lostcarnival | ⇨ THE MATRIX

Who: EVERYONE!
When: S1:D22 - S1:D??
Where: Visiting the Matrix.
What: The carnival arrives at its next location, as outlined here. This is a general mingling log for convenience purposes, but players are welcome to make as many other logs for this purpose as desired.
Warnings: Could be a lot of things.

THE MATRIX↴

"What IS the Matrix? The Matrix is a system, Neo. That system is our enemy. But when you're inside, you look around, what do you see? Businessmen, teachers, lawyers, carpenters. The very minds of the people we are trying to save. But until we do, these people are still a part of that system and that makes them our enemy. You have to understand, most of these people are not ready to be unplugged. And many of them are so inured, so hopelessly dependent on the system, that they will fight to protect it."

► INSIDE: On the inside, it all seems so normal. Beyond what you know of the reality you've stepped in, every bit of this place feels just as real as it did back in the carnival. If you were to forget where you'd just come from, would you know any different? The simulation of Chicago is identical to how it would have been in the early days of the new millenia, to anyone who comes from a similar Earth. Humans bustle around you, oblivious to the world outside of the Matrix that they were born into. One bright side to it all is that this hyper realism means the coffee tastes just as good as it does in real life. Anything you could do in real Chicago you can do here - and perhaps even more.

► WHITE ROOM: But before that, you were here. The White Room is a loading program, intended to port objects and people into the Matrix. You arrive as a reconstruction of your true physical form, but common sense suggests that for some of you, entering the mundane world looking like yourself isn't the best idea. It's in this empty world that you will be able to load in whatever physical objects you are, and change the way you present your own body to the system. Changes can be little, or big, but whatever you do, the body has to be able to function according to Earth's physical laws. Don't forget, if you die here, you die in the carnival too.

► DEJA VU: It doesn't matter what you're doing, but at some point you'll notice it - something around you has repeated itself, like a line on a skipping record. Maybe it's the same person bumping into you twice in a row, or the same cab driver yelling at you to get out of the way. It's like reality has rewound and repeated itself, and after the fact you have no proof of it happening beyond the memory of what you saw. You don't know what it means, but something about it is chilling. It may be a good time to find a buddy.

► THE ONE: It won't necessarily come naturally, but in a moment of need you may find yourself bending the world of the Matrix through sheer belief and force of need. How you bend it will always stay without the rules of the universe, at least for now, but when it comes to enhancing your own physical characteristics, just about anything is possible. It will not be easily reproducible, not now, but it could be your first view into the window of what's possible.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Oh Steven. Peridot blinks back down at him, through Percy's weird Canadian boy eyes.

(It's strange being taller than Steven, after going for so long without her enhancers.)

Then she makes a scoffing noise, shrugging and rolling her eyes. "What could possibly hurt me in here badly enough to harm my super sturdy gem body back in the real world? Besides, I think you're on to something there..."

She starts glancing at their surroundings contemplatively, apparently searching for inspiration for death-defying stunts that she can attempt in order to trigger these weird powers once more.

Oh no he did a bad. Steven immediately starts flushing nervously, seeing the way she is looking around. She is getting ideas, he just knows it. Usually Peridot can survive her own ideas, but he's concerned it won't be the same way here.

"I-I don't think it works like that - I think it's more like... brain... hurt? Or... gem brain hurt? You know, the gem parts that I guess you think in and stuff? What if you mess your brain up and... and get corrupted or cracked or... or something."

The last part just sort of pours out.

The mention of corruption does at least gives her pause, because... Well. Obvious reasons. She finds herself suppressing a shudder of disgust, and attempts to brush off her uneasiness with a dismissive laugh. "Gems don't have brains," she snorts. "We're beings pure consciousness. We don't do organs like you humans do. But I'll concede that you do have a point... that kind of damage does sound more logically feasible than a physical crack..."

Peridot shakes her head. No... She knows stopping that truck that had to have been her own doing, and what a rush it had been! She's never been able to exert power like that before, not without some sort of technological crutch.

Frantic, she suddenly gets in REALLY CLOSE, leaning down and grabbing Steven by the shoulders. Stares him in the eyes with BURNING PASSION. Passion... for throwing large objects with her not-brain. And she launches into a heartfelt plea.

"Steven... Steven you don't understand. If I have some kind of power here I need to know! I've never been able to do ANYTHING like that before! I mean, back in the real world... My metal powers are incredible and all, and I know I'm an incredible specimen of Gem even without the super strength and the crazy jumping and the shapeshifting, but this is a technological world of endless possibilities. Maybe I can do those things, like everyone else! If I could just see how that feels, for just a little while..."

THROW SOMETHING AT HER, STEVEN.

Edited 2016-12-02 16:08 (UTC)

Oh... He kind of knew it had to be about something like this.

Peridot thought pretty highly of herself most of the time but he knew she'd been sore about how she couldn't do some of the things older generations of gems had been able to. Even with her metal powers, she couldn't compete with a lot of the other aspects of the Crystal Gems, and he knows how that feels. It used to be the same way with him, because of his partially human heritage.

So, he slumps a little, feeling too sympathetic to turn her down entirely. He frowns, and looks up at her.

"...Okay. But you still have to be careful. Things here seem... different."

"Yes!" Percydot exclaims when he relents, and she does an excited little dance in place. "Not to worry. We'll be as careful as we can possibly be when the work involves putting myself in physical danger."

She sounds... very confident about that, despite the contradictory nature of the statement.

He sighs, but it's hard to stay annoyed when she's so excited. He really does hope this works out for he. He looks around, a bit clueless of where to start.

"So. Um... What did you want me to throw?" It better not be a big rock.

"...Good question." She puts her hands on her hips and looks around a little more carefully, scanning the ground for a moment until...

"Oh!" Peridot bends over and starts scrabbling in the dirt for something, and then pulling at that something, grunting until the object in question tugs free from the earth and she falls back a negligible distance on her ass.

She blinks for a moment, and then holds up half of a brick. "What about this!? It's got a good heft to it..."

Steven gives the brick a nervous look. He doesn't like that at all. He gingerly move to take it from her, weighing it in his hands.

"I dunno, Peridot... It seems a little too hefty, if you ask me."

"Steven, it'll be fine," she insists. "Even if I don't stop it in time, what's the worst that could happen!?"

A lot of thing, he thinks, but he's not sure if he'll be able to explain that to her. She's a gem, after all. She's never really been fragile, has she? He grimaces at the brick, and at her, and closes his eyes as he slowly trying to pump himself up.

"Okay..." he says reluctantly, pulling back the thing and getting ready to throw. He brings it back once. Twice. Three times. He still hasn't thrown. He opens one eye and looks at her.

He throws it, flaccidly. The brick flops onto the ground somewhere between their feet.

⇨ THE MATRIX

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