Lost Carnival | IC Contact

[periphrasing]

✆CHANNEL FREQUENCY: 319.03058
DESCRIPTION: Don't ask her about the significance of the number of her frequency. It's something about the production code of her favorite episode of CPH and some other significant numbers from that show, who even knows...

✉MAIL BOX LOCATION: Mailbox is on her door, it's shaped like a chicken???
DESCRIPTION: She doesn't really see the point of correspondence by mail. You're better off hitting up her radio or finding her in person if it's something important.

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Day 68

[whattaprick]

Do you know anything about how Ignatius knows Lapis?

[periphrasing]

[And the new contender for the most baffling question Peridot has been asked this week is...]

Nyeh? Wwwwwhat are you talking about.

[She'd be willing to bet Pumpkin that Lapis doesn't know who Ignatius even is, so. What.]

[whattaprick]

Strange said Ignatius was looking for her when they ran into him.

Since you’re her best friend, I was wondering if you had any idea why.

[periphrasing]

[Peridot's mind is racing away with this new information. She hates that her first thought is that Lapis may have turned around and done something stupid, even after that stressful chat they had in the library.]

I... I don't know, I... You're absolutely sure he was looking for Lapis?

[She sounds faint.]

[whattaprick]

Strange isn’t sure he can trust his memory on account of the whole dying and being tortured thing, so we’re asking other people who were there what they remember.

Maybe it doesn’t matter anymore. But I want to know.

[periphrasing]

I don't think Lapis even knows who Ignatius is. And even if she did, she'd never try to strike a deal with him, we--

[Pause.]

She knows how how dangerous the fae are.

[whattaprick]

If she didn’t before, she does now.

But I want to know for sure what happened to make Ignatius think that she’d be willing to desert the Carnival.

[periphrasing]

[She growls:] You and me both. It's not exactly a secret that she doesn't love it here but we've talked about this together at length. She would never do something that dumb just to try and get out of her contract here.

[whattaprick]

Would she do something that dumb to protect Steven or you?

[periphrasing]

[And more aggressively now:] No, she wouldn't, because I've already talked to her about how doing something like that wouldn't actually do anyone any good at all!

[whattaprick]

[ There’s a pause as he digests this. Then — ]

You said you talked to her. You didn’t actually say she agreed.

[ Lambert is familiar with this sort of tactic, as it’s one he employs! ]

Look, I’m not accusing her of anything. Would she even recognize any of the fae if she ran into them out here? If she ran into one of them, and thought they were just another part of the books ... you weren’t sure the Nightshade you ran into was real, either.

[periphrasing]

[She did agree, but before Peridot decides it's not worth insisting he understand that. She just keeps staring at her radio while she listens, with a sour looking frown that Lambert can't see.]

Well the Nightshade I ran into was definitely real, considering how effectively she managed to destroy that book she and Frost were arguing over. Um--

[It's a two-prong realization that hits her next. First: Lambert isn't talking about the pixie fight incident. Second: She has just figured out how Ignatius might have known about Lapis.

Awkward silence ensues on her end of the radio.]

[whattaprick]

I meant the first time, what you told me about. Before we realized any of the Courts were even sniffing around.

[periphrasing]

RIGHT. Yes. That time. Sorry, I... Misunderstood.

[Now she just sounds super distracted.]

I need to go talk to Lapis. I'll let you know if I figure anything out.

[She tries to stop responding, at this point, unless Lambert insists on carrying on the conversation.]

[whattaprick]

Tell me if she remembers anything.

Because I’m having the other nightrunners ask people who were there what they remember, too.

[periphrasing]

Yes. Affirmative.

[GOODBYE.]

DAY 76

[ringleaders]

[At some point during the day, Alyss will find Peridot and deliver a letter to her. She'll say it's from the Starlight, but that she hasn't read it. It's written in gold ink on impossibly black parchment.]

[periphrasing]

[Peridot says 'the who?', makes Alyss stick around while she reads it real quick, and then tries to get Alyss to explain what the hell it means. Sorry.]

[ringleaders]

[Alyss says that the Starlight is the fae that was protecting a few people from the carnival with her magic. Childermass asked her to.

She'll take the letter and do her best to understand it. She's not particularly well read, given her upbringing. She squints at it for a while.]

Well... remembering your roots usually means remembering where you came from, right? Like, your home.

[periphrasing]

[Peridot wrinkles her nose at that and considers that explanation for a moment.]

Okay, sure. But WHICH home is it talking about then? I was made on Homeworld but it's not actually my home anymore. Earth is my home. But I guess, The Carnival is also my home? And then there's Portland--

[Alyss cannot possibly have these answers, but Peridot is asking her anyway.]

[ringleaders]

Um... I don't know?

[Alyss sounds like she's genuinely trying.]

But it usually means the first place you came from. Where you were born, right? So if you were made on Homeworld, that's probably it.

[She points at another part of the letter]

It says "fruits of your creation" here, but usually the phrase is "fruits of your labour", which means the end result of your effort, usually when it's a good thing. So maybe it means the positive results of your birth?

[periphrasing]

[Peridot leans in to squint thoughtfully at that part of the letter, one hand over her mouth.]

Hmmm... I see. That doesn't necessarily narrow anything down of course, because I'm an incredibly precious and important gem with everything to offer to the world, so the positive results of my so called 'birth' are actually quite numerous.

[She grabs the letter back from Alyss and holds it up close to her face to squint at it again for a minute, until she finally lets her arms fall back to her sides, temporarily defeated.] I'll... need to think further on this. Um... Thank you, for your assistance. And for delivering this to me. Nyeh... Here. For your trouble.

[She reaches into the other pocket of her slacks and fishes the first thing she lays her hands on to provide as a tip. In this case: It's a beat up old tamagotchi with a cracked screen, which Peridot definitely dug out of a dumpster somewhere. She presses it into Alyss's hand, warns her not to forget to feed it, and moseys off, lost in thought.]