vivarium | CALHOUN HOUR - Get ready to party!

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CALHOUN HOUR - Get ready to party!

Every third day, there would normally be an Ambidex Round going on, but today, it's different. Calhoun still screeches for everyone to wake up, that will never change, but instead of trying to rush people into a Chromatic Door, he instead splits everyone up into groups.

Child Test Subject (Kariya) with Fancy Test Subject (Zelos)! That's Team One.

Team Two will have the Nice Test Subject (Hershel), Hat-wearing Test Subject (Akiko), and Ditzy Test Subject (Aoi)!

Team Three is the Giant Test Subject (Jake), Also Nice Test Subject (Colette), and the Blind Test Subject (Light)!

Finally, the rest will be Team Four, with Tiny Test Subject (Clive), Mean Test Subject (Heiji), and Will-Gladly-Drug-Again Test Subject (Ema).

Oh, why is Team One having only two people instead of three? Where is the French Test Subject (Enjorlas)? Well, he got sick too, there must be something going around, so he was also quarantined for this moment, but don't worry, Team One! Calhoun has something up his sleeves for you, so you're not missing out.

But anyway, each team needs to go into an AB Room and stay in there. This is going to be a fun game, and anyone who refuses? Well, then he can gladly make those bracelets go off, and then you can have a nice long death. It's up to you, really, but let's make this easy and have fun inside the rooms, okay?

Well, he'll see you all soon!

BASIC INFO ✖ TEAMS + ROOMS ✖ POST-GAME MINGLE ✖ CALHOUN'S CORNER ✖ GENERAL MINGLE

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

You sound like such a police officer Heiji, Hershel can't help but look amused. "I certainly hope so- I don't think anything can excuse what they're doing here, and what they may be doing elsewhere." He shook his head, depressing thoughts let's keep it upbeat.

"I'll be cheering you on if you do- how was your game? I think I saw you were with Ema and Clive, right?"

Heiji nodded. "Actually, we all ended up about tied. I got the most coins, but Ema got the most stars. Clive didn't make out too badly, either -- he ended up with three stars at the end, same as me."

He figured Clive would probably use those stars to pad his BP a little, but he wasn't sure about Ema. "Well, I'm glad Clive didn't fall too far behind, anyway. He could use the extra boost."

"I was hoping Clive and some of the newer people would do well... I don't know if you met Akiko yet but she was in my group, she ended the game with zero stars." Mario Party is a brutal blood sport it seems.

He sighed. "I think Aoi's the only one who won enough to get more than one BP anyway. For the most part it seems like the stars have been pretty evenly won."

"Seriously? That's rough. Guess ya couldn't really go easy on her, either, since the game didn't even let you decide if you wanted to steal stars or not." A brutal blood sport that didn't care if you were a disoriented young girl, apparently!

"I met her before, and it seemed like she was holdin' up pretty well. Wasn't too fun explaining some of the rules to her, though."

It did not care for poor Akiko's plight even a little. "No, there really wasn't much you could do besides sit back and hope you were lucky. Akiko um... well I think she rolled a one almost three times in a row." Pure, sheer skill and luck.

Have a sympathetic look. "That's been the worst part of meeting the new people, having to explain this to them and seeing how they react. Well, I guess the real worst part is they have to be here at all. Akiko has a lot of spirit though, we ended up playing games in the lounge a few times." He liked Akiko a lot, she was a good one. Play bad games with them sometime, Heiji.

"Sheesh, I thought I was bad rollin' all those twos at the start of the game. Not that anyone could've helped it, I guess. And I guess for all we know, the game might've been rigged anyway..." But it was too late to worry about that now.

He grinned. "I'm glad ya had fun. She seems like a good kid. Dunno why Zero wanted to bring someone like that in here, but..."

"I have no doubt, though I'm shocked Zelos beat Calhoun. I'm a little worried, you don't think Calhoun will take it out on him, do you?" Calhoun seemed like a sore loser.

He smiled but that dropped a bit as he spoke. "I don't know... all of the new people seem so young- I guess we're pretty young too, but still. I don't understand what Zero is trying to do, and why more than nine people now? It's not much of a Nonary Game with twelve."

"Well... maybe he will, and maybe he won't," said Heiji, frowning. "But at least Zelos seems like he can take the heat. If it was Aoi or somethin', I'd call foul. Besides, it's their rules they lost by in the first place, right? Can't hold it against us for having good luck."

