lostcarnival | ⇨ 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

Honestly, it's a good enough term for Yuya. He picks up the pace a little, pressing his hand under the box a little more firmly up to try and balance the weight for Strange's sake.

"Yeah, I guess they'd have something like that here..." Space station, after all, even if it's a fae space station. "how many more boxes do you have to move?"

Because he'll keep helping, obviously.

There's an awkward pause before Strange answers, "Enough until they have enough data."

And as much as he really doesn't want to talk about this and he wants to keep Yuya from worrying about him...Strange is slowly coming to terms with the fact that he can't do that. His situation is just fucked enough that it's really no use trying to pretend that he has everything under control (just most of it.)

"They want to see if my body can adapt to growing more samples of the Silver Mirror. So, they started with my arms." Awkward pause before Strange clarifies. "The, erm, inside of my arms."

Oh.

Yuya comes to a stop, staring with wide eyes until Strange's movement reminds him he's supposed to be helping move the box, still, and he jerks back to action. "So they're making the mirror parts inside you worse? Can... can your arms handle this?"

That sounds like it's making him so fragile. And unlike the Ringmaster, will these changes really wipe away when they make it home? Or will they be stuck with these alterations, having to cope with them and the damage and the questions?

"We'll find out, won't we?" Which isn't an answer, but how else can Strange answer this? He's got no idea if his arms are more fragile now. He doesn't know how it works. All he knows is that at the moment, it hurts when almost anything suddenly touches him.

Yuya's cursing himself a little at never learning any healing magic, but it's too late now. He doesn't know how to soothe magical mirror wounds. And he's sure he can't talk to any of the Technicians, who clearly won't do anything about the pain any of them are in.

"... Is it okay if you take a break?" Will they let him?

Strange shakes his head. "This morning they said something about...constant low-level stress, I think. I suspect they want me to keep working until they discover the point that my arms can't take it."

Strange will happily make some jokes about this later in the 'ha ha, I literally can't do heavy lifting any more' sort of vein. But right now, everything just kind of sucks. He doesn't really have it in him to make fun of scenarios like this, where his arms constantly hurt.

Yuya's gaze drifts down and he bites his lip. So even if he helps, it means Strange has to do this even longer until he can't anyway.

"I'm sorry." That he can't do anything right now. How much are they going to be changed and tortured this way, before...

He shakes his head. He can't think like that. "I'll talk to them again. And we'll get out of here."

"Don't be sorry," Strange explains, with a shake of his head. "None of this is your fault."

Even if Yuya could do something, what would he do? He couldn't have made it so that Strange's mirrors magically vanished or what have you. He can't fix Strange's arm. Strange appreciates the sympathy, but practicality is pointing out some flaws.

"Good luck," he simply says, giving Yuya a reassuring little smile.

"... I know it's not my fault." It's a sympathetic apology, not a guilty one.

"Just--keep holding on, okay?" Says the boy who slipped to Eta and is still bombing, but Strange's reassurance is met with Yuya's reassurance. If there's a chance in his hands, he needs to use it right.

Strange resists the urge to point out the obvious: of course he's going to keep holding on. What choice does he have? Still, that's being bitchy for the sake of being bitchy. Instead, he gives Yuya a little nod.

"You keep holding on as well. I can still see the production board even though I'm in Theta, you know. I don't want you joining me."

That part is said with utter sincerity.

Yuya cringes a little when Strange points out the production board, holding his hands up in a mock surrender.

"I'm trying!" Whether trying will be enough, though, he can't promise. "It's... easier to work around being tired now."

Is it just getting used to how weary and hungry and nightmare plagued he is? He's not really sure, and he's not inclined to sit and dwell on it right now.

Strange shifts his arms a little, as if that'll make the pain move to a different location. It doesn't really do that, but hey, it was an attempt.

"Well, keep it up," he gently chastises Yuya. "I know the work is tough but it's a lot harder to do anything once you fall down here." And that's even if Yuya's mysterious rabbit that might or might not be real can do anything to begin with.

"Best of luck," Strange nods, as he starts to head off back to where he's supposed to put the box.

⇨ POLARIS 2.0

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject