[psl] reintegration ORTBO exercise

[notorpheus]

It all started when Petey started coming into work and acting oddly. It had thrown the department into turmoil and slowed their getting work done on a consistent basis. And then when they started exploring the hallways as a team, and Irving discovered the other departments, that sure didn't help. It seemed it was time for an intervention.

The department's outies had been told of the upcoming ORTBO plan, but not their innies. For now the department was just the four of them—Petey, Mark, Irving, and Dylan. Dylan's outie woke up ill that day, though, so when Petey, Mark, and Irving awaken in the silvery sunshine of a winter day in Kier, PE, they start out without any knowledge of what's going on. They're just...outside, each alone in different parts of the forest, but nearby where they can find each other.

"Hello?" Mark calls from where he's standing between an outcropping of rock and a stand of trees. "Is anyone here? Petey? Dylan? Irv?"

Comments

[exitlight]

When Petey woke up that day, he expected the cool breeze of air conditioning on his face and the cold led lights inside of the elevator trying to pry their brightness through his eyelids. He would reach for the bar like he had been more recently and listen to the hum of the elevator. A part of his ritual was choosing not to open his eyes until after the elevator chimed, a signal that they were opening.

But this time, it was much different. Instead, he felt the air conditioning on his face, but it felt sharper than usual. Extra cold. And he didn’t hear the hum of the elevator. It was just a constant whoosh of air and.. another noise that almost sounded like the rustle of paper—a lot of it, all at once—but no elevator. No chime, either. He opened his eyes and he let out a gasp of surprise, seeing not the lobby, but snow. He fell to his knees, grasping the ice in his hands, bringing it up to his face to look at in more detail. That’s when he noticed his thick, black gloves. Before he could try stuffing the snow in his mouth, he heard a familiar voice.

“Mark?” he called back, standing up and brushing himself off, looking around the environment to try to figure out where his friend exactly was.

[whatsfordinner]

Just like his fellows, Irving experienced a most jarring transition. At the end of every 'day'- without fail- he would enter the elevator, turn to face the closing doors, lose his consciousness and then regain it at virtually the same position. The difference of where he was standing would boil down to mere inches. This time, after losing consciousness in the elevator, he regained it somewhere unfamiliar. Somewhere wrong. The fresh air was foreign to him, as was the brightness of the sun overhead. The usual ceiling was absent and the vastness of the sky above intimidated him. There was so much space around him- too much of it.

Where...?

Irving spent a good long moment overwhelmed, before finally hearing a familiar voice calling somewhere in the distance. And then another. Mark? Petey? There was something unnatural about the sound of them. Echo...? Yes, their voices were echoing. His gaze swept along the collection of trees that seemed to surround the patch of slippery ground- no, ice- he was standing on. Following that, he tilted his head backwards to look up towards a high cliff. He couldn't see anyone, but surely his colleagues had to be nearby.

"Mark?" he called out as well, his own voice gaining a light echo of its own. "Petey? Where are we?"

[notorpheus]

"Over here!" Mark calls, relieved to have heard both their voices. He starts moving through the trees in the direction he'd heard Petey, hoping that will help them triangulate with one another, rather than trying to split the difference. "I'm going in the direction I heard Petey from, Irving."

Before he can reach either of them, though, he sees a pedestal in a break in the copse of trees he'd been standing in. The pedestal is in a Greek style, but is flat black rather than white, and has a thick manual set on its surface. The manual is a three-ring binder with a gold cover, and Mark halts. "Guys!" he yells. "I think I found something important!"

In a moment he'll be wondering why he never heard Dylan responding, but for now his attention has been drawn off.

[exitlight]

“Think we’re on some kind of mountain,” he called back, now trying to wrap his mind around where everyone was. He began to walk through the snow, slowly, as it wasn’t the same as walking on a white tiled floor. But somehow, this was familiar to him. Like some kind of sickening feeling of deja vu. He was following where he had heard Mark’s voice, since he sounded a lot closer to where he was.

Breaking through the trees, he finally saw Mark, sighing out of relief and a little smile appearing on his face, “Mark,” he spoke, walking up to the odd table and noticing the manual on the table. This wasn’t a manual he was familiar with. Looking back over to Mark, he furrowed his eyebrows, “What the fuck are you wearing? And where the hell is Irving?” he asked almost immediately.

[whatsfordinner]

The continued calling was a blessing; it helped Irving determine the sound's origin better. From his right. In the distance. Beyond the trees... "I'm coming...! Wait for me!" he shouted back. His attempt to get there was a slow one, though. The ice beneath his feet was treacherous, far different from the steady support of the Severed floor's floor. Thankfully, the edge of the frozen lake wasn't too far away and before long, his boots sank down into crisp white snow. Realizing the chances of slipping would be far lower now, he broke into a sprint to catch up to his colleagues. Branches were hastily pushed aside and underbrush attempted to tear at the legs of his pants.

At last, he entered the clearing and came to an immediate stop, his gaze shooting from Mark to Petey, then on to the binder, and finally back to Mark. "What in the name of Kier is going on?" he asked, breathless.

[notorpheus]

"I'm hoping this is here to give us some answers," Mark says. He glances over at Petey, not wanting to suggest out loud that he ought to be the one to read what the binder has to instruct them with, but feeling keenly curious. Petey's the one with seniority here; he should be the one to pick it up, to even be the one to suggest out loud that he should do it in the first place.

"You both okay?" he asks after a second. "It's really cold out here." At least they seem to be adequately dressed.

[exitlight]

Petey glanced to Irving when he finally showed up, offering him a weary smile. He had no idea how far he had to walk to get here, but it definitely seemed far. Perhaps his own outie had hiking experience, but something told him he didn’t. Then, he glanced to Mark, noticing that eager sparkle in his eye he always has when he’s curious but hesitant. Petey supposed that he was the one who was meant to read this. He moved to take the binder, opening it up. What greeted him first was the few pages in this binder and the usual friendly fonts and diagrams. Then, he began to read, turning a little so the other two could see.

“Good Morning, Refiners,” he began, “Kier is thrilled to introduce you all to your first Outdoor Retreat Team Building Occurrence—or O.R.T.B.O. It was curated by your desire to perceive the outside world. Per consent from your outies, you all, for the next two days, will be exploring the thickets, brush, flora, brambles, and brooks that make up the Deter Eagan National Forest. ‘Deter Eagan?’ you may be quietly inquiring. The answer lies in the fourth appendix that Kier dictated in his final hours of life. A text of such sanctity that it is forbidden upon the severed floor. This appendix awaits you in Scissor Cave. The very same grotto where Kier Eagan tamed the four tempers.”

“Remember, stray not from Kier’s path, lest you royal nature’s wrath. There will be help along the way. Happy fortunes, MDR, and let Kier guide your way.”

Petey flipped to the last page, but there seemed to be no further instruction than that. He set the binder down and looked to the other two, hoping they had any ideas of where they were meant to go.

[whatsfordinner]

"I think it might be freezing," Irving said to Mark, though it was only a guess. They'd never gone cold before, as Lumon kept the Severed floor at a respectable temperature at all times. There simply was no frame of reference for when the freezing point might hit, though the cold nipping at the bare skin of his face told him they were at least experiencing something uncomfortable for the typical human being. He was thankful for his thick coat, gloves and even the odd hat, far as these things were from the usual dress code.

He too looked to Petey for guidance and an assertive attitude. There was a reason he was the chief of their team, and not anyone else. Still, the information that did finally come their way raised more questions than it answered. Outdoor team building? Dieter Eagan? None of that really compared to one more thing hidden in the binder's text.

"A fourth appendix?" he repeated breathlessly. All his life, he'd only ever known of three. Lumon had never shared anything about a fourth volume of Kier's dictations before, so why now? And to get to see Scissor Cave with their own eyes... He could only imagine it was a reward for their hard work. His hands clasped together before his chest, lips curling into an excited smile. "Well! This is a blessed day!"

[notorpheus]

Mark's expression changes from confused and wondering to a slightly narrow-eyed suspicion.

"Okay, wait, this is all really weird," Mark says. "Where's Dylan? And why didn't they tell us anything about this before?"

He doesn't know whether Lumon has competitors that might want to kidnap and deceive them, or if this whole situation is a sign that Lumon is losing control, but he doesn't like it. Like Irving, he hopes Petey has ideas that might make this seem more legitimate, more... correct. He looks over to Petey, crossing his arms against the cold.

[exitlight]

Well, Irving definitely seemed to be excited. Looking to Mark, he seemed to be more.. weary by the whole idea of this.

“Let’s all just stay close and try to figure this out,” he spoke, looking to the both of them. “As for Dylan, I dunno, he’s probably sick at home. He was complaining about how the snacks didn’t taste as good yesterday.”

Petey looked about, trying to grasp where they were and where they were supposed to go. Maybe it was a flag that would guide them in the right direction? But then, he saw it.

Off in the distance, a man in a suit stood staring at the three colleagues. Somehow, Petey could recognize it as Mark. He had the same build and the same dark navy suits that he always wore. “Guys, look,” he spoke, still staring in awe at the doppelgänger that stared back at them.

[whatsfordinner]

Dylan's absence stood out, since for quite some time now, it had been the four of them. They together were MDR. In Irving's opinion, Mark was right to draw attention to it. Still, the explanation offered made perfect sense. It was exactly the sort of thing that would happen to Dylan, so Irving had no trouble accepting it as truth.

"Figures he would fall ill on such a momentous occasion..." he mumbled, somewhat exasperated. More so, though, he felt bad that their friend would have to miss out on all Lumon had in store for them for the next... two days? Was that what the binder's text had said? That was so long. Would they be allowed to sleep here? On purpose?

He was so lost in thought, he didn't see the doppelganger until Petey pointed him out. His head turned towards the sight in question and at once, his eyes widened. At first glance, he was convinced he was looking at Mark, but... Something was off. Even with the grand distance between them to obscure details, something about the man's features didn't match up. Besides, Mark was standing right beside him, and there could hardly be two of them.

"What is...?"