Heiji lowered his voice a little. "You think they're going to lower the numbers to match?" Gosh Hershel what a dark train of thought you have there it was almost like you were thinking about MURDER...

"Calhoun might hold it against us-" Hershel lowered his voice, gossiping about Calhoun what a good idea. "- I mean, he hasn't given us much reason to think he doesn't enjoy being a bit antagonistic for fun."

Hershel looked a bit surprised at Heiji's remark, are you sure you're not the one always thinking about MURRRDER Heiji you detective... "I hope not... why would they bring people in just to cut them out again? Unless that's just another part of the experiment..."

He sighed, tone going normal and not secret secret. "I guess it doesn't do us much god to worry about that now, let's see if we can find Calhoun and get our memories. I have to admit, I'm eager." If not a bit nervous too.

Heiji pushed his way past anyone standing in the way, intent on finding Hershel to tell him about his new memory. Luckily, his hair made him easy to pick out.

"Hey, Hershel!" he called, waving wildly. "I got my memory! It's Kyoto!"

Hershel glanced over and waved back when he realized who was calling him out, approaching with a smile.

"Ah, you found out where you're from?" He seemed excited, honestly he was glad whatever Heiji's memory was seemed both useful and nice rather than pointless or sad. "What exactly did you remember?"

"Nah," said Heiji, as he came to a stop. "See, I went there to visit, along with my folks. Maybe for a vacation or something? Anyway, somehow I ended up sprawled out on the floor. Must've gotten myself knocked out somehow."

Yes, this made for a promising start to a memory, getting knocked unconscious.

This sure sounded like a Heiji memory so far. "Heiji, this doesn't sound like a pleasant memory so far..."

Still, Heiji was excited so he was hoping this wouldn't end with 'And then I got shot, Hershel!' If it did Hershel really was going to have to wonder about your head, dude.

"Yeah, but it gets better! So I wake up, and I hear someone singing. This must've been when I was real little, 'cause I have to jump up to this window to hear who it is. There's this little girl outside in a brightly-colored kimono, and she's singing while she's playing with this ball. There are cherry blossoms everywhere, and all of a sudden, this gust picks up and she's gone!"

As he spoke, Heiji motioned with his hands, trying to represent the path he'd taken outside. "So I run out, and there's no one there, just this big tree she was standin' under. And then just when I'm about to give it up, I find this little glass bead on the ground right where she was! It was a sign, Hershel!"

Yes clearly this was density! Er... destiny!

This was a cute story at least, Hershel smiled along, probably more at Heiji's enthusiasm than anything. Man, when he got going- still, he was glad this story didn't end with gunshots or something equally dramatic, just vanishing girls.

"A sign?" He's not entirely sure what that means, a sign that she got kidnapped by vengeful Japanese gods? A sign she was a ghost? "Of what?" For god's sake Hershel, get your shoujo manga love senses going already and figure it out.

"That we gotta meet again someday!" Heiji brought a hand to his chin. "Or maybe we really did meet again, and I just don't remember." This amnesia stuff really sucked.

"I bet I looked all over for her after that, and..." He shoved his hands into his pockets, looking around. "Wait, I don't have it? Did I lose it?"

OH GOD HE COULDN'T REMEMBER WHERE HE'D LEFT HIS LITTLE GLASS BEAD OF DESTINY

WHAT IF HE LOST IT

WHAT IF ZERO HAD IT

Hershel just regarded him for a moment, confused, before a look of realization went over his face and he smiled. "Ah, so you had a childhood crush on her. I wonder if you ever found out her name."

Zero probably had it.... That's the first thing Hershel thought at least, but he was nice enough not to say it. Let's be real, if Zero had it he totally threw it out or something.

He raised his hands placatingly. "I'm sure it's somewhere, maybe Zero even let you keep it! Do you remember anything strange when you first searched through your pockets? Maybe you dropped it or put it aside not realizing it was important."

"H-Hey! Don't say that so loud!"

Nevertheless, now that Heiji had had a moment or two to get over the shock, he realized that it was most likely a lost cause. "I would noticed it if it fell out. And something like that, if I'd found it, I definitely woulda kept it. It's not really something people normally keep on 'em, you know?"

