#x!mumbojumbo

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Un-fun fact before I go into my last class ever (that is a wild concept)!

If X!Grian and Mumbo met in high school, then Ariana also knew Mumbo, and she would have been friends with him as well.

So Ari’s missing both her brother and her friend at the moment. :)

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Hello! It’s been a little while since I last checked on your project x au and I somehow always forget how much I love it and the angst >:). I hope ur well btw!!!

Anyway I love seeing the q&a style posts with server questions, so I will apologise in advance if this is a lot (my brain has been churning the au around for days and I must scream I’m sure you understand) - but yes here are some questions and thought for you!

1- Do the scientists ever experiment on zombie mumbo and skizz? Or is it just on what Cleo can get them to do?

2- I know they can’t talk as zombies, and they do what Cleo tells them; but do they have thoughts and feelings? Like do they hesitate for a moment if told to do something they don’t want to do etc? Do they feel horror at their bodies moving without their choice?

3- Do the other subjects know that Cleo can raise the dead? Or is it only Gem and Grian?

4- If yes - Do the scientists ever test Cleo’s (or the zombies) abilities with other subjects? Or are their tests completely private from the group? (Do they do any of this with Impulse of BigB also?)

5- If no - Does that mean the subjects don’t know there is no relief in death? As Cleo will be forced to bring them back as zombies and they might get tested on anyway.

6- Related to question 5 - Have any of the subjects tried giving up? Like refusing to eat or drink, or purposely trying to get hurt? Either in the hope that they’d die and be free of the experiments, or in the hope that if they’re sick/injured they won’t be tested on?

7- Have there any been any other close calls with death? Such as via experiments? Especially at the beginning, did they have any experiments almost fail and kill them that they had to monitor carefully to ensure they’d be fine? Any grievous injuries in later testing?

8- How far can Gem project? Or the zombies (as ghost)? Like can they project far enough to try to see what their friends and families are doing? Could she go on an impromptu sight seeing holiday if motivated enough. Can the zombies only project close to where they died?

9- Do the zombies have any features of any powers they had when alive? For example if Pearl died, would her zombie form still be able to fly?

10- Are there any physical side effects from a person NOT using their powers for an extended period of time? Or maybe side effects from OVER using them? For example, would tango’s excess energy being unspent cause heart palpitations or spams or smth (see guys the scientists have reason to experiment on you /j)

11- Has the project and a whole been considered a success or a failure? Would more subjects be brought into the project later? Or would they consider it too difficult to manage that many subjects?

12- On the unlikely scenario the subjects are freed/or escape - how would general society react? Would they be forced to live in solitude anyway due to the publics fear of them? How would they feel at being out of the facility but not truly free?

13- Are the scientists sharing the results of what they’ve done on a wider level? Like by hiding the true nature of their experiments through fabrication? Like saying they tested on animals and saw these results, that they have consent from human patients for a human trial that has shown these results? Like obviously they’re not gonna share stuff like BigB being a giant tree man but idk maybe bdubs blood has like time power related anti-aging properties they can share. Like they have to get additional funding somehow even if just to keep the building running and pay for materials.

14- Were the subjects all tested on simultaneously? Was it the same initial substance or whatever experiment for everyone? Or did they pick and develop different base experiments for everyone? Some of the abilities are similar so I was wondering if like they maybe developed joels high jump stuff first and they refined it for pearls flight later for example

15- Can BigB move if people are looking at him indirectly via a mirror or some other kind of reflection? I know cameras don’t affect him but what about a video call or something similar?

16- Do the cells have their own bathrooms? I can’t see any listed on the diagram. Do they have to request bathroom access or are assigned time slots to use it? Do they have a wet room for bathing? Are they monitored/watched when using it so they don’t somehow try to escape? I don’t even think id be surprised if they just gathered everyone in a single room and hosed them down all at once like dogs tbh 💀

17- Likewise, do they have any recreational areas? Do they have mealtimes in a cafeteria or are the meals brought to their cells? Do they have a few hours a week for some form of “group therapy” such as either some form of light exercise to keep them healthy and prevent muscle wastage, or even maybe some form of monitored socialisation to help keep them “happy”? Isolation can do horrible things to a person, which they might already know with their isolated subjects, so I can see them doing the bare minimum to avoid that write the rest of them.

18- Do they ever do tests for things unrelated to their individual powers? Like seeing if their mutations have affected their diet, such as if say Etho with his canine features can now eat raw meat.

19- Do they do regular health tests? Such as hearing tests to make sure Martyn’s super hearing isn’t slowly getting damaged over time by alarms or people yelling etc? Or weight checks, especially for those on altered diets or who frequently give up food (such as bdubs who might give some of his food to tango - like does his time powers give him a slower metabolism etc)

20- Theoretically, if the zombies could be active forever, would they continue to decompose? Would they start to fall apart the longer they’re alive until they physically don’t have the muscle mass to move anymore? Do they look more decomposed each time they are revived? If so, would that prompt the researchers to store the corpses cyrogenically to halt decomposition? If they did decompose completely would their skeletons be able to move via Minecraft logic or would they just be little more an unmoving ‘sentient’ bone (🦴) pile like irl? Would she no longer be able to summon them at all?

Hello!! Welcome back! I haven't made a lot of Project X content as of late (aside from the new chapter), so I'd say we're even XD

I was SHOCKED by the amount of questions this ask had. I was scrolling and thinking "THERE'S MORE??" the entire time. Finallt, I have time to look over all of them and answer!

