lostcarnival | ⇨ POLARIS 2.0

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⇨ POLARIS 2.0

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!

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Thank you! Now for some investigation-y stuff. (And editing now that more info has reached her and plans are starting to form!)

1) What kind of access do Deltas have to the transporters?

2) By hanging around Delta areas and studying the built-in visor map, would she be able to figure anything out about the facility's security? Is there a control room in their sector, or something to that effect that they could maybe target during a breakout effort?

3) Rita's getting Yuya's mark on Day 113. Will Gild contact her at night like she did the others?

Edited 2018-10-24 23:18 (UTC)

"Negative," Peridot says, ears drooping out to the sides in mild embarrassment. "No guards were sighted at the time, but the data acquired that night is hardly indicative of an average night out in those halls. Without further testing, it's impossible to conclude for certain whether those halls are simply unmonitored, or if the technicians were diverted from their usual rounds that night to assist in the response to the explosion."

Rita frowns at Lambert, seemingly biting her lip to keep from making some sort of retort, as she normally would. She doesn't move, but continues her observations for a few more minutes. She can't exactly let him decide when it's time for her to leave, can she?

But after recording a few more notes, she decides it's time to move on to another subject. As she passes by the stack of crates, she brushes a hand against them, retrieving the information Lambert left for her. There's a brief pause, a moment taken to process what she's learned, and then she moves on, dispelling the enchantment just to make sure she leaves no traces that could be examined later.

She wishes they could have a proper conversation about all this... but that seems to be impossible. If she wants to share more, it seems best to do it another day, to avoid suspicion.

Um.

Gongenzaka conspicuously coughs, a mental him scowling and pointing at what looks like a strung up marionette in Technician's garb. No. NO. The feeling is firm. The changelings are in the same shoes- or were- as their own 'Deltas'! As demonstrated by an invisible figure ssssllooowly stringing up Sans in his example.

Avoid casualties!

If Zangetsu wants to target anything it needs to be the big shadow doing the stringing.

Of course as soon as he thinks that, his thoughts falter- with a big pause of wondering and worry in light of the question... How?

Noted indeed. Reira herself seems to be considering something, something related to the matter of Tyki's new position, but doesn't say anything about that.

Not for now at least. Instead she takes the time to do some venting because frankly, she needs that air.

"...I wish we knew what the fruit is for," she grumbles, not expecting Tyki to know or even answer apparently. "...Yukio said everyone is measuring how we work, but it feels 'stupid' if what you do for work doesn't go anywhere. All the technicians talk about tests and data," when they talk at all anyway, "But no one in here learns anything at all. It would make more sense if they had school at least."

It really wouldn't she'd just like one.

Anyway. "...more people wouldn't get in trouble if it was school probably." That's definitely not likely kiddo.

Well, now she's pouting. "...For stuff to happen 'later', people have to try and think of stuff 'before'." She can't even do that much! Terrible.

"Maybe the thinking part isn't your job," Lambert points out. "Maybe you just need to be paying attention. And ready."

Oof. Well, there it goes. Still, Steven isn't going to enforce dwelling on it. He just wants to get the point across.

"Haha, yeah," he says, nervously. "But! There is someone on the outside, trying to help us! She gave some people marks, like this..."

He lifts his hand, showing off Gild's mark.

"And if you have one, she can give you powers, I think! Or make you stronger! Amethyst had this before, but she gave it to me, and now I want to give it to you."

"....Well. I'm doing those things," she supposes, not sounding argumentative or accusing at least. Really there's not much to do even if she Is doing lots of work. Eventually you notice stuff.

"...I just wish everyone could think faster I guess. ...before they get hurt more." And it's not an accusation- it's a hope. Dimly, she knows that isn't how it works, and it's reflected in her voice.

It doesn't stop the wishing though.

...

"...I said sorry to Yuuya," she eventally says a bit idly. Perhaps not even idly- perhaps more because they might not really get a shot at talking about this again.

