Free Web NovelWe pulled Camden's boat ashore next to the Speedway. We were on a beach. The giant stadium, if that word was even large enough to describe it, loomed over us, casting a shadow over the sand and nearby parking lots.
Whatever Carousel had done to get rid of the giant UFO that had been there when we first arrived the day before, it had apparently stuck. The place almost looked normal. Not that I had ever been to a NASCAR event or anything like that.
I figured I didn't need much racing experience for what we were about to do.
The syringe filled with Kimberly's infected blood, which would serve as the Omen for her storyline, was kept inside a hard-shell sunglasses container. We did some thinking about who would be the one to actually trigger it, and the obvious choice was Ramona. She had a trope that would guarantee she was Second Blood if she was the one who triggered the Omen. That would be the beginning of our chain of Blood Control.
"So I just run up to one of them, and I stick them with it?" she asked.
I shrugged my shoulders. "Do whatever feels right," I said. The Omen was pretty clear that it could be triggered by infecting someone, so sticking a needle in an NPC's arm would have to work.
"Should I do two people just to be sure?" she asked with a grin.
"What are you, some kind of sadist?" I asked.
The eight of us walked toward the Speedway after tying up Camden's boat. Looking back, I couldn't see the river anymore. All I saw was an endless ocean. It was a beautiful place when there weren't technopathic aliens making a mess.
We had everything prepared. Our tropes were lined up with synergies and strategies. We were testing out some new tropes and bringing a few classics. If we succeeded, we would rescue our friend Kimberly, and if we failed, we would join her.
But those are the stakes at Carousel. By now, we were numb to the fear of eternal failure. It was the little bumps in the road that frustrated us the most.
"Is everyone ready?" I asked.
I looked to Ramona and nodded.
She held the syringe at her side, wearing a pair of latex gloves we had found in one of the compartments in the boat because she didn't want to touch the infected blood by accident, although technically that would trigger the storyline just fine.
She scanned all the NPCs near the entrance of the Speedway.
"I don't know how to choose," she said as she saw some families and elderly people walking into the stadium.
Eventually, she saw a heavyset man walking alone and started moving toward him.
She walked right up behind him and stuck him quickly with the needle in the back of the neck before running back to us.
He barely had time to swat the back of his neck like a mosquito had bitten him and turn around to look at what had just happened before the storyline triggered.
On second thought, she could have just smeared it on a hand railing or something. That would have felt a little less icky.
It didn't matter because, in a flash, we were in the storyline.
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Riley Lawrence is the Film Buff.
His aspect is Filmmaker. The Filmmaker understands how movies are made and uses meta-Insight and meta-Rule tropes to subtly manipulate the environment, relying on high Hustle to stay unseen while shaping the story behind the scenes.
Riley has a Plot Armor score of 53, Mettle of 4, Moxie of 14, Hustle of 11, Savvy of 17, and Grit of 7.
Free Background Trope: “My Grandmother Had The Gift…” gives Riley's character some ambiguous connection to "The Gift" through his heritage.
Current Trope Limit: 10
“Trope Master” grants him the ability to perceive enemy tropes, but at the cost of sacrificing half of his Plot Armor.
“Call Sheet” gives him a timer for when he will be On-Screen next.
“Cutaway Death” sends him Off-Screen before the moment of his character's implied demise and allows him to exist behind the scenes, Dead and Written Off if he survives the encounter.
“Dead Nerves” provides all the benefits of being dead when their Dead status is active.
“Escape Artist” boosts his Hustle in order to execute plausible escape plans.
“Familiar Filmographer” allows him to summon and control an NPC cameraman.
“Intermission” grants Deathwatch at his demise and allows him to pause his viewing of the film for a break and start back a few moments earlier.
“Oblivious Bystander” allows him to remain untargeted by enemies as he convincingly acts oblivious to their presence.
“The Insert Shot” makes allies aware of an object he chooses. The object will be shown to the audience, and its use will be buffed in the Finale.
“Don’t Go In There!” gives him the ability to warn of a dangerous location that will kill the next character to enter it.
~
Antoine Stone is the Athlete.
His aspect is Health Nut. Health Nut prioritizes holistic wellness, using sharp Savvy to make smart choices and strong Grit to stay resilient, adaptable, and enduring under pressure.
Antoine has a Plot Armor score of 49, Mettle of 14, Moxie of 5, Hustle of 11, Savvy of 9, and Grit of 10.
Current Trope Limit: 10
“Calm In The Chaos” allows him to channel Savvy into his next physical feat through a slowed-down shot of him planning things out On-Screen. Time will appear to slow down while planning.
