Amalgam left the stage satisfied with her performance. She’d never had a problem sharing in front of a group but actually having them engage was something else entirely. Usually her audience just rolled their eyes and ignored her. Probably because she wasn’t supposed to be telling a narrative nor the audience realising they were an audience. 

Maybe there is something about time and place, she thought to herself. 

With her portion of the festival done with Amalgam could now enjoy the festival for herself. Mainly playing various carnival games. She’d never had the opportunity before, only seeing them in shows, games, or books, so now was the perfect chance. She made her way over before bumping into someone leaving the performance area she really didn’t want to see.

“I was surprised to see you on stage,” Joyce said in a neutral tone. “Didn’t think this sort of activity was your thing.”

“And I’m surprised you learned how to dress casually,” Amalgam mocked. “I guess the world is full of surprises.”

“True, you somehow managed to fix your face,” Joyce retorted. She hesitated before adding more gently. “There wasn’t any serious damage was there?”

“None more than the usual,” Amalgam replied, voice dripping with sarcasm while gesturing to her entire body. “Quit worrying about me, it's weird.”

“Just making sure my team mate is functional,” She scoffed, “I don’t want you holding me back anymore than necessary.”

Before she could respond the green drone in baggy overalls and straw hat standing next to them interrupted.

“Yuh know, we were just talking about trying some of the pastries using those mushberries as an ingredient, “They said. “Being the original baker, can you show us where we might find some?”

“Can’t you just walk up to a random stall?”

“Nah, Joyce here wanted only the best,” They said, putting an arm around her shoulder. “Shes picky like that.”

“I said no such thing,” Joyce said glaring at her friend.

“Just think of it as a team building exercise or something.” The green drone whispered, thinking Amalgam couldn’t hear.

“Fine, what about you Red?”

Amalgam glared thinking to herself, I could just lead them around to a bunch of games until they leave.

“Alright, you can tag along.” She claimed while tossing a mushberry into her mouth. Then she continued her stroll to the various game stands.

The pair followed, unfortunately not choosing to keep their distance. The green drone was quicker to approach her. Not hesitant to start a conversation.

“You know, our story actually got me thinking. Why do mushtrees grow fruit? I mean they reproduce through spores right? Fruits are normally a way for plants to spread their seeds farther using animals as transportation. Assuming the seeds survive digestion anyways.”

The question surprised Amalgam. She herself had thought of this and come up with a few possibilities. Although she’d need further investigation to prove or disprove any of them. That didn’t stop her from writing her theories down.

“I’ve thought of two possibilities. One, the animals that the fruit attracts provide the mushtrees with some sort of benefit, like keeping out harmful pests. Or two, when the fruit decomposes or is digested and expelled it works as a type of fertilizer that helps the spores germinate.”

“Those are interesting theories,” The Green Drone hummed. “You know I could actually help test the second idea.”

“Huh?”

“I didn’t think you could defecate, Grease.” “Joyce chimed in.

Amalgam and The Green Drone, or Grease, gave each other a look. Then Grease burst into laughter. Joyce smirked in response. Amalgam wasn’t entirely sure Joyce was joking, her face was as stiff as usual before her friend’s giggling.

“Gross,” Amalgam finally decided to say.

Grease pulled himself together before clarifying his statement.

“I meant analyzing the changes to the soil as the mushberries decompose. If necessary, I can probably find a volunteer for the ‘fertilizer creation’ part. I’d just need you to grab me a bunch of mushberries.”

“Again, gross. Just get some from food distribution, no need to make more work for me.”

“I’d rather not whittle down the designated food supply just to watch it rot.”

“Then fill out the request forms or something.”

Grease’s shoulders slumped.

“Now you're making more work for me…” 

“Shes right though,” Joyce spoke up again, face back to a blank expression. “Theres a process to these things and they should be followed.”

“Fiiine,” They groaned. 

Amalgam led the group through the fair grounds stopping at just about every game she could. Unfortunately lines were almost always short so the group didn’t object. This frustrated Amalgam as the whole goal of stopping at games was to convince them to find a mushberry strudel or whatever on their own. 

Some of the games were simply luck based, like pulling rubber ducks out of a “river” and looking at the bottom. Some colors were winners while most were losses. Grease was incredibly smug when they pulled the grand prize, a stunning painting of Robigus’ landscape. For someone who almost never left the colony walls like Grease, it was a truly incredible prize. 

Other games were more skill based like ringtoss, shooting hoops, and throwing balls to knock over targets or stacks of cans. Joyce became increasingly more competitive the more of these stands the group stopped by. Losing becoming harder for her to ignore. 

The current booth the group was attempting to knock over targets attached to hinges. Grease missed all three of their shots, shrugging their shoulders having anticipated the results. Joyce hit the target all three times dead center but much to her frustration, the target stood unmoved.

“Gahhhh!” Joyce yelled, “do these things even fall over!”

“Of course they do,” Amalgam replied with a smug look on her face. “All you need to do is know the trick to it. Check this out.”

