lostcarnival | ⇨ THE MATRIX

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⇨ 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.

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“I’m a natural born troublemaker, ain’t I!” is the hooted back answer, although whatever grace Joker is displaying is done over by him almost tripping over some small decorative fence as he decides to take a shortcut through the nearest tiny park area. Truly the picture of elegance over here.

Psi cracks a smile at that, both the trip and the response as he easily hurdles over the fence. Joker might even be able to hear him laughing. Despite the fall Joker is still leading him, to where the Psionic has no idea. The cops aren't agent possessed just normal humans, and not necessarily in the best of shape either. They're falling behind the two carnival workers looking smaller with each passing second.

"Think I'm the one... Getting into.... Trouble." The Psionic shouts back in between breaths.

The good news is that this park, for all that it’s small, is dense, and has a small area to the side that’s basically just an entire solid arch with vines and other plantlife wrapped thick through it. A nice place to duck away into before getting through the other side, and Joker is pretty sure that by this point, they’ll be able to slip into it before the cops catch up enough to see where they’re going. So he gestures for Psi to follow him after into it, slowing to a stop by some benches that are set right in the middle.

The Psionic slows to a halt behind him, grinning in amusement at the hiding spot Joker's found for them. He didn't look back at all to see how close the cops were to catching up with him, but if they find the two of them they can just run off again. He shakes his head, amazed Joker's found a place like this already, was it just random luck? For not the first time Psionic finds himself thinking that Joker would make a pretty crafty troll. He's breathing deeply now, but still doesn't feel tired. His face is flushed gold, a leftover of his self image he hadn't thought to change in the white room. His blood isn't even yellow at the carnival these days, but it's clearly still how he thinks of himself for better or worse.

He looks around, crouching a bit, as though he's afraid of getting caught if he stands to his full height. He waits a few minutes, but it's quiet, the cops never showing up.

Honestly, Joker had half been expecting for the cops to show up right on their tail any second now. It’s why his own body is tense as well as he makes sure to stay in the way of Psi, ready to make up some sort of bullshit scene that would keep him least visible while also making people less likely to look over him. (Was it makeouts? It might have been makeouts.)

However, there’s nothing, and he lets out an exaggerated breath before a quiet breathless cackle escapes him. “I swear, we’ve been in this world for, what, ten minutes, and you’ve already got yerself in trouble with the local Mutton Shunters.” A little bit of slang that slips out in all his excitement, something he doesn’t really think twice about. “Yer a work of art, god bless ya.”

The Psionic laughs back in relief and astonishment more than anything else. As the adrenaline starts to fade from his system he feels tired, but also very happy. Whatever Mutton Shunter translates to for him, it must be hilarious because it only makes him laugh louder to here Joker say it. He stifles the sound just long enough to gracefully bow to his companion. He's always happy to please especially if the person he's pleasing has just gotten him out of a ton of trouble.

"You spray a little paint somewhere and suddenly everyone's a critic." he comments, still smiling widely. "Maybe if I'd painted their faces they wouldn't have gotten so angry."

“I think when the art is on their person, then they get even more critical,” he quips, flopping down onto the bench and letting his head rest against the back. A grin is still spread across his face. “So what’s this about, ah whatsit, graffiti?”

Psi doesn't sit down, his heart still pumping from the chase. He looks to Joker as he flops over though. The way Joker moves reminds him very much of a cat sometimes and now is just one of those moments. Like a lazy cat basking in the sun. What a ridiculous thought.

He shrugs at the question, though he's still smiling. He isn't just committing aimless public vandalism. He has a goal in mind, though admittedly it is a bit of a silly one at that. He wouldn't normally share it, but he trusts Joker not to laugh at him. At least, not to laugh too much.

"I figured if I left signs a bunch of places maybe the people rebelling here would see it, and know I wanted to help them. Or something."

