lostcarnival | ⇨ POLARIS

Who: Everyone!
When: Days 102 - 109
Where: Polaris
What: With the Ringmaster kidnapped and the rest of the carnival imprisoned, characters find themselves at the mercy of a Winter Fae called the Mother of Invention.
Warnings: Graphic experimentation in places.

TRIALS & TRIBULATION↴

After a day of cleansing and processing, where all the belongings and attire of their old lives are stripped away and replaced with something newer and more form fitting, the former members of the carnival will find themselves let loose into the Farm for the first time. A sizable green area, filled with orchards growing inorganic looking fruits and field ready for tending, the Farm is where they will be spending their days for the forseeable future.

Food and drink are no longer needed, and so every day is an endless cycle of work. Technicians are seen only when necessary, and when being taken from your place of work to your lonesome cells at night. Every day, there are new postings on the "Production Board", where various dire sound scientific trials ask for subjects. The majority won't be forced, at least not yet, but the system is at work to push its participants to the brink and force their hand.

After all, volunteers make the best subjects.

► PRODUCTIVITY: As explained elsewhere, characters will be forced to compete to attain enough Productivity Point to be considered Satisfactory. There are literally not enough points to go around for everyone to attain this, which means that at least some people will be deemed "Below Expectations" by the end of the first four-day cycle. What this means has yet to be discovered, but the Technicians have grimly warned against it.

Productivity involves many tasks, including orchard picking, tilling, planting, harvesting, watering, maintenance, and more. Any task you can think of that would take place on a plantation is applicable here. Beyond that, the Production Board awaits you, offering precious Productivity Points in exchange for your cooperation. How you become Satisfactory is up to you, but it's every person for themselves. Only one person can turn in the credit for harvesting or preparing fields, and while you can certainly try to help others by letting them take credit for your work, it's a sure fire way to fall behind the herd, especially if you are already in a low Classification.

Fruits and fields will miraculously grow overnight, and will be ready for a new day when you are. You've been told not to eat anything you harvest, but right now you aren't hungry anyway.

► POLARIS BY NIGHT: During the night, you are left alone to your thoughts and maybe an annoying roommate. Solo or in pairs, the entire night will be spent in small sleep pods, as shown on the locations post. Is it possible to sneak out? It doesn't seem like it is, but who is to say? The real question is if you want to dare to try. There is one hour of rest before and after seven hours of darkness. Even if you don't usually have to sleep, you'll find yourself oddly weary and inclined to rest. Supernaturally, almost.

► PARTICIPATION: Sometimes participation in experimental trials is manditory, sometimes it isn't. You are free to handwave your character having been pulled aside for minor examinations, such as blood tests or aura scans. Each time, you will be pulled into a separate part of the station and analyzed by a Technician and heavily automated machinery. Anymore more complex than basic check-up level tests will be posted about in a section called "TRIALS" in the body of the post below.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

One of the people that Papyrus asks if they're doing okay is Hanamaru. She looks up at the skeleton before pausing...and actually answering his question.

"I guess so, zura..." Based on the tone of her voice, she's a little despondent and a lot tired and struggling. She's a school idol, not someone built for manual labor, so all of this is a lot harder for her than it is for others.

She knows this is childish, but Hanamaru lets her childishness win out and indulges in a bit of complaining. "I don't wanna be here," she grumbles. "The Ringmaster...she shouldn'tve died, zura." She's too strong! Too powerful! She shouldn't have died and this shoudln't have happened!

Well, that's a fair reason for unhappiness, Papyrus certainly can't blame her. He's realized that his work this last nearly-a-year left him better prepared for this than most, even if the fine particulars of farming are new. And for the other reason...

"I'm choosing to believe she's biding her time before her return," he offers after a moment's consideration. "She did the same egg thing she offers everyone, I think she'll come back after a while! Though... it might take a while."

Hanamaru doesn't know much of the specifics of how the Ringmaster died, seeing as she was also dead at the time. She knows hearsay and bits of gossip, but didn't actually see the deed itself.

"Where is her egg anyway? Does this faerie have it?"

Maybe that's something they could do? Find the egg, you find the Ringmaster.

