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Angela	As a new Association, the Trideag Association doesn't normally get calls for assistance from anything akin to a Wing or even meet with anybody particularly high up in one. Olivier is the exception and he has largely been handsoff since the Naming Ceremony--likely because so far there hasn't been any issues. 5rBut recently he HAS sent word to Trideag indicating that there will be some Fixer Grade adjustments coming which means this is the perfect time to take a higher profile job. Associations tend to be the Authority on their specializations so as far as it goes for Elite operations, The Trideag Association is king on all matters that involve Elites. But as far as day to day adventuring work goes... Associations don't always fare better than offices. That's where Grade comes in. Coincidentally, Angela has sent a request in. Well, technically the request came from Hokma from the LobCorp main office but it was her voice that came from the recording when Ceri brought it back to the Trideag Association. Angela explained the situation as thus: Once upon a time the old L Corp, in an attempt to shore up its flagging poor public image (due to mutations their smoke was inflicting on their own Feathers (civilians)), created Steamland! When this didn't really work and the old L Corp fell, the new L Corp obtained the new property and refurbished it into an amusement park for itself in order to recoup the financial cost of the Wing War and satisfy other deals with other Wings. Thus was born LobcorpLand...celebrating the wonders and possibilities of Enkephalin! And eventually encompassed elements from the District's followup media campaigns, cartoons, and radio plays. It also happens to host one of the many Enkephalin Production facilities spread throughout the City. Recently there had been a sharp dropoff of energy production within the facility and Trideag is being asked to investigate both the park's energy consumption levels and the facility itself in order to figure out just what the issue is. A Day pass to the park will be provided with the promise of a 'Quick Pass' towards the rides for use once the work is complete. Successful completion of the work will result in a significant payment as well as a complimentary report towards the Hana Association. It has also been requested that the local Manager be retrieved and delivered into the hands of local authorities for debriefing. The rescue of local agents is authorized so long as it does not get in the way of this task. Angela has indicated that representatives from Lobotomy Corp will be present and that their word will be final in the investigation. Private cars arrive at the Trideag Headquarters to pick everybody up, splitting everyone into two or three cars. The ride involves passing through an electrified gate with armed L-Corp officers who check credentials and the work visas before being allowed into the Nest. Shortly after, a second gate area, though this time by L-Corp officers in brightly colored fanciful uniforms, there is a second check of all the paperwork and a call ahead on the radio comms to someone in the park and afterwards the group is waved through again. The drivers seem ill inclined to answer questions from Grade 8 and 9 Fixers just yet. The groups are taken to an absolutely packed parking lot and dropped off at the back of the parking lot for reasons of 'not causing a fuss in the park'. Wristbands are handed off to everyone that work for both getting into the park and getting on rides and they indicate the 'Quick Pass' is also on the band. There is a little familiar bird indentation where the wristbands clasp. One of the drivers--She has a colorful nametag on their suit naming them as Louie--remains behind to serve as an immediate guide.
Angela	It is a cool day outside which is good because there isn't a lot of protection from the sun out here. There's little in the way of overhangs and even the trees dotting the parking are cordoned off so they can't be used for shade. As you get closer to the park, you notice a brief strange smell--like baked goods but omnipresent. It fades quickly. The smell is subtle and designed to make you want to buy food. A long line wades around bright green roped off segments but Louie guides you off to a side station where there is no line. Another agent (Jam) is here and scans your wristbands and seems to be barely thinking twice about your presence, smiling bigly with full enthusiasm but there's a sense he's not really looking at you. "Thank you for coming to Lobcorp Land! I hope your time here will be Energizing! Your badges will automatically activate once the LobCorp representative overseeing your operation sends word back to the main office that you have successfully completed your work which will also activate your Quick Pass---" 5rJam blinks suddenly and says, "...Oh! I'm sorry. It seems that your Quick Pass is for tomorrow and you don't have a pass for that day... And the system won't let me move it to today, haha... Is there anything we can do?" Louie says, "Oh Greg said it was so that they wouldn't rush the job." Jam hesitates, "...But their Nest Visa was only approved for today... ... Ah, haha... Well, it seems that your Quick Pass will be unavailable! But we are sure your stay will still be magical!" A little bar raises up to allow the group in with Louie following though she stops in a main courtyard with a beautiful floral pattern (guarded off from the public by another metal fence) with a statue in the center of four armed people with a plaque indicating the statue is dedicated to the bravery and honor of the veterans of the Wing War. Outside of the one wearing a mask, there's nothing too distinguishing about them. "We'll wait here until the representative arrives." Louie says. There's still no shade but there are some nearby bathrooms which also have incredibly long lines. There's a 'Quick Pass' scan for the bathrooms too, it seems.
Madeleine Cadrasteia	Madeleine is getting into the spirit of an amusement park the only way she knows how: anyone sharing a car with Madeleine will have to endure the muffled sound of the Vengaboys coming from her earbuds. If questioned on her choice of entertainment, her only explanation is an enigmatic "Know your enemy."     After Louie and Jam introduce themselves and explain the Quick Pass mixup, Madeleine immediately raises a hand for a question. "So this manager. What do we know about them? Name, look, habits, favorite color, I'll take whatever you can offer. If you want the manager brought in for questioning I'm guessing they don't currently want to be found - which isn't an issue, really, just need to know where to start." She fidgets with her wristband impatiently. "You work here, so you've gotta know the fellow, right?" The huntress, given opportunity to pursue a quarry, seems to have already forgotten the rest of the mission.
Petra Soroka	Petra, for a series of complicated reasons, is not part of the Trideag Association. As the first Elite to have taken up official work in the City, long before the Trideag Association was a twinkle in the Purple Tear's eye, her existence was *illegal* for quite a while. A collection of paperwork rituals conducted during her employment bypassed this issue, by relegating her status in the City to one of a high-security patented Wing asset, whose trademark gives her rights far and away above those of any average City worker that might question her.     So, officially, Petra is here not as a Trideag member, and also not as a person. She's also not here as the Captain of Extraction team, because the Extraction Department is, for obvious reasons, unique to L-Corp HQ, and a strictly-held secret from everywhere else in the City. As a complete blackbox of an entity, 'Petra', who is a 'Captain', accompanies the Trideag Association on this mission on the specific request of their employer. If you ask any more details than that, she's legally allowed to kill you!     She doesn't arrive from the Trideag Association either, of course. Her taxi drops her off separately in the parking lot, convening with the Association Elites when they're deposited at the back gate.     Because this is official L-Corp business, in the unique (for Elites, at least) situation of being outside HQ, Petra has to wear the default professional suit that the clerks wear, rather than her EGO. Typical black jacket and slacks over a white dress shirt is only broken up by three personalized accessories for her particular status within L-Corp: the black and gold armband labeled 'B' for Extraction team, a black tie shot through with cosmic streaks of color like Pillar of Creation, and the green and orange heart hairpin from Fragments of the Universe.     Professionalism is only worn half-well on Petra. Whenever she's still long enough to settle into one of her idle animations, she undercuts it with a tinge of delinquency by slipping her hands in her pockets with her thumbs sticking out, or crossing her arms. If she weren't five foot four and twenty years old-- albeit, that doesn't actually disqualify her, in the City's demographics-- she'd be radiating *just* a little too much hitman energy instead of 'here for a business conference' energy. "We'll wait here until the representative arrives."     "Yo," Petra gives a lazy, half-assed wave to the gathered Elites, but to Louie and Jam, she actually gives handshakes, squinting with a bit of irritation from the sun. "Petra, I'm the rep from HQ. Where's the, like, Enkephalin collection systems at? And could I check over some sh-- weekly records with Info?"     Then to the Elites, Petra's mission-focus dims somewhat, instinctively pouting at them to take the edge off of Actually Doing Her Job. "You know, I've never actually seen what you guys, like, *do*. I just hear about it a bit."
Sarracenia	Sarracenia was actually here most of the day before the appointed time. Lilian has said that 'this is this and that is that' so the princess had actually spent some time getting to know the association building and made use of the training area to work on her dancing hammer style which is very elegant and graceful thank you very much! Then, she spent some time in the pool. A pool is one of the few places she can get away with not wearing her dress, so she is once again in her sparkly red one-piece floating around on one of those inflatable floating beds while playing on her phone and enjoying some grapefruit soda up until it is time to leave.      She is back in her typical red royal gown by the time they are loading up. She is looking pretty nervous though. "So...i-is this going to be some kind of meltdown thing?" she asks the others before they head to the park. Sarra really would rather not deal with more meltdowns than she has to.      The very idea of the park is unnerving to Sarra. "An amusement park...above an Enkephalin facility. Who thought this was a good idea?" she asks once they arrive.      They are given wrist bands that are supposed to be good for something, but it turns out they are really only good for getting the job done. She follows the others into the park. Her head lifts and her nose twitches lightly at the scent of baked goods, but when it fades and there is no apparent source in sight she huffs softly in annoyance and just pulls out an apple fritter from her endless supply of snacks and chomps on it a bit grumpily.      "Magical...right." she says to Jam in a bit of a sarcastic tone before they are lead into the courtyard. Sarra regards each statue in turn, then ughs and holds a hand up to try and block some of the sun. "Honestly...whoever designed this place did not have fun in mind, did they?" she says before pulling out a red parasol and unfolding it to shade herself while she continues enjoying her fritter as much as she can.      'You know, I've never actually seen what you guys, like, *do*. I just hear about it a bit.'      Oh, great. Petra is here. Sarra instinctively turns just a bit as if to say 'I am not sharing with you' before raising an eyebrow in confusion. "We...Fix, I suppose?" she offers. It isn't like Sarra really knows what they do, either. And she is unsure if this is some sort of trick, some sort of 'keeping the guise up', or if Petra is asking about specific powers from the team members. Though, Sarra is pretty sure Petra already knows that last one already.
UFO Gang	The Welfare Division sent its finest. Well, maybe. Two (for now) individuals debark in the parking lot of this estimable institution, this "Lobcorp Land". One of them is MINAMITSU MURASA, who is carrying an anchor on her back for spiritual reason; another is ICHIRIN KUMOI, who is wearing a cloth hood over her head. Other than this, both are wearing relatively snazzy uniform-looking black blazers and white blouses, along with plus-four-cut slacks (Minamitsu) and pencil-cut skirt (Ichirin). A pink cloud also drifts into the general area, coming curiously close to Ichirin, who does not remark upon this. "Maybe it was inexpensive land?" Ichirin answers Sarracenia, before bowing to Petra, who may be the one who shall only be referred to as "TEAM LEADER" and also as "Petra, that being her name." (Minamitsu gives Petra a more familiar "hiya!" before briefly being stunned at the wafting scent of Baked Good Essence, which makes her almost-visibly drool. Almost-visibly.) After wiping off her mouth on her sleeve, Minamitsu observes: "People seem to be standing in single files all over the place. Is that an austerity they're practicing or something?" She fiddles with her wrist band. Ichirin considers Minamitsu's question, and comes down with: "I think it just might be."
Odette Raskins	Is Odette going to be anyone's first choice when it comes to helping in matters relating to Lobotomy Corporation? Probably not. Does she know anything about power and wiring? Just enough to bring some electrical safety gloves, but probably not enough to actually make use of them. What she is is a  a Trideag Assocation member in good standing, and she's one of those that shows up to answer the call to scope out the energy problems at Lobcorp Land. The promise of a Quick Pass isn't necessary to tempt her to work harder than she was already planning to, but it certainly helps. Sadly, Odette's probably not going to get many questions answered as a grade 8, and she gives up on that a few minutes into the ride. "I wonder What kind of snacks they've got in there..." The medic murmurs idly as she peers at the lines further away, not noticing herself already getting sucked in by the smell of the park. She's dressed in her usual Trideag Uniform with the somewhat mismatched medical bag and Company blue cap, and she has to shuffle the former around a bit so Jam can scan her wristband easily. "After? That's fine. That'll help us stay focused!" "Tomorrow? I guess it couldn't hurt to come back refreshed to really enjoy the pass, then!" "O... Only today? Oh, yeah, that... Um. That makes sense. The Company doesn't always approve multiple days, either, so..." Looking just a smidge defeated already, Odette does at least get to relax and enjoy the sights around the courtyard (even if she's still peckish). Nodding at Louie, she busies herself looking over the statue for now, peering at the plaque and shiveirng a few moments later once she realizes this might very well be some kind of ancient-ish burial ground. "There's... Um. Enkephalin. It doesn't do anything bad if it seeps into the ground, right? Er. Can it seep?" She asks, fighting off stray thoughts about whatever that stuff is and thenotion that it might start animating whatever dep buried dead there may or may not be somewhere far below her. "If it's something that needs to be contained... Er. Did anything happen to wherever it was stored recently?" As far as introductions go (moreso for Louie and Jam, and also the Lobotomy Corporation agents), Odette wipes her gloved hands off on her jacket before offering the same for a quick handshake. "Oh. Um. I'm Odette, EMT and grade 8 with the Trideag Association. I-it's nice to meet you all!"
