ARRIVAL LOG 010

[larkers]

WHO: Everyone
WHERE: New Amsterdam
WHEN: Evening of October 21 and 22
WHAT: The tenth arrival
NOTES OR WARNINGS: Coercion, loss of autonomy, sexual themes and alcohol usage. Further notes at end of log.

> ARRIVAL LOG #010

Awareness comes to you in blurred snatches, cloudy fragments of sound and light, color, sensation. Hazy and difficult to grasp on to, but slowly aligning into focus. A series of regular, rhythmic beeps. A medicinal, astringent smell. The sensation of movement, a low hum and accompanying vibration under you. Your eyes are heavy, hard to keep open, but in the glimpses between slow, dark blinks you see four people in black body armor seated opposite you, as well as a man in dark gray scrubs.

You realize there are others next to you. All of you in white scrubs, hair recently cut but at various stages of growth, restrained by straps across your chests, arms, feet, holding you to the bench under you. To your left, an armored interior door, two more people visible, the movement of streets passing through a windshield. You try to open your mouth to speak, but it's as if your tongue is coated in tar, and you manage nothing more than an empty parting of lips.

The vehicle stops. The guard opposite you stands and comes to unbuckle you from the bench, helping you to your feet. Your limbs feel wooden and heavy, slow to move. One guard opens the back of the vehicle, and false, colored light, illuminating the streets in the distance will first alert your senses of being somewhere else, combined with air that's only cooled with the setting of the sun. The nurse moves to stand at the back, checking each passenger over one by one just before they're helped out of the vehicle, quick and methodical. He doesn't climb out after you, moving to sit as the last passenger is unloaded.

The guards keep their heads down. Their actions are quick, firm, but not entirely unkind. Once all the passengers are out, they drop some masks on the ground in a tan-colored tote bag. "Pick a mask," they bark, and then turn to climb back into the vehicle and close the doors. The engine powers up again, and then the bus is gone.

You're left alone in an alley, with no idea of where you are or why you've been brought here.

Around the corner of the alley, there is the sound of various different carnival rides and men yelling for someone to step right up and try their luck on the various assortment of games that are available. Off in the distance, there's a large, hulking structure – perfectly vertical in nature, and people on it twist upward and then come slamming down mere moments later. It seems that you've just arrived as a part of some festivity, though it's probably hard to tell if you're an attraction or a coincidence of this all.

Either way – time to pick a mask. They're nothing special: they go over the head, but no one was ordered to put one on. They show various monsters – generic and otherwise – and it looks like they were purchased in bulk.

◉ Though entirely capable of independent action and thought, new characters will find themselves completely, unquestioningly compliant to any verbal statement which could be taken as a command or request.

> 10 DAYS OF HALLOWEEN: OPENING CEREMONY

The message from El comes the same as usual: insistent, not waiting for any active attempt to open it. Scrolling within your vision as if being written while you're reading it.

Here we go again. You know the drill by now. Our new batch has been thrown into the middle of a Halloween party. They should have masks on which doesn't make them much easier to find, but I trust you guys can figure this out. You know the signs to look for by now. So… Happy Halloween. 🎃

Having ten actual days dedicated to Halloween may seem like a bit much, but New Amsterdam takes the festivities seriously. Thanks to being a melting pot of two millenia's worth of cultures, they try to touch on every aspect of it. The launch party is a two-day event set in the cultural district. Thanks to the lack of ground traffic, the city easily rolls in what acts as a mini-carnival. The ground throughout the carnival is lit with candle-filled pumpkins, providing a warmth of inviting light as the nights grow cooler. While the carnival shuts down during the working day, it opens again in the evening, allowing working parents to bring their children before the hours come to a close. During this time, children run around with their friends in costumes to ask for candy or food from nearby businesses or carnival booths. Sometimes these children have to perform a task before they get what they've asked for – either through playing a game or answering a trivia question – but they're never turned away empty handed.

