Coco Adel- City Hall Board Room
On the top floor of the City Hall, one of the various weekly open forums was well underway. In an effort to provide a degree of government transparency and promote civic engagement, she had instituted a few public meetings to allow people in the town to meet and discuss what they felt was important. The Board Room was large enough to accommodate the largest amount of people expected to attend on any given day, but felt more cozy and intimate than a high school gymnasium.It helped give people the illusion that their local government mattered, and maybe let them forget that there was a giant military base nearby that could decide to take over at any moment.
After the Secretary finished going over the minutes from the last meeting, Coco went to the podium to serve as moderator.
"Now then," she stated from the front of the room, speaking clearly into the microphone. She looked around the room, eyes darting behind her sunglasses as she took in the attendees for this meeting. "With those formalities out of the way, the floor is now open to the public. You know the procedure, get on up here and I'll give you the microphone. "
Just another guy
Alya I City Hall I Shameless Promotion!
When called forth by the mayor herself, a young girl of ten years old stepped forward, holding onto the microphone that has been handed to her.
.*Ahem* Tapping on the microphone for a few times, the girl stared at the very serious expression of everyone within the town hall.
"So, umm, is this thing on? I.. Oh wait, let me introduce myself first. *Ahem* I, Alya, am speaking on behalf of New Hope Restaurant, would like to make an important announcement," she continued, her tone serious while looking at the various members at the town hall.
"... that next week, New Hope restaurant would have a new breakfast special from 6 am to 9 am! We're also introducing a new menu item at the same following week! To all our dearest customers, please be sure to come by! Oh, and don't forget to invite your friends and family too! Ehe~" Before speaking out in a cheerful voice, shamelessly trying to promote her papa's business.
"Oh yeah, before I forget, we are also looking for a waiter around these parts, and I was hoping that anyone here would like to work. The pay is not that good, but you get to enjoy three meals a day, all for free, before, during and after the shift is done! If anyone's interested, please be sure to come by at East Central New Hope restaurant and get interviewed by papa~ Ah, speaking of which, hey papa! How'd I do?" Alya waved at a certain someone gathered at the assembly.
Somewhere, among said assembly
A certain chef of a certain restaurant could only facepalm.
edited 18th Aug '17 7:01:18 PM by JustSomeGuy732
"A post per day keeps the GMs away!"
Speed: Negligible.
This was the way that Bethany intended to do things today, but it wasn't enough. A few more minutes, and she'd be late.
Doing the automotive equivalent of running to school with toast in your mouth, she was desperately trying to duck and weave through slow traffic, because at this rate she could probably just ditch her car and run the rest of the way faster. You wouldn't think there was anything wrong with the world with this much traffic!
Bethany was seconds away from doing the unthinkable, and honking her horn to alert the elderly gentleman in front that he could move now.
But, eventually, the world smiled upon Bethany. She turned the corner, and there it was. A parking space, in front of the building! Untouched, and not a single No Parking sign in sight!
Bethany burst through the assembly hall's doors in the most quiet and out of the way means possible, ready to say something like "I'm Here, I'm Here" or "Sorry I'm Late". She wasn't even dressed for the occasion, but for the weather
◊, but that didn't matter just yet. There was a little girl up on stage, and she was...
...advertising her dad's restaurant. Bethany couldn't exactly fault her, she was either pretty brave or oblivious to come up and do this in front of everyone but...
"...Am I in the right room? Is this the town hall meeting?" She really couldn't contain her confusion here, so she ended up saying that aloud.
Quirking an eyebrow at the sudden burst in by the green haired Touhou and having the darkly tinted glass move along with his facial change (and freaking out a couple of people sitting nearby the man in question) was one Johnny Bacon Bravo. Though he was rather short for a Caucasian man at the pitiable height of 5'9'', the resident bounty hunter made up what he lacked in height with width.
That was not to say that the man was fat- oh no. He was a broad of chest and narrow in the waist, a paragon of healthy masculinity that sported a dedicated bodybuilder's physique where even lax, one could see the contours of his sculpted musculature. And yet the man was not the casanova he wanted to be, due to the fact that he was Johnny Bravo.
"You're in the right meeting, lady. This is the-" Pausing to flex and make his appearance swell up even more in the biceps, the pompadoured man then pointed towards the stage with his trademark grunting sound. "Hoo ha hoo, the council meeting in question. By the way, babe, there's something wrong with my phone. I don't have your number in it." Reaching into his foot long do to pull out an old fashioned flip phone made in the early 2000's, the man quietly wiggled the communication device back in forth.