Aidan Proudpick	Fresh off the sick bed, Aidan looks a little peaked. A bout of the Wind Flux will do that to you. But, he is just in time for his first Trideag mission, and eager! Dressed in his previous cloth armor so he looks as sharp as possible, a stylish new pistol on his hip, a huge shield on his back, medical bag slung across his shoulder(with a change of clothes so he can enjoy the theme park afterwards, he is ready to go. Aidan is bouncing up and down on the balls of his feet in every instance. Waiting for the car. Waiting for his wristband. Waiting to be scanned. "Thank you for coming to Lobcorp Land!" "Oh, thanks, this'll be my first time seeing an amusement park!" He beams a smile that slowly wanes seeing Jam's wax figure smile. He's tried to wear a smile like that before around Lilian and Petra, and seeing it on someone else... "That's fine! It's all work anyways!" He hurriedly tries to reassure Jam, "We won't need those, right?" --------------------------------- "That must be the most amazing bathroom," he remarks, eying up the huge line. His tail flops over his head for some shade as he turns around slowly, taking in just the first part of the theme park, eyes wandering up and down. "Oh, do you have some place with vegan cookies? I would kill for vegan cookies right now." "Petra, I'm the rep from HQ." Fuck. Aidan looks at Sarracenia for solidarity in this crime that is having Petra in charge of them, remembers what he said to Sarracenia, and looks back away with a little huff. "You know, I've never actually seen what you guys, like, *do*." "Whatever you say we do," Aidan says, trying to make it professional. "No one has said what were doing yet. Except this Enkephalin stuff isn't been produced. Maybe everyone just feels happy?" Aidan hopes, thinking of every other horrible body horror he has had to face.
Meika Kirenai	It's a work assignment-- at a theme-park! --or its associated facilities-- in the theme-park she'll get to visit afterwards! --to figure out why the facilities aren't operating how they should (and preform an arrest). That's closer than she's ever been to one, and it comes with the excuse of being for work. Meika *shouldn't* be excited about it, or fretting over whether whatever entrance protocols the Trideag fixers go through means outside-purchased water bottles should be hidden away alongside weapons, but she absolutely is.     Meika doesn't have any particular habit of being late to show up, but even with the slew of warpgate connections to go between, she shows up at the Association's backstreet headquarters with ample time to linger outside on a planter rim before it's time to file into the spooky government cars.     Clutching her violin case (full of theme-park contraband like a handgun and assortment of granola bars), she scoots in and takes a seat next to unsettlingly familiar faces-- of course Odette's here, and that's the camping lady, if she is, she's supposed to be, the only reason it doesn't line up is--     "Oh, um. Hi."     Awkward greetings, followed by stiff silence and out-window staring. The jarring feeling is easy to forget between group assignments, and catches Meika off guard each time. - - - - -     At arrival, after clumsily fiddling with putting on her wristband with her non-dominant hand, Meika takes a moment just to examine the silly thing. That, alongside the chilly, if not crisp, air, brings out a goofy smile across her face, even if just for a few moments. It's not the rinky-dink paper entry wristbands she's more used to, at ice rinks, or competition events, but it's still a little ward to prove you're supposed to be there. And it's got a cute bird on it! She taps the indent with a little giggle, before stowing her hand back in her letterman's pockets and sticking with the group. 'Ah, haha... Well, it seems that your Quick Pass will be unavailable!'     "Ah-? That's-" Meika chews her lip. It'd be childish to complain about that, but it's still souring, even without the context of what it actually means. "... What's a quick pass even matter for," she says, having never stood in a three hour theme-park queue.     "... I guess that's smart. Wouldn't want a rush job. Nobody wants a rush job." She's pouting. "... Still good to try and finish it quick, though, right?" 'Yo,'     "Oh, Petra-? That's-" Red eyes wide, Meika falters, before maneuvering a hand into a clumsy wave. "You're the- the liason? That's a funny coincidence. It sounded like there was just going to be some sort of suit to watch over us, or- yeah." A short, embarrassed little posture-shift follows, as Meika tries to undo the immediate relaxation to her stance from seeing someone she's actually friendly with around- this is meant to be professional, after all.
Petra Soroka	"We...Fix, I suppose?"     Petra rolls her eyes at Sarra, but doesn't escalate any further than that. Either 'this is this and that is that' filtered down to her explicitly through Lilian's instruction, or she's just of that same mindset, with regards to Sarra's presence within the Association.     "I mean, like, Trideag specifically. But I guess Elites aren't much different from normal Fixers anyways, so it's nothing special much. It's just..." Petra trails off to think for a moment, before giving a surprisingly sincere answer. "A little weird to think about how much coincidence it takes for my work to overlap with Trideag's. Like, considering everything." Considering that she works alongside those same Elites regularly elsewhere, but can't in the world that she lives in and is employed in, because of the particular tethers of her entrenchment here. "Whatever you say we do,"     "Heh." The smug exhalation escapes from the corner of Petra's smirk, even while she tries to keep up her professional attitude in front of Jam and Louie. "I know you guys just need some sort of wall to smash your faces into, yeah. I figure there's something up with the auxillary employees that you'll have your chance to shout at defiantly while beating them up." What? What does that mean? "It doesn't do anything bad if it seeps into the ground, right? Er. Can it seep?"     A courtyard is *so* not the place to discuss this, as is evident when Petra shifts her weight around and glances aside. "So, like-- first off, you, local employee guy-- is there some, like, *building* we could be in, instead of here? That sorta thing is a bit dependent on, like, collection techniques, so I have to ask for, um... security clearance from you two. Not the Trideag people, I know who they are." "You're the- the liason? That's a funny coincidence. It sounded like there was just going to be some sort of suit to watch over us, or- yeah."     Petra glances down at her suit, then back up at Meika. "Well, actually, uh--" That's obviously not what Meika means, though, so the feigned correction is dropped almost immediately. "Yup. I didn't even know this place existed, honestly-- like, no one at HQ talks about this."     "Hey," Petra tilts her head to the side at Jam again. "What's the sitch on, employee discounts, or whatever?" Well, not that Petra would want to come back. Cinder can't go wandering around the City, and there's not much other reason for Petra to go to an amusement park. Also, this one sucks. The concept of an employee discount is just funny to her in theory.
Sarracenia	When Aidan looks Sarra's way, Sarra hmphs at him and turns her head away with a cheek-puffed pout on her face. She is not talking to him right now!      'Whatever you say we do.'      Sarra blinks at that, then mmphs. "Well, not just -anything- you say we do. But, within the bounds of the objectives..." She ends up just pouting a bit more and crossing her arms over her chest, parasol still held over her head. "Trideag as I understand it is an association dedicated to improving the City and the lives of its people. I am not entirely sure this mission will actually help with that, but if there are...creatures on the loose then it may. We cannot have dangerous and insane beings just running around doing whatever they want."      She may glance with her eyes toward Petra after that last part.      "Why, just the other day we resolved an issue with another group who attacked one of our members by recognizing their terrible position in life and inviting them to join the association. And before that we planted a rooftop garden to help beautify the city and to help those of Trideag have a nice bit of nature to enjoy."      Sarra's frown increases slightly after that. "And I do not smash my face into walls." She actually understands the auxillary employees thing, so doesn't ask more about it. And does not look happy at the implications.      'is there some, like, *building* we could be in, instead of here?'      Sarra hmphs softly. "If they did not want us discussing the mission in the open they should have provided a conference room or something instead of just throwing us out here to melt in the sun."      Meika is here! Sarra is glad to see the young woman is still alive and not crazy or something. When the concern about the quick pass is brought up, Sarra offers a smile. "I am sure we can arrange for it to be honored, even if we have to do it the more traditional way of exchanging money. Being able to skip the line is invaluable when visiting an amusement park."      As a rich person, Sarra likely never waits in lines if she can pay to get out of it.
Angela	''Madeleine asks some questions.'' Louie hesitates and says, "Ah well... We don't know what happened exactly. Perhaps our auxillary workers are causing a fuss--We are above ground cast members, so we don't really usually know too much about what's going on downstairs. But we still have work to do up here before I lead you backstage. A few of our rides are 'bugging out' and it might be related to the situation at hand so we want you to check them out first. Whether there's an issue with the Manager or not..." Louie shakes Petra's hand. Jam spends like a minute wiggling his body so he can sneak a hand out to nab Petra's hand with and awkwardly shakes it before pushing himself back into his station. "We've got above ground Enkephalin receptors and below ground receptors. The public knows they are there but don't really know how hey work." Louie explains. "I've marked spots on a map." She draws out a pamphlet out of a vest pocket, slightly crumpled, and hands it over to Petra. More on that in a bit! ''Magical...right.'' Jam hesitates and then leans in to murmur to Sarracenia, "Hey I get it. But once you're in, if you could--like--please refrain from being a poor sport? For the kids? Or at least so I don't get yelled at by their parents?" When the Welfare gang arrives, Ichirin and Minamitsu also get handshakes, however brief. The pink cloud is frowned at. "Elites are weird," Louie mumbles, clearly unaccustomed to this sort of thing. ''It doesn't do anything bad if it seems in the ground, right?'' Louie says, "The official line is that Enkephlin is harmless but obviously even harmless things can be dangerous in high doses." This seems to be what she's willing to say on the matter in relative public but she doesn't seem particularly bothered. ''Aidan existing.'' Aidan might notice that some of the merchandise... Kind of looks like him. Not EXACTLY, not enough to confuse anybody who takes more than a second to look--but there are many stuffed plushes of a large squirrel man carrying a messenger bag. A store sign indicates him as 'Ratatoskr', occassionally with various titles like Re-Engineered, Re-Energized, or Radical. A baby in a stroller has shoved an entire Ratatoskr head in its mouth.
Angela	''What's a quick pass even matter for,'' Jam brightens because he knows this line by heart. "Oh that's easy! You see, plenty of families want to go to all the rides or just don't have a lot of time so they buy Quick Passes so that they can skip the line. Of course, you can only buy Quick Passes for certain hours of the day, and not on holidays, and not during peak hours---and they're only allowed for select rides--but they can really cut down on the time you have to wait in line!" He does not clarify if this also goes for the Bathroom Fast Passes. WHen Petra asks about if they can move to a private area, Louie helpfully guides everyone through an inobtrusive door embedded in some false wooden panneling and steps on through with them to a backstage area. "It should be safe to speak here." She says. "For any other questions. Park staff is broadly aware of the situation." ''Like no one at HQ talks about this.'' Angela had asked Petra for a detailed report on what 'the amusement park is like' which seems less to do with work and more to do with Angela also never having been at an amusement park before. "Well...you'd have to ask them about that." Louie admits. Jam who followed along says, "Oh employees get a fifteen percent discount on all merchandise!" He seems thrilled to be able to recount these rules despite his general work-smile demeanor. "Ah that doesn't apply to Fixers, but feel free to shop while you are here. There hasn't been any rulings against shopping, haha..."