Papyrus was there, but has uncomfortably dual memories of the whole event. That makes it a little trickier to think back and try to retrace what happened.

"Ah, well... The last I saw, the Huntsman had it. I don't think he came along with us."

He's also choosing not to think too hard about what the Ringmaster did with Ignatius after his defeat, or the very real possibility that the same thing's been done to her now.

Hmm. That's not very useful. Hanamaru frowns for a moment, thinking things over.

"So when she does hatch, it'll be right in enemy territory, zura." Geez...there's no way you can spin this or think about this situation and have it end up anywhere near 'good.' "And there's nothin' we can do about it."

"We can believe in her, and wish her well..." Nice sentiments are good for morale, sometimes. Not as 'good' as he'd like, and much more on the passive side than best...

"...And do our best to get by here! As a whole, we have so much experience getting in prisons. I'm sure some of us have ideas how to break out. The rest of us... can do our best to assist."

That's definitely more on the passive side than Hanamaru was expecting. Still, if hoping and praying is all they can do then she might as well do it.

"I'll probably assist then. I don't have the slightest clue how ta break out of prison," Hanamaru responds, with a little laugh. All in all, she'd prefer to take more of an active role in these sort of things. But if she's stuck in the back then so be it.

"I would have a lot more ideas if my magic was working," Papyrus admits in a grumble. "Going without... it's so inconvenient."

He would prefer a more active role, full of cool explosions or sneaky air vent crawling or something. But prioritizing getting his brother to a safer higher ranking seems the more immediate priority, while they get the lay of the land.

"If my magic were working, I could give you a lot more ideas," Hanamaru adds, with a little smile. "I can help give people energy, zura. We'd work together and come up with somethin' useful."

As it is...she doesn't even know where to start.

"You don't say!" His eyesockets widen a little, and his cheekbones crinkle in a smile. "I learned to do something a little bit like that... But we can still do a little bit, with encouraging and supporting people!"

Magic power behind it is more effective, to be sure, but morale's good too.

When Papyrus says it, it seems so obvious. But Hanamaru's been lost in her own head the past few days and stuck in her own misery of dying during the Hunt. But...he's right. She can still be encouraging even though she doesn't have her magic anymore. After all, she's a school idol. It's their job to be encouraging.

"You're right," she says, looking up at Papyrus with a big smile of her own. "I dunno why I didn't think of it before, but you're right. I can still try ta support people and help 'em through this even without my magic."

She offers a hand for Papyrus to shake. "I'm Hanamaru Kunikida. I don't think we've been properly introduced, zura."

"Oh! No, we haven't! Let's do the mannerly thing." Papyrus takes her hand for a polite shake, and touches his other hand to his chest. "I'm Papyrus, the skeleton, brother of the other skeleton around here."

He's pretty sure that everyone gets introduced to the various supervisors, and even if not, it contextualizes them both - and Papyrus is a great icebreaker topic.

"But really, you have a perfectly good reason why you hadn't thought of it. Upheaval and chaos does a number on anyone's thinking." It took him a day, too.

"That makes sense! I wondered if ya were related, but I didn't want ta guess." Is it racist to assume all skeletons are related? Hell if Hanamaru knows. What she does know is that this conversation is doing a good job making her feel better and she can't help but look up at Papyrus with a little smile.

"Thanks for pointing that out, zura. I guess my mind was so messed up by all the chaos and the Ringmaster—" don't say dying "—erm, with what happened to the Ringmaster that I just didn't think things through."

Given that some skeletons are nefarious constructs of animated remains bent only on the destruction of their masters' foes, it would be a little bit, yes. But there's plenty of other cool skeletons Papyrus would cheerfully claim for some distant manner of cousin, if they liked. A few such even passed through the carnival, in brief and barely overlapping blips. It's a shame she missed the chance to meet them.

"We don't look that much alike, so I can understand your hesitation," Papyrus responds with a serious nod. "And, I understand. I was similarly afflicted, my thoughts were all over the place." He'd been in two pieces, after all.

He takes a moment to glance around the farmwork Hanamura had been at when he came to interrupt with the question. After all, encouragement is always good, and it's reassuring to see a smile, but encouragement with some relevant advice is even better - if he can spin it.

⇨ POLARIS

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