Event - Circus, Circus

[apocalypsehowmods]

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Circus, Circus

➥ By the Pricking of My Thumb

(cw: wax, potential compulsion and fighting)

The train pulls into the railyard at noon under a bright blue sky. The engine is a bright red with orange and yellow flames painted along the sides. The first carriage after that is pitch black with similar flames and a logo for the Fenix Down Extravaganza. It's a stylized red phoenix head in a circle of orange and yellow, the name of the circus painted across the top and bottom, mirroring the curve of the circle. A line of carriages stretch out after that, painted all different colors, but each maintaining the motif of flames down the sides and each bearing the company logo.

Excitement comes to the railyard. The circus is in town for a one-week stint before they continue their journey north. People in colorful costumes--clowns, 'fire fairies' covered in drips of candle wax, and those in animal masks--paper the town with advertisements. You might even find yourself conscripted to help with putting up the fliers and posters if you look idle. A stack of posters is placed in your hands. A $100 bill set atop seems to be your incentives to do something more than just toss them in the bin. There's a frantic energy both about the performers and the people in town. You might even find yourself strangely caught up in it. You want to help spread the word, to ensure the posters reach every part of town. Everyone else who's been conscripted, as well? You can do it better, faster. You need to be faster. You need to claim the space for your own before it's lost to someone else.

There hasn't been a circus come to Gloucester in decades, and it's the Fenix Down Extravaganza! They're renowned for their pyrotechnics and laser lights shows. Surely the enthusiasm for all that is just… catching.

The tents and booths are set up in vacant fields to the west of town, and there's one curious addition, as well. There's a railroad car that's been seemingly pulled away from the railyard somehow. No one sees it being moved, but it's out in the vacant field, and some might recognize it as the old, dilapidated thing that had been hidden in the railyard, the charred husk filled with old posters. It looms, in the field, almost seeming to smoke where it sits. It's quickly cleaned and restored over the course of the day the circus is setting up, though, and it seems to have been turned into the ticket booth for the front of the circus, complete with a new bright red paint job.

➥ Something Wicked This Way Comes

(cw: large-scale vehicular collision, industrial disaster, fire, harm to animals)

It's not a single person who can claim credit for the find, but many people all together. Hours have been poured into researching the mysterious midnight train crash that had rocked people from their beds almost a week ago. Finally, something is found. Stitched together from local newspaper clippings from around Cape Ann, a story emerges, identifying a derailment in the city of Gloucester back in 1921. More than a dozen workers had died in the railyard and there were fires beyond that in the town. The train itself had had only a few people aboard, performers for the Smoke and Mirrors Acting Troupe, along with animals used in their performances. The stories seem to be tucked away a few pages from the front of the newspapers, which are dominated by stories about skyrocketing unemployment following the Great War and the return home for the troops.

All of the stories seem to end with the same sentiment: It could have been so much worse. If the train had derailed further north in one of the more populated cities, where it had been scheduled to arrive the next morning after the crash? It could have been hundreds, maybe even thousands dead.

The information, whomever has found it, is enough. ADI calls a staff meeting. Ghostly circus train derailments just before another circus rolls into town? That's not a coincidence. Everyone who's willing is purchased a ticket for entrance to the Fenix Down Extravaganza, and every person is assigned a partner to join them. Don't lose track. There will be no kidnappings this time. ADI is determined to keep their people as safe as they can be while investigating. Maybe have a chat with your new companion(s).

Those who misbehaved during the last event's Sticky Wicket prompt and were caught with either an opened box or found to have injuries related to the artifacts inside the boxes will be assigned an additional person to their group. A mentor to keep them on the right track this time. And also to narc on them if they mess up again. Better behave, partner.

➥ Send In the Clowns

(cw: reference to cannibalism, fire, pain, mild body horror)

There's a light and excited atmosphere about the circus once a body makes it through the long queue out front. The sweet and sticky scent of fried and sugary foods permeates the air along with barbecues and the ever-present smell of ash. Fire would seem to be the main attraction for the Fenix Down Extravaganza. Fire dancers, fire jugglers, people swallowing fiery swords, and walking over beds of hot coals. There are sideshow attractions and games to see before heading into the big top. Notably, there are no animals or signs of animals at the circus save for a small contingent of goats that are set up as a petting zoo, and a sideshow with a reptile exhibit along with a 'snakeman.' Otherwise known as a performer decorated with shiny sticker scales who provides interesting 'snake facts' to anyone who happens by.

