vivarium | EVERYONE'S TRUTH

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...

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[Not long after spotting the message, Rio tugs gently on Ellie's shirt to get her attention, her voice quiet.]

U-um... Ellie...?

Hm?

[ She looks down at Rio, her attention now grabbed. ]

What's up?

W-well... It's just, about Kaidou...

[Hrmmm. Her voice is quiet and nervous, and her gaze flickers over to him uncertainly. Though at the same time, it seems slightly forced.]

Ah, um... C-could we maybe talk about it somewhere else?

Kaidou?

[ She looks over at him quickly, then back at Rio. She doesn't have any reason to start suspecting the other girl, not with everything they've gone through here so far and how they've stuck together, so she just nods. ]

Yeah, sure. Lead the way?

Maybe... [She looks around jerkily before her eyes settle on the door.] ...outside of here?

[Having apparently decided on this whether Ellie likes it or not, she moves to exit.]

[ Ellie doesn't really know what Rio has to say about Kaidou, but she'll nod and follow behind. She wants to know what Rio might have to say about Kaidou... ]

[Once they're in the lobby, she gives a quick, nervous look around and immediately spots the door. There it is...

She turns to Ellie with a frightened look, her gaze flickering over to the door, and then to Ellie once again.

Even if Ellie hadn't seen the message herself, it's clear that the door is something new.]

[ She certainly has seen the message, but didn't really know what to think of it, but now with that door. ]

Hey, that wasn't open before, was it?

[She shakes her head no. Without a word, she begins to hesitantly walk towards it, looking at Ellie meaningfully.

That... had to be the thing they were supposed to look for, right?]

[ It looks like it, but she gently grabs onto Rio's shoulder, just to try and stop her. ]

Wait, before we go. What about Kaidou did you want to talk about?

[ Because who knows what's beyond that door, and besides, she kind of wants to hear it now. ]

[Oh, Ellie. She shifts in place uneasily, like a guilty kid who got caught with her hand in the cookie jar.]

...I lied. I'm sorry.

[It comes out as a tiny whisper. You'd think she was apologizing for killing a guy, with how sorry she sounds.]

I-it was the best thing I could think of... he's the scariest looking one here. [Especially with Hisoka gone.] I j-just thought we should...

[She trails off, looking over at the door again.]

[ Oh, well... Ellie doesn't look too upset about the lie. She just catches onto what Rio's plan might have been, with the door and all, so she lets go of her shoulder. ]

Well... you got that right about that. He looks like a gargoyle with that face.

[ Joking around will help, right? Also going over to the door. ]

I-I don't know if I would say that...

[She would be scared of him punching her, except for real. But she does begin to follow, taking up her usual place in hovering anxiously behind Ellie.]

Then maybe like the devil?

[ Did Rio mean that him being called a gargoyle isn't that bad? Does Ellie need to find something worse?? Then she will. ]

W-well... he isn't really evil, either...

He's no angel, that's for sure, though, uuuunless you think that he is.

[ Honestly, Ellie doesn't really mind Kaidou that much. She just has a lot of fun making fun of him. 8) ]

...

He punched me really lightly. It was barely a tap...

[She brushes her good hand lightly over her cheek at the memory.]

You mean back from that "game"?

[ Since she can't really recall any other time he would punch someone...... or at least she hopes that he wouldn't be going around randomly punching people. ]

Mhmm. Even though I punched him seriously...

[She still feels bad about that. But given it's Rio, obviously it wouldn't have been a very bad punch, right?

Totally.]

[ That does sound nice of him... Ellie doesn't think he's a bad guy, per say, just that he's really stubborn and blunt... That doesn't she can't tease him and all with this situation right now. ]

Maybe he likes you.

[ Totally said with a grin hehehe ]