For better or for worse, Heiji's ridiculous attention to possible ~~murder~~ clues would have immediately clicked into place. "Only thing I can think of is when I was in the Ambidex Room, when I'd been out for a while. But all that water..."

Sob sob what if it was lost forever?

"Shoot, and they're all locked now! I gotta wait for another round to see if it's in there!"

Hershel tried not to look amused, he really did. "Ah, right, sorry." You're not denying it, Heiji... "Your secret's safe with me." Unless everyone else figures it out, no promises.

He turned to the AB rooms, crossing his arms. "Well, we'll just have to make sure to check next time voting comes around- do you remember which you came out of?"

And he glanced back to Heiji, a little unsure. "Though... I'm not sure if this is a good idea or not but you might want to ask Calhoun if he has it. He might have cleaned the room and found it, or took it off you when we got here."

"He'd probably just charge me 500 coins for it or somethin'," said Heiji as he pointed to the room he and Light had come out of.

"Anyway, what about you? What'd you get?"

"Well, it'd be something to save for, right?" You'd be lucky if Calhoun didn't make you stab someone or something equally gory, let's be honest. "I'll keep an eye out, just in case. Don't worry, I'm sure we'll find it eventually." Hopefully not in Zero's grasp.

And he brightened a bit. "Oh, you were right about the foil, I had a memory about a match in a tournament my school's fencing team must have been in." He seemed pretty pumped. "I think I was pretty good at it too, I won the match. I wonder if we won the whole tournament."

Thanks, Hershel, you're a pal. Heiji clapped him on the back. "I knew it! Maybe you were even captain of the team. I think you'd look good in a fencing uniform."

Though how on earth Hershel managed to fit that magnificent mane in there was anyone's guess. "Speakin' of which, does that mean you're still in high school? Cause Clive just told me he was in his twenties."

And man oh man was that ever a shock.

Anything to help with your shoujo manga crush, dude. Hershel looked a little sheepish but still pleased. "I'm not sure I was that good, but maybe. I um, I also remembered my father, even if he was just in the stands. It's nice to know what he looks like."

That's actually the greatest puzzle the Layton series has ever known. "I'm not sure, in the memory my body seemed the same, though it's kind of hard to tell. I'm fairly certain if I'm not in highschool I'm at least fresh out of it, so anywhere between fifteen to eighteen." He tilted his head thoughtfully. "I'm thinking sixteen or seventeen feel the closest... I get the feeling you, Akiko and I are about the same age, maybe Colette too. I wonder why Zero keeps going for so many teenagers."

And then he looked surprised, for a very different reason. "Oh, really? I assumed he was, I guess just from the memory I got he seemed older." He glanced over to wherever Clive was, looking curious. "... I suppose he does look more like a highschooler." And have a pause before Hershel looked back to Heiji a bit more solemnly. "Have you spoken to him lately? How is he doing?"

"Hey, that ain't bad! Maybe he even taught you how to fence. You see your mom or anyone else there? I bet you'd be a good older brother type." Granted, any younger siblings might end up walking all over their brother's good intentions, but...

"And Clive seems fine to me. A little down about his missing beer, but still nursin' that grudge like always." Unlike Clive, Heiji rarely stayed angry for long, so the sheer power and stamina of Clive's continuing hateboner for Hershel was a little awe-inspiring. "Didn't look like he was fainting from hunger, either, so I think he's getting by okay."

Heiji lowered his breath to a conspiratorial whisper. "Say, uh... kinda off topic, but... you wouldn't happen to have any spare coins, would you?"

"Maybe he did- and no. I had a friend come up to talk after the match but I didn't get to see his face because our masks were still on." Hershel answered. "Though maybe he was a sibling... it's so strange to think of things like that, isn't it? You or I could be only children or have more siblings than we know what to do with." Heiji would probably be way better at getting kids to listen though, he somehow got a certain kid detective who will not be named to occasionally.

Hershel looked relieved to hear that, more the Clive doing fine than his continued hateboner. "I'm glad he's okay right now, he must be running out of food soon though. I wonder if Calhoun would be willing to give him some if things got bad." He did not sound hopeful at all about that, shockingly.

Oh, whispering time, Hershel nodded, giving Heiji a concerned look. "Of course, I have thirty left if you need it, did you not do well with coins?"

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