https://youtu.be/EkcMKB5YY9Q?si=1eQ-0v0kwOue1qo8

[Music] [Music] a [Music] [Music] [Music] a good afternoon good evening good night hello and thank you this is nobody the Storyteller the narrator and your number one fan and this is also without a shadow of a doubt the dark of Bethany episode two fighting inside gravery we'll start fa shortly just waiting on the other players to arrive thank you thank you and thank you hey hey how we doing doing how art thou I am doing the fine I am engaging in the existence M I see I see good good good I also engage in the existence neon what about thou uh I'm just kind of getting going okay excellent excellent going is better than not sometimes unless of course staying is more fun welcome welcome welcome how we doing Noble [Music] f ah so we will not have India with us tonight they are at Colossal con up in Wisconsin thanks for your patience there's no other way to say it but thank you thank you thank you before we officially dive in are there any questions are there any suggestions hypotheses Corners we need to round off or simple stumbling blocks we'd like to make it over um for the most part I'm fine uh I'm very much chuckling at the fact that I have to start a police need to be here level issue in the place that's guarded by the people that don't like me yes coincidence it exist as much as it's denied by every mind scrambling to say that the mysteries of the world and the universe are a random coinci numerically improbable and beyond all mankind sense of reason they do say that right or has that [Music] changed I'm sure they say a lot of things yes yes no I think uh I think everything's pretty much solid for me all right there's nothing planned neon How We Living uh I'm good it's kind of spacing good is good space is a little difficult make sure you take some oxygen um Penny Noble how we hanging in there everybody good We're Off to the [Applause] Races find races um the journey from A to B with uh speed and velocity being far more important than safety and personal space ah in that case totally wrong character but yes all right so this is our second episode we left on a small bit of a cliffhanger we left with the codery arriving at the destination which has so many connotations about arriving about getting there about finally reaching the start of what should be a fairly easy task you know who the target is or at least what the target is it's another of those foolish Carnival folks but one who has been exemplarily difficult because while nothing can be directly pointed at them because they don't have enough social clout to cause any effects to cause problems to the cities the towns The Villages the eyesores that they leave along the the roads side when they move on down the Horizon they're gone so how are they able to when being driven on cause problems for the locals in the middle of nowhere Mystery One mystery two most of the carnivals most of the circuses most of the traveling midways that swing through there's a mountain of paperwork that needs to be done you need your permit you need your lot rentals you need all of that done at triplicate you need the proper people paid off at the proper time to allow and all lot you enough time to make money off of the ruls that gather around that come from near far and farther still to spend their hard-earned cash with some small bit of excitement the layers of bureaucracy and red tape that they have to jump through to set up even is not something you do on the spad of the moment it's not something that just happens mystery 2 and mystery 3 part of this huge box of many things is each of the circus carnival Midway and Caravans that move through the area are tracked within an inch of their resistance partially because the main th fair from Carthage and East Texas runs down the main street of Bethany it is in fact the main street of Bethany and those other easily defined known paths to shreport that don't go through Bethany pass through places where Bethany has sentries has guards have regular parts of their political body stationed and this Carnival this circus this throw back to a time that shouldn't exist because they actually have not a carnival of odity they don't have a house of oddities or a tent of Curiosities they don't have anything that's so politically stated they have an actual Freak Show and blazing proudly with glittering Neon Lights about the tent proclaiming it a place of mental Horrors which is as far outside of political correctness as you can be not just in 2023 but any of the last 20 years it is well enough to have people with their cameras out taking pictures of it and shouting them down on every social media outlet they they bother to have a voice on and it's not a small thing that's not a huge thing it's definitely a thing that should have could have had them with cars trailing them along the roadways it's something that could have easily alerted the locals for miles around to stay away it's something that you would have had 5 10 maybe even 20 people there shouting them down for their use of such a destructive phrase and yet here they are appearing as if out of nowhere having lost all of the liil L and centuries and people in their Shadows keeping track of them that Bethany normally has for large Enterprises that come to town and it's not a small circus or small carniv or small Midway game sort of situation no they are tents taking up the entirety of the field there are tractor trailers and Caravans and RVs of huge and even larger sizes filling the Shadows just outside of the light this was a massive undertaking they should have been easy to spot from the nearest satellite and yet here they are with employees from the local population no [Music] less so miseries Mysteries Mysteries with those small details retouched upon and brought closer to the surface of our Consciousness once more with a feeling thank you all this is officially the dark of Bethany episode two fighting inside gravy sing there on the the side of a mostly forgotten out of the way Road as the sound of a pack of bik tear through the night sky making the stars above even vibrating attempt to cover their ears in light of the noise is one thing adding to that consternation and that natural reticence when hearing just the Roar of some monstrous combustible Beast it's the fact that those beasts are written by individuals who would much rather you cease to be not cease living just cease to be ring out of town on a rail buried underneath the nearest church forgotten on some back Trail eaten by Coyotes or worse just cease to be is what they Hope they've never come gone out of their way to do anything directly violent but they are definitely poisoning the well every chance they get they're definitely Towing the edge of starting some actual actionable action meaning lots of dirty looks lots of sne lots of puffing of chest and crowing lots of Daring all but the childish placing chips of wood on their shoulder daring you to knock it off so very close to doing something foolish or forcing attempting to force you to do something foolish Engish and riding along with that gaggle of would be Predators Martha Maddie zindia as the bikes come to a stop and everyone begins dismounting so seeing this Joi watching this happen where does that place you uh physically or mentally yes well physically I believe when we last left off I had just settled out of the parking lot my vehicle uh being set aside in it in its proper place so it's to not draw too much attention and I had just walked onto the main thorough fire in order to to enter um whereupon the hoodlum horde zipped on by me and uh just kind of the impression that Joi gets is that in some past life he had done something so atrociously wrong that now of all times his karma is coming forth and wreaking havoc that not only would he be given a annoying and potentially dangerous job but he'd be given it while the entire what looks to be the entire clan of entities that don't [ __ ] like him are the ones who are playing Watchdog meaning the eyes upon him will be ever so more Vigilant uh there is a bit of uh kind of thankfulness that some of his allies are here uh but seeing them ride in with uh with the clan is just not not fun and uh his his aspirations haven't necessarily changed but his optimism certainly [Music] has let me scroll out here here's a question that I'm not quite sure was answered or even asked as those realizations play out behind his eyes as the cinema that is his life and existence is running through all of the theaters behind his eyes and inside his mind are any of those images any of those feelings any of those sentiments being worked against I.E is he attempting to keep a stiff upper lip is he attempting to hide the well [ __ ] of it all from Easy View and discernment I'd say there's definitely an attempt to it because he he's got while not necessarily an expression of a stiff upper lip that is his mentality towards it all um the job's got to get done he's got to do it he's going to hate doing it and he believes that uh there might be a bit of this influence by Ruez but regardless of how many cards are sacked against him he can't afford to [ __ ] up [Music] tonight okay uh um what is joi's total manipulation and subterfuge not high uh manipulation plus subterfuge is going to be a lovely two oh okay so he's not exactly paper thin or crystal clear but he is not the most difficult of person to read the the interplay of emotions across his face you may not know what exactly the emotion is but you would notice the ever shifting quality of it darker lighter intense that sort of feel would be easy normally with him working to maintain some semblance of calm to keep some bit of veneer up would you be so kind as to roll for the lovely lovely horde of hoodlums for me please uh there's a significant amount of them but we're going to just simply simplify that down to a total of five dice zero hunger and the difficulty is three all righty uh apparently putting a dash in the Hunger spot makes the machine not happy no no you can use just current or zero that is going to be a success of actually perfectly three oh yay so so Maddie you India and Martha as you all are being helped off the back of this unliving horde of hunters cuz that's what the the motorcycles that you are riding on feel like there is a hungry angry very literally explosive Beast between your legs it rattles and Roars and charges across the night as if it is caught the scent of something young sick and frail something not long for this world and you you can all but hear the bites barking and baing at one another because the haunt is on it rattles the teeth and causes the bones to reset if you had any problems with your back muscularly they'd be massaged out with all the vibration and just sheer roaring power of these beasts they look like hell they are clearly 100% rat bikes but they are well tuned and maintained as if this is their only thing of value in these particular individuals life the E jocularity that they shared outside of the store while waiting is even more so on the road several of them weave and lean jocking for position as you race towards the carnival and then there is Joi whose face is an unreadable mass of ever shifting emotions and none of them seem to be all that bright or happy as she is assisted off of the bike by her escort for the evening she will kind of laugh as she's looking over his shoulder or I guess more accurately through his armpit uh I got to give me one of those we can make sure that happens um I'll go and get settled up by a u bonfire unless of course you want admission we can't get you free admission but we can get your discount and as he says that they Glimpse and glance Joi at the almost exact same time well [ __ ] and unlike Jo and unlike most polite individuals in modern society they have no intentions of hiding the sneer and sheer outright xenophobic enmity they have there's a few that immediately spit some of them all but wave them off with the singular strongest digit on their hand others are bristling up adjusting their hom spawn battle vest some of them adjusting their belt buckles and make sure that the Weaponry that they have hidden therein don't go