"Eh, this whole restaurant dealy sounds like a loada hooey to me," grumbled a giant rat, sitting nearby on one of the seats and making some oddly humanlike gesture with his pink forelimbs. "How 'bout we skip to the part where we discuss what we're doin' about those greasepainted lunatics, huh? I didn't spend months hidin' in the woods to start a new life here an' get caught with my circuits degaussed!"
Joseph - Lakeside's New JoJo
Among the crowd was a muscular 6'4'' man seated with his legs stretched out. His face bore a smirk as he watched the meeting, curious to see what's happening, but more interested in the store the girl was promoting. Joseph Joestar wanted to stay here for a few days, settle down and tip the governing body of his findings afterwards. Sure, they weren't much but hey, anything will do at this point. He wore a green short-sleeved shirt with denim pants, teal coat, and brown shoes, as well as a green and yellow headband, certainly not dressed for the occasion. He looked at the giant rat and spoke facetiously, "You never know if the clowns would come over for flapjacks." He spoke in an British accent due to his upbringing from his English grandmother, Erina.
edited 18th Aug '17 7:27:16 PM by Ore-O
"I treasure every day with you, darling." "No need to be so sappy, love." "You know that's how she is, Nia." - AU!Pyra, Nia, Mythra
Jaroline/Nepbike-Outside the City
"COME ON, MOVE!"
A young woman with white hair, yellow eyes, and what could best be described as an orange and purple Mardi Gras outfit, with a purple sidecape over one arm, riding a garish purple motorcycle, was yelling at the incoming traffic
"Hey, quiet, Jaroline. I'm trying to get some rest."
The voice came, of all things, Jaroline's motorcycle, semi-officially dubbed the Nepbike, or just "Nep" by Jaroline.
"Why would a bike need rest?"
"Well, you've been riding me-"
"I'm sorry I asked."
The traffic moved at a slightly slower pace than it usually did, which to most would be okay. To Jaroline, though, it was moving at a snail's pace.
"I need to be somewhere. Traffic, start moving!"
"Well, they're like NPC's. They're not going to just listen to you, and there's no other way into town."
Jaroline looked around, and then had an idea that made her smile.
"Oh is there?"
"Uh, can I ask what your planning?"
"... Gotta go fast, Nep."
"... Jaroline N-"
And before she knew it, Jaroline drove Nepbike off the cliff, flipped her sideways so that her wheels contacted to the side of the the bridge, and drove like that to the other side.
"Hang on, Nep!"
"I'm, like, Super Hanging On! Promise!"
The two made it to the other side.
"Ow... My headlights are spinning."
"Well," Jaroline looked to her destination for the week: The city of Lakeside, and the site of her next act "Let's paint the town Red!"
"The only red thing we have is your blood, Jaroline. I doubt you'd want to paint with that." Nepbike responded
"... Right. Too thin."
"How have you not gotten killed yet?"
"I have you to thank."
"Oh...Welcome."
And the two drove in.
City Hall
"Seems like there's quite a lot of people here." Jaroline observed
"Well, considering there's a town meeting here on the sign... It's probably for a restaurant advertisement."
"... And you'll be waiting out here, Nep."
"I needed the nap anyways."
And with that, Jaroline found a parking spot, legal or otherwise, and stepped into the building, and into the forum, making her presence known. If she could blow the doors open, she would have.
"Hello, my adorers!"
Outside
"... I give her 15 minutes, tops." Nepbike mumbled to herself as she went to rest.
2 Spooky 4 U
And behind Coco was Garrus who was sitting on a relatively tiny metal folding out chair with microphone in hand. Being one of Lakeside's more skilled and well-equipped officers, Garrus was given the task of answering any protection questions and potentially guarding the Mayor if need be. If anyone was to focus on Garrus you could see him wiggling around in the chair in attempt to get comfortable and for those in the very, very front you could possibly hear him saying under his breath, "Blasted metal chairs."
Figuring that no amount of ass shaking would make this any better, Garrus then focused at the meeting going on....and the first one up was a little girl advertising her father's restaurant. Looks like Shepard had a new rival in the art of shilling. Ah, the New Hope. He had eaten there once or twice. The food tasted good...........and didn't kill him which will always be a novel thing to the Turian.
