tampered | Log; Ongoing

When; Friday night
Rating; PG-13
Characters; SHODAN (

citadelspirit ) and Road Kamelot (

dreamsofnoah )
Summary; SHODAN goes to find a possible compatriot by visiting the Circus Carnivore.
Log;

Being an AI, she had never even thought about circuses, let alone been to one. All she knew was that they came from the Latin word for "circle," and they probably involved hordes of screaming insects sitting in chaotic rows and spilling food all over the floors. From her quick investigations, they usually centered around staged acts of bravery and physical prowess, often involving rare or unusual animals. Predators were common -- lions, tigers -- as well as large impractical beasts like elephants.

The screaming insects were definitely there, although she didn't see the masses of small children she expected from a circus. Then again, with a name like "Carnivore," it hadn't sounded like an everyday mindless diversion. More like a freak show, or a thriller. She sat as close to the front as possible, shifting her jaw as she toyed with the cybernetic ripsnake stowed in her hard palate. The chill of metal was comforting in this smelly animal pit. Everything reeked of fur, smoke, dirt, dust, and human. So much human. It was revolting, and for a while she kept her silver-threaded scarf pulled up around her nose to cut back the stench.

The show was fine, even entertaining at times, although she wasn't the whooping and cheering sort. She sat still, hands by her sides, green eyes tracking the animals and humans back and forth through their acts, watching for Road. From a few images she had dredged up across the Network, Road seemed like a silly little child. But, she hated humans and had resources, and right now, that was more important than image. Her fascination with wild animals would lend her well to backing SHODAN's creations -- maybe she would grow a Rumbler to add to the circus as payment, or else to establish trust. It would suit Road's tastes in monstrosities.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

It was an unusual show, not quite what you'd expect from a circus but far from what it would be like if it catered to Road's real tastes. At the beginning, back when the Mad Hatter owned it and had offered her a place as his assistant it had caught her interest. It was something new and dazzling to play with, and she'd been thrilled when he left the City and left it all to her.

But she'd grown bored of it as she grew bored of all her toys that didn't present some sort of challenge. Still, Road liked having money to waste on the sweets and toys and useless fineries that'd she'd grown used to in her spoiled life back home, and the circus kept her provided with that.

Besides, what else was supposed to keep her occupied with all the Exorcists gone?

That was why she'd been curious about what SHODAN could really do. A distraction, a new game, some plotting and scheming to spring a nasty surprise on the Black Order if any of them should turn up. Together with more of her family arriving, it had managed to quiet some of her growing discontent with being stuck in the City for so long.

Though it did mean she needed to meet up with the...woman? Or whatever she wanted to call herself, Road didn't care as long as she wasn't human. She slipped into the vacant seat next to her in time for the final act of the show, oohing along with the crowd, her smile refusing to betray whether she was genuine in her enthusiasm or merely mocking them.

Edited 2010-12-11 01:00 (UTC)

[ooc: I'm so sorry for taking this long. Grad school and classes were wrapping up between Thanksgiving and Winter Break, and I got pwned by Real Life.]

She didn't expect Road to suddenly turn up right next to her, and her eyes flicked over in something of a flinch. Dark green, serpentine, they focused in acknowledgment and then turned back toward the show, which suddenly took up far less of her attention.

"I expected you to be in the act, with your fascination for beasts." SHODAN raised the brow on Road's side, not even looking over, and kept her voice low. "Somehow this seems tame for you."

The slightest increase in her smile showed that she'd noted that flinch, but it went unremarked on. "I helped Hatter with the acts at first, back when the circus was his. It was only interesting for a while." She pulled her knees up to her chest, arms around them as she rested her chin there, eyes focused on the show without really bothering to watch it.

"Beasts aren't that fascinating. There are better things to enjoy and I have my own fun the way I want it." Even with her face half-buried against her knees, the grin stretching across her face could still be seen, slightly too wide to be possible for any normal human. "People wouldn't want to watch that." They'd be too busy dying.

((ooc: it's fine! Hope RL is being more reasonable now :> Sorry for the lateness here too, LJ didn't send me the notif for your tag.))

Edited 2010-12-23 00:09 (UTC)

"And what is fun to you?" SHODAN didn't take her eyes off the show, but spoke just loudly enough for Road to hear. Small child. Worth making a gamble on?

Yes. If she was suitably guiltless, that would open up a lot of paths that weren't there before, and forge an alliance that could allow her to work underground -- and possibly Underground -- to start the overthrow of the City. "I came here because of your offer, and your interest in my biological experiments. But depending on what your preferences are, we could likely work out some common ground."

"What's fun to me?" Road didn't reply immediately, her fingers absent-mindedly tracing patterns in the air. Perhaps she was taking the time to think about it seriously, or perhaps she wasn't thinking about it at all, her young features not betraying her thoughts either way.

"Whatever's interesting at the time. A laugh or a scream, death, games, blood, candy, war. If there was only one thing I found fun, it wouldn't remain fun for very long." She grinned, accidentally-on-purpose kicking the seat in front of her and causing the person in it to turn around with a frown, but they saw something in her face that made them turn back even faster. "Watching, sometimes, seeing what people will do if this, that or the other happens. Events unfolding. I'd like to see what you will do."

SHODAN rolled her eyes upward, not in disdain this time, but in self-directed irritation. "Nothing, if I am so hamstrung by having to look 'friendly' to get anything I need. I need somewhere to let go and stop pretending, and get something done that can't be disguised.

I'm tired of the so-called deities here. I've done more than they, in my own world." She brought a hand to the implants at the back of her neck, felt the cool metal there. "I want to recreate my cybernetic creatures, I want to recreate my former mainframe, and I want to make a mark on the City that will run so deep in its memory that it will fall to its knees in fear.

And if you breathe a word of that to anyone without my agreement, I will see that you regret it."

"That doesn't have to stop you. Back home, oh~, we do it all the time. You should see Papa lead everyone a song and dance. He gets so much done, and they're all such idiots that they don't even notice anything even when it's happening right in front of them."

Her eyes followed the way SHODAN touched her implants, fingertips pressed to her mouth but doing nothing to cover her smile. "The City's memory is short, so very short, no matter what you do. But maybe~, maybe, we could do something about that."

And then she laughed, the threat quite plainly amusing her without her making the slightest effort to hide it. "Will you~?" She'd almost take that as a personal challenge - as old as Road really was, she could be excessively childish at times, and doing the exact opposite as she was told was the least of what she was capable of in one of those moods. "There's one person who needs to know. I can introduce him to you later~."

((ooc: apologies for the wait, RL has been extremely hard lately and I haven't had much time to concentrate on RP.))

Log; Ongoing

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