Lemmings in APRA: Anomalous Parks & Recreation Areas | World Anvil

Lemmings

I didn't even ask him to jump off the cliff, he just did it.
— Anonymous Researcher
  Once a brilliant researcher, now an army of moronic clones— lemmings are used widely throughout the ACF as human guinea pigs.  

A Quick Fall

Long story short, the once brilliant Dr. L slipped on banana peel and died. Thankfully, he was wearing his lucky socks when he did— which were gifted to him by a past lover who had found them buried in an ancient Antartic ruin. Puzzlingly, these pink, fuzzy garments were placed over a tightly-wrapped mummy— yet remained in pristine condition. Suspecting a co-worker had placed them there, Dr. L's former partner simply laughed, removed the socks, and kept them as a keepsake. Apparently— as Dr. L discovered shortly after his tragic and not-at-all-funny demise— the socks were an anomaly. An anomaly, to his surprise and horror, which clones the wearer upon death.   In his excitement, he began to perform numerous experiements with himself as the test subject— unfortunately for him, each time he died he came back with reduced mental faculties. This, even more unfortunately, did not help the situation— as before long he lacked the foresight to stop his experiments. Other researchers soon noticed the growing problem— namely, after Dr. L lost the intelligence required to hide his experiements and attempted to sweep his own dead bodies under the rug— literally, in the breakroom. Soon, other researchers were utilizing the cloned Dr. L's in their experiments as test subjects— as they were all too easy to coerce into doing so.
 
So, if I step in front of this potentially deadly laser, you'll give me 5$? I'm in.
— A deceased clone
  Their easily fooled nature lead to the nickname "Lemmings." It didn't take long for word to reach the ACF's higher-ups, who were all too glad to formally establish the Lemmings department in order to supply guinea pigs to the rest of the ACF. Human test subjects are obscenely expensive, after all.  

Personality

The Lemmings posses little of Dr. L's former personality, including a love for experimentation and aiding others in their own pursuits. However, they do not remember Dr. L, his past, or anything else he used to love. They do, however, retain basic knowledge of the world— just enough to make them valuable in psychological experiments. Thankfully, the cloned lemmings never remember how they died— making it easy to repeat and tweak experiments as necessary.  

Logs for A-████

Experiment #██
Date: 1/10/████
Subject: Lemming
Description: Lemming was presented with A-████.
Notes: Do not allow any Lemmings to come into contact with A-████ going forward.
  "All I need to do is touch this ominious floating orb?"   -Lemming reaches out, and places his palm on A-████.   "Oh god...oh god, I used to be...I shouldn't be..."   -Lemming goes quiet, staring into the distance.   "A banana peel?!?!"   -End Log-

Comments

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Feb 3, 2021 23:19 by J. Thorne

Oh dear...I think I might have met a few of these. There was a group in my college microbiology class that kept deliberately setting one another on fire with the bunsen burners. Would finally explain EVERYTHING.

Feb 3, 2021 23:34 by Grace Gittel Lewis

We've done it. We've explained a real life mystery.

Feb 4, 2021 00:31 by J. Thorne

Agnew Sr's for everyone!

Feb 4, 2021 10:44 by Kaleidechse

Ow, what a tragic story - and still, I can't help chuckling at the description of how the clones' intelligence went down. ^^ Yep, that sounds like a useful asset to have.


Creator of the Kaleidoscope System and the planet Miragia.
Feb 4, 2021 18:11 by Grace Gittel Lewis
Feb 4, 2021 17:20 by Dr Emily Vair-Turnbull

Oh no. Oh no. Poor lemmings, though I guess they don't have enough intelligence to feel sorry for themselves. I feel sorry for the lemming who accidentally regained his memories/intelligence, though. D:

Emy x   Etrea | Vazdimet
Feb 4, 2021 18:11 by Grace Gittel Lewis

It probably didn't last.

May 25, 2021 19:37 by R. Dylon Elder

I'm seeing more scp inspiration here and I love it . Gotta have your test subjects for sure. The story is definitely horrifying. Poor dr. L. I couldnt imagine getting less smart upon every cloning. Oof. I still laughed several times tho. I love how this setting does horror and humor so well.

May 26, 2021 18:29 by Grace Gittel Lewis

Haha, yeah the WIP title for this article was "D-Class Equivalent" since that's what they are.   Thank you! I'm glad the balance works well.

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