Sure enough, Joker doesn’t laugh, although he does curiously tilt his head. That’s right, there’s a resistance of some sort here, isn’t there? If he’s honest… He doesn’t think he’d much mind if everyone from the carnival stayed out of that. He’s still remember what happened with the vampires. They’d gotten involved then, and it’d come crashing down on their doorstep. Besides, even if he wasn’t inclined to that line of thinking from the start… The carnival is still licking its wounds. Still trying to find so many people to fill the gaps of the exodues that came after everything.

But, well… Psi cares so much about that kind of thing. He supposes he can’t be surprised. So instead he asks, “Do ya think they’ll know that’s what ya mean, or how ta get in contact with ya if they do?”

He looks bashful, as he considers the question. He's very grateful for the lack of teasing. Still, it doesn't stop him from feeling a bit embarrassed at seeming 'earnest' about something he actually cares about.

"Well. I figure I'll leave my message, and if they're curious enough maybe they'll write back." It's a long shoot, not even a plan really so much as a vague idea, but it's the only idea he's got. This world's business isn't really his to mess with anyway. That's what he'd like to convince himself anyway. Stuff like this could be dangerous to get involved with. He knew that better than most.

"I just, like to help." He kicks at the ground, his breathing finally returning to normal as his heart slows. It's supposed to be an excuse, but it's just a really obvious fact. He shrugs, as though that makes the idea seem less bad.

Just a little bit, he feels the edges of his grin softening. I just like to help. Yeah, he does, doesn’t he, and being reminded of how…. good Psi is beneath all the teasing and ridiculousness and dirty jokes. It makes his heart twist a little every time he’s reminded of it. Each time, he’s never sure if it’s in fondness or the bittersweet knowledge that something like that… It can’t survive. Good things, good people, they all get dashed to pieces in the end.

Joker’s seen too much cruelty to have faith in any other option, honestly, even if he lets himself enjoy the sweet moments inbetween.

Those kind of thoughts don’t show on his face, just that faint lilt hinting at sweetness, and he jerks his head to the space besides him on the bench. “Well, all sortsa things happen where we pop in, so who knows?” he offers, not really an answer either way. “But if ya keep runnin’ around, ya might miss the perfectly legal fun ya can have, y’know.”

It really can't survive, and Psi would be the first to admit it. That wasn't a good enough reason not to try, not in his mind at least. Even if it killed you, doing something was better than waiting for life's inevitable cruelty to come strike you down again. As far as he was concerned focusing on helping others was the only option other than giving up. It's not the kind of thing they talk about, so such feelings go unsaid.

Unaware of Joker's thoughts as he is he focuses on the man's words instead. He takes a seat on the bench, clearly skeptical.

"Legal fun? Doing what? This place is like a worse version of ancient Alternia."

Not that he's ever been to ancient Alternia, but 1990's earth sounds just as boring and dull as he imagines ancient life to be.

“Do ya even have ta ask?” Turning in his seat to better face him, Joker waggles his eyebrows playfully. “There’s always booze.” Not that Joker has ever really gotten drunk before, more preferring to stay on the sidelines and laugh at other people getting plastered. He knows himself, and he knows that a drunk him is something that no one is going to want to see.

Still. Something to consider, right?

Psi just laughs, rolling his eyes.

"I feel like getting drunk when we're undercover might end up being a not great idea." He was usually pretty content to get a drink, even if it didn't mean getting drunk, but he could do that at the carnival without any worries about getting found out as an alien and all. "And human genitals are weird. Getting laid looking like this just feels wrong."

Booze, sex, those were the kinds of things you did for fun, both options seemed limited here. They probably had movies though... Human movies. Psi frowns.

"Actually, humans in general are just weird."

Case and point being the human sitting right next to him.

Feigning exaggerated offense, Joker gasps and presses his hand against his chest. “Now if that ain’t the rudest thing that’s ever been said ta me!” That’s a lie; he’s had to hear a lot worse. “I didn’t hear ya complainin’ when I popped in for a visit, ya rogue.”

