DOUBLE BLIND

[vivariummods]

Shortly after the conversation with Zero ends, Zero opens the doors of the Garden and allows everyone to leave. However, the rest of the warehouse isn't better than the Garden: The lights are still off, leaving everyone surrounded in darkness. The temperature just keeps on dropping, reaching near freezing point. The air feels more and more polluted, making it difficult to breathe without coughing, and nothing seems to be working as they should be. The electronic doors refuse to open without any power source, cutting off access to the cafeteria and dorms. At the very least, Zero has managed to open all the doors leading to puzzle rooms and has informed the group that new areas are now accessible to them, but they're on their own should they want to enter any other rooms. Before the screens in the Garden turn off, Zero finally informs them that a new feature has been unlocked on their bracelets: any test subject wearing a bracelet may communicate with one another with the bracelet acting as a communication device. Holding onto the left button will enable the line to open just like a walkie-talkie. As long as test subjects are in the warehouse, they will have no troubles speaking with one another. What if they wish to talk to Zero? Zero's time is not be riffled, but they were generous enough to appear whenever anyone found a screen and pressed the on button a total of three quick successions. And with that, Zero disappears from the grids and finally leaves everyone in complete darkness, leaving only one last piece: "Best of luck, Test Subjects." BASIC INFO ✖ MISSIONS ✖ MINGLE

Comments

MINGLE

[vivariummods]

[ Anything that is outside the missions, whether it's before or after, it goes in here. ]

Placeholder for Heiji

[detectiveofthewest]

[Leaving this here in case someone wants to thread random stuff outside of missions, such as:

A) stealing books from the library, Heiji will be using an impromptu book cart to nab mystery novels and some textbooks, but idk if anyone wanted anything else
B) running into something horrible in the pool, like a robot or perhaps a sea creature that is completely unrelated to robots that has a vendetta against Hershel and Heiji hmm
C) messing around in the rec room
D) idk lying down on one of the beds in the private rooms for a second and accidentally falling asleep because they've all spent 2 months sleeping on the floor/ground]

B, of course

[puzzlinglad]

One of the first interesting things Hershel noticed in their wanderings was in the gym. "Heiji, come look at this." He called, stopping by a door that most certainly wasn't there before- or more a wall that decided to open, really, but same thing. There were a few of them around, and for a moment he wondered if it was a supply closet, but the small hallway behind it killed that thought where it stood.

Curiosity got the better of him, and in he went, stopping when the far door opened to reveal- "A pool?"

Re: B, of course

[detectiveofthewest]

Heiji peered over Hershel's shoulder, and made a face. "So that Calhoun was really holdin' out on us, huh? It's a pretty good-sized indoor pool, too..."

He stepped into the room, picking up a long-handled pool net that had been left lying on the ground. "This must be for picking stuff outta the water. Maybe there's a life preserver around here, too? Not that I guess it'll do us much good..."

[puzzlinglad]

"I wonder if he planned on unlocking these too." Hershel mused as he followed, eying the slippery floor for a moment before trying to walk more carefully.

"Unless someone can't swim I don't think it'd be all that much help. Well, maybe we could use the padding for something..." He kneeled down to skim his hand over the water thoughtfully. "This might be a good trap for the robots, if we can get some in here and get them to slip into the pool- though it could be dangerous if anyone fell in there with them."

[detectiveofthewest]

The dark water rippled as Hershel skimmed his fingers through it. It was quiet in the pool room, aside from the occasional drip of water from somewhere in the room. Maybe a leak...?

The surface of the water cast Hershel's reflection back at him, pale and with a slight greenish cast. The effect was rather eerie: the way it distorted the image of his face, the way it made him look almost like a spectral version of his true self. In fact, part of it seemed to be rising out of the --

An arm shot out of the pool, breaking the illusion. Not a human or robot arm, but one that was all-too-familiar and covered with thick suckers. It grabbed for Hershel's face in a sudden splash of water.