The Food
The food is typical carnival garbage. A little overpriced, but still decent and provided in excess of what people should reasonably eat in one sitting, especially for things like the cotton candy and funnel cake. There is some decent grilled food available, and those who go snooping will find that the food prep within each of the little booths is acceptable for what it all seems to be. There is one booth characters might notice that has 'long-pig' on the menu. Or does it? Check again, and it's not there. It seems to be selling hotdogs, though. Just ordinary hotdogs. Care to bite into one?

The Games
Your standard rigged carnival games: the ring toss, the ladder climb, the baseball and milk jugs. Spend more money for bigger prizes! But you're risking losing it all, as well. There are a few unique games, as well, though. One is called 'The Floor Is Lava,' and participants must make their way around a strange obstacle course that's up on balance beams. If you slip and go down, it's just grass of course. But for a moment, for a split second, you can feel the heat and agony as the lava engulfs your body. You're fine, though, of course! It's just a game, after all. Even if you might feel a bit… singed after that. Another game someone might find tucked away in an obscure corner is 'Liar, Liar,' which involves throwing beanbags at targets. Each target lights a match that helps to burn a string leading toward a cartoonish figure in polka dot boxers. The goal is to get the fire to touch the boxers before a timer runs out. When the fire hits the boxers, there's an uncomfortably realistic shriek. But it's probably fine.

The Sideshows and Exhibits
Fire is the overriding theme at the side shows with fire dancers and jugglers being the most prominent amongst the tents. Attendants for the tents all wear full (and varied) animal heads obscuring their faces; though, if someone is rude enough to rip off their masks, they'll just find disgruntled employees who would like that back now. The more notable sideshow acts include:

• The Twisted Twisters - A pair of contortionists who maneuver bowls filled with flames while they shift around. They're very affable, joking with each other as they work.
  
• Flammie the Magnificent - A magician who's open about his use of smoke and mirrors, as well as making objects appear in a burst of flame. He's a purposefully goofy magician aimed at younger kids.
  
• Asbestos Mike - A man who juggles burning coals. His hands are… unfortunate to look at. But he doesn't seem to mind and claims to have no working nerve endings. He's extremely calm about… everything.

➥ Lost & Found

(cw: child endangerment/distressed parent with missing child, disorientation, hallucination)

And then, of course, there are the 'experiences.' They're not rides per se. Those are hard to pack up on a train, but they're exhibits to pass through with a particular theme toward interaction or ogling. There's a small wax museum with decently-crafted models of a few famous individuals. And then there's the Fun House. It's a mirror maze inside that seems to stretch on far larger than the small space it's set up in should allow. For those who make it to the center of the maze, they'll find a dark room with a single mirror in it. This, unlike the rest of the mirrors in the Fun House, isn't one that distorts your form. It's simply a standard mirror. There's also a corridor of mirror beyond it that leads to a quick escape from the Fun House for those lucky winners who make it there.

Said 'winners' will find that everything seems to be perfectly normal when they step out onto the bustling circus grounds. But is that- Ah, that's someone they wanted to talk to. Or maybe it's someone who looks suspicious. Just someone they want to follow. There is a figure and it's someone they want to follow. If they do so, they'll quickly lose said figure in the crowd, only to spot them a ways on a few moments later. Pursuing this figure will result in the winner being run around the circus grounds, never quite able to catch up. If they stop their pursuit, they will find themselves somewhere that they have not seen before. There may be a sense of disorientation as they try to get their bearings.

For those who don't enter the Fun House or come out as winners, they might notice someone--a parent--frantically looking about some other time. The parent comes up to them, asks if they've seen their child, before hurrying off to try to find an employee for help. Their little one was just there. They just came out of the Fun House and now… now they can't find their child! Employees will be only too happy to help, but non-employees might be quicker on the draw to locate the missing child. They're always found in a random place, seemingly unharmed but confused and frightened as they search for their parent, claiming they saw said parent going just over there, or over here. Still, you've reunited a family! No harm, no foul, right? Kids go wandering all the time. Parents really ought to keep a closer watch.

