lostcarnival | ⇨ POLARIS

Entry tags:

⇨ 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.

Threaded | Top-Level Comments Only

Below are prompts with specific investigation-based hooks. Some prompts may go up as hooks for specific characters, who may reply as they see fit, but if you find something you'd like to investigate, please make a post here explaining what your character is doing to find out info. All investigation threads will be done in summary form as opposed to going tag by tag.

DON'T BE VAGUE. If you are having your character investigate something, you must explain what your character is specifically doing to find out information. Don't just say "I investigate the Twelve." You have to be more specific, by saying what your character is doing, such as "My character is going to ask the Honorables that brought everyone in who the Twelve are." The more specific you are, the better info you will get in return.

You can also confront NPCs by this method, and you'll get summary posts in return explaining how the situation will unfold based on your actions. Investigation is important for this plot! Various boons and advantages will be given out for characters who make a difference.

Please restrict all investigation actions to one or two actions at a time. Please don't give me a laundry list of the five different things your character is doing, because it makes everything too time-consuming to get through. Stick to one main thing your character is looking into per tag.

Both mandatory and volunteer scientific trials will be posted here. For ones that you can volunteer for, please reply to the comment expressing your interest. For mandatory trials, please reply with the character requested so that I can give you the low down over what is happening behind closed doors. Trials will be posted with what date they take place on.

For those that have requested Magitek modifications, those threads will be started beneath this header as well. Reply to the prompt, and I will explain to you what happens.

Gonna start with the most obvious question in the world: Is there any indication of how the Technicians are keeping an eye on them? Any sign of cameras, or magic devices that would allow observation? One-way mirrors maybe? Peridot would be surreptitiously trying to spot anything odd in all areas, hallways, in the cells, and on the farm.

A. Still Alive

If there is a single bright side to this situation, it's that there are far worst things that these Technicians could be forcing Peridot to spend her time on than farming. Farming is straight up a hobby of hers, a special interest she picked up back during her time on earth for being similar enough to kindergartening gems without the whole icky 'sucking the life out of the planet' side-effect. It's a method of creating life that feels karmically inverse to her previous job on Homeworld, and it usually, doing it is a comfort to her.

Unfortunately, Peridot is not prone to feeling grateful about much of anything at this point in time. No one in the carnival is happy to be here, of course, but she was feeling broken before the Huntsman even showed up at Shabon, and she's feeling exponentially more broken now. The Ringmaster is gone. She's gone, and she's not coming to save them, and once again Peridot feels it has been cruelly demonstrated that she can't actually rely on her role-models for shit.

She's coping with the sickening, soul-gnawing hopelessness the only way she knows how: By farming, and by bossing people around. Those who are having visible difficulty performing the tasks provided may be interrupted in their efforts by some unsolicited, brusquely delivered advice. The Engineer knows her way around a garden, and she's not afraid to tell you exactly what you're doing wrong. Some of her advice is genuinely helpful, but, while she's not exactly being cruel, it's not delivered in a friendly manner either.

B. Comedy = Tragedy + Time

As if there wasn't enough eating at this poor gem, the removal of certain powers is a consistent and unwelcome reminder of just how helpless they are here. She can live without her magic! Sure, she earned those powers, she enjoys having them, and she'd prefer to have access to them, but she can more or less go about her daily life without them.

No, what's really getting to her is the removal of her ability to manipulate metal, precisely because she hadn't realized just how much using it had just become second nature. The result? At numerous points throughout the work day, like an astronaut recently returned to Earth who has yet to adapt to gravity being a thing again, she keeps taking various metal tools that she's holding and, without thinking, absentmindedly holds them out to the side as if she intends to make the object hover next to her while she frees up her hands. Naturally, the second she reaches the point where she would normally release her grip and let the metallokinesis take over, the object instead simply clatters heavily to the ground, making the poor gem flinch in surprise. Invariably, each time this happens, she turns and scowls down at the object with the most venomous glare imaginable, as if this simple garden tool is solely responsible for putting them all here in this prison.

If you're lucky, you aren't standing immediately next to her when this happens, and you DON'T get a shovel dropped on your foot/tail/whatever.