Lilian Rook	Lilian doesn't take the company car, because it doesn't project the image of an Association head to ride with her rank and file employees. Arriving separarely is only natural for the boss, and arriving by surprise is only correct for keeping the peons on their toes. Or so the precepts of image go.     An amusement park is far from Lilian's ideal location for one of these. The initiation exam for her organization was a spooky moonlit investigation around a seaside town ravaged by the dramatic overnight massacre of a Blood Fiend. This seems positively lame (and creepy) by comparison; to Lilian, unbiased opinion-haver on spooky night seasides. As such, she's relatively quick to clarify "Of course I want to see how my own Fixers perform when evaluation time is right around the corner. Plus, I have evaluations of my own to perform." so as to avoid being associated with this tinpot investigation. That, and she expects the staff to be more agreeable to Trídéag's currently sole Grade 1.     'When Aidan looks Sarra's way, Sarra hmphs at him and turns her head away with a cheek-puffed pout on her face. She is not talking to him right now!'     [Lilian Will Remember This]     'Elites are weird'     "Enough of them are freaks to form an Association to regulate." Lilian says, agreeably, warmly confident in counting as the better of two possible groups.     'I mean, like, Trideag specifically.'     "Obviously it's all part of my master plan." says Lilian, rolling her eyes like she's being sarcastic. She's really not. "But as far as it matters to the brass--" Telling that she uses that word instead of 'suits' or 'c-suite'. "--the Association has first priority in handling the Multiverse causing problems, and then specializes in high-risk, low-intel crisis situations with other powerful actors. Otherwise, it's the same things as any other Association; distributed gig work for dangerous odd jobs that ordinary people can't handle. It's been compared to an 'adventurer's guild'." That was Lilian. Lilian made that comparison. But pretending it was someone else makes it more legitimate.     'Whatever you say we do'     "Petra isn't your boss." Lilian says. "I am. The Trídéag Association isn't an official affiliate or subsidiary of L Corporation. Our HQ being in the unregulated zone surrounding Nest L doesn't have to do with being government employees."     '... Still good to try and finish it quick, though, right?'     Mild amusement comes and goes. "Surely you're already incentivized. You all have lives to get back to, don't you?"     'If it's something that needs to be contained... Er. Did anything happen to wherever it was stored recently?'     "Finally." Lilian half-whispers. "Questions about the operation. Directions. Activity." She folds her arms expectantly.
Odette Raskins	"If we can get a hold of the manager, that could make our job way easier for sure..." Odette finds herself nodding along with Madeleine's line of questioning, resting a hand on her bag idly as she feels around the outside and confirms that there are, indeed, bottles inside. Or perhaps a specific bottle by feel? She really wants to grab a snack, but she needs to be patient. Sarracenia giving a vague answer to the Trideag Association's purpose has Odette pondering their role as well, or at least a way to put it that doesn't just sound like self-puffing schlock. "We're supposed to be problem solvers and role models, kind of? Building up the.. Um. Rep for being able to handle things so there's someone reliable near the Backstreets, and so the are doesn't just stay the way it is forever." When Lilian answers that as well, ODette quickly clams up, almost seeming to shrink back a bit in her presence. No, definitely shrinking back, if anyone with eyes pays attention. Hearing Meika, Odette blinks slowly and looks over in her direction before raising her hand in a quick, slightly excitable wave. "Oh! H-hi, Meika!" She greets her somewhat (and perhaps even too) casually. "Did Lab-um. Lobotomy Corporation hire you for today, too? Shame about the pass timing..." She still sounds down about that. Petra mentions heading inside, and Odette catches onto.. Well, just that actually. "Oh, good idea. More clearance to actually.. Er. Look into stuff'll be a big help for this, yeah. Maybe not maximum clearance, but..." A pause, and then Odette shrugs. "I guess it depends how far we'll need to look for.. All of this." Louie reassures/doesn't really reassure Odette at all, but she does understand enough about the 'official line' that she nods slowly instead of asking more about Enkephalin. "Got it. Well, as long as we can track it, that might clue us in on where the.. Um. Where to check next." Above and below ground receptors. That suggests it might be some kind of... Gas? Something ambiently existing, and that gives Odette plenty to think about as she heads into the backstage area with everyone else. More importantly, it's time for the 'other questions'. "How long ago did the energy levels start dropping?" "Are those bugging rides a... Are they bugging out in some way that a computer person wouldn't be able to handle normally?" "Is any of this Enkephalin stuff seeping out into the park? Do we need to look at treating visitors or employees because of it?"
Aidan Proudpick	A few of our rides are 'bugging out' and it might be related to the situation at hand so we want you to check them out first. "Wait, what kind of rides? I'm only really good with pipes and pumps." "I know you guys just need some sort of wall to smash your faces into." The thought circles Aidan's mind once before, "Well, yea." Sarra corrects Aidan, who winces. Lilian approaches and corrects him again, throwing him into the abyss. "She's the local representative," Aidan says defensively. But he does take it into account that he doesn't HAVE to listen to her. SQUIRREL MAN. Aidan picks up one toy, rotating it in his palm. "Huh." He looks down at his side, his own saddle messenger bag not quite the mirror. He mutters to himself, "Ratatoskr..." he knows that name in the back of his head. Neil Gaiman's melodious voice in his ears as he was taking care of his alien fruit saplings in Wonderworld. It was a short story. Something about climbing a giant tree? Aidan, with little thought to the overpolicing of the atmosphere here, scrambles up the side of the toy shop to perch on the roof and look out and upward, taking a brief survey of the area, on the look out for a tree. Adventurer's guild. Oh no, Lilian. Neurons in Aidan clearly activate. His tail twitches excitedly. Not just a hero. An ADVENTURER. A big grin spreads on his face as he arrives in the wood paneled room, carrying a bag of chocolate chip vegan cookies and plushie of Re-Energized Ratatoskr.
UFO Gang	"Oh, hey!" Minamitsu says to Aidan, waving. "I dunno if we met, unless it was during that horrible thing in the Corp', but Nazrin told me about you! I hope it's you anyway," Minamitsu says, suddenly doubt-wracked, in case her assumption (which is probably that Aidan is some kind of squirrel yokai) is false (due to the presence of multiple squirrel yokai in the adventurous community). Ichirin advances to stand nearer to Louie, turning her head to peek at the map even as it is pased over to Petra. She bounces up and down on the balls of her feet for a moment. Both she and Minamitsu return Louie's handclasping. "Oh, Unzan's a sweetie," says Ichirin, with cheer. "Are you... putting fences or something around the... thingies on the surface?" Minamitsu asks with some concern. "I saw what that did to Nazrin's mice -- haha, it's funny she's come up again." WHERE IS NAZRIN? Nazrin looks at the camera from within a room full of boxes full of surplus black coats, white dress shirts, and black ties. She has her dowsing rods out. She winks. Because that camera... Is what she's going to replace in a few minutes, after she gets her reading... Because a mouse chewed through a wire! SHE ISN'T HERE, BUT Minamitsu blurts, "Fifteen percent?!" There are stars in her eyes... stars of FRUGALITY. "I didn't even see how much those things cost... at that kind of discount..." Ichirin, who is less entranced at the prospect of buying crap, nods along with what Odette is saying. She presses her palms together and says, "Are the 'rides' that are affected still open for people to use, whether or not they purchased a 'fast pass'?" (Minamitsu says, "Aaah! It looks just like you!!" when Aidan returns with cookies.)
Angela	Lilian, being even more of a City celebrity at the park, DOES have her questions entertained and will generally be accomodated for. This may have less to do with being a Grade 1 and more being the one who beat Gebura, but in all likelihood the mix depends from agent to agent. It's not as if LobCorp WOULDN'T instruct staff to be accomodating for her. As the group is heading 'backstage', a small child (like five years old) reaches out for Lilian's uniform and holds out a small colorful coloring book in her direction, cheeks bright red as she says, "U..um... I wanna be a fixer as great as you some day m-may I have your autogwa--graph..." ''Enough of them are freaks to form an Association to regulate.'' Louie's own cheeks pinken as she says, "Aha...good one ma'am! We've been told to be accomodating to your needs. Please explore the park at your leisure." As they move backstage there's a quick flash of purple that isn't there when one tries to take a direct look. It's probably nothing. "There's four stations we'd like you to check out while you are up here." Louie says. "And then we'll open up the ''real'' backstage. But--" Odette asks more questions. "About a month ago. It wasn't so bad at first--not outside of expected fluctuations--but it took a real sharp downturn recently." Louie explains. "We don't really know why the rides are being weird but there hasn't been any major malfunctions yet. Just the rides stopping for a while and then starting back up before we can do proper maintenance." "Poor Ted." Jam laments. "As far as we know, there isn't an Enkephalin leak. At least not up here." Louie adds before taking a note of something in her own pad that she holds close to her chest.
Angela	''What kind of rides?'' There isn't really a tree backstage for Aidan to climb but Louie seems to see this as a reason to bring out... THE MAP. Which she hands over to Petra. It is bright and colorful and lists where all the stores and restaurants, which this park apparently has. But all the places that L-Corp want investigated appear to be ride-centric. LOCATIONS SPOOKYTOWN - Spookytown is for the BRAVE at heart with spooOOooky merchandise, spoooOOooky characters, and spooooOOooky atmosphere! The main attraction is the Bloodfiend Manor which is still running but LobCorp needs you to go backstage. Due to the way the ride is set up, it is difficult to always avoid notice of parkgoers while providing maintenance so spooOooOOooky costumes will be provided! Louie insists that there are no actual Bloodfiends present at Bloodfiend Manor, though. SMOKEBERG: SMOKE WAR BLAST-O-RAMA! (the exclamation poin is included) is another popular ride celebrating L Corp's victory in the Smoke War. In this ride, you use fake laser-pointer guns to shoot down those Nasty Bug Boys to win the fight for a newer better L Corp and depending on how well you do you get a 'Fixer Grade' at the end of the ride. Of course, this is mostly popular with children but the ride is presently shut down for 'maintenance' so it shouldn't be too difficult to get in and out without notice. CENTRAL PLAZA: The Big Bird's Flight is still in operation as well but due to its nature you are going to HAVE to go on this ride in order to check the Enkephalin Sensor at the tippy top of the Ferris Wheel. Sit in Big Bird-flavored cars (that are, weirdly, cuteified even compared to the original) and try to examine the sensor without being yelled at. CITY OF LIGHT: A river-ride reminiscent of It's a Small World. This one's still running but is in 'maintenance mode' so there shouldn't be any other parkgoers present.
Meika Kirenai	'Did Lab-um. Lobotomy Corporation hire you for today, too?'     Odette's response makes Meika stiffen up- "Huh? I- I'm- I'm signed up with the Association..? I've got my Fixer license..?" Confused, defensive, and worried- she's trying not to be, but sudden worries about misconfabulated prior jobs, events, and run-ins flood too quick to stifle. "Same as anyone," she adds, and sinks further into her slightly-oversized jacket. 'Oh that's easy!'     No, the quick-pass explanation sure isn't. Meika lets out a faint little "... Oh. I see." 'Well, actually, uh--'     Meika stares blank ahead for a second, almost worried- she mouths out what she said again, unvoiced, stops, and lets out a little snort. "Oh. Right. That's where it comes from..."     "... Is there a reason nobody ever talks about it? Is it meant to be haunted, or- or something like that..?" Probably not. Hopefully not. Meika rocks forwards, and then backwards, once, on her feet. "... It's your company's, so wouldn't they want to advertise, or... maybe it's just more for kids?"     "That's kind of weird. It sounds weird, at least." She chews at the inside of her lip, mulling far too long on the thread of 'if it's haunted, maybe the connected facilities are too', and briefly scaring herself at the idea. 'A few of our rides are 'bugging out' and...'     Whoops. Now, for at least the moment, she's certain it's haunted. "How- how so? What's going wrong with them..? Is it the- you're a power company, and stuff's wrong with the power-making, is it that kind of 'bug'? Flickering lights, crackly speakers, and..." She shivers- definitely not from the air, she's got her coat. 'We've got above ground Enkephalin receptors and-'     That's something more tangible to think on instead of ghosts- power supply failures are normal! And investigateable! Phew! 'As far as we know, there isn't an Enkephalin leak. At least not up here.' ... Maybe less 'phew'.     "... 'Poor Ted'? Did something-" Meika claps a hand over her mouth as she puts two and two together, two seconds too late. "O-oh." >Through an inobtrusive door embedded in some false wooden panneling     At least Meika's little horror-worries soften up quick, because hidden doors are objectively cool and a good distraction. Meika's eyes lock on the frame as she ducks through, examining how it's built to blend in that cleanly, as the whole shift from facades to backstage feels kind of like stepping through the fourth wall of something.     "... Good that most of the staff know some of it, right? But- people don't, so..."