accidentally flying across and cudgeling the man at least not while the witnesses [Music] around uh mad is going to wave at him it's like well hey there Johnny boy it's so nice to see I need some help you you you good for some handyman work uh yeah that I'm always good to help fix something you imagine there's a lot to be fixed around here namely your face she'll she'll lean over conspirator it's like everyone needs to have a good assistant you better find a better one soon or later some of these grades probably going to get filled up with parts of him soon and in any other semblance in any other state in any other place but here you know that that would be so much theatrics but the fact that it's lbit the middle child of the Elder of the Hutchinson family saying such in what amounts to a private booth at their favorite restaurant which is wherever they are you know that that's not an idol threat that is a testament to the full fact that plans are underway that tensions have risen to the point where sooner rather than later there will be follow through I don't even need to use reveal temperament to to know what the [ __ ] going on between those eyes hadie will just grin up at him like well we all got to go sometime don't don't we you guys go have fun with the girls we'll get set up I think I'll actually kind of take this moment try to stealth away while everybody is distracted I'm not comfortable here H first non biologically related woman that he's had near him let's see if your particular escort notices would you be so kind as to first let's see how high your uh what is your dexterity and stealth because it's literally about speed and Grace and this moment taking advantage of the momentary distractions of enmity four that is well accomplished let's give that a shot would you be so kind let's go ahead and roll uh five dice for me zero uh hunger and your difficulty is unfortunately five you got [Music] this oh well now that is absolutely delicious for you that is a great moment of yoink of yourself out of the middle of this Congregation of sweat and used alcohol and wildness there is a feral stench to this group that's the best way to that's the best way to put it that's the most polite way to put it they smell Fair baral they feel like being air dropped into the center of a very hungry pack of lions with the temperament of wolves uh-oh they very much feel like hot and heavy predators and it makes what little bit of Undead skin matters on you crawl a little bit being this close to such uncontrolled and potential violence using their focus on marking their territory and beating their chest and engaging in all manner of unil behavior you find yourself first a few feet then a few more then the crowd swallow up the tail taale emanations of your path even with the few whispered aside oh my God I didn't know they had Muslims here and so forth and so on that you've grown accustomed to you disappear into the crowd you cease to be and just as you finally completely mve just outside of their easy definable easily searchable peripheral vision they notice that you are gone hey hey hey hey son of a [ __ ] [ __ ] use me for a ride sounds about right for y better be used for a ride than be one ridden right but I kind of likeed that she was quiet we'll find somebody else one way or another I suppose you're right hey it and then they push and punch one another and trample off towards the bonfire and yes these are the security of of the carnival on duty yet just about 40 ft down the road that orange glow of heat is not coming from one of the carnivals that had one of the ttin that had set up farther away it's not from one of the Caravans being used for the games Booth it's not connected to the carnival at all but there in the darkness you see a few Shades moving back and forth and if you're really focusing in on the plume of smoke that's wafting up there's the scent of roasting Pig there is the scent of meat being grilled in a completely totally open fire in a way that hasn't been done well since the last Fourth of July they are on duty and having a party and being paid to watch the carnival and otherwise engaging in festivities all of their old [Music] making so uh what what is it that you need fixed oh CU some odds and ends they're uh they're about to show us what needs done and or give us some tools thought I wanted to stop at my house first the good tools but you know Beggars can't be choosers hey I uh I know that you are you can to the Hutchinson's yeah I got I got a bit of a job going on here tonight yeah so do we uh she'll wink yeah um it's supposed to be a real Flash event is that year yeah okay all right so long as we're on the same page uh I'm happy to help wonderful uh where wasn't there what okay uh hopefully yeah I don't even question it I guess they'll just they're when they ready mhm yeah that that's the first time I've lost somebody what the [ __ ] well that's not entirely true in the visual sense there have been so many deaths nobody obviously I'm not talking about that well death and there's something there at the tip of your tongue there's something there's a clear absence and it's not Lita there's a there's a clear person shaped hole in your knowledge that is not Lita and it's a little troubling yeah just kind of as he finishes his sentence just looking off in the distance it goes from looking for somebody to thousand yard really quick as just the the name of his sire flows through his head in response to his his physical statement you know actually I'm uh I'm just going to stop talking for a little bit because I'm I'm pissing myself off lead on adding injury to insult as you think of kayin you think of how for the very longest portion of time every time she looked at you as you were busy in the midst of one project after another as you were busy in the midst of a one conversation or another when she looked on you it felt as if for for the very first time you knew what the sun felt like on your skin when she looked at you it felt as if for the very first time you know what unconditional adoration felt like and it sucks because in those moments in those many conversations had about everything from the celestial movement of the Stars ahead to the connection of why so many of the early cartoons that was that were pushed out were not in fact for children there was the understanding that she put across that she embodied for the most part and still does in that portion of you that all of the feelings that anyone has ever felt are solely theirs being with the right person allows you to actually experience it gives you mission to delve through all of those Delicacies already there hidden just beneath the surface it gives you the right and the love and energy necessary to experience the wealth of emotions there in you all the time and unfortunately Jo is no idiot unfortunately Joi is not an unsmart man unfortunately join understands the basic principles of balance and a truth like that also means that without the right person without someone who's you can trust on that level someone that you're willing to bleed for someone you're willing to play to the Bone for means that though same wealth that variety that Treasure of your emotions is now locked away sealed behind a wall that you can't ever access cuz they provide you the key to you ah yes the hollow existence of a Vampire made even more so by the isolation brought about by being AED [ __ ] Tori Ador but I mean he still got Maddie yeah yeah that yeah I mean it's [Laughter] yeah and speaking of being abandoned speaking of being alone Le what is your hunger presently uh I believe it's two ooh packish you could eat and unfortunately for Kindred you could eat means that you could easily devest one of these soft pink squealing individuals allowing their emotions to leak all over them dripping out of their skin in waves and waves of oh my God the noise the lights the sound the inability to respect personal space even as they're gawking at you the gaggle of three and four girls walking nose in their camera three and four guys walking with that same phone style held up 3 4 Ines from their face barely watching the place around them as they are clearly together but lost in their own world of doing whatever it is that they're doing in those electronic devices that are a legal for you it is a kaleidoscope of easily dispatched victims it is you're not starving you're not really even hungry but that nervous eating that humans do all the time is very much also part of what the Kindred are when in doubt satiate yourself when it's easy you know those platters that that circulate through the parties where you are when there's just little derves to stuff your face and keep your hands busy so that you are not caught up in the fact of how socially awkward you are that's what the humans bumping into you barely stepping aside or pointing and gawking from a distance as they turn back to their games of chance as the screams and laughter and the hugs and the jocularity all around you is there are free ures everywhere you look and now the feed though she likes her one to come in bags because she knows it doesn't feel good good for the kind yeah all of that is the problem all of that is the underlying issue was you realize none of the life affirming pleasure that you had your first few weeks of the hot ready to eat meal in the hoof is there in that dead neutered flavorless swill that you've been Downing it's easy because it's another Act of self flagellation and while it Sates your mental need to establish a distance from that thing in your chest from that thing at the back of your mind the old myth about which wolf you feed is the one that grows stronger isn't the truth the sides of the fight and those dogs and that those beast in your mind is also fueled by their individual hungers and that portion of you that has not been saded with the hot heavy living blood is absolutely ravenous you've beaten the poor thing you've abused the poor thing and it is merely waiting for the first opportunity for you to let your guard slip it's literally hanging on to a tiger not by the tail but you have it by its ravenous razor sharp teeth you're holding the jaws of the tiger open and the moment you take your hand off of either lower or upper jaw you know that it very well might consume you so so light sound busyness activity all about you having slunk away from the horde of hoodlums the gaggle of gangsters the group of Nells the local Bethany stars of all criminal Vice the Hutchinson where are you attempting to find your way towards well I'm looking to slap some of these Mysteries that are about I want to know what kind of beings we're dealing with so I'm looking for somebody who looks out of the ordinary excellent so you find your way to the freak Show there was a connotation automatically ascribed to freak shells that's the reason why they don't use them anymore they're caval Cades of Curiosities they're auditoriums they are they use every synonym and similar adverb or adjective to describe themselves as except for freak shows even though that's what they are you still have the 600 lb man or the bearded lady you have the incredibly strong incredibly tiny and so forth and so on but they changed their names the fact that this Carnival this circus this group of entertainers these caravaners would dare have a tent set aside called the freak Show is in fact the oddest facet people just don't do that anymore they can't afford to yeah here they are I had any Charisma it might try to Rouse the local youth into cancelling them but I think I'll investigate further like a bee towards the sweetest flower in the garden sure that the nectar inside will be fulfilling you make your way towards the freak Show the Harker out front the MC as it were the person attracting the guest and forming up a queue for those who are getting ready for the next show she looks all of 20 years old her long scraggly gray hair reaching nearly down to her waist her skin looking very much as if a stiff breeze would cause it to crack and burst open with dust to float along and away on the wind the shaw pulled tight across her shoulders is clearly older than each and every one of the persons lining up