Summer Solstice

[lifemods]

Summer Solstice Fair

The sun is shining, the Mognet is working again, and the summer solstice fair is here! The WRO hopes to makes this an annual thing, but this is the first year they're doing it. Everything you could ever want from a fair is here and open to the public.

*Fair Rides: Ferris wheels, a mini rollercoaster, that thing that looks like an octopus and spins around--the WRO spared no expense to make sure everyone would have fun here today. There's even a gravity ride that takes you up to the top of a pole and then drops you!

*Food: So much food. So much unhealthy food. Funnel cakes, hot dogs, burgers, ice cream, you name it. And it's all fairly cheap too, since the WRO promised to pay for half of what the merchants sell!

*Carnival Games: And most of them aren't even rigged! The Gold Saucer donated games for the fair and there are so many games. There's your standard shooting games, some basketball games, a dunk tank, hoop tosses, you name it. A few are rigged, though, so buy beware! There's also a few card tables set up in a tent for those who like their games a little less wild.

*Speed Dating: ...yeah, the WRO has no idea. This came with the Gold Saucer stuff, along with a Cait Sith and Moogle mascot pair that will coax anyone they can into sitting down and participating.

*Job Fair: With the influx of new arrivals, both native and Streamers, some employers see a golden opportunity to get some jobs filled! In one corner of the fair is another, mini-fair fill with tables and presentations on various workplaces: the WRO, ShinRa Tech, the volunteer emergency services of Edge, and the Highwind Air Taxi Service, just to name a few. Anyone of working age is welcome to wander in and have a look around.

Of course, the fair is taking up the entire center of Edge, so there's lots more to see and do!

[[Feel free to make your own top levels! Welcome to Edge of Life!]]

Comments

OTA

[scntstnotmunky]

To his credit, Winston was not being looked on with fear. Instead, the children seemed to delight at the giant gorilla being a part of the fair. There was a lot of them hanging off him as he gave them rides, being paid in fried bananas and oreos, and peanut butter.

You can never forget about the peanut butter.

So the fair was definitely a place he was enjoying, showing off his skills at games and stopping at the Job Fair.

Adjusting his glasses as he read through the job listings and inquired to the person, "How much work experience is needed?"

Other times, he would strike up a conversation with someone as he munched on his lunch of fried food and peanut butter. "Uh, hi."

[notachocobo]

Cloud had been expecting to see a lot of strange things thanks to the Lifestream malfunctioning, or whatever it was that was going on with the damn thing. People of all shapes and sizes, from strange places and times. One thing that had never crossed his mind though, and it probably should have all things considered, was seeing individuals that..weren't exactly human.

Like this guy.

The blonde had been wandering the fair to keep an eye on everything and make sure that no one started anything with the 'Streamers'--as Vincent had suggested--when he'd ended up standing a few feet away from the..um...whatever..this guy was.

Cloud startled out of his thoughts as the other spoke, an eyebrow lifting before he gave Winston a nod.

"Hello." Okay, no, you have to say more than that. "...What..are you?"

Smooth.

[scntstnotmunky]

To be fair, someone would probably be out of their mind if they started something with Winston. From appearance alone, he was well over 500 pounds and despite his friendly appearance, most people that weren't fascinated children were giving him a wide berth.

"Oh, I'm a scientist," said Winston, chuckling at his own private joke. "The name is Winston, and I'm a genetically modified gorilla."

Chews on a oreo dipped in peanut butter.

"From the moon."

[notachocobo]

"...You want to run that by me again?" Because that was a combination of things that didn't make any sense to Cloud whatsoever. A scientist. Okay. Check. Name was Winston. Check.

...A genetically modified...gorilla? Okay. Right.

From the moon.

What.

[scntstnotmunky]

Winston laughed, a deep rich booming noise. "From the moon. It is where I was raised as a child."

Carefully dislodging a child from his shoulder and setting him on his back, he held out his hand. "Dr. Winston, Overwatch scientist. A pleasure to meet you."

[notachocobo]

At least this...gorilla seemed to have a decent enough personality. That laugh seemed genuine enough.

And he was gentle with children. A big plus in Cloud's book.

The blonde just nods a bit at the moon comment, still trying to process that completely as he reaches out to take the offered hand.

"Cloud Strife. Likewise, sir," he said in a formal sort of manner, not wanting to be disrespectful..for once.

[scntstnotmunky]

"No sir, just Winston will do," said Winston with a smile as he let the kids climb over him.

"Do you live here, Cloud?" asked Winston curiously.

[sworntoblood]

Well, it was not every day that one saw a gorilla hanging out at...a faire. Yes, the strange device had called it a faire, hadn't it? Perhaps it was like the Darkmoon Faire she'd heard much about (but, being a busy elf, Liadrin had never really found the time to go. And she regretted it, a little.) Well, what better time than now to explore a place like this?

But, back to the gorilla. The talking gorilla.

"You aren't from Stranglethorn, are you?" The elf's tone is bemused, at least, and her eyes quite literally twinkle with amusement. Probably because they're glowing and green.

"That's not all you're eating, is it?" Liadrin does manage to look a bit horrified. She isn't certain what the brown goo is, but she's seen things like steak on a stake before, and the oily smell coming off of it makes her think that it's about as healthy as that stuff.

Which is to say, it's not.

[scntstnotmunky]

This gorilla was also wearing a nice simple, if drab looking outfit too. Looking up at Liadrin, he shook his head. "I am from the Moon technically, but I live on the Earth."

