goneawayworld | Corona [OPEN]

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Corona [OPEN]

Who: The New Hires and Planker
What: Fun
Where: The Gym
When: Post-plot.
Warnings/Notes: Foul language from Planker.

The first warning the New Hires have is that some of them quietly get pulled aside by various members of the staff before training even starts. Not only does this mean that some of the personnel had to wake up extra early, already a warning sign, but they don't mention why. They just take a few key people aside.

The second warning is when Planker walks in, whistling a cheerful tune and wearing a smile like a man with a three foot erection. "All right, you miserable fucking reprobates! Big Daddy Planker has heard your complaints about his training methods. Pity the Princess got transferred out, she could feel the love today." He paces in front of the assembled crew, doing his best to show off every little tooth. "And, believe you me, that's the only love that exists for you little shits! God doesn't love you, He's dead! I killed Him! He came upon me in His divine glory while I was showering and didn't duck fast enough when I turned around to face Him! And if you anorchous shit-stuffers don't want to be buried in the same fucking hole, you'll straighten those fucking backs and pay attention!"

He snaps his fingers, directing everyone's attentions to a series of chambers. Clear material forms the walls and the rest promises an obstacle course. "This is your obstacle course! And you are mine! I have permission to keep you here until I get bored! And if that means you blowzy copremetics will all get through this course." He slams his hand against one of the walls, then jabs a finger at the first person to catch his attention. "That means you, filth! Mount that wall, put some effort into it, and go! You! Join them!"

The course is an exercise in sadism, as only Planker could imagine. There are seven chambers.

The first room seems simple enough, you simply have to run across. But the floor moves, like treadmills, and each segment is in an opposite direction. When the participant hits the floor an ear-piercing siren starts blaring, increasing in volume with every fall and not ceasing until the course is completed.
The second room is a mud crawl under rows of concertina wire that snags and catches at the clothing, with stinging insects there to hurry people along. If the poor unfortunate is too slow, tear gas starts to fill the room.
The third room has a set of irregular monkey bars, but they've been greased. It's set above a three foot pit filled with mouse traps straining to go off.
The fourth room has, dangling from strings, chattering stun guns at various heights. There are sparking hurdles, as well, wrapped in barbed wire to snag at any clothing and drag people in to the electrified bars. Three double-sided cattle prods rotate like ceiling fans, threatening anyone who gets too close. To add to the stupidity, the floor is covered in tires.
The fifth room brings them to a ball pit! But some of the balls are electroshock grenades. Some are glue bombs. And some of them are flashbangs. Both are set to go off on contact.
The penultimate room has air rams that go off as the participant drags a dummy (or their partner. Or the previous, possibly unconscious, runner.) through, blasting powerfully enough to knock a man off of his feet. To make things worse, giant strips of fly paper stretch across the room, snaring anyone unfortunate enough to get caught.
The seventh, and final, room has something different. Carrying a tool box, the participant has to dash up a spiraling ramp that has alternating barrels and greased ball bearings dropping down at regular intervals. At the end, they have to solve a puzzle and disarm a bomb. If they fail to do it in time, the 'bomb' goes off. Unfortunately for them, Planker isn't allowed to use a real bomb. Instead, the box underneath the bomb springs open, revealing an enraged skunk.

After about the third person starts to go through, Planker will press a button. At that point, the chambers will rise up, revealing wheels, and start to move about the gym in swift circles, controlled via his remote, designed to throw the people inside off-balance and remove any illusion of stable footing. To add salt to the wound, there are cameras in every chamber, capturing every possible humiliation for editing and presenting to whoever Planker sees fit later on.

[[Obviously you don't have to participate. Your character was taken aside for some reason. Otherwise, you can either have your characters run through, react to, or simply have them talk about being forced to undergo this new, improved obstacle course later.]]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

1. The First Go (Closed to Setsuna)

Catra had been standing next to Setsuna. Despite the fact that Catra adamantly does not have friends (for various reasons, including that she doesn't deserve them anymore), she feels oddly protective of the younger girl. She has her arms crossed, her usual attitude of indifferent disdain being projected because what the hell could this guy do? He couldn't push her any harder than the Horde had.

So when she gets a look at their new obstacle course and is told in no uncertain terms to get in there with Setsuna, her nose wrinkles. She looks like she might refuse, just for a brief moment--then she locks eyes with her roommate and nods.

"Fine, fine, I'm going." She trots after Setsuna, muttering under her breath. "Asshole." She steps up to the entrance of the first chamber, then looks over at her roomie again.

"...Don't slow me down," is what she says. What she probably means is 'can you handle this?' Catra is still bad at this whole talking to people thing.

