⇨ 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

Night 106

[amphibiopathic]

[ Eruka, unlike Yukio, is very much affected by the trial -- more so now that the effects of being below expectations have kicked in, the hunger and fatigue weakening her efforts further and making it so she can barely even summon the strength to scrabble in the dirt.

As a result, by the time Yukio enters the room, he'll find himself with a roommate already huddled into a miserable ball on the lower tiny bunk, her hair fading in and out of solid state. She looks up when he enters, unable to stop a reflexive flinch of terror, until she sees who it is and relaxes. Relatively. Considering the circumstances, that really isn't saying much... ]

[reflash]

[He's exhausted, and doesn't want to deal with a stranger, but she looks...

well, she looks at least as terrible as he feels.]

Are you all right? [Yukio asks, not approaching but managing to sound polite and quiet and concerned.]

[amphibiopathic]

I-I'm fine! [ Eruka sits up quickly, straightening on reflex, but her arm almost immediately goes around her stomach with a little grimace. Maybe doing that so quickly wasn't the best idea. It's pretty obvious she's been crying, though, eyes and face puffy as she sniffles and looks him over hesitantly.

He's one of the newer faces at the Carnival, and they've never really spoken. ]

You ... you're one of the newbies, aren't you? [ That's probably funny to hear coming from someone who only returned to the Carnival not that long ago. ]

[reflash]

[A newbie... He doesn't feel like a newbie, he knows he certainly doesn't look like a newbie with all his changes, but he knows that he is. It hasn't even been six months yet.]

That's right. I'm Okumura, I'm one of the medics.

I can't do much for your health right now, but I'll help however I can.

[amphibiopathic]

[ Pretty much anyone Eruka doesn't recognize falls squarely into newbie status -- and she's not familiar enough with him to realize he's missing a limb, though that might come later on.

Still, that he's kind enough to offer to help despite the situation ... she reaches out to that bit of kindness to grip it like it's a lifeline. ]

Thanks... but unless you can find a way for me to take more trials or do my farmwork for me, I think I'm pretty much toast.

[reflash]

Not yet, [he can't afford to let her take the credit for anything he does, not with how he feels like he's falling behind this week.] But I'll see what I can do.