text: [Themes: horror, horror, humor]
  
  Geek:
  
  1. A person regarded as foolish or clumsy.
  
  2. A person who is single-minded or accomplished in scientific or technical pursuits, but is felt to be socially inept.
  
  3. A carnival performer whose show consists of bizarre and disgusting acts.
  
  Your breath stinks from the foul things you've been eating and the rest of you stinks from not bathing in who knows when.
  
  Your head hurts from the cheap moonshine you've been getting "paid" in.
  
  Rubes often throw stuff at you and spit on you.
  
  Most of the other Carnies find you utterly repulsive and avoid you, a couple of them just abuse you for various reasons.
  
  On a good day, only the Pinheads come to your cell and taunt you with their gibbering laughs and mongoloid chatter.
  
  You have absolutely no worth as a human being, you get no respect from others, and you have no respect for yourself...and why should you? You are the lowest form of life in Carney society. You're not a real performer; what you do can't really be considered a skill. You're not even a real freak. At least a deformed freak can evoke an emotion of horror, or pity, or even admiration for overcoming their condition. You weren't born "this way". You chose to do this. All you evoke is disgust and revulsion. At best you're laughed at and not in the good way like those pervert clowns you work with.
  
  Fuck all that "Wildman of Borneo" shit that the Ringmaster tries to tell all the rubes. You're little more than a bum with a "job". A degrading job that involves you to debase yourself, all for the amusement and shock value of others, but hey it keeps a "roof" over your head and you pleasantly drunk enough to just barely forget how utterly pathetic your life is.
  
  You are the GEEK.
  
  You wake up to a bucket of piss being thrown in your face. Not the first time and certainly won't be the last.
  
  "You like the taste of that Geek? Get up Geek! The Ring Master wants to see you!" Charley orders then he throws the empty bucket at your head. The comical sound it makes hitting your skull and the pain it causes makes Charley laugh. Then he jabs you a couple times with his pointed stick.
  
  Midgets can be so cruel...
  
  [Author's Note: Carnivals aren't all fun and games. Additional Notes: While there is only one spot that contains extra histories for this story, it's basically the background information of all the major characters and factions. It's strongly recommended that these are read due to the fact that your character will be interacting with most of these folks in his attempts to successfully accomplish his task(s). This story has a very factional feel to it, so choose your allegiances carefully to get one of the better endings.]
  
  > go see the Ring Master
  "Agh! Alright, alright! Stop poking me...what day is it?"
  "Never mind all that geek! Get going you know how the Ring Master doesn't like being kept waiting! Phew! You smell even more disgusting than usual! I guess that's one way to keep Ajax from killing you, he'd probably vomit his guts out before he could lay a hand on you...then you could lick it up for the rubes! Ha ha! Move it Geek!"
  
  Charley prods you with a sharp stick periodically on your way to the Ring Master's trailer until you arrive at which point, Atlas stops the both of you.
  
  "Stop! What business do the both of you have here?"
  "Goddamnit you fuckin' one eyed freak! We go through this all the fucking time and its getting REALLY old! You just saw me come out of the Ring Master's trailer earlier today when he sent me to get the Geek, you know damn well what we're both doing here!"
  
  Ignoring Charley's comments Atlas looks down at you and points.
  
  "You may enter, but the Ring Master doesn't need to see you again, so you may not."
  "Yeah, whatever enjoy the smell." Charley says and mumbles something to himself while leaving the area.
  
  You barely make it up the little steps to the trailer, but you do. You're finally starting to gather your wits together; your head still hurts though and you've just realize you haven't had a drink yet. What a terrible feeling. You open the door.
  
  "Close the door, you're letting all the sunlight in." the Ring Master orders from behind his desk. She's siting in his chair, but has her back turned to you.
  "Uh you wanted to see me?"
  "Of course...(Sniff sniff) you really haven't been taking care of yourself. If anything you've become even more repulsive than when I first took you in. Remember that day?"
  "Um, yeah I think...no, no I don't. I mean kind of... I forget things."
  "I'm not surprised; you're constantly drinking that swill Charley makes. I am surprised you haven't gone blind yet though. Oh well what you insist on doing to yourself is of little concern to me, all I require is your obedience. You are thankful for all I have provided for you aren't you?"
  "Oh yeah. Sure I am."
  "You seem to be one of the few nowadays then. There are some though that are ungrateful for things I've done for them, they plan to betray me and everything this carnival stands for. They plan to change the natural order of things. Can you imagine what might happen to this carnival if I wasn't here? What might happen to you?"
  
