Chapter 24: Ch 24 - Pair of Socks

Marke spent the rest of the night high off the ground in a ride that was closed for repairs. He thought he heard other people climb up into the ride, but he saw no one. In the morning, Marke purchased a breakfast hotdog and blood soda.

“Cherry blood soda is the worst one yet.” He said. He considered just dumping the rest of the soda on the ground, but his body needed fluids to function.

“We don’t technically know for sure that your body acts like the bodies we are used to, but it’s not worth finding out” Kente said. Marke agreed and sucked down the rest of the soda.

Priority check. Marke said in his mind. Priority One: figure out how to safely steal name tags. Priority Two: keep an eye on our tickets and don’t get robbed. Priority Three: Find an empty space and do some tai chi? Priority Four: I can see prizes in a bunch of the booths, maybe I can get some juggling balls or buy some rope. Priority Five: Unknown.

For Priority Two, a shirt with a bag underneath might help us hide our ticket reserves. Kente said. Marke set out to find an empty space or booths selling clothing.

An hour later, Marke tried to ask some of the passing people if there was anywhere to buy clothes. Most ignored him, but a few shook their heads. “That stinks.” Marke said. “It also doesn’t make sense. Is this fair so safe that nearly everyone is fully dressed? I even see people with hats and I didn’t start with a hat.”

“Let’s take a break. We didn’t find a good spot for tai chi so we are missing out on Priority Three. Maybe we should try one of the rides.” Kente suggested. Marke looked at the nearby rides. A pair of carousels caught his eye. One was a normal carousel with animal steeds and the other had steeds all in the form of humans on all fours. The people riding the carousels were split with the human-like people riding the animals and the animal-like people riding the humans. Marke headed for the animal carousel.

“Step right up! Carousel rides, two tickets!” The worker called out. The line was short, so Marke was mounted on clown fish in no time. The carousel started and a slightly out-of-tune organ began playing. The ride wasn’t particularly fast or exciting, but Marke hummed along with the tune and felt himself relax for a minute. The ride ended and Marke stepped back through the gate, feeling a bit refreshed.

“Oh ho HO!” Kente crowed with delight. “The secrets of this realm unravel before my eyes!”

“What?” Marke asked. “What is it?” He nearly bumped into a manatee person in his distraction and had to ask Kente to start his explanation over.

“I’ve got your other name tag in here with me, spread as wide as it goes. Well, when you walked out of the ride I felt a tickle so I looked closer.” Kente paused for effect. “The name tag has an ‘Experience’ line now! It reads two out of one hundred.”

“Oh dang, rides give-” Marke stopped as Kente shushed him, the continued in his mind. Rides give experience. That means we don’t have to steal name tags and risk death by squid man. This is fantastic! Should I do the carousel again? No, lets try every ride we can find, see if one is better than the others. Marke increased his walking pace and aimed for the next ride he saw.

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“I’m gonna throw up. I’m gonna throw up forever.” Marke groaned as he lay on the scrubby grass just outside of a ride consisting of hollow clown heads that spun in place and irregularly orbited each other. Marke almost couldn’t walk straight enough to exit the ride after the horrible music stopped and the mechanisms halted.

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“Yeah, I’m sorry. That was so bad I had to hide.” Kente said. “On the plus side though, we got enough experience to pass one hundred.”

“Hooray.” Marke said pitifully. “Did we both pass one hundred?” He asked.

“Oh, I forgot to check yours.” Kente said. Marke’s name tag disappeared from his chest for a moment then reappeared. “Yup. We are over one hundred experience, but our level is still one…”

Marke felt like crying in addition to throwing up, but he pushed himself up on his hands and knees. “You-” He clutched his stomach as the world threatened to spin. “You keep poking at those tags, see if you can make something happen. I need to… hey I haven’t needed the bathroom since we got here. What’s up with that?”

“I don’t know. This realm is a fun house mirror designed by a committee of very disturbed people.” Kente said. “I’ll keep poking at the tags.”

Marke wandered the fair until he found an good old fashioned ring-toss game. He paid two tickets to play and won a keychain with a picture of a demon that looked like Abraham Lincoln. The worker said it was a picture of a ‘Lord of Vice’ and was good luck when gambling. Marke traded it to a human-looking person in exchange for purchasing a nice sandwich with Marke’s tickets. The sandwich was very garlicky and the bread was a bit stale. Marke loved every bite. “That’s the best thing I’ve eaten since original Marke died.” He proclaimed a little too loudly. A few people turned and gave him odd looks. Marke turned away and slipped through a gap between two booths. “Kente, any luck with the name tag?” He asked.

“No, sorry, and I’m out of ideas to try.” Kente said.

“That’s alright, I’m gonna play some more games.” Marke said.

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Marke spent nearly all his tickets on games before he was obligated to sell another memory. The memory of ripping open blisters on his hands while building the shelter in the eclipse realm only bought him thirty tickets, which made him feel bad again about Kente watching him die and melt. The worker at the memory booth saw his obviously missing clothing and gave him a clue. “It’s not safe to walk around with that much experience after dark, friend. Better to keep your head down and work off your debt slowly, I say.” The worker pointed to a little kiosk nearby. “Buy your next level and stay safe, ok?”

“Uh, oh, right. Of course, thanks for the reminder, friend.” Marke managed to think of a response that didn’t reveal his almost total ignorance and turned to the kiosk immediately. With all the colorful booths and rides and people, Marke and Kente had overlooked the bland looking little tables. He walked up to it, not sure what to do. A few people in the crowd slowed down to watch him. He hesitated, worried the watchers had bad intentions. Go for it. Kente said. The memory worker made it sound like we would be dead meat tonight anyway. Marke tried to ignore the stares and read the instructions on the kiosk.

Place your name tag and valuables on the table, then make a selection.

Marke placed his game winnings on the table. It was a bundle of tiny stuffed animals and keychains, plus one flute. Out of the corner of his eye, Marke saw one of the people watching him turn and keep walking. He wasn’t sure if that a good sign. He carefully pulled his name tag off his chest and put it on the table. The game prizes dissolved into the table and his name tag changed to show a short list.

Level 2 Pair of socks Unique keychain

Marke stared at the list. Make a selection? Why would I want another keychain? He wondered.

Maybe the keychains actually do things. Kente said. I’m tired of trying to figure out what’s going on. People told us there wasn’t a place to buy clothes, but here we are, buying clothes. How does any one else know how things work?

A heavy hand settled unto Marke’s shoulder. “Hello friend. How about you buy me that pair of socks and I let you keep your name tag?” Marke looked up to see a ram’s head right next to his face. One of the ram’s big horns touched his cheek. “Uh…” Marke said. The hand tightened on his shoulder, but not painfully so. Kente! Marke said in his head.

I don’t know! I don’t understand anything about this place! Go with your gut! Kente said back.

Marke’s mind spun. He had ridden so many awful rides to earn experience and level up. He had eaten too many hotdogs and drunk too much blood soda. Higher levels meant better food and drink. Marke’s eyes narrowed as he glared at the ram person.

“Priority One.” Marke said.