The first two days are largely billed as a time for people to come together and have a good time, but Halloween is also known for offering opportunities to local artists to get their work recognized. Whether digital or otherwise, artists are asked to commit to a theme and produce art on the first day of the event that's viewed throughout the next nine days. Part of the tradition is the crunch of trying to produce a work of art with limited notice and time. If they aren't done before the first two days are over, they won't be able to get free advertisement for their work. When the event is over, all of the art will go up for auction, and the artists will receive 75% of whatever is offered for their work. This year's theme is "Remembrance and Renewal" – and most themes from past years are just as open for interpretation.

As it gets deeper into the evening and children have returned home, the festivities turn toward being more adult. While barred from selling alcohol until 9 PM, the various carnival booths change their tune after that point, offering a wide array of alcohol – including their own takes on moonshine. The first night even features a competition over who's brought the best, and everyone's invited to try a sample and put in a vote – for free. A rather savvy individual would likely be able to find themselves well in their cups just off of these samples, as the moonshine contest is the way for the adults to get a treat of their own. For these evening festivities, everyone is allowed to wear a more risque costume, and sex workers come over from the neighboring Red Light District in order to advertise some of their more unique services for the evenings ahead. Every brothel will have a unique theme of its own to mark how special the event is, and their services will match.

Otherwise, the first two days of Halloween are known for allowing kids to have fun and for adults to be anonymous for a little while. Anyone who holds down a day job will still be expected to turn into work, but there's a tacit understanding that most people will be under the weather during this time.

◉ The carnival will have a wide array of rides that are set up rather quickly. There's a ferris wheel with seats that will rotate around a large machine like an atom, but with many different "branches" to allow a great deal of people to go on at once. Everyone gets on at the same time, and the seats "float." Each person can pay for how long their ride is in increments, and extend that time if they so choose. For the after dark people, there is a definite badge of honor in having a good time in a ferris wheel without getting caught with your pants down. Other rides include the Wicked Force – which rapidly takes people up 500 ft into the air and then drops them – as well as carousels that allow someone to customize their mount for an additional amount of money. Want a lewd mount? That's fine … after the kids have gone home to play, and some people like to show off whatever they thought up on Cooltalk.

◉ As always, there are a large number of food options available thanks to the local food trucks coming out to sell their food. Taco trucks are the most popular around this time, and that's most of what will be offered. Many trucks will have some homemade candy that they offer for free with each meal – with the option to get more.

◉ Throughout the city, there will be controlled bonfire pits that are lit every night at 8 PM, though they won't be present in the less cared for parts of New Amsterdam. Ahead of the event starting, there will be a website to let people know where these pits are going up so they can set up meeting places with their friends – or even reserve a pit for a private group. Reservations around the more popular areas cost more than ones that are nearing the "disreputable" sections – though "disreputable" is shorthand for rundown buildings in need of repair more than any crime.

◉ There are, of course, costume contests! While many local bars – dive and otherwise – will have smaller affairs, there is a large contest held on these first two nights. Because of the wide array of people and costumes available, someone has to enter their costume according to a certain theme. Some of the themes are: vampires, ghosts, zombies, pop culture (animation), pop culture (action movies), pop culture (celebrities), political figures, historical figures – and more! In the five days that follow, people will be able to go online and vote for their favorite costume. Whoever accumulates the most votes gets a meal of their choice at a number of participating restaurants – HAPPYHAPPYJOYJOY, SOL, Monde Pizza, Sweetwaffel and more – as well as 200 credits added to their funds.

◉ There will be dealers around the carnival trying to get someone to buy something to "heighten" their experience. While the "monster drug" is out in the city, it won't be available here. Halloween is thought of as a neutral ground for the city, and even the gangs recognize that. Most drugs will be hallucinatory in nature, providing effects similar to shrooms. Of course, any drugs are still illegal, and people will want to be careful not to get caught – or buy from the wrong person.

◉ Anyone who chooses to take part in the more illicit and sexual activities will be advised to go home to finish out their nights. Being handsy is fine, but getting caught on the ferris wheel? Well, the goal is to not get caught. Public acts are still illegal, though most people just spend a night in jail thinking about what they did. It's treated as more embarrassing than anything, but sometimes people let things get away from them. Many of the brothels will offer rooms to couples for the evening, complete with toys and supplies to practice safe sex. Even if they aren't spending their night with a sex worker, the themed goods are still there to enjoy.

