Chapter 21: A Roman Holiday

[Li Violette]

I notice Cephrien, but, I don't say hello, since I don't want to show these people that we have any connection. They may know he is a rebel. My eyes meet his as I enter the shop. I look around and see that it has been damaged...and what's more, there's what seems to be a Creditor here in the shop. Perhaps the shop owner has bad Credit. I wouldn't intervene, since that is an affair of Global Bank, but it has some people poking around outside.

I look at the Creditor. "Creditor, what are you doing here? Does this woman have bad Credit? And...aren't you supposed to avoid destroying property. I might have to report you to Annette Rosenthal." I scold the machine.

He doesn't seem...quite right. Perhaps it is the wind up key ears.

[Kasper Schultz]

"Uh...I'm 25." Kasper replies as his face turns into a tomato. He's never even had a girl touch him before. "Don't worry, I can peddle. I am very strong and in shape, even if I don't look like it." Kasper assures her. "I keep in good shape, even if I don't look like it." It is true. Even though Kasper is a nerd, he is a health nut, unlike Armin who is always eating burgers and who never works out. He starts peddling, and it is a little more difficult, but at least Em isn't very heavy. He peddles, enjoying the fresh air and scenery. "I sure like it out here. I mean, it isn't that good to not have food or water out here, but at least there isn't all the pollution. I swear, everyone's going to either get cancer or gray sickness. And I think that teleportation booths give you tumors. Wait and see." He converses with her. He has a hard time controlling his personality, which is why he sometimes puts people off.

[Émilie LaFramboise]

"Oh really? That's good then, being in shape is good for your body." Émilie smiles as she tilts her head so that the wind can hit her face. She listens as he talks and feels a bit more giddy. Surely he cared about the environment then! "It is very nice to know there's still places that aren't polluted. But if things continue on as they are, then you are probably right... Still, I like to have hope for the future."

She still tries to be a bit careful with her words despite the fact that if he was a Manalist, he wouldn't be able to report her or trace her once she got away from him. "Where are you going once we reach town? I'm from France, it's better there environment wise than a lot of other places I think."

[Jack Kruschev]

I hate that bitch, Anthony thinks to himself as he turns around and looks at the computer screen.

Momo is a business partner, but a really crappy one that Anthony couldn't really stand to be around. He understood that she was a valuable aspect of business for Genetech, as Intelligent Design often worked with Genetech to create "Biological Machines" and helped them figure out what worked well on flesh.

Turning around, Anthony stood up and opened a small container. Pulling out a small creature, he dropped it into a large, glass box and watched as the snake ate the mouse.

"I guess the strongest will always survive," Anthony muttered to himself before leaving the lab and getting a drink.

[Niilo Ukkonen]

And then out of nowhere, Attis shows up in his fox form and trots between Eun and Niilo. Soon after, he mentions free Red Leaf. A wonderful idea, but highly unlikely. The Manalists only gave free items and goods to the rich, not the poor and middle class. They despised Niilo and his work, fortunately, no one knew what he looked like or who he was.

Scratching Attis beyind the ears, Niilo asked, "Hey buddy, how's it going? Free Red Leaf you say?"

[Dr. Lonnrot Kukkanen]

(Back to Jumala)

Sometimes, he was an asshole. Other times, he was a wonderous legend. Jumala was a strange being filled with magic and mystery. He could do virtually anything, and couldn't do some things at the same time.

Arriving as SOTA's labs, Lon thought about how impressed he was with the mythical being. Rather than think for himself all the time, Jumala had actually managed to think about his staff and coworkers. Lon had come to take care of them and check for PTSD. Setting his things down, he saw a line and got to work.

[Archer Aylmer]

I take one of the burgers that Armin offers up, it's kind of hot so I blow on it a little before taking a bite. It takes pretty good, though not as good as the stir fry. I take my former seat in the armchair so that I can sit while enjoying my food.

"Yes, I was wanting to play a game. I don't really care what. I do like trivial pursuit though."

I watch Armin and Malak very intently. I don't mean to stare really, but I feel like there's something to be learned from observing them. It's a strange situation to be around the Socialists.

[Calithin Crest]

"This is... Um... Wow."