  You attempt to think about this scenario, but instead you just stand there because you can't really form anything in your mind because it hurts really bad, you've been sober too damn long, and it's about to get even longer as the Ring Master seems intent on bombarding you with talk as he finally swivels around in her chair. That pale androgynous face of the Ring Master's is displaying a look of seriousness as usual.
  
  "Nothing good I can assure you. Which is why I'm putting YOU in charge of this task."
  "Huh? What task?"
  "Why ensuring the survival of the carnival of course."
  "What!? Me?! Why? How!? I'm not qualified! Can't you or Charley do it?"
  "I fear I've done all I've can. I mean I've provided all of THIS to everyone here. I've given them purpose and a life. If that isn't enough for them, then my words aren't going to make a difference at this point. And as for Charley, well...I'm sure even in your usual state of drunkenness you're aware that he has his own plans for this carnival."
  "I guess...but agh, it's too early for all this...why me? I mean what am I supposed to do? I'm just the Geek."
  "Yes, and that's exactly why I'm choosing you. You have no motive, you have no agenda, you have no friends, and as such you would probably be the best candidate to convince others to resist change and keep the status quo."
  "You have to be joking! Nobody's going to listen to me! I'm the fucking Geek!"
  "You might be surprised, you have far more potential than you give yourself credit for...perhaps you'll even change some perspectives, or maybe not. The choice is yours, because the fate of THIS carnival is resting solely on your actions, you can no longer afford to hide from the world in a bottle and a cage if you wish to keep your current life. It is time for you to take some responsibility, its time to repay the debt you owe me. You have until show time."
  "But..."
  "Now leave me, I wish to be alone."
  
  The Ring Master swivels his chair back to its original position. You head back outside, where upon Atlas blocks it again with his massive body.
  
  Never before in your life have you been put in this kind of position of responsibility, (Not that you can remember anyway) but you're going to have to do something, the question is what exactly?
  
  > obey the Ring Master
  You feel you don't really have a choice in this situation. The Ring Master is in charge and whatever he says goes and you DO owe a lot to her. As bad as it can be here sometimes, it would probably be worse if you didn't have the protection of the Carnival.
  
  As tempted as you are to get a drink to get you through this test you have before you, you realize you need to stay sober for this. What a terrible thing. Now you have to figure out who you need to convince.
  
  The Freaks are firmly on the side of the Ring Master, so you don't need to talk to them. That just leaves the Midgets and the Normals, both of those present some problems.
  
  > try to convince the Midgets
  Charley leads the Midgets and you doubt if he's going "fall in line" and even if he claimed he was, he'd just be lying. You might even be putting yourself in great danger by speaking to him directly about this, however you know the Midgets don't really care for Charley, so if you could get him out of the way somehow, they might be more willing to ally with the Ring Master.
  
  You decide to "test the waters" by speaking to one of the few Midgets (Actually the only one) that's somewhat less hostile towards you. You see Bob working on hammering tent stakes in the ground and go up to him.
  
  "Hey Bob, can I talk to you?"
  "Aw hell Geek, I ain't got no money for you to get fucking drunk! Just go steal the liquor from that sonofabitch Charley and take your goddamn chances!" he says barely paying attention to you.
  "No, its not that...so you uh think Charley's a son of a bitch huh?"
  "I don't think it, I know it. Everyone does."
  "So why do you guys follow him?"
  "Because he does make things better for us. Better than the Ring Master did anyway."
  "Yeah, but what if he's not the best choice to lead you guys, I mean..."
  
  Bob raises one eyebrow and focuses all of his attention on you now.
  
  "What the fuck are you talkin' about Geek? You seem to be awfully interested with matters that don't concern you." Bob states raising his hammer menancingly.
  "Well um...I just heard that...um Charley...I mean...look there's some shit gonna go down and the Ring Master wants me to get people on his side!"
  
  You're unsure of what Bob's going to do about your revelation. You expect the worst, but for once luck is on your side.
  