“Everyone Loves A Winner” ensures his character will have some previous success that endears him to NPCs. Failure reverses this.
“Gut Instinct” gives him a heads up about nearby danger both in and out of storylines, though he may have to investigate to find the source.
“Gym Rat” buffs Mettle and Hustle by revealing an athletic backstory.
“Knight In Shining Armor” buffs his Mettle and Grit when defending a love interest.
“Quarantine Quarry” Turns the storyline into a Rescue where the objective is to outlast an infection, while keeping the infected ally alive as well.
“Stronger Together” buffs mental health and healing when the user and allies are together in a group.
“The Mountain As A Metaphor” boosts allies' uses of Grit and Savvy and allows the user to conquer maladies through metaphor by tackling physical challenges.
“The Caretaker” Buffs him when assisting injured or endangered allies. Grants Health Monitor.
“Willpower Is Magic” makes all applicable enemy technology or magic resistible through sheer effort. Results vary. Effects vary. This will hurt.
~
Anna Reed is the Final Girl.
Her aspect is Girl Next Door. The Girl Next Door is a genuine, relatable emotional anchor whose high Moxie and Grit fuel connection, resilience, and quiet strength that protects others and uncovers unexpected solutions.
Anna has a Plot Armor score of 41, Mettle of 12, Moxie of 12, Hustle of 7, Savvy of 3, and Grit of 7.
Free Background Trope: “The Second Choice” makes her the backup chosen one of whatever forces of destiny, luck, or divine will govern the storyline.
Current Trope Limit: 9
“The Heart” allows her to end the game when she is the last one alive and participate in her own rescue. Buffs those who protect her.
“Last One Alive” prevents death until the rest of the party is killed.
“Final Stand-In” allows her to pass on the effects of Last One Alive to an ally by sacrificing herself in the Finale.
“Final Callout” gives great narrative weight to the use of names in the finale.
“Are You Okay In There?” allows her to sense all allies' emotional states on the red wallpaper.
“Along For The Ride” buffs the effective Hustle and Grit of a vehicle she or her allies are using.
“A Tight Squeeze” allows her to improvise the existence of an exit, though whoever is last to get through it will be left behind.
“I’m Right Here” allows her to initiate a solo Chase Scene with the enemy while sending allies Off-Screen.
“Plea From The Heart” heals allies that come to assist her after she is Mutilated.
~
Camden Tran is the Scholar.
No aspect has been chosen.
Camden has a Plot Armor score of 43, Mettle of 5, Moxie of 3, Hustle of 11, Savvy of 18, and Grit of 6.
Free Background Trope: “Mega Secret Security Clearance” gives him mysterious but impressive credentials in some large organization.
Current Trope Limit: 9
“Battlefield Intuition” allows him to use Savvy to perceive enemy combat tactics.
“Chain Reaction” buffs an attack for each link in the cause-and-effect chain leading to the ultimate damage of the attack.
“Eureka!” Helps find important information within text.
“High Stakes Snooping” increases his chance of finding clues and useful items when looking for them when a threat is nearby.
“Need To Know” enables him to reveal his security clearance to NPCs to compel them to divulge information. The NPCs' backgrounds can be changed if it fits the narrative.
“Supplies On Hand” seeds the setting with materials for constructing improvised contraptions once he reveals his qualifications as an engineer. These materials do not need to be established as existing if they are not exotic.
“Trap Montage” allows the player to initiate a montage wherein they and allies rig traps in the finale without disturbance from enemies.
“Hide and Seek” allows him to substitute Savvy for Hustle when cleverly evading during a Chase Scene.
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“Zippos Are Cheap” boosts Savvy for plans that expend a Zippo lighter.
~
Isaac Hughes is the Comedian.
No aspect has been chosen.
~
Isaac has a Plot Armor score of 31, Mettle of 5, Moxie of 10, Hustle of 3, Savvy of 6, and Grit of 7.
Current Trope Limit: 8
“Gallows Humor” allows him to ease mental pain with dark humor after a tragedy.
“If He's Still Cracking Jokes…” allows the player to reduce or eliminate injuries by using humor the next time he is On-Screen before the audience knows how injured he is. Works on allies situationally.
“Weapons Of Mass Absurdity” buffs his Mettle and Hustle while using humorous weapons. The buff extends to weapons that are used if the original weapon fails.
“Whoops!” protects the user from being hit while actively performing clumsy physical comedy in a Chase of Fight Scene.
“Trash Talk” allows him to debuff the enemy's Mettle by insulting them.
