1369

[animusmods]

Characters: Anyone coming to Zo's carnival
Setting: Cafeteria; please specify the date and location in the carnival in your subject header!
Format: Anything
Summary: Zo has set up a carnival for the residents, but it's not meant to last. Anyone wandering after the bombs go off might see things they never wanted to see...
Warnings: Psychological and body horror
Note: Characters entering the carnival from the 27th to the 30th will experience visions! Please refer to the info post for details and reply to this thread if your character enters the carnival during these days.

[The carnival has taken up the entirety of the cafeteria. A large roller coaster and ferris wheel tower over the residents, while a child-sized roller coaster, a merry-go-round, and spinning teacups project much less daunting silhouettes. Stands are set up with standard carnival foods available, from ice cream to cotton candy. These stands do not ask for anything as payment.

On the twenty-seventh, the carnival appearance changes. The machinery all appears rusted and broken down, as if weathered with decades of rain and snow. Plants grow up and around the rides, ruining them, and all the food is rotten.]

Comments

[glassceiling]

You are correct. I mean to help with this resistance in any way I can, but...

[She averts her eyes, a little bit embarrassed.]

I cannot do anything for others besides fight.

[warriorscribe]

Fighters are useful as well. Have you heard about the research we've been trying to do on our collars?

[glassceiling]

No. Not very much. Are these collars significant?

[warriorscribe]

*Suddenly, he's all serious.*

They are part of these bodies. The fluid that runs through them is our blood. And part of that blood suppresses our true powers so illusion can take its place.

[glassceiling]

I see. So you understand all this. Then, what about reversing it? Is there any way to remove this "blood" and allowing our true powers to act?

[warriorscribe]

Just as it is with true blood, we cannot remove it or we would be unable to survive. We're working to analyze it, so we know what it is that seals our powers. However, the ones analyzing it need to be protected from monsters. That's why people who can fight, like us, are useful even here.

[glassceiling]

I see.

How long must the protectors stay by the researchers' sides?

[She wants to volunteer, but she needs to devote most of her time to protecting Claudia.]

[warriorscribe]

Ideally, as long as they're working. But I believe all the teams have multiple protectors, so if you can't stay long, you won't be leaving them completely vulnerable.

[glassceiling]

[She takes a second to think.]

And what of my friends? What if I had someone I needed to protect? Would I be able to bring them along to the research area?

[warriorscribe]

You could - or perhaps you could both be placed in the same group. You and your friend should both see a man named Doc Brown together. He's one of the project leaders, and the one who organized the teams in the first place.

[glassceiling]

I will think about it. Thank you very much for telling me this.

[warriorscribe]

It's nothing. *He relaxes and smiles again.* I take it you only arrived recently?

[glassceiling]

[She nods.]

Yes, only a few weeks before.

[warriorscribe]

I see. I've been here over a year, so I might be able to answer some questions you have.

*Granted, a few weeks is plenty of time to get caught up, but who knows what kind of information anyone gets when they come in. There's just so much of it it's hard to say for sure who's completely caught up.*

[glassceiling]

...What can you tell me of the administrators? Can we start with that?

[warriorscribe]

You weren't told anything? There are four, once five. Ruana is their leader, and she is...juvenile and gone mad. She plays "games" with us, only recognizable as games in that they have some sort of goal for us to reach. Zo is the one who brings us to this tower, and the one overseeing us now. He's only a child, but he has a better heart than the others. I think he must have been the one who wrote the note, since he does genuinely seem to wish for our happiness. Jason is the physician, who resurrects us - places us in new bodies - should we die here. He is also fond of "experiments" that seem to have no purpose other than his own amusement. Riki is the architect. He built our levels of the tower and can manipulate the glamour over this place skillfully. It's hard to say what his motives are, but he seems sincere, if lacking in understanding of what pain does.

[glassceiling]

Thank you. I was not told much of the administrators, but I understand much better now, thanks to your explanation. It was very thorough.

[warriorscribe]

*Honestly, he'd given out the same explanation so many times it could almost be classified as a reflex.*

It's nothing. Everyone should know about them. Knowing what to expect could make all the difference.

[glassceiling]

I heard the voice of a child throughout the Tower when this festival started. Was that Zo?

[warriorscribe]

*Enoch nods.* It was, yes.

[glassceiling]

Then...why was he the only one that spoke?

[warriorscribe]

Because it's his turn to oversee us. The others all perform their own duties when it isn't their turn - they oversee us in cycles, and it's rare to see or hear from one when it isn't his turn.

[glassceiling]

Does anyone know of the set cycles, then? How does it work?

[warriorscribe]

They switch every month - Zo, Jason, Riki, Ruana, and back to Zo. Apparently, the one in charge that month has quite a lot of power over the others. He must approve anything any other wants to do regarding us that month.

[glassceiling]

So they show...some sort of courtesy to each other. How interesting.