Tech Hindrance

## Premise

Carmiña somewhat recently acquired a laptop, and she has absolutely no idea how to use it. When she passes through a high-tech town on her way back to the farm, she figures someone here will be able to explain the strange device to her. Unfortunately, she meets with the *least* helpful person in the city.

## Cast

* Carmiña (Mala Sorte)
* Cici (Zen)

## Notable NPCs

* Staff bots (employees of the PartyPlex)

## Plot Summary

Carmiña is riding a train when an attendant comes around checking tickets. Since she didn't pay to ride the train, she jumps out of the window and finds herself in Futureworld City. Overwhelmed by the crowd, Carmiña looks for a quieter place to gather her thoughts. Carmiña knows cities often have crime in alleyways, and since Futureworld City has no parks, she sets her sights on the Superstar PartyPlex. Carmiña steps into the building's atrium and gets a little overwhelmed, and finds her way to the bowling alley. She tries to start bowling, but a staff bot interrupts her and says she must pay by the hour before she bowls, but Carmiña thinks she could make her own bowling alley at home and walks away from the bowling lanes. Instead she heads to the ice cream parlor located in the same room, sits down at a booth, and pulls out her laptop.

Shortly after Carmiña sits down, Cici skates up to her table and hands her a menu. Carmiña orders a banana split with mint and pistachio ice cream. She asks if there is licorice ice cream, Cici tells her to look at the list, and Carmiña is outraged that licorice ice cream isn't sold here. Carmiña looks at a display on the table that shows the character-themed sundaes decorated to look like the animal performers of the PartyPlex, where a rabbit sundae has been scratched out. Cici delivers the banana split and asks if she can help Carmiña with anything else. Carmiña asks if Cici knows what her laptop is, and Cici looks around the empty ice cream parlor and says she's too busy to help.

Carmiña starts messing with her laptop, unable to even open it correctly, so Cici skates over and puts the laptop into the correct position without a word. Carmiña eats some ice cream and fails to turn on the laptop by typing out "please work" on the keyboard. Carmiña shakes the laptop in frustration, and Cici skates back over to the table and asks if Carmiña really doesn't know how to use it. Carmiña admits she doesn't know what the laptop is, and got it after seeing it in a dream. Cici, frustrated, pulls the laptop away and shows Carmiña how to turn it on. Carmiña thanks Cici, and when Cici brushes her off, she doubles down that this isn't something everyone knows. Cici tells Carmiña to stop smoking, so Carmiña eats the licorice she is smoking. The two have a brief argument over which is more unhealthy, smoking licorice or the massive amounts of sugar in the ice cream.

Cici answers a few of Carmiña's questions about laptops and computers in general. Cici is disdainful towards Carmiña for not knowing about computers, so Carmiña plays up her ignorance and feigns not knowing what wheels are. Carmiña clicks on a spam ad and the laptop starts overheating, so she puts the bowl of ice cream on top of the computer to try to cool it down. Carmiña convinces Cici to take a look at the laptop and help. Cici holds her hand to the laptop, and Carmiña realizes that Cici is cold like a freezer. Cici cools down the laptop by touching it and closes out of all the things Carmiña clicked. Carmiña asks if Cici gets cold, and Cici tells her that she was built to work in the ice cream parlor and designed to not melt the ice cream. Carmiña's Insight check shows that Cici doesn't really like working at the PartyPlex or being built for her job.

