Level 13 [Action] Backdated to July 30

[rocketralph]

That oughtta do it.

_{[Hurricane? Ralph wasn't afraid of no hurricane! He'd just piled all the hotel furniture against the door and windows for...tradition. It was tradition! They were in the lobby and while the Olivine hotel staff had protested his rearranging there wasn't a whole lot they could exactly do about it.]}

Whadya think, kid? Grade A storm damage prevention or what!

Comments

[rocketralph]

_{[Thunder rolls overhead and he leans back to watch the ceiling.]}

We sure did...but that can't happen here. Y'know. I've met so many people who don't think this is a game that I'm startin' to think they might be onto something.

[rarestcandy]

[Finally, Vanellope plops down on the ground, rolling her eyes dramatically. Big gestures were more distracting.]

Yeah, right. Everybody knows Pokemon's a game! 'sides, not like we're suddenly gonna not be game characters. [She can hear the wind kicking up harder outside, and there's even a non-thunder crack from somewhere outside. A tree, she thinks.] ...But it's just the in-game weather, anyway. So there's nothin' to worry about.

[rocketralph]

<sub>[He scratches the side of his head as he ponders over what Heather tried to beat into him.]

[Ralph isn't really one to change his opinion about much but...]</sub>

Don't you think it's kinda odd? All these game characters who don't, y'know, know? I know folks stick to their roles pretty close when they first get plugged in but I've been here for a year and then some...

[rarestcandy]

[She shrugs. It wasn't really something she considered, having been so sure of her status in this world.]

Not like their codes aren't rewritten a lot anyway. They took out things like powers and combos, sometimes how people look. If I had that much of what's written in me taken out, I might forget, too.

[rocketralph]

Eh, maybe you're right...maybe we're the only ones who never got scrambled. Hah. Imagine you an' me. As the players.

[rarestcandy]

Now that'd be weird.

[Polishing off the last of her meal, Vanellope sets aside her bowl and flops onto her back to watch lights flicker through the blanket ceiling. She wrinkles her nose, clearly uneasy.]

An' we wouldn't have to worry about so much...

I think we'd make good players. We know better than the hero types, y'know? 'bout playing fair.

[rocketralph]

_{[Ralph glances aside. He's not the most...graceful loser. And he hasn't mentioned those poor poke'gears he's smashed before Vanellope ever showed up.]}

Yeah, fair.

[rarestcandy]

[She let's the conversation lull for a bit, listening hard to the weather outside. Another loud rumble gets her to flinch.]

...What do you think it's like? Being a player.

[rocketralph]

_{[He scrunches up his face as he thinks.]}

No quarter alerts...no programming. Be whoever you wanna be. Havin' something to do for fun besides aiming bricks at windows.

_{[Specifically Gene's window.]}

[rarestcandy]

Hmmn. I guess that's kinda like being here. Except... You know, the bein' whoever you wanna be.

[At least their batty bosses weren't crazy enough to send them out in this storm.]

I hope the players keep leaving us alone... And that we're not plugged in somewhere with weather like this.

[rocketralph]

I'm not even sure there's been a player for a while now. Maybe we're just sitting in some basement somewhere. Or a museum.

[rarestcandy]

That'd be nice. Staying like that forever.

[Vanellope sits back up and crawls over to the opening of Casa Manta, finding one of the pillows she'd discarded for its unsuitable shape. Instead of adding to her building, she drags it back, along with a flashlight, and flops over on top of it, pushing her chin in the puffy surface. The light in her hands goes on, off, on, off.]

...S'long as wherever we are doesn't run out of power, anyway.

[rocketralph]

_{[Ralph just sort of rocks his feet from side to side as he ponders about players and the concept of reality and a whole bunch of other stuff he was never programmed to do.]}

Still kinda wish they hadn't made us...y'know.

_{[He traced an R in the air with a finger.]}

[rarestcandy]

[The light clicks off again, but this time she pauses.]

Yeah. [Vanellope sighs.] I mean, it could be worse? We've met some nice people there... Another girl I met said she's gonna sell candy, like me. Instead of what they trained us to do.

[rocketralph]

I guess spreadin' cavities is better than spreadin' chaos. What's your pal's name?

[rarestcandy]

[She makes kind of an odd face at the word 'pal' -- she likes plenty of people she's met, but who was to say that they felt the same? She could call Cobra Commander her friend all she wanted, with how adamant he was about that being impossible. With those she got along with... Vanellope didn't want to jinx it.]

Cynthia. She's older than me -- and Sugar Rush, I'm pretty sure -- but she's really nice. Doesn't want to be a bad guy.

[rocketralph]

Good, good. Maybe if we got enough of us not-so-bad guys together we could, I dunno. Take a stand and leave it all behind.