⇨ POLARIS

[ringleaders]

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.

Comments

[ringleaders]

For this trial, everyone is taken into a different testing lab, so none of the subjects will actually see each other during it. Which is possibly for the best, because it starts out the same that all of them do, with everyone getting naked and sprayed with vapor.

Afterwards, they are bound with the same translucent material into a partly upright medical bed, and scanning commences! There is always a lot of scanning going on, pre and post any invasive operations. Basic flesh samples are taken, like hair, skin, and blood, and then things get more metaphysical.

How exactly the technology works is unclear, but using some kind of machine, the technicians extract what can only be described as a fragment of their souls. This part sucks in fairly abstracts ways, and you might expect having a needle go in and sucking out your soul juices would. It does literally use a needle, that even feels like a needle, except in a spiritual way.

The glowing material, which will be in Yugo's soul colour as well as a hint of sparkling white, is pulled into a tube and held within it in a way that is thoroughly bizarre to look at. Afterwards, he'll be given a few more injections, followed by having a shard of what is ostensibly lead injected into his arm at the shoulder. Lead is bad for people, generally speaking, but he somehow won't suffer the usual effects of lead poisoning. Instead, the sickness is purely spiritual.

It will leave him feeling dizzied and mentally unfocused the whole day, like he is dissociating pretty hard. He won't feel like he's properly connected to his body, and understanding basic concepts will be harder than it should be. His vision will also be prone to fogginess and being otherwise impaired.

At this point he'll be released to go back to work for the rest of the day, and called back at the end. The whole process will repeat at this point, and the lead will be removed. Then, he'll be clothed and sent to his cell.