As Visuveus reported things to the necessary people, the rest of the group sat in the truck, throwing casual glances in his direction.
"Man, I can't believe you've got that guy naked in that goofy suit." Morgannin said as he glanced over at Ryan.
"Hold up - Evil Dude is naked in there?"
"He claims it gets hot in there." Bryant answered.
"I'll bet." Morgannin responded. "Hot and uncomfortable with all those Knight Industry level switches and buttons. Dude can't even move his arms."
"I've made it so that he can do everything he needs to." Ryan said, joining the conversation.
"Yeah, everything except wear clothes." Morgannin quipped. "Also, are you sure it's such a good idea to have that guy go to—"
"Leave it alone, Morgs." Bryant sighed. "I've been saying that forever, but he's got Pop's approval, so there's nothing we can do."
Conversation inside the cab continued in this vein until they started approaching the District. Natalie, who had been stealing glances at Visuveus in silence, could suddenly feel the heat of an unblinking gaze burning a hole into the side of her head. She looked to her right to see Morgannin staring at her with wide eyes and a filthy smirk.
"No matter how much you look at him, you won't find the right angle to see his dick, Nat." He said sleazily.
"I'm not trying to look at his dick, you idiot." Natalie retorted before looking at Visuveus again. "I was just thinking… he looks pretty lonely back there, don't you think?"
"He looks evil… and naked."
"Oh shut the fuck up." Natalie groaned. "Besides, those 'prototypes' that Ryan had him wear showed me everything I needed to see."
"He's not actually naked under there; he's wearing boxer briefs." Bryant stated. "I helped him suit up before you guys arrived."
As they got closer, Ryan looked at Bryant and signaled for him to find a spot to pull over in, and after he did, Ryan climbed out and walked to the side of the load bed. Just as he was about to address Visuveus, he was caught off guard by the ex-con, who was staring into the sky with the usual blank expression on his face, yet a series of complex emotions in his gaze. Visuveus then turned his neck to look at Ryan, and the complexity in his eyes drained.
"Is it time?"
"H-Huh? Yeah, it is."
"Understood." Visuveus said as he got to his feet. "I'll need assistance in getting—"
Bryant had already started climbing up into the load bed, prompting Visuveus to keep quiet and snap the harness in properly, before tucking his arms by his side after sliding his fingers into the rings. Bryant lifted the rather heavy head and plopped it onto Visuveus – who also did his part, trying to make the job easier. One it was done, and B fastened all the little latches, the inside of the costume lit up, as all the backlights for the switches and control panels lit up – as if the costume had activated or powered up. Natalie and Morgannin had also hopped out of the truck by the time the costume was on completely, and they all got a good look at it in the light felt laughter bubbling up from deep within. Suddenly, Ryan caught their collective attention as he hopped into the load bin and placed both hands on Vesuvius' shoulders, staring into where he guessed the eyeholes were.
"Listen Vincent, now that you are in the costume, you have to be in character. We're a few minutes out from the District, and for the duration of the time we're there, Vesuvius Vincent cannot slip out even a tiny bit. It's gotta be Builder baby, all the way! The walk, the mannerisms, they all have to be in character! Are we on the same page, Vincent?!" Ryan boomed passionately.
"Vincent? I don't know who that is… call me… Builder Baby! Goo-goo!"
The cheap voice changer built in to the costume was working, and a strange, almost alien voice that didn't sound much like a toddler's crackled and snapped out from the cheap speakers. Putting the awful voice aside, Vesuvius' attempt at talking like a toddler was about as good as his toddler walk – which was not very. Adding 'goo-goo' at the end of whatever it was he had to say was literally all he did, and that seemed to count in his mind. Yet, Ryan's face changed and looked as though he had just seen and heard an award worthy method acting performance, before clapping and looking at his colleagues in disbelief.
"Incredible! I forgot you weren't actually a toddler, Vince—excuse me, Builder Baby! Let's do this! Goo-goo!"
"Goo-goo!"
A pumped Ryan hopped down from the load bin and ran into the truck, leaving his confused coworkers flabbergasted. Bryant, who looked at Visuveus with continued confusion, shook his head ever so slightly before muttering to himself.