Madeleine Cadrasteia	The quick flash of purple in Madeleine's vision as she heads 'backstage' stuns her for a split second, stopping her in her tracks just long enough to let Odette run into her back. If there was going to be color-oriented shenanigans here, the huntress had best be on her guard. Even if that was probably nothing, 'probably nothing' can quickly devolve into "chaotic tiger battle" when vivid color is involved. Thank the stars it's not a bad curse day...     When the map comes out, Madeleine ponders it from a safe distance. Temp-working a haunted house sounds fun, but there might be one of those rooms with a blacklight and UV-reactive paint, which would be bound to cause some kind of trouble given her curse. And she doesn't want to have a tiger incident two jobs in a row - the last time got a gun pointed at her, and now the Association's ratings were on the line.     "I'll go to Big Bird's Flight," she concludes aloud. "Odette, want to come with?" The medic's from space, so she shouldn't be too afraid of heights, right? Haunted house and shooting gallery are probably right out for a scaredy-cat and Madeleine knows how menacing those Small World animatronics can be.
Petra Soroka	"We cannot have dangerous and insane beings just running around doing whatever they want."     Sarracenia's sidelong glance isn't as subtle as she might hope it is, because Petra is already looking back at her when she says it. She holds eye contact for just a moment, long enough to fully communicate that she *knows* what Sarra is trying to imply, and the steady challenge in her eyes and suppressed smirk communicate that, if anything, she *approves* of the insult.     "I dunno. I think we can pick and choose which dangerous psychopaths we want running around. Maybe there's some merit in some of 'em." When Aidan looks Sarra's way, Sarra hmphs at him and turns her head away with a cheek-puffed pout on her face.     [Petra will remember that.]     She's not very subtle about it, though. The next time she catches Sarracenia's gaze, she raises her eyebrows and emphatically glances to the side towards where Aidan is, nonverbally asking, in the telepathic language shared by all gossips, 'What'd he do? How bad is it?' "It's been compared to an 'adventurer's guild'."     "*Cute*." Petra lights up when Lilian shows up, putting her hand on her cheek at the explanation of Trideag's purpose. Her passive excitement at having Lilian around is faintly shadowed by guilt, though, with her recent scolding, and that combined with the fact that Petra is here as a professional contact-- for Lilian's own project, even-- makes her doubly certain to sweatily keep up her put-together image and focus on the mission. "A few of our rides are 'bugging out' and it might be related to the situation at hand so we want you to check them out first."     "No shit?" Petra's interest is piqued in the investigation *now*. She tilts up her chin to get a better look around at the attractions visible from the courtyard, lingering on a roller coaster cart that corkscrews along its track and maybe wondering for a second if it would spontaneously fly off and explode dramatically for them. No such luck, though.     "I can think of some auxillary workers that could do that sort of thing, but-- uh, like, I don't have a list of which-- who you've got working here. So I'll need those records from Info, though, frankly, a normal employee could do that too. It's actually really easy to sabotage amusement park rides. Have you ever looked that kind of thing up? Literally, any random clerk with a wrench could sneak in at night and cause a dozen deaths with fifteen minutes of work. Roller coasters are the easiest, as you'd imagine, but you can get some good mileage out of weakening a handful of supports on one of those spinning swing rides. Drop towers and roller coasters have lots of redundant safety features, but those things just don't."     After that fun fact, Petra adds, finally relevant again, "Oh, so if there's any employees with records with Disciplinary-- you guys have a Disciplinary department, right?-- then I'll want that, too." "... Is there a reason nobody ever talks about it? Is it meant to be haunted, or- or something like that..?"     "Well, fuck if I know. No one ever talks about it. But it's probably haunted, like, a *little*, at least." "I've marked spots on a map."     Petra mumbles to herself, accidentally voicing her thoughts out loud while checking over the map, "Scavenger hunt, scavenger hunt...."
Petra Soroka	"Oh employees get a fifteen percent discount on all merchandise!"     Oh! Merchandise! Petra looks a little excited by that-- her growing stuffed animal collection in Cinder's dorm room could use a new member-- but then it's All Fucking Squirrels. She glares at one of the little bitty squirrel toys in a child's hand, then shrugs at Jam. "It's whatever. Who goes to a park for merch?" "Is any of this Enkephalin stuff seeping out into the park? Do we need to look at treating visitors or employees because of it?"     Petra takes charge of a couple of Odette's questions, with half her attention still on studying the map. "So, yeah, Enkephalin's primarily a gas, but there's a condensation phase later in the process to make it a liquid for better transport. I don't know if this branch has got the whole shipping apparatus built in, considering how much infrastructure the park itself needs, but... like, whatever. Main thing's that it *is* a gas, and it totally wouldn't harm anyone, but I can't let you-- like, you can't go around testing the visitors. Just don't worry about it."     Translation: no you can't just hand medical records of the potential harm that a Wing's primary resource might do to people existing around its production facilities. That's exactly the kind of thing that got the old L-Corp taken down! Surely this means that there's no danger. "I saw what that did to Nazrin's mice --"     "I'm pretty sure there wouldn't be any mice in any of the L-Corp facilities." Petra's straight-faced lie, surprisingly, makes her a really good corporate representative for Lobotomy Corporation. She does hold the map lower down so that her coworkers can see it too, though. SPOOKYTOWN -     "Anyways, let's go check out that Bloodfiend Manor." Petra rolls up the map without bothering to judge the merit of any of the other points of interest.
Sarracenia	'Hey I get it. But once you're in, if you could--like--please refrain from being a poor sport? For the kids? Or at least so I don't get yelled at by their parents?'      Sarra sighs softly at the request. "Fine fine. I would not want you to be yelled at or children failing to enjoy themselves." Sarra says half-heartedly.      Lilian arriving in a separate car leaves Sarra a bit jealous. Sarra prefers to arrive in her own vehicle after all. And the comparison to freaks makes her huff softly and cross her arms. "I am not a freak." she says as they are lead backstage. And that jealousy only increases as a cute little child runs up and asks for Lilian's autograph. Sarra does her best not to give Lilian a bit of a side-long glare and is mostly successful, but anyone watching her will probably still catch it.      'There hasn't been any rulings against shopping, haha...'      Sarra is thoroughly confused by this since it suggests there -could- be rulings against shopping. "...why would...anyone rule against shopping? Against specific items I might understand, but...shopping? Just...all shopping?"      Lilian gives better explanations on all aspects of their presence here, and Sarra is particularly relieved when Lilian declares that they are under her command and not Petra's. Like Aidan her eyes brighten a bit when they are compared to an adventurer's guild. That's where heroes work, right?      'You all have lives to get back to, don't you?'      "I think that saving lives is higher on my list than getting back to other things." Sarra objects.      'Fifteen percent?!'      Sarra is surprised that someone is intrigued by that. "Oh, is that a lot? I suppose I rarely consider the discounts when shopping." she says to Minamitsu.      'As they move backstage there's a quick flash of purple that isn't there when one tries to take a direct look. It's probably nothing.'      Sarra flinches at the flash and looks around quickly, then mmphs worriedly and continues on.      ''Aidan Existing''      And -NOT- immediately apologizing to Sarracenia for what he did! This causes her grumpy attitude at him to increase with an audible rise in the 'mmmph' factor.      'What'd he do? How bad is it?'      Petra once again expresses that odd solidarity when it comes to Aidan, and in Sarra's current state of mind...well, she isn't going to just spill to possibly her greatest enemy but...she at least seems open to the idea.      She notices the look Petra gives the squirrel toys and a slightly evil idea enters Sarra's head. She quietly buys one of the more cutesy toys when Petra isn't paying attention. Then follows after Petra toward Spookytown. "And here I thought you did not enjoy costumes~ So, what costumes should we wear? I am thinking...I shall be a witch and you shall be...a bat? A cat? A...flying monkey?"
Aidan Proudpick	"Oh, hey! I remember Nazrin!" He beams. "That's me!" And that was a very rough few days. Aidan smiles it off, looking Minamitsu up and down. "Oh, are you... you don't look like a pirate, you must be a ship captain? Maybe a famous explorer or some kinda pirate HUNTER?" He bounces up and down a bit more, eager to hear stories of daring do. He is happy to show off his plush, pointing at it, "It does! Maybe I'm the same as some kinda big legendary squirrel. Ratatoskr." He tries out the mouthfeel. It is excellent. He certainly isn't trying to replace Sarracenia as his adventure eager adventure partner for today! Oh right, mission. As the map comes out, Aidan looks over the cartoonish representation of the map, frowning. "No big tree." A scratch at his cheek, trying to piece together a hundred piece puzzle when he only has one and a half pieces. Finally, Aidan puts it back into his bag, though with a head popping up over the edge of the bag. "I guess since we aren't here to have fun," a concept semi-alien to Aidan, "I'm still pretty good with a gun, I'll head over to the Smoke War thing. Besides! If I get a good grade I can wave it in front of Kale's face." Squirrel tail suddenly locks into place and Aidan's ears move towards Petra. "Oh, right," the rest of his head follows suit, "We need equipment, don't we? Or are we escorting an engineer with us to each location to look at the sensor." Aidan has enough mission focus here, since he used to dive into mines for this sort of thing. "What's the gas, lighter than air, heavier? What's it feel like, smell like?"
UFO Gang	'There wouldn't be any mice in any of the L-Corp facilities,' says Petra. Minamitsu and Ichirin look at each other. Minamitsu folds her hands behind her head. "Haha! Definitely!" She turns her head to answer Sarra. "Well, it's three-twentieth if you want to look at it from another direction. So let's say you were buying twenty bags of rice - you'd pay the same as you would for /seventeen/ bags of rice! That kind of thing adds up!" Ichirin comments, "I think our skills would assist in this 'Smoke War' game. We have ample experience with both clouds and shooting." Minamitsu beams at Aidan. "Oh! Well, it's a long story - but yes! I'm the captain of a ship! I never had to deal with many pirates... heh, where I came from, we were the ones who sent the pirates out, I heard!" ELSEWHERE The miraculous treasure ship sits in a LobCorp approved parking facility. Someone cracks a headlight on its glorious and imperishable keel and curses themselves because it is a big-ass ship, how the HELL did they -- HERE, HOWEVER: "Yes, do we need to equip ourselves?" Ichirin asks, alertly. "Minamitsu won't need to breathe underwater, but if there's... evil gasses or anything like that, we should know." The pink cloud near her grunts in affirmation. ... it sounded like a pretty deep voice for a little pink cloud.
