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!

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

On an ordinary day, a seven-year-old tackling him wouldn’t make much of an impression. Then again, on an ordinary day, Lambert wouldn’t have had his entire spine replaced, and the seven year old wouldn’t have giant wing hands. He tries to turn to her as soon as he hears the patter of feet on dirt, but he’s sluggish. Reira throws her arms around him, and one wraps around the small of his back, right where it meets his tail.

Lambert doesn’t scream or do anything particularly dramatic beside go pale as a sheet, teeth immediately clamping together as his body goes completely rigid. It feels like someone leaned in and smacked a nerve, only the sensation travels right along up and down his back, and it’ll be a long moment before he can catch his breath to gasp out words.

“Nope,” he says, strained. “I’m right... here.”

Reira Noticed That

"Ah-" While it's not an immediate response, Reira is fortunately quick to move back as soon as she hears the strain in the other's voice. There's a very faint, whispering sort of sensation coming through her alongside it that speaks of pain and tiredness, and she awkwardly pulls her arms back with a gulp. "...Um.."

Yes, well. "...You disappeared while I was gone at my trial, and then you didn't appear yesterday, or this morning, so..."

She slowly looks to the tail. "...Did something..."

This is, rather frankly, the first real change other than Yuuya's 'freckles' that she's seen.

It's decidedly less pleasant.

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."

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.

"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."

"...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.

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.”

"...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..."

Lambert manages not to swear out loud, but he sure is thinking it.

“And Gongenzaka isn’t doing anything about this?” he grumbles. Does she even know who Gon is? He assumes she must, since anyone who spends time with Yuya can’t avoid it.

To that, Reira just raises an eye brow.

"...Would Yuuya-niisan let him?"

So, she does know, and she knows Enough.

"...Right now, Yuuya won't take any help. I don't even think he wants to try," she adds a bit bitterly. "...I..." ...Hmm. Bit of guilt coming in with this, but the fact is... "...I tried to say, if he didn't try to work, I'd look at the trial board, and sign up if I could. ...but he just got mad and thought I wanted trials, so..."

SHE'S BAD AT THIS MANIPULATION THING.

"Umn. Gongenzaka went 'up' though," she notes, nodding. "...So...he's probably going to try and do something from there, to help." However that works. She knows it had been her own fleeting dream at least.

"Huh. Well, good for him. They should really just let people sign up other people," Lambert mutters, but mostly to himself. Well, that answers the general state of a few people, though she has left one person out...

"... What about you?" He's always hated asking people how they're holding up, so he won't, just raising an eyebrow at her.

Reira raises an eyebrow- she suspects that they could indeed do that, but again...would they?

...Ah.

She did keep away from herself though didn't she. She sort of thought he saw the board. Reira scuffs the ground with a foot. "....Tanyuu said I should go to Epsilon," she says quietly. "...So I'll be ok."

The implications are pretty hard to ignore.

Reira had the same trial Lambert did.

Yeah, he has a pretty good idea of that.

"Huh. Well, good for you." Though after a pause he asks, "Where's Tanyuu now?"

She looks a bit guilty. "...Eta."

...

"....She said she'd get out easier." It's pretty clear the thought isn't sitting well with her regardless however.

"Well ... she's probably not wrong." Like, he doesn't have much words to comfort her here.

"You agreed, didn't you? Too late to have second thoughts now."

She puffs her cheeks a bit. "...I know."

Boooooo. "...I guess this is what everyone else feels like, when they're just sad about everything." Specifically when they're sad, and really don't think any words ever will make it better. At all.

"...I just don't like that I can't make it...Better. ...I'm okay now, but everyone else is getting hurt, or tired, or even hungry, and you almost even disappeared, and I'm not going...anywhere."

It's just a bit depressing. "...Even trying to watch and listen to the Technicians doesn't do anything..." Not the least because 10% of Standard Bitterness and tension does shit all to indicate anything useful in the wake of recent explosions.

"I don't think anyone could make it better right now, so it's not just you," Lambert grunts, shaking his head. It is a little funny the tiny child's the one worrying about all this shit, but also kind of sad.

"Doesn't mean it won't happen later, though." Ugh, having to be optimistic sucks.

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."

"....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.

"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?"

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.

There’s no better time to talk than when you’re pretty sure you might never get to again but that’s just like, Lambert’s opinion probably.

“Going back?” he asks, a bit confused. You lost him there Reira.

"....Yuuya didn't want me to stay in the Carnival." She pauses, and adds...

"...He thought that before a lot of the things that happened, but I told him I didn't want to. ...I got to learn things here. Important things, like what birthdays are, or what games are like, or what other places look like. ...Being able to stay was..." Was it her first choice? Arguably not. The first choice she was ever given could be said to have been 'will you do this for me'- her brother's order.

But she knows very well that back then, it was not a choice so much as an adaptation her brother made. A true choice was something where you were aware of what you were offering.

"...Joining the Carnival was my first real choice. I never had one, before that. ...I know Yuuya wants me to be 'safe'. ...But I know that normally, it's not like this either. ...And..." She swallows. "...It's not something we can agree on, I think. ...But he promised not to tell me to go back anymore. ....That was important.

"...I don't want to leave 'home'."

Lambert can't help but frown at that. Yuya's not a kid he normally thinks of as the type to boss anyone around or tell them what to do, what with the way he always seems to be on about people doing what feels right, so it's a little surprising to hear.

Even more surprising to hear there's someone who's also thinking about not going back to where they came from. Lambert raises his brows a bit, then glances at Reira, head cocked.

"He wanted you to go home so you'd be safe, but he was planning on staying with the Carnival himself?" he asks, wryly. "He didn't think that through, did he?"

⇨ POLARIS 2.0

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