CALHOUN HOUR - WOULD YOU RATHER

[vivariummods]

The morning of Day 6 starts off with a loud siren. Said siren keeps on going for five long seconds before a terribly scratchy voice comes on. "Uuuuuup and at 'em, test subjects! No sleeping in today, so all of you come on down to the lobby, unless you want to hear some more of siren_001.mp3!" True to Calhoun's word, that terrible alarm will continue to go off until everyone gathers in the newly lit lobby. With all the florescent lights now on and working, it's clearer to see just how dull this warehouse is. Everything is a boring metallic colour, there are plates covering up any windows, and every door remains shut tight (other than the one leading to the Greenhouse). The elevators have gone back to being closed off from entry, and standing tall and right in front of them is Calhoun. Two suspiciously clothed tables stand on either side of him, with objects clearly under those sheets. "Sssssssssssssso! I think it's about time we tried something new around here. I'd like to introduce you to something call 'Calhoun Hour'! I've done a few of these before, so I know how to run a real fun one!" He snickers into his paws for a suspiciously long time, then looks back up. "Today's is called 'Would You Rather'. Yeah, yeah, I know, boring title, but I'm a mouse, not some poetic title maker. Anyway, it's pretty simple. We play a few rounds where I give you two choices and you tell me which one you'd rather do. Here's the catch though: I'm pairing you all up, asides from this one comatose test subject, and you're going to give me your decision together as a pair. So, I'll get three votes in total. I'll tally them up and see which is the most popular choice. The teams who didn't choose that choice will now be forced to do it!" He puts up a paw and waves his entire arm back and forth, as if cutting the air. He stops for a few seconds though, mid-wave, then resumes right away. "No ifs, no buts, no ums, you gotta do it! Think I won't keep you all here until you get it done? Because I will, but don't think about trying to cheat the game by all agreeing to the same thing so there are no losing parties. I better see a losing party, all right?" Calhoun then lowers his arm then walks over to a table put his paws underneath the cloth (tippy-toeing to reach...) and pulls out a few sheets of paper. He walks around to hand them out, sometimes missing and just tossing the sheets into midair, but paying it no mind. "This will tell you who you're paired up with and your first round, so get to it! You got ten minutes to decide!"

Comments

[formicarium]

I say your hat has everything to do with anything! I mean, c'mon, it looks like you've put a bowl on your head. Even I wouldn't force such a terrible thing upon my worst enemies!

[ Though this is coming from a robotic mouse wearing nothing but a gas mask soooo his sense of fashion may not be trusted. ]

[elliexir]

[ Ellie will gladly bro-punch Atsuro-bro in the bro-face, if he bro-wanted, but she thinks for a bit. ]

I guess... kiss? If we're doing the opposite of what we want to do.

[ Did she just say that he would rather punch than kiss? How insulting. ]

[babel_hacker]

[He would gladly take the bro-punch, but can they avoid the face at least?!]

Yeah, let's go with that. I could give you a light one if we lose.

[Not saying she's not his type, but she totally isn't his type.]

[babel_hacker]

You're a talking mouse with a gasmask, why do you care about... about normal people's fashion sense?

[Why are they even talking about this? Oh yeah, this mouse.]

[fushuuu]

[trying not to think about how bad an idea this is, he slowly pulls a half-eaten apple from his pocket and gets his racquet. He tosses the apple high--before serving it really quite quickly at the rat's head]

[fushuuu]

Don't tell me you're okay with this. It's--untoward.

RESULTS & REACTIONS

[vivariummods]

"Whaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaat!?"

Once the votes are in and Calhoun has stopped squawking, he pauses for a long moment, tail twitching regularly back and forth and back, back and forth and back. Then:

"--is wrong with you people! It's not opposite day! I said I wanna see a losing party, didn't I! I knew you guys were dumb, but not to this extent!

"If everybody wins, that means everybody loses. So get to punching, folks! And this time you'd better do what I say. Or else you'll find the punishment--" his voice drops down a few registers "--shocking."

Punctuating this, a little static spark jolts from the bracelets, just enough to imply this mouse means business.