Odette Raskins	Distracted by the purple flash, Odette doesn't realize she's walking right into Madeleine until she's already bumped into her, squeaking briefly before stepping sideways to give her space retroactively except not really because that isn't how giving people room works. "Sorry. Ahh... You okay, Miss Madeleine? Did you see a...?" She glances around briefly, then shakes her head awkwardly. "Er.. N-never mind. Must've... Anyway." "IF it's not too dangerous, they might..." Odette comments along with Ichirin's question about the rides, furrowing her brow in mild discomfort as she considers the logistics of what would actually get a similar thing closed down on Company grounds. "Some of them might still be open, yes. O-or even opened back up by now, if it started-" Louie explains, and the EMT purses her lips a bit. "-a month ago. If it's worse now, though, then rides being.... Y-yeah, if some of those rides haven't shut down by now, then they probably won't anytime soon. A-at least that might narrow down how far we have to spread out? But if any of the fast ones stop suddenly while there's a lot of people on board..." She lets out another discomforted noise, then mirrors Meika's concerns over a specific thing Louie says without actually stopping herself: "F... From the ride stopping suddenly, or from the... Starting back up?" She asks, trying to sound clinical with her question and failing to look anything remotely close to clinical. Petra answering her questions about Enkephalin has Odette freezing up for a moment when she starts, then quickly settling into a look that's almost like a student absorbing everything a teacher is saying. She's even taking notes in her PDA! "Gas naturally, processed into a liquid for transport, officially safe enough not to ask questions about... Mhm, mhm. U-understood." Odette nods, actually grasping the translation well enough as she taps a button on the side of her medical HUD to turn it on. Hopefully, she won't see any park goers nor employees with a bad reading on the way to one of those investigation areas. The investigation locations provided all give Odette reason to pause and think about where to go. Spookytown seems the most ominous, and there's little effort put into hiding her gaze drifting rapidly away from there the more she hears about it. Smokeberg catches her attention (moreso as a location to check out if she can acquire a visitor's pass for tomorrow). The central plaza catches Odette's eye, too, as somewhere to maybe get a better view of the park, and Madeleine asking her to tag along all but solves that conundrum for the EMT. "Eh? O-oh, sure! We can see things better from that high up, and having more hands.. Er. Eyes on the sensor while we're passing by it should help plenty. If we can get a ride when it isn't packed full of people, even better."
Meika Kirenai	'But it's probably haunted, like, a *little*, at least.'     "... Oh. Just- just a little haunted. Got it." Meika rocks on her heels, and- forced, in the casual-comedic way where you aren't trying to hide that it's forced, flashes Petra a smile and a thumbs up. 'I'll go to Big Bird's Flight,'     "Wait, that's the- the big tall one?" Meika asks Madeleine, gesturing towards the map- "I saw it walking up, it's really neat... There's a big wheel like it out near an old fairground that shut down, and it's real easy to see from a lot of places back- home, and..." She trails off, pursing her lips, and-     "Hey... You two have got to say if it's cool, after." Meika *absolutely* wants to ride it, but there's a lot of ground to cover. With honest seriousness- "You've *gotta*."     "Oh. What's this one? The little boat thing on the map..? The 'City of Light'? That's- that's a pretty name for a place..." She's picked the tamest ride someone can pick at a park! In maintenence mode, maybe even with the lights on, and no other tourists! Meika is going to build up the weirdest expectation of what theme park rides are like.     "Boats are nice," She decides. CITY OF LIGHT:     "... Oh. A little bit haunted." Meika parrots Petra's statement, far removed from proximity, while trying as hard as she can not to make eye contact with the requisite moving dolls visible in the river ride's queue area. Mumbling towards herself, "... Better than a lot bit."     "... This wasn't the one that guy died on, was it..?"
Angela	There ARE other stuffed animals, though Ratatoskr seems to be the prevailing one. OTher ones seem to be things like the Small Bird, Big Bird plush dolls--closer to their Cognition Filtered versions--that seem to have been repurposed as cute toys rather than dangerous monsters. ''Petra continues to discuss the matter of mass murdering civilians.'' "Er, we try not to think about that, ma'am." Jam says. "Oh yeah like all the time. The kids really eat it up if you mention it to them and then they ''really'' want to go on the roller coasters." Louie chirps merrily, tapping at her pad a few more times before handing it off to Petra as well. It has plenty of information about the Aberrations and Abnormalities in the city as well as a quick profile on the local Manager dubbed 'Andrew' who seems to have worked in parks like this one his whole life before getting stuck here for the last ten. BLOODFIEND MANOR Spookytown is about as scary as Hod in a ghost costume and like much of the park, is clearly meant to appeal to children even if, well, a certain subset of children. Hanging bedsheet ghosts hang off of lightposts though they are enkephalin-green tinted. Various halloween costumes--though most are fairly basic affair aside from one Spooky Ratatoskr costume--Ratatoskr seems to be a popular mascot here but less so in Spookytown because he's just not that spooky--are on sale as well as glow in the dark mugs and scented candles and chocolates. Lots of kids are running around here. There is a truly enormous line for Bloodfiend Manor with a wait time of 80 minutes but as you are park staff you can just enter through a side entrance as a young woman dressed in a long red dress with a bright red rose in her hair (and no mask, they don't do that here) directs Sarracenia and Petra inside--once they are in costume of course, though if they didn't buy one, she'll shove a pair of bloodfiend costumes at them so they can change. She doesn't seem to care if they're dressed as something ELSE that's spooky, though. Even in the backstage area, which seems to be done up as a 'cemetary', it is dark and atmospheric though the gravestones are a little too small and you can see where all the jumpscare lobotronics are going to come from-- "BLAHHH! I SHALL HAVE YOUR BLOOD!" A vampire pops out of the ground, near the passing cars-- --and then freezes in place as the lights flicker off and an announcer declares, "PLEASE REMAIN SEATED. FOUL ENERGIES ARE INTERFERING WITH THE RIDE. OoOoOOOOooh!" This will happen approximately every one and a half minutes with about a twenty second discrepency.
Angela	SMOKEBERG     his area looks like it came straight out of the industrial revolution. No special costumes are needed and there's no line but there's a sign of a bug person apologizing for 'all the bugs' and promises that the ride will be back online soon. A low level of fog/smoke lingers around one's legs in this area. When you enter, it's dark and the cars aren't moving--there's space alongside the tracks to avoid getting clobbered by vehicles. Images of an idealized war are plastered on the walls with giant bug men on walls with low light flashing sensors glimmering on various points of their body. But as Aidan and the UFO GANG make their way towards the Enkephalin sensor--the ride suddenly starts up. "G-COMMANDER GREGOR OF THE BUG LEGION IS LAUNCHING A STRIKE FORCE ON OUR DEAR UDJAT ALLIES! HELP SAVE THEM, HELP SAVE THE CHILDREN." A booming voice echoes from the speakers as the cars start moving--despite nobody being inside them at all. The Lobcorp Agent who let you in did not follow you inside. Flashing lights and loud explosions echo from the speakers as an imaginary battle based on a very real war unfolds. BIG BIRD'S FLIGHT In order to examine the Enkephalin radar here you have to get onto the ride itself and examine it while the ride is in progress. This is decidedly the least spooky option and there's not much of a line--which the lobcorp agent insists you go on--and pretends to scan your wristbands as you are eventually allowed on. Each 'Big Bird' can carry two people so Odette and Madeleine can share a car. It's not a fast ride so they have time to chat--the Enkephalin emitter isn't very subtle here. It's faintly glowing at the top of the Ferris Wheel spike but it's tough to get a GOOD look from down here. Young couples hug one another while sitting in the cars and there's the occassional sound of a crying baby. But the wheel is only about half full. The wheels above the two of them aren't even filled. A soft soothing melody plays as the wheel starts to turn. CITY OF LIGHT This one is also easy to get in on. It's functioning but not open for parkgoers. Louie ends up joining Meika on this one. She has bright green eyes, is not that much older than Meika, and she seems to be more energized now that they are on the job. She even walks with Meika through the wholly unneccesary queue line before opening the doors leading in so they can get inside. There are boats which are still moving along that can be climbed into but there's also a walkway that moves through all the lobotronic dolls that are merrily singing a song. "We're a City of Light! A City of Life A City of Night A City of Strife!" The dolls sing along and twitch from side to side in erratic fashion. "Aha... I used to work on this ride." Louie asides to Meika. "This song used to drive me craaazzy." A mischevious smile flickers across her lips. "Wanna get in one of the boats?"
Lilian Rook	'U..um... I wanna be a fixer as great as you some day m-may I have your autogwa--graph...     Lilian is completely unprepared for this, and it shows. Even as a Paladin, she is one celebrity amongst many, and prefers to keep a casual distance from Paladins fans to maintain image and privacy. Never has a tiny child walked right up and said they want to be just like her. In that moment of stunned silence looking down, Lilian wracks her brains for a time anyone expressed wanting to be like her, discards everything Petra ever said, and it comes up ambiguous.     "Oh my goodness. Of course." Lilian replies, momentarily forgetting her place in events as she is overcome with a wave of reflexive, gentle warmth. The question of whether to encourage a child to become something as dangerous as a Fixer is promptly put aside in her mind; she'll grow out of it that childish fantasy, or else living a life of quiet desperation somewhere else can't really be that much safer. Crouching down on her heels, Lilian takes the offered book, finds a pen from her bag, and takes extra special care to write out Lilian I. Rook in her finest, flowing penmanship; then she adds a little dedication, Good luck! Whatever you choose, I believe in you! under it before handing it back.     'Aha...good one ma'am!'     Ten seconds later, Lilian looks at Louie dead-assed and says "My. Was I joking?" as if it were an open question to a forgetful mind.     'I am not a freak.'     "I don't recall specifying." Lilian says, side-eyed, maintaining immaculate aloofness while still vaguely-implying 'you said it not me'. "I wouldn't be so unprofessional as to say so about my own Fixers right in front of the client."     '*Cute*.'     Lilian doesn't deign to do anything, but she does put on a very self-satisfied smile.     'Roller coasters are the easiest, as you'd imagine, but you can get some good mileage out of weakening a handful of supports on one of those spinning swing rides'     Lilian stops smiling.     "I suppose I'll take you up on that." she says to Louie. "Taking in the sights, I mean. I'll just move around a little to keep an eye on my Fixers, and see if my presence keeps anyone with silly ideas in line."     That actually seems to be her intent. Rather than splitting off with one of the groups to investigate a ride, Lilian seems to consider that either favouritism or overkill, or at least likely to influence what people pay attention to, and takes a meandering circuit around the park instead. Part of it is simply keeping a visual presence going, but part of it may be trying a little bit of exposure therapy about the last two amusement parks she went to have brought her to the edge of forming a Complex about them.
Angela	The young girl squeals happily, bouncing on her feet as she hands the autograph book to Lilian. It is mostly full of 'characters' from the park, including Ratatoskr, Big Bird (signed with a big foot print), and Small Bird (signed with a small foot print). She hugs the autograph book to herself and beams at Lilian. "Thank you Mss Lilian!" She chirps before her mother, apologizing and thanking Lilian, gently pulls her away and chastizing the child for bothering a Fixer who is no doubt here working. ''Was I joking?'' Louie's face paled considerably and she awkwardly mumbled in a way that indicated she wasn't sure and is definitely not going to admit that directly but she is relieved when the topic shifts to taking in the sights. "Oh I'm glad to hear it. It really is a nice park, though it has many of the issues other amusement parks have..." ''Lilian splits off on her own'' It doesn't happen immediately, but as Lilian traverses the park alone, taking a circuit around the park and minding her own business, for the most part... A familiar, older woman in a purple snakeskin trenchcoat, black leggings and shoes, and carrying no less than three swords on her body is suddenly standing next to her, holding two cotton candies in her hand, both purple flavored. She has long black hair that becomes more and more purple as it nears her legs. Her eyes are a striking purple and her lips are in a lazy smile. "How are you enjoying the park, Dame Commander?" Iori asks. "I haven't seen my cute student in years so I appreciate you entertaining her. She must be so frustrated cooped up in that hole."
Aidan Proudpick	"Alright, let's go!" He takes the map in hand, eagerly bounding out of the paneled room. "Oh." Aidan looks at the area around him. It reminds him of- Bounding forward up into the ride, sweeping his tail aside to sit himself down at the seat of one of the guns, grinning at the other two Yokai. "This'll be great. They even have lights on it to make it easier!" He leans forward, squirming around to feel out the rotation of the gun and fire off a few shots at a few green targets. Focusing on this moment, on expressing a skill he's good at, that gives him a moment of reprieve. He can focus on that, imagine showing up Kale, and not think about several things. Like 'why are they sending us to this' and 'looking at the art around him.' "Did you two join up with Tridaeg or are you just out having an adventure and helping? I don't remember you are the naming ceremony." That'll also help him forget. "It's pretty good money, you know. More than I've gotten in a long time." Pap pap pap. Aidan fires the toy gun with ease, trying to focus on the conversation and not the charicatures around him.