“Funniest Guy I Know” heals and protects him from mental and some physical pains and status conditions when he laughs at his own jokes.
“Blood Loss Delirium” gives the player a pleasant drunken stupor when they have major blood loss and provides cover for antics.
“Hindsight Is 20/20” allows him to recognize mistakes they've made after the fact, helping them or their allies avoid similar errors in the future. Commenting on these mistakes increases the success of future plans based on the lessons learned.
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Cassandra "Cassie" Hughes is the Psychic.
No aspect has been chosen.
Cassie has a Plot Armor score of 43, Mettle of 3, Moxie of 18, Hustle of 13, Savvy of 7, and Grit of 2.
Current Trope Limit: 9
“Death Disorder” may doom an ally to fall as First Blood through ominous phrasing, debuffing the enemy based on how much the death order has been changed.
“Deathward” lets her designate a location as blessed or holy, literally or figuratively, establishing a Sanctuary powered by her Moxie. Enemy attacks will manifest as portents instead while it lasts.
“It Is Written” codifies all spiritual or similar information in some kind of text that the user will have access to and gives them information accurate to their character.
“The Anguish!” lets her see her allies' health stats from anywhere and lets her take some of their pain by feeling it herself. This can reduce their overall injuries.
“Soul Read” provides the user with unearned information, continuing until they fail to utilize it in the narrative.
“Empathic Shield” buffs an imperiled ally's Grit by expressing genuine concern for them On-Screen.
“Clarity of Purpose” lets the user substitute Moxie for Grit when enduring tasks that cause constant pain, like handling dangerous objects.
“Deja Vu F.M.” allows her to hear dialogue before it happens through various electronic sound systems.
“Unseen Confirmation” converts supernatural tropes and powers into forms more compatible with the storyline's world, such as destiny, divine intervention, intuition, or simple luck. Clues the audience in to these occurrences, but the characters may not ever know.
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Ramona Mercer is the Hysteric.
No aspect has been chosen.
Ramona has a Plot Armor score of 38, Mettle of 12, Moxie of 8, Hustle of 8, Savvy of 3, and Grit of 7.
Free Background Trope: “The Weird Girl” gives her some socially ostracized connection to the dark or supernatural elements of the story.
Current Trope Limit: 9
“Adverse Reaction” causes her to have an unexpected reaction to tropes or powers meant to cause a particular emotional or mental state.
“Before You Get Us Killed” allows her to dramatically branch off from the group and form her own team, trying to accomplish a similar goal. If one team dies from that decision, the other is buffed.
“Close-Up Scream” allows the user to become the sole On-Screen character when screaming about something they see.
“Disproportionate Response” positions her to act rashly in dangerous situations by presenting her with weapons or narrative opportunities. Protects allies from the narrative consequences of those decisions, but she will not be spared.
“Fridged” allows her to share in the experience and rewards gained from allies who are motivated narratively by her death or suffering if that is her main purpose in the story. Buffs those allies to act in her memory.
“Just The Jitters” allows the user to avoid feeling nervousness or unease by acting out those emotions intentionally.
“Pride Before The Fall” locks her in as Second Blood if she triggers an Omen intentionally.
“The Foil” empowers allies whose situations are parallel to hers, but whose reactions and philosophy are more praiseworthy. Her path will lead to destruction, theirs might not.
“Die. Please. Now.” allows her Hustle to be used in combat in place of Mettle if she attacks in an exaggeratedly rapid manner.
~
Kelsey Van Note is the Final Girl.
Her aspect is Scream Queen. The Scream Queen has been through this before and lived to tell the tale. Blending genre savvy with raw endurance, she recognizes the beats of horror as they unfold, knowing when to run, when to fight, and when to flip the script.
Kelsey has a Plot Armor score of 39, Mettle of 13, Moxie of 4, Hustle of 6, Savvy of 4, and Grit of 12.
Free Background Trope: “Girl Detective” makes her an amateur detective with some level of renown, though adults often underestimate her.
Current Trope Limit: 9
“Bad Reputation” NPCs will spread rumors about the user's troubling past. As rumors circulate, actions the user takes consistent with their alleged past will have a higher likelihood of succeeding, including actions in combat.
“Fight Dirty” buffs attacks that are considered unfair in sporting combat.
“Hardboiled Detective's Kit” Allows the player to bring items that a detective might use, such as a camera or gun.
“I’m All Alone” lets her draw nearby enemies to attack directly by calling out to them when she is apparently by herself. Enemies have a chance of coming in unprepared or dropping their primary tactics.
“Last One Alive” prevents death until the rest of the party is killed.