C. Courtesy Call (Semi-Closed)

It kind of just adds insult to injury that there's something going on in this facility that compels her, a gem who doesn't need sleep and rarely partakes in it, to rest at night. It's infuriating. Night time is supposed to be the only free time she has for scheming her way out of here, and they're forcing her to waste it on pointless rest!?

If you wind up rooming with Peridot on any given night, you'll find her stubbornly trying to resist the call to slumber, alternating between pacing the tiny floor space of the cell and crouching in the corner, peering out into the halls while she keeps flexing her right hand over and over and over.

[ I have five nights in the first week where Peridot isn't yet slated to room with anyone specific, so if you'd like to get stuck with her, hit me up on the LC Discord or on my Plurk. Priority goes to previous CR for this prompt! ]

Aside from the carnival, are there any other test subjects working on the Farm or that could be seen around Polaris itself? If so, how fucked up are they physically/mentally?

[DAY 102 | MORNING, THE FIRST DAY ON THE FARM]

As expected, Reira has no fucking clue what's going on. All in all, things didn't go too badly after the Huntsman 'won'. Yes, all of her things were taken. Yes, that included her small sparrow...and yes, for whatever reason, she hadn't been able to summon her daemon since. But they patched up their injuries, and whatever else happened she wasn't feeling hungry.

So there's that. The 'Technicians' are eerie, she observes very quickly. Not because of their monotone speech and silence- no, that would be hypocritical after all.

She was like that once.

It's...the feelings. They're gone. Initially, she thinks that it's because they...really are like how she was. The emotions locked away, for their own good.

She figures it out once they're let into the 'Farm' area. And when she does, she stands stock still with shock.

"..Quiet..." she manages, shivering a bit in place as her eyes widen.

"...Why can't I feel them..!?"

[DAY 103 | NOON OF THE SECOND DAY]

She doesn't have much of a choice, other than to 'get over it' when it comes to the lack of empathy. Apparently that's some sort of magic in itself, and that's probably why it's gone. That's the theory everyone has, at least. But Reira is determined not to let it pull her back. The fact is, whatever dangers this place has aren't coming from the people with her. The Technicians, she's certain, are exactly what the surface shows. Unflinching, unyielding, and blank.

Like she was, once before. Perhaps there was a strength in that, but it isn't a strength she needs now. What she needs now is to focus on the work around her.

And that work doesn't need the feelings of others, it needs the strength of her hands. Small as she is, she can at least busy herself with various tasks at ground level- perhaps the area of garden that needs weeding was left suspiciously bare of people...perhaps not. But regardless, she gets to plucking with relative diligence and harvests the root vegetables or gourds (at least, she thinks they're gourds, they're quite blockey) or similar with just as much ease. Thanks to the size of her hands, she might not be able to carry much heavy objects but she can at least carry a lot of things...

So off she goes. Briefly after dropping her latest harvest off in a collection pile, she has to stare and turn to someone.

"..............what do they do with these?"

[DAY 104 | DAWN OF THE THIRD DAY (CLOSED TO YUUYA)]

It's day three of this mess, but Reira doesn't show any signs of slowing down just yet. One would assume literal hours of task work would be a drain and drag back...but nope. She simply chases after something new and launches into it.

To be fair, it's only been two days at this point. Today however, she plans to work entirely in the orchards. Start to finish! She's determined. So as soon as she's in, and as soon as she's looked over the 'Production Board' (none of these things look much like anything she would be any good at, she thinks, but maybe she'll ask a Technician later), she's off to find something to pick fruit with.

Rather, to put picked fruit in. To the orchard with her! ...With a large basket, held up above her head!

[DAY 105 | EVENING OF THE FINAL DAY]

Reira is a little...stunned, today? It really wasn't much that she was led off for, but the fact that she WAS led off early into the day is strange in itself. Something about an 'aura scan'. She's heard a bit about auras, and she certainly trails gold dust behind her when she walks, but it's nothing she can really identify enough to parse what on earth the scanning is about.

As it is, she's returned relatively quickly, and seems rather stunned for a good moment or so. Nothing major happened, naturally. Why, she'll explain what happened easily if asked! It's just.

Well it was unexpected, see. "...Haaaah." she finally breathes, trying to shake herself off and orient herself. Right, well. Where to.