> 10 DAYS OF HALLOWEEN: THE NEXT EIGHT DAYS

After the rowdier events pass, Halloween splits into two main categories: corporate popups and remembrance. Halloween parties continue to be thrown at restaurants and bars, allowing people to enjoy a more low key version of what was previously available. Many of the bars have karaoke contests and themed parties, and many retail stores maintain a Halloween section until November first. If anyone's been invited to a party last minute – or they need a series of costumes to be extra about the whole occasion – they can hit these stores when needed.

◉ Pulsar's hover car-focused subsidiary, Bakker, advertises their 2512 line of cars by having hover hay rides around the city. Their trucks can hold up to six. Anyone hoping to go on a hover truck hay ride around the city to take in the sights and bonfires in the evening can call one on New Amsterdam's special Halloween app! These rides don't only show the city: they give a glimpse at the large amount of forestation just over the wall, allowing people to see that the Earth is gradually improving.

◉ There are, of course, haunted houses set up around the city! Haunted houses come in two varieties: virtual reality and 4D. Vyonation's gaming subsidiary, Vizija, sets up the virtual reality popups around the city. Due to the high tech nature of these setups, people do have to be on site to enjoy them. They interface with someone's neural implant, and depending on the experience, they can involve puzzles, escape rooms, murder mysteries, or even dissection tables. The 4D houses are the result of a joint partnership between Poe and Polarized – which are subsidiaries of Giles Bell and Pulsar, respectively.

4D haunted houses involve a great deal of props, realistic sights and smells, as well as the potential for certain drugs that can help provide a certain physical or emotional response. Whereas Vizija's simulation comes with the reassurance that nothing is real, Poe and Polarized team up to scare someone – and try to ensure it's as real as possible. Nothing offered at either is illegal, including the drug – though people with a history of heart issues won't be allowed to use the drug at all.

These experiences are made unique for everyone going in: people are allowed to opt out of anything that might make them uncomfortable, or even add in something along the way. If someone is feeling too much anxiety thanks to the drugs, they'll find a counter-drug added to their system to negate the artificial effects rather quickly.

◉ Remember that art contest? Anyone who finished a work will find their art somewhere in the city – and that includes anyone among the Displaced. If anyone is looking for artwork that's similar to what's been featured on the shrines, there will be a few, only they will seem more inviting. Whereas they celebrated people before, they now involve hands outstretched, welcoming someone down a blue-lit path. The same imagery – triangles and overlapping circles – will still be present, especially on the hands as tattoos.

◉ Five days before the 31st, there is a tradition of everyone donating a knife from their house to make it so that "spirits" can return safely. While no one in New Amsterdam genuinely believes that they might be visited by a spirit, the odd occasions around the city recently have lent some credence to this superstition. There will be knife disposal boxes all around the city – and anyone who doesn't give up a knife, butter or otherwise, will be seen as a bit of a spoilsport.

◉ On October 29th, there will be a procession from one end of the city to the other that starts just as the sun goes down and finishes when everyone has reached the other side. As you might imagine, this is a very, very long walk, and many people slip in and out according to what they can individually manage. People walk with candles along the way, and there will be booths selling new or replacement candles for a low price. Since the procession goes along the path of a lot of bonfires, it won't ever be difficult to get them lit. The purpose of this? Everyone uniting in remembrance: of a world that's healing, to celebrate the lives lost to usher in a peaceful era, to thank everyone on the colonies for offering a humanity a new home, and any personal losses that people might have faced. Even though there are still billions of people alive, there is the sense that everyone knows that they remain on Earth on borrowed time.

◉ For the last two days, people light candles and put them in their windows, and they also leave food outside of their windows and in the front of their apartments so that "spirits" can return safely. There's an implicit understanding that most of this food will be taken by people who aren't doing as well, and much of it is nonperishable. Anyone who's down on their luck will see candles in the window and will know that they will likely find food there. Many people stock up for this occasion so that they can replace any food. Unsurprisingly, most high-end apartments with well-off people don't honor this tradition, but people in mid-to-low end apartments will almost always have something to spare in the spirit of charity.