and queuing up to pay their admission fee combined and yet her voice is the antithesis of age it's a nice heavy strong accented from everywhere and nowhere tener it's heavy enough that it draws the attention and muffled Enough by the remnants of base in it that it Blends in with the noise and sound until you're close enough where it all but knocks open your attention drawing the eye forcing you to look in her Direction step right up to see sight no mortal person has ever deserved to look upon we have traveled both this world and all the worlds connected to it and brought to you here in the middle of this great field of the Dragons oh hello hi there how's your grandmother would you like to speak with her she tracks another person over into line my grandmother my grandmother and lo and behold as you watch her operate and slowly ease into the line because that's where you're heading anyway you realize that she's touching and stroking some portions of of these individuals these patrons without them having any clue that that's what she's doing her voice and what she's bringing up and drawing their attention to are things that would be impossible to do a cold read on they're impossible to pick up from their style of dress they they're impossible to deduce yet she seems to be doing exactly that mentioning lost love specifically there's a name tossed out there there's the necklace that she wore would like to know where that is and drumming up business so you're about the sixth sth in line and to the ban of most of the children ahead of you they take cash only and as you get closer she pauses and as she's been calling and attracting people to the queue and they've been moving past her to pay the ticket agent you finally get a chance to see what everyone's been looking at as they get there because you've seen them they're turning their cameras as they walk past or or what have you but from that distance she just seemed old it's only once you're actually standing there before her the iris and pupil of her eyes are completely and solidly black they are nonreflective black there's no color no variation none of the many facets that you have when looking into another person's eyes none of the faim of life that even the Kindred have exist there in her eyes the entirety of it is a pool of solid nearly in perfectly matte black darkness there's no way that she should be able to see and as you stand there before her you realize that she in fact can't there's no way that she can physically see the world around her she'd be Blinded By the Light especially with all the Neons going and all of the activity if her vision her eyes were dilated to the point where there is no color left there wouldn't be any way that nothing but solid wall of light would be what be would be bombarding her and yet she looks directly at you she looks directly through you and she smiles and she rest one of her papery thin all too warm hands on on your sleeve of your forearm and she lowers her voice leaning ever so closely your fate is going to be the death of Shackleton this is the end of us I think you and all of your friends enjoy the show step right up step right up step right up wouldn't you love to see how your lovely friend Clint has gotten on with their crossing over stop right up Step Closer Step Closer come see sights that will Astound for ages and as you're preparing to pay and considering what was discussed what was shared what was offered Joi Maddie for all of his Bress for all of his quiet Menace L but is one thing that you should never be as a criminal as a heathen as a violent offender of the public good and social tranquility and that's honest he guides you all through every once in a while grumbling about damn foreigners taking all the jobs he leads you through the crowd people tend to see him coming and make a opening they step aside somehow the presence of him not just the scent of him is enough to Forstall people from getting the wrong idea that that perhaps he's not important we can walk right through him nah you know what I better not like not quite as wide as the Red Sea parting from Moses and the children of Israel but so very much appropriate is how the Crowds Are responding he leads you through stopping to make you all pay your your mission of course and he suggest a count and so instead of the $25 per person it comes down to 20 any the Crowds Are Lively where are each of your hungers at right now uh I am I should be an unmodified one let me just double check no no I'm actually I'm at 2 two what did I do to get that you could eat right I certainly eat so tempting though it is it's not super heavy it's not a very pressing thing on the mind for you Maddie for you Joi pring the stress of being escorted through this crowd of delectable humans you see a girl who has actual stars in her eyes and you know that's because of um what do they call it you can the word just rolls off the tongue and gets stuck there you know it on the tip of you you there's a certain Condition it's called oh there it is you you nope it's gone hetero something you know that's the reason for her eyes looking the way it is and most people wouldn't bother to notice that small differentiation between the dark brown the medium brown and the almost blonde brown of her eyes but you notice them because of the light of her phone that she's staring into and streaming as she laughs and smirks and that one dimple on the left side of her cheek she'd be not quite perfect cuz there's no such thing but she'd be very close then there's the jock from the local high school one of the baseball players he's not big enough for the football team but you sure they plays both Sports uh you see the letters on his jacket and he's smoothing his hair back and trying to get someone's attention because that's how he validates himself the Adoration of others and you know that it'd be easy enough to get next to him to get him alone and well you shouldn't eat emotionally but it very much is oh it would be such Child's Play to steal away with someone there's spaces between the various tent and Caravans that would be easy enough to slip off into for the necessary few moments to get yeah no no now now's not the time now is not the time though you could once you figure out where you're going to be heading what what what the job is and the fact that you have to go get tools from wherever they're going to get tools for you from it would give you time to do that take a little slip take the edge off and in those rare occasions where taking the edge off gives you the opportunity to connect with that person experience a life that is not your own for a few seconds for a few moments a few Heavenly bits of escapism it is right there so easy and all the same lber leads you [Music] on there's kind of a a moment of just SL glowing as he's he's lost in his observations and just kind of without really being able to stop himself he vocalizes his thoughts just goes kind a romia that's what that is before eventually realizing there's too much of a gap between him and the the leading on of the party and just scutters up for now there will be Pro there will definitely be time for appetites later MD will chuckle at him it's like do I need to hold your hand like a toddler so you don't get lost uh no I just um I get distracted real bad sometimes yeah I know that's why I'm asking if I need to hold your hand like a toddler I'll be able to figure out where you're at you're not exactly subtle right but I'm tiny I don't think that I'll have a hard time missing you in the crowd a thanks darling yeah take that however you wish a left a right another left and instead of following the main path the main thoroughfare that has been designed by how the tents and the Caravans and the campers are set up orbit leads you off the be path and being regulars being locals being natives to Bethany there's a certain normal build to these things all of them typically have a central Corridor that leads you through the space that they set up as their entertainment park there aren't many spaces between the tents or between the Campers or between the Caravans or between the RVs because they don't want people in their backstage areas they don't want to break the magic they want a more controlled space so that they can devest all the visitors of as much money as possible as quickly as possible and get them gone before they realize that it's actually pretty small cuz usually the circus and carnivals are you know three four tents maybe one or two campers filled with games or prizes and one for food and then you're in you're out and you're broke you you've exhausted the 125 150 bucks that you bought for this evening out normally but Shackleton is not normal it feels like you this is a miniature City set up a congested bit of urbanization set up the tents and the Caravans are built in such a way that you could cross behind and circle around and there's still access and entertainment and activities to draw your money from you it is not at all set up in the usual slim straight Corridor or the Wide Circle usually this is a honeycomb Style am because you're able you realize that you've crossed between and behind and around and the entertainment and the activity and the flow of people has not stopped there doesn't seem to be a backstage area doesn't seem to be a space for the employees and the workers in this setup at all seems as if this entirety of this is designed for full unfettered access to places that you shouldn't have access to you find yourself at the edge of a tent one of the larger ones it's dark red and gray and years upon years of Road dust around the edges near the base of it the tin poles and the ropes used to hold it in place not in fact ttin poles of ropes that you've ever seen the usual tin Poes are these foot and a half long spikes that are hammered into the ground at various places and the pressure and this tautness of the ropes holding the tin up keep it keep it erect there there aren't any ropes those are chains and no not just any everyday average chain lbit is not a small man but these chains are as wide acrosses in some places as his thighs and each of those links on that chain are for like a better word Hand Forged you see the corrosion and the hammer strikes on them as if someone spent the last several years building this chain link by link there's still a few Mis strikes on some of the chain links that could be from anything normally but the image that it car carves out of the mind is someone somewhere hammering away much like the mythology of hesus his hammer constantly ringing in the bowels of the volcano as the hundred-handed and the hundred eyes around him work at providing all the materials that he might ever need mining it from the volcano as he works each of those changed dark and heavy as they are cause a small little shiver to run along the spine each of you as Craftsmen can see the amount of effort forging such a thing would cost nor points ahead see there and that's when The World Slightly shifts because it's a tent it's a very thick leathered tent there shouldn't be any permanence to it it's meant to be put up and taken down last for a week here me last for two or 3 days there is not a home it's not a building it's not a permanent structure at all and yet just further on just to to your to the right of where you're standing about 25 ft there is an actual Earnest good oldfashioned American English styled door and next to it is another door and next to it another door in the backside of this tent and no they're not at a slant or an angle but the tent is standing straight up and down they they're standing completely straight as if they are in the side wall of an actual fully constructed permanent building that and there the green one is the one they want somebody to work on you all go take a look and see why it's not swinging the way they're supposed to when I go find some tools for you what you need just a hammer and a wrench maybe a t square or something scw Drive maybe some WD40 I'll take a look and tell you what I need for certain I'll go find that tool case and she'll go take a look yeah following along just if I need any tools I'm going to tell you and you can tell him all