vivarium | ambidex voting #8

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ambidex voting #8

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

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

"I am careful!" protested Heiji. "You don't see me goin' around smashing things, do you?"

He stood up and brushed a few loose strands of hair off of himself. "Hey, I feel better already. Okay, your turn! Sit, sit!"

"I'm talking more about the fact Calhoun and Zero don't exactly seem pleased with you, if we're assuming that incident after cooking meant anything." Hershel answered a little dryly- okay fine, Heiji didn't smash things that was true he'd admit it.

He took a seat, a little nervous but hopefully he wouldn't end up with the most ridiculous hair possible. At least he had plenty to spare... "How have you been feeling, by the way? I guess whatever it was didn't hit you that hard, given you were fighting robots a few days later."

Heiji considered this for a moment. "Well, yeah. I mean, it's obvious that both of 'em got on my nerves from the start. Snake totally tries bein' all polite to them, but what's the point? That's not gonna make 'em let us go."

He scoffed. "They should be more worried that I ain't exactly pleased with them." HMPH YEAH.

Heiji took out his own pair of scissors, then stood back, as if envisioning the perfect future of Hershel's new haircut. "Me? I'm feelin' okay. The first day was the worst. Had to be careful for a little while after that, but I feel pretty much back to normal. Started eating my food at the cafeteria slower, though. You know, in case anyone decides to try it again."

"True... still, agitating them may be ill advised. Sometimes it's better to pick and choose your fights." Hershel mused. Guess who also went with Snake's be polite plan? This guy. "I really wonder sometimes how Zero and Calhoun are connected. He seems loyal to Zero, that much is obvious."

Hershel couldn't help a smile. "Ah yes, you are rather fearsome to their potted plants." Shitlord. "Admittedly you'd think they would be more afraid of you and Ema, what with your police connections."

Heiji the stylist, this was going to be good. "Heiji, do you think it's at all possible it wasn't Calhoun who poisoned you and Simon?"

"I am pickin' and choosing my fights," said Heiji, looking a little puzzled. Maybe... maybe Hershel didn't realize how much Heiji was trying to behave himself? "Didn't I mind my manners when we were talkin' to Calhoun about the medical supplies? Unless you're talkin' about that time I grabbed Calhoun at the very beginning -- wait, Ema's got police connections? Well, that figures."

He crossed his arms, then put out a hand and started snipping carefully at the edges of Hershel's fro. When he spoke again, it was more quietly. "Anyway. Yeah, it's definitely possible. But I guess you could say that it's a matter of means, motive, and opportunity. The three people with the greatest opportunity to pull it off were me, Simon, and Calhoun, since we were the ones who spent the greatest amount of time with the ingredients. When you're talking about the others, it'd be a bit of a crapshoot.

"First of all, the one done it would have had no guarantee that I'd use whichever ingredient or piece of cookware that was poisoned. There was tons of stuff there, and I hadn't talked about cooking to anyone except Simon. Actually, since I talk about Japanese food the most, the cake ingredients would probably have been the worst bet. There's also the question of when they put the poison in there. Of course, it's possible that someone else did it before the others got there and Calhoun just let them cause he's a jerk. But again, how would they have known to get there beforehand? It would've been pure chance that they'd be able to be the first one there.

"When it comes to the means..." Heiji rubbed the back of his head. "Well, that'd probably be Clive, Jake, me, and Piper. And Calhoun, of course. But regardless of who it was, there's no way Calhoun ain't see it happen. Not with all those video cameras. So at the very least, Calhoun was an accessory to the poisoning."

"I suppose you're right... I guess if anyone's not picking and choosing their fights it's Mr. Enjolras and Ema." Look at Heiji, becoming responsible. "Oh, yes, she told me a little bit about it. Apparently she helped a prosecutor catch a criminal once when she was younger, she seemed to really look up to him." It was cute, Ema's cute.

Hershel listened, frowning as he spoke. Yeah, those words words words covered it pretty well. "Wait, why do you think Clive, Jake, Piper or you have the means?" He asked, puzzled. Did they have some access to poison he wasn't aware of? All he could think is they were all the people who were betrayed.

Regardless- "I know we've been assuming you were the target, but maybe it actually was Simon someone wanted to poison? I mean afterall, he baked the most from what I saw, so anyone trying to hurt him might think to poison the ingredients he seemed to be using the most."

