⇨ POLARIS 2.0

[ringleaders]

Who: Everyone!
When: Days 110 - 114
Where: Polaris
What: After a mysterious explosion shakes the station, the staff of Polaris struggle to maintain order while the test subjects fight for freedom with the aid of hidden allies. Productivity info is here.
Warnings: More graphic experimentation.

THEORY & CONCLUSION↴ At the midnight between Day 109 and Day 110, something happens. For most people, it won't be clear what - yet, they are shaken by it just the same. Violent tremors appear out of nowhere, rattling the entirety of the Polar station, violent enough to throw sleeping test subjects off their bunks. The source is unclear, but there is a sudden flurry of activity from staff as power flickers and is lost in various parts of the facility. Subjects, for the most part, will be left to their cells while they try to sort things out. The next morning, the staff are late picking people up. It's more like 6:30AM than the usual 6AM when they arrive to take people to the farm, which is a bit of tardiness that is entirely without precedent. Any questions about the incident the previous night will be waved off with the explanation of 'technical difficulties' that have been 'resolved.' ► DELTA: The three new Deltas will be left in their cells for even longer, waiting to be picked up, instructed that they would be escorted elsewhere instead of to the farm. Around 6:45AM some unfamiliar technicians will arrive and tell them that they are here to begin their processing into Delta. They are led into a previously untouched section of the station, where they are invited into a somewhat more intimate medical room to be asked some cursory questions and given a check up. Then, their suits will be removed, and they will be provided with their new uniforms, which they can apply like normal clothes. Delta life begins there. There will be a top level for the initial parts of their processing to be played out. Ultimately, however, they will end up being given a tour of the new Delta facilities, which amounts to a waterfront area that borders the new apartments they'll be staying in, as well a small supply shop where they can pick up an allotted amount of 'amenities' per day, based on their level of productivity and other achievements. This includes luxury items like food, pleasant smelling soaps, or other hygiene related tools. There are even small things like decorations or pictures of other places available, though they are fairly expensive. The first day will mostly involve the processing, a tour, and some basic training regarding the new tools they will be using, such as the mandatory visors and basic computer access. The next day, observation shifts in the farm will start, as will participation in trials. ► FARMING: The Farm will continue as normal, though it seems like there are fewer staff observing it at the moment. The ones that are there seem a little bit more tense than usual. Power is still down in some places, but the Farm is thankfully still active. Sometimes the productivity turn-in scanners might be a bit glitchy, so try not to panic if it measures fewer points than you're due. ► TRIALS: Trials are continuing as projected, though with the most broad of experiments already under way, they may be more selective. If you have an idea for a trial you can be sure to share it with the staff, and they will take it under advisement! Any information you want to provide is encouraged, they will say, especially if it involves notable traits about you or your fellow test subjects - or perhaps behavioral patterns you've noticed. You might even be rewarded!

Comments

[amphibiopathic]

It still takes Strange speaking up for Eruka to actually register him being there, and she jerks back in alarm as the corn bounces off, arm still halfway through the motion of throwing and unable to stop. Meaning corn might be getting in Strange's mouth, too. She looks at him with surprise at first, then wariness when he asks for her help.

"Can't you see I'm busy?" She asks shrilly, waving around her.

[atouts]

We gave his heart back... [ As if that answers anything but it doesn't really matter right now, does it? They've all been captured anyway. Childermass purses his lips, face drawn in a worried expression as he looks around the farm again. ] He should have taken the chance to run after all.

[soft_focus]

...That doesn't seem like something he'd want to do, [Reira notes. She didn't exactly know him long, but she at least got to watch him be a mess in two pieces for a bit before both halves went back together.] ...It feels like if he says he would do something, he'd want to make sure it happens, no matter what.

[Which might not help, mind. But hey.

Reira follows Childermass' eyes around the farm, frowning up to him.] ...We'll help him too, when we escape, right? ...If he really is here with us, somewhere.

[kingsroads]

Yep, that corn does get in Strange's mouth. There's a moment where he splutters and spits some out before he reaches over to grab Eruka's wrist.

"Follow me. I've got something more important for you to work on."

At least, it's something more important in his mind than in hers. One thing's for certain, though, Strange needs to at least show Eruka the vents.