Steven shakes his head a little in real life, mostly because that's more reflexive than trying to do the same thing with visualizations. He stalls for a moment on trying to communicate the idea of 'today', so he says something out loud.

"Things actually just started looking up for me today, so..."

No sleep yet.

Sans comes back while Tyki is showering. It's towards the end of the day, now, and he's been sent to the apartment for lack of other assignments. It's funny how it feels almost normal, going to work and then coming back to something that resembles a real room.

He sets a bag on the counter and leaves it there for now, detaching his visor and setting it on the work desk. He's still hot what is essentially an extra fancy tablet with him, and he sits down to continue flipping through a document on it, silently waiting.

Eventually Tyki comes out and he glances over, both of their faces uncovered for the first time since they ended up in Delta.

"I got some food from the tuck shop," he says, gesturing at the bag. "You can have some, if ya want."

He probably does, since there are apples in there.

"Oh, you poor thing," Hinawa gives her a reassuring smile. "I can only imagine how frightening that must have been, but I can assure you I can see and hear you just fine."

She reaches out to put a hand on Hanamaru's shoulder as if to reinforce that she's physically present.

Rita may think that, but it seems Lambert isn't quite done with her yet. He frowns as she begins to turn to leave, and decides to risk it by calling out after her.

"Well, someone's changed. You already fit right in with the rest of them," he says, light and mocking. "Did you even feel the station get shaken up? Or were you too busy getting a light stuck in your chest then?" Hopefully, Rita gets the gist of the questions he's really asking here.

Edited 2018-10-23 16:18 (UTC)

Does 'not being dead' count for anything? Because that's the best Lambert has got right now. The first name to add is obvious: he pushes over the idea of Rita. Delta. An impression of the beads Sans carried for information transfer in Eden (even in nonverbal communication, Rita will always be bead girl), words spilling from her mind into her hand. Flame -- she made a contract with Ignatius, and that means she's got some of his power to bear right now, same as Gongenzaka does. But also, he places the idea of negation, hands over her mouth. She can do things, but she can't talk about them out loud, something Gongenzaka might already be aware of if he's encountered her.

After a moment's hesitation, he adds Childermass's face to the list. He places a flame by him, then tries to convey shadows shaping the dark forms into an eye and an ear, and a doorway with a person stepping through. Peridot, with the same flame, and also a glove with compartments that open up out of it like drawers as the fingers flex. After a moment of thought, he adds a brief image of the sigil the Ringmaster granted them beside both of them, the memory of Lambert opening a door and placing something inside.

Besides his own face, he only puts eyes and ears. Listen and watch. It's all he can do. All this visualizing is hard, so after a moment, he grunts, rolling his shoulders back and shaking his head.

Powers. Lambert wrinkles his nose, and it's an even more childish expression on this face than it ever was before, as he tries to make sense of that ... but he will grab Steven's hand, examining the mark. For some reason, the sight of gold is reassuring.

"It's pretty," he says, dubiously, "But how does it work? It's not coming off you..." He lets go of his medallion to try to rub at the mark like you might at a smudge of dirt on a child's face. It's approximately as successful, which is to say, not at all.

"No farmwork," Lambert shakes his head.

"Just washing things down and walking around. They said it was a 'stress test.'"

Unsurprisingly, Yuya has more faith in his mystery people than Strange does.

"Do have any proof that person is here to begin with? I'm not trying to accuse you or kill your hopes or anything like that, but traveling through realms is damn powerful magic. Even someone like me can only travel if the realms are closely linked—you'd have to have immense levels of power to get someone into the Mother's realm from the outside without her noticing."

There were roads between England and Faerie in Strange's world. If the roads weren't there, Strange is fairly certain he wouldn't be able to travel to Faerie in the first place. He finishes picking up the fruit and bites down another lecture on the powers of the threshold or magical properties or things like that.

"In comparison, there's plenty of people who can do magic along the lines of mental manipulation, hallucinations, or dreamwalking. All I'm saying is that there's a possibility whoever this is might have enough power to say they're here, but not have enough power to actually show up."

