⇨ POLARIS 3.0

[ringleaders]

Who: Everyone!
When: Day 115
Where: Polaris
What: On the morning of day 115, a couple hours before the technicians would come to pick up the test subjects, the escape plan will officially come into effect. If your character has been left out of the loop up till this point, feel free that someone hastily explains the plan during the initial phase! The meat of everything else will be played out via megathreads and any private toplevels people want to make.
Warnings: Probably violence.

PEER REVIEW↴ The plan starts with getting everyone out of their cells. Childermass is going to be using his Gilded Mark to enhance his shadow movement abilities, unabling him to teleport himself and other people out of containment. If your character has other ways of escaping they are free to pursue that, but on a base level, it can be assumed that everyone gets out thanks to Childermass. (Thanks Childermass!) Once everyone has been removed from their cells by some means or another, they will be forced to split into teams as swiftly as possible, as the moment people start breaking out, negative attention from the staff will start building. The area is poorly guarded at first, but as people become aware of the breakout, more will arrive. Gild, speaking on behalf of her inside plant, will say that those that 1) want to get their stuff back, 2) want to find Ignatius, should get the assistance of their allied Deltas to access sector A5. From there, they will have to access Polaris's storage in A3, a neighbouring sector, and find access to C2, the station where Ignatius is being held. They should expect to be met with armed resistance, but with any luck allies will be there to assist them. In general, characters will be most effective if they back one of these major objectives: ► TEAM LOOT: This team is trying to get back the items and pets that were confiscated when the group was brought into Polaris. Their objective, according to their allies on the inside, is to get to A5, and then make their way to A3. The important thing is being able to locate their stuff among a sea of other items, and to make it through security in order to reclaim it. Gild's plant has said that they will assist with this. After getting these items, Team Loot may wish to merge with Team Rescue. ► TEAM RESCUE: This team's primary focus is to get to A5 and then make their way to C2. If desired, they may wait for or join with Team Loot, or they may strike out ahead in order to take advantage of the element of surprise. The key factors are obtaining a way to access C2, as well as being prepared for armed conflict with the technicians guarding it, as well as possibly the Mother of Invention herself. Though, the ideal is that Gild will be distracting here at that time. ► TEAM DISTRACTION: This team can do their thing wherever they please, as their main intent is to sew general discord and distract the staff from the teams doing more important things. They should be prepared for armed resistance, but what tactics they pursue beyond that point are highly variable. ► TEAM FORTRESS: This team is attempting to set up a protective base of operations in the original sector in order to survive the conflict and protect their noncombatant comrades. How they accomplish this is also highly variable. Other objectives may exist, of course, and can be made with their own separate top levels. Chunks of these megathreads will have to be played out in summary form, so when characters are simply trying to get from place to place and specifics aren't necessary, feel free to stick to that format. Assume that everyone is already out of their cells for the purpose of the megathreads. Here is a shitty map of how the sectors connect, from a side view of the central Polaris hub.

Comments

[chronosynthesis]

Syr will ask for the exact direction, and then they can head off and see if the equipment bay can be opened without notifying anyone by Rita.

When they have the right room, he'll ask Herbert to check through the walls first and make sure no one's already in there.

I SWEAR TO GOD.

[periphrasing]

In direct response to that jab, Peridot will promptly point out that Herbert's logic is flawed, because even if she hadn't gotten demoted it would have been literally impossible for her to make it from Eta to Delta in the short time that they've been here. Ergo, he can go fuck himself.

5TH TIMES THE CHARM

[npcarnival]

As they approach, Herbert will get close enough for the walls to melt away, revealing a room filled with mechanical devices, and a chair that will match the description of the one that Rita sat down in to have her implant installed. Unfortunately, they are definitely two technician standing in there, one sitting on the chair and the other fiddling with some equipment.

Of course, when they get close, the one in the chair will bolt up, as if they hear something. They get off the chair, and lead the other technician towards the door - giving the group about fifteen seconds before they open the door.

[chronosynthesis]

Syr tells them to clear the immediate door quickly except Zan, who he indicates to knock one of the techs out and he'll handle the other.

As soon as they open the door, syr is going to try and ambush the first Technician, grabbing for their visor is possible while threatening them with his sword to keep quiet and cooperate.

U know, if they want to live.

[npcarnival]

The very second that the technician who opens the door peeks out, she will immediately swing back and shove her companion out through the door with a blast of steam from her hands. A second shot of steam dings the side of the shoved technician's face, knocking their visor partially askew.

Syrlya will be able to grab the visor from the technician that just got knocked through the doorway - to Rita, they will read as "Beta-78". The one behind the doorway, with the steam blasting hands, is Gamma-167.

[moonfang]

Ack! Too fast for Zangetsu to catch the Gamma. He draws his machete-sword in a flash and sticks it in the door to keep it from closing, then rushes and tackles the Gamma.

[npcarnival]

He can jam the door from sliding closed, but in the meantime the Gamma has backed into the room and swirled their hands around themself, creating a bubble of repelling, freezing cold steam. It'll be enough to keep him away, at first.

"Stand down," they hiss, "I'm helping you."

[moonfang]

Brave, talking to someone unseen, though the steam creates a sort of hazy outline of his body.

He speaks loud enough to be heard despite that;

"Prove it."

[chronosynthesis]

Syrlya over here is going to wrestle his fingers around the visor to disrupt its usage and continue holding the beta in a threatening hold while he peers down at her.

"... Are you the informant?"

[npcarnival]

They press a palm forward, and for a moment he'll see the flash of a golden symbol - it's one of Gild's Marks, the same that Rita and Childermass have.