[reflash]

Yukio always tries not to let his nervousness show, buries it so far down he can barely even feel it. And he's trying right now, but he's also holding his tail, claws carding through the tuft of fur on the end as he tries to readjust to its presence and the lack of pain. It's also a very small comfort as the reality of their situation hits.

Cranial implants, something that will sync with a visor. Yukio had hoped... assumed that their minds would stay their own, that the influence would be limited to simple punishments and rewards. Not... not something drilled into their skulls. Maybe he should have.

He glances over at-- Delta-701, and then back to see what happens to Delta-702.

[periphrasing]

"Yes!" she whispers excitedly. "Granted, I don't think I've quite returned to full power, but, look!"

She flashes a brief, sharp-toothed grin and pulls up her gauntlet, summoning a wrench into the palm of her hand.

[amphibiopathic]

Congratulations, Strange, you've found one of the only people in the Carnival with a strength modifier lower than yours. Eruka tries to dig her heels in and yank away from him, but it's futile, and her own natural cowardice prevents her from making a serious effort at it. It's not as if he should be able to threaten her here, but somehow she doesn't feel like calling for a technician is how she wants to do this either.

All in all, it means the magician won't have any trouble yanking her where he needs her to go, even if she hisses protest and squirms unhappily.

"Let... me... go!"

[chronosynthesis]

That earns a wider grin from Syrlya. So he was right. "Wonderful! That means whatever happened, it has put things a little more in our favor. I've recovered some of my magic as well--" He pauses, looking down at his hand and flexes it.

"Not enough to act on my own, however. I know Strange had intentions to do something he would not specify to me," he wrinkles his nose a little. "But we need a more unified effort."

[chronosynthesis]

Syrlya furrows his brow, having not considered he might have forgotten way more than just the past week.

"I'm certain it isn't. I think it is an opportunity we can take advantage of." He stops briefly, rubbing his chin. "Tell me, have you attempted to use your magic at all today?"

[amphibiopathic]

Eruka sputters a little, caught off guard.

"You... this really isn't the time to congratulate other people, you know!? You should worry about yourself! You know what being in Eta means, right?"

[atouts]

It's all a bit shaky. Names, faces, they're harder to grasp onto, to place. Syrlya's own name escapes him but he knows who he is, in a sense, only Childermass doesn't know just how to get that across. He remembers a faerie, one they freed, made of fire, so it could be that one... or the Ringmaster... or yet another, only who else would have connections to the both of them beyond the other two, well.

For now, he just steels himself to carry on, trying to follow what Syrlya's asking as well as he can, even if the question about magic only earns him another uncertain look. The sheer lack of magic before, another hole in his mind.

"I did," he admits, "Try to drop through a shadow. I could feel the magic there but it wouldn't go through."

[periphrasing]

She cocks her head at the mention of strange. The wrench disappears back into the gauntlet in a flash of light. Last she talked to Strange he was a lot more interested in getting himself out than he was in working as a team, so it's oddly refreshing to hear that he maybe has (sort of) changed tact.

"Unified efforts do tend to have a much higher success rate than individual efforts do, historically," she hums. "Well. Whatever Ignatius did, it's quite possible that any member of the carnival who took his pact had at least some of their power returned by his actions. I'd have to take a broader survey of the population to really know if that's true or not, but if it is, it would lend significant support to my theory that conflicting fae ownership can potentially weaken or challenge the effects of an opposing contract."

She shakes her head, realizing she's getting a bit off track. "In any case, it gives us a lot more to work with. The question that remains is how we can tie it all together..."

[whattaprick]

"So you're their new gardening project. Sounds fun."

And by that Lambert means literally the opposite of fun. Speaking of unfun things... he moves to touch his neck reflexively, then winces.

"Took the wrong trial," is the short explanation he has to offer, before he shakes his head. "Don't worry about me. I--" And even if it wouldn't avail him if a tech were to come up to them right now, he still looks over his shoulder. He obviously has something to say.

[whattaprick]

There's a notable loss of tension in Lambert's shoulders when Reira lets go, though he's still alert. Children are impulsive, unpredictable creatures, and even accidentally, he might startle her again, so... he'll turn to her properly, keeping his spine facing away, but she won't have missed the round, raised points along his spine prominent even through the bodysuit.

