Despite the standard day and night cycle, some of you may notice this place still doesn’t feel quite right, a bit outside of time. That shouldn’t stop you from having fun! And should you need to go back to the Grove — or if you’re someone looking to get into Neo Eden in the first place — you need only to gaze into a mirror placed in each of your bedrooms or apartments and wish to go home… which may lead you to fall catastrophically through it to the other side. Try not to hit your chin on the ground.
Life goes on regardless. In this city, there’s a lot to do. You could go shopping at the strip mall near Mania Square, where Heimr and Ydalir have set up a temporary shop to continue to provide for everyone’s needs. They’ll still take shells, but there’s nothing much they can do if you run out of Credits — both will gently suggest you find work in Neo Eden. You guys own businesses back at the Grove, it can’t be that bad, can it?
The good news is, Mr. Bone-Jangles and his entourage of skeletons who you swear weren’t originally here 12 hours ago are happy to help you get a job, where the interview process involves simply “showing up and asking your holographic boss if you can be employed”. Starting your own business is more difficult — you’ll need a loan from the bank! — but not impossible. Any hologram humans that come in to buy things will ignore you, get what they want, and leave. The only time you can interact with your fellow neon-coloured humans is when they’re making a purchase, at which point their items will digitize and they’ll leave. All very odd, but at least the customers aren’t rude to you… or your skeletal coworkers who have joined you for back-breaking labour.
After work, perhaps you want to head to the amusement park — Thrill Point is an utterly massive one to the far northeast of the city past the river that cuts through the digital roadways. With drop towers, roller coasters, rides for little babies who hate heights and fun, and tons of food stalls to stop at, you could feasibly spend all night here and almost forget that you have to be at your next shift in the morning! If you seek a different thrill, Arcadia is a nightclub southwest of Mania Square, where the music plays all night, the liquor flows freely, and anyone under 21 who enters gets marked with an X on the back of their hand by a harmless laser beam. Just outside Arcadia is a small photo booth named “The Swap”, and if you enter with a partner, both of you hitting the “TAKE PHOTO” button will bodyswap you for 12 hours. It will also print out a funny photo of you as a keepsake. Enjoy being someone else for a while!
Head to the Rent-a-Ride, where you can rent any vehicle on wheels — electric scooters, cars, motorcycles, hoverbikes — as long as you can pay the expensive fee. Speeding will get you a ticket from your local robopolice; breaking standard civilian laws will get you arrested and thrown into the unmanned city jail. And try not to tailgate or crash your ride — not only will you be on the hook for vehicle damages, but you’ll be shafted with a ludicrous hospital fee. Seriously, people live like this?
But, if a calm walk through nature is more your style, City Park and its
digital trees to the north may suit your needs. The fish in the river here can be fished up by hopeful anglers, though all are wiggly, inedible robots. Hm.
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sticksandbones2025-04-01 12:12 pm
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Min's unsure about it, but can't bring himself to say no to the robodog. That, and he's a little scared of triggering Livio's bad side.]
You can pet it.
[It jumps for joy at the confirmation, letting out an eager yip. It's practically vibrating as it waits for his attention.]
There's a guy who's selling them. You should probably try and stay away from him though.
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Why? I mean, I believe you, but what happened?
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On the plus side, the pup is more than making up fo any enthusiasm that Min-Gi might be lacking. It sniffs and licks him with its metallic tongue, seemingly no different from an organic dog in terms of behaviour.]
He was kinda shady. I don't know if he was exactly legit.
[In fact he knows he wasn't, but admitting that could be a mistake.]
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Shady, how? Was this s'posed to be an actual dog, or somethin'?
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No, but I think he might have stolen them?
[He doesn't think that. He knows that. It's probably still not smart to be admitting even suspicions though.]
He kept saying the cops would get rid of them if they got hold of them.
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... That is a little weird. I don't know if that's how confiscating stolen property works, but... How much're you out?
[because, yeah, livio is more concerned with min-gi's ability to sustain himself than the fact that his dog is laundered. sorry, thievery just isn't a big deal to a guy who used to deal in lives. something fun for min to find out later! 8) ]
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[This is actually less to do with Min's current feelings around Livio and more to do with his own defensiveness. Even at the time it had felt like a scam, and hindsight has only made that feel even more true. He's annoyed at himself for seeing it for what itself and still ending up falling for it.
The pup seems a little conflicted at its master's agitation, torn between attention from New Friend or whether it should be turning its attention back to Min who's still unsure what to make of Livio's fluctuating personality .]
I still have money. I've been working, so...
[So he's good. Honestly, it's mostly his pride that's wounded by the experience.]
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Sorry, I meant -- his story don't add up. He does sound sketchy.
[he isn't going to cause a repeat of the back-and-forth in the shop, as long as min-gi confidently says he has the means to get by. the more he thinks about the whole robo-dog situation, though...]
... Wait a minute -- the holograms don't talk. Was this guy one of ours?
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[Sketchy. Min had zero doubts about that even at the time, which makes it even more galling that he ended up guilted into buying from him.]
He wasn't one of the holograms. He was an older guy. Kinda rough. He seemed like he did this kind of thing a lot, but I don't know how good he is at it.
[He says, having been successfully scammed.]
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[there aren't too many older looking folks in the grove; it shouldn't be that difficult.
liv holds an increasingly awkward silence, glancing between the pup and... literally anything else, really. min-gi doesn't strike him as the type of guy who would enjoy him offering to strong-arm the scammer to get his credits back for him.]
... Well, I guess it could be worse? Y'got a cute lil pet outta it. He don't look harmful...
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Yeah. He's cute. He only answers to the name he came with though. You'd think there'd be some way to programme it...
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'fraid I don't got much experience with robot programmin'... What is his name?
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[He sounds annoyed, but Air Conditioner looks up eagerly at the sound of its name, hopping up on its hind legs.
It definitely reconizes it.]
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but air conditioner sure does respond, and min-gi doesn't look amused.]
... Oh, yer serious. Aw, I think it's -- cute, in a way! Iddn't that right, AC?
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Min-Gi cringes. Partially from embarrassment, and partly from just how loud that laugh is. Air Conditioner, on the other hand, goes bonkers at hearing its name again.
Hello, yes, that is it!! Please continue giving it attention!! Min-Gi gives its leash a little pull to try and get it back under control.]
Hey, relax. It's getting late...
[Do holograms care about being kept up at night? He isn't sure, but the robo cops probably will.]
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Ah, yeah, sorry... I oughta let y'all get back to it, huh? Didn't mean to get 'im all worked up again...