Then a green haired woman arrived and of course Johnny handled it. Garrus couldn't deny that the blond human was just as good as anyone on the Normandy but damn. Not even Joker tried this hard. Garrus announced out loud to the woman and Johnny, "Council meeting? Yes. Meeting a possible girlfriend? Not likely."
Of course not everyone wanted to talk about eating locations or hit on women. Two people went straight to the point and asked about the Clowns...........wait. Is one a rat?.......who has circuits? And Garrus thought he saw all the wonderful things AI's could bring to the table. "Ah yes. Everyone's favorite group. We do what we have been doing: waiting. If the Clowns come out of the forest, I, the rest of the force, and the army base will light them up. Otherwise it's same as usual. If you see a suspicious individual, either human or Clown, contact the Lakeside police."
And to tie up the whole thing, a human woman entered the room wearing a particularly colorful outfit. Garrus made the sound choice and didn't say anything about this. He had crazy limits and this was pushing it.
Meanwhile, a woman in yet another colorful outfit, this one adorned with feathers and rather fancy looking, was in the room. Not in the crowd, but rather directly under the stage, where she had snuck in before the meeting started.
Some people may ask why one would choose to sit under the stage. To Tira's current personality, the response would have been simple. It was a lot easier to hear people under the stage, and a lot less people to sit near. That said, one thing she had not taken into account.
She was borrrrrrrrred
The meeting had been a lot less fun then the bird who'd told her about this had led her to believe, and thus, Tira searched for something more interesting. She found it in the armored Turian, who looked 10 times as interesting as some girl shilling her restaurant. And so Tira, heedless of how anyone, let alone a guard on duty, may react, stuck her head out from under the stage near him.
"Hey! Hey, you up there, tough guy!" She waited for him to look down at her, and then smiled and waved. "Hi! What you doing up there, you look way too interesting for this boring old meeting!"
If he looked closely, Garrus might notice part of Tira's ring blade sticking out from under the stage.
No, it was one Bravo telling her she was in the right place...for some lovin'.
This was not the answer Bethany was looking for. In fact, it wasn't anywhere close! She took his walking up to her well at first, until he started flexing, and it only got worse as he openly flirted with her in front of the entire assembly that she was supposed to be very professional in front of.
Bethany's face turned about as red as her eyes.
"...No, I...I didn't bring my phone with me," she said, trying and failing to put on a convincing smile, "you can just—"
And then someone burst in the door right behind her, and made her jump slightly and say what was on her mind: "You're being really rude right now, you know that?"
Coco Adel- City Hall Board Room
A little girl promoting her family restaurant, a girl bursting in wondering if she had the right room, the resident prettyboy asking for her number, a rat arguing with a giant British man about the public safety, some girl under the front stage hissing sweet nothings at the alien security officer, and a one-armed girl with an ego issue.All in all, things were going pretty well. She hadn't even heard someone mention taxes or actual city ordinances.
Still.
She stood up again, speaking into the microphone at the podium when . "Thank you for joining us, even if quite a bit late. Please have a seat." She looked down at Illya and patted her on the back. "That was very brave of you, speaking in front of so many people. It's not quite what this meeting is for, but it's good to see someone so young willing to be involved in local government."
"Next!" she stated, ready to give the stage to the next person willing to address the room.
Just another guy
Alya I City Council I Getting Praised~
"Ehehe~" Alya smiled sheepishly at the mayor's praise. Then, as if receiving a mental nudge from somewhere, the young girl looked towards her father from within the audience before nodding. "Ah, all right, papa! I'm coming down the stage!"
Zul I City Council I Pampering
Zul could only slightly shake his head at this. Still, it's good to see that she didn't get into any trouble with the mayor, and he knew that she did this out of good intention, so when she returned by his side, he ruffled up her hair for a bit, which Alya all but happily accepted the affection. That alone was enough to soften his heart.
And she's hardly the eccentric one here, either. Through the entire assembly, he could see some not-so-subtle Tulpas here and there, and scenes being caused right in the middle of the meeting.
Namely, the scene being happening near the door of the Council meeting, where a slightly familiar blond guy is having trouble with a green-haired woman that he'd not seen before.
"Hmm? Papa, should we help them out?"
"Shhh, not now. Let's just leave them alone and have them sort this out themselves," He heard some rumors of that man and his, ah, 'luck' with women, and had even seen it in action himself once. Best not to interfere and let others take care of it.