➥ The Ringmaster

(cw: fire, pain, immolation, screaming)

"Please be advised the following show contains flashing lights, sudden loud noises, and fire. Anyone who may have difficulty with these, please make your way to the exit. Our employees will provide refunds for anyone who may have challenges due to these effects." A full two minutes pass to allow those who need to leave time to do so. And then…

"Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, and everyone in between, put your hands together for the one, the only, Fenix Down!" The words sound over the PA system in the tent just before roaring calliope music picks up and the man himself practically dances to the center of the ring in the main tent. Fenix is a remarkably short Caucasian man with dark hair, brown eyes, and a suit that looks like it's on fire, all orange, red, and yellow licks of color across the fabric. His bright yellow tophat features the company's phoenix logo on it, and he nearly loses the thing as he dashes around the ring, grinning like a madman and eliciting cheers from the audience as he raises his arms for them to shout.

"Are you ready, my friends, for the brightest, the grandest, the most extravagant show you have ever seen?" Thunderous cheers from the audience. "I am Fenix Down, and this is my extravaganza!"

The show plays out with two main acts with smaller ones in between. The main acts are introduced by Fenix in turn:

• "Penny, the dancing flame!" is firedancer with an elaborate show involving a flaming whip and multiple other performers in horse heads acting as her 'animal companions' for the show.
  
• "And Roderick, the man with laser hands!" is a young man in large, dark glasses who conducts a laser lights and pyrotechnics production from a DJ-style turntable as rock music plays and performers dance and tumble around the ring.

On the final night, there is a change to the performance, though. "And now, my friends, my dear friends, we have a special treat, a new main act to premier: Pyre, the burning man!" Those who are witness to this will see a young man enter the ring. He's sweating and a bit on the heavy side. He also looks… frightened. Frightened and exhilarated. He waves to the crowd as a circle of pipes is raised from a stage in the center of the ring. Pyre sets himself in the middle and lifts his hand. Liquid sprays from the pipes and for those who are close enough, they will likely recognize the scent of gasoline.

"I will be reborn and rise as the phoenix!" Pyre declares before striking a match. His whole body catches immediately in flames and there are horrified gasps and screams from the crowd. Those who might try to interfere are asked to hold on, hold on, just wait by employees. There's nothing to do for young Pyre, anyway. The flames burn rapidly until he collapses on the stage. Fenix makes the first subtle movement he has ever made for anyone who has watched his other performances. A small snap of his fingers, half-covered by one hand. The fire snuffs itself out immediately.

"Now, ladies and gentlemen, I know that seems frightening, but just watch," Fenix calls. "Like a phoenix, we rise!" As he says this, Pyre picks himself up. His clothes hang in a charred mess about his form, but his flesh… it seems to have knit itself back together. He is whole, and proceeds to give the audience a double-thumbs up. Relieved guests erupt in applause for this… very strange and rather harrowing final act.

After each performance for the night, the main acts and Fenix are available to take photos, sign autographs, and generally schmooze with the public for a little while. They each have a small tent so that you can have a moment of privacy with your favorite act, if you'd like. If anyone is looking for answers, particularly, these are the top of the hierarchy and might prove the most fruitful to speak to. They're also the only people in the circus that seem to have supernatural energy about them, for those who might have such senses to notice that.

➥ Mod Notes

• GENERAL - Players are welcome to play NPCs for themselves when they are needed in a thread. If you need more information on general behavior for these types of NPCs, please feel free to ask! In general, the information provided in the prompt should be sufficient and you're welcome to make up any details beyond that for your specific scene. For this event, the only NPCs that should not be controlled by players for threading are: Fenix Down and the Main Acts in The Ringmaster prompt. These NPCs will be played by mods and available for interaction.
  
  
• BY THE PRICKING OF MY THUMB (25-26 August) - Characters may accept fliers to put up a maximum of three times (that's $300). Not everyone will feel the compulsion to put up the fliers, but if you need incentive for your character to take action, they can do so. The fliers are ordinary adverts with dates, hours, location, and pricing for the circus. Characters can wander around some of the set-up for the circus, but they'll be shooed away if they linger too long with a request to leave for their safety. Circus personnel doing the set-up are not interested in talking. They'll ignore characters or threaten to call the police for harassment if characters persist in bothering them while they're trying to set things up. Those who attempt to mind-control the workers or otherwise compel them for information will quickly discover that these are genuinely just ordinary people who are doing all the set-up. And they would really like to do their job because they do not have enough time.
  
  
• SOMETHING WICKED THIS WAY COMES (25-27 August) - Players are free to OOCly select their ADI-assigned partner. Those who misbehaved during the Sticky Wicket prompt (and there was evidence of that misbehavior) will find themselves saddled with a mentor, either as their partner or in addition to their partner. This mentor (if they're a PC) should be someone who DID behave in that prompt or who has not made themselves a problem for ADI up to this point. Partners are not required to stick together or with their mentors for the duration of the event. This is just an opportunity to get some new CR (or strengthen existing CR)! And maybe butt heads while you slip away from each other while investigating. Mentors will be expected to be somewhat responsible for their charges, though, if you would like to play with that dynamic.
  
