⇨ 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

[hippocarnival]

He'll come to realize the following week that he's at risk of getting torn from Gon anyway as he slips up. Right now, though, he just wants to bury himself in the security of being together. They have at least that much.

He wouldn't say he was strong, though, and he averts his gaze. "I was scared. I couldn't do anything, not even when..." When she used him as bait.

[betheman]

"You were poisoned," he remarks softly. "...With a poison that affected even your control. Fear, was natural...is natural," he adds, swallowing. "...I, the man Gongenzaka, suspect she intended to do much more..."

[hippocarnival]

"Well, they were hunting." That makes it pretty clear what else she was planning to do. "I didn't... think she'd use me to--"

He covers his mouth with a choked sound, finding himself reluctant to say it.

[betheman]

"....As bait," he speaks quietly. "....Those of us within the Carnival are close to another- even those of us from separate realms... ...She would no doubt have tried it with anyone."

[hippocarnival]

"I was stupid. She grabbed me, I didn't even think she was part of the hunt." He shudders, curling a little tighter on himself. The hard part is remembering it. What felt like forever walking against his will, seeing them, wondering when his slipping consciousness was going to die...

He hides his face in his hand, failing to control his breathing.

[betheman]

"Yuuya," he speaks, searching for one of the boy's hands with his own. He squeezes it gently, and tries to ground the other somehow. "...If such a thing were allowed to happen, then it means she intended to appear as a victim as it were... ....you are not the only one, who would fall for such a play. ...There is a reason they work," he says softly.

"You are here, now, Yuuya. You are no longer held by her poison, aah?"

[hippocarnival]

"It's not, it's not in me anymore..." He mumbles it like a mantra, but it's obvious with the weakness in his tone that the pain runs so much deeper than that. It had been terrifying in a way that's hard to him to articulate but rocks through his own body and leaves tears in his eyes.

[betheman]

"...And it will not be, ever again, understand?" Gongenzaka assures him. "Never again. Aah?"

[hippocarnival]

Objectively he understands it, but it doesn't make him feel any calmer.

He just nods wordlessly after a stretch of silence, his face still buried in his hand and his shoulders tense. He's at least trying to calm himself down, but it's harder than it's ever been before. He's never felt that helpless, even by Zarc.

[betheman]

There is not much more that words can convey, and so Gongenzaka simply holds the other close- not so much that Yuuya could not move if he desired of course- but close enough to have that comfort there.

But they need to sleep.

And sleep, Gongenzaka soon does.

[hippocarnival]

Yuya, unfortunately, doesn't sleep so easily. He can feel the magic weigh on his mind, but whenever he gets close a jolt of anxiety shakes him back to his senses. He tries, at least, to not disturb Gongenzaka too much, even while he tucks himself as close to him as he can.