1.) It's only what Cleo can get them to do that the scientists are interested now. Since Mumbo lost his power upon dying and Skizz never gained one to begin with, those two are of no real use to them.

2.) Mumbo and Skizz can't control their actions at all, though they are present. It's more like their dormant though, and they remember what happened when they return to just being spirits.

3.) It's only Gem and Grian that know Cleo can raise the dead. They were put into isolation very quickly once the scientists figured out what they could do.

4.) I think.. hm. I think that you've given me a lovely idea for a future chapter.

5.) Aside from Gem and Grian, the other subjects have no idea. None of them have gotten to that low of a point that they would rather face death than the experiments, though.

6.) I didn't realize I accidentally answered this question in the previous answer XD I'm sure that some of the subjects have gotten to a point where they simply don't have an appetite, but their cell mates (if they have one) will encourage them that they need to keep their strength up just in case. As low as the possibility of escape is, they don't want to entirely give up. I do think Scott would be the closest to that point, though.

7.) A lot of injuries during testing are from the mutations. It's painful to grow extra limbs and appendages! There was very significant recovery time for those with mutations. I'd say that the mutations account for about 50% of major injuries with testing, 35% from the tests themselves (overexertion, minimal morphine/pain killers, etc.), and 15% from when a subject attacks the scientists and guards. I think that after Skizz, they were more careful about just how far they push the subjects.

8.) For the ghosts, their stuck to the building because of unfinished business or having a restless death. They can travel maybe a few yards (meters) away from the building, but that's as far as they can go. For Gem, she can project 5 miles (8 kilometers) from her body in any direction. That gets her out of the building but not close enough to see anyone in the town that the facility is near.

9.) No, the zombies can't use their powers. If someone with mutations, like Pearl, died, they would keep the physical evidence of their powers but be unable to use them.

10.) For the most part, there are no backlashes to not using powers. I think the only two who have side effects to that would be Tango (as you said, heart palpitations, and I think he'd be EXTRA fidgety) and Scar (he's technically always using his power, so he just needs to practice so he can control his strength). On the other hand, side effects to overusing their powers? OH yeah. I'll have to figure out what they would all be, but there definitely are quite a few.

11.) As of right now, it's considered a success. There's a bigger turnout of powers compared to Project Enhancement, but they aren't as powerful as quickly as they were in the first program, hence all the constant experimenting. There are currently no plans to collect more subjects.

12.) The general public would be horrified to learn about the experiments, and I think they would have good intentions when it came to the subjects, but they're not normal people anymore. It would certainly be better than being forced to be experimented on, but they would likely have to go into hiding so they don't deal with constant harassment, even if people have good intentions.

13.) Aside from the facility and certain equipment and medicine sources (probably the black market), nothing is known about Project X–not even Lacuna Labs, the mother company, knows that this is going on. Hell, not even some of the scientists working on the project know (Xisuma, for example). Most of the scientists do know that this is going on, though. They're either willingly apart of this or are being blackmailed to keep quiet.

14.) Everyone received the same initial chemical into their bloodstream and the same batch of experiments starting out. Depending on which way it seemed their abilities could be leaning, they focused more on tests and experiments to aid in that. I never thought about that before with how similar Pearl and Joel's powers were, soooo.. I'm gonna say that's canon now! It's a mix of what powers seem to be developing and if there were other subjects who exhibited similar patterns while their powers manifested.

15.) Indirectly looking at him works! Cameras, video calls, mirrors–pretty much anything like that will work. Something like glasses or sunglasses don't work, though.

16.) I find it so funny that I've been asked about the bathroom situation three times now XD It was late when I designed the layout, so I kinda did forget about those. It's part of a specific schedule, and only two cells are taken out for bathroom breaks at a time. And yes, they are monitored during this time as well since they're out of their cells. I don't think they'd just hose them down since they're all able-bodied enough to do that themselves.

17.) There are no recreational areas or free time or anything of the sort. Meals are eaten in their cells, deposited through a slot in the door. I think some of the tests would actually qualify as exercise, but the subjects never know if it's a real experiment or just some running on a treadmill or something along those lines.

18.) I can see that happening every so often. The scientists are curious, so they'll test things out like how you suggested with Etho eating raw meat. He can't, but I think Ren could.

19.) Yes. Despite doing the bare minimum to make sure the subjects are comfortable, they take their physical health very seriously.

20.) Man, this is a lot to think about for a final question XD I think they would continue to decompose if constantly kept out, but she can only summon them for so long (5 minutes). They would probably continue to decompose regardless, but they don't change much between revival times since their bodies were stored in plastic bags. They'd retain some injuries they took while they were last animated, but that's it. If they would ever get to the point of being just bones, they would no longer be able to move around with Cleo's instruction.

WOW that took a hell of a lot longer to answer all those than I thought. I genuinely think I was working on this for close to an hour?? I was going to answer more asks, but my laptop is about to die, so i will answer more later!

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another Cleo thingy,,

first time Cleo raised skizz and mumbo, they were extremely violent - they were supposed to be dead after all. how dare they be brought back? and the only one in the room? Cleo. she has scratches on her legs, shoulder and back to this day :(

It’s an interesting concept, but they aren’t violent. They aren’t really anything. Cleo has full control over Mumbo and Skizz, and they’re just mindless husks who obey her commands.

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Someone has probably pointed this out already but. Ahem. I think the screenshots speak for themselves

Evil is the hand of the puppeteer

True, but you’re actually the first person to bring forward these screenshots.

I really do seem evil when you put all this next to each other, huh?

:>