event: portal three | the sky

[mayfield_mods]

The third portal is not what you expect.

It's found in the middle of the Greased Lightning auto garage in the center of one of the building's walls. The drone workers in the garage don't look at or speak of it, but they seem to be avoiding its presence.

From what you can see in the garage, the portal opens up into what seems like the interior of a train's carriage, or first-class seating on an airline. You can see down what seems to be a large, impossibly miles-long aisle, with floors and seats made of luxurious red carpeting. From where you're standing, you can see the arms and legs of the people sitting in those seats, and in some cases the backs of their heads. They're all very well-dressed, and seem pretty lively, although you can't hear anything from this side of the portal.

Upon stepping through, other than the same tingle felt by the other portals, a few other sensations may hit you. The first, and most jarring, is the sense of vertigo caused by suddenly being hundreds of feet above sea level. If your ears pop, that would be why. The second is the smell of delicious food wafting into your nostrils; the supper trolley must be getting close.

The third, and a little less pleasant, is a faint buzzing in the back of your head that will be more than a little familiar to anybody who visited the carnival. Glancing around the cabin, you may notice the same holes that littered the sky back at the carnival: pockets of pure nothing, each about the size of a dinner plate, are scattered here and there across the aisle. Looking at them for more than a few seconds hurts your eyes as well as your mind.

It is while glancing around the cabin that you may notice two things. The first is the windows of the cabin, outside of which you can see the surroundings of your vehicle. It's neither a train nor an airplane: it's a blimp, bigger than any you've ever seen. Above your window you can see the bottom of the great balloon your cabin is attached to. Below, you can see the ocean, and ahead on the horizon, land. It seems the airship you're aboard is headed straight for a large metropolis on the coastline.

The second thing you might notice, now that you're close enough to see them, is the fact that none of your fellow passengers have faces. Their bodies are moving, shifting positions and gesticulating as if they're talking to each other, but no noise emerges from the patch of skin where their mouths would have been. The same goes for everyone occupying the seats down the aisle, which stretches further than you can see. Even when you poke and prod at them, the faceless passengers don't seem to notice your presence- yet.

Comments

[ex_bloomnobly385]

[Not too fond of being ignored she gives one of the figures a light shake by the shoulders. By now Yuyuko's starting to think that these may be more like elaborate (albeit undetailed) dolls than noppera-bō. With a small sigh she starts to wonder where the food cart is. If she's going to be sent on a wild goose chase then no point doing it on an empty stomach]

[spinningorange]

(And somewhere along the way, there will be a Chen flying around the area! She's been poking at a few of the weird people and waiting politely, but since they're not doing much of anything, her attention immediately goes to Yuyuko.)

Lady Yuyuko, I don't think they like me very much! They're all ignoring me...

[ex_bloomnobly385]

[Yuyuko smiles and drifts over, she wasn't expecting to see anyone familiar and she gives Chen a friendly pat on the head]

I wouldn't worry too much, I don't think they're meant to pay attention.

They might be nothing more than mannequins.

[mayfield_mods]

[Oh no! Everything is going horribly wrong!]

[spinningorange]

(Which, of course, brings the kitten to happy purrs. What troubles were she having again...?

...oh, right.)

But what are we supposed to do instead? Fly around them and find other things?

[ex_bloomnobly385]

It doesn't seem like there's much other choice. There weren't any clues in the letter.

[spinningorange]

The letter didn't say anything other than finding things for the librarian. Does that mean this is a scavenger hunt, lady Yuyuko?

[ex_bloomnobly385]

Even a scavenger hunt tends to have clues.

For all the energy that's being put into making these portals you'd think that they would help us act more efficiently.

[spinningorange]

Maybe they didn't put enough energy into that. Doesn't it take a lot of effort and power to create an entire dimension?

[ex_bloomnobly385]

Hmm, well when you put it that way...

There's no point in standing around though! People tend to keep memories close to their heart so one of these people must have it.

[spinningorange]

We won't have to cut any of them open, will we? I think Mayfield likes being literal...

[ex_bloomnobly385]

Oh of course not!

I hope not...

I mean that, this is a memory so all these people must be memories too. When you're in a large crowd, you don't really remember the faces of strangers but the memento might be with someone who was close.

We need to look for the person with a face, they're the most important.

[spinningorange]

Oh...oh, that makes a lot of sense! I can't remember everyone's faces either, so I know what that's like!

So is the person we're looking for in the front? The ones in front are the most important, aren't they?

[ex_bloomnobly385]

Who knows, but it's as good a place as any to start!

[Or it would be, if the sudden explosion from the engine room hadn't sent everything off balance. Since her feet haven't touched the floor since they arrived, Yuyuko is startled by the noise more than anything]

[spinningorange]

(Yeah, Chen's floating right alongside her, so the big boom is what really catches the neko off guard.)

Lady Yuyuko, what was that?! It was so loud!