[puzzlinglad]

The atmosphere was positively horror movie, and it was probably telling that even with all they'd been through and continuously went through that the air made Hershel a little uneasy. He was about to make a comment to Heiji to that effect, maybe get ribbed a little for being a big baby, but then something caught his eye from the pool and-

"Bloody h--" What was he going to say? We'll never know, because in order to dodge this ridiculous nonsense he pushed himself to the side, forgetting the wet surface of the area around the pool, and slipped straight into the water. This probably left poor Heiji defenseless against the vengeful arms seeking purchase on the edge of the pool, climbing, searching, knowing it's prey was near.

A?

[skyentificmethod]

With the whole warehouse very dark and quite cold, it was obviously the perfect time to explore those new areas Zero had mentioned. Through a mixture of stubborn hopefulness and not having had to go to the restroom yet, Ema was not afraid of any passing robots, so the click of her heels on the floors made it obvious that not only was someone coming but that she was the someone who was coming. Such is life when you're the only one around who wears girly shoes.

Catching a glimpse of light from down the hallway to the lounge, she wandered down to find a new doorway, and, of course, to check inside. "Hello?"

Re: A?

[detectiveofthewest]

Heiji was momentarily absorbed in a paperback novel he'd found and thus did not answer. Instead, he flipped to the next page in the book, reading quickly and intently by the light of his lighter.

[skyentificmethod]

She slowly made her way past the rows of shelves to the back of the room--rushing towards a possibly jumpy person in the dark seemed like a terrible idea, even for her. However, Heiji did not have a history of tossing knives at anyone so far as she knew so once she saw it was him (an easy enough feat since his lighter was the only source of light in the room) she relaxed, if only a little. The idea of a room filled with books as opposed to, say, spare Calhoun heads or powdered gruel mix was a nice bonus, to boot.

"Found the HVAC manual?" That book almost certainly wasn't it, but a girl could dream.

[detectiveofthewest]

Oh. Right. He shouldn't be wasting lighter fluid like this. Heiji reluctantly flicked the lighter off, and then he was back in the darkness.

"Nah. I was just lookin' at whatever caught my eye. Nothin' real useful in here."

[skyentificmethod]

"With as much time as we generally have to kill around here, anything even slightly more interesting than staring at the ceiling is pretty useful." She looks around, trying to judge from the silhouettes around her. "Wonder if the selection has anything to do with Zero's identity, or these supposed other test subjects..."

She shakes her head; it's a stretch, and either way standing around in the dark and cold isn't going to make anything any clearer. Free books, that's what matters. "You want to bring some back? It wouldn't surprise me if there were a bunch of hoops to jump through before we can get back in here later. Worst comes to worst, we can burn them for warmth."

D for fun

[blind_badass]

*Snake had been running around helping with missions where he was able. Now he was cold and hungry and tired. Snake found himself at the doorway of a room that sounded disaster free for the moment and he sighed with relief.* Is there anyone here? *It wouldn't hurt to ask in case someone else had claimed the room.*

[detectiveofthewest]

"Light...?" Heiji rubbed at his eyes a bit and looked up, realizing that he'd fallen asleep kneeling, with the upper half of his body draped over the side of the bed in one of the private rooms. He hadn't meant to, had only intended to rest for a moment, but...

"What's wrong? You sound beat."

[puzzlinglad]

[Why not, right. I'm just going to steal a list thing from tetra too because easier.

A) music room! kind of curiously hovering near the piano like it's gonna bite him.

B) wasting time in the library, he's so upset this hasn't been unlocked yet. that's garbage. he doesn't even have time to read anything and zero/calhoun are probably going to steal back any books he nabs so that blows. come commiserate or tell him to get out of there and do something useful.

C) hanging out in/near the private rooms, trying to dry out his stupid hair with one of the sheets because he fell in the pool earlier, he's going to catch a cold probably.

D) grab bag, whatever you want man, i'm game.]

B

[detectiveofthewest]

"Hey, Hershel, look what I found!" And here was Heiji, rolling in with a goddamn gurney -- maybe the very same that Calhoun had used to take away poor Mr. Enjolras.

"I bet we could nab a bunch of books and wheel them outta here with this thing, whattaya say?"