Petra Soroka	"The kids really eat it up if you mention it to them and then they ''really'' want to go on the roller coasters."     "Right on. Those are some good kids." Petra doesn't even mean that sarcastically. The thrill of potentially having your life put in danger is a normal drug for children to be acutely aware of and obsessively seeking, as she understands it, so she's just happy to be validated there. "And here I thought you did not enjoy costumes~"     Petra gives Sarra a suspicious squint when she's followed. That only lingers for a few seconds, though, before Petra realizes that there's essentially no harm that Sarracenia can inflict on her that Petra can't return a hundredfold, and honestly, she'd be up for some trash talking anyways, so it's win-win. Either she gets to gossip about some sort of loser infighting between Sarra and Aidan, or she gets an ontological enemy roped into close quarters combat in a situation where Petra has the full authority of Lobotomy Corporation behind her.     "I-- don't enjoy costumes?" The question actually takes her a little off-guard. *Right now*, wearing her work suit, she feels a bit like she's wearing a costume. A dozen other instances of dressing up come to mind immediately too, from her adventures in Elibe, to the Halloween party last year, to Sarracenia's own dinner, and the other villainous activities that Petra's designed her wardrobe for. "I mean, they have their place, I guess."     There is a type of combat that Petra can engage in whether she's being hostile or not, though-- staking thematic claim on certain outfit ideas in order to undermine Sarracenia's confidence, making her either more insecure and willing to gossip about whatever her emotional troubles are, or weakening her position as an enemy. "A witch? Yeah, I dressed up as one for the L-Corp Halloween party last year. I was matching with Qetra, too, since she did a whole black cat thing. So you can totally do that, if you want."     She squints again. "Why would I-- a flying monkey? Like from the Wizard of Oz? Aren't those fuckers like, blue, or green, or something?"     Now, what *does* Petra dress like, when getting to the Bloodfiend Manor backstage? The fact that it's a children's attraction, rather than some over the top horrorfest of beautiful women with blood staining their chins and the collars of their white ruffled shirts, doesn't seem to be a massive downside to her-- though she does briefly glance at the door attendant's outfit. She has to match the theme in some way, even though it's a simple attraction, so there's no half-assing it.
Petra Soroka	Petra is about ten minutes into powdering her face into a corpselike-pallor, swapping out her own suit for a cheaper replacement on hand backstage, taking a lighter to the suit to burn ragged holes and add artifial wear and tear, before she considers if this might be unnecessary. Whether it is or not, though, Petra deftly draws the arc of a scar and stitches with eyeliner, musses up her hair with murky discoloration, and then completes her zombie costume by heavily shadowing beneath her eyes, which still somehow almost looks tame compared to how bloodshot they got when she was freaking out early last year.     She treats this like it's totally normal, walking alongside Sarracenia. In her hand is a bone prop, that she's embedded some morphmetal into the epiphysis of so that she can have an omnitool on hand while staying thematic, smacking it into her palm while looking around thoughtfully.     "Yeah, uh, foul energies don't seem good. The lights flickering is actually kind of vibes, though? I wouldn't be too surprised if one of the auxillary employees was one that actually liked this sort of ride, and just got loose to mess around with it somehow."     "We'll probably need to--" As Petra's wandering around, a group of kids rushes into the room by them, and she immediately switches to a performative zombie groan, "Eaaaat your braaaains!" before continuing on once they've passed.     "--Need to check out the Enkephalin sensor backstage, since it'll pick up on whatever psychic source is causing this, and I'll check if I can match the pattern to the docs that guy gave me. Either that, or someone's fucking with the electricity."
UFO Gang	ON THE WAY TO SMOKEBERG "Ha! I love this place," says Minamitsu, looking at the bug-person sign. INWARDS! Once they're in the place, both Minamitsu and Ichirin start to... float in the air. It's still at 'walking height,' but it's noticeable. Ichirin asks Aidan, "Would you like Unzan to help you up if the floor becomes uncertain?" And then -- "Gyahhh!!!" Minamitsu, who is clearly the one who's been fully ensorcelated by Lobcorp Land Magic (patent pending), spreads her hands and throws a barrage of water bullets out into the general area. "The Bug Legion!? Is that what that cute bug was involved with?!" "They had a war, Minamitsu! Calm yourself!" Ichirin says. "Wait, that means the bug legion is real!" Minamitsu says, stopping with the barrage. Ichirin glances towards Aidan and then back to Minamitsu. "So it would seem..." Minamitsu settles her biscuits down, exhaling with some force. "Oh great! - Wow, is that like a -- wait, no, that's a gun, but it's not --" Minamitsu's head tilts as she looks at what Aidan is using to shoot. Ichirin speaks more sedately. "We've been assisting on an ad-hoc basis at L Corp... I've only heard of Trideag in passing, but if it's a beneficial group, I'd be glad to hear about it. Ms. Rook's involved, isn't she?" "One's coming up to port! Shoot it, Aidan!!" Minamitsu enthuses. She seems glad to defer the shooting to Aidan entirely.
Odette Raskins	"I saw it walking up, it's really neat..." "You two have got to say if it's cool, after." "Is it? I didn't get a good look before, but... Oh, that DOES sound really cool. Ah.. S-sure, definitely!" Odette giggles briefly, pauses, then nods firmly at Meika. "And maybe later or tomorrow, we can check it out without all the work going on! Along with all the other rides, since we've got the Quick Passes already." She makes a mental note to actually remember to buy two tickets after today's work is finished. The line waiting experience, thankfully, is a shorter one than expected, and Odette isn't about to piss off the agent by insisting that she DOESN'T go on the line (unles Madeleine does). She already has her PDA out and ready to take way-too-small pictures, too, trying to capture then entire wheel from a distance while it can still fit into frame. "It's... It looks like it goes pretty high up, doesn't it?" She asks/comments with a slightly anxious tone while looking up at the top of the wheel. Although there's less active terror going into this one compared to something like Bloodfiend Manor, Odette's eyes keep shifting between that emitter at the very top and the ground further below. "We'll have to get a real good look at it the whole time we're up there... Um. M-maybe if we take a bunch of pictures, we can try and figure out what's-" Wait. There might be people listening in from the other cars, even if they're kind of far away. "-can... Study the pictures after." She adds while quickly sorting through and deleting older pictures taking up valuable storage space on her blocky tech rectangle. Of course, with the wheel being kind of slow, Odette also takes the advantage to chat and kill some time while she's waiting to snap an excessive amount of pictures of the emitter. "What made you think about taking this one, anyway? It doesn't sound as scary or choke... Choking as the other ones, so that's good, but.. Ah, j-just curious!" "Do you think anyone ever ran along the ride tracks here? I-I mean, I've seen it in some of my shows, but never in person like this, and the gaps look big enough to slip a leg through and get stuck..."
Meika Kirenai	Meika dutifully follows the cordoned-off queue pathway for all of two switchbacks, and then loses patience and starts just hopping over and ducking under the chains and barriers- and even climbs up to hop across them like unsteady stepping stones, in the sections where the corralling railings are evenly spaced enough to do so.     Once the loading platform's in sight, she hops down with a echoey thud, boots against concrete, and swings her arms back up to standing- and immediately readjusts the violin hardcase slung over her back from nearly tumbling off- "Ah- whoops..."     "... Is- hang on, what's this ride like? Is it meant to be scary? Does it throw you all around, or splash you, or... anything? The name doesn't really say a lot, but..." 'This song used to drive me craaazzy.' 'We're a City of...'     "Oh.... Ohhhhhhh, it just repeats and repeats and..." Meika grapples with a handful of immediately summoned emotions hearing the first bits of the song, and that the song continues on and on and on. The first is that it's absolutely grating, and unpleasant, and already rattling around in her head more than a television ad's jingle could, but the second is that this is *supposed* to be something people pay a lot to get to go on for fun, so isn't it meant to be enjoyable? Cheesy music has been everywhere so far. It's just very, very rough right here.     Meika doesn't come to any conclusion on how she feels about the omnipresent tune. But, to Louie's potential dismay, Meika *does* start humming along, filling up the already-full air as she rummages in her pocket for a cigarette. At least others aren't really around.     "... I- I can imagine it'd get old... but the- those figures, the dolls, they're- they're *so* creepy. How'd you get used to it? Did you?- Oh, um, you've got a nametag, and I don't. I'm Meika, uh... Fixer grade nine." Not really a confidence boost to add that on, but she sticks a hand out to shake- and retracts it before Louie can.     "The boats are the rides, right? So- yeah. Yeah. For sure. That's a lot better than a walkway." A moment's pause, before she smiles back, and hops into one of the passing, moving vehicles. Then, quiet, "... People *do* like this ride, right, Miss?"
Madeleine Cadrasteia	Madeleine's still hoping to (eventually) get the drop on the manager, and that means keeping a low profile, so she goes along with the blessedly short wait in line. When Odette comments on the height of the wheel, the huntress nods. "Sure does. You not been on a Ferris wheel before? They're a treat, honestly. Normally if I want to get up high I'll just climb a tree or whatever - you saw the woods in my sanctuary, some of those trees are great for sitting in when it's not too windy - but it's good to give my legs a rest once in a while. I'd have thought you'd be fine with heights, living in space and all. That's kind of as high up as you can go, right?"     "We'll have to get a real good look at it the whole time we're up there... Um. M-maybe if we take a bunch of pictures..."     "Good thinking." Madeleine pulls a camera out of her bag. "Glad I thought to bring digital, there's not exactly a darkroom here. I mean, we could use the haunted house ride but we'd still need all the chemicals. Have you ever taken pictures like, seriously, or just with your phone? A good camera makes a big difference. I think I should do the shooting here, just in case." A smug little smile.     "What made you think about taking this one, anyway? It doesn't sound as scary or choke... Choking as the other ones, so that's good, but.. Ah, j-just curious!"     "Oh, you know," Madeleine says, before realizing that obviously Odette *doesn't* know or she wouldn't have asked. "I like open spaces with vantage points. Clifftops or Ferris wheels, doesn't matter to me - a good view is worth the trouble. Helps me feel like I'm in control of my space, y'know?"     "Do you think anyone ever ran along the ride tracks here? I-I mean, I've seen it in some of my shows, but never in person like this, and the gaps look big enough to slip a leg through and get stuck..."     Madeleine raises an eyebrow. "How many shows about roller coaster foot chases can there even *be*, in the first place? I guess the parks have to turn a profit in the off-season and renting it out as a shooting location could help with that. Anyway, I don't know. Probably not? This place seems pretty well under control, if a few malfunctioning rides is strange enough to call in fixers. I imagine security isn't keen on letting people onto the tracks." A pause. "You know, I fought a roller coaster once, and I must have run along its back at some point. Turns out, imbuing a roller coaster with life gets you a big metal serpent thing. So I guess if you're in the 'fighting roller coasters' business - which I'm not, that was just the once as a favor for a friend - it wouldn't be too uncommon."     She looks at Odette and taps her lip in thought. "Why? Fancying a run on the rails for yourself? You know, we could probably do something like that to make sure we have enough time to snap some clear pictures of the meter up top. I can sort of... postpone gravity, right? So I float in the air, and you create a big distraction by getting 'stuck' out on the wheel's frame and yelling and whatever while I do the photography. Then I can get back to an empty gondola and haul you back in. Sound good?"
