The Machine [Open/Accepting]

[Eternal_PrinceOfFire]

"Well I'm not a huge fan of thrill rides. I'd like to do something easy first" Damien said. He was never one to have a strong stomach. He used to go to amusement parks with his brothers back when they were younger and the two others always seemed to handle things like roller coasters and scramblers better. Sometimes they'd laugh if Damien threw up.


"Just remember that we are at war and risky actions cannot be taken lightly. They could jeopardize a whole plan that would keep the war in Helmshire's favour" Dustin said to the prince. He then turned to the king and began giving an explanation. He also made sure to let the king know where to contact the rebels. The information was also passed to the Prime Minister and the important members of the Helmshirish Cabinet. Right now, it was imperative that the rebels maintained their support and finances with the Helmshirish government. It was the best way the two of them could combat the empire that was advancing towards them.  

[lil_lollypop1]

"Alright then! How about the haunted house?" She asked. "You're not afraid of fake zombies are you?" She giggled.  

[Eternal_PrinceOfFire]

"Not really. I know that these things are fake, though I also know you can get a surprise once in a while. Let's do that" 'David' said and took Shadow into there.  

[lil_lollypop1]

"Ok." Shadow replied, following behind him. As they went through the dark mansion, hired employees were in different rooms, doing seemingly disgusting things. As you wondered through, you could talk to the people and take closer looks at what they were doing, though most probably wouldn't want to. In the basement was a torture chamber where a man was beating a fake rotten corpse and a dwarfed man with a missing eye laughed like a lunitic, and in the kitchen was a disfigured woman who was cooking something that smelled disgusting. There were bloody hands all over the walls and the dim lights and paint made it look like everything in the house was rotting. "Oh wow... the details are amazing." Shadow muttered, leaning in a little closer to Damien as she ran a hand down the wall.  

[Eternal_PrinceOfFire]

"Indeed. I feel bad for anyone who had just eaten or were going to eat after coming in here" 'David' said. He looked around at all the creepy detail. I wonder if this was influenced from the human experimentation camps. I'll have to see who designed and built this place Damien thought to himself. Well it seemed to help Shadow get closer to him, even if it was just for the ride.  

[lil_lollypop1]

"That's true. But wait, didn't we just eat?" She giggled. "Well, I guess we had that long ride in-between. I wonder what else is in here?" She smiled as they walked through more rooms. In the attic was a hall of broken dolls, and a little girl with fake blood dried on her throat, and fake marks on her head as if she had had brain surgery sat, playing with wide eyes like one of the dolls. Back downstairs, there were a few more rooms with different set ups, like a fake bleeding corpse of a husband while the mother knitted and so on until they reached the exit. "Wow. That was elaborate. I wonder what the inspiration was." She said.  

[Eternal_PrinceOfFire]

"Not sure. Horror films I'm guessing. Well that was fun but I'm glad to get out of there. Where else should we head to next?" the disguised dictator asked his date. He checked the time occasionally to see what hour it was and how long it was before curfew.  

[lil_lollypop1]

"Well, I chose the first place. How about you choose the next?" She asked, almost like a bubbly school girl.  

[Eternal_PrinceOfFire]

"Let's try the shooting range. See if there's some prizes we can get" Damien said. He led her over to the place and was interested to see that the targets were the images of his enemies. Well, the place was built in honour of him.  

[lil_lollypop1]

Shadow walked over to the stand and picked up the gun. Unlike most shooting ranges, the guns were well made like real guns and shot polymer pellets to prevent anyone from getting hurt. She turned her head and noticed a row of rather decent prizes from teddy bears to gold and silver jewelry. "How much is the game?" She asked the guy behind the stand.
"Everything is free. Everything comes with the tickets." He replied. Shadow smiled and turned to Damien.
"Hey David, want a new pair of cuff-links?" She asked, gesturing to the silver and diamond studded pair with an onyx rim. The design was beautifully hand carved in the shape of roses, and looked as if it would cost a fortune.  

[Eternal_PrinceOfFire]

"Sure. I could do with some. They look pretty nice and I'm sure some of the guys will be jealous of the price. Won't do me much good on the field, but I'm sure I'll get home to them" 'David' said. He liked roses and the only thing that would have made them better is if they were black. Perhaps his last name had an influence on that, but Damien seemed to be the only one of his brothers that liked roses.  

[lil_lollypop1]

"Ok." She smiled. The man moved out of the way as Shadow fired a test shot on a test target, hitting a bulls eye. "Not bad." She muttered, then took a deep breath. Her body seemed to be consumed by a silent aura that made her seem as if she was death himself. At that, all movement seemed to slow as she whipped her arm around, firing off the remaining 5 bullets quickly as if it were second nature to her. She let out the air she held in, and put the gun down on the counter, getting a perfect store. Slowly, the aura began to fade.
"Incredible. This is the first perfect score I've seen in a while, and probably the first from a woman! What would you like, young lady."
"Can I see your selection of cuff links?" Shadow asked sweetly, though after seeing her performance, her innocent expression seemed twisted. The man behind the counter put up several different pairs of the same cuff-links in different colors, along with other symbols and jewels embedded into them, including a pair to the one displayed that had onyx roses and diamond stems on a silver base. "Which one do you want?" She asked.  

[Eternal_PrinceOfFire]

"Ooh, I'll take those ones" 'David' said, pointing to the onyx roses.


The workers seemed a little nervous, as if those cufflinks were being saved for the Absolute Leader himself or something. Little did they know...


"What? They're not reserved for anyone, are they? If so, why do you have them on display? Well I want them now" Damien said.  

[lil_lollypop1]

"Well, the administration told me to try and hold them until the Gracious Absolute Leader was able to visit. I was ordered to give him a pair weather he shot or not, just because he was gracing us with his presence. You know, black roses and all. I don't know when that is, but hopefully, I should have enough time to order a new pair before he comes. If you like them, take them. The lady earned it." He said, hesitantly handing over the case to Damien.

"Thank you very much." She told the man behind the counter. "Besides, if the grand absolute leader hasn't come for the opening, despite it being dedicated to him, it probably means they ran out of money before finishing the park and didn't tell him this place existed yet because of it."

"Well, that is true. They are building a new section, that hasn't been open to the public yet. It's called 'Jasper's Circus.' It's actually going to open in a month or two." The man replied.

"See what I mean. They probably figured they'd make enough money to finish this place from the expensive tickets until then. If I had to guess, he'll probably get an invitation for his birthday, which is also in a month or two."  

[Eternal_PrinceOfFire]

"Thank you" 'David' said and took the cufflinks. "So that's what you figure? I see. Well I don't know if he would come on that day since everything is supposed to be closed on the Absolute Leader's Birthday. It is a national holiday after all. If I'm not at war you may see me marching in the military parade" he added while walking with Shadow. Since religion was banned, Damien created a bunch of new holidays, all empire related of course. His birthday was one, Jian's birthday was another, the day Diethelm was declared an empire was another, called Empire Day, and the day that Damien overthrew the democratic government was called Day of Revolution. There were other holidays as well, but those were the major ones.