How do you induce and reversely wake friends from stasis? Is it a involuntary thing? Very curious ~ build-a-buddy (excuse the main blog lol)
This is a very good question.
I'm not sure if I can explain this perfectly, but I'll try.
So, the friends here are aware of the concepts of "containers"--bins, boxes, bags, etc. And they are aware of the fact that, when they go into a container, they are most likely going to be asleep. To them it will feel like laying down to go to bed, and as soon as they are in the container and the lid is closed, stasis begins.
We try to keep all the friends comfortable and happy beforehand so none of them worry because as soon as that lid comes off again, they all wake up. And they only remember what happened directly before the lid went on. So, we never throw friends in the containers or handle them roughly or just cram 'em in there with no regard for their soft bodies, and we never, ever, initiate stasis if we are in a foul mood.
So really, it's more a situational thing than an "internal" thing, if that makes sense.
Like, they "sleep" in real life, when it's dark, and they retain consciousness so they can still look around and communicate with each other if they don't feel like actually sleeping, and they keep residents safe during the night by watching guard if they want. But when they're in stasis, they don't interact. Almost as if they are in suspended animation. And the act of opening that lid up, untying the bag, unfolding the box, and letting in the new day and new air, wakes them up, as if no time had passed at all. Like they blinked their eyes and nothing changed, except where they were sitting perhaps.
Anyway, I hope that answered your question in some way haha. I'm still always searching for ways to describe this.