[SEMI CLOSED | NIGHT TIMES - FOR THE ROOMMATES]

Seven hours is an optimal amount of sleep for most adults and near adults. An hour before and after no doubt, is just to ease any waking up and turning in for each night. That or give everyone time to think about their lives.

It's an hour after all.

Reira won't spend much of those hours awake however. Certainly she wants to consider the day, and anything she might have learned (either academically, or toward some sort of escape)...but for the most part?

"HHhhaawwwuuuh..." As soon as the door closes, Reira's roommate for the night is going to witness a long yawn, the girl ready to curl in for sleep.

For someone her age, nine hours, is optimal. So most of those extra chunks of time in the cells is being spent in bed, thanks.

[DAY 102 | SOFTPAWS...]

It is sheerly because of what he learned on the day they were processed, that Gongenzaka is at all calm. The suit isn't 'uncomfortable' exactly, but rather odd. His claws are covered, as are his boots, and it wraps neatly around all of the branches at their rising points seamlessly. He almost wishes Carly had been able to tailor things for him that well. Maybe he could wear more coats, or similar.

Of course, these mean he doesn't have to eat so that is probably part of how it works so well. Regardless- he's looking a bit different. The suit goes right through the hole over where his heart would be, for starters. But even more notable is the sudden...Lack of leaves along his back. It's as if he were given a brush cut- for good reason of course, as a number of leaves had been struck horribly with herbicide- but his tail is thin and much shorter, and the 'bushes' along his lower back are perhaps as tall as unkept grass on a lawn.

It's to the point where, as much as there is enough up at his head to make something of a starting mane, nothing comes over his shoulders as it used to. In fact, so little goes down his back at all that you can still somewhat see through the hole.

It's taking a bit to get used to.

[DAY 103 | Stop Being Tall, Guys]

Gongenzaka is frankly massive, and it's coming in handy with his work. He's not made for weeding, or root harvest of course...but when it comes to the orchards, he's got things under control. Nesting a basket upon his back, it is easy work to use his flexibility in order to start loading it with fruit from both hands. Even more interesting a display is that later on, he simply has the basket held with his fore limbs...Rearing up on his hind ones in order to pick at the taller branches of the trees.

Being nine foot already gave him an unfair advantage here, but this takes the cake!

[DAY 104 | Forecast Says...]

"...Blood test."

That is what he repeats, questioningly, to the technician who comes to him in the middle of the fourth day. He goes without question of course- he can't afford to make a mess of everything- but after he comes back he cannot help but seem a bit distant. Not long after that in fact, Gongenzaka can be found walking to the Production board to frown rather heavily at the listed trials for the day.

"Hhhnnnn...if something was not 'right' already, it is not 'right' now..." he mutters- wishing, for what is far from the first time, that he could summon his daemon.

[DAY 105 | DIY FIELD WORK]

By the fourth day, he's leaving the orchards to those who need it. Plenty of people can climb a tree and pluck fruit.

Not a lot can plow a field, however. Gongenzaka can be found ripe and early in the 'work day', pulling out a plow and a harness as his upper half twists right around to face his own taur-back. "Hnnn...." He studies the straps, squinting. "Sahh, now how do I tie this..."

Nothing better than steering your own plow to raise those scores, right?

[SEMI-CLOSED | THE NIGHTS | ROOMIES ONLY]

Night time. The fact that they have an hour before and after 'lights out' is a blessing to Gongenzaka frankly, or at least enough of a blessing to him. More of a blessing perhaps is the look of the room before him. Not because of the size- evening one, where he was alone, worked well enough for that. Close as quarters were, the bed was adequately sized for comfort...rare indeed.

No, what takes his attention is that he is not alone. There is a ladder at the side that goes up to a (much smaller) bed, and more importantly...

Gongenzaka turns to the other who has now been locked in the room with them. "...How are you?" he asks honestly, with an edge of concern in his tone.

"Don't ask stupid questions."

The sword spirit formerly known as Zangetsu looks weary. Sure, it was a long day of work and... other things, and there's something about these stupid cubes that brings a sleepiness he'd only experienced when drunk. But that wasn't why he was so exhausted. He looks broken, down to his very soul, and his voice lacks any bite or inflection.

Instead of climbing up to the bed, he makes his way to the opposite corner of the tiny room and sits, facing the wall.