Lets see if we can go two for two with the confused expressions.

"It's faire food," he said, holding up a bag of deep fried foods and his peanut butter. "Faire food is never healthy."

[sworntoblood]

Two for two, indeed. Liadrin's pointed brows furrowed deeply.

"That, I can believe," she said. "Though I've never been, save now." And she was very, very reluctant to partake of said 'faire food'.

None of it looked healthy.

"I wouldn't eat like that all the time, I'd end up looking like an ogre with only one head. And more hair," she said, grimacing a bit.

[scntstnotmunky]

"This is a special occasion," said Winston with a grunt, dipping said food item into a jar of peanut butter.

"I am sure it will only come around a few times in a year."

[sworntoblood]

"Perhaps, but that's hardly a reason to overindulge. One, you're likely to give yourself a stomach ache. Two, you might end up looking like two of you, and they'll need to find a tarp or something."

Really, as far as Liadrin was concerned, the teasing was gentle. "You don't think I'm flabby under this bag, do you?"

No, she really wasn't impressed with the outfits they'd been given, but with limited funding, she wasn't able to go out and buy herself a new wardrobe, yet.

[scntstnotmunky]

Whoa, loaded question. Winston smoothly deflected the "am I fat" question with, "It is still delicious. Mostly. Oh look, games."

Way to avoid the question Winston.

[lifenpcs]

Marianne looked up at the giant ape thing that was looking over their paperwork. She remembered seeing him briefly in the WRO HQ after he was brought in from Mideel, but the Zack Fair and Cloud Strife doppelgangers were more important and so she'd lost track of the giant fucking gorilla.

It was impressive, losing track of a giant fucking gorilla.

"You gotta be fuckin' kidding me. You can talk? An' do science?"

[scntstnotmunky]

"Well, yes." said Winston. "To both actually."

Even though he was very used to this reaction to those who didn't know about Overwatch, Winston pushed his glasses up on his nose as he looked over the sample questions on the application.

"You dropped a decimal in question five, and question seven is a simple application of Newton's theories, coupled with the energy flow of extra-dimensional energies. The rest is all basic science." He filled out the application and offered it back to Marianne.

"Does this pass muster?"

[lifenpcs]

She glared at the monkey before taking the application and looking it over.

"Who the fuck is Newton, that's Kilm's theories, not..." Marianne looked up at the gorilla, back down at the paper, and then set the paper aside. "So. You're a Streamer?"

[scntstnotmunky]

"If that is the term you are using for people not of this world, then yes." said Winston.

He couldn't say he appreciated the distinction but...

"So does it pass muster?"

[lifenpcs]

"I can't promise you'll be in the main labs, you got that fur and it might cause problems, but if I have my way? I'm hiring you." She offers her hand. "Marianne, I work with the WRO."

[scntstnotmunky]

"Oh don't worry, I've worked in labs all my life. I know when to be cautious around objects," said Winston with a smile.

He grasped her hand, shaking it gently but firmly. "Dr. Winston, it's a pleasure to join your group. I hope my science can benefit your people. I used to be part of a group called Overwatch, who was made up of adventurers as well as scientists. We were a peacekeeping group."

Re: OTA

[gardeningaia]

"Uhm...is that a real animal? Not an animatronic?"

Aerith is asking this question discreetly to a child, but they're pretty close, and Aerith's idea of "discreet voice" needs a little fine-tuning.

Re: OTA

[scntstnotmunky]

The kid nodded and exclaimed, "He talks too!"

At this, Winston laughed. Oh kids. "Yes, I talk," rumbled Winston in a voice that was oddly reminiscent of Rude with a much deeper bass voice. Rude-monkey was after all voiced by Crispin Freeman.

"My name is Winston," he said to Aerith. "I'm a Streamer, but I prefer to be known as a scientist."

[gardeningaia]

Aerith jumped when Winston started talking, hand by her mouth. "Oh! He does!--You do!" she hastily corrected herself, because now that they have established the gorilla is intelligent, it'd be rude to talk about him and not to him. But my, that was an...oddly familiar-sounding voice. Strange.

"A...scientist?" Well, that's not so weird for a talking animal: Nanaki was certainly smart enough that he could study science. The question that springs immediately to mind for Aerith is: "What sort of scientist are you? Oh, and I'm Aerith."

[scntstnotmunky]

"What sort? Engineering actually," said Winston as he dug into his bag and withdrew a fried banana.

"I've dedicated my life to helping people, so I build technology to better keep the peace back home. I've studied many fields from biology to robotics though my passion lays with the scientific method, and running experiments to better understand our world."

[gardeningaia]

"Helping people and understanding your world... those are both noble goals for a scientist. I wish I'd known more like you." Hojo had supposedly wanted to understand things as well, but he'd had such a narrow mindview, unable to accept things outside it--and he had certainly never been interested in helping people.

She won't comment on his getting a snack, but she does think to ask: "So is everyone on your world like you?" Quite a different world that would be. Or maybe not.

[scntstnotmunky]

"Scientists are good people, depending on their goals. Sometimes good, sometimes not. But the good scientists are always open to ideals." Said Winston with a graceful dip of his food into his peanut butter.

"If you mean, gorillas, then no. Gorillas only make a small percentage of the animal kingdom. The majority of our people are humans, as well as robots called Omnics."