welcome to mayfield: day 4

[mayfield_mods]

[This carnival seems to be getting less and less maintained by the day. Your nerves aren't the only thing fallen apart: what were previously holes in the sky have expanded to cracks. What parts of the sky that haven't fallen into that strange, warping nothingness are full of brown smog-like clouds.

The carnival itself has become filthy, with trash and grease spots littered everywhere. The walls of the tents, wooden stands, and houses seem to be slightly melted, for lack of a better term. The holes of corrupted nothingness aren't confined to the sky anymore: pockets of nothing litter the carnival, shifting tears in the fabric of reality that hurt your eyes to look at.

A faint buzzing noise fills the air, making it difficult to concentrate. If you listen long enough, it starts to sound like voices. For your own sake, it's probably best not to listen to what they have to say.

You're also not alone here anymore, for those of you operating under the assumption that you ever really were. If you've been missing the friendly drones of Mayfield, fear no more, because scattered throughout the carnival are a few drone families seeing the sights, riding the rides and playing the games. Curiously, unlike the drones back home, these ones don't seem to notice you at all, acting as if you're not even there.

Also curiously: their features are warped nearly beyond recognition. Some are missing limbs or facial features; others appear to have had those features scrambled by Picasso's paintbrush, with mouths on their scalps or teeth on their fingers. Still other drones appear to be fused together at the wrist, or waist, or face. None of them seem to be any more aware of their deformity than they are of you.

...and yet, somehow, you can't shake the feeling that when you're not looking at them, they're looking at you.

New here? That's alright; your missing friends have had plenty of time to get acquainted, and they'll be happy to show you around. Just watch your step, because some of these old rides need some maintenance...]

OOC: If your character damages or affects the carnival or town in a noticeable and normally permanent way, please comment here.

Comments

[answerer_sword]

I should have shaken some sense into him. No, I should have knocked him out and restrained him to keep and better watch on him. Does he have no sense of responsibility? Even with the pride of a magus, does he not wish to live and pass on his great knowledge?

[waiting_for_the_worms]

Don't ask me. I'll never understand the way that man thinks. For all I know he refused my help just because it was me offering it.

[answerer_sword]

...Why? He clearly loves both of his daughters, and I know he wants to protect them. So why did he...even come here?

[Her fists clench. Any thoughts of apologizing for the previous day's outburst are gone.]

When I see him next, I am punching him.

[waiting_for_the_worms]

No complaints here.

[answerer_sword]

He seems to have regained at least a portion of his original powers. Perhaps...he can survive on his own?

[Believing that would make her feel less guilty about staying with Kariya when she needs to find and protect Tokiomi as well.]

[waiting_for_the_worms]

Well, he sounded pretty confident.

[answerer_sword]

From what I have seen, he might have the skills to fend off whatever hostile creatures he runs into. Since he has only been here one day, he runs no risk of starvation...

[At this point, she is just trying to rationalize.]

...But that still does not do any good if this fraying town will kill us all anyway.

[waiting_for_the_worms]

None of us can really do anything about that. We're just going to have to hold out long enough to see what happens.

[answerer_sword]

[She nods.]

No matter what happens, I will protect all of my allies who are still alive until the final second.

[Her voice shakes a little at this. He can probably see that she has all but given up at this point.]

[She hates every second of this. She hates not being able to protect others. She hates breaking her promises. She hates the idea of leaving her friends in Mayfield behind. She hates how, no matter what she does, in the end, she had no impact on this world.]

[She turns her back to Kariya and covers her face as the tears finally do make it out.]

[waiting_for_the_worms]

You've done plenty already.

[Kariya leans forward to pull Bazett into a hug. She may be too embarrassed to show him her tears, but she does deserve at least a little comfort.]

[answerer_sword]

[Her body tenses a bit, but she doesn't resist. She just does her best to try and wipe away the tears.]

[waiting_for_the_worms]

It's all right.

[answerer_sword]

[She gives a small nod.]

Thank you, Kariya.

...You're stronger than I thought.

[waiting_for_the_worms]

I'll take that as a compliment.

[answerer_sword]

[She takes one last deep breath.]

So, what do you suggest we do about this Church?

[waiting_for_the_worms]

I'm not sure there's much we can do about it.

[answerer_sword]

Perhaps if we go in and investigate...

[They had just about nothing left to lose.]

[waiting_for_the_worms]

All right. Let's take a look.

[answerer_sword]

[She walks over to the door and throws it open.]

[waiting_for_the_worms]

[Kariya follows behind.]

[answerer_sword]

[Everything in the Church looks pristine enough. No extra blood, no drones or rats. But she still feels sick to her stomach as she walks in.]

It looks too...different from the rest of this town.

[waiting_for_the_worms]

I wonder why...

[answerer_sword]

Maybe they want to keep this Church around for a special purpose.

[waiting_for_the_worms]

But why would they need it? They're already in control of everything that happens here.

[answerer_sword]

Are they? What about the cracks in reality? What about the imperfect drones? What about the things that flicker in and out? Everything seems to point to a limited power supply being completely used up as they try to create this town "perfectly". Perhaps at this point, the Church is the only thing that they have complete control over. Why this location was chosen, however, I do not know.