The Carnival

[Kaden]

Hopping through the portal should have eased Kaden’s mind about several things. While he couldn’t really claim to be safe, he definitely like he was in less peril standing in the middle of a carnival versus standing around on a sinking ship. He looked around, trying to get his bearings, but didn’t recognize anything around him. With a long sigh, he tried to stave off frustration. While he definitely wasn’t the happiest guys around, he tried to keep a pleasant demeanor.

“Why the long face?” came a song-like voice.

Turning around, Kaden found himself once again caught off-guard by Mixie’s sudden appearance. The virtual apparition sauntered up to him, flashing a pleasant smile and small wave. Despite her “physical” appearance, the courier was weary of her. Regardless of how she acted, she was still a creation of Gamer’s, as far as the courier knew. Actually trusting her made about as much sense as jamming an ice pick up his nose.

“Just one of those days, I guess,” the courier replied.

“Well you know what always perks me right up?” the woman bounced on the balls of her feet to emphasize the question.

“I can only imagine.”

“Shopping!”

Placing a hand on Kaden’s shoulder, Mixie spun him around and pointed over his shoulder at a large tent only a few yards off. As the blonde reading the large, flashing sign that read “Shop Town” he heard Mixie giggle lightly. Leaning forward, she pushed Kaden towards the tent with her body insisted what worked for her would work for him.

“I don’t really have a lot of extra cash to throw around,” Kaden complained even as he founding himself entering Shop Town.

“Are you kidding? You have eighty monies!” she giggled again at the proclamation. “It’s time for a shopping spree.”

“Well…” Kaden mused. “I guess as long as it’s not real money.”

It was hard to argue with, basically, getting things for free. Even if they were just items for Gamer’s murderous game. If they actually helped Kaden get through the ordeal alive, all the better. It’s not like Kill Town’s “monies” would be worth anything once he got out and beat Gamer within an inch of his life. Additionally, Mixie’s perpetually cheerful demeanor helped Kaden get past the frustrations of the game, whether she was real or not.

“So I need these badge things to win the game, right?” Kaden said as he stepped into the tent.

Despite the size of the covering, there wasn’t a whole lot to be seen inside. Most of the space was empty, except for a handful of waist-high glass display cases encircling a robot with a cash register coming out of his chest. As Kaden approached the cases, he realized they were filled with an assortment of “badges.” There were all kinds available to be purchased, which the courier hadn’t expected.

“That’s right,” Mixie answered the boy’s question. “But there’s plenty of other stuff to buy as well.”

“Oh yeah?” Kaden half-answered as he looked through the cases. Eventually his eyes came to rest on a piece of paper with the word ‘Covet’ written on it and a ’20 monies’ price-tag taped on. “Like this? What does a ‘Covet’ do?”

“That’s a special item that steals someone else’s badge.”

“Wait wait wait… someone can steal my badges? What’s the point in buying them, then? I should just steal someone else’s.”

“Well no one has any badges yet. There’s nothing to take.”

“Lazy jerks,” the courier commented on his fellow contestants. Though his own would probably be stolen pretty quickly, he did like the idea of being the first one to buy any. “Alright, alright. I’ll take a couple of badges, then.”

As soon as the courier said that, the register-robot made a loud ka-ching noise and banged away at the register with his mechanical fingers. When he finished ringing Kaden up, the cash tray slid out and was quickly slammed shut. Kaden was going to ask exactly how he was supposed to pay, but a loud beep from the pager at his waist cut him off.

Grabbing at the device, Kaden watched the display as “80 monies” flashed several times before being replaced with “30 monies.” That definitely seemed like a more efficient way doing things than loading contestants down with wads of fake cash. Kaden shuddered to think what he would have done if he had stepped out of his event with pockets full of one-money bills. Or whatever they’d be called.

“Only two? You can afford three, y’know?” Mixie leaned over Kaden’s shoulder to watch his pager-thingy record the change.

“Like you said, Mixie, there’s plenty of stuff to buy. Like these over here,” Kaden pointed out a handful of other items that were simply scrawled on paper. “We’ve got a Theft, a Double, those Covets, and a… Question Mark?”

“That’s the mystery item! It could be just about anything. Pretty exciting isn’t it?” Mixie cooed.

“What about those other two?” Kaden asked, pointing to the Double and the Theft.

“Well a Double will double the amount of monies you earn in your next event, and a Theft will steal some monies from one of the other players and give them to you.”

“So, I could buy a Double and end up with nothing, huh? How have I been doing so far, anyway? I don’t really know how much eighty monies is.”

“So far you’ve performed very well.”

Letting his head nod back-and-forth as he turned that piece of information over in his mind, Kaden considered the items in the case. He still had a couple of badges to pick out, and if people were going to be able to steal monies from him as well, he was better off just spending them. With a big, confirming nod, Kaden turned to the cashier-bot.

“Ok, I’ll also take two Thefts and a Double.”

Once again, the courier’s pager beeped and his monies were subtracted until nothing remained. Mixie tried to tell him something, but the courier held up a finger to silence her for a moment while he perused the display case. After picking out two badges, he pointed them out to the attendant, who handed them over, and turned to the digital guide.

