Bright lights! An abundance of color! A cacophony of laughter and delighted (?) shrieks! Welcome, everyone, to the carnival! Enough of those nonsense protein shakes and that hoity-toity recycling; it's time to let loose, have some fun, and live a little! No judgment will be allowed today, not when everyone’s dressed up in ridiculous costumes and eating those unnecessarily huge turkey legs (it... is turkey, right?). For you see, CERES has invited the Traveling Circus of Tjghsldiwk (they hail from a different planet, but here's a hint: the h is silent) to bring some joy to the colonists. This is a safe place to let your inner wild child out, really. Definitely safe. Promise.
Yet for those who are a little less easily convinced to follow the sounds of laughter and amusement (bless your sensible hearts), they will find themselves grabbed and forcibly dragged by a pair of friendly souls in matching costumes. Everyone should be able to enjoy the festivities, don’t you think? Can’t have them missing out on all this jolly good, innocent fun!
The Public Announcement System crackles with... well, a fit of coughing first. But then a gravelly voice speaks! It seems the ringmaster has an announcement for you all. What joyous news can he bring?  Listen... I know that we’re supposed to keep these idiots entertained for at least another day or two but the machinery’s starting to complain. I think I heard the gates of the petting zoo groan – they’re on their last legs.
... Wait, this isn’t the direct line
Oh.
Ohohoho!! Have a great time, everyone! Everything is perfectly fine!
|
PHASE I [ 11 00 ] Come one, come all!! There’s quite a large amount of people here, isn’t there? You’ll find yourself tugged this way and that – up until you get dragged right into a changing booth. The helpful attendant meets you with a worryingly large grin – how is her face not breaking? – before pushing you right through the curtain. Then you’ll be given your choice of one of these lovely garments to change into. Look, one of them has to match your skintone, right? Don’t be picky about it! You also have... 90 seconds to figure out how to wear it before you’re tossed out into the middle of the crowd again. Have a good festival!
If you’re not willing to put on the outfits though, that’s fine. Instead, they’ll top you off with a cape and crown, shoving you out onto a... stage? Your adoring public cheers for you, yells your name, and throws confetti in your honor! Then a jester appears again, announcing your grand title:
The Ugliest in All of Cerealia.
Don't worry, that's just your introduction to the carnival; enjoy the rest of your time here! (They may or may not have given you back your clothing.)
PHASE II [ 1600 ] Do you hear that? Cymbals crashing together, trumpets blaring off-tune, the march of absurdly tired feet – a parade is coming! Best move off to the side before an acrobat quite literally tumbles into you. If you are an unfortunate casualty, they’ll actually just start to fall asleep on you because they’re tired… so very, very tired.
Yet the parade continues to march on without them and you can let yourself be distracted by the impressive jumping around and festive partygoers (who seem to be joining in the parade as they please, in various states of undress). But be wary. Distraction will only make you easier prey for the very hungry caterpillar that’s coming up the street next. Run if you can, but it has so very many legs and it’s coming after you.
For those unable to make it away from the caterpillar, they will find themselves gulped right into its gross, drooling mouth – and about five minutes later, they’ll be released out again onto the streets covered in a pink slime. It looks like you won't be able to free yourself from the stuff, so hopefully you can find a friend to get some help! Or one of the strangers around you? Unfortunately, when a kind soul finally comes by to pull you out of the slime, they’ll find that the outside of the gunk is not only immensely sticky but also slippery. If they're not careful, you'll both end up stuck to the gunk together.
You both better get out of that stuff quick because once someone joins you, the slime starts to move. Quick and gooey, it'll pull you and the hapless soul with you down the street at a much too quick pace. Hopefully you won't slide into too many people as you skid your way through the streets of the Entertainment District like some sort of demented Katamari Ball. This is why you should never trust giant bugs!
PHASE III [ xxxx ] In a smaller booth, toward the outskirts of the carnival, some may find a familiar face manning a quiet little shack on her own. Although those who have been in the colony long enough may have first encountered her as an 8-bit version of herself, Aria the fortune-teller is now back and more than willing to drag unsuspecting people into her hands again. Once you step into her stall, she takes one long look at you before sliding over a fortune cookie and a mask. What do you mean you didn’t ask for a mask? That's too bad, because it's yours now. She won't say anything more than that, giving nothing more than a quiet dismissal with a hand and an enigmatic smile to match.