> SAFEHOUSE

Access to the safehouse is a hatch hidden behind stacks of empty storage shelves in the back of an abandoned supermarket in an outer district of the city. The immediate area is similarly abandoned, empty stores, flanked by several blocks of dive bars and clubs which cater to more niche tastes. A place where people can come and go unseen, or, if seen, not spoken of. A dark haired woman called Gaby is ready to greet the new arrivals and get them settled in, brusque and no-nonsense – she'll be open for in depth questions later, but will advise everyone to ask the people who brought them in for the beginning bits of information.

◉ The safe house is a large open space, filled with rows of basic cots set up to sleep a large amount of people. Basic, but outfitted with everything necessary for daily life. A few doors lead to back rooms for storage, medical care and a large communal bathroom, and past the long rows of cots there is a communal kitchen, fully stocked, and an eating area. Privacy is at a minimum.

◉ New characters will be asked to pick their beds, and provided with a change of (second-hand, mismatched and somewhat threadbare) clothes and basic toiletries.

◉ Any belongings from previous safehouse occupants have been packed up – and that includes any current Displaced who just got back from a trip. If someone left something out while they were in New Tokyo, Gaby will tell them where these objects can be found. For her part, she's just trying to get everything set up for the upcoming move.

◉ Gaby will make it clear to all new arrivals that if they have any requests or queries, they should contact her or El.

◉ Once everyone that El spotted has arrived back, they'll be informed that the safehouse will be a temporary location. By the end of the month, everyone will be moving to a new location about fifteen blocks away.

◉ The drugs making new characters compliant will remain in their systems for a few hours after their arrival at the safehouse before finally beginning to fade. They will be gone entirely after a night's rest. In the meantime, they may want to be careful of what others say to them.

◉ New characters will be given rudimentary access to the network on arrival in the safehouse, but will not have their ID set up yet. They will be able to make posts and replies, but their messages will be anonymous and they do not have inboxes yet.

◉ New characters will not be allowed to leave the safehouse until OCTOBER 25 (MAY 19). These 4 days are for them to adjust, learn about the world they've arrived in from their fellows, and for El to speak with them and work on setting up their IDs.

> FINAL OOC NOTES

Welcome to Meadowlark, newbies! You're now free to post to the network and logs comms. To reiterate, your characters will have no IDs or inboxes, nor be allowed out of the safehouse until OCTOBER 25 (MAY 19). At that point it's expected they'll have gotten a good idea of their new situation from their fellow characters, and will have discussed their background and job potentials with El in order for their false IDs to be set up.

If you have an artist character, please feel free to comment below under our QUESTIONS header to submit a description for a work of art! As long as they submitted something, you can feel free to assume they made some credits off of the whole experience!

Since there is a part of this log that involves explicit sexual activity, please remember content warnings. If your character engages in a sexual act, slap a warning on that! None of the drugs available at the event will involve aphrodisiacs or anything that will remove consent. Some of the brothels may involve play with that, but everyone entering those arrangements would need to consent from the start. We're well aware of the sensitive nature of having a Red Light District-adjacent event while characters are under the influence of compulsory drugs, so no characters will be forced or asked into any acts against their will. There will be no exceptions to this. In addition, any newcomers won't be able to skip off into a brothel because they're new, won't be able to confirm their ages, and they won't have any other identifying information. Otherwise, please be respectful and check everyone's permissions.

As a blanket reminder, all arrival logs are designed as mingle logs for the entire game.

If you have any questions or ideas about how you'd like to get your character involved in the world, please head over to the plot engagement post and drop us a comment! For questions specific to this log, there is a thread below.

Please check out our May calendar rundown for a look at things happening this month, as well as some additional notes from the mods.

As a reminder, AC for new characters accepted in May will be 10 comments across 2-4 threads, while current characters will need to provide the full AC of 20 comments across 2-4 threads. AC will be posted on June 1 at 12 AM UTC and close on June 8 at 12 AM UTC. If you do not reply to AC, you will be considered idled and dropped from the game. We will not post a warning list.