Yuya's really disoriented as he's shuffled out of medical attention and to the farm to start working, having only half listened to the very basic and vague instructions from one of the technicians. Physically, he's probably fine now. Emotionally...

It's hard to process. It's surreal. One moment he was in a hazy state of not quite dying, his body being used against his will before he slowly faded out. The next, he finds out they're with one of the Winter Fae, the Ringmaster's gone, Ignatius is gone, and they'll be kept here (trapped here) for the indefinite future.

There's no argument from him as the shock settles in. He's barely attentive in the interview, and then when he's nudged to the farm he just stands there for a moment. Staring out. He can see other members of the carnival tilling, gathering in the distance, and it starts to weigh a gravity of truth in him that he's not quite ready to accept.

It's only when he catches Gongenzaka's form start to disappear in the fruit grove that he finally moves forward, following. He goes until he's a couple feet behind him, watching with a slightly vacant expression as Gongenzaka starts pulling down fruit from the trees.

He takes a shaky breath, and then finally forces his voice out. "Gongenzaka."

"Mnh-!"

He didn't hear him coming. Well- perhaps he did. He knew someone was there, and he certainly...smelled something, but what he smelled was unclear. They were all sterilized and put in the same sort of suit...

And the scents blur together as a result.

It's not until he hears Yuuya's voice- He startles, almost dropping his basket, but otherwise managing to keep his composure.

Enough to keep still for a few moments at least.

"Y...Yuuya..." He knew he was alive. He knew he was going to be okay, but...

Somehow he has the presence of mind to set his basket down, running over to pull the other close. "YUUYA..!"

"Hn." Gongenzaka holds back a growl, simply watching the other. He's quite aware that...this isn't typical of the other. "...You know what I mean. ...Beyond the 'obvious', Zangetsu. ...I, the man Gongenzaka, speak of surviving this."

Yuya's pulled into Gongenzaka's arms without struggle, but without the presence of mind to really return it at first.

And then he starts to cry, failing to blink back tears before his attempts of holding himself together dissolve into sobbing. Gongenzaka's always had a way to ground him, and that's usually a good thing. But right now it's only proving that all this is real.

He really doesn't have the sense to do anything but cry, but eventually he manages to fumble to at least scramble to cling back. It's hard to get a grip, though, and his attempts ultimately fail.

[day 102 - taking a break]

As they're set to work in the fields, Rita moves about in an almost lifeless manner. There's very little effort in her work, but she sets about doing some of the tasks laid out for them at a steady, unenthusiastic pace.

But soon, it becomes apparent that there's no one actually enforcing whatever level of productivity is expected of them... and Rita's work slows to a halt. She turns in the basket she's filled with fruit, then goes to find a ledge to sit on and just... stares into space. At times, her eyes follow the other captives, watching them work, or just looking to see who's there. But for much of the time, she seems almost like she isn't here at all, and her mind's completely wandered elsewhere.

[day 103 - taking a fall]

Like the previous day, Rita works, but doesn't seem to be all there. She doesn't talk to anyone for the most part, and doesn't seem to give much thought or care to what she's doing, but her hands and feet keep moving as she earns at least a minimal portion of those coveted points.

That is, until late in the day, when it seems her body isn't willing to keep up with everything she's doing. As she's hauling a basket of what looks like some kind of crystalline carrots to the hand-in location, her legs buckle, and she falls over forward. The basket tips over and rolls off to the side, spilling its contents on the ground. Rita doesn't make a sound. She simply lies there on her stomach for a few seconds, then starts making a half-hearted attempt to push herself up, though she doesn't seem able to muster up much strength in her arms, either.

[days 104-105 - taking it in stride]

At some point, there's been a change in Rita's approach. She seems to have found some motivation, and she's actually focused as she works. As soon as the day starts, she's already decided where she wants to go and what she wants to do in order to maximize the points she'll gain.

Even if she knows that rising in the ranks here won't necessarily be a good thing... she has to try. It has to be better than doing nothing.

Using her wings to fly over an orchard full of large trees bearing some kind of oddly shiny citrus fruit, Rita makes for the high branches, grabs them, and gives them a shake, causing a rain of fruit to fall down. Fortunately, she's already ascertained that the fruit won't be damaged in the fall, and can be easily collected after the fact. Not-so-fortunately, she didn't check to see if anyone was walking under the tree before she decided to knock all those fruit down on their head.

