Arc II, Chapter 8: Nondescript

“Why did they not put the booths all in one place?” Dina asked as we made our way up yet another row of carnival rides.

We had seen booths for every company, social club, public utility, and college organization. There was nothing out of the ordinary at any of them. We wandered without progress for so long, I started to doubt that we should be there at all.

This place was a good microcosm for Carousel itself, though. It was the first time players would see important names like the Delta Epsilon Delta fraternity, which was running a carnival game where players armed with a long foam hammer tried to strike the heads of various frat members as they popped out of holes in a large plywood construct. It was whack-a-mole. All of the frat guys were tipsy but seemed to be having a good time. I didn’t see any faces I recognized.

KRSL, the company that had been behind the research facility in the Subject of Inquiry storyline with the psychically manifested poltergeist had a giant wheel contestants could spin for various prizes (all of which were KRSL products).

And it went on and on like that. They were spread around the concessions, carnival rides, and t-shirt booths.

Eventually, though, we found the booth we had been looking for. Hallowed Heart Hospital was doing a blood drive, giving out free healthy snacks, and administering flu shots all in one area.

As we approached, Cassie, who had said few words, found the nearest nurse and asked her bluntly, “Is Dr. Andrew Hughes here?”

“Excuse me?” The woman plastered on a smile. She was a level 3 NPC. No title. I doubted she would know much.

“Dr. Andrew Hughes,” Cassie said. “He was supposed to be working at this booth.”

The nurse didn’t appear to recognize the name. Still, she looked around quickly, and said, “I don’t know of a Dr. Hughes.” She leaned back and yelled back into the booth, “Do we have a Dr. Hughes?”

A buff male nurse with a long dark ponytail simply shook his head from within the booth and then went back to sorting through some things in boxes.

“I’m sorry honey,” the nurse said. “You said he was supposed to be working the booth for Hallowed Heart?”

Cassie didn’t answer at first. “I apologize, I must be mistaken.”

She turned back around toward us.

It doesn’t matter how much proof you have. Hope blinds you. She had been holding out hope that her brother would be there.

At least we let her and Isaac search. The players that we met at the lodge didn’t indulge our curiosities. Adeline had trained them not to.

“We need to keep moving,” Dina said quietly but firmly. She looked spooked.

She must have seen something. Her Outsider’s Perspective trope alerted her when things were new, unusual, or out of place. She didn’t necessarily know what was causing the trope to trigger, but it was still useful information.

We picked up the pace and continued our path around the booths and rides.

“There,” Dina said, pointing to the observation tower ride.

Unlike all of the other rides, it didn’t require tickets. That was important because we hadn’t taken the time to win or buy any.

It consisted of a large octagonal cabin with windows in every direction. It would slowly rise up a few stories high, and then slowly descend. It was small compared to some of the larger versions at amusement parks, but it still went high enough to see the whole area.

More than that, it was practically empty, despite how crowded the rest of the rides were.

We stepped into the cabin. Dina kept a watch out behind us until the doors closed and the room began its slow ascent. Unlike most observation towers, where the room would spin all the way up the tower, this one simply rose. It was lifted by a large pair of jacks.

“What was it?” Antoine asked Dina as soon as the doors closed.

“We’re being followed,” Dina said sharply.

We rushed to the window facing the way we had come in.

“A man,” Dina said. “I can’t describe him.”

“What was he wearing?” Kimberly asked.

We scanned the crowds for someone looking up at us.

“I can’t describe him as in I magically can’t describe him. I can’t focus on details,” Dina said.

“Like from a trope?” I asked.

Dina nodded. “He’s right ther—” she started to say, “No… I lost him somehow.”

I looked around the festival grounds. I saw no indescribable men as if that was a thing I could look for.

“Did you see him on the red wallpaper?” Bobby asked.

“No,” Dina said. “He wasn’t there.”

I was about to ask her another question but then thought better of it. There were only two ways to not appear on the red wallpaper that I knew of. The first way was to have an Outsider trope called Guarded Personality, which would prevent any type of insight into a player. Dina had that trope. Travis, one of the Outsiders at the lodge, had that trope. That trope was beatable with a high Moxie or Savvy though.

The other time I saw someone not show up on the red wallpaper was when I saw the axe murderer. I couldn’t say anything to my friends about that though.

Unable to see the man who was following us, we reverted to trying to figure out where we were supposed to be.

Stolen novel; please report.

“Maybe the booth you go to has something to do with what happens next?” Kimberly suggested as she looked down at the grounds. “Maybe we’re supposed to be doing the activities.”

“I wonder what the face painting booth would do, then,” Isaac said, unable to even summon the energy to smirk at his own remark.

“I don’t understand how nothing is happening,” Antoine said. “Shouldn’t there be a guide or something?”

They discussed our situation. As they did, I started trying to think about this place as if it were an actual game. I looked around. My eyes rested on Isaac and Cassie. They stood there, still holding the luggage that they had brought with them.

“What if we’re not supposed to do anything at the fair tonight?” I asked.

They paused and waited for me to explain.

“Cassie and Isaac,” I said, pointing to them. “They’re still holding their luggage. If this was a real fresh start, then there would be eight or nine people, all lugging around bags and boxes. I mean, think of all the crap we had when we got here. We had to ditch it at the front of the corn maze before we did The Final Straw II.”

Something clicked.

“We need to find a place to stay,” Antoine said.

“I think it makes sense,” I said. “It’s dark, things are winding down,” I looked out at the festival, “Kind of. This isn’t even the real start of the Centennial. That’s tomorrow. A bunch of new players would be looking for a place to put their things. Especially since whoever invited them… isn’t going to be here to pick them up.”

We had been so obsessed with completing the tutorial and moving the story forward that we had forgotten to act as if we were new players who thought they were on vacation. The first thing that new players would do when they got to the Centennial event would be to find a place to stay the night. That hadn’t even entered our minds.

“That would explain why nothing’s happening,” Bobby said.

“So we need to look for a hotel,” Dina said, scanning the horizon as the observation deck lowered down.

“Yeah,” I said. “Though the process of searching for a hotel may be the thing that causes something to happen.”