lostcarnival | ⇨ THE MATRIX

Entry tags:

⇨ 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.

Threaded | Top-Level Comments Only

Reply to this comment if you are down with the idea of your character being captured by Agents. No promises of what will happen quite yet, but if people make a show, the Agents are going to have to start investigating somewhere.

I volunteer Sherlock as tribute!

W E L P

'when u set urself on fire to find rebels but find agents instead'

at least now she can give a Very Thorough Report, MAYBE

Diving in

Yukine could swear there was the slightest tint of green in this world. All the same, her eyes' copper color had to be hidden behind a pair of tinted glasses and a white coat that hid anything else her body might have gained in the last days, afraid of any further changes that could have taken place while she hadn't noticed.

The more Yukine crosses between both worlds, the more her eyes seem to almost glow copper when she takes her glasses off, such as when she does to speak to your character, from the abandoned parking building they were meant to emerge from. Particularly that public telephone that seemed to almost defy time.

"It's so strange. It reminds me of a lot of manga where people would be stuck in an MMO." Yukine did, however, spend some time looking at the fashion she acquired via the white room, and she smiled at the leather she got for herself, "I decided to pick something new for myself while here..."

Public Relations

"You come from where?" A being clad in even more white than Yukine asked in an almost angelic voice.

"A circus! We're new in town." Yukine happily ate her hamburger, which, curiously, reminding herself it wasn't real improved its taste to the point of becoming a delicacy. "You're different, aren't you? We come from a lot of backgrounds."

"I am." The soft-spoken person seemed to have the food on her own plate only as decoration, which truth be told, in this world, was. "but not to the extent you do seem to be, given you are not from any sort of program or batch we have ever known about."

"Hn! I believe you would find it most fascinating. I do feel a little guilty about not being able to mention everything..." Yukine then looked up as she spotted a familiar face from the Carnival...

Believing and Knowing

It was something in the air. Yukine had long since mastered the realization when an atmosphere was not right, and when would a fight erupt out of nowhere. This was worse. It felt literally patched up onto the atmosphere. Coughs, routines, and people pasted in and copied to mute somebody's run.

She looked around. She instinctively held her gem.

The way the crowds moved, the sudden shift of them. Yukine began looking around, trying to spot anything out of the ordinary, people that would know what was happening. A second look at one place at the furthest end of the street let her know what was happening. Color drained from her face when she realized it.

A man in black had taken the place of a salaryman. He had upholstered his pistol, and was looking straight at Yukine.

Edited 2016-11-29 04:05 (UTC)

IT'S A SEA OF ~~BLACK~~ WHITE

[The white room is definitely accurately named, and Carly will be quick to comment on it the minute she enters. The first warning is clear though-especially as one of the Nightrunners, and ESPECIALLY as a Scout-'blend in, keep an eye open'. Blending in means looking human though so...] Ummm... [She starts 'scrubbing' at all the black patterns over herself, practically changing into her clothes without even taking them off.] Feathers, marks...

[As she mutters, she shrinks a bit, the bird-like legs downsizing to proper human ones. It feels 'odd' honestly. Almost wrong, in fact. Aslla has yet to make a comment of course (honestly she's not even sure Aslla is IN here...maybe he's piloting the body right now? No wait that wouldn't work. Hrm. But at the end of it all she's back down to 5'6'' (still rather tall for a japanese woman, admittedly), wearing capris, sneakers, her striped shirt and vest...]

Mmmhm! There! [she declares, hands on her hips as she proudly turns to whoever happens to be using the room themselves.] How do I look! This is what I used to look like you know~

[Except something's missing, Carly. And it's not just the glasses.

Her sclera are still jet black.]

EYE SPY IN MY CAMERA EYE...

I'm going to see all the landmarks..!! All of them..!

[It's a statement she probably makes at every new venue, but this time Carly's serious about it. She's got a hold of a camera that looks curiously similar to the one she had in her home world, and she's running left and right like a kid at Christmas, taking pictures of the Pier, of the theatre, of the Magnificent Mile (a number of shoppers shake their head, muttering 'tourists' under their breath)...]

Ah! Hey, hey, can one of you take my picture? [she asks some random bystander at one point, before posing next to a piece of public art. It seems like standard tourist stuff, with the added advantage of keeping her eyes peeled for anything wrong, but as the person takes a picture...

...It feels a bit like the ones holding the camera now are adjusting the settings in the exact same way twice...

...Thrice...] Ahahahaaaa...

[oh no

she found the something wrong]

THIS...GIRL...IS ON FIAAAAAH!

Hmmmm... TADAHH! [As she promised, she's going to make a SHOW. She's not really sure how this entertaining thing works, but maybe if she does this right, all the regular bystanders will figure 'magic trick' while one of those rebel sorts realize it's 'real'. But she's got a hat set up in front of her, and with enough focus...]

