⇨ 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

[chronosynthesis]

"Good." Syrlya moves to step beside him, keeping his pace as slow as he needs to stay side by side with Lambert. He looks over his shoulder occasionally, making sure no Technicians are pointedly following them, and once they are little more than specks in the distance...

"Go on." He was saying something before, wasn't he?

[whattaprick]

Lambert doesn’t immediately speak up. They pass by a vegetable garden someone’s already worked over, but carelessly — a couple of boxy, translucent blue gourds lie in the path, having falllen off whatever basket or cart they were supposed to go on, and he bends to pick one up, frowning.

“Did you feel this place shake last night?” is what he starts with, quietly.

[atouts]

"There's a difference between not working and not having enough magic to transport an entire person through a shadow," Childermass points out. Had his magic not worked before? What nonsense is that? Though if another faerie is blocking it, that would make some sense.

"What of your own? Have you tried anything?"

[kingsroads]

Strange continues to forcibly yank Eruka towards a ventilation shaft. When he gets there, he's still holding onto her wrist with one hand but, with the other hand, points downward at the open vent.

"I'm going to try and turn into smoke and explore that. I want you to turn into that liquid form of yours and join me."

It's said in a very blunt tone of voice: of course Eruka is going to join him, of course they're going to explore this thing together. Strange can't think otherwise.

[verbaltic]

"I know!" Hanamaru responds, drawing her legs in closer to herself. She's hugging them to her chest, as if she can make herself the smallest Hanamaru possible.

"But I dunno how I'm gonna move up. Even if I sign up for a buncha trials, they're still gonna promote everybody else over me. And I don't think we all can be in Delta, zura."

There were only a limited amount of trials. Ergo there were only a limited amount of people they could promote. So...what? Were they just planning to promote some and leave the rest behind?

[verbaltic]

"No?" She's honestly a little bit confused as to why Reira's asking her these questions. Granted, Hanamaru's happy to talk to someone and will definitely talk to Reira, it's just an odd little moment of 'huh, someone's interested in me and my well-being.'

Which...is kind of nice.

"I just got tired. It's nothin' ta worry about."

[soft_focus]

"It's important though!" Reira insists, nodding furiously. "...If we don't do enough work, then the rank will go down, and bad stuff will happen."

Fact: Reira knows damn well what the bad stuff Is, thanks to Lambert.

She also doesn't think it's a good idea to just flat out say it. It seems a mood killer.

As it is. "...Were you...working too hard?"

[soft_focus]

"...I don't think that was the problem this time." This. Time.

She sighs. "...It didn't look like he was doing a lot of work anyway. ...And the last day, he was just sleeping a lot, too...He even took a trial and he still went down..."

[chronosynthesis]

"I did." He glances sideways to the fruit Lambert picks up, then at Lambert himself. Ever a light sleeper, the first movement that could be felt in his cell had roused him. "And after that, some sort of warmth. Something beneficial, I believe."

[chronosynthesis]

Oh, that gets him to perk up a little. "So it responded at least a little?"

Maybe his initial hopes weren't unfounded after all. If Childermass could reach some of his magic... well, that isn't likely the Technician's doing, is it? Not if the Mother of Invention is trying to keep them locked down.

Though, for his own. "Ah--not since..." He glances down at his limper arm. "No, not for the past two days. Perhaps I will."

He needs to do something to get his arm working again, otherwise he's twice as crippled as before.

[ringleaders]

She can do that, yes. The sword doesn't cut as effortlessly as it has before, but with some effort she can cut a hole through the hull.

She can make it big enough to get Stumpy outside. He'll be gone for a while. By the time he comes back, he'll have gotten footage of the general area of the testing chambers/farm/holding cells, because otherwise he keeps running into closed doors. No technicians get in his way, but there isn't much more he can do without door access.

[ringleaders]

After about fifteen minutes, a pair of technicians will come out of what looks to be an airlock system behind the exterior gate. Does he book it into the airlock?

[ringleaders]

If there are any recording devices in the suit, they are built into the fabric and can't easily be seen, especially from the outside. There may be some metal bits inside though.

When it gets into the farm there is a lot going on in the architecture, so it will be hard to spot what is definitively a camera and what is some other kind of sensor or devise built into the walls. There's a lot of hidden stuff, but she won't be able to tell what it is, exactly.

[kingsroads]

He books it. Nyoooooom.

Strange will stay in smoke form as long as possible. Considering that he's purple, however, I've got a feeling he'll be spotted fairly quick.

[periphrasing]

Yowza okay so she's just generally going to count the Farm out as far as 'safe places to talk' go.

[ringleaders]

Not long after, the interior airlock door will open, with a couple of technicians behind it. They will obviously see the cloud of purple smoke, but for the moment they are just sort of staring in confusion.

Behind them, there is something that looks like a teleport pad, not that Strange would necessarily realize that.

[kingsroads]

The hell is that thing?

Having no idea how teleport pads work but realizing that whatever that is looks kind of important, Strange floats over to the teleport pad and...just lingers over it for a moment, as if this will somehow make whatever this weird platform is do something.

Are there any conveniently placed signs that say "teleport pad" or something like that?

[atouts]

Childermass gives a start at being outright grabbed like that, though he's hardly quick enough to avoid it. Confusion gives way to surprise, if only for a few seconds, and then his face settles back into a much more familiar tiredness. He's been trying to figure out that answer himself.

"They don't know, either," he answers, reaching up to grab Lambert's wrist but not moving his hand. He just doesn't feel inclined to for some reason. "They said something damaged my soul... I'm not sure what that all means, only that I woke up with my memory out of sorts."

[sunflowerfields]

That much is obvious. She's not going to chastise Hanamaru for lying, though.

"The look on your face says it was a very bad dream," She says, sympathetic. "Do you want to talk about it?"

[atouts]

That doesn't change that it'd be the sensible thing to do, [ Childermass mutters that. His memory may be shot but it's increasingly easy to see no one would want to be trapped in this place. ] And how should I know if we will? I can't even recall how much danger we're in.

[ A lot? He's guessing a lot. ]

Or if he's here or if we can even help ourselves. [ But that's putting the cart ahead of the horse. He needs more information and if he has to get it from a literal child, fine. He looks back down at Reira. ] What's the board for? With all the numbers?

[whattaprick]

Seems like Lambert had misjudged Peridot’s capacity for bad news. He doesn’t say anything else for a moment, letting her process it, before he speaks up again.

“So yeah. Don’t end up here.” He gives her a look. “Might wanna start heading in the other direction if you can.”

[atouts]

Childermass follows Syrlya's look down, to the arm. It hasn't been moving terribly much, that's true, but under the suit, he can't quite tell that anything is wrong. So, for now, he dismisses the curiosity and looks up again.

"Is there something small you can try? Perhaps we should take our work somewhere a little more out of sight..."

D110

[atouts]

Childermass will, at some point during this day, try out using his magic. He initially tried shadow teleportation but couldn't quite get it to go so next time he has a moment, out of direct sight of any technicians, he'll attempt calling up a very small shadow construct (about the size of a sparrow or mouse). Is he able to do that much?

[whattaprick]

Childermass waking up without his memories. Vulnerable in a way he wasn’t even when he was split in two, in the worst possible place he could be. Emotions flicker violently across Lambert’s face, from fury to anguish, but Childermass can’t even answer half the questions he wants to ask. He forces himself to ease his grip instead of giving in to the urge to shake his memories back into him, and exhales.

“You’re right. I’m the Nightrider,” he says, his voice dropping into a more businesslike cadence. “What do you remember?”

Re: D110

[ringleaders]

Yep! That'll work.