"You really can't take a hint, can you?" they say. To Syrlya and Herbert, their voice may sound familiar - feminine, and just a bit devil-may-care.

"Call me Shimmer," she says. "We've met."

[moonfang]

Welp, that's enough for Zangetsu.

He retreats and helps Syr by taking the visor from the Beta.

[npcarnival]

The Beta is holding back from screaming, mostly because Syrlya has a sword right on them. Their eyes are wide and full of terror, their face exposed without the visor. Shimmer gestures urgently to bring the Beta forward.

"Bring them in here, would you?" Shimmer says. "We need that access chip."

[chronosynthesis]

Sorry for the trauma, Beta. At least he's not too rough as he nudges the Beta towards Shimmer with a nod.

"We'll let you go as soon as we get what we need," he murmurs to the Beta, which he's sure isn't remotely comforting but you know, if it makes them slightly more cooperative so he's not dragging them around.

[anti_nonsense]

Rita's eyes widen at the sight of the mark, but there isn't much time to marvel at how two of their allies came to work together like this.

"The chip? You mean... from their head." Yeah, she looks a little uncomfortable with that, even if she understands its importance. She'll go ahead and walk inside, taking a moment to look over the equipment available to them.

[periphrasing]

Peridot follows Rita's lead. If it looks like there's anything useful they can take with them, she'll stash it in the pocket dimension for later.

[npcarnival]

"Yes," Shimmer says, simply, and moves towards the Beta - only to open her palms at the side of their head, releasing another cloud of that cold steam. It swirls into the Beta's nose and mouth, and soon they are falling limp.

"Please remove your sword from the door so that I can close it," she says to Zangetsu, and then gestures for Syrlya to follow her over to the chair. "Set her down, here."

Shimmer looks at Rita, barely breaking a step. She knows what needs to be done.

"I'm going to put this Beta's access chip in your head."

[scientificist]

Herbert's already followed into the room, of course, only half-managing to stay on watch. He's way more interested by how Shimmer's going to remove the chip. He assumes this means actually getting a good angle to watch the surgical processes for once instead of on himself while pinned down.

[anti_nonsense]

Rita's face pales slightly, and one can easily imagine the sort of look she must have in her eyes right now. Great. More messing around in her head. She was afraid of this...

But it really does look like it's their best option, and they seem to have the necessary equipment right here, so it's time to make a quick decision.

"Damn it..." she mutters, taking a moment to steel her nerves. At least it probably won't hurt as much the second time around... "Fine. Do what you have to do."

[moonfang]

"Ah, right,"

Zangetsu is standing close enough that he can just open his hand, and the sword flies back to it. He places it again in his sash... though he'd prefer not to watch this, so he moves out into the hallway to stand guard.

[npcarnival]

Shimmer smiles just a little at Rita's agreement, and then will brace in the Beta's head as Syrlya presumably brings them over. Wasting no time, Shimmer will move to the controls, and a set of mechanical arms will unfold behind the back of the chair - swiftly moving towards the exposed implant in the Beta's neck and skull. Patches of hair are burned off, and areas are sterilized with a spray similar to what Shimmer was shooting from her hands.

It takes a couple minutes, but eventually the robot hands will start to dissemble part of the Beta's implant - and once the device is open, Shimmer comes over to use a small pair of tweezers, to manually pull out what looks like a thin computer chip. Dropping it into a petri dish, she moves back to the computer, and sets the device to seal the implant back up without it. Once it's done, Shimmer looks back to Syrlya, giving orders with zero hesitation.

"Set her aside for now. It will be a while before she wake up." Then, she looks to Rita. "Now sit. It's your turn."

[chronosynthesis]

Syrlya gives Rita a faintly apologetic look as he moves to gather the Beta and put her back in the office chair. Not like it's his fault, they do what they have to. But still.

[anti_nonsense]

Rita takes a slow, deep breath, shoulders heaving as she does so... then goes ahead and sits in that chair.

"You better know what you're doing," she grumbles, settling into position and holding still, her hands clenched into a death-grip on the chair. She doesn't really doubt Shimmer's ability, though. It's just that this process is so damned freaky to begin with.

[periphrasing]

Peridot paces nearby, only half inspecting the rest of the room. She keeps glancing at their new ally, a slight frown on her face. Eventually, once the chip is extracted from the Gamma, she pads back over to get a closer look at what's happening.

"So you're Shimmer? I heard you escaped from here some time back. How the heck did you get back in without being recognized?" she asks, cocking her head slightly.

[npcarnival]

"It was complicated," Shimmer says, as she puts the braces up against Rita's temple and gets to work starting up the machine. "But, the gist of it was that when the Summer Court blew up A2, I took the place of one of the dead Gammas."

She says it very casually as she works. The mechanical arms start to move and start pulling apart Rita's implant. It feels like pressure, like the beginning of a tension headache that starts in the neck, but it isn't outright pain.

"The hull was breached in a few places, so Gild and I entered the premises, hoping to extricate her brother while we had the chance. Unfortunately, the Mother reacted too quickly. We had to retreat, and instead of going for him, I got Gild to burn my neck and back and pretended that I'd been caught in the blast. They found me and brought me in for repairs. With the onboard memory destroyed, they had to take my word for it. I already looked the part, anyway."

Meanwhile, Rita's implant has been fully opened up. Shimmer reaches in with the tweezers and pulls out the chip, carefully replacing it with the one she took out of the Beta.

"We all look practically the same, you know."

[chronosynthesis]

Syrlya stays close to the door as he listens.

"I see... where is Gild now? Who are the others from the Summerlands who are helping?"

He's just had the assumption so far they're fae from the Summerlands anyway, and not direct court far.