Just like that, not a burn at all.! [FIRE! ALL OVER HER ARMS! It's a little tricky without her wings around to make this 'cloak', but hey, it's supposed to be a magic fire trick or...something or other.

There's a reason she's not a showman. ~~the nightrider's going to have her head if this blows in her face, she's sure...though somehow it might have been all those tourist-type runs that get her in MORE trouble...~~]

Please Insert Coin

This time, when Chiaki hears what the new venue is, she has to check it out for herself. Every morning before work, she hops into the Matrix - often with Yuugi at her side - speeds through the White Room, and begins exploring. She's fashioned a green trenchcoat dress for herself, and keeps her hoodie buttoned tightly over her furry ears. There's just one problem.

"Miss, is your mom around?" She gets the question no matter what store she walks into, and she sighs and turns to leave it. Maybe the next place will be more forgiving...

Gamer In Disguise

Of course, the events give her ideas, and later in the week she's in uniform at the playground of a local middle school in the morning, sitting reading a book by the entrance and watching parents bring their kids to school each day. She swings her legs and sips a juicebox, blending in perfectly with the other children.

Power Up!

It's not long before Chiaki figures out what's going on with the One power. (It involved an escape from bullies. Best not to ask.) But that means that late in the week and early in the morning, she can be found on top of one of the skyscrapers, eyeing the other side with a fierce excitement.

"Okay. I'm going to jump. Are you coming?"

Edited 2016-11-29 07:20 (UTC)

white room

[It's easy to work out. For someone who's been to three virtual worlds and spent most of his childhood immersed in games, it comes easy to Yuugi to imagine and utilize the white room. With a bit of working, his ears blend into his hair, now spiky again but with a bit of a shorter cut and a few extra blond streaks, jaw rubbed at until his teeth dulled in their sharpness. Unsure about what to do about his eyes, he decides to leave them before he turns to look as he fixes the sleeve of his shirt down slightly. The look gets finished with a white coat that rests around his shoulders like a cape rather than pulled on properly.

Noticing a look for the last article of clothing, he shrugs and flicks the collar, humming slightly as he fixes it before he huffs and turns to look, spreading his arms.]

How does it look? I'm...not that great with fashion to be honest. Or with blending in it seems...

deja vu

[He's been to America but none of the major cities, which was a bit of a disappointment, but with the peace of the world hanging in the balance, there wasn't any time to sight see. Not to mention his soul being taken, but that doesn't get mentioned at all if it gets asked. Millennium Park, Lincoln Zoo, Magnificent Mile...

Honestly, after everything, he had sort of considered going to America for a bit of a rest. Something away from the familiar and the things that reminded him of those times. He could probably have asked Rebecca if he could stay with her and her grandfather, but he wouldn't have wanted to impose. Still, with the Skydeck under his feet and that feeling of being on the edge of the world, despite the people there's still that alone feeling.

No thoughts that don't match his. No ghostly feeling at his shoulder or back.

It feels like for the second time that he bumps into someone on his way out of the Skydeck, nobody from the carnival, otherwise he'd probably recognize them. Yuugi shakes his head, raising a hand to rub at his temples.

Hey, buddy, you okay?]

Fine...

[It's a murmur, but there's the distinct feeling of something being wrong. Yuugi shakes off the feeling, before deciding to go and find someone. Anyone, really. Chiaki preferably, but the second he recognizes someone from the carnival on the street, he reaches to get their attention, speaking softly.]

Something feels...wrong...

Edited 2016-11-29 09:57 (UTC)

[Really, they kind of both figured it out at the same time, which shouldn't have been surprising when they spent most of the week buddying up together. It made sense in that way, which explains why he finds himself standing there with her later on in the week, hands casually in the pockets of his jacket as the sun barely touches the horizon, lighting the city on fire around them.

For the briefest moment he considers asking if she's sure before he shakes that off. Doubting will almost guarantee that it won't work after all. Instead, he reaches to take hold of one of her hands, squeezing.]

Right behind you.

[The first time they'd met, she had said that he wouldn't recognize her, if he remembered and met her thirty years down the track. Watching her do away with the changes, the legs, the fae marks, Yuugi slowly realizes he's seeing the real Carly, underneath the changes and her time in the carnival, and stops in his own remaking to watch with some fascination.

After a moment, he continues on with his own, hands rubbing his jaw until his teeth are "human" enough, ears blending into his hair easily. He then glances back and smiles softly as he spikes his hair again with a sweep of his hands.]

I knew I'd recognize you if I met the real "you".

[Carly gives a good stretch before turning to look at Yuugi herself-and, erm.

Are the whites of her eyes supposed to still be black?

