⇨ 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

[soft_focus]

"....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.

[whattaprick]

"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?"

[soft_focus]

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.

[whattaprick]

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.

[soft_focus]

"....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'."

[whattaprick]

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?"

[soft_focus]

"That's what I said," she huffs, frowning. "...Yuuya likes to put himself in danger for people. It feels like everyone else gets into danger more than I do, anyway." Just saying.

As it is. She does...have to admit- "...I don't even know if I could go back, now. It feels like too much happened and got different."

She supposes if she wanted, all of the changes that came over her could go 'back to normal'...but that in itself feels. Odd.

[whattaprick]

"You've been in enough danger back home, haven't you?" Lambert shrugs.

"Makes it even weirder that he wants you to go back. Doesn't really sound like you had much going for you."

Guess who missed that Reira had a brother that came and went? This guy.

[soft_focus]

"...He probably thinks he can 'make it better' when he gets there," she mutters. "...Since time isn't supposed to move."

It feels super fake though, when you're aware that time would have still passed for others.

"...I don't know how he's supposed to do that though..." Custody battle??? (Oh no!)