welcome our new test subjects and say goodbye to old ones...

[vivariummods]

T H E  W A R E H O U S E 【 day 10 】 To all the newcomers, welcome to the 【 Warehouse 】. Once you escape your elevator, you will find yourselves here. It's strangely empty for a warehouse. Aside from the elevators you've come out of, there's nothing else here. In fact, the longer you look around, the stranger everything looks. Every window has been bolted shut, with no way of removing the steel coverings. The only source of illumination comes from the florescent lights above. Along the walls are numerous amounts of surveillance cameras, watching every bit of movement and listening to the sounds of everyone and everything. Every door is locked up tight, with no clear way of opening them, and there's one giant door with a 9 painted on it. It's a rather strange place, and there seems to be a lot of people here, so go introduce yourselves? As for the "old timers", they will find that their bracelets will not display any colour or status (SOLO or PAIR). The BP will be a simple grey colour, and there will be nothing underneath it. Wonder what they means. Before anyone can ask Calhoun, he will be screeching in your ear about something else, asking everyone to gather in the warehouse. Standing on a table (in an attempt to be at the same height as a few of you), he says that there's a special surprise for everyone. So, gather around, test subjects, and listen closely because he's not going to say it again. 【 day 11 】 Everyone might wake up today to the loud sound of... sirens? What on Earth can make a sound like that? Well, if they get up and look, they'll see Calhoun with... one of these, and him attempting to put Kotetsu on the stretcher. Due to being a 3'2" sized mouse, he's clearly struggling but he's at least determined to put him on it. ANNOUNCEMENT ✖ NEW ARRIVALS ✖ GOODBYE ✖ NEW ARRIVAL

Comments

[detectiveofthewest]

He crossed his arms. "Yeah, only because the way the rules work, it's a little harder than that. People tend to fear losses more than they value gains. So when you put them in a situation where they don't trust the other side, it makes them even more likely to make irrational decisions.

"Well, you could say that the 'experimenters' in this case are playing dirty, too. They've been trying various things to try and make people betray each other. But that just kinda makes me want to do the opposite, ya know?"

[friendofeve]

“Wai—They’re doing what?” It’s one thing if people decided to betray on their own, but…

“That’s totally unfair! It doesn’t even sound like an experiment at all! Just… just some kind of sick show or something!” Trapping a bunch of people in a dangerous situation and forcing them against each other in a near free-for-all… Who could possibly enjoy watching something like that?

(A lot more people than she remembers, but at least those instances were only fiction…)

[detectiveofthewest]

"Now you're gettin' the idea," said Heiji, looking none too pleased. "Ain't like any experiment that I've ever heard of. I guess the upside is, they can't hold ya down and make you vote the way they want. At least, I don't think they will. Probably wouldn't be fun for 'em."

"Anyway, the first thing we gotta do is get you to 9 BP! That's when you can go into the cafeteria whenever you want instead of trying to win food all the time."

[friendofeve]

"So... I need to earn six more BP if I want to be able to eat whenever?" Her expression is uncertain. That's gonna be rough... She'll have to wait until it's time for those games, and then she'll have to play through three.

She's not even going to think about the possibility of getting betrayed along the way.

[detectiveofthewest]

"Yeah, but when we showed up, we got some food to start us off with. You might get the same thing. Or since most of the people here got access already, maybe someone'd be willing to give you their canned stuff."

Heiji put a hand to his chin, thinking. "Well, if things get rough, I'm sure we can sneak you food out of the cafeteria. It's against the rules, but we can't just let someone starve."

[friendofeve]

"Really...? You'd do that?" There's worry in her voice - she doesn't know what happens when you break the rules here, but none of the options that immediately spring to mind are at all pleasant. Which is why, even through there's fear, there is a sincere sense of gratitude.

...But all the same, she'd rather avoid that if at all possible. Which is why she tries to force a smile as she continues: "W-well, it's not a for sure thing anyway! If they give me canned food, I can survive on that until I get enough points. All of you did it, right?"

[detectiveofthewest]

Heiji seemed a little taken aback that she'd even ask. "'Course I would. We might be in a tight spot, but that'd don't mean we're not still human." What kind of person would begrudge a kid food, anyway? Always ignoring, of course, that Heiji wasn't sure how old he was himself.

"And yeah, it's doable. I mean, ya might end up sick of eatin' the same stuff every day, but it ain't so bad. Tell you what, though: the second I get out of here, I'm going to stuff my face with some nice, fresh okonomiyaki. No, maybe yakiniku...? Well, whatever it is, as long as it's good!"

[friendofeve]

His enthusiasm is almost infectious. Though she's still worried, she finds herself nodding and smiling along with what he says.

"...Yeah! We just have to keep at it until we can get out of here. And then we can--"

...Uh...

"...We can do whatever we were doing before we got stuck here!" Just... what was she doing before she ended up in this place, anyway...? She's sure it had to be something far safer, and far more ordinary than this elaborate "experiment," but she's drawing a huge blank.