Sarracenia	'That kind of thing adds up!'      Sarra considers it, but doesn't seem too impressed. "Well, if you are buying in bulk I suppose. I generally only purchase one of an item. I leave the bulk buying to my kingdom's suppliers." she says before heading for Spookytown.      Once they are in Spookytown Sarra finds a properly elegant witch's outfit and quickly finds a safe place to change before putting it on. Purplish black in color with flowy arms and perhaps importantly for Sarra it covers her from the neck downward. She places the pointed hat over her crown so that she doesn't have to remove it. The talk of when Petra and Qetra dressed up doesn't dissuade Sarra as intended. Instead she is encourage. "See? So you should definitely be a cat!"      'I-- don't enjoy costumes?'      Ten minutes or more later. "You do not enjoy costumes, hm?" Sarra says with a light smirk as Petra emerges. A witch and a zombie do not make total sense, but these are kids so perhaps they will not notice. Sarra does take a moment to compliment the outfit of the worker in the red dress. "What a lovely ensemble! Though it does not seem to be all that spooky. Perhaps if you had some Dia de los Muertos face paint?" she suggests.      Sarra marvels a bit at the line for the Bloodfiend Manor. "Do children of this city really enjoy spooky things that much?" she wonders aloud.      The lights flicker, and for a moment Sarra thinks it is actually part of the ride. "Indeed. I thought perhaps the...main?...employees were doing it?" The place does seem rather low-budget after all.      'Eaaaat your braaaains!'      Sarra blinks in surprise, then giggles and holds up her hands with a silver morphmetal wand appearing in it. "You should not disturb the recently risen~ Their appetite is at its height when they first awaken~" she joins in a bit too cheerily, attempting to make her voice sound spooky but ending up with more of a stereotypical fairy princess voice. Acting and dressing up are both fun things that Sarra enjoys!      Once the crowd of children have passed, Sarra giggles again before getting back to business. "Very well then. Lead the way to this sensor." she says, then after a moment adds, "...you really do have a completely different demeanor around children. I mean, I suppose most people do to some degree but...someone who has only seen you around children and someone who has only seen you around adults would not believe both were the same person." Sarra is definitely off her guard now, it seems.
Lilian Rook	'How are you enjoying the park, Dame Commander? I haven't seen my cute student in years so I appreciate you entertaining her. She must be so frustrated cooped up in that hole.'     Every single one of Lilian's instincts screams violence in a rare moment of unified symphony. The casual invasion of her personal space, silent and dramatic, done with utmost confidence, checks every single box that heightens her tension to the breaking point; and moreover, being the sort of thing Lilian herself knows exactly how to do, she can't interpret it any other way but a threat.     It is perhaps only out of rising to the sort of threat that she herself would use that she manages not to draw steel on Iori right that instant. An elevated heartbeat later, Lilian remembers that she doesn't have to just yet. That woman is as much in her sphere of threat as she is within hers.     "So far, nothing disastrous has happened yet, so it solidly ranks above my other references." Lilian says, looking straight ahead and walking at a forced-unconcerned pace. "Which is saying something, given it's currently being investigated by the Association." Nothing but airy deflection. "And I thought you'd be more predisposed towards showing yourself for your minion. Is it really only me that you have so much interest in?" says Lilian. A hint of an edge creeps into her voice. "Posting that video really wasn't very nice, you know. Do you have a psychic sense for when I've had an especially bad yesterday?"     "Kali deserved better than you. I wish I could say the same about myself. Care to tell me what you want?"
Angela	BLOODFIEND MANOR ''Eaaaaat your braaaaains!'' The children scream with terror...and delight! This is the sort of unexpected wrinkle that makes every visit to LobCorp magical! Some of the people here just want to have a good time in a life that's already hard even if they might be more well off than in the Backstreets. Not every Feather in a Nest is monstrous... but even in the Nest, life is precarious. A single tragedy or mistake can be all that keeps you from being shunted off to the Backstreets. It doesn't even have to be your tragedy or mistake. The sensor is not too far from the ride but it is out of sight. As Sarracenia and Petra chat, it isn't too difficult for Petra--who has seen these sorts of things before anyway--to find it. A quick investigation of the sensor indicates that it is receiving energy just fine and then... The ride stirs to a stop again as the reading suddenly drops away to a low level. It is actually more like the opposite of a Meltdown. It's more like--like the protocol for when an Abnormality like the Silent Orchestra drains the facility's energy away, but not nearly as severe. There is a faint shimmering around the Enkephalin relay before... "SKREEE..!" Suddenly that strange shimmering jerks away from the relay and a small creature jerks back and lands on the floor, writhing around like trying to scratch an itch before leaping back up to its feet and glaring at Petra before scampering off towards one of the tombstones. It burrows quickly into the floor, vanishing in an instant. It ... did look a bit squirrel-like, actually, even in the dark.
Angela	THE PURPLE TEAR ''And I thought you'd be more predisposed towards showing yourself for your minion.'' "Ahh...well I was ''going'' to, but I happened to talk to a certain Fox you--" She stops herself, realizing this is maybe a bit too obtuse. "Aha... the Kamen Rider who is a Fox. He asked me quite kindly to not add to the prices Yuri paid for her indecision... So I guess she'll be keeping both her eyes for now. It's leading to some interesting possibilities... But I felt terrible that I didn't end up introducing myself to you so I looked for a good time so here I am." She offers Lilian one of the cotton candies. "I'm sure they can actually handle this one on their own so I felt it wouldn't be the worst time for you either." ''Is it really only me that you have so much interest in?'' Iori raises an eyebrow. "Who says my interest is in you?" But she doesn't commit to that long before admitting, "Aha...well of course I am. And of course I have an interest in the Association. If I don't keep an eye on it, how will I know how it goes?" She doesn't seem inclined to draw steel either though even as a Color, starting a fight in the middle of a crowded area in the Nest would probably not be the best look for her either. And besides, she knows how dangerous Lilian can be, for her--or anyone, better than anyone else in The City. ''Do you have a psychic sense for when I've had an especially bad yesterday?'' Iori looks up at the sky for a moment before admitting, "More the especially bad tommorows. But if I wait two days then it becomes yesterday. I'm not a fortune teller though." She smiles. "Though I'm good at faking it." But as Lilian speaks to the video, the smile fades. And it's downright gone when Lilian says Kali deserved better than her. "Mm... But there wasn't anyone better at the time." Iori says. "I'm not the sort of person who apologizes for something they did on purpose and would do again. Besides, you wouldn't want something that insincere right? I didn't like the possibilities I saw so I created new possibilities. I wasn't really considering how good your day would be. It wasn't anything you couldn't handle. And now the Secretary has four possibiltiies instead of three. ... Haha, not that I acted for that reason. Consider it a gift of possibility." ''Care to tell me what you want?'' "Oh I'll tell anyone who asks. I simply want to meet my son." She isn't lying but she doesn't share how any of this relates to ''that'' either.
Petra Soroka	"See? So you should definitely be a cat!"     Sarracenia does not know the danger she suggests. Petra's eyes unfocus as she remembers Qetra's particular outfit-- not just a black cat, but a *slutty* black cat, as opposed to her own entirely demure witch outfit. Imagining putting that on herself is incredibly uncomfortable, even if not in a pair with specifically Sarracenia.     "This is a kids ride. No way." "Do children of this city really enjoy spooky things that much?"     "Every kid likes scary things, in some way or another." Petra's tone stays conversational while kids are in earshot, crossing her arms and rattling her little bone prop as a fidget while she talks. "Feeling a bit in danger is an intrinsic need, like food or water, but, like, psychological. For a hundred thousand years, no human ever grew up without being afraid a lot of the time, and then in the fifties every suburban mom suddenly decided that was totally unacceptable and wrapped their kids in bubble wrap for the first eighteen years of their life."     "Kids know they need danger. So in little controlled doses like this, it's something they'll be allowed to experience, so they're drawn to it." Petra sees a cluster of schoolkids gawking over at her, so she stares back and puts the bone prop in her mouth for a moment, dramatically gnawing on it before continuing. "It doesn't help *enough*. The need's still not filled. But it's a little better for their little brains than sitting in a fenced-in backyard." "...you really do have a completely different demeanor around children."     Petra looks back over her shoulder at Sarra, lips twisting into a side-scowl. Not so much because she's annoyed that the observation is incorrect, but the observation at all, coming from an unskilled eye, is an invasion in itself, like there should be a bar that's necessary to overcome in order to have permission to try and 'interpret' Petra.     "... I don't really. I don't hate every adult, like, by default. Just all the ones that have done something wrong, which is almost every single one. Kids still have the potential to grow up into people rather than rotten shambling automatons. Kids think about themselves and the world around them more than almost any adult until it's fucking beaten out of them; I'm not going to be the one to do it."     A 'Staff Only' door diverts them off the path, leading through a dusty concrete hallway scattered with props leaned up against the wall as temporary storage places that ended up becoming permanent. Another door later, and they're at the Enkephalin reader, and Petra uses a thin morphmetal tendril to hold up her tablet while she investigates the sensor's readings. Scrolling through local branch documentation while glancing between fluctuating lines and graphs on the screen of the sensor, Petra brings up the topic she's *actually* interested in.     "So what's up with you and Proudpick, by the way? Did he finally try and grab at your tits, or something?"     She frowns at the graph on the sensor. "Huh, somehow this looks like the patterns from... the Girl in the Mirror? But that one *specifically* could never be at a branch facility, so...."     When the creature flickers into existence around the sensor with a screech, Sarracenia-- but not Petra-- gets assaulted by a familiar wave of prickling psionic itch beneath her skin. Petra cuts off a shout of surprise and grabs onto her morphmetal-embedded bone, rears back and throws it into the floor, Silver tip jutting out and sharpening in an instant to try and puncture right through the floorboards.     "Little fucking-- asshole thing. Where'd it go?"
Angela	BIG BIRD'S FLIGHT As Odette looks up and then down, she sees herself slowly rising up, up, and up. She sees the emitter as it suddenly shorts out right near the point that they are about one 'Big Bird' below eays reach of it. But even from that distance, Madeleine's able to hear something chittering at the top of the Ferris Wheel right on top of the emitter and seems to be drawingsome green smoke from the emitter through its nostrils. It looks to be--yes--some kind of strange looking squirrel. It's not nearly as cute as the mascot version but the coloring scheme and ears and tail are all very similar. It doesn't immediately realize that Madeleine can see it. It continues drawing in the energy until the meter is near empty and then turns and skimpers down the length of the Ferris wheel, away from Madeleine and Odette. There seems to be some kind of active camo going on with the creature--no wonder the Agents haven't seen these skittering around before CITY OF LIGHT ''Is it meant to be scary?'' Louie looks back to Meika quizzically. "Huh? Does it look scary to you? I guess...now that you menton it... They haven't exactly aged the best, huh? Aha.... But I guess I'd've gotten used to it either way. "Though now that you mention it..." Meika starts humming along so Louie joins in. She has genuinely gotten to the point of enjoying this melody. Though she stops when Meika introduces herself. Louie smiles at he. "Nice to meet you Meika. I am really glad you're all here. I know the corporation has its issues but this is a job where I get to occassionally make kids happy. It feels like one of the kindest jobs I can do in The City so... I want to keep them safe. Even if I know it's not as safe as the surface suggests." ''People do like this ride, right, Miss?'' "Well.. ''I'' like this ride. It feels more...hopeful than some of the others, even if it's a little spooky--I mean the lyrics are chipper but they aren't saying it's just all good or all bad." She gets into the boat. It's a peaceful ride for a while. There are variations of the lyrics so the song isn't just the four same lines over again but with the slow speed of the ride, one is bound to feel the repetitiveness. But then ... before they even get to the emitter. The lights suddenly turn off. And the singing stops. And all the dolls stare at Meika in the dark. And then a slew of red-dotted eyes peer out at Meika around those dolls, staring at her. And Louie. "Make kids happy," They say in an uneven chorus, over and over again like they are throwing it back in Louie's face. Then the lights turn back on and those red eyes are gone. Or are they?
Angela	SMOKE WAR BLAST-O-RAMA Hopping in the ride mid-run, Aidan goes around killing bugs with his toy gun. A point score rises up on his car with each soldier he takes out. Some of these people ended up as coworkers of his in Trideag but nobody has to know. Besides, it's just a game. It doesn't have to mean anything, right? Minamitsu cheers Aidan on! This is a... BLAST... A blast...O-Rama! "AGH!! LOBOTOMY COMPANY IS FIGHTING BACK!" G-Commander Gregor shouts. "SEND IN THE SPIDER CORPS!" Spiderized people, some of whom look similar to Arachnae if made to look uglier and scarier, appear on walls and make threatening gestures towards Aidan and the Gang. "Our friends at T-Corp have made it...! Hold on!" A woman's voice chimes in as you turn a corner and... Suddenly all the spider men and women are covered in smoke and are replaced by baby versions of what once was the 'Spider Corps'. "Noooooooooooo!!" G-Commander Gregor cries out. "The Spider Corps... Have become BABIEFIED! They can't TERRORIZE like this...!" They pass by the Enkephalin reader which is middling before it suddenly cuts out again. It's not, strictly, magic but something not entirely natural is drawing energy out from the Reader before it suddenly stops. The presence doesn't leave, immediately. Aidan feels something scampering over his body and then laying down on his head. It's too bad that neither of them can really see it. But he can feel it right on top of his head there even after the lights come back on.
