SNAPCRAFT | Ch. 53 - Jolly Entertainers

Trudy’s face was a mask of disappointment at the sight of old Seth. Sophie also eyed the freakishly tall drifter warily from a few steps away, but Ariel seemed delighted with the new arrival and was taking the initiative to welcome him back to the city.

“Why on earth would you bring that brat here?” she hissed as if she were an old rattlesnake.

Kai had prepared himself for Trudy’s resistance and already had braced himself. “Because we need more people around the fire, Trudy! There are so few of us left. Can we stand banning Seth from joining us in the fires?”

The old woman seemed to be aging by degrees with every moment Seth lingered. Kai had never imagined that Trudy could look any older. It was as if the last vestige of vitality had been drained from her the moment Seth had entered the city.

“Even so… You didn’t have to promise him he could be a firekeeper!” she protested.

“What’s the harm in that? He has a different perspective of the world. Aren’t the bonfires supposed to be a place to exchange information freely? Let’s hear him out.”

“I’ve heard him out alright. His nonsense is nothing but trouble.”

Trudy didn’t just look older. She sounded older, too. Fortunately, Kai had grown up around people much older than him, and he had thick skin. He liked to think of himself as immune to nagging.

“Fine,” she finally conceded. “We’re all going to be dead soon, anyway.”

Trudy limped away from Kai and went to take a seat by the fire.

“That’s the spirit,” mumbled Kai awkwardly.

Seeing Trudy had left, Ariel approached. “Hey, Kai.”

“Hi, Ariel. What’s up?”

“So this is what you were up to yesterday?” she asked knowingly. She seemed happy about it for some reason.

“That’s right,” Kai answered easily. “It makes no sense for him to be alone in Rebeltown. Whatever got him banned is all water under the bridge.”

“Well done,” she said. “It was a good idea.”

Kai smiled. “Thanks. Sorry I couldn’t help you prepare for your lesson. Looking forward to it.”

“You’ll help me next time. OK?”

“Sure.”

“That’s a promise,” she said, winking, and left before Kai could say anything else. She called the older women and signaled she was going to start the lesson for the day. Kai went to take a seat next to Seth.

*

The barrage of grenades finally ended, and all their nasty effects expired just as the clock hit the two-hour mark. His opponent had successfully robbed him of the last ten minutes in the snapping arena; however, Kai wasn’t done yet. The [Deadline Extension] upgrade ensured Kai had an additional 20 minutes. That would be more than enough to spend all his remaining shots. Meanwhile, Maia finished her lecture on centripetal versus centrifugal forces.

“Thank you for making me an expert on centripetal and centrifugal forces. I feel so much better now that I know the twenty differences between the two,” Kai said sarcastically.

“You’re welcome,” Maia said. He didn’t know if she got sarcasm and decided that Kai wasn’t worth her losing her temper or whether she was oblivious to the concept. How much sarcasm could an android companion need?

“Come. I want to wrap this up, and I still have six shots on my camera.”

The android followed him happily as he headed toward the bumper car ring. Kai had ample time to consider his strategy for the last stretch of this round while Maia was rambling.

It was a short walk back to the colorful ring. He was lucky to catch the ring with all the cars parked, ready to take one more batch of passengers to another round of fun and folly. He was sure he could have taken the shot he wanted even if the cars were moving, but catching all the colorful vehicles stopped made his work easier.

He zoomed in on the rubber bumper that protected the vehicle all around. Although it didn’t strike him as a particularly rare card, Kai suspected it could convert to a useful upgrade.

Capture successful!

Tries left: 5 of 22.

Rubber Bumper (Rare)

1 of 2

A thick rubber band that can absorb impact.

Hp: 0

Vp: 7

How about that? It was a rare card, after all. It reminded him a little of the [Perspective] card he’d captured in the abandoned factory. It seemed to be a card that didn’t have a use in crafting but could unlock an important upgrade.

Satisfied with the results, Kai set out to deplete the rest of his tries. It was time to return to the merry-go-round.

The sound of laughter and applause drew his attention. A crowd had gathered on the street of the fair, and they cheered something happening in its middle. Kai couldn’t see what was happening from where he was, but that could be easily changed. He walked through the crowd as if he were an intangible specter, heading toward where the laughter was happiest and where applause was loudest.

