ambidex voting #8

[vivariummods]

A M B I D E X  V O T I N G Chop chop, everyone downstairs to the first floor! You're all done the puzzle rooms, so you know what to do. Well, most of you, but it's pretty basic, just enter any Ambidex Room you like (they're not elevators, you ignorant test subjects) then vote! How does voting work? Very simple! Pick Ally or Betray, and that's it! But with every round, there's always some prizes, depending on what you vote, so here's this rounds: For anyone who chooses Ally, well, if your opponent chooses Ally as well, then 2BP for each of you. You get all that friendship, blah blah, whatever. For anyone who chooses Betray, and gets a Betray in return, your BP doesn't change at all, but you might get some coins for your trouble, let's saaaay, 20? Generous, I know. Now, the best part: for anyone who chooses Betray and their opponent chooses Ally, Calhoun will be very generous with his prizes, again! You'll get 15 coins and a memory! Also, as usual, those who pick Betray get 3BP instead of just 2. But if you're the poor sap that chose Ally and got stabbed in the back, well, sorry, you lose 2 BP. At least you got stabbed for the greater good, right? And plus, you might get a little something. He'll talk to you later about it. But anyway, happy voting! Calhoun will see all of you later with the results. BASIC INFO ✖ VOTES + FORMS ✖ RESULTS + REACTIONS

Comments

[not_that_sasuke]

I thought for sure they would choose betray.

[That's what most people would do in that situation, wasn't it? If someone hurt you, you'd try to get revenge. And honestly?

That would have been fine. It wasn't like he had any rate to try to stop them. Not after what he did.]

[eeeek]

Yeah? But you voted Ally anyway... [He speaks as softly as he can, like he's trying to be kind rather than accusatory.] That's okay. I think I'd do the same thing. I mean, how could I betray someone right after I hurt them...? If it had been me in your place, I'd feel like... I don't know... like I deserved whatever I got, or like I didn't deserve to protect myself. So - if you're feeling anything like that - I don't think that's bad, exactly.

[He pauses for a moment to mull over his thoughts, and when he speaks up again, his voice is a lot stronger than usual. He sounds like an actual adult, for once, which is crazy.]

Half of the people in this place would have tried to protect themselves by hitting betray, but you didn't do that. I think that makes you a good person, man. There aren't a lot of good people in the world, and there are even less of them in here. But you're one of them. No matter what you've done, I know you're inherently good, so I can't... blame you for any of this.

[not_that_sasuke]

[Wow Simon, that was... actually very mature of you. If Sasuke weren't such a huge sad sack, it would have been extremely encouraging, even.

But as it is, he still doesn't look entirely convinced.]

--I'm not so sure about that. Heiji was right; I don't know enough about myself to tell, yet.

[Not if he apparently tried to stab his own brother, too. That's not really what an inherently good person ought to be doing.]

[eeeek]

Heiji said that? [Heiji's a jerk!! Simon folds his arms across his chest, and he makes a note to bully Heiji into being nicer to Sasuke the next time they talk.]

Listen - you don't need to know who you are back home to know who you are here. Allying with Zelos and Ema was an undeniably selfless action - you were delaying your access to things like medical supplies and the dorm because you didn't want to make things worse. Right?

Even if you were a bad person back home - which I know you totally weren't - this place could be a second chance for you. You're not, like... defined by your past. You've done more good here than you're giving yourself credit for.

[not_that_sasuke]

No, he's right. I... react badly to being surprised. [As they found out the hard way.] And besides that--

...We are affected by our pasts. I hardly remember anything about myself, but somehow, I know how to use knives. That's--

It's dangerous. [He's dangerous.]

[eeeek]

We're affected by our pasts, sure, but they don't define who we are. It doesn't matter why you know how to do the things you can do, it just... matters how you choose to use those skills now that you're here.

Like, take this whole truth or dare thing - you did something bad 'cause Calhoun made you do it. That sucks, but now you know you shouldn't ever let him bully you into doing something you don't want to do. If nothing else, it's been a learning experience, and now you know how you need to behave in future grey rooms. You can treat this whole knife thing the same way - if you know how to use knives as a weapon, then you've probably got good reflexes, which is a skill you can use to help people avoid traps in puzzle rooms. You don't have to be dangerous. Take what you need to take from the past and apply it to the future without letting everything weigh you down.

[He's not sure if he's getting through to Sasuke, but...]

You, um - you mentioned you wanted two truths, right? So... you had at least one? Was that related to all of this?

[not_that_sasuke]

...Yeah. He let me take a truth for the first round.

[Another pause. Man, this is just as hard to admit to.]

--I tried to stab my brother once. Apparently.

[Fits in awful nice with the overall knife theme.]