⇨ Test Drive Meme: SPACE OLYMPICS

[ringleaders]

WELCOME TO THE SHOW!↴ Or, more specifically, Lost Carnival's test drive meme! This is an opportunity to try out your characters in the setting before you apply, or to put together samples for characters you've never played before. There are going to be options for both new arrivals and veteran characters. Before we get started, let's lay down some details: You can (and should) read the full premise here. Reserves and Applications are currently OPEN. Recruits can be either willing or tricked this month. You can apply as a newcomer or as a "veteran" character who has been in the carnival for up to three years. In the case of veteran characters, you will need to come up with an explanation of why they haven't been around the carnival recently. TDM threads can be used as game canon after the fact if both characters are accepted, the players agree to it, and it makes any sense contextually. If you are interested in additional IC and OOC plot responsibilities, consider applying for a Supervisor position. Head Cook, Foreman, and Treasurer are currently open. Otherwise, we're pretty much down for anything, roles wise. CURRENT STOP↴ ⇨ THE SPACE OLYMPICS ⇦ Welcome to the Space Olympics! The year is 3022. This year's host is Zargon, which is only hosting because the four previous hosts all dropped out. Still, Zargon's put lot of time and money into developing a complex perfect for the Space Olympics. Floating above the planet's atmosphere is a large spaceship turned athletic arena, obviously named Olympic Spaceship. Stadiums are on every corner, there's swimming pools every other block, and a large racetrack surrounds the city. Of course, not much about this matters to newcomers visiting the carnival, besides the wide array of weird aliens visiting alongside them. ► DIVERSITY: If you've arrived at the carnival without being aware that it was a separate world from your own, the presence of dozens upon dozens of aliens visiting its grounds may clue you in. All the big names from classic science fiction are here, apparently for some kind of sporting event? Wookies, Vulcas, you name it. Apparently they are from some kind of alternate reality where all of these species both exist in the same universe and are inclined to have sports competitions with each other. The multiverse is wild, ain't it? ► WIN OR RIOT: Along with sports comes bravado, and with a lot of alien races intermingling for the sake of competition, blood can run a bit hot. Don't be surprised if some fight break out before different species while visiting the carnival round, and also don't be surprised if you get mixed up in it. The carnival has security but, y'know. It's a busy day. Recruits from this month will be signing on with the carnival between Day 30 and Day 37 on the season calendar. They can appear in the carnival at any point during those days, or the week following if time distortions happen. NEW RECRUITS↴ You gotta start somewhere, right? These prompts are for characters who are arriving in the carnival for the first time, and who are destined to sign a contract. How they go about that is up to you, but in the meantime they can enjoy the sights and sounds of something truly out of this world. Will you become her most recent hire? ► ADMISSION FEES: After crossing into the carnival's realm and passing through the trees, most visitors will find themselves at the front gate - though not all choose to enter that way. If they enter legitimately, however, they will have to pass by a clerk who will trade admission and tickets for various attractions and rides in exchange for "anything of value." What is of value may seem highly subjective, and so some may struggle to produce payment at first, though in actuality the carnival will take anything from mundane currency to items of purely sentimental value. ► MIRROR MAZE: The mirror maze is a big attraction in the carnival, and stretches much further on the inside than it looks like it will on the outside. It's hard to get through, and what's more, after you've been in there for a while your reflections will start gaining a mind of their own - mostly in order to taunt and distract you with personal information. They don't know everything you know, but they know more than they should, and their mind games can be pretty hit or miss. ► GAMER'S CIRCLE: Almost all of the game booths are organized in a large ring around the Cookhouse, called Gamer's Circle. Your can play just about any carnival game you can imagine here, for a variety of prizes sometimes traditional, exotic, or outright magical. Dart tossing? Got it. That game with the water guns? Got it. Most of these booths are currently manned by humanoid spirits who look like they are made of smoke. If they can trick you into earning debt, they will. ► TUNNEL OF "LOVE": A brand new attraction in the carnival, the Tunnel of Love is mostly what you'd expect from such a ride - two people sit in a boat together which journeys through some glitter filled caves, complete with mood music. Unfortunately, there is also something else in there with you... in the form a moody kraken living in the waters, who has very particular opinions about shipping, and may either stubbornly interfere with any attempted intimacy, or may politely encourage it. Or they may just generally be a dick if they're in no mood for either. The Ringmaster insists it is a romance expert. ► TRYING TO LEAF: No matter where you came from, you seemingly emerged from a forest. Obviously, to get back home you should be able to go back in the same direction, right? It turns out you can't. Worse, trying too hard to get through the wood will result in you getting lost, or turned back to the carnival. The trees here are not normal, and are varying levels of alien, including things like trees with glowing fruit or orange flowers that constantly burn like candles. ► WILD CARD: Anything else you can imagine in this setting! There are a lot of possibilities and you're free to explore them. Check out the rest of the game info or the locations page for additional inspiration. Want to make a starter with your character experiencing their first theoretical change? Go for it! VETERAN WORKERS↴ These prompts are tailored to the carnival's existing employees, the veterans. Odds are they've been here from somewhere between a few months and three years already, and know their way around the block. For them, this is just business as usual - and depending on their attitude towards their job, they may or may not contribute to a few people accidentally getting themselves a contract. Whatever you do, though, don't warn visitors away from the carnival - the ringmaster hates losing business like that. ► DO YOUR WORK: This one's pretty simple - just have your character doing whatever you'd like to have their job be! There is a big list of ideas over here, and you could use this to try things out with a character you intend to be a new arrival, as well. ► BREAK TIME: Whatever you were doing, it's break time! It's time for you to relax however you see fit. Do you enjoy some of the carnival attractions yourself, or is that old by now? Do you hang out in the Cookhouse to get a snack? Do you take a nap? Yolo, baby! ► DUNK TANK: Sometimes acting like a dick will earn you the gentle reprimand of being sent to work in the Dunk Tank for the afternoon - you know that game where people throw balls at a target, and if they hit it you get dropped into the water? It's like that, only sometimes there are daunting (but harmless) critters in the water, or some other strange magical affects to spice things up. Hopefully, the visitors will have bad aim. ► WILD CARD: Anything else you can imagine in this setting! There are a lot of possibilities and you're free to explore them. Check out the rest of the game info or the locations page for additional inspiration. Want to do a performance? Hang out in the Backyard? Choose whatever appeals!