“Shoot First” prevents her from being penalized for attacking disguised enemies before they have been revealed as long as she has collected evidence of the truth On-Screen. All other enemies in the area will scatter rather than retaliate immediately.
“Take Them In Alive” Greatly improves the chances of inflicting debilitating, but non-lethal injuries. Works best on humans.
“Tom Boy” buffs the user's Mettle for showing traditionally masculine traits. Can learn "masculine" skills by playing into this characterization. freēwebnovel.com
“The Rumors Are True” NPCs who have heard stories about the user's past run-ins will clamor to find out if the user's fabled survival is true. Revealing the truth will gain dedicated allies.
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"Bingo, bango, bongo," an announcer's voice sounded out over the radio. "It's race day!"
"That's right, Chuck," another voice said. "Today's goal is to go back where you started and get there faster than anybody else. It's the KRSL 24 at Carousel Motor Speedway."
I looked around the room I was in. It was a strange one. The entire structure was composed of metal stands like those you might expect to see around the edge of a racetrack, except the section I was in was closed off and elevated above the normal stands where most of the audience sat. A large metal roof blocked the sunlight from frying us.
I took a few deep breaths. I needed to get my bearings and figure out what I was doing in this storyline. I looked around and saw that I had a setup in front of me with some recording gear and some monitoring equipment. I had a large pair of binoculars in my hands.
On the plus side, I was wearing my hoodie, but somebody had gone and stamped a bunch of logos on it, the most prominent of which read "Hughes Racing."
The main sponsor logo was Wimpaway Adhesive Bandages, Carousel’s brand of Band-Aids.
There were several binders around me, and to my left was a cameraman whom I recognized. It was Danny. This was my first time trying out my companion trope. He was a late-twenties man with shaggy hair, earrings, and a scraggly little beard, but he looked friendly enough. I knew he was a hard worker.
Luckily, he wasn't filming me yet, which meant I wasn't On-Screen in any way.
A few more deep breaths, and I looked out over the racetrack. At first, I took it in with the naked eye, and then I grabbed my big binoculars. As expected, the track was filled with the roar of engines. The race was already underway.
I reached to scratch my ear and realized I was wearing a headset with a big microphone and a button I could push to talk.
"What am I, some type of reporter?" I asked. I was still a bit confused.
As a companion, there was a good chance that Danny would be meta-aware. That would make him immensely helpful with stuff like this because he had access to the script, or at least his little sliver of it.
"You're a spotter for Hughes Racing, and I am here to do a documentary, behind-the-scenes kind of thing," he answered. He lifted up his camera and filmed the cars as they went by. They were all colorful, and from the distance I was viewing them, they looked like little Matchbox cars I remembered playing with as a kid. Unlike those Matchbox cars, they only seemed to go around in circles.
"A spotter?" I said. "So I'm the guy who talks to the driver and says, 'Hey, go faster?’"
"Somebody's got to do it," he said with a smile.
It didn’t take long to find the bright red and white Wimpaway-sponsored #13 car on the track. I took out my binoculars and got a close enough look at the driver to see it was Antoine. He was Off-Screen, and his Incapacitation indicator was constantly flickering just from the stress of the race. I wished I could actually see his face. I didn't know how fast he was going, but it was easily faster than he had ever driven or anyone should ever drive.
I reached up and clicked the button on my headset. "Antoine, how you doing down there?" I asked.
He was out of breath when he finally responded. "I'm hanging in," he said with well-defined fear in his voice. “I hadn't gotten any screen time yet.”
Technically, I was kind of On-Screen because Danny was filming me, but there was no way the camera was picking up what Antoine was saying, so we were probably good. Just to be sure, I decided to give him some cover.
"Well, most of this documentary is going to be about you, but this part right now is about me. You understand? Wait your turn," I said with a laugh.
"I got you," he said after a moment. I could almost hear him switch into character.
"I'm feeling some resistance when I go around this turn," he said.
Maybe that was something that drivers in races would actually say. I didn't know, but I wasn't sure what he wanted me to do about it.
"I'll get the boys in the lab to work on that," I said. "Is it race-breaking?"
"Not a chance," he said.
For a few minutes, Danny captured footage of me doing the spotter's job, and the only reason I knew I was doing it right was that there were other spotters in that elevated section of the stands, and I was basically repeating a bunch of lines I heard them say.
"Take it wide," I said. "Keep an eye on 86."
I hated the 86 car. They were road hogs.
