For the next few hours, you forgot about your case and forgot about your debts. You were just a man attending a fair with a beautiful woman on his arm.
And yet, even as you and Abby cheerfully munched on popcorn and cotton candy, you couldn't get your mind completely off the strange floating city around you and how different it was from the world you knew. And it wasn't just because it was located up in the clouds.
The carnival games and shooting galleries were typical enough, with firearms that looked an awful lot like the kind you were used to, even if you didn't recognize the manufacturers. But there was something unsettling about how detailed the targets you were aiming at were. As you took your shots, you were told you were aiming at the Vox Populi and someone called Daisy Fitzroy. You couldn't help noticing the targets seemed to have much darker skin than anyone you saw at this fair.
Still, you were a good enough shot to win a prize, and you let Abigail select a big plush toy she referred to as the "Songbird." It was a bizarre figure with leathery wings and a short beak that ended in some kind of tube, but Abigail embraced the strange monstrosity like it was the cutest thing she'd ever seen.
The technology on display baffled you like no technology you'd ever seen before. The simplest device was something called a Voxophone, a lightweight invention that would allow you to record your own voice and instantly play it back. But there were also automatons much more sophisticated than anything you'd ever seen.
There was also what appeared to be the small head of an average man mounted on a large machine, referred to as the "Handyman." The man seemed hurt by the bright flashbulbs going off in his eyes, and another onlooker remarked that he looked very sad.
There were also vigors, like the Possession bottle Abigail had let you try. Two men in absurd costumes demonstrated their various powers while a nattily attired gentlemen sang the praise of Jeremiah Fink.
Abigail seemed pleasant enough as you chatted away, at first, anyway. But soon even something about her began to bother you. You weren't a man who thought much about church or politics, but the way Abby talked so much about both struck you as extreme, especially how casually she spoke about what you felt were pretty bold beliefs and to an almost total stranger.
"I'm sorry," she said, noticing you were getting uncomfortable. "I must be boring you with all these things that are just part of our everyday life. Let's just enjoy the fair."
You were shocked when you ran into Robert and Rosalind Lutece, who you hadn't seen since your boat ride to the lighthouse. Robert was wearing a sandwich board with a tally on it, while Rosalind was holding a tray with a coin on it.
"Heads?" Robert said.
"Or tails?" Rosalind added.
"Come on!" you said. "Let us through."
"Heads?" Robert repeated.
"Or tails?" Rosalind repeated.
You grabbed the coin and flipped it, calling "Heads."
"Told you," Robert said when the coin landed head side up and Rosalind chalked another tally on his board. "I never find that as satisfying as I'd imagine."
"Chin up," Rosalind said. "There's always next time."
As the Luteces moved to the side to allow you and Abby through, you noticed there were hundreds of tallies under "Heads" and absolutely none under "Tails."
In the distance, you saw giant inflatable balloons resembling George Washington and John Adams.
You could hear a crowd chanting and singing nearby. Abby took your hand and pulled you away from the singing until you could barely hear it. You soon found yourself in an alleyway behind several shops.
"What are we doing here?" you asked her.
Abby drew closer and looked up at you, hunger in her eyes.
"This is my own little place I come sometimes when I need a moment alone," she said. "It's been a long time since I've been able to come back here with a handsome stranger."
She placed her hands on your shoulders and looked at you, waiting.
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