'Ahhh, so that's how it is~' thought Alya curiously, looking at the scene happening with interest.
edited 19th Aug '17 5:54:40 AM by JustSomeGuy732
"A post per day keeps the GMs away!"
Ainz and Shalltear - City Hall
A female voice spoke sternly, "I don't see the value in this, Ainz-sama" Shalltear sat dressed in a simple black t-shirt with the word love printed on it in red along with form fitting blue jeans. She looked young to be here at a town meeting, this sort of thing was for middle-aged and old people but a young adult was unusual. At least it should be. This day there were plenty of unusual people attending. "This gathering of any citizens that wish to attend couldn't get anything done. It seems far less efficient than the authority simply deciding upon issues and making their will known."
A male voice responded gently, "This is one of the ways they do that, Shalltear. They involve the citizens to make them feel as though they have a say in what goes on in their government. At the same time it reinforces their image and gives them valuable feedback from the people. It can be an effective means of keeping moral up among the masses." Ainz Ooal gown sat next to her, his form much taller. His humanoid skeleton form wore a black suit and white shirt without a tie unlike her casual attire. It didn't make any effort to hide his slim fleshless form and tiny waist. Any anatomy experts would notice things don't quite fall the way they should on a true human skeleton and anyone familiar with the human skeleton would notice multiple features that weren't human were they to see his naked form.
He knew that would not satisfy her as she looked with displeasure upon the mayor and her entourage. Still, even as I tell her this I have my doubts on this method of government as well. It sounds good in theory, but in practice this type of government's many problems eventually gave way to corporations taking over.
They watched and listened as things started to take place. A young girl stepped forward to just turn this place into a commercial. She seemed trained and the mayor only gave her some words of encouragement instead of scolding her for using this open forum in a way that definitely wasn't intended. There was a bit of a pause in anything real going on so the crowd seemed restless. "This seems as good a time as any Shalltear, I will step forward."
Shalltear's expression instantly changed to what would be described as ecstatic. "Of course Ainz-sama there is no way you could ever disappoint! I know you will do well up there." "Thank you Shalltear, I value your support." Ainz stood up and made his way to the front, taking the mic offered.
"Ahem," Ainz cleared his throat. Though, as he clearly lacked a throat let alone vocal organs or a mouth beyond his teeth which did not move as he spoke, how he cleared his throat was mystery. "Thank you, my name is Ainz Ooal Gown, I work at Lakeside Public Library just down main street. I have come before you all today to ask of you that you do not forget the public library. The library is still here to meet your needs for books and information. We all know that these are hard times upon us. A good book can help you forget these troubles for a time and bring comfort. More importantly, reading is good exercise for the mind and now with schools having trouble it is a great time to encourage your children to learn by exploring books on their own. Nothing can be more important than making sure that the children get a good education and that can get lost in these troubling times. So, from your friendly neighborhood skeleton Ainz, I ask that you support the local library. Thank you."
edited 19th Aug '17 8:10:58 AM by StephanReiken
Jaroline-City Hall
"Oh, very well, if you insist."
Jaroline took a seat, and observed the people around her. Or she should probably say sentient beings, seeings as this group included some sort of giant mechanized rat and some sort of armored alien. She'd judge, but she is the person that frequently talks to her bike, and she's seen stuff similar to this before. It's one of the benefits of traveling to her. At least her entrance managed to turn heads.
Outside
Nepbike rested.
"Aw... Sorry babe, you were just so pretty that I kinda moved on instinct." Placing the phone back into his do and then sulking a bit by sitting himself back down on the hilariously tiny in proportion to himself metal folding chair, the resident bounty hunter turned his head towards Garrus- pompadour acting as a gold beacon that pointed at the bird-man in question. "No way, hombre. Johnny don't do relationships that fast." The fact that he was shouting it across the audience to have it reach the alien on stage was just icing on top of the awkward cake for all involved.
A thumb to his own chest happened so fast that several of the people sitting nearby could have sworn they heard a whip crack for whatever reason. "There's a set of guidelines a hunky stud like me has to do before they can even think about having a relationship, least of it showing the ladies a good time on the first date." Left unsaid was the fact that he needed the buffer period to see if the foxes weren't too crazy, once they leaped over the limit it was less kinky and more FREA-KAY.
2 Spooky 4 U
Shortly after the turian's response and his personal analysis of the meeting's start, a human woman poked her head from under the stage. Garrus, his mind calm but at the ready, did the first thoughts: hiding under the stage to assassinate the mayor, trying to get his attention so that a partner in crime can get a clean kill, and the gleam of a edged weapon. Acting fast, he snapped his head in her direction while reaching back to pull out his Phaeston.