Carmiña is surprised someone is building employees, and asks if Cici is allowed to leave and work elsewhere. Cici mentions that Lexy left, but doesn't seem interested in leaving herself. Carmiña mentions that she's been seeing messages on her laptop from the other people in her dream, and asks Cici if people usually get laptops from dreams. Cici sarcastically says yes, but Carmiña takes her seriously. Carmiña accidentally turns the computer off, and Cici turns it back on for her. Cici confirms that Carmiña controls the cursor, and Carmiña accidentally restarts the computer. Cici scolds Carmiña and tells her to read what she clicks on, then asks if Carmiña knows what electricity is and how to charge the laptop. When Carmiña seems clueless, Cici tells her she needs to buy a charging cord. Carmiña is offput by the thought of going to a computer store, and asks if Cici could give her one. Cici tells her that there's a store in the PartyPlex, Gadgets and Gizmos, that might carry charging cords. Carmiña asks if there is character merchandise of Cici, and when Cici says there isn't, Carmiña says she's sure kids would buy merchandise of Cici, which Cici would like, though she tries to hide it. Carmiña says Cici doesn't need to be so guarded, and it's normal to want to be recognized, and Cici snaps at her.

Carmiña asks Cici to sit down and show her a program where she can type messages, and Cici opens a chatroom app. Cici sees there are already several messages and some drawings of cats in the chat. Cici helps Carmiña send a message, Carmiña thanks her for her help, and Cici asks Carmiña to give her a good rating on the customer survey. Carmiña starts talking about the town where she lives, and when Cici is a bit disgusted by the thought of the middle of nowhere, Carmiña tries to convince Cici it's a good place by saying there's no kids there. That doesn't work, and Carmiña says that her town and life is what she's chosen, and asks if Cici can say the same. Cici tells her the price for the ice cream, cutting the conversation off, and Carmiña apologizes and pays, giving Cici a tip as well. Carmiña quickly finishes eating, and tells Cici that there are some nearby trains that don't check tickets, in case she wants to get away from the PartyPlex. Cici says she doesn't like what Carmiña's suggesting, and Carmiña says she didn't like stealing train rides either at first but has found happiness in a life where she does things she wasn't meant for.

Cici asks if Carmiña has friends at home, and Carmiña struggles with the answer, saying she cares for people but doesn't know if they also care, and some of her friends are not around anymore. Carmiña in turn asks if Cici has friends, and Cici refuses to answer. Carmiña tries to convince Cici to open up, but Cici scorns Carmiña for trying to give advice when she can't operate a laptop. Carmiña suggests Cici could try doing something other than ice cream if she's unhappy, and Cici says she won't leave because the others won't and someone needs to look out for them. Carmiña says she is happy that Cici has friends, but suggests a shorter trip away. Carmiña asks if the animatronics have dental coverage, and Cici tells her they get maintenance, but Carmiña's Insight check shows that there's more Cici isn't mentioning, and not all the robots are as well taken care of as Cici; bad things have happened to the animatronics in the past.

Carmiña asks if Cici gets out into the city, and Cici asks why she would want to, seeming disgusted by the idea of having friends outside the PartyPlex. Carmiña complains about the lack of plants in the city, and when Cici lists out some complaints about plants, Carmiña pretends to have a heart attack. Cici, annoyed, asks if Carmiña will be there all day, and Carmiña says she'll stay for the next 2 hours and messes about with her laptop some more. After two hours, Carmiña does leave, and she leaves a flower and an annotated train map behind on the table. Cici tries to return Carmiña's items, but Carmiña sneaks out using Pass Without Trace. Cici throws both the map and the flower away.

Before leaving the PartyPlex, Carmiña buys a Lexy Lupine-themed charger for her laptop. She notices some older art of a five-animal band, and then sees the more recent merchandise, where the alligator is in a wheelchair and the rabbit is gone. Carmiña drops her Pass Without Trace at the exit and seeks out a staff bot giving the customer satisfaction survey, giving Cici and the ice cream parlor a very positive review. Carmiña leaves the PartyPlex and gets onto another train, leaving the city.

## Notes

If you hear a soft metallic sound vaguely like a slinky in the recording, that's Zen's fidget toy (one of these bad boys)

## Art Gallery

Cici and Carmiña discuss the list of ice cream flavors, drawn by ScottieCici tells Carmiña that computers can sleep, drawn by Scottie