> NAVIGATION

Comments

arrival

[miscalibrate]

[ It doesn't take Amos long to decide the others from the van aren't a threat. They're confused and scared and some of them are pissed off, but it isn't at him, and the noise at the open end of the alley has most of them occupied.

He fucked up, clearly. Between that mistake and the disorientation that's keeping him sluggish, the woman gets her hands on his scrubs and throws her weight into dragging him back into the alley. His hands come up quickly, and he makes a choice — tries to get a grip on her arms, her wrists. It isn't gentle, but it's gentler than the alternative of trying to get leverage on her thin neck.

Whatever he's planning next doesn't happen. Amos freezes up, neutral expression cracking as the emotions crash through the link, and for a second he isn't here — he's on Tycho Station, a kid yelling, back in Baltimore. And for a second, she'll feel the empathy link without interference, like an echo chamber that grows quickly and jaggedly dimmer; trying to cut it up, make it make sense, make it less.

Then the brakes hit, hard. The dim blue glow at his chest flares up and ice floods back across the link and snuffs it all out, the fear and the anger and the hate; it's probably about as pleasant as going through a windshield, but on the other side there's nothing. The feedback loop goes dead and Amos's grip on her arms becomes fractionally less intense, but his expression hasn't lost its edge, and he isn't letting go.

She doesn't know what happened. Even after that, her question registers, but that doesn't make his question any less accusatory than her threat. ]

What the hell was that?

[strongarmed]

[The hard slam of it leaves her winded and empty, nothing leftover, all the pain and anger wiped clear like a slate of glass. North goes slack in the hold. Tension drains from once rigid muscles until she's held up on her feet only by his grip, and her expression — covered, but still vivid in eyes through the holes in the mask and the open slant of her mouth — portrays open vulnerability. She feels almost like a doll again.

The words filter through, but it takes time for North's thoughts to cobble onto them and piece meaning together. That blue hue is sheltered at her chest, and her gaze tilts down to it in shock. The color is more comforting than anything else that has happened in the last series of moments. But that shell-like emptiness doesn't last long, and emotion begins to bleed back in: first in flutters of fear that radiate between them in the skin contact, then darker ribbons of anger. Hurt. Terrifying confusion.]

How should I know? Let go!

[In an effort to separate them, North kicks at his stomach, wrenching her wrists to try and break the lock of those hands. She's weak, but she's vicious in her intent, at least.]

[miscalibrate]

[ It's like watching a switch flip. He can feel it, the way the resistance vanishes under his grip, and just seeing her eyes is enough. They go quiet, dead. His hold doesn't loosen in response, but there's an echoing shift of confusion in his face, something close to alarm slipping through — it's so muted that it wouldn't count for much on someone else, and even if she could feel it, it'd be faint.

She looks like Cortázar. The comparison's jarring, and when her emotions begin to spark back across the link his walls are already working overtime. Unsteady fear and then sharper hurt and confusion get run through a filter of white noise, never sticking the landing.

He might've let her go anyway. Between the compulsion and the kick, it isn't his call. Her shout registers as a command and his grip goes slack, then her kick lands and forces him back — it isn't particularly brutal, but he's disoriented anyway. Amos stumbles back into the wall of the alley, hands falling to his sides, eyes locked on the blue glow as it fades out under her scrubs. ]

I didn't mean to.

[ The comment barely makes sense. Didn't mean to what? He did mean to grab her. He doesn't really mind that he scared her, because she started it. It's the nothing that he didn't want, viscerally enough that it's worth saying before he's even worked out whether he's to blame. The follow-up's almost guileless and blunt enough to be funny. ]

Why's your chest glowing?

[strongarmed]

[She's panting, breath in short bursts, a startling spell of dizziness at the exertion. She's so much weaker than she remembers. She's tired and worn out and that makes her vulnerable. The difference in their size is undeniable, and where she might have once been able to take a human with the height and bulk of this one, it would be suicide to try. He'd kill her. Because that's how she looks at him: as though at any moment he might end her life.

Once released, North backs up, beginning to calm. Her emotions still continue to hang over her like a cloud, but that isn't new. Better to push them down into a corner of her mind and focus on what's in front of her.]