  "Look Geek, I ain't gonna lie to ya, not many of us like Charley, and sure, he's a fucking tyrant, but he gets things done, I dunno he's kinda like that guy in Germany, except shorter. However, if he wasn't around, we'd go back to being second class citizens again and why? We DO keep this place running. The Ring Master claims he cares about us, but it doesn't seem that way to us. We're under appreciated. And if Charley does have ideas about taking over, then we're behind him. Maybe the whole place would be run a lot better with him in charge anyway. AND I suggest you don't talk to any other dwarves about this, you'll find that you'll get the same answer and they might just feel the need to tell Charley about the discussion and I don't think that would be very good for you."
  "So there's nothing I can do or say to change your mind?"
  "Goddamn it, weren't you fuckin' listening Geek? I said no! Not unless you found someway of replacing Charley with someone a little more even tempered and with his business savvy."
  "Well, why don't one of you midg...I mean dwarves do it?"
  "(Sigh) Because most of us are simple laborers. We just wanna do our job with as little hassle and relax when we can, we don't wanna be worried about extra shit. Let Charley worry about it since he wants it so bad. Besides if you haven't noticed he's got a mean streak a mile wide and that fuckin' muscle bound freak Ajax around him all the time."
  "So there's nobody who'd want to take Charley's place?"
  "Nope. The only one I can think of who'd even have the intelligence of running the criminal activity here smoothly anyway would be his overgrown girlfriend Salina. Now her I wouldn't mind working under if you know what I mean! Hah! Now get the fuck outta here Geek, I got work to do and your smell is gonna stick to my clothes for days! Get!"
  
  You back away from Bob before he hits you with his hammer or kicks you in the shin.
  
  It wasn't what you expected, but perhaps Bob has subtlety shown you a way to get the midgets to ally with the Ring Master, but of course this means talking with Salina. That could be even more risky though, considering she's the object of Charley's "love". Not to mention she doesn't particularly like you.
  
  But then again, who does?
  
  > Go talk to Salina
  You cautiously approach Salina's trailer, you're nervous as hell. You stop and hide behind a nearby barrel when you see someone coming out. It's Sasha. She looks like she's been crying, probably about Ajax no doubt. Salina seems to be telling her something and then hugs her before closing the door. When Sasha leaves you knock on Salina's door. She answers.
  
  "Look, I told you...UGH! Its you! Get the fuck outta here Geek! No amount of money is gonna make me degrade myself for your festering ass! And you're upsetting my snakes with your odor!"
  "No, it's not that, I really gotta talk to you."
  "You don't have anything to say that I wanna waste my time OR my sense of smell on, so..."
  "Please it s really important! It's about Charley and the future of the Carnival!"
  
  Salina raises her eyebrow.
  
  "Hmm, very well, but you're not coming in here, let's go someplace secluded where nobody can see me associating with you."
  
  You and Salina walk to a nearby spot in the wilderness (Separately of course) to talk where you explain the situation to Salina.
  
  "Yeah, so what does all this mean to me? If Charley takes over I win and if the Ring Master stays in power I still win. I don't see why I should get involved in this power struggle." Salina says unemotionally.
  
  "You're not looking at the big picture. As it stands now you got some measure of freedom, but if Charley wins, this place will cease being a Carnival and become a crime ring. And while you might do alright gift and money wise, you'll be Charley's girlfriend full time at that point with little freedom. You know he's never going to let you do anything without his approval if he's in power. And if the Ring Master wins, chances are the criminal activity here is gonna be severely diminished without Charley to run it, meaning you'll probably be making less money."
  "Okay...but don't you want the Ring Master to win?"
  "Yes, but she needs allies and I'm trying to get the midgets to ally with him and they won't if Charley's in charge of them."
  "So I don't understand, what exactly are you proposing? You're kind of all over the place here."
  "I'm saying I want YOU to take over Charley's position. You run all his business dealings."
  "What? You're crazy Geek."
  "Why? You're intelligent; surely you probably know all of Charley's secrets."
  "Well THAT'S true. The little fucker insists on bragging about everything after sex, but what makes you think the midgets will follow me? I mean I'm a Normal."
  "Please, you're a tall beautiful woman, the midgets will love you, didn't you see Wizard of Oz? Just as long as you promise to uphold all the things Charley did like protection from being bullied by rubes and keeping their payment the same, I don't think they'll mind you in charge instead of Charley. Think about it, YOU could be in charge of the whole operation, and it's not like the Ring Master will bother you as long as you don't try to screw with the everyday Carnival workings."
  
  "I'd never do that, the Carnival has been like a home to me...I..."
  
  Salina seems to stop herself before she displays too much emotion to you.
  
  "Alright Geek, I'm willing to entertain this idea, but you have to do something for ME first."
  "Okay, what?"
  "You gotta get rid of Randal."
  "What? Why? What did he do?"
  "To me? Nothing, but he's competition and I can't have that."
  "Competition for what?"
  "Nevermind, just get rid of him. Think of it this way, if you get him out of the picture, you'll also eliminate the leader of the third faction here which would really cement the Ring Master's supremacy here. Surely that should be incentive enough?"
  "You want me to kill him?!"
  "Look, I don't care HOW you get rid of him, just get rid of him before show time. If you do that, you can tell the midgets that I'll be taking over Charley's position when the time comes. Now don't speak to me again until you do this."
  
