vivarium | CALHOUN HOUR - WOULD YOU RATHER

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CALHOUN HOUR - WOULD YOU RATHER

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!"

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[he perks up at that...well, as much as his expression is ever anything close to 'perky']

Mm. If it tries anything...

[cracks his knuckles]

You're like twice its size, you could probably break it in two, so just get ready if it turns its back on us.

You don't have to tell me.

[ There's a small pause, as Ellie looks around and then suddenly says: ]

... Actually, I'm going to go distract it right now. Get ready.

[ And off she goes?? Stop her?? Let her go?? ]

[unsure...

pauses before following after, grabbing her arm so he can hiss in her ear]

What happened to keeping your partner safe?

[ don't you unsure her. you are not allowed to unsure but she stops and whispers back. ]

Wouldn't going after him like this only hurt us? Since it wasn't like your plan of doing nothing as a pair.

[frowns]

[frowns some more, letting out his breath in a long hiss]

[but he does release her arm]

[ she looks at him for a bit, even after he lets go of her arm, just for a second or two before she heads on off to distract the fuck out of calhoun. she'll make sure to approach from his back to tap on his shoulder ]

Hey, uh, Calhun or whatever your name is.

[ It takes Calhoun a second to respond and he turns sharply to point up a paw up at Ellie's face, right up and personal. ]

It's Cal-houn! Like, you know, the game you're playing in, 'Calhoun Hour'? Get it right, test subject!

[ uhhhhhhhhhhhhh ]

... Riiiiiight, Cal-houn. Anyway, like, what's the point of this game? It seems pretty stupid.

[ Calhoun seems satisfied with the proper pronunciation, but then goes straight back to being insulted at that question. He huffs and fully turns his attention on Ellie to begin this long lecture. ]

Now you're just saying that to be hurtful. It's just a fun little game, and you bunch have been doing nothing but feeling so sorry for yourselves that I was getting sick and tired of it. It's better to get up and be productive! Rather than lie around and go 'boo hoo Mister Calhoun taped the apples way too high up in the tree and I can't reach it because I'm just a dumb little test subject'. Well, excuuuuuuuse me, princess, for trying to lighten things up in here!

[ ... okay, whatever you say, mouse. ellie is just going to stand here and nod and listen and totally not be a distraction. ]

[ GO FOR IT, KAIDOU while this mouse is boring ellie to death ]

[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]

[ 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. ]

Edited 2015-06-20 15:48 (UTC)

[ 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. ]

[comes up to loom over Calhoun, doing his best angry face]

You're the one who's going to regret wasting our time with these stupid games. Now, tell us why we're really here.

[ Calhoun has been successfully knelled down and having a tail stepped on, but he looks up at Kaidou, fuming. ]

You two are the only ones who are going to regret anything!

[ He doesn't do anything in particular, but right after he finishes shouting, both Ellie's and Kaidou's bracelets will give out a powerful shock. Nothing strong enough to get them electrocuted, but definitely enough to be painful enough to get them to back off (and quite possibly leave a first-degree burn). ]

Fffuughhh!

[stumbles back a bit, trapped between the urge to fight back and the urge to cradle his left wrist, it feels like a line of fire blooming beneath the bracelet. In the end he splits the difference, getting distance between him and Calhoun and bringing his left arm to his chest, his right holding his tennis racquet like a ward in front of him.

Once it occurs to him, his eyes flick to Ellie, then over to Rio and Atsuro, to see if he wasn't the only one to be hurt]

[ Rio and Atsuro's bracelets don't go off, but unfortunately, Ellie's does. She lets out a yelp and jumps back (letting go of Calhoun's tail as a result), instinctively placing a hand over her bracelet. As if having a sliced up left hand isn't bad enough, having a burned left wrist makes it ten times worse. ]

[ She hisses and cradles her wrist up to her chest, bending forward a bit. ]

Ow-- what the fuck?!

[just keeps glaring at Calhoun, so that's how it is... with a snort of disgust, he calls out to Ellie, gesturing with his racquet back towards 'safety', or at least away from the mouse]

Forget this. Come on.

[ Calhoun stands up and dusts himself off. His tail sways back and forth, and he stomps his back paws on the ground. ]

You better run off, test subjects! You're lucky that's all I did.

[ Ellie nods at Kaidou, and starts to walk back to where they originally were. She doesn't say anything to Calhoun, but she does give him the good ol' finger before she leaves. ]

[ She then goes back to cradling her wrist. She looks annoyed and pissed at the whole thing, but also ashamed for the plan failing. ]

So much for that.

...That wasn't the best idea.

[he looks equally unhappy as she does]

[ She doesn't say anything to that. She instead just looks at the ground and continues to rub her wrist. ]

... Hey. Sorry for, you know, convincing you to go along with that shitty plan.

[he shrugs, awkward, and stuffs his hands into his pockets]

You weren't very convincing.

Anyway, we found out what the stakes were. That's something.

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