"
…was this guy really as much of a terror as we assume he was?"
It wasn't long before the others joined an equally amused and amazed Ryan in the truck and it drove off.
"Did you guys see that?! This is going to be incredible! I thought I was looking at a real toddler there!"
"This has the potential to be an absolute disaster." B commented.
"Hush Captain Killjoy."
After admonishing Bryant, Ryan then took his phone out and dialed a number while shushing absolutely nobody because everybody else was already quiet.
"Yes, District Councilor, how are you? This is Ryan, from Dawn Logistics, we are about to enter the District to start our promo tour. We will be starting at…"
After Ryan finished his call with the Councilor, he looked at Bryant and nodded.
"Let's go to Siyabonga Shopping Centre first, B. The Councilor said he'll join us at our third and final stop."
"…how familiar are you with the… climate, in this District, Ryan?" Bryant asked.
"Familiar enough."
"Very well. Siyabonga it is."
They drove towards the first stop, with Visuveus crouching during the journey. They entered the parking lot, and with it being a Saturday morning, the Centre was actually rather busy, with music from the various shops filtering out into the lot. The Dawn crew disembarked and got themselves ready, with everybody sliding their arms out of their overalls, revealing brand new Dawn Logistics tees, before folding said sleeves around their waists and letting the top half hang. Visuveus hopped down and joined the others, and Ryan handed everybody bar the mascot a handful of fliers.
"Nat, Morgs, let's split up and hand these out. B, can you stay here and explain to people why we're even here?"
"No problem." Bryant said with a nod.
"Cool. The rest of us will take turns keeping an eye on the toddler, so let's decide who'll go with him first?"
"I'll take the first shift." Natalie volunteered with a raised hand. "I'm seeing a bunch of kids and shit here, so maybe a cute, feminine face will put the mothers at ease."
"You hate kids, though." Morgannin stated. "Your face even says that you hate kids."
"Shut up." Natalie said before chucking and looking at Visuveus. "Let's go, Evil Baby."
"Goo-goo."
Natalie tapped Morgannin on his tubby belly twice and walked off, prompting him to shoot her a look and shake his head.
"Don't just tap a dude's belly like that, child hater."
Natalie just laughed as she walked, and Visuveus followed after, his weird toddler/pimp walk in full effect. They entered the shopping centre and as Natalie did her best to be friendly and personable, Visuveus would let out the odd bit of toddler drivel. Most of the mothers thought they were advertising a new 'popayi' (cartoon) and before he knew it, Visuveus was being mobbed by kids, all wanting to take a picture with him.
"What is with this Derpy Baby?" One of the younger mothers asked Natalie as her kid hugged Visuveus and wiped his snotty face against the mascots leg.
"Builder Baby." Natalie corrected. "He is the mascot of our company."
Just then, Visuveus pulled on a wire, and the speakers blared out the horrid baby cry and made a bunch of the children – mostly the little girls – run away, while it amused most of the boys. The mothers all looked at Natalie whose eyes grew wide as the realisation quickly hit that this wasn't going to be particularly easy. Meanwhile, Visuveus was in the baby costume, trying for the life of him to figure out how the fuck toddlers behave.
'Babies… toddlers… they eat. They sleep. They shit. They make noise.'
That was all his brain could come up with, and as so, he began to spazz out in a way he had only seen energetic toddlers do in public. This entertained the children that hadn't been freaked out by the wail and not only made them laugh, but made them join in with the spazzing. In Visuveus' mind, this meant that he was doing a good job, so he kept doing it, and even played the crying sound sample a few times. In the course of the chaos, Visuveus pulled the chord connected to the wings, and as they started flapping and squeaking, the children cheered and started flapping their hands like wings. All of the noise and bustle stopped Natalie's sales pitch mid-sentence, and the young mother from before looked at Natalie once more with a raised eyebrow.
"…so, what does this Derpy Baby have to do with logistics?"
The other mothers who had gathered around due to their kids spazzing while flapping their hands and spinning in circles looked at Natalie, seemingly also waiting for an answer.
"W-Well… uh… he has a… hard hat?" Was all Natalie could stammer out with a shrug and a chuckle.