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

Far less useless at the moment, is Gongenzaka- who seems to hone in on Yuuya's frantic shouts with impossible speed. More than likely he was just following the other around from a distance.

Regardless of why and how, it seems like it's resulting in a stroke of fortune. Gongenzaka charges over the minute he spies the source of the sound, eyes wide with shock. "Yuuya-!" He shouts, stooping down. "Yuuya, what happened..?"

Even as he says this, he focuses on Steven. Brining an ear close to hear for the (missing) vital signs, gently easing Yuuya himself away...

If Yuuya takes more than a few seconds to explain, he'll be explaining while Gongenzaka starts trying to give Steven chest compressions. There is no waiting, when someone drops 'dead'.

Tears start to well in Yuya's eyes as Steven continues not to respond and the a Technicians just... stand there? He has a silent, hollow stare off with them as he steadily realizes they're not going to help.

Luckily, that's when Gon shows up and Yuya snaps his attention to him. "Gongenzaka! It's Steven, he's not--I think he's--"

Yuya chokes on the word, pretty easily pushed aside so Gongenzaka can attempt CPR. He doesn't let go of his wrist, though, like he's hoping for the pulse tp start up again.

One technician looks at the other, as if asking a silent question: should they interfere? The other raises a hand, indicating no. They leave Yuya and Gon to it instead of getting in the way or offering any assistance resuscitating the child.

It takes a bit over ten minutes at that point, but finally, Steven will wake up. It happens incredibly suddenly, as if life has simply been switched back on inside of him - though it starts with a killer pain inside of his missing gem. He jolts back to consciousness, coughing and trying to clutch at his belly.

"Ow, ow..." is all he manages at first, between gasping breaths.

Those technicians are ticking Gon off, needless to say. He doesn't end up asking Yuuya to badger them- if this had carried on much longer he would have (that or he simply would have snarled for them to act instead of standing about, useless an effort as that would be). Instead however, Steven chokes awake- and immediately, Gon goes from compressions to attempting to support the other as he curls inward.

"Steven," he barks- voice somehow kept level rather than loud, a slight waver of fear slipping in despite himself. "Steven- can you speak?"

He should probably ask 'are you alright' when he thinks about it, but the answer is likely 'no'. "...Do you know what happened?"

Gongenzaka has supporting Steven, so Yuya continues to cling to his hand--at least once he feels the pulse again his grip relaxes and his shoulders slump with relief. "Hey, we're here Steven, we're here."

Does Steven himself even realize what happened?

It takes a little while for Steven's body to loosen, his muscles started out uncontrollably tense. Finally, he manages to uncurl a little, resting back against Gongenzaka's hold. He's clearly confused.

"My... My gem? Something..." he starts, clutching his fingers over the dip in his suit. "I couldn't feel it anymore and... I couldn't feel me?"

It was like he'd been on two separate sides of being split in half, and neither side could function without the other. He remembers the afternoon being exhausting, how he'd felt sick... what had happened to him?

"Your....gem?" Gongenzaka starts, blinking. Baffled, he briefly looks to Yuuya before he turns his focus to Steven again. "...How do you feel now? ...I, the man Gongenzaka, obviously cannot check your gem now..."

...Though as he says this, his eyes move to where the gem would typically sit. And squinting, he finds himself almost wondering if there could be something he's missing. They obviously did something but...what did they...

"...Steven...do you remember them doing anything to your gem?" Gongenzaka is in for an unfortunate surprise.

"Your gem?" Yuya blinks slowly, confused... and then he looks down, his gaze following Steven's hand to a slightly indent in his sit. Oh. Oh god.

Yuya shudders, frozen with shock. There's no way they could have--could they? Did they? But Yuya thought, it was an important part of him...

"Oh no. Can--can you feel it now?" Is he okay now? Yuya's looking for at least that much assurance in the moment.

He's feeling better, at any rate, but he feels really cold - like his body cooled off while he was 'dead' and hasn't had the chance to warm up yet. He shivers, closing his eyes with a sniffle.

"They took my gem out, when they made me do that trial..." he explains, his voice wavering. "I could still feel it, but... for a while, just now, it was like a couldn't." He shakes his head. It's something he's been worrying about a lot. "What happened to me?"

Fortunately CPR kept that blood circulating at least...

Gongenzaka almost fails to catch the last parts of Steven's words, so thrown by the first ones. Took. They took-

He knew limbs were possible thanks to some of the others, but this!? "Kh- That- They have your gem under study, then?!" He chokes, glancing back at the technicians with an almosy accusing look.

This does not help Steven in the end however, so instead he steadies his expression and reply. "...I, the man Gongenzaka, found Yuuya over your body... ...you were not breathing, and lacked a pulse as well..."

Yuya nods with Gongenzaka's description, pursing his lips into a thin line. "You just collapsed."

And making a damn good impression of being dead if nothing else. Yuya's putting it together, so they probably are too--whatever they just did with his gem that made Steven stop feeling it, he stopped functioning.

He's never really been sure what would happen if his gem was removed from his body completely, but the idea of him just straight up dying as a result isn't that surprising. He's a hybrid between gem and human, and he's always sort of known that he needs both parts to exist. The idea that they can just shut him off like this, that they can separate him from his gem whenever they want... it mostly leaves him feeling despondent.

"Maybe they just... shut off the connection...?" Maybe they did it on purpose? If people are going to try to escape soon, and the technicians still have his gem, then what would happen? "I have to get it back."

"Nh...that is an understatement," he manages, grimacing. And there isn't much he can say along those lines when it comes to exercising a way to get it for that matter. Using soul chatter in patches, while already watching for Technicians, is one thing.

Starting up right in front of a pair...would be dumb. "...Hnm. No doubt they have given little indication of where it is, or when it would be returned..." He grumbles.

Mostly though, it'd be awful nice to narrow down the thing's location.

"We won't leave any part of you behind, okay?" Yuya knows, by now, that he's going to help with retrieving their things. So mentally, he slots Steven's gem as part of that. It probably won't be kept the same place. It's probably in one of the labs... but he'll make sure they get it.

"Take it easy right now." In case that do it again. "We'll stay with you."

⇨ 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

no subject

no subject