When you step back outside, you’ll find that you just can’t get rid of the mask. If you toss it into a trash bin, it’ll be right back in your pocket. Throw it at a friend? It’ll be in your hand in the next second. Throw it away enough times and it’ll suddenly plant itself on your face -- which leads to all the alien carnival goers in the nearby vicinity suddenly going still with fear before moving to get as far away from you as quickly as possible. Well... you seem to be able to take it off for now if you still want to enjoy the carnival. It just won't go away, and every time you try to throw it away, it'll attach itself to your face. Might as well just keep it.
But... still, it's strange how none of the aliens running the carnival will look you in the eye now, isn't it?
PHASE IV [ 1200 ] For those who aren’t interested in dealing with the abundance of people, there’s also an assortment of critters gathered around for the petting zoo! They all seem to follow a general theme… kind of. That might be floppy ears and a tail if you... squint. The alien staff is right there and quick to ask you not to worry, they're perfectly harmless -- they don't eat humans! It would be bad for their diet, so feel free to pet them, if you can gather enough courage to do so.
Unfortunately, it seems as though this part of the circus was not put together very well; the rickety fences and cages don't really seem to do much against these giant...creatures. Towards the end of the circus' time here, it looks like those cages will start breaking down more and more, too.
The animals rattle the makeshift fences of the petting zoo, until finally, the fences just... collapse. Oops. The ground shakes as the animals stomp and immediately move to break out of their little ring. Well, would you look at that? You’ve apparently found yourself in the middle of a little stampede -- and those warnings about these animals not eating humans doesn't seem to hold much weight when now they're looking at you -- and they look pretty hungry.
BONUS [ why o'clock ] Left and right, there are voices shouting for your attention. "Hey pretty young miss!" or "Excuse me, you stud!" or "Look at this, jackass!" – that said, aliens think that you all manage to look the same, so who knows if they’re yelling at you in particular – and they’re all daring you to come and try your hand at their carnival game.
It’s run of the mill stuff: shooting games, tests of strength, and knocking down a couple of milk bottles. You might actually be doing well! Or... you might be embarrassing yourself in front of whatever cute person you’re trying to impress! But regardless, in the last allotted ten seconds of your game, no matter what, you’ll find your point score plummeting right into the negatives. Did you get a bullseye? What do you know, that’s now worth -1000 points! You missed? -5000 points.
The stall assistant seems to be having a grand old time, laughing at your pain and when the clock finally runs out, they'll give you a large grin. "Look at that score! Well, you know what that means, don’t you? Now, we win you!" With that, metallic tentacles suddenly sprout from the booth itself, looking to capture you and whoever you’re with. Welcome to the carnival, now you're one of the prizes. And it seems you'll be here for quite some time. That is, of course, unless someone can win you back from these really horribly rigged games.
Looks like you'd better get comfortable hanging motionless from a display, like an oversized stuffed animal. You'll be here for a while.
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[ well ]
[ she's not wrong.... Admittedly, Souji has never thought it was strange to be friends with Saitou. He's seen more similarities with the other man than he's seen with others, and considering Saitou's skill and ability, it only makes sense for them to be friends, right? Saitou's the only person who can keep up with him in the Shinsengumi, and he's never as pushy as the others... Even though.... They never really call each other bros out loud. And Saitou clearly respects Hijikata. but not everyone can be perfect. ]
So what you're saying is... That you think our personalities are too weird to mesh well together? [ okay, he's gonna laugh again ] Hey, Hajime-kun -- I think she expected you to have only serious, stoic acquaintances. Maybe she doesn't think you're social enough to have different friends?
[ LAUGHS ]
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[ Saitou looks back at Lili, and tries to offer a clearer suggestion. ] We met at a dojo years back; years after that we worked together, and I suppose that has made us friends.
[ There's more to that story, of course. Them doing their best to beat each other up, and how he puts up with Souji in other ways...and also how they work together so well when they fight.
Plus Souji was...well, he could be prickly, but he never did anything to make Saitou want to kill him or avoid him like the plague...
They evened out the differences, somehow, if he had to say it like that. ]
I apologise for his bluntness.
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For one, she desperately wants to snap back at Souji -- how dare he put words in her mouth like that? That absolutely isn't what she wanted to say about Saitou. What a rude brute he could manage to be! Especially since between the two of them, she wouldn't be surprised if Saitou had more acquaintances than Souji--
And it's because Saitou's so polite that she feels the need to respond in kind and stay well-behaved. It's a sort of respectfulness and quiet that she rarely gets to indulge in here and... she doesn't mind it from Saitou.
