A notice had finally been posted. Texts had been sent out. After many delays and revisions to the schedule, the FAA team was ready to begin widespread testing on the effects of "the collars".
In one of the smaller lab rooms, a long row of minipet carriers had been laid out, each one with a different critter inside. On top of each carrier laid a collar, which looked like a plain, random-coloured dog collar with a chunk of electronics fastened in the center. This small box was the vital piece of runic tech, slightly larger than a matchbox, with glowing runes along the top. It had one green LED, which would begin to flash red if the collar was low on battery. The only other remarkable feature of the box was a circular slot that would fit a repurposed AC power adaptor, the collar charger that also sat on top of the carrier.
One member of the development team sat in a corner fiddling with a collar and a screwdriver, but all the actual minipet (and participant) handling had been left to a shy Intermediate, Oliver Keeley. Although it meant being pulled away from his own research, the teen was standing by, ready to answer any minipet related questions people might have.
OOC
Thanks for dropping by! This is a simple ORP to lead into a temporary RP prompt, your hunters have the opportunity to go about their business with a minipet in tow. Once you've picked up a critter here, it can accompany your hunter in their RPs for approximately one IC week. Keep in mind your hunter will be staying on the island for the duration of this study, and please avoid bringing them to any ORPs or GMed events without their creator's permission!
At this point, your hunter can show up and collect their minipet. It's assumed that they have already heard about the project in one way or another, shown an interest, and been texted by one of the Life division hunters working on the project. They will have had time to review all the details, please also read over the plot thread if you have not already. =3 Although Oliver is helping out with the minipet aspect, he's not actually a part of the research team, and would not have been the one to contact your hunter.
Take a peek under the spoilers to see what this project involves:
Today your hunter will pick up a minipet, plus it's carrier, collar (your colour choice), and charger. You can pick which species yourself, but it has to have a neck for a collar and leash, have measurable features like teeth and/or claws and/or horns, and be able to function in the terrestrial environment. Every minipet is chosen for generally good behaviour, think of it like babysitting someone's dog for a few days. Your hunter will go about their on-island duties. Every two hours they will write down new measurements, and if there are any noticeable changes in appearance and/or behaviour. You can assume changes won't happen, stability is the goal. Minipets eat FEAR candies, they can have tiny treats during the day for things like good behaviour, tricks, etc. and get fed a standard FEAR-based kibble once after dinner. Bring your minipet to the lab so it can eat dinner there, or pick up a few days to-go, and feed it elsewhere. At the end of the day the minipet will have it's collar removed and go into a safe carrier loaned to their handler, which will easily fit in their room. The collar will have to be charged overnight. In the morning the charged collar will go back on, and off you go! The study will last several days to a week ICly, depending on how long you want to play it, and then the minipet, equipment, and reports will be surrendered to the research team.
Note: You do not have to RP all this, it's purely to give you insight into your hunter's temporary responsibilities. From this point on it's up to you how much you want to RP with the minipet!
It had been just a rumour, at first, as news travelled differently in Sun Division. But it grew more truthful as the day went on, and Ember's excitement grew with it.
And when he found out where it was?
Well.
Ember always did have an uncanny ability to run in heels.
He bust open the door, eyes manic, grin wide, eyepatch on, and decked out in...well. His traditional clothes, which is to say: black and green all over, knee high boots, and a skirt. He clomped towards Oliver, approaching him to practically shake him by the shoulders.
"I," he said, very loudly and slowly, "want. A minipet. Collar." Ember grinned wider. "Like, please and stuff!"
grey dragon
Posted: Mon Nov 09, 2015 7:49 am
Oliver barely had half a second to back up before hands landed on his shoulders and he was given an enthusiastic shake.
"Ah, y-you d-do, um..." The kid glanced sideways at the other Lifer in the corner, but the man just smirked and made no attempt to intervene. Oliver was definitely on his own with this one.
At first glance he didn't recognize the pale, green-haired trainee, and he could not spot the indicative gold and white logo if their division. With such decorative embellishments when it came to clothes, chances are they were not from the labs. It was unclear how much they knew about minipets, but there was certainly enough enthusiasm for the project. Oliver tried to stifle his nerves. He had a job to do!
"Y-you have had a moment to read over the research requirements?" He asked, carefully extricating himself from the other hunter to grab a clipboard.
lurks beneath
Grey Dragon
Offline
Enoh Love
Offline
Posted: Thu Nov 12, 2015 4:31 pm
"It's gotta be around here somewh--HERE! Here it is!" Hattie's appeared in the doorway, first looking curious as she peeked into the room, and then excited as she recognized it as what she was looking for. She turned from the room to wave down the hallway. "Ever! I found it! Right here." She grinned, gesturing eagerly towards the open door.
and be blue
Posted: Thu Nov 12, 2015 9:54 pm
Ever was just a few steps behind the girl, looking somewhere between concerned and confused as his eyes leapt over the place -- the carriers against the wall, the odd collars, the vaguely teenager-looking young man who was, apparently, in charge of this racket -- before resettling on Hattie. He didn't look entirely convinced. Sure, there were minis here, but it looked slightly less than official.
Of course, this was Deus. That was just kind of how everything looked.