  
• SEND IN THE CLOWNS (26 August - 2 September) - Regular employees and sideshow acts have no particular information to provide about anything sinister going on at the circus. As far as they know, the work is grueling sometimes given the quick set-up/break-down and schedule, but they're paid very well and even have benefits! They're pretty protective of their employer, as a result, and aren't going to willingly trash-talk him or the circus beyond some standard grumbling about the extra work going into this as Gloucester wasn't originally on their tour schedule.
  
  
• LOST & FOUND (26 August - 2 September) - Employees will be generally helpful in these situations, using walkie-talkies to try to find missing children. They won't be fast, though. Parents will be uniformly distressed, then grateful to anyone who might assist in locating their children. Children will be wholly unharmed, wherever they are found, but frightened, confused and disoriented. Characters who end up as 'winners' in the Fun House will need several minutes to get their bearings back after following their hallucinations. If they try to return to the Fun House, they won't seem to be able to find the center of the maze anymore, and the mirror maze will appear to be wholly ordinary and the correct size for the space it's in.
  
  
• THE RINGMASTER (26 August - 2 September) - Characters who would leap in to assist Pyre will be waylaid by staff just long enough for him to stir and complete his act to show that he is, indeed, alive and seemingly fine. Those who still try to interrupt will be escorted out by security. Characters will have the chance to speak to Fenix, Penny, Roderick, and Pyre during this prompt. The first four will be available for the full week the circus is in town. Pyre will be available the final night. Characters may interrogate one NPC each. Each NPC will have different information they may be able to provide.

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Comments

[sorser]

[Wow, not that old. Okay. He’s still in his 40s, and age is irrelevant when you’re a sorcerer — that’s what he’ll tell himself, at least, shaking off any offense.

The mood’s shifting from fearful to a tense kind of… what is it? Distrust? Stephen, at least, can take solace in the fact that he isn’t planning any funny business, despite what the other might think. He can’t help but wonder why his look-alike is really worth all the fuss.

The multiverse, however, seems to garner some interest. The first spark of eye contact. Stephen leans his elbows forward onto the table, lacing his hands together.]

Of course. It’s my job to be familiar with it. Well… my job back home. [An ancillary responsibility here, but always at the forefront of his mind.] And at least as familiar as any one man can be. This is the first opportunity I’ve really had to meet people from various other worlds.

I would have chosen different circumstances, personally, but here we are.

[ployboy]

[God, he really doesn't like this guy. That's bad. That's wrong. But who the hell just leaves it at that?

Tim's hooked. It's a helpless lurch to intrigue, eyes narrowing only after he remembers that they should; his brows furrow. He does not sit up any straighter.] What do you mean? Familiar how? You're a theorist? [With a cosplaying hobby? Nah. But hope is silly like that. It fades.] Who are you? [Who does he work for.]

[sorser]

[He’s eking out a conversation, which seems to ease any remnants of previous alarm. That, or this young man is just good at hiding it. Either way, frustratingly teasing out a topic equals a focus on the present.]

No. I’m a sorcerer. My magic ran on the energy inherent in the multiverse, and I’ve taken a tour around the neighborhood once or twice.

[Namely, when the Ancient One opened his third eye and sent him careening as a topsy-turvy observer of the multiverse without so much of a warning. That had been… enlightening.

Anyway.]

My name’s Doctor Stephen Strange.

[The “and you are?” is practically implied.]

[ployboy]

[Well, yeah, obviously. But disappointment often follows Tim. He keeps quiet, mind whirling and puzzle still incomplete. So, like a Lantern. But not. The magic is different from Zatara's; how alike is it to Jeff's? The New Gods know their worlds, but sometimes, mostly unwilling or unwittingly, they delegate to the Time Lords. And anyway, worlds aren't universes. Time is sometimes just this--

--Tim has seen Time. He's pretty sure.

(Diana never answered his question, he realizes just now; he feels uncomfortably vacant.)

Doctor Stephen Strange. The first name to his Hit List.

Tim kicks at the ground underneath, a new current of... remote, residual... frustration.] But you've never interacted with people from other worlds. [He gets it.] Are you worried about ADI at all?