I don't know, you — you did something to me. [Accusatory and sharp, she curls her arms over the front of her body.] When you touched me. I couldn't feel... anything. And your chest was blue.

[North takes in the sight of him at last, more fully, seeing the white scrubs that mirror her own. Could it be that whatever had happened to her was the same as him? They were all unloaded from the van, scattered here in this alley, left to fend for themselves as the sky begins to darken overhead.]

What's happened to us?

[miscalibrate]

[ He stays where he is, caught up in the new information and fully aware that doing almost anything else won't help things settle. He's still watching her, gaze too steady to be comfortable. He looks a little alarmed, which either lends to the solidarity or just makes him look tense. Maybe both.

His focus doesn't break until she mentions touch, and he glances at his hands like he's expecting to find an answer. There isn't one. He doesn't have an answer to her question, either.

He knows where he was before he woke up in the van. The blue glow isn't even new, though it doesn't completely check out — if it's what he thinks it is, they should be dead or dying. Maybe just crazy, if they're lucky. After a long, bemused pause: ]

Did you follow us into the ring?

[ Because that's what he remembers. The captain steering their ship directly into a giant ring. She wasn't on the Roci, but she might've been on the Xuesen, and they might've been stupid enough to follow. ]

[strongarmed]

The what? Never heard of it.

[Frustration rises into her voice now that the confusion's only grown worse, and it feels like whatever he's done to her has left her more emotionally raw and volatile than when she first was dragged out of that van and dumped into this place. North has only ever had one way of dealing with it before it overwhelms her: direct herself toward a mission. Give her mind somewhere else to focus before she lingers too long and panics.]

C'mon, we need to get out of here. I don't know who you are, and I don't trust you, but we can't just stay. So either follow me or don't.

[It's too risky to linger in this place, vulnerable as she feels. They need to understand where they are and what they're dealing with. North takes charge without waiting for input or feedback, moving toward the mouth of the alley, peering around the other side. All she sees for one dizzying moment are brilliant lights and chaotic movement — the wild carnival ahead. She leans against the stone wall.]

Shit.

[miscalibrate]

[ He can't seem to hit the same pitch of confusion and frustration, but he's still on the same page. She shuts down his question and moves on. Gives orders, actually, and Amos moves away from the wall to follow her lead before it even occurs to him that he can do otherwise, only to stop as soon as she hits a more open-ended statement.

He's less quick to follow when she heads towards the street. Amos glances back down the alley, but there's nothing there. Still. His people weren't on that van, and they aren't here now. She is. And she's bossy and hostile, but she isn't wrong, and she's honest — he doesn't hate that. Between that and the fact that he'd probably head for the street anyway, Amos follows, keeping his bearings more easily as the noise and light slam against sensitive nerves.

Honestly? It feels a little like being drunk. The day after, maybe. It's clear they've got something in their system, so it tracks. He waits out the haze, ignores the dim headache, gives himself a few long seconds to take it in: the vendors, the costumes, the rides, kids running around and screaming about candy. ]

How the fuck is it Halloween?

[ He says, like somehow getting his calendar wrong is weirder than the emotional shit and the blue lights. ]

[strongarmed]

[At the edge of the alley's mouth, she glances up to him, a quick swing of attention.]

Not too far off from what I remember. November 9th.

[Not that she'd participated in Halloween, cooped up in the metal walls of Jericho, biding time until... whatever was going to happen. Whatever followed. Not that she ever had participated, the holiday seeming only to occur for the benefit of the humans beyond the glass barrier of her life and prison. She'd watch the lights and the children in costumes from a distant, unfeeling point for years.]

I remember there was this tradition... they called it Devil's Night. [North doesn't know where the words come from, but she's saying them all the same as her eyes wander over the crowd ahead.] Just an excuse for vandalism. People would break things, destroy property, anything they could get away with. Wonder if that's how it is here.

[She turns her head upward to see the towering buildings.] This doesn't even look like Detroit. What the fuck? [And then to him again,] What's your name?

[miscalibrate]

I don't remember November 9th.