“What do you think?” he asked, holding up the badges.

“Well I like this one,” Mixie pointed to a white star with wings rising from it. Kaden had chosen it because it bore a striking resemblance to the emblem on the back of his jacket. “But what’s with the other badge?”

It was a very large, very blatant middle-finger.

“I figure if someone steals it from me, they’ll know exactly how I feel about it.” To Kaden’s surprise, Mixie grabbed the badges and pushed them against the left breast of his leather jacket. Immediately, they stuck in place. “Excellent. Now, you were saying something?”

“I was trying to tell you how to use those Thefts, but if you’re not interested.” Mixie turned away from the courier and crossed her arms over her chest.

“Ok, ok, I’m sorry. I should never have taken my attention off of you, Mixie.”

“That’s more like it,” she turned back to Kaden with a giggle. “Now, on your Portal Appearance and General Event Recording device, there are some—“

“Woah, hold on. So this thing is actually a PAGER?”

“If you prefer acronyms, I guess. Anyway, press ‘one’ to get to the main menu, then just select ‘Theft’ and you’re good to go.”

Grabbing his PAGER, Kaden followed the instructions Mixie provided and was quickly at a large ‘Theft’ menu from which he could choose one of the other players in the game. Fortunately, the list was alphabetized, so he didn’t have to spend much time looking. With a smile on his face, Kaden selected “Ander” and watched as the screen changed.

“Stealing, please wait.” Kaden read aloud. “Alright, well thanks for all the info, Mixie. I’m gonna go look for someone, though. I’m sure we’ll run into each other again.”

“I’m looking forward to it,” the woman replied with a wave goodbye.

Stepping out of Shop Town, Kaden took in a deep breath and let his nerves settle. Though Mixie could be relaxing, the courier couldn’t help shake the feeling that Gamer would be able to see and hear everything she did. Even if that wasn’t the case, it seemed like a better idea to err on the side of caution. With his spirits slightly lifted, and no longer feeling like he was under some kind of big-brother scrutiny, Kaden looked around for something to do until his next event. The nearest attraction was a large water park.

“I’ll give Gamer this much, he doesn’t skimp,” the courier said to himself as he approached the park.

Pools of every shape and size dotted the area, broken by dividers of tropical plants of rows of concession stands. Large water slides snaked between one-another, weaving their way down to the pools below. The delighted cries of children filled the air as they scampered from one body of water to another, or clamored past each other to be the next on their water slide of choice.

Despite his most recent event, the idea of relaxing in a pool seemed like a fairly decent idea. Almost mournfully, Kaden brought a hand to his chest and let his fingers trace the circular scar upon it. The last time he had gone into any body of water for recreation, he had been in a wetsuit. Somehow, he didn’t think that would fly at a water park and just standing around watching would be way too… creepy. Kaden was about to leave when he caught sight of a familiar face.

“Hey! Sophia!” he called out to the priestess as she quickly moved across his field of vision.

The girl’s head turned ever-so-slightly before she straightened and quickened her pace. Figuring she simply hadn’t heard him, Kaden took off after Sophia in a light jog and called out her name once more. The second time, however, there was no mistaking what he saw. She visibly sped up upon hearing Kaden’s voice. When he finally managed to clamp a hand on her shoulder, she turned to face him and wrenched herself free in the same movement.

“Oh, Kaden,” she feigned surprise.

“Didn’t you hear me?” he asked slowly.

“No, I was just trying to find my way out of here. After the boat, I can’t say I really want to be around water.”

“Heh, yeah. Well c’mon, the exit’s this way. I’ll show you.”

“I can find it myself.” She answered so quickly that Kaden almost missed it. “I don’t need you to help me with everything, you know.”

“Oooookay. Well, you said you were looking for something, and I know where it is. I just thought I’d offer.” As Kaden spoken, his mind reeled, scrambling to come up with something that might have upset the priestess. Something other than being kidnapped and forced into a game. “I didn’t think you’d mind an excuse to walk around with me, to be honest.”

“Well, thank you, but I’m fine,” Soph said as she straightened herself.

“Look, Soph, I didn’t want to say anything back on that boat, but –“

“You mean back when you were telling everyone the best way to save themselves?” Sophia cut him off. The courier almost winced when she crossed her arms; that was not a good sign.

“Hey look, I was just trying to help. You’re acting like I did something horrible, and I was just pointing out the best course of action.” Instead of stopping to think, the courier just kept talking. “What’s going on here? Is this just the wrong time of the month or something? Should I come back next week?”

That was a dumb thing to say. Nevertheless, Sophia actually held her tongue and elected to simply take a nice, deep breath. Without saying anything, she stepped past Kaden, intending to continue her search for the exit. Unfortunately for all involved parties, the courier wasn’t in the mood to just sweep things under the rug. Once again he stopped her with a hand on her shoulder and, once again, she wrenched herself free as she turned to face him.

“Hold on,” the courier started. “Look, Sophia, I trust you, and right now I think we should be working with each other, not against each other. If something’s bothering you, you can talk to me about it.”