"Plus, I dropped him once he said that line about regrettin' it," said Heiji. Gosh, people always thought the worst things about him, rude.

He looked a little uncomfortable. "Yeah, guess I ain't tell you about this before cause you were running around worryin' about everyone. So a little bit after I got betrayed, Calhoun took me aside and gave me some stuff. A switchblade, and two pills. Wouldn't tell me what the pills were, but I'm willing to bet they weren't a mini-course of antibiotics. If he's been givin' that stuff out to the other people who were betrayed, well."

Heiji paused in his snipping for a bit, then continued. "Anyway. Yeah, Simon could have been the target. Only question is why anyone would've poisoned him. He's new, far as I know he hasn't been making waves."

Poor Heiji's reputation, you need to tell him about what a mediator you've become! He'll be so proud. "He certainly doesn't beat around the bush there."

He made a bit of a face at the 'running around worrying comment,' ready to answer that dryly but ok, this information was new. He looked surprised a moment before frowning deeply. "I see. Calhoun and Zero really aren't even trying to hide their intentions, are they? They want us at each other's throats, why else offer such dangerous things."

"As far as I can tell he isn't hated. I think he annoys some people but that's a far cry from being targeted for murder." He answered after a moment of thought. "I don't see why anyone would target you either, not for personal reasons. You seem to get along with practically everyone, or at least are civil with them."

Heiji nodded. "I mean, it's not like everyone and their dog ain't running around with a knife anyways, but it means a bunch of people have access to drugs they might not necessarily know the contents of."

Snip snip snip. Hershel had a lot of hair! Hopefully he wouldn't end up looking like a hedge animal. "That's kinda why I think it has to do with the game itself. I ain't saying it's impossible for someone to dislike me or anything, but an isolated poisoning attempt doesn't seem like a logical reaction to that."

Hershel sighed. "Yes, that's true. I really wish everyone didn't have one, it's too dangerous. Owning a weapon means you need to be prepared to use it." And that was never good.

He already looked ridiculous so it was probably fine. "No, if anything I'd be more inclined to think Calhoun made a deal with someone and poisoning you was what he wanted in return. Still, I don't think anyone would go for that... I want to believe no one would at least."

He laughed a little and put down the scissors. "You say some good stuff sometimes. I think it's good to believe in other people... but you gotta know that if you do that, you're also opening yourself up to get hurt."

Well, there you go, Hershel. You might be slightly lopsided, but with your fro, who could tell...

Hershel released an amused sort of breath at that. "I know. Still, the way I see it there's two ways you can look at this- you can try and trust people and possibly be hurt by a betrayal or you can distrust them and possibly get them hurt instead. I'd rather go with the former, in a situation like this sometimes all someone needs is the benefit of the doubt, I think." He smiled over to Heiji. "Besides, it's worked well so far. This isn't a bad group of people, just... an intense one sometimes."

Wow, rude to his glorious hair but true. He touched his hair, apparently happy with what he could feel. At least it wasn't as unruly as it was before, that's what mattered. "Thank you, Heiji, I appreciate it."

Heiji nodded. "Yeah, same here I guess. But I gotta worry about you a little more. Since you're so soft and fluffy."

As if to demonstrate the point, he reached out a hand to fluff Hershel's fro and grinned. "I'm up against Zelos and Jake next round."

Edited 2014-10-30 16:38 (UTC)

Excuse. You. Hershel tired to look put out but ultimately huffed in amusement. "You're the one getting poisoned and sitting in electric chairs, you know. But don't worry, I'll be as careful as I can manage."

"Ah, that's..." Boy. What a team. "That's going to be an interesting team. I know Jake ah... well, he isn't Mr. Wilder's biggest fan, as you can imagine, so it's going to be volatile. I think he likes you though, so you all might be able to come to an understanding."

Heiji grinned. "Yeah, I figure I'm gonna leave it up to them to decide what to do. Gonna take a little gamble with this one. Jake should like that, he looks like the gamblin' type."

What was... Heiji going to do...

"Well, in a way I suppose he is." Hershel said though dude what the hell are you saying here, have a long look. "You're just... going to leave it completely up to them? How so? Are you going to say you'll vote whichever way they decide?"