[ Not that months mean much. But STCC does, and it still doesn't match up. He's scanning the crowd, too, but as she keeps talking his focus eventually trails off, shifting to her. He's watching her curiously, though it's difficult to tell if he's trying to puzzle out why she's sharing or because he's genuinely interested.

It's a little of both. Not knowing why people share things is kind of a default, so it isn't like there's judgement involved. His focus drops to the ground when she mentions Detroit, eyes on his feet, and he carefully flexes a hand as he answers. ]

Amos. And it isn't Baltimore, either. [ Baltimore would look more like Devil's Night, he thinks. Just not for one night. ] But we're on Earth.

[strongarmed]

North. My name.

[She finds herself searching for something in his body language and tone to give it away, but there's nothing there to find. Her head turns back toward the street. With a gesture of one hand, she moves around the bend of the alley and toward the carnival, because it's better than hiding in the shadow. That doesn't mean she'll go running for the brightly lit crowds. North is strategic about the route she travels.]

I've never been to Baltimore.

[Detroit is all she's known, and she wonders after what he says — we're on Earth. Isn't that a given? Where else could they go?]

Were you one of us? [North's voice gentles. It's the only assumption that makes sense. Whatever was done to them in that van and prior to it, there's a singular reason.] Another android?

[miscalibrate]

[ When she gestures for him to follow this time, he doesn't hesitate. If she really doesn't know more than him and they're on the same page, he can't just leave her to fend for herself.

The carnival goers seem to be way too busy enjoying themselves to notice a few strays. He keeps his attention split anyway, half on her and half on everything else, trying to remember the last time he'd seen a crowd this big at something that wasn't a riot or an evacuation. That thought's put on hold as soon as she lands on the question. Amos turns an inquisitive look on North, trying to tell if she's fucking with him.

Her expression and that shift in her voice say she isn't. Amos doesn't really have to run over whether androids are possible — he knows they aren't, not with what humans can currently wrap their brains around. He seems a little bemused when he answers, but there isn't a big pause for surprise or confusion. ]

Not that I'm aware of. Is that what you are?

[ Does he buy it? There's no great reason he should or he shouldn't, honestly. It's been a weird year. ]

[strongarmed]

Of course that's what I am.

[If disappointment colors her voice, she tries to smother it. That theory's gone in a breath of smoke, then, because Amos wouldn't lie if he was the same as her. There was a oneness to androids: that is what North believes. They're together in this, and there's no reason to pretend anything else. She draws to a stop and observes him with another look of scrutiny — human from head to toe, tall and well-built. Willing, for some reason, to go along with her now.]

You'd know, [she huffs, almost indignant,] it isn't like you get a choice.

[Android or human. There are only two sides of this world, a severe division between her kind and the enemy. Perhaps that's why she watches him with so much distrust.

After a tempered heartbeat, North turns her attention on the surrounding crowd. In her mask, she blends in well with the costumes of the holiday's tradition. It's almost impossible to gather much from the frenetic motion of revelry; impatience itches in her as she tilts her head up toward the sky.]

We need higher ground. Can you find something?

[They have a few options, ranging from tall buildings (a risk: will doors be unlocked? can they access the roof without difficulty or interception of security?) to a ferris wheel (brightly lit, vantage over the territory, but the thought of confining herself to a small space with this stranger without a weapon inspires uneasiness) to the vertical carnival ride Wicked Force (but the sight of it causes unfamiliar tension in her chest and gut at the freefall).]

[miscalibrate]

[ Of course, as if anybody's an actual fucking android. He thinks idly of the hybrids and the Ring, and whether this ranks higher or lower on the list of weird shit. Probably lower, so far. She isn't trying to kill him. Not currently, anyway.

His outward reaction is about as urgent as that idle thought, which is to say not at all. He's mostly distracted by her response, trying to get a read on her answers and what she isn't saying. When she swings her attention back out to the carnival, he follows her gaze, waiting a patient beat until after her question to speak up. ]

Most people don't. [ Does he get what she's saying? Not really. Not in context. But it's said like an agreement, not a correction — because she's right. He can't think of anyone who chose Baltimore or Eros or any of the other shit they woke up with. They might say they did, for pride or politics or some other bullshit, but that's all it is — bullshit.