"You saw the scoreboard, right? I'm in Theta now. That means they can experiment on me whenever they want."

[soft_focus]

Yikes. The colour drains from her face, though not likely in relation to herself- if Lambert HAS seen the score board after all, he'll know Reira is far from that kind of danger.

"...You mean....they just make you do trials, all the time..?" she manages, looking over the tail. She is certainly not afraid for her. Oh no.

For certain others in Eta, though...

"...it's.... ...it's only the tail right now though, right..?" She absolutely didn't miss it.

[whattaprick]

"Your room's right off the medical bay and they can experiment on you whenever they want," Lambert answers, succinctly. He won't spend a lot of time pitying himself, but he won't mince words about it either, jerking a thumb over his shoulder to indicate his back.

"They took out my spine and replaced it with something else, think I heard them planning to do more tomorrow. Maybe I'll get lucky and they'll give me lasers to carve my way out of here."

[chronosynthesis]

Syrlya has something to ask, so he follows Lambert's gaze. "They are not preventing you from going out into the farm, are they?"

There are places at least a little more private than right next to the tool storage.

[whattaprick]

Here's the person Lambert is absolutely dreading to see, given everything, but he's not about to avoid Childermass. He'd been bracing himself for anger and unhappiness, so when he's met with confusion? That takes some of the wind out of his sails and he gawks at the magician for a moment, speechless.

No, he can't be--

"What did they do to you?" he blurts, reaching out to try and grab Childermass by the shoulders, going pale.

[whattaprick]

"They did my whole back," Lambert answers, never one to shield children from harsh reality. "Tomorrow, they're probably going to do more."

He fixes her with a look.

"So don't end up down here no matter what."

[soft_focus]

"...It would be hard for me to get close," she answers quietly.

"...It's Yuuya..." ...She quiets herself, biting her lip and looking down. "...He didn't do any work last time... ...but now I don't think he can, and he won't take any trials either, so..."

So she's afraid, naturally- that he'll be going to that sort of mess himself.

[whattaprick]

"No," Lambert shakes his head. "I'm supposed to be out here for a 'stress test.'"

He shrugs, pivoting -- gingerly -- onto one of the paths leading farther into the farm.

"So let's stress it."

[chronosynthesis]

Syrlya nods once. They had talked about it, and it's something he's glad is proving right here. Maybe deciding to work with Ignatius did some good after all.

"Let's look at what we have again. Ignatius is somewhere in here, alive, with enough connection that he was able to grant us some power." He pauses, considering the score board and the state he's seen some others. "We are trapped in some sort of technological station. Lambert is now in 'Theta', but--well, he is not missing or mentally compromised, it seems. Rita is in Delta, as are Yukio, Sans, and Tyki, so we should see how much freedom and information that gets them."

They need to think in the short term, because this needs to be a short term solution. They don't have years. "I don't believe anyone has seen the Mother of Invention, among us, so we aren't certain how involved she is in our particular case."

[periphrasing]

Just kidding. Turns out she totally still has it in her to be scared! The color drains from her face, and she boggles in horror. She's not even specifically upset about the spine thing? She's a boneless alien who doesn't really have the disgust for such a violation hardwired into her. No, it's the idea of the Technicians having unfettered access for experiments that has her going white as a sheet. She's been so terrified of volunteering for trials, she hadn't even considered for a second that getting dropped to Theta could open her up to the very thing she has been trying to avoid.

"O-oh," is all she manages to stammer in response to that. Can gems faint? We might be about to find out.

[whattaprick]

Lambert wrinkles his nose.

“What?” he asks sharply. Raising his voice is apparently a bad idea, and he has to pause for breath before he goes on.

“I told him to stop giving away work.”

[chronosynthesis]

Maybe it's just hard to completely forget the talking plant.

"Still not working, is it..." Maybe it didn't quite have the effect he was hoping for--or maybe he basically just exploded and died, but Syrlya feels like maybe that would have the opposite effect.

"The Mother of Invention is the one preventing our current use of our abilities. She is the Fae currently claiming us." Just in case that specific detail's been lost.