2. What do you mean I have to do that again? (Closed to Adora)

When Catra emerges from her first run, battered, filthy, tired and reeking of skunk, she thinks at least it's over. That changes when Planker jerks a finger at her and tells her to join Adora back at the start of the course.

"What?!" Catra shrieks in indignation, but the threat of being zapped prods her towards complying. She scrambles past Adora and into the first room, not even pausing to see that she's been followed. She barrels into the next room and dives into the mud, panting as she tries to haul herself through the mess of barbed wire. With Adora behind her and her need to get this over with, it's only a matter of time before something happens--as Adora starts to catch up (hopefully) she'll find adora hopelessly entangled in some wire, her shirt snagged in a half-dozen places as Catra's angry flailing only makes it worse.

"Get me--! OUT! OF HERE!"

3. This sucks (Open)

After having had to run the damn obstacle course at least twice (and possibly more than twice) Catra has finally been permitted a chance at rest. She has her head tilted back, coughing and gasping as she drains a water bottle over her eyes to help clear out the stinging, nauseating tear gas that's still clinging to every part of her. She's going to have to shower for as long as possible to get his out of her fur and she's still bristling with anger. She coughs, splutters, then shakes her head to send water droplets flying in every direction. And she smells like, well, a skunk sprayed her.

When someone steps too close, she snaps.

"What the fuck do you want? Don't fucking touch me!"

Setsuna takes in a slow breath, breathes in and out, the deliberated nature of it the only indication of her worries beyond the stiff lines of her face and the look of stony, unsettled determination in her eyes. Planker looks far too happy about any of this for it to be as straightforward as a simple endurance trap could be. But she doesn't really have any idea just how much he's capable of, yet; the ambient agonies of what the strange Stuff-infused "executives" demanded of her still haven't entirely shaken themselves off, however. She thought she understood this place's limits, or at least its inadequacies, but if the Stuff can do things like that to the Rig ... and they have access to Stuff to enhance their own projects ... she's no longer convinced Planker, left to his own "devices", couldn't work up something truly nasty.

So she's real nervous, now, in ways she hadn't been about him before.

And she also wants to make a good impression on Catra, who's almost certainly seen her in the training area practicing and sparring but hasn't yet seen Setsuna tested ... and she knows her roommate will care about whether she can hold it together in the long haul. She would, in Catra's position; she did.

"Don't worry," she says, evenly, perhaps too carefully. "I won't." And, at least for the first few rooms, it turns out, even her own worries don't get in her way, and she really doesn't. She starts to think they can do this.

Then a stun bolt catches her in the shoulder, catches her arm against an electrified barbed wire, and all she can think of is the way the pain curling up her arm like a crawling thorn feels so unpleasantly familiar - and she doesn't hear the strangled, too-slowly-choked-back noise she makes in response, not exactly, but she does feel it, all the same.

Catra is focused, doing her best to weave around dangling stun guns and hurdle barbed-wire obstacles. It helps that this is the kind of thing she's used to. She's fast, agile, light on her feet--this sort of thing is easy for her on a good day, even after having to deal with mud and mouse traps. So when she hears Setsuna, it startles her, pulls her out of her rhythm. She's mid leap and teeters as she comes down on a tire, barely managing to keep her footing.

"Setsuna--?" She turns to look for her roommate, sees her caught on wire and electric current. Part of her says leave. Setsuna would slow her down. Look out for number one. Don't make trouble for yourself by bothering with others. It's not like anyone is going to look out for you.

But Setsuna has been kind and understanding. She's a good kid. Catra growls and turns back, trying to avoid the sweep of a cattle prod and not succeeding. There's a yowl of pain and she jerks forward, a small hole singed in her shirt, stumbles--then reaches out to try and tug Setsuna away from the wire.

"Come on!"

"Sorry - I -" Setsuna's face is raggedy pale, the breath all gone out of her suddenly, eyes slightly shocky. "I'm sorry," she gasps, again, before she can get her own feet under her. "I don't know what came over me -" She's mumbling as much to herself as to Catra, grabbing the older girl's hand unexpectedly tightly. It takes her a moment to get her breathing under control - a moment they both barely don't have, as another prod swings menacingly at them and Setsuna doesn't so much duck as do a controlled stumble away from it, visibly still blown. It shoves her up against Catra's back and she sees the singe mark left behind. "Oh no - it got you too - because of me ..." She fumbles a hand loosely near where the hole was left, then forcefully steadies herself against Catra's back with it.

"Dammit. Let's just - keep going ..." she manages to grit out, despite the sweat on her forehead. "This is nothing."

Maybe if she keeps telling herself that, it will be.

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