[detectiveofthewest]

"That's the spirit!" said Heiji cheerily. "I figure once we get out of here, we can figure out where we're supposed to go then. Can't be too hard to figure it out. I already got a couple clues 'bout where I gotta look. 'Sides, we got to have people out there looking for us."

Even Light, who let's face it was kind of a pessimist about how many people he was close to on the outside.

[friendofeve]

...He does have a point!

"It would be weird if nobody noticed we were all missing." Even though she can't know for sure, there had to be people out there who knew who she was. They were probably worrying about her and trying to find out what happened, which meant they surely had to be searching for her, too!

Sufficiently satisfied with that, she can't help but ask: "What do you mean by clues, though?"

[detectiveofthewest]

"Well, for one thing, my name's Heiji," he said, "Which is definitely Japanese. Then I got to thinkin' -- okay, what kinda places do I know around Japan? Turns out I know tons of stuff about Osaka. Some of it's like Osaka Castle and Tsutenkaku, but I even know about specific streets. So I figure I must've lived there."

Heiji almost told her about the scars, too, only he at least had the sense to keep from bringing up gunshot wounds to a brand-new kidnapping victim.

[friendofeve]

That... That actually is a pretty good way to go about it! Now it's her time to think about it as much as she can.

Unfortunately, it's hard to know where to start, so the best she can come up with is: "...My name is Akiko. That's probably Japanese too, right?"

[detectiveofthewest]

"Yeah, probably," he said. DETECTIVE ON THE CASE. In any case, he thought it over for a second. What would someone living in Japan definitely know about...?

"How about this... name all the subway stations you know of!"

[friendofeve]

"Umm..."

Subway lines, subway lines...

"Hi... Hibiya? And Ginza. Ueno, Iidabashi... Ikebukuro has a subway too, doesn't it?"

[detectiveofthewest]

"That's pretty simple then, ain't it?" said Heiji, looking pleased. "You probably live somewhere in Tokyo. Someone who lives outside the country wouldn't know individual stations -- might not even know that's how people get around. Course, you might've moved there from elsewhere. You should see if ya use Tokyo-ben."

Of course, Tokyo was a pretty big place, but using the same logic, she could no doubt narrow things down further if she had to. And her parents had to be looking for her, so finding her way back home would be no problem, right?

[friendofeve]

...Yeah, those are all locations in Tokyo, aren't they? Looking hopeful, she tries switching languages...

"«I see... You mean like this?»"

As expected, it's a pretty clear Tokyo-ben. Looks like Heiji was correct!

[detectiveofthewest]

Heiji switched to Japanese himself; unlike Akiko, however, he had a rather broad Kansai accent.

"Yeah, that's it! Now the only question is why we woke up speakin' some language I don't even know the name of. It's convenient, but I don't remember learning it."

[friendofeve]

"«That is weird! I can't remember if I learned any other languages, but that one doesn't sound familiar at all. It isn't English, is it?»"

The haphazard guess alone probably enough of a sign that she doesn't recognize it.

[detectiveofthewest]

Heiji waved his hand. "Nah, I know English and it ain't that. Pretty strange, huh? Far as I can know, everyone here can speak it, but no one can tell me what it is. And we're from different countries, too, which makes it extra weird." He put a hand to his chin, thinking aloud.

"As far as international languages go, English is the top in the business world. There's Mandarin, but it ain't sound like that, either. Awhile back, they tried to create an actual universal language called Esperanto, but it never caught on like they hoped it would. 'Mia kusenveturilo estas plena da angiloj.'"

[friendofeve]

...Judging by her expression, you've totally lost her. "«I have no idea what you just said.»"

[detectiveofthewest]

He grinned. "I said 'my hovercraft is full of eels'. I know one or two phrases. Anyway, guess that's all kinda beside the point.

"It might not be the best of situations, but congrats on finding your way outta that trap room. Not everyone coulda kept a cool head in a situation like that!"

[friendofeve]

At that part, she has to give a slightly embarrassed laugh. "«Are you kidding me? I was freaking out the whole time! That's probably why I got so drenched.»"

...It's still kind of chilling how close it was. If she hadn't caught the key by chance, she may have never found it again.

[detectiveofthewest]

"Aww, don't sell yourself short," said Heiji. "Besides, anyone would be freaked out, right?"

He lowered his voice. "Actually, when Ema and Jake were in the elevator together, I heard that Ema lost the key. And then she made him be her footstool so she could get out first! Seriously, don't get on her bad side!"

[friendofeve]

She obligingly lowers her voice in turn.

"«Seriously? Wow, that sounds scary! But they were both able to get out alright, weren't they?»"

[detectiveofthewest]

"Yeah, and she did help patch me up one time," said Heiji, looking around just in case Ema herself happened to be listening in.

"Of course, she yanked my bandages at the end and told me not to get hurt again. Just be careful, is all I'm sayin'."