Naturally Carly misinterprets Yuugi entirely though.] Eh-?! Th-That's no fair though, I didn't know there'd be a time where you actually got to see what I used to look like..! [She panics, shaking her head.]

White Room.

[As if a little deception would bother Zecora. She'd been mastering the transformation magic of the fae for a year now.]

[In fact, her assumed appearance is flawlessly human, if one makes allowances for hair dye and body paint.]

[The problem is her wardrobe selection. Zecora is casually tossing on a cloak and a mishmash ensemble of greys that really suits her appearance -- but not the city they're traveling to. Having encountered humans primarily in the carnival, she has no real understanding of fashion norms in the place they're heading to. Might want to stop her and get her fully with the program?]

Diving In.

[The truth is, Zecora is here out of curiosity, not with any agenda. Everything is new to her eyes, after all -- so if you're heading in, you're likely to find a zebra -- or rather, a human woman -- approaching you with intent to join.]

Though this trip will be fun
Two heads are better than one.

[ She's actually not completely sure if this will work. She supposes that's the fun part about this, right? It's the fun part about any game - and that's kind of what this world is, in a way.

Her heart pounding, she grips Yuugi's hand tightly. ] On three, all right? [ Don't think about it. Just do it. She stares at the other building, focusing on it rather than the gulf. ] One... two...

[ Though it takes her a moment to recognize the former zebra, she's not as startled as she has been by other things. Maybe she's starting to get desensitized to the strange things involved at the Carnival.

Chiaki's smaller than they were when they first met by almost a foot, but it might be hard to tell given that Zecora's a different species now. She looks up at the doctor with a wide smile. ]

Mm! And good for keeping an eye on things, too... I'm trying to watch out for anything strange.

[ That is strange. Chiaki's passing by with a middle school group, posing as one of the children while they tour the city's sights. But even she can't ignore the strange sense of deja vu around Carly. She slips away from the group and hurries up to the woman. ]

What's happening? [ She murmurs it quietly as the bystander keeps adjusting the camera. ]

Character Select

Computers have never exactly been Greg's wheelhouse, especially anything as advanced as this. If there's one thing he has in spades, however, it's creativity. It only takes a few pokes and prods at his jaw line and nose and a fresh head of hair before he figures it to be a suitable disguise. Best of all, it's gloriously free of tusks.

"What's the weather in there like, though? Trenchcoat feels a little heavy. Hey, if this look's in fashion, you think I can go full glam again? It's still in style!"

Sandbox Setting

He's still not sure what exactly he's supposed to do around here when he's not working. Sightseeing? Conspiracy? Rebellion? Backflips? The first option is closest to his comfort zone, at least.

"Is inflation still something they have to worry about, though?" He can't just summon up a bunch of cash in the white room and leave the digital economy to deal with it. These people have enough problems as is. "Feels like performing for tips outside work is cutting in on the boss' time, too. Maybe we can just check out this bean thing, that's free, right?"

Edited 2016-11-29 19:00 (UTC)

[Why was this any different than the billions of other times he had thrown himself headfirst into danger. Well, for starters, he actually sort of knew what he was getting into, and it was usually for a friend, or the world. His own health aside, he generally came out unscathed. How was this any different than any of those other times when he had believed and knew things were possible.

Simple answer? It wasn't. He could probably come up with a longer answer as to why later if ever asked. Yuugi's sweaty palm grips hers, jacket pushing behind him in the wind almost as though it's telling him. He lets go of her hand and breaths out a slightly breathless]

Three.

[ She jumps at the same time she does, and her legs propel her much farther into the air than was normal. They'd started a foot or so back from the edge - you know. Just in case. But now she was sailing over the gap, right with him.

They were flying.

She laughs - a real laugh, not a muffled giggle or chuckle - staring down at the tiny cars below them. Everything feels strange and wonderful.

Then she looks up and her laughter dies out. The arc of their jump is wrong.

They aren't going to make it. ]

This is all relatively close to their starting point, so Sans is around to hear Greg's musing. He leans against the closest park bench, and starts attempting to smoke the cigar he bought with all that money he spawned in the White Room.

After a lot of hedging about what he'd log into the Matrix as, Sans more or less hit the randomize button, and presently looks and sounds like a particularly short Whoopie Goldberg.

"Unless you were planning on loading in thousands of dollars, can't see it mattering," he says with the cigar between his teeth. Also, I guess, Whoopie Goldberg has a New York accent now. What can you do. "'Sides, isn't that the evil overlord's problem?"

white room

[ There's not a whole lot for him to change about himself just yet. His eye color is strange, true, a silver with a metallic sheen, but he would be surprised to find anyone picking that out. So for John Childermass, the changes most drastically revolve around a clothing update. From the 1800s to 1999 is quite the leap, but he manages to find something that's still somewhat formal and involves a lot of black. A tie replaces the cravat and a nice overcoat replaces his greatcoat, that sort of upgrade.