That. Seemed dangerous. Have a frown. "Are you sure? If Jake says he'll ally I know he will, but I can't say I know what Mr. Wilder will do in this situation. You could end up losing even more points..."

"Oh?" Heiji raised his eyebrows, looking positively mischievous.

"So even you don't trust Zelos, huh? I'm sayin' I'll let them decide whether they want to vote Betray-Betray, or try for Ally-Ally."

"Well... it's not that, exactly." Hershel answered, excuse you and that look. "During that robot nonsense he helped me out when he didn't need to, so I think he's more than earned my trust. That said given everything that's happened and how he's voted I think Mr. Wilder isn't one to take risks with his BP and he obviously isn't afraid to betray even if someone could get hurt. Just because I'd trust him to vote ally with me doesn't mean he will for others."

He placed his hand by his chin thoughtfully. "I don't really know how he feels about you. I mean you were in that first team with him, and as far as I know he has no problem with you. I'm fairly certain Jake won't be a problem here, so it depends on what Mr. Wilder feels. Do you get along with him?"

Mm-hmm. Of course, Hershel...

"That first round, Snake was actually the one that argued we should vote Betray against him. I argued for Ally. Well, you could say that at the time, neither of us really knew Zelos. I don't even know him that well now. But I'm willing to give him a chance."

Heiji tapped his temple in thought. "I guess you could say I trust him to do what's best for himself. He's lied to me before, but that ain't really factor into this. It's not really about getting along, either."

Hershel nodded, tone curious. "Is this a test of some sort? Of Mr. Wilder and Jake, I mean. I can't say our allying against Jake wasn't a test that went very well... still, are you really sure this is worth the gamble? You won't lose food access but you never know when you might need medical supplies, you know? You're getting close again."

He regarded Heiji a moment more before sighing softly. "Well... I trust you to have thought this through, no matter what your intentions are. At least that room didn't seem dangerous from what the last blue team said."

"A test... yeah, I guess you could say that. I already know what I'm going to do. The question is if they wanna play things safe or not." Heiji crossed his arms.

"It's not like I have to take the chance. It's more like I want to do it. I kinda wanna see what answer they'll give me. And whether they're the kind of people I'd like to work together with in the future."

In any case, Hershel's remark piqued Heiji's curiosity. "Oh? What'd they say about the blue room?"

"What will you do with the answer? Say they betray you, or they ally, what do you think that will mean?" Hershel asked. "Whatever happens it will be interesting. I don't know how being paired will effect things." He paused. "Also Jake's condition too, I'm not sure how much he's recovered from his illness."

Hershel hesitated a moment, thinking it over. It had been an interesting conversation, to say the least. "I spoke to Kuzuryuu, he didn't tell me much about the room itself for obvious reasons, but-" His expression grew a little bit heavier. "He said there were videos in the room, of all the puzzle rooms done so far. He got to see everyone- Colette, Kariya, Aoi, Mr. Kaguragi, Akiko..."

"It must have been a bit of a shock, really. He knew about Akiko of course but the others..." He shrugged. It wasn't something they all talked about much, at least Hershel didn't. Maybe he just didn't want to admit they were probably dead too.

Heiji smiled a little. "Ain't really planning to do anything in particular with it. It's just a matter of knowing who they are and knowing if I can trust them or not. Whatever the outcome, it ain't going to be personal. Well, I guess you could say I'd be a little disappointed if they don't take the gamble. I mean, if you're a guy, you should be willing to put a little out there, y'know?"

He looked serious as he listened to Hershel talk about the room. "...I see. I guess that's something I'll have to look out for, then. And speakin' of Akiko, there's something I wanted to ask you about. You remember back when Calhoun demanded the show in the first place? When he showed us all that stuff about ourselves?"

"I see..." Hershel trailed off, apparently finding that thought interesting. After a moment he said: "Did I ever tell you what Jake did after Akiko died?"

He nodded when Heiji asked, brow furrowing. "Yes... I remember how upset she was about whatever it was she saw. She never did tell me." Man, talking about Akiko was still hard. "What is it you wanted to ask?"

He shook his head. "Don't think so. What was it?"

"When Calhoun first posed the challenge to us, he promised that if someone entertained him, that person would get their full memories back. But no one really talked about that after what happened to Akiko. So, whattaya think? You think someone got back all their memories?"

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