and if you said this life ain't good enough i would give my world to lift you up i could change my life to better suit your mood 'cause you're so smooth
Covert Ops Solo Class: Understanding Intelligence and Behavioral Analysis
The tables in this class are currently occupied by a series of cages, each one containing its own gerbil and a specialised food chute. There are two buttons outside each cage, one labelled as delivering an electric shock and the other food. An occasional squeal of dismay perforates the lab. The instructor waves you over towards a table, telling you to "experiment". All observations are to be turned in at the end of the class period.
Mechanics The goal of this class is to adjust your gerbil's personality to a predetermined target personality, via the old fashioned method of punishment and reward. This is totally scientific and a real thing you can do.
To determine your gerbil's starting personality, you can either 1: use your own gerbil that has been given a personality from a past shop-run event or 2: grab one of the bodies scuttling around in the waiting pens (roll 1d100. If the result is 50 or under, pick the closest personality to that number from the list below, rounding down. If the result is greater than fifty, divide the number by 2 then use the result the same way.) Once their starting personality is determined, do the same mechanics to determine their target personality. If you're rolling for both personalities, you can just do 2d100 in one post.
Once you have your starting personality (your current score) and target personality (the number you are trying to reach), you can choose to either feed (roll 1d8 and add the result to your current score) or shock (roll 1d8 and remove the result from your current score) your gerbil to try and get a score matching the target personality. Once your current score is closer to the targeted personality than to any other personality (rounded down or up) then your gerbil has been reconditioned! Victory!
It was sort of weird to look at gerbils now, after their space adventures. But Cerpin didn't mind too much. He was more interested in the fact that he'd managed to force Tevini to come to this class with him. After their numerous arguments, she'd been icily cold to him so the fact that she was here was a victory in his mind. The assignment could've been learning how to tap dance for all he cared right now. The important thing was he had a chance to win back some of her favor.
"Time to pick out some gerbils! Thank gog these ones aren't psychotic zombie gerbs, huh? That was so crazy." He peered through the cages to select the best choice. Cerpin was a flashy guy so he wanted an equally flamboyant gerbil to work with. Ah, this one was running circles like mad, perfect! Why did the Initiative even have all these gerbils in the Training Trees? Somehow, the answer was probably too weird to believe.
"You should get the one on the end. It's cute and curly like you." There was indeed a gerbil with curly rex fur on its body in one of the pens on the end. It sniffed at the bark chips in its pen and Cerpin nudged Tevini towards it gently before looking back to the one he'd selected. It was a healthy spirited creature, just like him!
He glanced at the worksheet. He had to shock this thing into being cute, huh? Seemed sort of weird but he trusted that the instructions had been tested and wouldn't lead him to like... kill... a gerbil or something. This was for behavioral conditioning, not torture.
"I'm not sure I understand the exercise." Tevini looked over the worksheet in confusion. She wasn't really excited to be here but had agreed because it was important to learn. Accepting Cerpin's choice of gerbil, since she didn't really care, the redblood placed it inside a cage and started taking notes of it's initial condition. Once she was satisfied with her notes the redblood plucked Cerpin's to review what he'd recorded as well.
"I think the instructor was hoping for more than 'it's alive, lol' for initial observations." Tevini raised an eyebrow accusingly at Cerpin and handed the paper back.
"Anyways, let's get started so we can wrap up quickly." The redblood had a few other errands she wanted to run tonight. While a small part of her was happy to spend a little time with Cerpin again, she also knew that she didn't have much time to spare. They both didn't. It was strange to finally be making progress on the project they'd devoted their lives to and while she was relieved that it was finally moving... it was also a foreign feeling.
Yamashii
Yamashii rolled 1 8-sided dice:
3Total: 3 (1-8)
Posted: Sun Apr 15, 2018 5:19 pm
Quote:
subtracting 3 currently: 37 goal: 20 (cute)
"It feels weird. Is this what they do in the rehabilitation center, you think?" Cerpin gave his gerbil a small zap to test the waters. The critter squeaked but returned to rolling around shortly after. He watched it for a few minutes before jotting down some more notes. They were not great notes but that was because the purpleblood was not good with science. Or behavioral therapy. But he was trying so he could understand what the lesson was trying to teach him. Was the creature angry? Was it disinterested? How would this affect it's personality?
Cerpin Notes
it's still alive. lol. didn't even bite me yet.
"How's it going on your end, Vee?" He glanced over to see how the redblood was handling this. He didn't get the feeling she cared much about animals but she probably also didn't hate them. Cerpin grabbed one of the grapes they were using to feed these things and ate one himself.