[puzzlinglad]

As endlessly forlorn as he was because they didn't have time to enjoy the library he had to laugh at that plan, standing up from wherever he had been kneeling to take a look at the gurney.

"Do you really think they'll let us keep them after everything's over?" He asked, the endless optimist, before continuing. "... it wouldn't hurt to try, now would it?"

[detectiveofthewest]

"Yeah. And with the power off, maybe the surveillance systems aren't working as well as they should. If we hide them in a bunch of different places, we might get to keep a couple of them for a little while, even if they take a bunch of them back."

Eternal optimist bros. "Hey, check it out! They got a bunch of mystery novels!"

[puzzlinglad]

"At the very least it'll be amusing to see them go on a scavenger hunt." Hershel wasn't above being a little petty to Calhoun and Zero, thank you very much. He did hurry over at that, looking excited.

"I saw! I vaguely recognized some of the titles- let's get these first then, hm?" He started by picked one up, opening it for a quick skim before just forgetting himself and beginning to read the damn thing. Stop him.

[detectiveofthewest]

Hershel, pettiness was rude. Although Heiji was sort of amused by the idea, too. "The Singing Skull, Windy City Blues, The Q on the Radio... Oh, I bet Sasuke'd like this one: The Cat Who Knew Too Much."

He looked absolutely delighted by their finds and sadly he was... not the best candidate for getting someone to stop reading. "Oh, hey, here's an etiquette book.

'If a woman places feathers from a capon that has hatched young chickens in her husband's ear as well as hair from the right leg of his dog and from the tip of his cat's tail, he would never forget his love for her.'"

Heiji looked suspiciously at Hershel, like he was responsible for this.

[vengefulyears]

[I'm copying Tetra and Hal fight me. In between missions, you can find Clive doing the following things:

A) ransacking the library because hell yeah reading material that isn't the lame ass science magazines in the lounge

B) literally hopping up the stairs on his good leg with one hand on the railing and the other dragging his new squeaky office chair along behind him because he is an independent princess who don't need no princes carrying him up the stairs, okay, but because this is a very grueling task for a little injured British man he's forced to take a break once he reaches the little landing between floors, slumping against the wall with his chair just chilling next to him. Why isn't he sitting on the chair? Because fuck you, that's why, he's totally got this so don't even touch him.

C) checking out the rec room once he finally makes it to the second floor, silently judging that Calhoun ride in the corner and secretly wanting someone to play pool or ping pong with

D) accidentally passing the fuck out in his chair in the second floor lobby, whoops

E) whatever else you want to do, idc, hit me with anything]

D

[detectiveofthewest]

"Clive...?" Whoops, wait, that wasn't Clive bowing his head in thought, that was Clive actually asleep in his chair. Well. In that case, it simply wouldn't do to have his princess out in the open where anyone could stumble across him, would it?

Heiji lifted Clive up in his arms and carried him down the hall to one of the private rooms. There he set Clive down on the bed inside, pulling back the covers so that Clive wouldn't be sleeping on the sheets. Only heathens did that!

[vengefulyears]

Very good, Heiji, you have passed your royal training with flying colors. Clive remained completely asleep the entire time, not moving a single muscle or making a single sound other than his breathing. Heiji could squeak his chair all the way here and he still wouldn't wake up. He was a very tired princess indeed.

[detectiveofthewest]

Heiji set up Clive's chair right by his bed, so he'd see it when he woke up. Then he pulled up the covers and tucked Clive in. After a moment's thought, he reached over and carefully ruffled Clive's hair, it was his chance man, his golden chance.

Clive looked so peaceful... or maybe just tired out of his mind. In fact, watching him sort of made Heiji sleepy... Heiji sat on the floor and leaned up against the side of the bed, intending to rest his eyes for just a moment. Yeah, just a couple of seconds...

He fell asleep.

[vengefulyears]

Wow, what a loser, that's even worse than falling asleep in a chair.

It wasn't until a whole 13 hours later that Clive finally opened his eyes again in a half awake state, very confused as to why he was waking up in a bed. Hopefully Heiji wasn't still asleep on the floor, or he may never be able to use that butt again.