[sorser]

[He had a chair swung at him and he’s on the hit list…. Tim why]

No. I haven’t been forcibly supplanted from my world to an alternate one, either, but there’s a first for everything, isn’t there?

[Guess he’s not getting that introduction, either.]

Define “worried”. If you mean do you think I can trust them blindly, unquestioningly? Then no, of course not. Of course, if you’re asking me that, it means you have your own doubts.

[ployboy]

[Because trauma.

Goddamn, there is a lot of trauma.

Tim thinks that's a valid excuse for the whole spacing out at intervals thing. It's a heavy word with heavy accusations so yeah, he guesses there's a first time for everything. He chews at the inside of a cheek and tries to recall what other familiar face was in proximity, 'familiar' being used exceedingly loosely. But such is the nature of Apex Detectives.

Gross, an interrogation. He doesn't want it coming back to him.] I don't think trust can be healthy if it's blind. [Half-truths. It's worth the... joke. Who is he to be telling the Doctor what's healthy. Tim drums his fingers of one hand against the wood of the table.

Oh, to be deep in slumber once more.

He frowns.] You're not staying at the apartments, are you? [Like it's a concern or something.] But they basically assigned us Buddies for this outing. [As reiterated in the meeting.

Was Strange there? Did Tim just not notice? He knew he wasn't up to snuff but this is] I don't if they're going for a rewards system for snitching. We're not even supposed to be talking about magic, much less the multiverse. [Probably not supposed to be drawing attention by swinging chairs at people. Nightmares though, right?]

I'm Tim Drake.

[sorser]

No, I’m at Bonnie’s.

[Not under the house rules of ADI by living in their assigned quarters. His room at the flophouse is… small, but it’s not a space he has to share, nor is it under any kind of curfew. ]

Who said anything about snitching? I mean, come on— [He looks aside, like a universal gesture of sorts to take in their surroundings.] Look at where we are. No one even blinks at my big red cloak; you think they’ll bat an eye if they overhear the word “magic”?

[Highly unlikely. They might even think it’s novel.

But, ah. A name. “Tim Drake” is committed to memory.]

It’s not like ADI’s rules aren’t sensible, but I’m of the opinion that this is more of an alliance of convenience. On both sides.

[Which also means there’s no ingrained, unwavering loyalty on either end — not yet, anyway.]

[ployboy]

[Someone did bat an eye at a big red cloak but it seems Tim had the sense to not dredge that back up. In the same vein, he almost can't stop the interjection of] I'm from Jersey, Doctor. There's always a snitch. [which wins him no favors if he's going to even try to reach for a Drake-Wayne approach. He's settled into a nonsensical and light tap-tapping of his foot on the ground.

Is that how he's playing it, in this place? (Isn't it a little too late to be asking that?)

He's not so high-strung anymore. But the following heat in his words is nearly practiced, like Tim figures he'd need some flavor to be some shade of convincing.] You use magic; that's why you went to Bonnie's, isn't it? The ring on your fingers isn't therapeutic, it's a part of your uniform. You have every intention to break ADI's very sensible rules.

[He's guessing.]

A lot of us don't have that kind of convenience.

[sorser]

[His brows raise again, this time looking both surprised and vaguely impressed at how so swiftly the other’s observation had informed deduction. And Tim’s not wrong, either. Stephen’s been known to gently bend the rules on occasion—honestly, he’d rather call it creative problem-solving—but never too recklessly, never without good reason. There had to be a balance between obedience and thinking for oneself, otherwise certain paths close where they should be opened — solutions slip through the hands of individuals either too rigid, or too thoughtless.

That’s how he’s argue it, at least.]

Say it like that and it makes me sound like a delinquent. I’m not going around looking for a reason to break the rules, but I don’t intend to keep my hands tied behind my back all day, everyday, when I’m more useful with access to my entire toolset.

[What use is he here, then, if he’s bound to the word and law of ADI?]

You mean you don’t have that kind of convenience because you don’t have magic, or because you’ve decided to shack up in the ADI apartment complex?

[ployboy]

People have made do without powers for a long time. [Tim-- craves to once again be underestimated. The preyish instinct to bluster is deep-rooted, though. He's not sure he wants to think about why; rather, he needs to fix it, fix himself.

Straighten himself out.

He quits his fidgeting, the restlessness still there but he can ignore it. Pack it up and shove it aside. He decides, no, Doctor Strange (for the love of ...whatever is deigned holy, do not be a doctor of psychology) doesn't have to worry himself about what Tim can dig up from the organization's network on the 9-to-5. Not when it's his file he'll be keeping a sharp eye out for next.]