right cuz if I ask for anything he's liable to just throw it at me I mean isn't that normal wait he throws things at you too I mean we're cousins not best friends God I knew they were neanderthals got to you know get some thick skin it'll be fine yeah thick skin blunt force trauma yeah well let's just no it's not a problem for me no no no no no it'll be fine it'll be fine sorry I'm just testy right now a little bit um peckish uh do you let's just see what this guy wants us to fix up and we'll work from there I suppose uh sh said about examining the door excellent would you both be so kind as to roll your wits plus craft hey hey carpentry specialty yes yes let your specialty R through you d okay I I I got really lucky there uh one that I got five successes and two that I didn't get a second 10 oh but Ang very angrily looking at the door and not to be outdone Maddie ah yes yes you done I think we've got this well in hand you've done well Skywalker I mean um to say that you all are immediately able to diagnose the problem would be the most aggrandizing understatement ever you all walk past the other doors and immediately realize okay that one goes nowhere that one doesn't actually go inside the tent that one shouldn't be there a it goes inside the tent but that's will ruin the cross ventilation it's just is a horrible idea but this one here and as you open the door and you see inside the lovely person inside who dobbing on a a c on layer of Grease paint it's thick enough that you can smell the actual chemicals in the makeup it's that thick that you're sure no matter how much they shower they will never remove that slightly Orange orange pale makeup off of their skin and catch sight of their fingernails painted to be these garish black things there's some shellack appli to give it some essence of Shimmer the troubling aspect is that you realize that they have not just a vestigal finger or a third nipple they actually have a where Wings would be if they were gargoyles or creatures from the imagination of that sort of imagery is an actually fully functioning arm at connecting at their shoulder blades how you know it is not in fact vestigial is because as you all open the door and they Dro their makeup one covering one breast the other covering the other the third arm pulls the towel so that you all can't see lower on them into place will you close the [ __ ] door they say because you are sure that even as both of the normally assigned appendages cover what appear to be breasts there's forearm hair thick enough that they look as if they were stitched together with some primate of old or some neanthal and while those hands cover completely hairless breasts and you're sure that those are in fact breast the legs say otherwise the facial hair says otherwise and the voice balancing between far too deep for a woman to signed female at Birth and far too light for a man sign a sign male at Birth is that uncomfortable middle as if there are in fact two voices speaking at once about the door you're not sure how they managed to get the framework on because there's no way that that frame should easily fit inside a tin this portable there's no way that that should actually work but they found the way to make it work the tness of the tent holding the door frame in place allows the door to fit and swing almost freely but the fact is almost is not exactly and there lies the problem once that door is closed from the inside the lock won't actually align where it's supposed to align that frame the jam that they are using for this door is completely wrong almost as if someone put the wrong door here and if you took that red one back there maybe you could and all as all of these thought are bombarding you immediately diagnose the problem you immediately know how best to potentially go about repairing this small issue it's a relatively small thing but you understand why it would be considered Difficult by most because the easiest way is to take the tent down take the door frame down and rehang the door then mount everything back up but in the middle of the show you can't really do that now can you not at all but first sh replied to the person well hell honey ain't nothing I haven't seen but if you don't want your door fixed I guess we'll [Music] leave can't you all do that later late can't you all and it's unnerving cuz you are sure as they speak through this second time yes they're speaking with two voices from one body at the same time there's just this shock and awe situation going on with Joi because he's he's trying to figure out is this grotesque or is this not the the torador blood just [ __ ] flowing in his veins turbulent as his mind is trying to work this out sheer attraction if not for the grease paint there is a unmitigated Beauty to them there the essence of what they are is the perfect dichotomy and balance of both masculine and feminine ideals in one person the essence of what they are is the underpinnings of what King James wrote about when describing Angels the orange paint is clearly because it's near Halloween and the black fingernail polish making it so that it tickles the brain in all the wrong places to hide exactly how instinctually attractive being close to the feminine ideal and masculine ideal [Music] is so I understood just hey yeah no uh we got we got to ask by the Hutchinson to come out here and help fix the door but um we're more than happy to give you your privacy if that's what you're [Music] needing and again Joi isn't the most uh OB skated when it comes to the emotions splitting behind their eye the intensity therein Maddy what's your passive wits and subterfuge [Music] or no subterfuge is about the best one what's your passive wits plus subterfuge [Music] uh two she she's not terribly good at lying but she does have two Insight aha that definitely changes things those gut instincts that just voice of the angels on high the guardian angel in your shoulder ye you aren't as plused partially because of extended relations and masculine ideals being what they are partially because it's never been a thing that you've actually considered you can appreciate the beauty in almost everything but the beauty of the mechanical leaps forward in technology the building of something of almost permanence the writing of a ship the architecture of a building those are beautiful aspects for you repairing rebuilding renewing establishing something far more lasting than flesh is where it is instinctually for you like that's what's always appealed to you and yeah they're attractive yeah they're different but it's just flesh it's just neat over time it will molder it will fade so yeah you look great but this [ __ ] door the technology used the design aspect used to get such a permanent secure thing inside an impermanent structure is where the beauty is for you and the fact that someone [ __ ] it up is what's most pressing I love that line yeah you look great but this [ __ ] door right um if Maddie knows notices Joi uh drooling over her them so to speak she's just going to casually reach up and flick his ear and go back to the door what what what what what oh okay we're working here yeah yeah uh going to need a few things to fix this up not not much in the way of actual technical stuff which is rather nice but how strong are you uh she has a strength of three uh that was more of an in character question but thank you for the dots you're welcome uh she she looks like she um does pretty well working out you know swinging an axe build some muscle would you um would you mind doing a lot of like holding in place and the heavy lifting while I do more of the technical set of [Music] things easy enough all right thank you not that I can't mind you I just it's fine it's fine can you close the door can you close the door uh yeah yeah sorry closes the door takes an extra two [Applause] [Music] peeks while at the entrance to the red and gray tin that is in fact the freak Show paying your 20 bucks to get in you realize that if you paid the admission you'd be out of $40 right now and you've not had the opportunity of being titilated nor teased nor excited nor thrilled like all of the other more moving about UN in fact it's damn near Highway robbert not that it matters to you the money is of no issue whatsoever in fact it's a bargain in fact as you Ponder what you've been told as what literally what how does someone who can't see identify you even someone who knew you during your living days wouldn't be able to identify you as you are dressed presently even someone who saw the actual you on a nightly basis wouldn't be able to identify you as you are dressed right now there's not one facet of you that's visible to the outside world not truly I am impressed by this woman I want to know more what she is about so she dances through your mind as you pay your admission and move with the small nudging forward of the crowd behind you the show is just about ready to begin and as you do you find a place towards the front of the seating or towards the rear or do you just try to find a place somewhere in the middle to easily blend in uh I try to get somewhere I can get a good view I think excellent always a good thing damning all attempts at hiding sub diffusion obfuscation getting up front to get a Clear View so you can see what all this Malarkey and halalu is about is the name of the game settling in just off the front row two seats from the actual last seat in the row so you have a perfect line of sight you can see off stage in both directions or out of circle in both directions you can see [Music] the you can see the partition set up around down the stage area acting as their on stage backstage area you can see that this tent somehow has additional rooms attached to it because there are other ENT flaps that tie and some zip and some are you're not sure what that is but you're hoping you're not right because the flap that is over one of those doors you are sure from your experiences with a that that is in fact skin of course the problem with that is that you know under the right light and from the right distance pig skin looks like human skin so maybe it's just a pig hide maybe but your gut your discernment your experiences tells you that that's not a pig nipple that's been sanded down that's not a pig's underarm area between their leg and their torso you're looking at that flap as the that's human I would bet anything that's human not just a single human but clearly several of them several corpses de gloved of all of their skeletal matter and viscera and cured that's a lot of skill and a lot of kabers at least you hope they were kabers cuz it would suck for someone to live without theirs and the thought stops because striding to the center of the ring is exactly that you see the muscles twitching and moving the small small bits of cellulose that is attached the mucus layer beneath the skin right above the muscle moving and jiggling as they stride forward you know that they're in some semblance of pain but clearly a pain that they've grown accustomed to it's like a person with a bad back they're always in pain but they get accustomed to it as long as it doesn't get outside of their normal range and the person standing before you person standing before for the those who pay their hard earned money to get in here is in pain but a manageable sort of everyday pain de gloved of their skin and as they close their eyes you realize they've been lucky and gifted with the fact that whoever or whatever calls this for them at least left them their eyelids hey ladies and gentlemen I understand what you may think you are seeing you are not in fact seeing that this is no trick this is no Hollywood special effect my name is Charles I was born with a special condition that allows me to exist for the most part without any sense of feelings a a rare medical procedure removing my skin so that I might actually feel again thanks to my worst genetic defect of not feeling any pain it was a success I can feel again so on behalf of the Shackleton I want to thank you for your time and and your money cuz after all that's what this is all about am I right H and while I lost my skin you all will be playing and I'll run a leg our first