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

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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."

"Like who?" Hershel asked, curious. "Mr. Enjolras, I assume, you never seemed to be his biggest fan." Couldn't really blame him there, Enjolras was. Intense. To put it lightly. Hershel liked him but who didn't Hershel like really.

"I think what happened to Akiko changed a lot too. At least... it made it a little harder to simply trust everyone." He admitted.

"Tell you the truth, I don't exactly know what his approach is," said Heiji. "I mean, he's like passed out half the time, but I think he mostly just wants to Ally to stick it to Zero, right? That's fine by me."

Though of course in the last round he and Snake went with Betray against Kuzuryuu, but that situation was understandable. It would dumb if they had voted Ally, since Kuzuryuu had declared his intentions outright beforehand.

"Zelos, Ema, Jake, maybe Clive." In short, everyone who'd betrayed anyone basically. "I talked to Clive about why he voted Betray against Piper, and he said it was because he couldn't trust her. And look, I can understand that much. She was new, and he'd been blindsided twice. But I don't think throwin' up our hands and just sayin', 'Well, that's just how this game is supposed to be played' is okay, either. When one person votes Betray, it affects the entire group, not just themselves. And if morale gets low enough..."

Well. Perhaps it was best to say that Heiji viewed voting Ally as not only the right thing to do in the long run, but that it was also something of an investment in not letting something like Akiko's death happen all over again.

"He seems to mostly want to stand up to Zero in any way possible." Hershel agreed. "I worry a little how far he's willing to go but I can't say I don't agree with the sentiment, Zero should be our enemy, not each other."

Shockingly Hershel seemed to agree with what Heiji had to say about all that, and of course didn't seem too shocked about it. "With Clive... I do understand his logic, I just wish he hadn't done that to someone who didn't have access to food. I worry about him, sometimes I think he burns bridges too quickly, and in a game like this..."

Worry. "At least most of the betrayals haven't been bad, some were terrible but I can't help but think we've been lucky."

"'Burns bridges'?" repeated Heiji. "Yeah, and pours gasoline on 'em to fuel the fire! That is one vengeful guy. I dunno what happened to make him like that, but he's worse than Snake. I just hope it doesn't come back to bite him, 'cause he can be really sweet and thoughtful, too."

Plus... poor Clive's parents... 8(

"Anyway, I'm all up for gumming up the works, but like you said, you gotta pick your battles. Getting yourself hosed with ice water for no reason ain't going to help anyone."

"He does hold a bit of a grudge..." Hershel lived that life firsthand. You do not want to be on the receiving end of Clive's wrath, poor Sasuke. "I hope as time goes on he can be more forgiving, he was in a terrible situation for quite some time." Starving made people grumpy, shockingly.

He nodded. "Exactly. If he keeps going like this... I'm worried about how long he can keep it up." He was lucky he woke up twice from a coma, it seemed like he was more susceptible than most.

"At least he finally figured out that you weren't out to get him or whatever. He apologize properly and everything? I mean, he was being real stubborn about it, so that's the least he could do..."

Heiji waved a hand. "I bet Enjolras is just one of those sickly, delicate types. I mean, it looks like a puff of wind could blow him over." He was even sicklier than Simon, how sad was that... "Of course, if it's because he's staging a hunger strike or somethin' dumb like that, it'd be his own fault."

"He did, he seemed very remorseful." Hershel answered, rubbing the side of his neck as he thought the conversation over. "And honestly I really can't blame him for being mad for so long, he had no way of knowing I wasn't part of the decision to betray him. Even if he asked Jake he had no reason to believe what Jake said."

"That... might be it." He was hunger striking in elevators a lot. French revolutionists, man. "He doesn't have much regard for his own health and safety, not unlike others here."

"Glad to hear it, then. That's a fella who knows his manners." GJ Clive, using your words!

"See, that's just shootin' yourself in the foot," said Heiji, shaking his head in Osakan disapproval. "Who's it gonna hurt if you don't get enough to eat? Definitely not Zero or Calhoun; they don't care. Only thing it might do is fog up your head so you can't think. Good luck gettin' anywhere like that."

Yes, you see, there was a practical reason why Heiji inhaled his food.

The practical reason and the fact Heiji was shooting up. Not that Hershel wasn't, he was on his way to gaining an inch now too just to make Kuzu and Clive's lives more misery.

"I tried to tell him something like that but he seems so determined." He frowned. "I guess everyone has their own way, I just wish his wasn't so self destructive. He isn't really making a lot of friends here either, and that can be dangerous too."

Have a sigh. "I really wish people would stop burning bridges so easily. At least Jake and Kuzuryuu seem to be trying a bit harder now, but there's still too much animosity in general."

"Well, maybe when he gets hungry enough, he'll change his tune," said Heiji, who would actually gulp down even dishes that were completely terrible despite how vocal he was about his picky food habits.

"Guess you don't really need to like someone to work with them, though. You just need to be able to trust them."

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ambidex voting #8

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