When Yuya enters his cell for the night, he'll find his roommate already there. Rita's lying on the top bunk, curled up facing the wall with her blanket wrapped around her. With her position, one might have a hard time telling it's her, if not for the tips of her distinct red-black wings sticking out, as well as a few stray feathers that have drifted down to the floor below.

Rita doesn't look up to see who comes in. It doesn't matter. It's not 9S. That's who she should be sharing a room like this with... at least, she can't help thinking that, despite knowing what a selfish thought it is.

She feels so pathetic. Whoever else is here, she doesn't want them to see her like this.

Rita's looking pretty worn out herself. While the bodysuit, for whatever reason, doesn't seem to accumulate much sweat or dirt, her hair sticks to her forehead and her stiff movements suggest some degree of general soreness.

She stands uncomfortably in the cramped space with her wings pressed against the cell wall, crossing her arms and looking down at her pint-sized roommate.

"You want the top bunk or the bottom one?" is all she asks.

It's easy to notice how listless Rita is: Strange is feeling a little bit of the same. Though his sad attitude pales in comparison to Rita's. He had been plowing (holy hell, that's awful? how did people do that for a living?) and now was stuck with a large basket, for him to collect fruit.

Before he does that, though, he walks over towards Rita and sits down next to her. There's a pause where he tries to decide what to say. Eventually, he sighs and comes up with, "It's terrible, isn't it."

Just...the whole thing is terrible. Trusting Ignatius only for the Huntsman to mutilate him like that, the Ringmaster herself getting killed, not knowing where Ignatius is in the first place...everything's kind of terrible right now.

VOLUNTARY TRIAL : TEST GROUP 700

REQUIREMENTS

» 1-3 SUBJECTS

» HAVE EXPERIENCED TEMPORARY DEATH BY ANY MEANS

» 1-3 SUBJECTS

» CONTROL GROUP THAT HAS NEVER BEEN DECEASED

TRIAL SPECIFICATIONS

Full aural diagnostics of pre-death and post-death candidates. Nature of death and resurrection required data. Preference for resurrections by entity called 'Ringmaster'. Further resurrections may be required.

Edited 2018-10-04 14:12 (UTC)

VOLUNTARY TRIAL : TEST GROUP 700

REQUIREMENTS

» 1-3 SUBJECTS

» NO EXPERIENCE NECESSARY

» POSSESSES LIMBS GROWN FROM MAGICAL EXPOSURE

TRIAL SPECIFICATIONS

Limb segmentation and long term examination. Initial trial will be short, allowing subjects to return to work. Estimated trial period: One Week.

Sure, why not. Yuusei'll sign up for this. What could go wrong?

Herbert doesn't LIKE dying but he would like a look at their methodology and they're GOING to resurrect him if they kill him so. He was eaten alive by extradimensional eels and jellyfish. Huntsman rez.

His reagent-infused body is going to make him honestly difficult to kill.

VOLUNTARY TRIAL : TEST GROUP 700

REQUIREMENTS

» UNLIMITED CANDIDATES ACCEPTED

» CONTRACT FORMED WITH ENTITY 'IGNATIUS' THE 'LORD OF CONFLAGRATION'

TRIAL SPECIFICATIONS

Auric examination of contract bonds between subjects. Parallel investigations into ███████████████████ starting ████████████.

Edited 2018-10-04 14:49 (UTC)

Hey, something that applies - and makes that brief oath pay off a little. Beau's down.

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⇨ POLARIS

⇨ INVESTIGATION THREADS

⇨ TRIALS BY ICE

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Peridot | OTA

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Reira | OTA

THE FIRST FOUR DAYS

GONGENZAKA | OTA

THE FIRST FOUR DAYS

roomies

103

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Rita | OTA

Days 102-105 | OPEN

for yuya

third night

day 102

VOLUNTARY TRIAL SUBMISSION: DAY 103

VOLUNTARY TRIAL : TEST GROUP 700

VOLUNTARY TRIAL SUBMISSION: DAY 104

VOLUNTARY TRIAL : TEST GROUP 700

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VOLUNTARY TRIAL SUBMISSION: DAY 105

VOLUNTARY TRIAL : TEST GROUP 700

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