"I didn't say I didn't like it." Psi says, smirking at Joker. Still, humans and trolls were just different. It was hard not to be perturbed by those differences sometimes. Mostly though it just felt weird to get laid in a body that wasn't really his when the other person didn't know it wasn't his. It just felt too much like he was lying.

"To be honest, I'm not even sure if I made mine look right."

Well, he supposes he can understand that. If their situations were reversed, Joker is sure that he’d be in the same boat. His fingers tap along the back of the bench. “Well, so long as yer not gonna be usin’ it for any particular reason… I mean, most folks don’t go showin’ their goolies on the regular, now, do they?” Another flicker of a grin. “Still, there’s gotta be somethin’ ta do that’ll catch yer interest, although I guess it’s all a lot more impressive ta me considerin’.”

Psi laughs. "Oh yeah."

He hadn't even thought about that. "What did you guys even do for fun back then?"

If earth was this boring now, he can't imagine what it must have been like in the caveman days. Well, no actually, probably still booze and sex, huh? Any kind of movie or show was out as he probably wouldn't understand them. Computers, no, games, maybe? Human's probably had some kind of sports, but was it any fun to even compete if you couldn't use psionics? Probably not. He falls silent as he thinks.

"Maybe something needlessly reckless?"

“Like messin’ with the cops?” he says, grinning going from ear to ear. With that tease out of the way, he gives a shrug. “Anyway, games, and things, when I was younger. Makin’ up rhymes, pretend play, ya know.” Joker shrugs and pauses, realizing he’d been trying to include wing muscles that, as of right now, aren’t really an existing thing.

“Me, I could only do so much, so I read fairy tales and the like, ha ha.” Which is quite handy considering his situation. “But then, with kids like me and my family, ya could have given us a stick, and we would have had fun. When ya don’t have nothin’, ya get like that a bit.”

His smile fades a bit at that comment. Of course if Joker had asked him what he did for fun as a kid what would he say? Count the cracks in the floor of his owner's courtyard? Step on only the black colored tiles? He probably would have had as much fun with a stick as Joker would have.

"What kinds of fairy tales?"

"Ah, lessee... Lots of romantic ones- you know. Poor girl gets a fairy godmother, goes ta a ball, makes a prince fall in love with her and he has ta find out who she really is... That's one." Cinderella, always a classic. He remembers telling Doll that one plenty of times. He taps his fingers again.

"Oh, there's the one about Bluebeard and his wives. I'd say that's a bit more morbid, but, ha." A shrug. "Cinderella's stepsisters' get their eyes pecked out, so." Fairy tales can be dreadfully gory things sometimes.

Psi frowns, he didn't think human stories had stuff like that in them. Troll fairy tales weren't super gory, but they did usually talk about things like conformity and obedience. At least a poor girl falling in love with a rich guy was kind of a pleasant thought.

He's been around humans so much, but there was still a lot about them that he didn't understand. Usually he just pretended he knew what the people around him were talking about if he didn't, but he knew Joker wouldn't think any less of him for asking.

"What's a godmother?"

Oh, right. Completely foreign race. Joker pauses for a moment, trying to figure out how to describe it. “It’s someone really close ta yer family, a lady, and she promises ta look after ya, especially if anythin’ happens ta yer parents. Well.” An awkward pause. “Not you-you, but… y’know.” In the general sense.

Psi laughs. He knew what Joker meant of course, but the awkwardness of his pause is amusing.

"How'd she get poor if she had a fairy for a godmother in the first place?"

Of course, with the fairies they know it isn't too hard to think of a reason.

"Maybe the girl needed to break a carnival game first."

An ugly snort bursts out of him, and Joker grins lazily. “Maybe she should have,” he agrees. That would have certainly changed the story around, wouldn’t it? Quite a unique fairy tale. “But that’s just the story how I know it goes.”

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⇨ THE MATRIX

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