But he stopped half way through pulling out his weapon because the human smiled and waved at him when he looked in her direction. Well. Either this assassin loved her job or she just wanted to talk to him......not that both options couldn't happen at the same time. Thus Garrus kept his guard but he didn't start anything yet. He asked her coolly, "I could ask something like that to you. What are you doing under the stage during the meeting while armed with a weapon?" but at the same time, he couldn't help but add, "Oh, I picked to come here. All the car chases and gun fights was just getting too boring for me so I figured that some action packed local politics was needed."
During this exchange the town librarian took his turn to speak. Nothing like checking out a book from a skeleton. Johnny then called him out which Garrus quipped back with, "Can't get any slower than nothing at all Johnny."
Well, I don't really like really large crowds all that much, or at least, the voice in my head doesen't, and I figured it would be a lot easier to hear people if I was right under where people were talking, right? Kinda makes me wonder why more people don't do this. Maybe they got bored too?
Tira shrugged as best as she could while on her back, half sticking out of a stage.
So, you think this stuff is more fun then being a cop or a guard or whatever? Wow, I thought being a cop and stopping all the bad guys would be more fun then sitting here watching bony guys talk about stuffy old books!
edited 19th Aug '17 6:34:59 PM by Meanken
Ainz and Shalltear - City Hall
Ainz looked down at Tira talking to the monstrous looking guard. Why is she here? She should have know that something like this would not have much action. Maybe she just wants to antagonize.. Ainz's thoughts were interuptted by a shout from Shalltear who was suddenly standing. "Ahhh! You!" Shalltear pointed at Tira. "Ainz-sama works very hard to improve the minds of you mindless cretins! If it weren't for him..."
Damnit! Ainz's mind stopped for a moment, until calm washed over him. "Shalltear! Now is not the time for such outbursts." If he had facial expressions he would look worried but it only showed in his voice. He turned to Garrus, bowing slightly. "Please forgive her interuption." Then he also turned to Tira, "I apologize for her."
Shalltear looked abashed at Ainz's admonishment. She sat down and looked away, as Ainz made his way down from the stage back to his seat.
edited 19th Aug '17 7:21:59 PM by StephanReiken
Happy Box Hater
Tim and Scrooge in City Hall
Riding by bike isn't exactly the quickest form of transport around, even if it is the cheapest. A combination of this and a rather difficult stitching job delayed the two owners of Tricky T's from reaching City Hall until right now. As Scrooge didn't actually do any work in moving the bike he just walked to his seat rather quietly, though an anthropomorphic duck can't really stealthily do much. Tim, though, had been pedaling with all his might so as not to miss the meeting entirely. He staggered over to sit next to Scrooge with a red face and gasping a tiny bit for air still.
Despite his breath eluding him for the time being, Tim nodded along in agreement at all that talk about the library. Sure he'd never actually contribute to supporting the library, but there wasn't much cheaper you could go than a public library for entertainment. Even the driven owner of Tricky T's needed a break every so often, if only to ensure he didn't burn out.
For now they just sat there and waited to see what would be next on the agenda of the meeting.
edited 19th Aug '17 8:48:34 PM by pillowmantis
Why is a yam attacking me?
"An' then the pundits wonder why democracy don't work," grumbled Rattrap as he shifted around his seat and watched the chaos play out.
"So, uh, what, y'got any guns for rent or somethin' in this podunk joint in case those jokers decide to pay us a visit?" he asked with a greedylook in his eye, jerking one thumb over his shoulder in the vicinity of the woods. "Bombs? Transwarp cells?"
Jaroline-City Hall
And now there was a giant duck in a top hat here, and it seems as if someone was below stage talking to the alien. The fact that she was disinterested in this gathering would seem shocking to some, but she wasn't one for the politics on any given area. However, it did make for great people watching opportunities. However, the rat did say something that caused her to raise her voice.
"Clowns? Here? I thought this place was pretty deep into alliance territory."
Nepbike-Parking Lot
Nepbike noticed a pair riding a bike, parking it, and leaving for the hall. As soon as they were out of earshot:
"...So, you come here often?"
edited 19th Aug '17 9:34:57 PM by Boomer75
someone
Princess Luna, Forest To City Hall
The monster retreated, its ghastly maw disintegrating, and was blown into dust by the lightning bolt that struck it next. Luna turned back to the small male sheltering behind one of her force-fields, and wrapped her neck around him. "Sweet dreams, child."