act for you watching them talk through the pain watching them de gloved of their skin presents a certain queasiness and a certain thankfulness even with the grotesquery of your own Embrace even with being made to appear to be a cadav there is some kindness in that not being your Immortal condition Charles goes on and you hear more than see realization beginning to Dawn on those who pay to get in here some people faint you hear bodies hitting the floor and oh my God oh my God come on get up get it's got to be fake it's got to be fake you're like oh my God you hear all of those exclamations but your eyes are fixed on Charles because there is never your understanding that's something like them a de gloved still living human standing before you all the wrongness of it the cruelty of [Applause] it and yet Charles seems at peace painfully and rawly exposed to the elements you can only imagine how painful a stiff breeze might be you can only guess how his heart must race when the the skies grow dark and a few droplets of rain began to happen you can only guess what his existence must be like CU there's nothing that he could sit upon lay upon lean against that would not cause excruciating pain the fact that he's standing there before you now Barefoot is a testing to The Human Condition you can adjust to anything it [Applause] [Music] seems and on that note it is 53 after the hour as we turn at 3 after I'll see you guys shortly welcome welcome welcome everybody back I am never left it always feels that way so glad to see you all for the first time once again welcome back welcome back all [Music] right we have comfortably pass the intermission mhm the cor is warming up in the wings the streams are tuning the lier wants more dinning and before Lita there Hamming it up as if this was a vaudville review is Charles the skinless man wowing the crowd with the grotesquery of man's in humanity to man and while it is a scarring mental image and worse to hear cuz there El that he's using denunciate to project his voice to the back of the crowd so you're able see his pearly whes and the fact that he takes care of them or someone does because they're perfectly brushed and Immaculate they're catching the light as incandescent as it is in certain portions of this theater that's what this is it is here to titilate and Spark the imaginations except for it is using the truth the actual fact of how wrong Society can be because at the end of the day the thing that the average person next to you is missing but they are not quite grasping in the sheer voluminous amount of horror that Charles presents to them is he did it willingly to escape the idea of pain the idea of something being so severe that he would actually die from not feeling it the idea of hanging on to a tomorrow that was never promised to him he became this to run to flee to fly from the idea of pain from the idea of a death occurring without his knowledge [Music] the real hell risor [ __ ] going on over there and it does not Escape Le's attention as a student of the full spectrum of Life which includes all aspects of death this is without a shadow of a doubt a grotesquery of the most interesting variety because of what it says about humanity and by extension well Kindred and just when it becomes unbearable just when it reaches its Crescendo of Cruelty Charles Do's the most remarkable of things his wet moist still somehow leaking feet slap as he begins a soft shoe and behind each of the steps and the pets is a splash wetness as he two-steps his soft shoe and hang on to your horest HS cuz the show all gets better from here and all of the incandescent lights all of the bright lights focused on the stage area go completely black off the snap you still hear people hyperventilating at the maob nature of what they've just witnessed as the opening act people Gathering themselves they had to be fake that's got to be like that CGI stuff like they found that maybe we're uh and were we drugged it's got to be oh God oh God oh God oh my heart my heart ladies and gentlemen boys and girls children of all ages 8 to 80 and [Music] Beyond as Charles stated we have more for you here at the Shackleton free show circus event Carnival but first a word for more distinguished lead it and the lights began to slowly raise none of the bright focused spotlights are flecked on the lights slowly simmer back into resistance cutting the darkness to a comfortable personal level standing front of Center where Charles was gentleman about 48 late 50s hard to say exactly but it's clear that he seen some life his face is lined with experience he's handsome in a very brutish angry sort of way but he's smiling as he stands stop [Music] still if not for the blinking you'd think that he was some animatronic some automaton he has his came that both hands and ped the top sitting there before him and as the murmuring slowly Stills around you the smile slackens just a little bit and he begins speaking the idea of the carnival began in the late 15th century the practice of it was considerably older traveling trors untrusted Outsiders bringing News of the World and unfortunately often times disease with them from town to town and despite the social stigma it was an honorable profession in fact it was a profession that many many could only ever Aspire towards see the [Music] world shlon continues that history continues that tradition the Shackleton show has existed in one form or another going back to the old and day Cas we prepared several sights several sounds and experiences for you bringing News of the World here to you [Music] all and without further Ado and he snaps his fingers his Cane literally explodes shards of wood go flying past your head you're wondering how they don't actually connect with you and where he was standing there in the center ring [Applause] is the best way you can put your finger on it is the idea of strength given flesh she is as wide as two people standing shoulder to shoulder her thighs look as if she could crush the DU bugs she crossed her legs at just the right [Music] angle and you hear from the speakers around you our very own and they give her name and what she's called but the thing that's important is that she has easily three to four times the muscle mass of every other person you've seen and every other Cav you've had the opportunity of working on and speaking of working the door closed since has returned you can hear the vibration from the speakers inside and something's happen you can hear the ooze and Oz and whispered Rush it's kind of hard to decide on whether the people inside further in are excited or afraid but afraid is more apt for a freak Show but just the here rise and volume and then the sudden stops and then you're sure you heard someone scream but again it's a freak Show is to be expected what are you all deciding looking at the [Music] door [Music] um I don't know like uh you've said that it's not exactly that like stimulating given that it it is the freak Show I don't know what I um would an attempt at Insight let me know whether or not it's more of like an actual problem scream or if it's more of like a reaction or frighten the scream yes what is you what are your wits and insight or intelligence etiquette m H okay so my wits and insight and my intelligence etiquette are actually the same number um though if you let me apply heighten senses to my my wits plus Insight it's different number oh you're going to risk it you're going to tap into yes do it do [Music] it okay I'm back sorry my head literally died after you said risk it do it take your chance what chance we may have all right so um am I am I slapping my uh my aspcs in there or no oh yeah let's do it let's [ __ ] go Brethren uh so that'll be seven dice in total oh no no need to roll for that okay what is your composure and resolve that's a total of four oo yeah oh did I just be a flashbang as I open my ears to the world of a [Laughter] carnival well here's the thing you are immediately aware as to what but perfume and cologne is everywhere around you within roughly 37 ft you are immediately aware that there are roughly in that same same space and that same volume there are roughly 42 heartbeats you are immediately aware that there is a certain threshold of lumens that you can tolerate without going completely blind immediately and the space around you exceeds that by a factor of two you are immediately aware that the screams you hear are in fact real an actual screens of fright there aren't any other noises you are able to tolerate because there is an immediate explosion and you f the because it is that loud in your head the of wood being fired as if from a nail gun you are IM Meely bombarded with the static electricity of all the speakers inside the tent because it is that loud and while you have the wherewithal and the stamina to tough it out unfortunately the fact that it's effectively like you plugging yourself into the third reel is easily noticed by Maddie as your world Teeters and totters and you have to adjust to this banging throbbing smashing headache that explodes from the center of your mind out through your ears and if you were living breathing you'd be bleeding from your ears and most other orices on your head uh so uh I'm just going to assume I'm impaired now Maddie is going to laugh it's like well I'm not entirely sure what you did there but uh it looks stupid so um aside from from my impairment uh now I apologize uh if You' already stated this but do I know whether or not that is a scream I need to be concerned about no more than usual someone's responding to whatever's going on inside and whatever's going inside is actually triggering the real actual deal that's fear distilled audibly that is emotional pain and duress gotcha I'll just be like ah sorry no I I I tried I tried I tried to get a better understanding of the situation and it is just now worse uh it's nothing we need to worry about out there which is so so lovely well regardless it does smell uh pretty delicious mhmm I'm sorry I'm I'm having what is effectively an epileptic seizure right [Music] now if I smell anything it's probably [ __ ] burnt toast let's uh how much more we got to fix on this thing basically we're just waiting on the tools waiting is the worst thing that you can possibly do gives the mind all sorts of room to to run and rip to frolic and bombard itself with the impetus of things not real not actually there invalid and otherwise solely in the realm of One's Own internal Mind's Eye so it takes a second as you two are talking to realize that the old woman with the shaw drawn tightly around her is actually there looking at you as if you all are two lions or some other large predatory Beast Behind Bars of Steel at some [Music] Zoo oh hello good [Music] evening potentially how may we help you I'm not sure you can the problem well being I don't think you can help much of anyone can you you're I'd say you'd uh die here tonight but that happened a long time ago hasn't and who are you madam Fortuna Fortuna with an F not a pH as I've heard it spelled she takes a step closer you see that her long straggly gray hair is actually not really gray naturally it looks as if it's gray because of the makeup work done and The Styling done but truth of the matter is her hair is star Stark startling white it's dyed gray so that seems as she's not quite as old as she actually is she looks all of 120 maybe on a good day but it's her eyes as she stares between Maddie and backat and Joi that's the problem the entirety Center of them where the color should be and where the pin Pricks of her pewo should be is a almost matte black and holds no reflection of light and she steps closer staring at the both of you as if she can Intuit it every Crag and cranny and non-existent crinkle of your face you should have paid for the show yep should have paid for the show at least you would have well excuse me I need to get get in there uh MD will step to the side just kind of eyeballing her eyeballs a little [Music] bit I go on Fourth which means you have two shows to ask before I I I go on you should go pay your admission and she Jangles in her pocket which shouldn't be there underneath the rainbow s gowns that