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

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?"

"He stopped Calhoun from destroying Akiko's jacket, the one she left in the warehouse. I still have it, so we have something to give back to her family, even if it's only her hat and hoodie." Hershel sighed. "I don't know exactly why he did it, I think it was for Akiko's sake and to make me feel a little better. Ah sorry, I guess my point is that's when I decided I trusted him as a friend and not just trusting him to act the way he had since the beginning. It's hard to judge people here, isn't it? Sometimes they surprise you."

Huh, that was a good point and something Hershel had thought about, though not outloud. He frowned as he spoke. "If someone here did kill Akiko then yes, I think so. Presumably there could be someone here who knows the truth about all that..." He crossed his arms before continuing. "Heiji, what do you think about that now that time has passed? Did someone here really kill her?"

Heiji nodded. "I see. But you know... bein' friends with someone doesn't mean they're not ever gonna betray you in this game. Plus, it's not like I think he's a bad guy or anything. He helped me shove a robot in the incinerator."

He was silent for a long moment. "...It's possible," he said finally. "Maybe even probable. Like they already brought up, Akiko didn't wake the rest of us up when she wandered off. I don't know if that changes anything in terms of gettin' out of here, cause they could be just as in the dark about why they're here now as they were before. But it might have totally changed the person they were. Either way, they'd be a murderer."

"I know, honestly losing points doesn't bother me as much as the intention behind it. If it's for the best or necessary, things of that nature." Hershel answered with a shrug. "I've been lucky though, I can't imagine how Clive feels sometimes. He really did trust Mr. Wilder to pick ally, didn't he?"

"It's troubling, if someone did get their memories back they're doing an incredible job of hiding it. I think-" He frowned, unsure of how to articulate what he wanted to say. "I think if someone is that good of a liar they're probably a very dangerous person, and whatever happened with Akiko... I don't know. If someone did do it I want to believe it was out of desperation, not some plan. It doesn't make it much better or even slightly excusable but..." He trailed off, apparently also unsure of how to finish that thought.

"Yeah, he did," said Heiji. "Which makes what Zelos did even worse." Clive was a good guy in his book; taking advantage of him like that was not cool.

He shook his head. "People do all kinds of things when they think they've got no choice. I mean, look at Snake -- and that wasn't even over blackmail, it was about a memory. But you're right, that doesn't make it even a little excusable. I understand what you mean, though. It's a lot easier to believe in people when it's not premeditated."

Of course, either way, it didn't change the fact that they'd have to pay for their crimes...

"Yes... I understand why he picked betray but he should have told Clive about it." Hershel sighed. "More than anything that's what bothers me, I can understand not trusting Jake and not thinking Clive could manage to hit ally before Jake but doing this without warning-" Not good, man. Not good.

They sure would. Hershel nodded. "I suppose it comes down to the fact we need to all try and find common ground, seeing as we're stuck together. I don't agree with what Ema and Snake did but I can at least try to understand their motivations and see things their way, you know?" Not that he really wanted to, that was some desperate stuff back then. "Regardless... actually I meant to ask you something, you don't have to answer if you don't want to, but I was curious about how you felt about trust in this game."

He paused. "Maybe that wasn't a clear question... I guess I mean do you think it's possible to trust someone completely here? Or at all? A lot of people don't seem to be willing to give even that much."

Pretty much what Heiji thought about Zelos, really. He sat down on top of the table and rested his feet on the chair.

"Of course. I trust you and Snake, no questions asked." The words just rolled off his tongue, no hesitation or anything. Well, that was Heiji for you...

Hershel smiled- yeah that was so Heiji. "I feel the same, though I wonder how many people actually do feel like they can trust someone without any questions."

"I suppose it doesn't help that trust really is something that's earned. I trust Kuzuryuu more than some people who've been here much longer because of things that have happened in the rooms." He shrugged. "Sorry, I guess I'm just thinking outloud at this point. I feel like people have become more willing to trust individuals though less trusting of the group at large since we've gotten here."

"I dunno," said Heiji, looking thoughtful. "I mean, you can't ever really know what someone else is thinking.

"But you can't really blame 'em for being cagey after what's happened, right? Feel like I'm in the same boat. I got a couple people I really trust, but it's pretty clear that there are other people here whose approaches I don't agree with."

ambidex voting #8

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