After only a few steps, he spotted the reason for the commotion. He discovered two men in colorful, outrageous outfits entertaining the crowd. They wore clothes that were either too small or too large to properly fit them, in a mismatching collection of patterns and fabrics. As if to make their appearance even more shocking, they put on a thick layer of makeup that accentuated their features. Their faces were painted practically white, and their mouth and eyes were highlighted with broad, bold dark lines.

Who were these people? Were they supposed to be scary or funny? He looked around him and found Maia’s blank expression while children laughed hysterically and adults smiled from ear to ear.

One of the weirdly-clothed men took a long, slender, empty balloon with exaggerated gestures and blew into it, making the whole thing stretch into a cylinder-like shape. He let out some of the balloon’s air, which caused a funny, honking noise, and then he waved his hand in front of his red nose as if his companion was flatulent, eliciting another wave of laughter in the crowd. His hands then deftly moved, almost in a blur, pulling, tying, and rubbing the balloon until a shape emerged.

The balloon was twisted on itself, and its deflated end simulated the creature’s tongue. It was a balloon sculpture of a snake. Kai couldn’t help but smile at the spectacle. He didn’t feel scared anymore. These guys were brilliant. They did with balloons what he did with shadows. He had never known such an art existed!

While the sculptor went on to twist another balloon into the shape of an animal, Kai glanced at his taller companion. He was as tall as old Seth had been, albeit slimmer and younger. The entertainer pedaled on one unicycle while juggling balls in his hands, thus eliciting cheers from the crowd. The balance and dexterity needed for such acrobatics were unlike anything Kai had seen anyone do.

Well, to be fair, most people he had met throughout his life in his sector were elderly. He tried imagining old Neil or Sunny pedaling a unicycle but couldn’t. Were they to try this, they would probably break every bone in their body. Kai was quite young and was pretty sure he couldn’t do it either. Had he had good balance, he wouldn’t have fallen out of a tree that one time and broken his leg.

Kai had been all over the funfair, but it was his first time seeing these two roaming entertainers. Were they the moveable opportunities within this arena, like the mining wagon or the arabian oryx had been?

He was sure he would have spotted such a crowd from the top of the Ferris wheel. Why didn’t he? Unless they only started roaming the arena after the two hours were up to reward him for having [Deadline Extension]. If so, these clowns could very well be legendary cards.

Even though the five remaining shots weren’t many, he decided to spend one of them to photograph the artists.

Capture successful!

Tries left: 4 of 22.

Clown (Legendary)

1 of 1

An entertainer who uses physical comedy.

Hp: 0

Vp: 9

Clowns… that’s what these people are. He had read about them, but this was the first time seeing them.

As expected, it was a legendary card. It only had two victory points more than the usual rare card. He wondered why that was. Could it be that to Daisy, this was already a good enough reward for someone unlocking [Deadline Extension]? Even so, Kai was happy with it. This meant that he would unlock one more upgrade in the console.

He kept observing the artists and, feeling more relaxed, even let out a laugh or two. The skills of the balloon-sculpting clown, in particular, were mesmerizing. He made it all look easy and silly, but how many hours had this man practiced to hone his craft like this?

He wondered whether he should risk taking a photograph of one of the balloons. Seeing the different balloon animals, he couldn’t help but think of his shadow puppets. Although the tools and techniques were different, both arts were essentially the same: To create shapes and figures.

After photographing the clowns, he had four shots left, and he was pretty sure of what he wanted to do with three of them. He checked his score and weighed his options. He was ahead and could take the risk. Ultimately, he decided to splurge a shot on the balloon sculptures.

A child held a balloon puppy, while another held a balloon butterfly. Kai waited for the clown to continue making more balloons for the children, and eventually, one caught his eye. He pointed his camera at it and took a picture.

Capture successful!

Tries left: 3 of 22

Balloon Giraffe (Rare)

A balloon sculpture of a creature with a long neck that feeds on the leaves of tall trees.

1 of 1

Hp: 1

Vp: 4

He was right. There really was something special hidden here. The stat line of this card was exactly like that of shadow cards. Firstly, its stats were below average, and secondly, despite being a rare card, only one copy of it was available.

Could it be that these cards also converted into real creatures? If that was the case, just how did he do that? Did he have to find something pointy and sharp to burst the balloon, thus creating the creature card? Or by doing that, would he just get an [Air] card, [Explosion] card, or something similar?