  Looks like you got MORE work ahead of you and you really don't know how you're supposed to get rid of Randal. You doubt if just asking him to leave is going to work, and while killing him would solve the problem, it's not really that simple to just kill a man even if you had it in you.
  
  You could really use a drink...
  
  > talk to Randal
  You can't kill Randal, so you're going to have to just try to convince him to leave...somehow. You think perhaps Madam Orbec can help, since she has the most contact with him.
  
  You approach Madam Orbec's tent which carries an air of creepiness about it. When you enter, you see her lying on the floor convulsing.
  
  "Madam! Are you alright?!" you run to her attempting to pick her up, but she pushes you away.
  
  "GEEK! Take your filthy hands off of me! My body is for the spirits only! You will not molest my person lest I call down their wrath upon you! Though I'm not sure what more they could do to such a pathetic soul such as yourself, and death would be a mercy."
  "Sorry, I was just trying to help."
  "Liar! You sought me out, to help yourself! But still...your mission is a somewhat good intentioned one...even if you are in the dark about some of it..."
  "What do you mean?"
  "That's for the more enlightened to know, but I'm sure you'll find out eventually, assuming we decide to help you that is..."
  "How do you know that I want your help?"
  "I see what the spirits see! And the spirits see all! You're easier to read than an open book! You want to know how to get rid of Randal."
  "How...nevermind. So how do I get rid of him? No...don't tell me YOU want me to do something as well!"
  "Actually getting rid of Randal would serve me...he wouldn't be around hounding me and the spirits all the time for one thing. The only reason I prefer him around is that he is a balancer of this carnival...but we see things are about to change...great changes...things would be better if he wasn't around any longer."
  "So?"
  
  Madam Orbec begins to talk to herself.
  
  "Should we? Maybe. What about them? Later. Yeah, let's do it."
  "Madam?"
  "Tell Randal to come to my tent, I will get rid of him. I shall tell him something that will give him cause to leave immediately. He won't even be here for showtime. You have the word of the spirits and Madam Orbec. Now leave me, we must prepare."
  
  You leave Madam Orbec's tent and go find Randal. When you do, he attempts to avoid you, but when you mention Madam Orbec wants to see him, he pushes you out of the way to meet her right away.
  
  You follow him and watch Orbec's tent, after awhile Randal leaves and heads back to his own tent. Orbec also exits and nods at you. You go back to Salina and tell her the news.
  
  Salina smiles and tells you everything has been set in motion, and she'll be ready. She then tells you to go tell the midgets.
  
  You go back to Bob, who'd forgotten all about your discussion with him. In fact you have to remind him what it was you even discussed.
  
  "So lemme get this straight Geek...Salina's taking over the crime trade here?"
  "Yeah, and she says everything will stay the same, the protection and the pay. All you gotta do is side with the Ring Master, after show time tonight."
  "...Alright Geek, I'll tell the rest of the dwarves. I just hope all of you fuckers know what you're doing, because I guarantee if we get fucked in any way in this arrangement, YOU will be the first to feel our wrath!"
  
  You hope so too, a lot of this riding on the "word" of everyone. You don't actually have any assurance by anyone that everything's going to go as planned. You don't tell the Ring Master that when you go back to his trailer though. (After getting Atlas' permission to enter of course) you just tell her that he'll have her allies when the time comes. The Ring Master seems confident in you and tells you to get ready for show time.
  
  You spend your remaining time a little on edge, wondering if everything is going to work out. You really wish the Ring Master hadn't put all this pressure on you.
  
  Then show time arrives, everything goes pretty much the same except you're a little distracted the entire time until you notice Randal doesn't show up at all. You hope that's a good sign that your plan has worked.
  
  > But the real show begins afterwards
  A dark moonlit night.
  
  Charley confronts the Ring Master with his army of midgets behind him as well as Ajax. The Ring Master has Atlas, and his usual allies, the Freaks are hanging in the darkness ready to strike if necessary. Most of the Normals though are nowhere to be seen. Your heart sinks...the midgets have still sided with Charley and you get so worried that you puke up the sheep testicles and pigeon heads you consumed for your act.
  
