29 August 2014 @ 04:23 pm
THE HEART OF THE MATTER - CONCLUSION  




This morning starts off with Calhoun blowing an air horn at precisely 6AM. He will not tolerate anyone sleeping in, and if they attempt to he’ll just keep blowing his horn until everyone gathers in front of the table that he stands on. Upon closer inspection, characters will realize that beside him is a large cage, being held shut with a heavy duty lock, and contains numerous brown envelopes, some more bulky than others. Beside that is a container of lighter fluid and a stack of matches.

He puts down his air horn and raises his arms, shaking his head.

“Even as tiny as your little brains might be, you should all know that your time is now up! No more shows, because you know what, this is pathetic. Is this really the best that you test subjects can do? We got two more shows yesterday, yeah, but nothing that tingled my spine. How disappointing.”

He shakes his head, and then nudges the cage with his paw just a bit.

“Well, you all know what that means! You can say goodbye to all your precious memories and further details about your secrets. Everything that you’ve so carelessly gave up on and didn’t care about is right beside me. I will burn everything away, so all twelve of you will never have the chance to get them bac--”

And then he suddenly stops.

“--Hmmm?”

Calhoun stands on his tips of his bottom paws and looks at the room, from one side to the other, pointing at each one silently.

“Wait a minute, there’s only eleven of you here! Who are we missing?” He takes a second to go through everyone before answering himself. “We’re missing the Hat-Wearing Test Subject!”

During the entire commodation of suddenly being woken up and seeing all your secrets/memories in that cage, minutes before they’re burned away, no one might have noticed that they might have been one person short. Now, looking around, it’s true. Akiko is nowhere to be seen in the group, nor does she seem to be in the warehouse’s lobby.

Calhoun lets out a long (clearly dragged out and exaggerated) groan.

“Ugh, of all times that she’s out. Just when I was getting all dramatic and in the mood too…”

He slumps over, but then he stands right back up again, as if hit with lightning. He points at everyone.

“Okay, time out!! Instead, you’re going to find this Annoying Test Subject and bring her out here! I don’t care if you have to drag her from the toilets, just go find her, so I can get to burning your precious things and reveal your secrets!”

He will end it with that, and should anyone try to argue against him or attempt to negotiate with him, they will find it worthless. He will refuse to speak and just tell them to hurry up, find their dumb Hooky-Playing Test Subject! He’ll be here waiting, should you find her, so the search begins.

However, characters will soon discover that Akiko is nowhere to be seen. She’s not in the warehouse lobby, that’s for sure, but she left her hoodie and hat behind, so she must have stepped out quickly to the washroom. Once going in and calling for her, though, characters will only be greeted by silence in the washroom. Then how about the lounge? Perhaps she couldn’t sleep and wanted to go through a few video games, but yet again, she is not there. How about the second floor of the warehouse? The stairway? The elevator? Everywhere they look, she cannot be found. It’s almost as if she has complete disappeared. Eventually, it will come to the fact that while they have thought they’ve checked everywhere, there was still one room they haven’t searched:

The cafeteria.

That’s not possible, though, since it’s not like she could be in there. She doesn’t have enough BP, but there’s no where else she can be. A feeling of dread and fear might begin to pool up, as someone pulls on the lever. A metallic groan fills the air, and the doors slide open...
 
 
18 August 2014 @ 11:21 pm
THE HEART OF THE MATTER  




Sometime early in the morning (or at least what feels like it, considering that there aren’t any clocks around), Calhoun will scream into a megaphone to wake everyone up. He won’t explain what’s going on, but he will say that he has a surprise for everyone. What is it? Well, they won’t know until they get up! So, everyone line up by the hallway’s door!

He’ll be calling everyone into a “☆ SECRET ROOM ☆” one by one, and spending a few minutes with them. In this room, it’ll be nothing but a table, two chairs, a metal cabinet, and a lone lightbulb hanging from the ceiling. Anyone who’s seen enough cop shows will notice that this is an interrogation room. Granted, there’s a sleeping pod in the corner of the room (rather similar to the same device that returns memories) and this room is a pretty fictional interrogation room as the real things aren't so hardboiled, but Calhoun is a fan of cop dramas and he only has so much power, so this is what he went for.

Anyway, in here, Calhoun will do one of two things:

1) Reveal an unpleasant secret about them. Of course, it might sound fictional at first, but then he’ll go into his little cabinet and pull out a folder to back up his claims. These reports don’t look fake, and well, just think of what the others might think if they heard of this. Sure, you can deny it all you want, but what about your fellow test subjects? How can they ever see you in the same light again? Even if you attempt to convince them otherwise, this will forever linger in the back of their minds. They might even start turning against you, and while Calhoun’s a pretty nice mouse, he can’t do anything to stop you silly test subjects from doing something dramatic.

2) Grant them the fragment of a memory. What a kind mouse Calhoun is being, giving you a freebie! They’ll be placed in a pod, as per the usual, and given part of a memory. The problem is this freebie cuts off at the worst possible time, and any begging, threats or inquiries into the matter are only going to be met by Calhoun’s snickers. It would be awful if something happened and you could never find out if your dear friend Timmy ever got out of that well, right? A real tragedy. Oh well, too bad for you, buddy.

Once Calhoun has called everyone one by one into this “☆ SECRET ROOM ☆” of his, he will gather all the test subjects up, stand on counter of Calhoun’s Corner and make an announcement.

“Listen up, test subjects! While yesterday’s round of Bingo was all fun and games, it’s time to spice things up around here! This is starting to get really bland, like oatmeal bland, and my Master has given me the go ahead to shake things up.”

“Some of you, I've told you a dark, spooky secret, while for the rest, I've shown you a little memory! Who got what, though, no one knows! But you know who you are and you know what you have to lose.”

“So what was the point of all this? Welllllll, like I've said, it’s so boring here, that I’m giving you the chance to redeem yourselves of this sinful dullness. How, you wonder?”

Give me a show.”

“I think you all know me well by now, what entertains me and what I like to see. So, give me the performance of a lifetime by the end of the next AB Voting round! Of course sooner is better, because you never know if I’m gonna like these plans of yours, but go ahead, take your time! I mean it’s not like there’s much I can do, excepppppt…”

“I can just reveal those little secrets of yours to everyone! Don’t think you can just shrug it off as something I've made up too. I’ll spread out those reports and all the evidence for everyone to see, and we’ll see how long it takes for them to turn on you.”

“And those with a memory, don’t sigh in relief, because you’re not safe either! I’ll ensure that you will never get the rest of that memory I showed you. You can wonder for the rest of your lives what really happened. If you think it’ll be as simple as just asking around when you get out, think again. You’ll never know the whole truth unless you remember it yourself, since this mouse can get his paws in the outside world’s evidence.”

“What if one of you manages to entertain me? Well, not only will you get your full memory back, but everyone’s memories and secrets will be safe! They won’t be getting anything back, but maybe one day, and you’re the one who did all the work, those ungrateful cads!”

“Well, I think that’s about it. Toodles! You know where to find me if you have any questions or love letters for me.”

He winks at the crowd (looking at you, Zelos), then hops off the counter, back into the safety of his shop.