More important is what else he should take along and, if he's figured out how the white room works by now (startling though it was at first), then it should be as simple as-- ]

Tarot cards, please.

[ Of course he'd add on 'please' to a computerized room. It would have worked regardless, since the white room gives him a row of card decks zooming in out of nowhere (more things to find startling, since he definitely jumps a little at its arrival), not only tarot ones, for him to choose from. Of all the things to ask for...

It's included normal decks of cards as well, which earns the room a frown. ]

Couldn't narrow it down, could you?

there is no... truck???

[ Needing to update to modern fashion was one thing. No one bothered to mention modern machinery. Most people might take cars and traffic for granted, but Childermass has never seen these damn things before. They're loud, they're fast, they're everywhere, and the only nice thing he has to say about them is at least the roads are no longer mud and dirt!

And while he'll pick up on how crosswalks exist sooner than later, now is that inevitable moment where he's broken off from whatever exploration he'd been doing to try and cross the middle of a street. It was empty a moment ago, a brief lull in traffic, but a truck suddenly turning out of an alley changes that. There isn't much time to get out of the way, which, first and foremost, he finds irritating.

He shouldn't have to move. The truck shouldn't be there at all, much less about to hit him.

Which, for whatever reason, is something the Matrix seems to agree with him about, however briefly, because anyone watching is about to confused by how reality somehow bends the path of the truck around the man standing in the middle of the street. It could be in part to a magician already being well aware that one can bend reality to one's whim that makes this come a little more naturally to Childermass, but even he's left staring after the truck, a little shocked himself, as it swerves some after being moved like that, then continues on its way. ]

That... Now that... [ Okay, he's stumped. He's pretty sure it wasn't magic! ] What in the world was that?

[ He might also want to stop standing in the street like an idiot, but hey. ]

I'm down.

A: Millinnium Park

[Tamaki doesn't have any particular thing he wants to do while inside the Matrix, so he decides to just go exploring. Prior to joining the carnival, Tamaki had never been outside Japan, and this is his first time in America (or a place modeled after America, anyway). He doesn't really bother making himself look much different from normal, except his hair is a little shorter. He's dressed a little nicer than usual, and people who know him might notice he seems a bit... taller than he was, by about six inches.

He ends up in the park. It seems like a nice place to be - people are milling around despite the chill in the air, there are joggers and food vendors and people reading books. It reminds him of the park where he used to dance in Tokyo, before he was recruited as an idol.

One might find him checking out the Cloud Gate (why would anyone make a big, shiny bean statue, anyway?), but he seems especially interested in the skating rink. He gets some skates and wobbles his way out onto the ice - no better time to learn than the present!]

Lincoln Park Zoo

[Is Tamaki too old to go to a zoo? No. Never.

This zoo is pretty big, too, and the fact that it's free is pretty incredible, especially to a kid that grew up with almost no money. He has fun looking around the zoo at all the cool animals, some he's never seen in real life.

He ends up at the Lion House, curiously tapping the glass on the leopard exhibit, before looking at whoever is near.]

Do you think they get bored in there?

"It's all right. A little chilly, I guess." Chiaki's bundling up with a hoodie tucked underneath her school uniform today. At 4'5", she's short enough to pass for a kid. Her furry ears still twitch above her hair.

"If you try it and don't like it, you can always come back here and change clothes again, right?"

Edited 2016-11-30 07:28 (UTC)

You did it!! [ Chiaki, who saw the event from a block over, hurries up to him. She's wearing a green trenchcoat dress and frankly beaming. Also, somehow even shorter than when John saw her the last time. ]

You figured it out! I mean... you did, right? [ Unless she saw things. But... she thinks she wasn't. ]

Chiaki's "school" - well, the group of kids that she's infiltrated, anyway - is on a class trip today to the park. Some of them are milling near the skating rink around lunchtime, while others remain closer to the nearby playground. Chiaki, however, perches on the ice rink fence, swinging her legs and watching the various skaters. She brightens on seeing Tamaki approaching.

"Will this be part of your new act?"

Edited 2016-11-29 22:32 (UTC)

Threaded | Top-Level Comments Only

Page 1 of 45

⇨ THE MATRIX

⇨ DANGER GAMBLE

Re: ⇨ DANGER GAMBLE

no subject

no subject

Yukine Miyazawa

CARLY | OTA | BONUS NIGHTRUNNER WORK

Chiaki Nanami

Yuugi Mutou | open

powering up~

white room~

no subject

Zecora | OTA

no subject

Diving In

Eye Spy

Greg Universe | OTA

no subject

no subject

SANDBOX SETTING

John Childermass | OTA

no subject

Tamaki | ota

Character Select

Truck

Millennium Park