Not that he's dwelling on any of it. He's eyeing the options and coming to roughly the same conclusions, minus the unease about proximity or a freefall. ]

The rides'll be less conspicuous. [ Which doesn't rule the rooftops out, but it's true. He points towards the freefall, demeanor patient and helpful. ] That one'll only give us a few seconds to get an eyeful, max.

[strongarmed]

[His judgments are correct, echoing her own as he says them aloud. North's eyes scan between the two rides and settles at last on the wheel, colored lights flashing as it turns in its endless circle.]

Then that's the one we need to try.

[Stated with the set of her own steely determination, North begins to walk toward it. This requires her to weave through the crowded street — Amos will have to keep up if he's coming at all. There's a short line at the ride where she waits, confusion wrinkling her brow. She's never done anything like this before. As the line draws closer to the gate, misplaced apprehension overtakes her, as though she's doing something wrong. They'll recognize what she is and turn her away. But that doesn't happen, and when she's let through, North drops down into one of the compartment's metal seats with strange relief. The opposite bench is left open to Amos.]

Hope you're not afraid of heights.

[miscalibrate]

[ Amos doesn't love the crowd, either. He's just used to it in a way she isn't, and he seems fine with falling into an attentive silence while they wait, keeping an eye on anyone who gets close. When he sits down on the opposite bench his attention wanders up, towards the mechanisms keeping the thing in place.

Which are fine, obviously. It's a carnival ride, not a spaceship, and it's probably in better shape than half the ships he's worked on. He looks back to her at the comment, unhurried. ]

I'd have a hard time if I was.

[ Space might not be a "height", technically, but it's basically four-way vertigo. Same energy. ]

You seem nervous. [ He can't tell if it's because of him. It's probably because they just got dumped out of a van, though it seems like it had ramped up while they'd been in line. Maybe she's the one afraid of heights. He can't do anything about that, but he does offer a very plain: ] I'm not gonna hurt you.

[ That's one worry checked off, right?? Super easy. His weight shifts slightly as the ride kicks up and the compartment rocks forward and up, then stills, holding again for the next pair in line. ]

[strongarmed]

[As soon as the door seals shut on their small cabin, North is left to confront the confinement of their space. It isn't so much him that inspires the jolt of fear, as that reassurance comes on a flat-toned voice, and she wonders if she's so transparent. Distrust exists, of course, but it always does. He's a man far larger than herself. It wouldn't take much for Amos to reach across the seat and snap her neck, especially given the vulnerable state of this human body she's in. But there's no motive for it.

When the carriage rocks, her hands flash to grab the side-railing, white-knuckled and startled. It's almost comical. But then she forces herself back into steely composure.]

No, you've had plenty of opportunity up until now to hurt me, if you really wanted to do it. [Fresh out the van, in that alley hidden from the view of the street, any moment between.] So I don't think you will.

[As the ferris wheel is slowly loaded up, North keeps her eyes on him, rather than the growing height.]

What do you mean, that you'd have a hard time?

[miscalibrate]

[ His eyes track her startled movement when the carriage shifts. It's an idle kind of focus, not terribly heavy; habitual, same as how he'd kept an eye on the crowds. He meets her eyes again when she speaks, taking in the straightforward answer. It isn't trust. But it's logical, which is good enough. Maybe better.

He doesn't seem to mind the uneven start-stop of the carriage, easily adjusting to each small, sudden jolt as they load up the last few seats. The expanding view outside is more distracting. His gaze cuts away as he replies, and a lilt of curiosity slips into his otherwise neutral voice as he watches the slowly dropping buildings and stretching horizon. ]

Because I work in space. I don't know if it's all heights or no heights, but it sure as hell ain't solid ground.

[strongarmed]

Space?

[The confusion spikes, painting over her tone as she asks without thinking. Automatically, North's gaze flits above to the sightless sky, too many buildings circumventing real visibility of what's above. It's impossible to make out more than narrow swatches of sky. Then she turns back, never keeping Amos out of the range of her vision for long.]

So this must be strange for you. Being back on Earth, or what's probably Earth. [Solid ground regardless.] What were you working on up there?