She hesitates for a moment before settling on something a little bit of both?!]
.... You don't need to apologize for him -- he should apologize for himself, if anything.
But.... neither of you seem like bad people.
I didn't want to imply that I had malicious thoughts...!
[Well mostly. At least her insults to Souji are mostly shallow.]
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I don't see a reason to apologize. [ Aside from that... He sure does notice how calm Lili's being, especially after having argued with her earlier. Saitou has that effect on everyone, huh? Then, maybe in an attempt to stop needling Lili, Souji shrugs. ]
We've heard worse. Saying we're different isn't enough to insult us.
[ no, their trigger buttons lie in other things like the Shinsengumi, Kondou-san, and Hijikata-san. ]
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Still, he nods to what Souji says. ] There are worse things. Neither of us were thinking that you intended to be malicious.
[ They did do a lot of killing. More than everyone else in the Shinsengumi (though probably Sannan is catching up pretty quickly). ]
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She doesn't know them that well -- but she doesn't think they're bad people! After all, they've both helped her in their own ways when they didn't have to and she's just going to puff up a little bit in irritation, but not directed at them.]
What? What do people say about you?
[SHE'LL FIGHT THEM.]
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[ Souji blinks once, momentarily caught off-guard, not by the question so much as the tone of Lili's voice when she asks. What's making her puff up... But then, because Souji's sharp and all too willing to jump to embarrassing conclusions about other people... His smile widens, and the look he sends Lili is one of an amused punkass. ]
I wonder. [ glancing at Saitou ] She asked, but should we really tell her? What if she uses it against us later?
[ he's only teasing there..... but maybe lili will get to call them FAKE-ASS SAMURAI PEASANTS later ]
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[ He's basing this on the one conversation he had with her--a long, telling one. As for the answer to her question, it seems like that duty has fallen to him. ]
Many things. As a group of people meant to enforce rules and peace, we aren't popular with people who misunderstand our purpose. There are politics also involved, of course, but...there is also the matter we might be "fake."
[ There was also the "Mibu Wolves" insult, and the fact they're supporting the Bakufu, but that's more world history than can be explained in one conversation. ]
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I would never.
[The idea of being callous toward people who have only helped her doesn't even remotely cross her mind -- so at least her moral compass is safe. Yet when Saitou explains the reasoning why, she furrows her brows as she tries to understand.]
So you're... soldiers of a sort, but people don't understand that you're there to protect them? And they insult you?
[PUFFING UP A LITTLE AGAIN -- how rude! She's taking offense on their behalves!]
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Hm. If you say so. [ But Souji leaves it at that, instead lapsing into silence while Saitou explains. It's a good explanation, as expected of Saitou. ]
It doesn't matter. They can insult us all they want as long as they don't get in our way. [ He says, smiling the sort of smile that isn't actually a smile at all and more like vaguely unnerving. ]
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Our country is in the middle of a struggle in power, so there is no easy place to be in. [ He doesn't disagree with Souji's words, either. It's very true; if people got in the way, they were cut down. ] And sometimes...the protecting is also skewed based on who you ask. [ Politics are complicated. ]
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Yet she observes the grimace coming from Saitou and the fake smile from Souji and it doesn't sit right with her. Perhaps she should really learn when to stand down, yet her mouth runs without her permission yet again:]
It's not as if you cut down civilians, do you?
[The one thing that she really cares about....]
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It'd look bad if we killed civilians.
[ ah, serizawa-san..... the shinsengumi will never miss him. though Souji has killed a few civilians back in the day, but he's reformed, he swears. ]
It's like Hajime-kun said, we enforce the rules. We'd rather not waste our time cutting down civilians when we have actual criminals to catch.
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Criminals, and those on the opposite side of what we fought for. Wars begin for that very reason. [ And in wars, it's harder to tell who is right and who is wrong, because of differing believes and loyalties. They both fought hard and wanted to win.
He shakes his head. ] That doesn't matter here, however. [ He hasn't met anyone on the other side...unless he counts Mutsu. But Mutsu is a sword and he didn't seem like he's out for Shinsengumi blood. No, he just...has a face that says "why are you here" any time he sees anyone related to the Shinsengumi ]
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