Comments

Ferris Wheel

[dressedtothe]

9S doesn't have much to do in terms of dealing with the various Carnival guests; he's not a performer, nor is he in a job that actively requires him to deal with them. In fact, he actively shirks his repairman duties... though he's getting marginally better about that.

In fact, he spends a lot of his time people watching. That's what he came to the Carnival for originally, after all.

But this guy... he's been staring real hard at the ferris wheel for a real long time. What's up with that? So 9S approaches.

"If you're so interested, you can go for a ride on the ferris wheel, you know."

Unlike many of the other Carnival staff, he doesn't look that different from a human. Other than the fact there are feathers threaded through his hair and his eyes are covered with what looks like a blindfold, he would look like a perfectly ordinary human.

[alphudo]

Yuusei doesn't seem particularly interested in this fellow approaching him at first, seeming as though he doesn't even hear him the first time. In truth, he doesn't really realise he's being spoken to in the first place, but when he does figure it out, his head snaps up and looks over his shoulder. He blinks at 9S, chalks the feathers up to a decoration or something related to the alien guests around, and looks back to the ferris wheel. He opens his mouth to speak, but on account of the blindfold, he hesitates. Reworks the words in his head, tries again.

"Something just looks a bit loose," he says, "is all."

He pauses again, wondering just how much he should really bother saying. He has no need in wasting a stranger's time. Maybe it's the festival air, though, that has him talking just a little more. "My tools are gone; I'd try to fix it myself otherwise."

...he has been thinking about it a lot. He'd at least tell someone first, of course.

[dressedtothe]

9S turns his head to look up at where the stranger was looking earlier. Hm. It's a bit hard to see, but... it's probably worth checking out. It is technically his job, after all.

But when the stranger says he'd fix it, 9S whips his head back around immediately. "Oh no, we couldn't ask a guest to fix our mechanical structures for us!"

Absolutely not!

"I'll take care of it." He opens a connection to his pod, who is currently in another location in the carnival. To the stranger, it would seem as though 9S is speaking to air. "Pod, can you run a check and perform any necessary repairs on the ferris wheel? I received a report that part of the structure may be lose."

Through the connection and clearly audible to the stranger, comes a robotic but distinctly female voice. < Affirmative >

Closing the connection, 9S turns back to the stranger. "Thanks for letting me know."

[alphudo]

Yuusei watches with mild fascination as this person - who definitely works for this carnival, he realises - calls in the report, marvelling mostly at how fluid the communication is. He gets the feeling that this 'pod' is some sort of AI, but it's surely something much more complex than anything in his own world. With a command structured as if it was a conversation with a normal person, it has to be.

His attention returns to the blindfolded man, and he lowers his head in a nod. "Of course. I hate to have bothered you first thing, especially if it's nothing..." Although if it turns out to have been something serious, it would've been far worse to just leave it be.

He's not used to these sorts of environments; complaints seem nigh-taboo, or at least in what he expects of some place like this, and his expectations are very likely to be entirely incorrect.

...uhm.

He's not sure what to say now, glancing down to where part of the ride enclosure meets the ground. "...it's nice here," he eventually musters. "I haven't done much, but even just being around is kind of... fun."

[dressedtothe]

9S waves off the apology. "Don't worry about it! It's my job to fix any problems with the mechanics, after all."

A job he chafes under, thanks to having his supervisor be an alien. But since it's a human who brought up the issue, he has no problems with checking things out.

But his smile widens when he hears the stranger enjoying himself. "I'm glad you're enjoying yourself. Was there anything in particular you wanted to try? If you want, I can show you around. I'm not one of the performers or anything, so I have the time."

[alphudo]

"Ah, hm, that might be..." He hums softly to himself in thought. "This is my first time at a carnival; I don't know what all to expect here..." He lowers his head, unsure of what else to say.

"...my name is Yuusei," he settles after another minute or so, lifting his hand slightly as if preparing to offer it for a shake. "I've never seen someone like you around before - or anyone else here for that matter..."

[dressedtothe]

Oh! He knows about this!! This is a handshake! It's a bit weird to be treated as if he were human, but the friends he's made has really gone a long way towards breaking down the formalities between android and human.

So he reaches and grasps Yuusei's hand in a handshake.

"I'm 9S." He smiles and lets go of the human's hand. "When I arrived here, it was my first time at a carnival, too. The Carnival is full of surprising things, so don't worry about not knowing what to expect. See the sights, enjoy your time here."