she's wearing underneath her Shaw but she reaches into her pocket and pulls out a keyring it's the very old style keyring nothing with a carab [ __ ] clip no keys or anything like that no it's a solid ring of iron and around the Ring of iron are various old keys with odd shapes some of them being more 3D than a key should be and she raises up one looks at it slides it away raises up another one looks at it slides it away raises up another looks at it it starts to slide it away but oh no no and she pulls that one back and heads to the door that you all are here to fix and into the knob she sticks the key turns it clockwise and then counterclockwise and without taking the key out she finally twists the knob with her other hand when she does the door slowly begins to Creek open as if you're in a haunted house you can hear it and only once it's completely open does she take the key straight out not turning it back to where it began but just takes it right out and steps through you can hear her heeled shoes on a wooden floor and you're ass sure that the space when you open that door was bathed in that orange flam likee light but when she does so it's dark and shadowy has the hint of something blue glowing in the distance she takes the key out and closes the door slowly behind her but you're sure in that brief Glimpse that the room that she walked into was not the room that was behind that door just a second ago oh that's a first Maddie will cross her arms and shift her weight to one leg can kind of till her head looking at it for a moment just mentally going through all of the things that she's learned about in the past couple of decades what the [ __ ] could that be um all I know is that we apparently need to get admission to her show and uh [Music] figure out what what the [ __ ] she [Music] [Applause] [Music] is you never said would my ult tell me about that there are places in the world where the walls between this world and the next are thinner than they should be places of death violence Hallowed Ground places where the energy of the living have conspired with the feelings of the deceased to create portals pools that if you're not careful you can fall through go into a dark cave in the wrong place you find out that you're 100 hundreds if not thousands of miles from where you began those rumors abound that that gossip is always there these places where all of that energy coalesces and pulls and causes strange things to [Music] happen but luckily for you it's not like you guys are on Hallowed Ground or anything right uh all wouldn't really matter to Maddie if it was all right well I uh I guess while we're waiting for the tools I'm going to I'm going to pop off and see if I can't find the admissions Booth curiosity is a damned thing for me unfortunately it's all good grab grab two grab two tickets we'll do uh be back soon all right it'll just pop a away to try and find an admissions Booth okay so you start walking around the tent or move further away from the tent to try to find a standal kiosk of Swords I I I believe I'd be much better served looking around the tent because while there might be a standalone kiosk relatively close to the entrance way or something like that kind of advertising there is no reason why there shouldn't be somebody directly outside the tent attempting to solicit business you're absolutely in fact correct and as you step away moving around the front of the freak Show tent because that is in fact what this tent is the person standing there is a distraction of the most intriguing sort for you she's only about 51 120 130 lbs her blonde hair is hanging and crinkly wavy semi curly strands all about her head it looks like a permed Lion's man as you get close and you know in in the olden days tattoos were a sign of Outsider status you know soldiers those in the Navy bikers violence sorts those people that are On The Fringe of modern acceptable Society had tattoos that's not the case now so you never grew up with that instinctual revulsion of such things that instinctual fear that that inspired that xenophobia that's there the difference that that would cause but as you approach being a lover of art a certain instinctual enjoyment of aesthetic Beauty and all of its wide variety your senses while not heightened because you didn't push them to their limit any longer are still more aware than they should be because you watch as the snake that is that starge at her fist and works its way around and up her forearm all the way up moves and not some tricker light where she flexes and it seems to move no you're pretty sure that those scales coiled and the snake moved because as you look at harm again as you get closer you realize there's no snake there there's a ivy row of Hedges going going around her arm there's Tigers mixed into this wild Savage Garden that takes the place of the entirety of her left arm starting from her fingertips as the roots of a tree with these the vine work working around it with various animals mixed in throughout that wildness the tattoos cover both the inside and the outside of her arm so you initially just see the back of it her tricep area and down her forearm her elbow there is not one square cm of skin that is not in fact tattooed as part of that image it's as you get closer you realize that the snake that you thought you saw on her arm is actually coiled around her neck and up through the back of her hair and as you look at the arm again you realize that the tiger that you thought was near the deltoid is actually on the forarm the birds that you saw taking off through that hedge row at least you thought those were Birds it turns out that those what you thought were birds were just large ants and then that the birds you did see was closer to her Knuckles all right so joi's having a lot more fun at the circus than we thought he's also incredibly [ __ ] confused and is now very much debating whether or not uh [ __ ] with the circus people is smart for his life if the tattoos were just on her arm would be one thing that the tattoos are crossing across her neck across her face down her ears behind her ears down across and thankfully she's wearing a shirt so you can't tell how far the tattoos go down but you're pretty sure that they cover every inch of her being it gets worse because you realize that even her lips have tattoos on them what looks to be a very stylishly applied bit of lipstick and eyeliner is actually a tattooed phrase over and over and over and smaller and larger forming the blush of her lips and what looks like immaculately done mascara and eyewear are a sunset if when she closes her eyes it very much looks as if you see the fading sun in the center of all of that ink tapestry that is her skin what is the uh what is the phrase that has been repeated over and over fortune favors the weird ah fitting and just kind of um taking a little while to to really absorb everything in and then kicking into that a very unfortunate part of his personality where once he gets enthralled by something he starts forgetting the the time as things seem to slow down for him but speed up at the same uh what what should have been like 15 seconds of looking turns into 30 turns into a minute minute and a half hey hey hey pay attention buddy read the sign read the read the sign and she points to her lips and you know it's good thing to she prepared for such situations like this take a picture to Cost Less oh I I can the sign that she points to is the tattoos of that makes up her lipstick it's funny how she thought ahead and had that tattooed however many years ago she had that tattooed there I mean uh would you mind depends how much you willing to pay you know a Ain't Nothing free he pulls out 15 bucks no that that won't even get you admission but all right you can take a picture of my hand thank you thank thank you he pulls that a small kind of uh uh you know the the projector cameras where it's real flat until you click on the power button then the the lens extends out it's funny you never realized that you know you thought that those were tree roots but the cemetery image across her hand Knuckles are is definitely fitting for the evening when you think about it mhm synapses picture and U how much you say it would be for for admission I I got invited to one of the shows but oh you're invited so you get the you get the friends and family discount 30 bucks a person okay uh two tickets then excellent so two tickets with a discount that brings your total to $66 taxes I assume oh yeah you're right we should add tax on there make that an even 70 there's a kind of crinkling of his brows as he's like wait I didn't [ __ ] up the math what's happening and then oh I know what's happening here all right all right 70 it is right right right and do you want me to autograph that picture it's not often you see that whales rising up out out of ground like that what he looks at the picture it's a pack of wolves running towards the full [Music] moon uh thank you very much but I I I don't think that my wallet would survive uh much more in the way of autographs well that's fine but you bought two tickets you need two people uh so when you get your other person I'll get you your ticket all right thank you very do I have like a receipt or something for what well you know to verify that I've purchase tickets so you want a receipt for a ticket that you ain't got yet that don't make sense does it it's it's like a voucher for the T yeah wait you want you want to buy a ticket voucher they sell those at the main gate oh [ __ ] okay uh you know Reserve to the spots thank you uh I'll be back and as you turn to leave we take a half step back from you leaving Maddie there in the the dark by herself at a strange door it doesn't take that long to do much anything in Bethany doesn't take that long to do much of anything at the circus it took you all roughly 55 and 1 12 seconds to move from the front to here even with all the winding dipping ducking dodging and sideways Locomotion that you all use to get here yet you've all been at this door for what feels like forever and now you're here alone with time just ticking by you can almost hear the sounds of a clock the moment Joi is four steps further away from you and it gets louder well uh she will just do her best to ignore it excellent would you kind go ahead roll your composure and your willpower composure plus willpower you mean yes okay just wanted to make sure I heard that right [Music] [Music] the patience of a Saint is an aphorism that up until this moment didn't have as much value as it should have in your existance Maddie's been much like her distant and near kin one for the more immediate one forther more indulging in whatever moment that they are in holding on to that moment yet the sound of the clock is very much Akin to the siren's call you don't hear your name but there is a pull a draw a an effable gravity towards wherever that sound is coming from and you've almost pinpointed exactly where it's coming from but the moment that you look in that direction is coming from further to the left then you just move your gaze a little a little bit to the left to see if you can pinpoint where is it coming from and now it's further to your right it doesn't take that long especially with his long legs and the fact that no one's going to impede his path you should have had your tools by now and that incessant clock ticking calling your name because you realize that the clock has the ticks have sped up and then begin to slow down they're off because it should be 1 second now it's 1.25 of second 1.3 of a second 1.5 one uh two full seconds between takes that doesn't make sense now it's back to a third of a second second between ticks so is almost as if whatever mechanical clock is causing those ticks is experiencing this [Music] rythmia she is just going to uh uh plop herself down on the ground and just wait cuz she can't really do anything without tools I she could probably figure out something but you know whatever uh and just you know [Music] wait settling [Music] in provides you with a certain Vantage Point height matters not that you're all that tall standing them you're on 2 ft but height definitively matters because