Sarracenia	'I don't hate every adult, like, by default.'      Sarra seems skeptical of this, but listens anyway. "Adults do not lose that potential simply because they are adults, you know. It may be more difficult, but it can still be done. I would much rather have some faith in that potential than simply assume it is lost. But, that does explain why you and Lilian get along so well. It seems like she shares a similar belief."      Having fun with children just brings a different and lovely energy to a place, and even knowing what sort of place this park is built on and powered by Sarracenia can't help enjoying the fun. Perhaps there is some small amount of magic here after all?      'So what's up with you and Proudpick, by the way? Did he finally try and grab at your tits, or something?'      That thought is interrupted quite abruptly as Sarra lets out a 'hnn?!' with a high pitch sliding to an even higher pitch as her face turns beet red. "W-what?! Of course not!! He would be in a hospital if he did that!!" she exclaims, her arms cluching across her chest protectively at the very thought. "I am quite certain the thought has never even crossed his mind! I am not a bird or a mouse or anything like that!" she continues, then growls lightly. "But, he did something perhaps as bad." she says, clenching her fists. "He tried to convince me that I should join him in some sort of obsessive worship of...-KALE-! Why, the very idea!! And he insulted both me and the noble Alucard in the process! I am not even sure I should talk to that squirrel until he apolog-"      Of course, the embarrassment and the fun are quickly shifted back to fear of what can happen with Abnormalities as some freaky squirrel thing emerges! "W-what was that?!" Sarra shrieks in that way one might when a spider scurries by. She will face giant monsters, hordes of demons and zombies, and even memory-erasing poisons...but that sort of dark scurrying creature just triggers all the instincts.      'Where'd it go?"      "There!" Sarra points at the burrow in front of that gravestone. "It dug in there, I think!" She stands back, happily letting Petra go first. Though after a moment she adds, "...did it...look like a squirrel?" She pulls out that Ratatoskr doll to look at it, then holds it toward Petra. "Do you think...?"
Odette Raskins	Ferris wheel height, vantage points "This'll be the first time. I've seen them in some documentaries about other colonies and Earth, but never..." Odette gestures at the whole wheel vaguely. "Like this, no. Y-yeah, I remember all those trees, the high walls... I can see why this would be way easier than taking the stairs to the top of a building or something." She laughs briefly, then rubs the back of her neck lightly. "I'm.. Pretty okay with heights? I-it's kind of different out there, though, since you don't have to worry about gravity when you're off-station." More vague gesturing, then spreading her hands out away from each other. "Drifting's more dangerous, especially if you don't have a tether or extra air in the tank to get back onto the station. A-although gravity..." She shivers visibly, then chuckles. "I-It's a different kind of scary. Faster, you know? Still, being able to see way farther out should really help with spotting our guy." Camera "Just the PDA. I've seen some investigators taking lots of pictures before to prepare stuff for.. Er. Investigating, but they usually just yelled at us for messing with crime scenes getting to the injured." Odette sounds a little grumpy about that, then perks back up once she turns her PDA around to show off the screen to Madeleine. The resolution sucks, but maybe it's just the display. "I can take some as a backup, but it sounds like yours'll capture better details. Does a dark room get better pictures?" She asks, clearly never having heard of the traditional style of photography before. Roller coasters "That explains how they'd get all that footage...!" Odette sounds convinced enough from that explanation alone, and she taps her chin as she starts making a few more connections. "That would explain the camera crews I'd see from time to time, too... Not every station had them, but I'd see these groups of reporters and marketers sweeping through to look for footage, or shill some drinks when it got quiet for long stretches." Madeleine eventually gets a blanker stare from the EMT. "How do you fight a..? Um. O-oh, like a metal snake. THat's... Did it stick to the tracks, or did it jump off and zip around all...?" She pantomimes a little car swooping up and down the tracks, then wiggles her arm and hand arund like a snake afterwards. Decoy plan At first, Odette shakes her head quickly. "Oh, no, no, nothing like that! I-I just thought it'd be cool if we saw a place that was used as a set before." THe admission lingers for a bit as she listens to Madeleine's plan on distracting observers, and she doesn't refuse right away. It's certainly a scary sounding one at first, especially with the part where she has to be the center of attention, but... How often does she get to draw that kind of attention, anyway? "That's not a bad plan, no. Wait. Is the...?" Smushing up against the side of the car, she brings up her PDA to try and snap some pictures of it even from that awkward angle below it. "The emitter's acting up... Darn it, I can't get a good shot from here, though!" She complains while taking (relatively) rapid pictures of it regardless, trying to capture whatever she can and worry about the actual composition never. It doesn't take long before Odette starts getting a little anxious and starts leaning out of the car to look down. "Ergh... C-can't this thing go any faster?" She calls out to the Lobcorp agent below, going pale moments later once she realizes she's actually kind of high up, and that gravity is in fact a threat here!
Aidan Proudpick	"Oh, like fly? Oh, yea, please!" Minamitsu shouts out, in true panic and eagerness. That smile creeps back onto Aidan's face and voice as he's taken out of the moment, letting himself slide out of the reality of this place. He doesn't have to dwell on it right now, because Minamitsu has directed him to fire at another bug, and why wouldn't a good hero comply? That energy is enough to get Aidan to let out a little whoop of joy. Another flinch when he sees someone who looks far too close to Arachanae, pulling back. He goes back to focusing on the conversation, letting Minamitsu's energy guide him and just talk to Ichirin. "I never did ask what you all do in general!" Blast blast! "But I'm always glad when you show up to help!" Another avoiding of shooting a spider person in the face, Aidan wincing. Just when Aidan is worried of what the other Rats will think of him, the smoke flashes by and now there are only giggling and cooing baby animatronics. "O-oh. That's how the Smoke War ended." Tiny claws dig into Aidan's shoulder and then scamper up his head. Then it just... stays there. Aidan freezes in place, looking up as if he might see the top of his head. He turns himself very slowly towards Ichirin, then Minamitsu, speaking softly. "Is there a rat on my head?"
UFO Gang	"I'll remember if we run into the need," Ichirin tells Aidan - allowing for both the preservation of continuity *and* the simple fact that they're in a shooting ride, and flying would probably not be useful for inspecting /it/ directly. Also: she wants to ride.             B-b-b-b-b-blast-o-Rama The action and shooting makes Minamitsu scream and cheer fairly appropriately, punctuated more eerily by the occasional bass grunt from Unzan, who sure isn't liking this situation. It's confined! It's noisy! There's someone screaming about - "Oh! Spiders!" Ichirin says. "Those are always fun to watch--!" She has strange hobbies. ("T-Corp?" Ichirin asks, briefly baffled.) She also answers Aidan's question - "Well, we're all looking for, hm, a teacher we lost, and given the operations at Lobotomy Company, it seemed like a good way to search while - look out!" ("Aw, thanks! It's neat to help out humans," Minamitsu continues, parenthetically.) But then there is smoke falling down... "Awww!" says Ichirin and ONLY Ichirin at the sight of babeified Spiders. But then... Ichirin turns her head. So does Minamitsu. Slowly. Their faces look ashen and solemn. Aidan can even see the pink cloud with Ichirin seem to turn around and face him... the details are vague in the dim light. Minamitsu raises a hand slowly to point. "No," she says, soberly. "It's... It's a..." "I think it's one of those abnormalities," Ichirin says -- and makes fists. "If you hold still, I think I can..."
Aidan Proudpick	Aidan lifts his hands quickly, "Don't punch it, you'll turn it on!" And just as quickly, he stands up in the car, pushing at the safety bar. The fist misses his head by way of smashing into his face instead.
UFO Gang	Ichirin may be too much of a pure girl to understand the warning, or alternatively has already chosen her course of action. The pink cloud forms around her arm as Unzan reaches forwards, the craggy old-man face of the cloud youkai peeking out as Ichirin brings her left arm back for a huge haymaker, glittering splendid magical light already forming In she's coming! Aidan stands up! The Abnormality is safe! And potentially looking smug! Ichirin's fist continues forwards. Her eyes bug out and she's already enunciating "SO" (as in, the first part of 'SORRY') when there is a sensation quite like having a pillow hurled into your face from a speeding car.
Madeleine Cadrasteia	Madeleine is halfway to pushing Odette out of the gondola and onto the wheel's supports when she spies: a creature! A being of unknown origin! A cryptid, perhaps? And for once there probably won't be thorny questions about the boundaries of personhood! Probably.     "Odette, get those photos! I'm going after whatever that was!" She's after the squirrel-thing in a flash, scrambling and sliding and jumping down the scaffold of the wheel, utterly unwilling to wait for the gondola to descend. By the time she's halfway down she has a weighted net in her hands, retrieved from somewhere in her bag. The opportunity to catch something totally unknown has her pushing her speed and agility to the limit. Even if she can't catch the thing in her net, she might be able to see what hole it slips away into, and get some clue as to the location of its nest...
Petra Soroka	"But, that does explain why you and Lilian get along so well."     Petra rolls her eyes again. "Sure, I mean, maybe somewhere in the top hundred reasons. Also, like, she's an adult, obviously. Of course I don't think every single adult is evil. I was literally just saying that kids don't deserve to be hated for cultural shit they've only half-absorbed."     "Honestly, I give people more chances than they deserve." Petra doesn't sound like she's saying that performatively, like she's trying to declare an additional level of hatred purely to be aggressive to Sarra. Instead, it sounds like a sincere reflection that she's trying to work through, while poking at the device. "I feel like, ever since a year or so ago, it's been so easy to understand people. It feels like one conversation basically tells me everything there is to know about them. And everything after that is just giving them more and more chances for them to totally fail to prove me wrong." "I am quite certain the thought has never even crossed his mind!"     Petra side-eyes Sarracenia, squealing and flinching away from the suggestion, and sighs quietly. "He's a guy. Of course it's crossed his mind." "But, he did something perhaps as bad."     Petra's sympathy for Sarracenia's prudish naivete evaporates in an instant. "He tried to convince me that I should join him in some sort of obsessive worship of...-KALE-! Why, the very idea!!"     Petra grimaces, drumming her finger on the sensor's side. The grimace makes her look *especially* zombielike, but in a bit less of a cute way. "You know, I'm pretty sure I remember them hating each other a while ago, so why--"     Petra can't continue that comparison, because of the potential for self-damage. "Well, it's Proudpick, he changes his opinions based on the fucking time of day. Literally what's even the *point* of-- of fucking, idolizing Kale? He's been doing better lately, but he's not a-- like, I mean, I'd say this to his face. He's not a fucking paragon of any kind. And-- I *can't* imagine. That's so *weird*."     "I mean, I keep saying it, but you'd literally be better off never talking to him again even if he does apologize. Like, his standards-- literally he's my least favorite person I've ever met. He's never had a positive influence on anyone around him, ever. He's *always* fucking *lying*, and he's so stupid that it doesn't even seem like he *knows* it."
Sarracenia	'You know, I'm pretty sure I remember them hating each other a while ago, so why--'      Sarra also notices the parallel and coughs lightly. "I do not know the point of idolizing Kale. Perhaps he thinks he can model Kale's improvement to improve himself? Maybe he feels indebted to Kale because of the Quicknest situation?      'I mean, I keep saying it, but you'd literally be better off never talking to him again even if he does apologize.'      Would she? Sarra would usually quickly argue against such an assertion. But, just like last time Petra and Sarra talked about Aidan...it is hard to ignore Petra's points. "...one cannot lie without knowing one is lying. That is just being wrong. And Aidan has been working on himself as well."      "...I think..."