  "Your time has come Ring Master! No longer will you exploit us! I'm taking over!"
  "So you can exploit your own people of course. Charley, I've put up with your delusions of grandeur long enough, it ends tonight. I have allies of my own, and you might find they are much more dedicated to me than yours are."
  "It won't work Ringy, I got more in common with my people than you ever will! Blood is thicker, and yours is going to run everywhere if you don't peaceably leave...I'm giving you this one chance you pale she-male."
  "Not likely."
  
  At this point all of the freaks come out of hiding. Charley orders an attack, but the rest of the midgets do nothing...you cease worrying and Charley begins to get angry.
  
  "What the fuck man? I told you fuckers to attack! I'm your leader!"
  "Not anymore Charley...we got a new one." Bob says.
  "Who? HIM? This fucking hermaphrodite bitch?" Charley yells pointing to the Ring Master.
  "No, this tattooed bitch." Bob says calmly where upon Salina appears petting a cobra lovingly which is wrapped around her arm.
  "Yes, this tattooed snake bitch to be precise. Give it up Charley; your time here is done. You don't have any allies anymore. I'd suggest you and the muscle bound woman beater leave NOW."
  "You fucking back stabbing viper bitch..." Charley says in shock.
  "Hey fuck off cunt, fore I shove that snake up your ass!" Ajax yells.
  "You're certainly welcome to try, here catch!"
  
  Salina throws here cobra at Ajax, which lands on him, he squashes its head, but not before it bites him a couple times. He runs at Salina, but the midgets trip him up and hold him down as the poison takes effect. Salina then puts out his eye, with her stiletto heel before he succumbs leaving Charley all by himself.
  
  "Well Charley, it seems all your grand plans have failed. You have nothing left. I'd say there's no reason for you to stay. Atlas, if you would be so kind to escort this former employee of the premises..."
  
  When the Ring Master says that, it typically means "Atlas, after you break his neck make sure the body is properly disposed of."
  
  Atlas grabs Charley who attempts to defend himself with his sharp stick, but instead it's taken from him and broken. Then Charley's spine is taken from him and broken. Atlas lumbers off in the darkness to get rid of Ajax and Charley's bodies.
  
  "So, I trust we'll have no problems Salina?" The Ring Master asks.
  "No problems from me, I have all I need, or I soon will have."
  "Good, I suggest you and your new friends get some rest, we got a big show tomorrow."
  
  While Salina and the munchkin brigade leave and the freaks disperse as well, the Ring Master calls you out.
  
  "Geek, you may come out of hiding, I'm sure you can see the danger is over, not that there ever was any."
  "I can't believe it actually worked. Everything..."
  "See? I told you, you underestimated yourself. Not only did you save the Carnival, but you stabilized it even more. I told you, I saw potential even when there was none apparent. Do you still want to be a Geek? You could be so much more if you just put in the effort. Charley used to do all my leg work, but now that he's gone I need someone else to fit that role...would you be interested? Keep in mind that this new job would require a whole lot more responsibility and significantly less drinking as I would need you in a better frame of mind."
  
  At one time you'd balk, but after seeing what you accomplished first hand, maybe you DO have potential. You accept and you're given Charley's old trailer.
  
  Time goes by and you stumble along the way with the first few months as you still have a really bad drinking problem, but fortunately the Ring Master is slightly understanding about that, and only sends Atlas to remind you ONCE to get it under control. (That incident really sets you on the straight and narrow) you get yourself cleaned up and actually become presentable. You're more of an organizer than a main event now, but you still go ahead and bite some chicken heads off every now and then for the kids.
  
  Salina is a pretty fair and even handed business woman when it comes to the being new leader of the midgets. Much more than Charley, and she also has Pervus and his clown crew eliminated during one night. Apparently they got rough with one of her girls. They were all found dead the next day. Nobody said anything outright, but the fact that little snake bites were found on their bodies was a pretty good idea who was responsible. However, the Ring Master said nothing since Pervus and his friends had it coming for a long time, not to mention with them gone things actually improved morale wise. (People tend to work better when their aren't evil demented clowns lurking around)
  
  You also see Salina and Sasha get very close in a way that makes you tingle in the nether regions. Now you know why Salina wanted you to get rid of Randal. Without Ajax to kick her around anymore, Sasha probably would've fell for Randal (You also found out Madam Orbec told him he needed to leave the Carnival to find some magic book in some Mayan ruins that the spirits commanded him to retrieve...he never returned) but since he wasn't around, she ended up with Salina. They seem to be happy though.
  
  Actually everyone at the Carnival seems to be a lot happier and more relaxed and it's all due to your actions.
  
  The Ring Master has given you a second chance at life, a life with a whole hell of lot more meaning.
  
  You've gotten respect at last.