now you're able to see just underneath the tent that don't that aren't completely anchored against the ground and some of them are purposely designed that way so there's a ventilation and air those are typically places where people eat or use the restroom or so that those gases don't get trapped in those spaces sitting there in the relative dark and Gloom even though it's well lit enough to see clearly there's a troubling moment as you're just taking it in you see walking freely by itself for hug huge Tawny limbs attached to Paws the size of your torso traping back and forth underneath one of the nearby tents that AR not fully anchored to the ground the walls of the tent of course designed to allow ventilation and certain gases to not build [Music] it's something interesting to watch at least so she will just watch it Pace back and forth it moves from that tint the Paw is moving off into the darkness and you can hear those padded Paws growing closer just to [Music] your and joi's there with with a amused look on his face and the moment that Joi arrives inside you've watched a person who was de gloved inside you've watched John Shackleton give a presentation speech thanking everyone for arriving inside you've watched without a shadow of a doubt the strongest person you've ever seen part of their act is juggling two engine blocks you think that you know juggling is easy when there's only two items but the fact that they are juggling two actual engine blocks is a feed of strength you didn't believe possible it gets worse stretching the incredulity of the moment when they set them both down there's not the hollow fall sound of something that's just made to well engineered to look heavier than it is that those are actual engine blocks when they touch down when she sits them down you feel the weight rumbling through the hard packed dirt it is that heavy and then she starts asking for volunteers from the audience and the first person that comes forward of course is clearly infatuated with the idea of muscles you can tell that they're barely restraining the the urge to reach out and touch their bicep you can tell that they're barely able to not just stand all struck they proudly restraining their Giggle and there and and she lifts them up and holds them a loft by their belt of their pants then she asked for another she lifts them up with their with her left hand until they reach up to her right she holds them by their pants her right [Music] arm held strong and high just like the Statue of Liberty unmoving as if it was in fact Made of Stone and she asked for another and another and another and you watch The Impossible because just from sheer weight alone they should overbalance her cause her to stumble forward or she should have to course correct lean in the opposite direction the keep her hand up and none of those things happen if you weren't there watching it and watching her bicep and her tricep lock into place unwaveringly you wouldn't have thought it possible so uh do I finally spot my wayward companion amidst this uh execution of skill well that was Lita inside um as Lita as Lita's taking in the show with these with these realizations and these this this happening right there in front of you you know it's not a doubt in your mind that this is not Memorex this is not stagecraft there's no wires there aren't any can levers working to keep her balanc if she's not in to the floor by hitting pose or straps or anything that is easily discernable save for the fact that she literally is that strong save for the fact that Mr Shackleton really did explode in front of everyone save for the fact that Charles really is [Music] skinless does my occult give me any clues to what type of creatures these people are [Music] H inhuman is the best you can come up with right now because there's nothing that fits someone who can't feel pain and to save themselves had to delove themselves from their epidermis there's no way that Mr shakleton could be the living embodiment of a phoenix dying and being reborn there wasn't any flame there weren't any eggs left so there not like he is a bipedal Phoenix there's no living person that's been as strong as she seems to be in years and she's not expressing or showing any signs of gigantism yet her strength is undeniable there doesn't seem to be any blood being taken she doesn't seem to be the sort to have drunken deeply of a mass of humans and tapped into the Beast you're not picking up any signs of vampirism she's not hairy like you've heard the lupines actually are so the what she is the what they are the best you can put your finger on right at this moment is and human you've heard of you know the myths of gods taking human flesh to live amongst Mortals you've heard of angels who masquerade as man to Stage an assault on some false prophet or someone who's deserving or been assigned to be removed but there's not enough information to discern whether they're demagog gods or God made flesh or Angels or demons or Lupine your mind definitively says that they are not anywhere near Kindred they are not vampires they're not the dead maybe they're a homunculi you heard that they're short incredibly hearty or Golems but no know Golems are made of Earth and mud and you don't see any carved in sigils on her [Music] [Music] forehead so as you're attempting to study them and discern their mode of origination is there anything else Lita is doing well I think she's focusing on what's before her trying to see if any of these guys give themselves away in some way some kind of okay that's being the case um based on the sheer implausibility because Lita being touched as she is by the Supernatural part of the supernatural community and a student of the Dead you be so kind what is Lita's intelligence plus Ault total uh five I believe [Music] okay that is high enough to have an inkling that they're inhuman but she already knows that with that being the case and being established um looking for some tail taale sign that point points in a direction is frustratingly just beyond your reach they're not pointing in any specific Direction except for nothing that they are doing should be possible yet there's nothing that is impossible which means improbable is the best way to describe it and improbable does not mean all that much there's a whole wide world of probabilities happening every single solitary moment of the [Music] night and while the initial fear of the audience the initial responses to that opening act are still present people are warming up to these Feats of Strength it's almost as if the closer they get to her the more enamored they get with the idea of the muscle Mommy that she is almost as if her touch magnifies it so high that they lose their sense of self they begin as they're uncomfortably hoisted by their own ptar the look of joy and adoration on their faces is enough to almost cause leader herself to smile it's hard watching someone enjoy thems and not find some pleasure in it for a brief flickering second looking in at those enraptured faces it is hard for leader to see them as what they are food [Music] [Music] sustenance they're homeless [Music] people all most most of all and as the the number of persons being held finally reaches the limit of what is acceptable within the realm of possibility she sits them down gently as if they are the smallest of children as if they are just toddlers who just ask for uppies and they slowly come back to themselves and realize what fools they may have made of themselves and they're sure that someone out there took pictures or or worse and that they thank her for time and she gives a grandio bow from the waist a stiff back thing practice clearly and then Shackleton is there again this time entering from the left of the stage left of the C a ring he steps over the bounding separator the little small what looks like a raised parking lot concrete blocks that are used to keep the circle free from those who are able to watch and outline the limits of what the stage actually is there is a time in each of Our Lives that we have a decision to make where we see something out of the the corner of our eye and we must either ignore it or Plunge Into the Dark whether we will intrepidly explore the world that AB buts our own and we take solace and security and the idea of our normal everyday world we ignore the magic happening all around us we ignore the magic that happens right before our faces because there is Magic in our everyday natural world such as and he points towards the front door down the main aisle and there are three Lions there free of cage no lion tamer in sight and they're sitting like house cats preparing to break open the bird cage and eat the par and Keach inside people immediately jump to their feet calm down everyone you are perfectly safe so long as you remain seated and don't respond with fear and he takes a step forward and he does so slowly as one would when within a leaping pouncing attacking range of wild animals and he extends both hands out forward as if he's keeping them at Bay fear opens the door you can't be afraid of the magic around you the Magic in the natural world you must bravely and boldly like a lion stride into that magic to embrace it and when he gets to that point of his clearly practiced presentation he stumbles and moves quickly and reaches out to catch himself from falling and when he does the liines take off in a Sprint directly towards [Music] him what follows has everyone screaming and up in arms and watching lions eat a person alive as is not for the faint of [Music] heart especially as as strips of Flesh are Torn Free he's still sitting there he's still there fighting the pain you can hear it in his voice stay stay calm it's perfectly fine just don't leave your seats they won't and they clamp down on his throat you can see the teeth sink in the blood spurts splatters is immaculately pressed in Iron bright ring Masters suit soaking in all of that dark almost blue blood and as they fill themselves as they Gorge themselves all on him outside when you get to Maddie Maddie is sitting in the [Music] [Music] dirt it's casually [Music] waiting Joi [Music] yes sir when you get to Maddie Maddie is sitting in the dirt casually waiting just um hey I um I got those tickets uh they they tried to take my [ __ ] life for them uh effectively I I don't know how anybody around here affords them unless I'm being exclusively [ __ ] targeted which is whatever whatever just setting that aside have they have they gotten back with the tools yet not yet I do not think they are ever getting back with the tools I'm pretty sure they might have gotten distracted no offense but full offense they're kind of like dogs yeah she will hold her hands up like she's asking for help to get up even though she probably doesn't need it that we'll help her [Music] up so then uh right yeah let's go do this other thing then I check out the freak Show and then afterwards get to work on setting up our big police [Music] distraction amazing I mean hey they got to enjoy some part of this before it goes to [ __ ] I mean have you met Our Lives I have and they uh things have already gone to [ __ ] what am I saying he's still thunking the side of his head like he's trying to knock water out the tenius of having basically the boom box placed immediately against his head still ringing as you guys walk back to the to the main game man you've been in Bethany long enough that there's certain telltale signs of relations no matter how [Music] distant there's the love eyes there's the Fontano chin there's the F nose the probiscus that well just won't stop there's and you know distant relations all have similarities of easily trackable traceable things one of the many things about the Hutchinson is despite the Latin Hispanic Spanish blood that they are so very proud of being the desend of concus aors who blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah is the red hair it's the various Shades from nearly blood red to almost orange with one of the telltale signs one of the Dead Giveaway so as you get to the main gate with the front flaps of this tent this huge little freak Show which is one of the many Center tents of this Enterprise the