⇨ 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

[reflash]

Yukio loses his glasses, and gains a HUD and a heavy amount of new information. This won't be too bad, even with the implant and the rules about fraternizing with the rest of the Carnival. They won't have a chance to share information, at least not yet.

But gathering information is something they can do, and he glances over the gathering to see if there's anything he can find out about the people or room.

[npcarnival]

Right now all they're getting is that the cranial implant device is before them, and that they currently do not have access to it. Also, that the two technicians here are Gamma-481 and Beta-55. All the staff classifications are written in blue, while the implant device is written in grey.

If they focus on each other, they'll see their Delta classifications, as well as the label: "Status: Satisfactory". They get no such reading on the Gamma or Beta.

"Delta-701, please show the new Deltas around the facilities. Leisure areas and apartments only," Beta-55 says.

"Sure," Sans says, casually. He comes away from the machine, letting the Gamma shut it down. "C'mon, it's kinda neat."

The Beta and Delta-701 lead them out and away from the examination rooms, and into the staff leisure areas. There's a waterfront area with fountains, as well as what amounts to a 'tuck shop' for buying supplies with accumulated points.

Beta-55 nods and then departs, leaving them to it.

"That's us, up there," Sans says, pointing at some of the apartment doors on the walkways up above, overlooking the grounds. It's actually pretty nice. "You can buy luxury items over there," he points to the shop, "but it's pretty pricy. You pay with Productivity Points, go figure."

[anti_nonsense]

As they start moving and Rita starts adjusting to the visual systems, she can’t help but wonder if this is how 9S sees the world.

She pauses to stare out at the leisure area, momentarily forgetting the throbbing in her head. It’s... actually kind of beautiful. If it weren’t for the torture and the lack of freedom, this could even be a nice place to live. It’s no Aspio, though. It’s not home.

“How do we earn Productivity Points as Deltas?” she asks Sans without facing him, her eyes still wandering around the massive space.

[prazerbutterfly]

He's quiet, mostly at first, as they make their way out of that room and depart from the Beta and the Gamma. With just them he is a little less at unease but not by much. He's following Sans and staying a few feet behind him towards his left. His ears raise and crane just about everywhere, taking in sounds and sights through the visor. It's different but reminds him a little of how he sees the world at home.

It's relaxing here, beautiful even, and comfortable looking. He's taking in Sans' words but with a grain of salt, not quite sure if he's controlled somehow, acting calm, or just accepting of his station. It's hard not to look at everything, already sinking into observation mode, memorizing names of those he passes in selected areas then up towards where they are bound to live.

"Luxury items as in...?" he asks, just to say anything right now given Rita's asked the important question, when he knows he could simply go look himself later.

[reflash]

It's beautiful, but dangerous. They can't get too comfortable here, they can't relax and settle in. They just have to work hard, be productive (or Productive) and do whatever they can to... to escape. Or something. To survive.

So Yukio follows along behind Sans, watching everything and trying to take it all in. The others have good questions, so he'll wait for those answers before asking any of his own.

[osteothropy]

"Food, soap, decorative wall hangings, that kind of stuff," Sans answers Tyki first. "And I think you get them for your daily assignments, kind of like a salary. I have a few stocked up from yesterday. I think you can get competitive about it just by doing your job well and getting more assignments as a result. Maybe coming up with ideas?"

He shrugs his shoulders.

"Ya still don't need to eat, though - any of the foodstuffs are just for fun. In the apartments they even have a shower you can use instead of the spray. Funny thing is I never used to be a big fan of showers until the day they tried to make 'em obsolete."

[npcarnival]

As they look over the shop Sans's is talking about, they will see their current balance: right now it's at 100 points, whatever that means. It takes a bit of figuring out, but they'll find they can interact with menus inside the visor just by thinking about it, which will show a small shopping list of what luxury items are available. It's nothing fancy, just basic foods and personal products. Prices range from 50 pts to about 1,000 pts.

[anti_nonsense]

Rita takes a moment to look over the selection through the menu in her visor. Personal items and decorative wall hangings... do they have any mirrors? She's not sure they'd be able to use them, but she might as well check.

And showers... Rita holds a hand over her chest, the red glow ever visible through the opening in the suit. Getting to actually douse her skin in some cool water sounds pretty nice.

"Ideas for what?" she asks, shifting her focus back to Sans. But even as she asks it, Rita suspects she already has some idea of what he's referring to.

[prazerbutterfly]

It throws him off to see so many things pop up within the visor but he's soaking it in the best he can. This is something he'll simply have to fiddle with later at night when his mind isn't running a million miles an hour and distracting him.

"I can agree with that," he says to Sans' declaration of showers. They sounded wonderful right now along with any type of food he could get his hands on, free or otherwise. His eyes flick over towards Rita and where she's holding her hand. He had been so caught up in working he hadn't really taken in anyone else really.

"Is nightime the same?" To which he means a locked in curfew with a forced sleep.

[reflash]

Ideas? Yukio's already thinking of a few. Assignments? He can handle those. He doesn't need expensive soap or fancy food (though snacks would be nice).

"If we do come up with ideas, who should we share them with? Do we report to a supervisor, or is everything handled through the visors?"