ROUND TWO

[vivariummods]

WOULD YOU RATHER DOUSE YOURSELF IN A BUCKET OF SEWAGE OR SPIDERS?

DISCUSSION

[vivariummods]

[Calhoun has helpfully provided sample buckets of grody sewage and writhing creepy-crawlies for players' reference. What a helpful guy.]

VOTES

[vivariummods]

Please submit your vote by June 20, 11:59PM EST.

[babel_hacker]

[Atsuro almost jump when his bracelet got sparks coming out.]

Wha--?!

[Holy cow, the mouse does mean business. Does this mean they'll get shocked if they don't do it during later rounds?]

A-Alright, alright! [Still, this is making him feel uneasy... He turns to look at Ellie.]

Re: DISCUSSION

[babel_hacker]

You want us to choose between what?

[Ew. In hindsight, the first round isn't that bad.]

[elliexir]

[ But the face is the best place to punch :( why would you punch someone anywhere else ]

Because you're afraid to break your hand otherwise?

[ Totally trying to say that she's super strong and punching her will result in broken bones. Yeah, she's going to lighten this mood up. ]

[elliexir]

[ Ellie jolts when the sparks shoot out, holding out her left wrist as far away as her from possible (as if that would do anything). She already got shocked once from it, since she and Kaidou tried to take down Calhoun earlier, so she at least know this isn't fake... ]

Trust me when I say that he's not lying.

[ Ugh, she looks conflicted. She said earlier that they could just do a light punch, but she still doesn't like the idea that they're forced to do things (plus, Rio having to do this...). ]

[elliexir]

All right, I take it back, I'llchoose kissing and punching over sewage or spiders any day.

[babel_hacker]

[He blinks, before he cracks a smile.]

Oh? So you're saying you're as tough as steel?

[It's obvious that she's trying to lighten the mood, and Atsuro quickly go along with it.]

[elliexir]

[ She's glad that he's playing along, because joking around sure beats the depressing mood around here. ]

Hell yeah I'm saying that. You better steel yourself before punching the Ellienator.

[babel_hacker]

Ugh, I agree.

[Again, gross. But after that sparkling demonstration, he knows they have to choose.]

I don't really want to choose between them. [If he have to pick one, then maybe... spiders? So they can dump sewage over each other if they lose?]

[elliexir]

Do you want to pick the opposite of what we want to do, then? Though that kind of backfired last time...

[ Kind of. They wanted to punch but their vote only result in everyone being forced to punch each other and who knows if the others actually really wanted to kiss over punching. ]

[formicarium]

[ The apple hits Calhoun right in the back of the head. He staggers forward then halts. His whole body freezes, as if it's trying to process what just happened, but a split second later, he comes back to life. He turns and places a paw up to his head and points his other paw at Kaidou. ]

You!! Test Subject, just what on Earth do you think you're doing?! That better have been done by accident or you're going to severely regret it!

[ He starts marching right up to Kaidou to get up and personal. ]

[elliexir]

[ And now with Calhoun's back turned on Ellie, she runs forward to kick the back of Calhoun's leg to get him to bend down forward. She'll even stomp on his tail for good measure and to keep him down. ]

[babel_hacker]

...Yeah, I trust you.

[Maybe it's just harmless sparks. But Atsuro really have no reason to believe Calhourn isn't jerking them around.]

I don't want to be forced to do things because of this. [The shocks. A light punch is fine, but later on...?]

[elliexir]

[ She rubs her left wrists, where the bracelet is. ]

Yeah, I get you. [ She sighs and looks down at the floor. This whole situation screams danger. ] Then what do you want to do?

[formicarium]

Hey, my gas mask is very fashionable, thank you very much! And I care because you're all my test subjects. I can't be seen with a bunch of humans who looked like they dressed themselves in the dark. What would the others even say about me? I'm not going to have that mean subject Regina talking behind my back anymore, no siree!

[ Are there even any other mice like Calhoun? Probably not. ]

[fushuuu]

[peeks down at Rio and hunches up his shoulders, letting out a long hiss of breath]

...