my world, if I was asked that question and you didn't believe me when I told you I was human, that would be grounds for ensuring you told no one else." To which he means execution or heavy blackmail. The latter rarely happened as much as the first. "I was human. I am human. The correct term would be 'Noah.'" It's all he gives him right now as it was a silent challenge to see if he could correspond any references to that term.

So it's a secret, huh? Ha ha ha... murdering someone who found out too much? Oh, he's more than familiar with that, even if he doesn't remember it. He can't help but let slip a hollow laugh. "I see. Maybe our kind learnt that from humans."

Noah? 9S files it away in his memory as another term, similar to witchers. The name itself has no significance to him; he hasn't read data on the Bible. At least, not in his current time period.

"So you're human and not? What makes you not human?"

He chuckles as he justifies he's had enough of a break and sets the glass to the side with just a little bit of water left in it. He then picks up a potato and starts peeling again just to get back into the swing of it.

"Humans are the ones who made you, right?" he says with a hint of expecting an exchange of information or even curiosity. "That would explain how you might've learned."

He waits for him to decipher what he can and can't before speaking once more, "For starters, I'm not limited by a short lifespan."

Nice try. 9S isn't in the mood to talk about how he's been getting stabbed in the back by the very organisation he was, is, working for. Maybe he never will be.

So instead he follows the second topic of conversation.

"The average life expectancy of a human is about 75 years. So you'd live longer than that? How much longer are we talking here?"

Oh well. 9S is doing enough to keep him company even if for a little while. He can't very well complain.

Now that he's peeling again he can focus on that instead of looking 9S over and getting into that investigation of his own curiosity. He can always have time for that later.

"As long as I want. I won't die from old age." It's not as if they are immortal. It's just they don't die from normal means. Someone would have to kill him.

Huh. He's kind of like an android in that sense, isn't he? As long as they're kept maintained, androids could theoretically live indefinitely. Though he doesn't know many older androids; all of YoRHa are quite 'young' and he's not sure how old the resistance androids are.

"Do you get to pick how you look, too?" 9S waves a hand, vaguely gesturing at the Carnival in general. "Humans usually look different as they age, don't they?"

Though if Lambert's informal survey and Strange's reaction to a lot of peoples' ages was anything to go by, the Carnival are full of people who don't look the age a human usually would expect. Or something.

Good regeneration, a body that was durable, and battle ready at almost all times. In a way he was given he was more of an advanced human than anything else.

"Not really. When we become Noah we generally stop aging. If a human turned into a Noah at age three that is as old as they would ever be. I've never hard of such a case though." Road was the youngest given she looked like a mix of a teen and a kid. She was a bit of a spoiled brat but he loved her.

Hey, that's how old he is! ...In months. A few more months and he'll be that age in years. At least, in terms of when his model was first rolled out.

Still, that's surprising, "'Become Noah'? It's not something you're born?" Is it a mutation, like being a Witcher? "How does one become a Noah?"

It's hard to tell that with 9S even though he might never ask unless it is a vital thing to know. Age hardly mattered when it came to certain principles.

"All humans of my world contain the genes of Noah. When one of us dies another awakens in an individual." It's not a choice. It just happens and sometimes violently.

9S' brows furrow behind his visor. "So it's... like a disease?"

No, that's not quite right, is it? A disease spreads itself amongst the population, transmitting to several people, not just one. But it's the closest thing he can think of.

"But if only one awakens at a time, that must mean your numbers never grow or shrink."

All humans contained the Noah gene. He thinks for a moment in how to explain this properly, "It's kind of like having a function, like a lamp. It gives light, does it not? But only when switched on."

He nods with his eyes now lowering towards the potato he's peeling, "Yes. That is correct. It takes some time to replenish when one is killed but it does happen eventually."

9S considers that explanation before nodding, a hand rubbing at his chin thoughtfully. Fascinating. "That's an interesting evolutionary trait. But it just means you're a human but changed, right? Kind of like how the humans of the carnival get changed by the magic in the air, except it's genetically induced."

So really, Tyki is still a human as far as 9S is concerned.

"So what else does having the Noah trait provide?" Other than the cessation of aging.

"You could put it that way," he replies with no real intention of fighting it. In a way they were human but they weren't. 9S would understand more if he knew about the eradication of the human race and how they were going to go about it but that's information he's not just going to openly say.

"Speed, strength, inhuman abilities." Command over all human turned Akuma and souls.

You can't just dangle information like that in front of him and not elaborate!

9S leans forward. "Inhuman abilities liiike...?"

Edited 2017-12-28 09:59 (UTC)

He kind of just did and his grin snaps onto his face wider than it should. 9S is too fun to mess with.

"Sorry, buddy. I'm not allowed to use any of my magic or powers right now," he teases while peeling that potato. If prompted, he will show him but he can't pass up this opportunity to screw with him.

Nooo...

9S huffs, his voice taking on a distinctive whine. "Aw, come on! Not even a little bit?"

This is so unfair!

"You're not allowed to use magic because of your punishment, right? But if you're just showing me and not actually using it to peel potatoes, I'm sure it'll be fine!"

Oh man, that is adorable. He's almost whining. Tyki will laugh softly only to regret it as his lungs attack him in the process.

He coughs and is forced to drink a bit more water before he tosses the peeled potato into the basket and once again sticks the knife into the ground.

"Okay, okay. I'll show you something simple then," he says as he lifts his hand into the air and offers it to 9S. He's waiting for him to take it but 9S will find the moment he tries to, he can't. 9S's hand will pass right through his no matter how hard he tries to grasp it.

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