"So you did." But there was skepticism in his voice. "What now?"
Dawson arrived with a loud yawn and a sleepy grin, scratching under his cap as he approached. It had been a long day again, but then again when wasn't it? The prospect of a minipet and collars and such, however, was not something he wanted to pass up on, and once the news had hit his social sphere, he knew he had to check it out.
"Hey, y'all," he rumbled pleasantly. "Not late, am I?"
And as for Stormy, well...Stormy just seemed to appear, serene and withdrawn and ghostly as ever. Perhaps she had always been there...?
Posted: Fri Nov 13, 2015 4:20 pm
Oliver peeked around Ember when he heard the familiar voice. Sure enough, Hattie was enthusiastically dragging someone in. Not physically dragging, but her cheerful charisma was certainly able to exert a pull of it's own. Her pale-haired company looked doubtful, but he was also in the Life division and most likely already knew the basics of minipet care from trainee work.
"Ah, hi!" He addressed the both of them, "you two have read the paperwork? The minipets are over here! I'll have to get you guys to sign a-"
He flipped a couple pages on the clipboard, and in that moment of distraction he almost forgot what he was saying when he saw another hunter entering out of the corner of his eye. Hunters, plural! He glanced over at the hunter fiddling with the collar in the corner, but that guy was stubbornly ignoring all the visitors.
"Dawson, Stormy! You guys are here to pick up a minipet too?" Oliver asked with a smile.
"If you have any questions about what you need to do while you are taking care of the minipets you can ask me anytime, i-if not, uh, you can just pick one out," he addressed the entire group. "I'll have you sign the form before you leave, it just says you agree to make the required observations and will return the minipet and gear in good condition at the end."
and be blue
Enoh Love
lurks beneath
medigel
Grey Dragon
Offline
Enoh Love
Offline
Posted: Fri Nov 13, 2015 5:20 pm
Hattie scoffed at the clear skepticism in Ever's expression and voice.
"Oh, come on, it's totally the place - Ollie's here and everything!" She made a rather dramatic gesture towards Oliver, practically making jazz hands to point him out. If that didn't convince him, well, she was fresh out of ideas then. "Now we just -" She shut her mouth promptly after Oliver addressed them and started talking, nodding along to everything he was saying.
"I've read it! Can I have another copy though? Just in case?" Skipping away from Ever, Hattie made her way towards Oliver - waving to Dawson and Stormy as she passed - and took a moment to turn towards Ember and lift her hands in apology for disrupting them. "Hi there - s'cuse me - Ollie!" She draped an arm across his shoulders, and pulled the slightly shorter Hunter into a half hug, her other hand extended as if hoping to just be handed a copy of the paperwork.
xand be blue
grey dxragon
lurks beneatxh
medixgel
Posted: Fri Nov 13, 2015 6:08 pm
Ever shook his head a little at Hattie's bounding enthusiasm, swiping hair out of his face and easing more deeply into the room as he did. His own attention washed over Stormy and Dawson -- one he knew, the girl got a brief flicker of a smile, but the other he definitely didn't -- and finally settled fully on Oliver.
"I haven't read anything. I got the short notes, but it's just minipets, right? That's like all I did for the first year here..." And he held out a hand. He'd sign the form. "But what if we get attached?"
Although he had just found the sheet for signing out the minipets, Oliver rustled through the pile of papers once more and pulled off a small number that were stapled together. He really needed a file folder or something, there was more paperwork involved here than in his own research!
He handed Hattie the copy, and readied a second one in case anyone else wanted to look over it. "No taping scalpels to your minipet," he muttered to the redhead, accompanied by the trace of a shy smile. It was rare he cracked a joke, but this one held a bit of seriousness as well. Not like he believed she would actually turn a minipet into a weapon of mass (ankle) destruction, but well knowing she had the potential for such mischief regardless. "When you've picked your pet, I'll get you to sign the sheet."
"Yeah, pretty much the regular minipet stuff," Oliver confirmed for Ever, "but they want regular measurements taken to make sure the collars aren't accumulating too much fear, or too little and causing the pet to start dissipating." He rubbed the bridge of his nose, where a scar cut diagonally across the freckles. The kid understood the difficulty of getting attached to experimental subjects, when the labs had been destroyed he had risked his life to save several of them from malfunctioning cages. Most of which were in the carriers behind him at that very moment. "Um... They still have to come back, but they aren't used in uh... damaging research. These minipets are the friendliest ones, better for behavioural tests."
Enoh Love
and be blue
Posted: Sun Nov 15, 2015 12:53 pm
Ever tipped his head a little to quirk a smile down at Oliver -- and then took one step away, slow, careful, slightly exaggerated, with a thumb pointed toward the row of cages in a pointed sort of way. "Should I pick one first? Or you want me to sign first...?"
"A-ah, you can pick one first!" Oliver stammered, his anxious nerves were so fine tuned to the environment around him that the exaggeration may as well have been a physical push. "I'll list that one on the sheet with your name, um... p-please take your time, a-and find one that you will get along with!"
He paused, and then glanced over his shoulder. "Just, uh... not that one, I've got it covered." Oliver pointed at the carrier on the end of the lineup, where a green therapoda had hunkered down for a nap.