Luna focused and opened her eyes in the forest, unfolding her wings and stretching. She trotted out of the forest and took to the air, flying over the town. What was she supposed to do now? The children (her children) wouldn't be asleep for a while yet, and she really needed something to do with her time.
She used to sleep, during the daytime. But she didn't need to sleep anymore, not since ... that. It didn't matter. She landed just outside City Hall, and wreathed herself in the mist of dreams, becoming human. She listened as Alya advertised the restaurant, tiliting her head, and trying not to squee. She was sooo cute. And apparently the restaurant was looking for employees. Luna didn't need food beyond the occasional piece of grass, and money wasn't an issue for her. But it would give her something to do with her time. Something to keep in mind, then.
A walking-talking skeleton advertised the local library. Luna had considered going there, but she wasn't Twilight Sparkle. She agreed with him, however, in that children getting a good education was important. She brought her hand up, considering speaking soon. on the topic of the importance of sleep, but Celestia had always been a better public speaker than herself. For now, Luna watched.
[TOP SECRET]
Just another guy
This post was thumped by the Eldritch Flyswatter of Horror
Just another guy
Zul I City Hall Assembly I Replying to the Trigger-Happy Rat
"Well, not sure if you noticed, but this 'podunk joint' happens to have an army base or two. Maybe you could try politely asking them for one?" Zul spoke to the mechanized(?) rat, though he does seem a bit too eager to have his hands on bombs and stuff.
After all, I'm sure they would totally give random strangers access to bombs and dangerous weapons without any issues whatsoever. was what he didn't say to Rattrap, keeping the thoughts to himself. He then turned to Jaroline, which asked how the Clowns could still have a presence here. "Stray Clowns are a thing, ya know? Still, like the officer said, we have the military and police to keep the peace, so there shouldn't be anything to worry about. Maybe,"
Alya looked at her father for a second, tilted her head in confusion, and then asked the officer-in-charge(a.k.a. Garrus) with child-like curiosity. "Hey mister, can people really get weapons if they ask politely?"
edited 20th Aug '17 2:16:15 AM by JustSomeGuy732
"A post per day keeps the GMs away!"
Near Lakeside
Tranquility seemed to persevere over Lakeside.
Overcast skies drifted over the city skyline. The cold season had started to settle in. It was not necessarily unusual for this time of year, though with the ashes of war, there was always the general fear things could change for the worse.
Clowns, the great menace of all humanity, had ceased to be a major feature in Lakeside’s landscape. There hadn’t been any major Clown incidents for over a month or two. If there were still any Clowns in Lakeside’s borders, they did not show themselves. Regardless of this, the population as a whole would still remain vigilant. Even with the cities of Milwaukee, Madison, and Green Bay nearby, Clowns could still be lurking within the woods or landscape beyond the cities’ scrutiny.
People were right to be afraid. So long as a Clown could kill or speak their madness, the world would never be safe.
October 4th was a relatively ordinary day in the city of Lakeside. Perhaps the mayor had something fashioned for the city’s agenda, or perhaps people would be going about their daily business, going about their war-time occupations or lounging about at one of the city’s primary hangouts. Not everyone knew what life was like before the Clown Crisis, so some took their time to adjust to Earth’s new society.
However, today was not just any ordinary day.
Something ominous was brewing in the air. Not many would be capable of recognizing this feeling, and for those that did, it would not seem all that different from the general specter of Clown-ism that loomed over the Alliance cities. But it was a sign of things to come; things that could perhaps be averted, but only if the right courses of action were taken.
Right now, however, the city remained largely ignorant.
Along U.S. Highway 151, the land bridge connecting Madison to Lakeside before then connecting to one of the highways bridging Green Bay and Milwaukee, a red-fronted truck made its fateful journey. Traffic along America’s highways had not been what it used to be before the Clown Crisis, but today the highway seemed to have just slightly more traffic than usual. Perhaps this was because of the truck’s uninspiring speed, and several cars chose to swerve around the truck whenever they had the chance, though perhaps the highway itself could have used a bit of repair work.
Regardless of any difficulties, this truck had a very important delivery to make. Not many knew just what this delivery would entail - in fact, the population of Lakeside was largely ignorant of it - but this noble truck would make that delivery no matter what it took.