wavy long redhaired woman standing there holds your gaze because that lovely Vista of mountains and how a path goes from her Knuckles all the way up to her shoulders with foliage around the edge covering the entirety of her arm up her shoulder underneath her hair is secondary to the fact that she has almost perfectly Scarlet wavy long [Music] hair oh fun she will laugh as she walks up with the Joi [Music] like ah another cousin [Music] what it's the hair honey oh yeah yeah I get a lot of comments about my hair most people like my tattoos more and Joi is sure that when he was here there was a tattoo of a pack of wolves on her hand yet it's a mountain trail a veritable yellow brick gold Road running up the mountain path from her Knuckles all the way up to her shoulders uh her right arm however is filled with you know a cemetery in the middle of a forest the tattoos that was across her chest as well you weren't completely sure what those were but you're sure that they were not a Vista looking into the Grand Canyon nor the fact that there was you know Jason Vorhees there on her neck you thought and the the the site of uh the image that I took I assume it is drastically changed do you actually pull out the photo oh yeah no 100% there are some places that you know without ever having been and you are sure that that is the fame one of the many Fame cemeteries in in New Orleans [Music] you've never been there but you know that they don't put their dead in the ground because well just it's just a a mess just a problem being that that close to and below sea level so those cemeteries are famous even without having been there you know for a fact that that's either New Orleans or or fact simile of it all of the CPS above ground bricked over and you see Jim Morrison there playing music with Louis arm strong rising up out of one of the Crips it's a great it's a great tattoo it clearly you know photo ready photo worthy the detail of making Jim Morrison look like Jim Morrison and Louis Armstrong look like GL your armr that takes a lot of skill and a lot of [Music] talent oh this is so [ __ ] weird he just kind of mutters under his breath as uh they approach and very quickly kind of stuffs the the image the the photo back into his pocket before uh addressing like uh so this is uh this is my second um your your second what what for the for the tickets I purchased what tickets can I can I have you ticket I'll tear them for [Music] you really really don't want to go through that song and dance What song and dance you want to go inside it's a great show uh and she pauses and looks back past her and then she lets the tent flap down so no one can see inside it's a great show I mean and you all hear the I'm it Maddie would would you handle this oh you going to let you you going to let your Ms pay for you that's perfectly fine I I did like you say uh keep my eye out for you and yeah they're pretty much well into it now you don't want to miss too much more it is a is a Humdinger of a show I can tell you so you all want to go in I give you I give you group rate uh 20 a person just to get in normally we charge 40 that sounds uh quite reasonable and she will uh glance over uh uh at Jo so what exactly was this song and dance you're talking about he said he said he had a friend that he wanted to get ins and well I said you know come on in it's a good show [Music] just kind of watching the ground and like muttering to himself very quietly Maddie can probably hear it and it's a it's a very very Swift very short repetition of don't do it don't do it don't do it don't do it as he's just trying to keep a hold of himself oh honey I appreciate the GP rate but what about friends and family on top of it cuz I mean we got the hair clearly you're related somehow I'm sure we are we all we all came from Adams and Eve somewhere down the line so of course you know the whole entirety of humanity is just one incestuous cess pool of interrelated relations stretching back to the very beginning know what you think I the truth have you met the hutchinsons that that's in character as she mentions incestuous nature and the Hutchinson he just stops in his spiral and just go while you're talking and working at convincing taking that you're to use persuasion right no not really she's just trying to be a little amusing cuz this is not her wheelous whatsoever like like she's she she got the muscle and she got a brain the social skills totally escaped her line oh absolutely you brought the two socially impaired individuals this this Hustler well hell you're right we should probably you know what I I will so instead of it being a grand total of for the two of you all getting inside instead of it being 47 with tax less making it even 42 and we don't worry about Uncle Sam getting his cut I knew I liked you hey the girl kind of looks up from the ground ever so slowly towards Maddie and just without breaking eye contact pulls out the wallet pulls 2 20s and two ones and just shakingly offers it to the [ __ ] thief excellent excellent and do you all have your wristband just make sure you guys are old enough uh I don't know did they give us rband when uh we got the discount up front no no they did not [Music] now I believe you guys are old enough at least I hope and she looks at Joi specifically of course men do like I'm young I suppose and then she looks at you but we ain't going to cause no Ruck is no trouble so I will turn a blind eye and I you know we're friendly sorts around here uh how about I give you $5 for that camera and ignore the fact you all don't have wristbands to get inside nor voucher for your tickets you know general admission vouchers you're supposed to [Music] have [Music] Fu five Z for my camera well yeah it's old ain't it I ain't seen no cameras like that in a very long time I think last time I saw something like that was in my grandfather's house back in 1980 five5 [Music] $5 why you want to pay me more than $5 I was giving you a discount but if you want to play like I normally won't take anything less than 15 but if you want to go ahead and pay me that 15 I'll take that too if you want to instead of just you paying me the $5 in the [Music] camera I'm sorry sweetheart you're not getting the [Music] camera all right well then you got to pay for the age U that's clearly she might not be of age and God knows what your intentions might be with someone so young as that so that's a $15 and I can get you a voucher so that next time you go into one of our attractors you ain't got to pay for the lack of having the band at least for her at least you going how to pay for yourself though when he hears that effectively his vintage camera was worth $10 to this woman there is a beautiful moment where if he had a pulse a blood vessel would have burst in his [Music] eye before he 5 10 15 and just offers it up thank you k for doing business now when you all leave make sure you go by the front Ticky Booth get your voucher okay tell them that uh Mara sent you on over okay and she raises a tent flat come on in welcome in I appreciate that Mara if you happen to see lbert come through let him know we're in here he asked us to go fix a door but he's been gone for like an hour now oh they do that I'm taking that you talk he's one of the tall fellas that uh yeah one of the the redhaired trio that is I I understand I suspect as much with them I I told Mr Shackleton you can't trust nobody with red hair and she Smooths her hair back and it's Auburn a deep rich almost Chestnut [Music] Alburn mdal twirl her ponytail that's all nice and red I know what you mean men folks honey men folks you know how men are always trying to get over can't trust none of them and she looks at Joi and back to you y'all better go and get in there now I think the strong woman's almost done I remember the name likea for later but I'm pretty sure that her [ __ ] name will change and none of that will matter and won't even matter because there's just a bunch of circus people they'll be out of town next week it'll be fine fine it'll be fine now Johnny Boy you need to calm down hi I need a snack and we'll get you some popcorn and there in lies the problem as you all step past her the lovely tattooed blonde woman holding the flap open for you all you all are hint with the thick Rich copper tanged iron scent of blood blood in the center ring to the shock and barely held stomach contents of those watching a person is being eaten alive by Three Lions there's no cage or bar separating the lions in the stench of all of that oxygen rich blood from those onlookers sitting there watching struck and stuck to their seats as if they've been glued or nailed into place the palpitations people are having are clear and obvious because they're not sure and they're hoping that what they're seeing is in fact not real but they are trusting their sense because there's something indescribably pungent about the scent of human oal once the stomach is burst open once the intestines are exposed to air that is a and a scent that you cannot ever forget it's not quite as crystal clear in the mind as you know burning human flesh because that still smells vaguely of pork chops but this is something else entirely the just unated ripeness of that scent and people sitting in their seats afraid to move you watch as a you're guessing somewhere in their mid 30s maybe early 40s woman is literally breathing through her mouth tears streaking her cheeks unable to scream even though you can tell that whatever voice is in her head has not stopped screaming in a very long time she's wide eyed and focused as one of the Lions munches down on a eyeball as if it was a sticky rice ball and there's a Squatch and a pop [Music] immediately thrown from his thoughts he just looks up sees the Gory mess kind of very quickly taking the situation and just without the ability to control it just SPS out holy [ __ ] [ __ ] they're killing a guy Maddy will lean over like I mean I'm just glad I don't have to [Music] breathe and Lita being there in the front row There's Something indescribably Beautiful about all of that muscul all of that power that these Lions display they're clearly hungry because lions are well despite the image of them being these reg Noble things they are opportunistic and when they feed or when they hunt they take all the soft organs first but they're munching through bone and eating parts of the skull and munching down on the eyes and being this close literally in the front row as this is happening it is a lesson in the Savage beauty of the natural world and there's the weight of something else hanging over the crowd it's more than fear holding your fellow audience members in their seat there aren't any bars there's no cage between you and the lions that March pass the audience to gourmandize Shackleton right in front of you and then you hear joi's voice from the back of the gathered [Music] space now here's the question for Joi and Maddie having just entered do you immediately try to find a seat in your hand or are you all standing there before the flap leading out into the world uh Maddie I think she's probably just tacking back yeah given the uh given the Outburst I had of Joi it really do be feeling like I walked in the flap saw what just happened and it's like holy [ __ ] [ __ ] excellent Lita having heard that and watching this happen knowing the precautions and the advisory given is there anything that you're attempting to do uh I think I'll stay put [Music] just so face Sai and yes yes the operative word is being safe cuz you all were admonished you were told you were advised as long as you remain in your seat you are perfectly and Joi exclaims quite naturally and the Lions mid Munch look as if they've been called look as if they've been summoned and it starts with a slow rise to their full height and attenuation of their ears and those Amber eyes scanning the crowd slowly almost if they're hoping almost if they're praying almost if they're daring someone or something to get in their way and then they take off rushing towards [Music] Joi oh uh [ __ ] and on that note thank you all for a lovely episode good night everybody good night good night

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