To my understanding, I was just telling Antoine what to do, which isn't something you see in racing movies all that often. Usually, you have the maverick racer whose specific skill and talent allow them to jump to the front of the line in ways that no one else could predict. No one tells you about the middle-aged guy chewing bubble gum, telling the driver what to do.
Or maybe they do tell you about that, but I don't watch any racing, so I wouldn't know.
"Block him," I said as the 86 car tried to come around the outside of Antoine's vehicle.
Antoine complied, moving his car over so the guy couldn't get by, which may have been rude, but it felt oddly powerful to make it happen.
For a moment, I forgot that this was a race taking place in Carousel, and I was actually trying to coach and direct Antoine toward the front of the pack. The ultimate irony was that I didn't actually know where the front of the pack was, because none of this mattered; it was only a setup for the action later.
Antoine did seem to be a good driver, but that could have just been because he was comparing stats with random NPCs.
Still, it was a blast, and I actually got into it as I instructed him to pass certain cars or hold the line, whatever that meant.
Eventually, I just sat back and let Antoine race around as he slowly gained confidence and stopped sounding like he was permanently stuck on the scary part of the roller coaster.
That was right about when I saw a familiar face climb the stairs up to the elevated stands where all the spotters were.
It was none other than Camden Tran, decked out in security gear, being followed by two similarly dressed men who could be accurately described as refrigerators with legs.
He spotted me and made his way over.
"I'll be," I said. "I feel more secure already."
Danny diligently filmed with his camera, but it was pretty clear this wasn't an exclusively found-footage film. I could tell from his skills that he was better with it than I was. He looked like a real professional as he gracefully guided the camera around. It was a lot different from what it had been back when we were mostly running during The Sunken Cradle.
"Mr. Lawrence," Camden said. He had been aged up to his early fifties. "I thought I might find you here. How's your guy doing in the opening stint?"
"Making a turn for the better," I said.
"I love to hear it," he responded. "It's nice to have you back here at the Carousel Motor Speedway."
"It'll be better when you get those moving sidewalks," I said with a laugh. I had noticed that the Speedway was far larger than I had imagined. Walking from one location to another would be very time-consuming.
"Those things are always two years away," he said. "But what can you do?"
"Complain," I said. "That's what I plan on anyway… So what brings you up here to the nosebleeds?" I asked.
He chuckled.
"The feds are all over us about being on the lookout for suspicious characters," he said. "Sent out a wire a few hours ago."
"Now you're on the lookout for suspicious characters? What is it you were doing before?" I asked.
He laughed at my joke, and so did his two men. frёewebnoѵel.ƈo๓
"Mostly drinking beer and watching TV," he said. "This is my retirement after all. They said that these characters would appear to be inebriated."
I looked out over the stands, which were filled with people drinking and having a good time.
"I think you might find some of those out here, Camden," I said.
"I think you may be right," he said.
For a moment, we stared and looked at the race, pretending that it was more interesting than it actually was. Unfortunately, there were very few things that could hold your attention during an impending zombie invasion.
"Well, anyway, I got about fourteen million more miles to walk before I can take a break," he said. "If you see anything, let me know over the radio."
He pointed to a laminated chart among the binders and other supplies my character had. On the chart was a list of numbers associated with different parts of the Speedway, one of which was the security team.
"If I see any drunks, I swear I'll tell you," I said.
And that was all there was for our interaction at that point. Knowing what was about to happen, we really wished that we could just stick together, but our characters didn't know what the impending doom was.
I looked out with my binoculars at the crowds and perimeter of the speedway. From where I was, I could see everything both in and out. I could see the rowdy hooligans, the peaceful enjoyers, and the hundreds of workers making the magic happen.
I could also see the military presence arriving in the parking lot. I watched them as they came in an unending line of vehicles.
I decided to read through some of the material that I had in front of me, and while it took a few moments for me to piece it together, it became clear that this race was not like any I'd ever heard of.
"Antoine," I said over the radio, "You about ready to swap out?"
It took him a moment to respond because it was clear he didn't know what I was talking about.
"Your first stint is almost over," I clarified. "It's almost time for you to let another driver have a turn."
When he responded, there was still a little confusion in his voice. I could see through my binoculars that he was On-Screen, so he was trying to stay in character.
"But I'm not done racing yet," he said.
"Don't worry about it," I said. "You'll get another chance."
I looked down at the pamphlet for the race that we were taking part in. It was called the KRSL 24 because KRSL sponsored it, and it lasted 24 hours. I had no idea what kind of fiction Carousel was cooking up, but there was no way such a thing could exist in the real world.
But what did I know? I wasn't a real racecar spotter. I only played one in the movies.