Since returning from her initiation into Delta, Rita has had a few shifts observing the Farm. During these periods, she behaves much like the Technicians do, standing stoically to the side, approaching no one, and at times, seemingly occupied with whatever she's looking at through her visor.

It's unclear if Rita catches Gongenzaka's glance, as her own eyes remain hidden, and her hands, motioning as if utilizing a display only she can see, don't stop.

That is, until she feels something peculiar afterward, which does give her pause. At first, she wonders if it's just her imagination, but there's a faint glimmer of hope. Something touching her soul... Like Ignatius. Even as she resumes her observing, showing no outward reaction, she tries focusing, listening, to the source of this connection.

All right, this is getting intensely unproductive, so Lambert's just going to have to head her off at the pass here.

"Peridot," he says firmly, reaching out to clap a hand on her shoulder and give her a slight shake. There's something he's been meaning to ask, but hasn't been able to voice it, and it's increasingly obvious he's going to have to be blunter if he wants to get anything out of her.

"Did you feel the station shake the other night?" he enunciates slowly.

"The rabbit. Remember?" The truth is that rabbit feels fuzzy and hard to place, but Yuya's not going to admit that when he's trying to defend his fragile faith. It's the best he has in an otherwise hopeless situation.

He scrunches his face in concentration, trying to pull up more proof. "Besides, they asked us to find Ignatius, and they'd save us too."

He hadn't really put this together until he really stopped to explain it, but... "He's who they're really looking for, so it has to be someone he knows."

Like another fae who were powerful. And possibly in numbers. Ignatius was the goal anyway. Him being here is why anyone even noticed or cared enough to get them out, too. But they could all leave this way.

His expression deflates a little. He wishes he'd been able to tell Ignatius someone out there was looking for him before they lost contact.

"I wish they could think faster too," Lambert answers, completely sincere. He's pretty sure he's getting more of himself replaced as the days go by, so a solution sooner rather than later would be fucking ideal from a keeping himself intact perspective.

Her non sequitur draws him up short -- and he glances over, slightly perplexed, before he realizes what she must be talking about.

"... yeah? What'd he say?"

Yuya purses his lips. He didn't consider the current state of trials any better, where you couldn't even guarantee if what you were getting was going to modify you or not--and if they asked for you to do it anyway, you couldn't avoid it. But it seems a lot lonelier, having to go through that without anyone else to share the pain with you.

"Are we still going to see you in the farm everyday? Where are you staying at night?"

Steven wasn't really expecting Lambert to try rubbing it off his hand, but alright. Steven smiles sheepishly, pulling his hand away.

"I can't do it here - it has to be while you're awake, in person! But..." Steven considers for a moment, and then holds his hands down at his belly gem (which is actually here!) and uses it to summon a bow similar to Opal's. He pulls a golden arrow out of the mark, somehow. "I wanted to explain how to use it, somewhere secret! Watch this."

He slings the bow over his shoulder, and then conjures up a note, which he writes on with his claw. He reads it out loud before wrapping it around the arrow shaft.

"'This is Steven!
I'm giving the Mark to Lambert.
He's the Nightrider and he's really tough.
Please help him.'"

Then, he loads it into the bow and shoots it towards the cavern exit. It disappears.

There is a visible wince, and Reira looks down. "...I probably shouldn't be surprised, that they didn't just decide to put stuff in our heads," Reira mutters- admittedly wondering Anyway if mental programming will remain off the trials board.

As for Yuuya...well. "Mnn...he said it was ok, even though I said I still don't get it, but..." Hooof. She puffs her cheeks. "...I don't think he really wanted to think about it, since we're here. ...And...part of why I said sorry was because I said something...really mean before it..."

Ulp. "...He'd promised not to talk about making me go back though..." She mutters with a frown.

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⇨ POLARIS 2.0

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Whoops sorry I thought I responded to this!

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Papyrus

Dog holds dog by leash,

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DAY 111

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assuming this was day 110, but lmk if it needs changed

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