"What? There's plenty." He wasn't much different from the lab gerbils really.
Doutei
Yamashii
Offline
Doutei rolled 1 8-sided dice:
2Total: 2 (1-8)
Doutei
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Posted: Sun Apr 15, 2018 6:29 pm
Quote:
adding 2 currently: 3 (beautiful) goal: 20 (cute)
"It's possible." Tevini replied, jotting down notes as she watched her gerbil. Waiting for it to stop washing itself, she wondered what constituted as 'cute enough' for her to complete her experiment. The small creature's fur was actually quite beautiful for such a small animal. Reaching, she gave the gerbil a single grape to watch it's reaction to it.
Tevini Notes
Subject A accepted the grape. It seems to find grapes an acceptable nutrition source for now. The grape looks quite cute in Subject A's tiny hands.
"It's going fine over her-hey!" Tevini swatted Cerpin's hand but she was too late. Grumbling she considered suggested he try his treatment on himself too then but stopped herself. It was just a grape.
"... it's been a while since we just talked, hasn't it?" The redblood spoke again after a minute of observing their gerbils. Something about this place made her wonder if this was an experiment of Cerpin's on her.
Yamashii
Yamashii rolled 1 8-sided dice:
2Total: 2 (1-8)
Posted: Sun Apr 15, 2018 8:52 pm
Quote:
subtracting 2 currently: 35 goal: 20 (cute)
"Stop running off to that lab all the time and we'd have more opportunities." Cerpin shrugged, playing the comment off like it was casual and nonchalant when they both knew it was sincere spite. It was kind of sad that he'd had to dupe her into this experiment just to get her to spend a little time with him. They were partners, weren't they? He didn't like feeling like strangers.
"Are you actually learning anything useful? Float that grape. Show me." He pointed at some fruit a couple of time, very insistent. If she was going to be so stubborn about doing this, he wanted to see results. Truthfully, he ought to be training his own abilities but there was just too much to get done at once. Like this lab work. He glanced at the notes that had been given to them to explain the instructions.
"I feel kind of bad. The suggestions say my best bet is to shock the little guy." Cerpil, or that was what he was calling the gerbil now, was so lively and excitable. It felt kind of mean to shock the s**t out of him so he'd become a little cuter. But the purpleblood supposed covert ops weren't about making friends, it was about getting a job done. He awkwardly reached out to give the critter another shock.
Cerpin Notes
subject responds to shock treatment by squeaking and freezing in place temporarily. running begins again if i don't repeat the shock.
xDoutei
Yamashii
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Doutei rolled 1 8-sided dice:
3Total: 3 (1-8)
Doutei
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Posted: Sun Apr 15, 2018 10:07 pm
Quote:
adding 3 currently: 6 (beautiful) goal: 20 (cute)
"Of course I am. This is my best opportunity to learn helmsmanning, Cerpin." Tevini said firmly. She understood that Cerpin didn't like it but that lab was important. The redblood had done her best to read up on the subject but run out of books. Hands on learning would be the best way to practice and hone this ability. While they didn't have a deadline yet, she was determined to cram as much learning as she could into her schedule now so she didn't regret not doing it later. Unfortunately that meant she didn't have much free time.
"Happy? Now you." A speck of pink light floated the grape into the air and into Cerpin's palm. By now floating small objects was easy for the girl. She gave him a nagging look to try using his own newfound abilities to complete the same task. They were still figuring out what he could and could not do. She wished she had more time to help.
Tevini Notes
Subject A seems reluctant to eat the oats. Removing the grapes has limited Subject A's choices, forcing no other options.
"It does seems cruel." Tevini remarked, listening while she wrote down her own notes. She watched her gerbil shuffle around bored and felt similarly. Glancing over at Cerpin, she winced and saw how uncomfortable both halves of that experiment looked. A small part of her knew that one day they might be stuck in similarly bad situations and that this was good training for numbing your feelings and sense of morality. She didn't want it to come to that but as a rebel, it was very possible they'd be faced with unimaginable horrors.
"Here, you can tone the voltage down." The redblood offered and reached over to turn the dial on the equipment he was using. This way they were still fulfilling the experiment but in a less painful way. It might alter his results but they were still good results to report in. Did lighter sentences still have a strong enough effect to warrant using over heavier ones?
"Have you spoken with anyone else about your powers?" Tevini asked, returning to the earlier conversation. She knew she was nagging but she wanted to make sure he was on the right track.