Someone I know is convinced we're only here to be fed to the monsters. ADI hasn't done anything but attempt to prove them right.

[Oh.

The doctor is-- new.

He doesn't know about the sealskins, maybe. Tim's frown deepens; it's an old, resigned thing he'll wear on occasion. No big deal.] ADI constantly contradicts themselves, and not everyone has the leverage to command a straight answer like you do.

[--yet. But, as it is.]

There's nothing mutually beneficial about that relationship.

[sorser]

[Not a doctor of psychology, don’t worry.

He doesn’t rise to the bluster, because Stephen doesn’t have a reason to think it’s wrong; there were plenty of non-powered individuals who made their mark in his world, for better or worse.

Instead, he focuses on the last bit. ]

Magic isn’t my only leverage. [He looks skeptical at the very idea that it would be his only useful trait. Inversely, a lack of magic doesn’t mean that someone’s without value in ADI’s eyes — like they’re just fodder to be fed to all supernatural inconveniences.] And I think you’re purposefully underselling yourself if you think you don’t have any, either, just because you can’t pull a rabbit out of your hat.

[Figuratively speaking.]

They’re using us, so we all inherently have value. You think they’d send us out to investigate if we didn’t?

[ployboy]

[God, here he is, feeling offended by the quip. How dare this guy compare the power he's just admitted to, to amateur hour sleights? He didn't used to get so angry so quickly, he thinks. But that was a long time ago. And Tim's great at hiding anger, great at hiding, when he's careful about staying aware.

So as it is, he can conjure up a whole lot of nothing important as his expression. Just tiredness. And even that gets pushed aside briefly, Tim working to fight back something kin to the start of a rehearsed rambling.

Fact: Tim Drake argued Meredith Idlewild over the meaning of resources used on new arrivals. He's not the one worried over being useless.]

They're pretty obviously choosing to ignore their own stories about the terror that feeds those entities. What are you investigating here that aligns with ADI's supposed mission?

[sorser]

[Ah, well. Stephen was never good with people — he cared, does care, but his interpersonal skills have always been lacking when it comes to smoothing out wrinkles in a first impression. Acquiescing, acceding, not saying exactly what he’s thinking; not character traits he sloughed off during his career shift from medicine to magic.]

Anything that might require a greater insight into the magical or supernatural. I don’t know about you, but stopping the apocalypse or any other flavor of world destruction ranks high on my priority list — with or without ADI’s instruction.

And if I get to return home in the process? Even better.

[He leans back a little.]

I assume most of us feel the same way, or we wouldn’t be here.

[ployboy]

[Well he's got two good people crammed into his apartment who stay because of the need for medical care, but sure. Let's call it some degree of altruism.]

That's what I can't get behind. ADI doesn't need help deciphering anything supernatural, they use enough of it and collect enough artifacts to have a better understanding of where it occurs in this world than we ever will.

[The shift in perspective, in realm, the promise to get them all back home if ___.

Strange moves, just to relax a little, Tim thinks. He doesn't. Still can't. Same diff. He's earnestly curious, though, and not even chewing inside his cheek will stop him from asking,] Can you feel like there's more magic here than elsewhere? In this circus? [Versus the beach, the railyard, the docks, the basement of Apex Detectives, Incorporated.]

[sorser]

[ADI might not need the help, but what are they supposed to do with off-worlders having landed in their laps? Shoo them off to live a normal life in a world that isnʼt theirs? A good portion of them have powers or supernatural abilities of their own; if nothing else, Stephen thinks working for ADI is the organization killing two birds with one stone: extra hands for investigations (or cannon fodder for the more dangerous missions, if you want to be cynical about it), and an easy way to keep an eye on them.]

If you were the ADI higher-ups, would you turn us all away just because the organization doesn’t need the help?

[As for magic, though, Stephen can speak on that matter with some authority.]

And yes, in a way. Something out of place exists in this circus: a pervasive sense of fear. But for more specific examples?

[Stephen gestures in the general direction of the ticket booth.]

The train car theyʼre using as a ticket booth is very unpleasant to be around. It feels like itʼs imbued with something dangerous, something evil. A few of the performers donʼt feel exactly human, either. The headlining acts all have a whiff of the supernatural.

[So thereʼs that. But beyond that? Thereʼs been little to go on.]