EVERYONE'S TRUTH - BEGINNING

[vivariummods]

Since the second group's first Calhoun Hour, the mouse in question hasn't appeared in the warehouse for longer than 30 minutes at a time. He only arrives during the early mornings to tape a random fruit of the day (apples, oranges, and pears so far) before scurrying off with his wagon. He refuses to provide any sort of medical relief for any of the test subjects, and does nothing more but providing the bare minimum to survive. So, when Day 9 rolls around, three days since that faithful finger breaking/eye blinding experience, it's no different; Calhoun comes in, tapes up some bananas, then promptly leaves afterwards, all without a word. An hour after he leaves, though... The screen in the Greenhouse, up against the wall besides the entrance, finally comes to life for the first time. It flickers on and on, flashing brightly. At first, there's nothing but static. Soon enough, though, it stays a consistent green tint. A blinking cursor hovers at the bottom and stays there for a few seconds, before it begins to type. DO NOT DRAW ATTENTION TO YOURSELVES COME TO THE LOBBY AND GO THROUGH THE NEWLY OPENED DOOR I WILL MEET YOU THERE....... And it ends there...

Comments

[elliexir]

You got a point...

[ Now Rio's making her all suspicious and worried too. She keeps eyeing the robot off in the middle now. ]

What do we do then? It's not like we can just leave on our own.

[toybombs]

That's why... I want to be able to see what's up there. M-maybe we can find a different way out, or... or something that could help us. Anything.

[elliexir]

[ She thinks it over. It seems dangerous to do that while the robot is right there, but if they're sneaky enough... ]

... All right, let's grab the boards and stack them up. Maybe I can lift you up after.

[toybombs]

-!

[She still looks a little scared - she'll be up there alone in that case - but...

If it means getting them out safely...]

O-okay. Let's go.

[And with a wary glance in the direction of the robot, she moves over to the boards. Will they even be able to lift this...?]

[elliexir]

[ Ellie walks over to the boards and tries to pick one of them up. Even if they're thin, she almost falls over from the weight. ]

Oof, this thing is heavy... Okay, hold on, let me stack them up.

[ Since she doesn't think Rio can move any of them, but she quickly tries to stack them all up, as quietly as possible. With only three of them, it just gives them about a feet... ]

[toybombs]

[That doesn't look like it will be enough... What else is there in this room? She shines her flashlight around.]

...Oh! What about that chest over there? It looks like it might have wheels..

[elliexir]

[ Ellie turns (trying to keep her flashlight on a wall, not to draw attention), and looks at it. ]

Hey, that might actually work. [ Then she stops the robot. ] But wait, maybe one of us should distract the robot, just in case.

[toybombs]

[That... would be an issue, wouldn't it...]

I... I can try to talk to it, I think. Since I was the one who brought it up when it didn't come inside with us...

[It already knows her feelings on the subject, if. This robot does indeed have an AI advanced enough to really "know" things.]

[elliexir]

You sure? I can talk to him for you, if you're nervous.

[ She wouldn't really want to because it's kind of creepy, but she also doesn't really want Rio to be scared out of her wits while talking to it... ]

[toybombs]

[She keeps her head down, but after a moment...]

...I... I need to learn to be brave too. Like Ellie and the others...

[elliexir]

Rio...

[ Ellie then pats her once on the side of the shoulder and gives a smile. ]

All right, then go for it! I'll give you a signal or something when I finish getting it over there and all.

1/2

[toybombs]

[She nods, trying to look determined.]

O-okay! I'll do my best!

2/2

[toybombs]

[AND OVER TO MR. ROBOT SHE GOES, making sure to catch him so he's facing away from the chest.]

Um, excuse me? Mr. Robot?

[vivariummods]

[ You know what, I'm just going to do my Ellie tags with this account as well, like what she's doing in the background, because I am lazy, but she gets to trying to sneak to the chest. Meanwhile, the robotic figure turns its heads to focus its attention on the much smaller girl. ]

What is it?

[toybombs]

[Wow, super professional all up in here.]

I was just wondering... what exactly do all these valves do? I understand why we had to shut off the power, but... I'm a little confused why we're here.

[vivariummods]

[ Don't tell Hal or Erin... ]

Think of your captors. Their attention cannot be equally split among all their troubles. If we were to add more problems than they can handle, then that would ensure our victory.

[toybombs]

So...

[She looks deeply thoughtful about this! Like she definitely needs to figure out what he means and isn't just buying time!! There is definitely some hmmm-ing going on here, as well as some head tilting back and forth.]

...Oh! So this is like a, um... 'cover' for our escape?

[vivariummods]

You may say that. You may even consider it "revenge" against your captors for the treatment you have received here. Either way, it is beneficial to everyone to continue what we are doing.

[toybombs]

[She nods. Okay, that makes sense.]

But... the more time we spend here, the higher the chances of them sending something after us, right? Just what kinds of things would those be...?

[Her hands curl nervously by her stomach.]

A-are they scary things...?

[vivariummods]

[ The robot was about to answer that question, not until this incident started to happen. Whoops... ]