Amalgam paused for a moment to think about her throw. She’d never actually participated in a carnival before but in various sources of media, carnies had a reputation for rigged games that were technically winnable. Pulled her arm back as if she was throwing a baseball and let loose. The ball missed the target, slamming into the back of the stall.

“Wow you really showed me,” Joyce said sarcastically. “Next time I’ll try missing, that’ll get me the prize for sure.”

“Shut up, not all of us have aim assist.” Amalgam grumbled.

“I can’t be blamed for my pre-war programming.” 

Joyce wore a smug look after confirming she had the superior aim. Amalgam chose to ignore it as she had to focus on her goal. Proving she was better at games than Miss Soldier. Amalgam’s cooling fans swirled which gave her a noise to concentrate on instead of the atmosphere around her. Then she pulled her arm back and threw her second ball.

This time the ball found its mark, colliding with the top of the target. The target toppled over. It was now Alalgam’s turn to be smug, she placed her arms on her hips and turned to face Joyce. Her face had returned to its neutral position.

“How do you like that?” Amalgam taunted.

“It was actually pretty good, can you do it again?”

Amalgam turned to try again, throwing her final ball at another target. This time the ball hit closer to the center, failing to knock it over. 

“Aparently not,” Amalgam shrugged. She didn’t let it get to her because she already proved what she wanted.

“I want another go, I think I understand the trick to knocking it over.” Joyce said, “The bullseye is a trap, hitting the top of the target will more likely knock it over but the odds of missing entirely are higher.”

“Yep, good thing you came installed with cheat codes.” Grease joked.

“I only use them during combat, not for trivial things like carnival games. I do actually try to improve my marksmanship skills when at the range.”

“Well lets see if you can knock over any targets then,” Amalgam taunted.

Joyce took a moment to aim before throwing each ball, her screen displaying a look of concentration. One after another the targets fell over, winning her the large prize. The group collected their winnings, in Grease’s case nothing. Amalgam took her prize in the form of a few credits, to help her food fund along. Joyce grabbed a large bear plushie, tying the “arms” round her neck so could hang off her back. Then the group moved on. 

“I didn’t take you for a plushie person,” Amalgam said.

“Cas would’ve liked it, bears are her favorite animal. Earth animal at least.” Joyce replied.

“Would’ve?”

“Don’t worry about it. Speaking of Earth, what did you do before the apocalypse Grease?” Joyce asked, changing the subject. “I don’t think you’ve told me before.”

“Oh! I don’t think I have!” Grease replied, “I worked in janitorial at the factory the colony settled in. I was fixed up and found a much better job in agriculture. It's much more fulfilling.”

“Yeah, cleaning duty is never fun. I’m glad it's on rotation as opposed to a dedicated job. Did you do anything before the war Red?

Amalgam thought about it before answering. She viewed her prewar experiences as mostly negative and tried not to dwell on them. Although during those days she was quite happy to fulfill her duties.

“I worked as a servant in a manor for some rich pricks,” She finally answered.

She picked up her pace not wanting to continue the conversation. Her plan to lead her unwanted company around until they decided to leave had indeed failed. Instead she worked her way to the nearest food stall that sold mushberry pastries. 

“Here you go, everything you ever wanted,” Amalgam said upon arrival, then started to leave.

“You’re not sticking around?” Grease asked.

“Not within my excess food budget today, I wasn’t standing on a stage performing without a reason.”

“I can get you something,” Joyce said, letting a sigh escape. “As thanks for bringing us here. I had… a good time.”

Joyce’s screen lit up green as pixels appeared where her cheeks would be. As if admitting she enjoyed herself was a difficult thing to do.

“I-I umm…” Amalgam stammered, caught off guard. She wasn’t sure how to react to the sudden offer. So she chose to do what was most comfortable, staying alone. “Have a thingly vailed excuse to get to…”

There was an awkward moment that hung between them, Amalgam felt her cooling fan move into a faster speed. She wasn’t sure how to feel about the alarm blaring that ended the moment. Joyce’s expression changed from bashful to focused in a moment while Grease looked panicked.

“You two need to get to the shelter,” Joyce commanded. 

—

While her friend and coworker evacuated, Joyce assisted in ensuring all the civilians at the fairgrounds made their way into The Star’s Embrace’s shelter point. She did so with her large stuffed bear hanging off her back creating a ridiculous look. Joyce had forgotten it was there the moment the alarms activated. Active gunfire could be heard from the walls as rampaging animals charged into it. After the fairgrounds were cleared Joyce reported in for duty but was turned away.

“You’re no longer Security Forces, take shelter with the rest of the colony,” The on duty captain directed. Joyce didn’t recognize him as they worked different shifts when she was a captain. “If the reserve troops get called into action, gear up. In case we need to call all available combatants.”

With that Joyce followed orders and joined everyone in the shelter. Upon arrival she found a wall to lean against, remembering the bear on her back and removed it. She squeezed it in her arms as she collapsed onto the floor. Feeling useless all she wanted to do was talk to Cas, or CasAI but that wasn’t an option at the moment. Instead she watched a memory while she waited for the all clear to be given.