However, what intrigued Kai was whether Daisy's limitation on shadow cards also applied to balloon sculptures. For example, if there was a balloon wolf, would he be able to take a photograph of it? Or did his [Shadow Wolf] card deplete all wolf cards for grabs? If he made a shadow puppet of a giraffe now, would Daisy consider the capture valid? What if he drew a wolf, painted one, or sculpted one?

He could circumvent Daisy's restrictions if there was more than one way to arrive at the same creature card. This only made him more certain of the next card that he was going to capture. After running into this cheerful duo and seeing them twist the balloons into shape, Kai moved on to his next objective.

Kai walked past the crowd and revisited the merry-go-round. Kai glanced toward Maia, who was quietly observing him. When he first met this upgrade, he thought she was just there to stabilize his psyche or teach him physics and history trivia. However, he now saw her as a metal detector.

She behaved slightly differently when he got close to a good opportunity inside the arena. If he paid attention, he could pick up on those odd behaviors and identify opportunities he would have missed otherwise.

Out of all the rides that he'd visited, the merry-go-round was where Maia behaved the most suspiciously. Children sat on the wooden horses as the machine spun around and around. He skipped all the regular horses and pointed his camera at the only one with a horn.

Capture successful!

Tries left: 3 of 22

Wooden Unicorn (Rare)

A playful representation of the mythological one-horned horse of legend.

1 of 1

Hp: 1

Vp: 8

Its stats were suspiciously equal to those of the [Shadow Unicorn] he had captured in the desert. The similarity between the two cards had to mean something. He had an idea he wanted to try, but that would have to wait until he was in front of the crafting table.

The last two pictures were easy, and Kai saved them for last. The [Child] card had been his saving grace in the Neon City. Given the many children around him, it would be foolish of him not to take advantage of this. He already had several recipes in mind that would require this card. He just approached the closest family passing by and took a picture of a young boy who was happily eating cotton candy, a prize for a game, or a snack his parents had gifted him.

Capture successful!

Tries left: 1 of 22

Child (Common)

Young human being in the early stages of life, characterized by growth and curiosity.

1 of 4

Hp: 1

Vp: 0

Capture successful!

Tries left: 0 of 22

Child (Common)

Young human being in the early stages of life, characterized by growth and curiosity.

2 of 4

Hp: 1

Vp: 0

He was done with time to spare. He had to say that this was one of his better rounds. Looking at the score, he could see that he was doing much better than his opponent. Even before he started crafting, he already had a commanding lead of 40 points over his opponent. In the photographs Kai had taken in this stage alone, he had secured 70 points. All his upgrades had worked wonderfully. He couldn’t be happier about his upgrade coin investments.

Thanks to [Film], he had two extra photographs; thanks to [Deadline Extension], he had twenty extra minutes. Having a few more shots and time made all the difference. The most significant upgrade, however, was [Populate]. This stage had been humming with activity and people. He was pretty sure that his opponent was stuck in a barren and deserted version of this arena, while Kai had many more valuable opportunities to collect points.

With ten minutes left on the clock, Kai walked back toward the two clowns still entertaining the crowd. On the one hand, he could have spent these minutes reviewing his plan for the crafting stage, but he had already been forced to stand still for 10 minutes under a barrage of grenades. He had had plenty of time to plan things out then. He had something different planned for his remaining time here.

He joined the crowd, and for a moment, he pretended he had just come to the funfair to have fun like everyone else. He imagined that he was just one of these carefree people, spending time with their families at a time when one could have a family just by willing it. What a paradise. How many times had he dreamed of being around other people like this? How many times had he dreamed of being one of these people?

The clown performing acrobatics was off his unicycle and was now performing agile somersaults while teasing his colleague and some children in the crowd. Kai had laughed many times in his life, but doing so surrounded by laughing children made it taste so much sweeter. It was as if he had been eating food all his life, but only today discovered salt.

As he laughed, he felt as if was being given a massage. The knots of tension on his stiff neck and shoulders melted away. Laughing really was the best medicine. Even if things didn’t turn out well after the exam, at least he could take this beautiful memory.

Finally, the clock hit the two hours and twenty minutes mark, and from an array of vivid colors, he was back to blinding white.

Ch. 52 - Centripetal and Centrifugal Forces

INDEX

Ch. 54 - Controversy Fomentation