This carnival is a lot to take in. I wish everything the Manalists did wasn't ridiculously sinister. I kind of don't mind the atmosphere though. Regular carnivals are boring, so, I am surprised by how interesting this all is. Besides, I have nothing to worry about... Probably.

"Do you think they have that flavored ice stuff? I like that."

[Akira 69]

"But it's the thought that counts!" Akira countered seemingly unconcerned about the damages he had caused; wasn't his, so he didn't care as much as he would have had it been owned by some male meat bag- Akira didn't care at all about the male of the organic creatures. Then another voice was registered which prompted Akira to quite literally spin his head around until he was looking at Li who was behind him. Another woman? How lovely!

"N-n-no! Shop has wonderful credit!" Akira flatly lied, stuttering slightly from a glitch. Yes it had good credit, but wonderful was an overexageration. Akira was also unphased by the threat of reporting him to Annette. "Mom would not care- so long as people pay, she is unconcerned. Akira replied simply, not even wondering why Li Violette was even here. "Konichiwa!" Akira then exclaimes randomly, somehow bowing by bending his back over backward- same with his arms making a very bizarre backwards bow.

[kalma]

It seems that the owner of Genetech is busy and off to attend to some affairs elsewhere, but his assistant Anthony West was still in. So, Kalma and Genki headed down that way when Genki stops them and says that his mom is in his office. "Well... lets not interupt them." Kalma says biting her lower lip nervously. She is still alittle shaken up by Momo's yelling some time ago, but she also is curious as to what they are talking about. She heard gods mentioned but that was about all she managed to hear when Momo came out and walked the opposite direction of them.

"I guess we better get back to work." Kalma says simply, wondering what this Anthony West was like.

[Jumala Keitoleinen]

Keitoleinen finishes up some work, then notices that Lonrott is already at Sota's office, evaluating some of the employees. About ten employees are still missing and Keitoleinen isn't sure if it is because they are dead, skipping work, or afraid to go to work.

"Hello Lon, how are things going? What is the general mental state of the people working here...after the attack?" Keitoleinen asks him. Keitoleinen is impressed that some of the workers have gone back to work despite the damage to the office. Many have been pitching in to repair the building.

[Dinari Dollar]

There is a food stand, but it sells only pig products, since pig is sacred to the Manalists. Dinari looks at the menu and gets himself a pork corndog. There are pork rinds, ham sandwiches, corndogs, hot dogs, bacon on a stick, roast pork sandwiches, pig's feet, head cheese, and a couple other pork products.

"Instead of an icy, just have...pig's feet or something." Dinari suggests to Calithin. "Or we can keep walking and see if there is another food booth."

Dinari looks around. Two nearly naked S&M clad midgets run by them while they are making their decision. Nearby is an alley of games...such as throwing darts at some woman or sticking your hand in a box of wasps to get a prize for how long a person can keep it in.

[Bonifaz Artz-Lehrer]

Bonifaz takes a burger and doesn't feel like playing a game. "Armin, you can your friends can clean this place up. Maybe you can organize the basement and the laundry room and clean out the fridge." Bonifaz suggests to them, though, it is what he expects and not a suggestion.
"I think Frieda has that old game....Rock Band. We could make up bands and perhaps play against each other...each doing the same song, but the group that scores higher will have won that song. The group who wins the most songs out of ..5 will win. Unless you want to play...Battleship instead Archer."

[Heikki Toivonen]

Heikki returns to the nihilist house with the flu vaccine spray and arrives just in time for a burger and to hear Bonifaz suggest that they play Rock Band against the Socialists. He thinks this will be a good idea, even though he has never been very good at video games and he isn't sure what pretend instrument he would want to play.
"I want to play...can I play too? Are the drums very hard...."

[Li Violette]

I look at Cephrien and over to Ophelia. It seems pretty clear that Akira 69 is not functioning well and should have been put out of commission years ago. Perhaps, he is an obsolete model that escaped the scrap yard.
"It seems you have a malfunctioning machine on your hands. I could report him to Annette, but if he was captured, he would probably be destroyed. I haven't seen a model like this...except for maybe rusted in the scrap yard." I say to Ophelia and Cephrien. I am not sure what they want to do about him.

"What is your name and serial number...machine?" I ask the Creditor.