vivarium | THE HEART OF THE MATTER

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THE HEART OF THE MATTER

Sometime early in the morning (or at least what feels like it, considering that there aren’t any clocks around), Calhoun will scream into a megaphone to wake everyone up. He won’t explain what’s going on, but he will say that he has a surprise for everyone. What is it? Well, they won’t know until they get up! So, everyone line up by the hallway’s door!

He’ll be calling everyone into a “☆ SECRET ROOM ☆” one by one, and spending a few minutes with them. In this room, it’ll be nothing but a table, two chairs, a metal cabinet, and a lone lightbulb hanging from the ceiling. Anyone who’s seen enough cop shows will notice that this is an interrogation room. Granted, there’s a sleeping pod in the corner of the room (rather similar to the same device that returns memories) and this room is a pretty fictional interrogation room as the real things aren't so hardboiled, but Calhoun is a fan of cop dramas and he only has so much power, so this is what he went for.

Anyway, in here, Calhoun will do one of two things:

1) Reveal an unpleasant secret about them. Of course, it might sound fictional at first, but then he’ll go into his little cabinet and pull out a folder to back up his claims. These reports don’t look fake, and well, just think of what the others might think if they heard of this. Sure, you can deny it all you want, but what about your fellow test subjects? How can they ever see you in the same light again? Even if you attempt to convince them otherwise, this will forever linger in the back of their minds. They might even start turning against you, and while Calhoun’s a pretty nice mouse, he can’t do anything to stop you silly test subjects from doing something dramatic.

2) Grant them the fragment of a memory. What a kind mouse Calhoun is being, giving you a freebie! They’ll be placed in a pod, as per the usual, and given part of a memory. The problem is this freebie cuts off at the worst possible time, and any begging, threats or inquiries into the matter are only going to be met by Calhoun’s snickers. It would be awful if something happened and you could never find out if your dear friend Timmy ever got out of that well, right? A real tragedy. Oh well, too bad for you, buddy.

Once Calhoun has called everyone one by one into this “☆ SECRET ROOM ☆” of his, he will gather all the test subjects up, stand on counter of Calhoun’s Corner and make an announcement.

“Listen up, test subjects! While yesterday’s round of Bingo was all fun and games, it’s time to spice things up around here! This is starting to get really bland, like oatmeal bland, and my Master has given me the go ahead to shake things up.”

“Some of you, I've told you a dark, spooky secret, while for the rest, I've shown you a little memory! Who got what, though, no one knows! But you know who you are and you know what you have to lose.”

“So what was the point of all this? Welllllll, like I've said, it’s so boring here, that I’m giving you the chance to redeem yourselves of this sinful dullness. How, you wonder?”

“Give me a show.”

“I think you all know me well by now, what entertains me and what I like to see. So, give me the performance of a lifetime by the end of the next AB Voting round! Of course sooner is better, because you never know if I’m gonna like these plans of yours, but go ahead, take your time! I mean it’s not like there’s much I can do, excepppppt…”

“I can just reveal those little secrets of yours to everyone! Don’t think you can just shrug it off as something I've made up too. I’ll spread out those reports and all the evidence for everyone to see, and we’ll see how long it takes for them to turn on you.”

“And those with a memory, don’t sigh in relief, because you’re not safe either! I’ll ensure that you will never get the rest of that memory I showed you. You can wonder for the rest of your lives what really happened. If you think it’ll be as simple as just asking around when you get out, think again. You’ll never know the whole truth unless you remember it yourself, since this mouse can get his paws in the outside world’s evidence.”

“What if one of you manages to entertain me? Well, not only will you get your full memory back, but everyone’s memories and secrets will be safe! They won’t be getting anything back, but maybe one day, and you’re the one who did all the work, those ungrateful cads!”

“Well, I think that’s about it. Toodles! You know where to find me if you have any questions or love letters for me.”

He winks at the crowd (looking at you, Zelos), then hops off the counter, back into the safety of his shop.

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Heiji brightened at the mention of sparring. "Hey, that'd be great! But we don't have two different... oh, how many coins you got? I won a bunch from that bingo game; if ya saved up enough, we can get you a foil, right?"

Oh man so exciting actual physical exertion! Heiji was going a little stir crazy from all this sitting still.

Hershel brightened some at seeing his idea well received. Frankly he was getting stir crazy too, this seemed like a great idea even if it had no chance of working.

"Oh, I have about 67- actually," He stopped, considering. "Actually why not pool it to get another shinai? It'd be hard to spar with a shinai against a foil, they're just too flexible. A shinai will be a bit hard to get used to but it should work well enough- besides, I really would like to learn some kendo, if you'd be willing to teach it." They didn't really have a lot else to do between rounds.

"Well... I mean, if you're sure," said Heiji, furrowing his brow a little. "I mean, it'd be a little harder to face off, but... you really like fencing, right? I'd be happy to teach ya what I know, but I wouldn't want to make you use up all those hard-earned coins just so you could spar with me."

After all, Hershel was super nice, but Heiji also kind of suspected that Hershel would like... throw himself into a puddle or something so that other people wouldn't have to get their shoes muddy.

Edited 2014-08-25 04:08 (UTC)

He absolutely would Heiji, you're not wrong but hey he's pretty sure this is the best choice so he just smiled a bit. "It'll definitely be harder to get used to, the weight and the handle are different, but adapting is important to any kind of swordplay, right? I'm sure I can find a way to use it to practice fencing as well- if you can practice kendo with a shovel I'm fairly certain a shinai couldn't be much worse."

"Besides, if something happens to yours it can be a backup." That's not helping the 'get what you want to get' argument, Hershel. He's oblivious. "Come on, let's go see if Calhoun's at his shop." And he started heading over, clearly pretty excited about this and looking less pale and unhappy than he had since this motive business started.

Heiji raised his sword in a high stance, with the grip held level with his right temple. There wasn't a lot of room in the lounge, but he lodged himself in the space between the sofa and the table.

"Alright! Let's see whatcha got!"

Hershel swung the shinai around, deep in thought. It was strange, not quite right but a sword was sword and it didn't feel so foreign that he was completely out of his comfort zone. He tested it a few more times- less flexibility, definitely, more rigid, he'd have to be careful with his thrusts because it didn't have the give a foil did and could hurt Heiji.

He glanced over at Heiji when he spoke, smiling and nodding before backing up, trying to give them a good amount of room to start. He put his free arm behind his back and held the shinai up, tone amused when he spoke. "Of course, good luck."

And with that he was starting off with a quick jab. Testing Heiji's strong and weak points were probably for the best, while figuring out his own. Was Heij fast and evasive or did he prefer to be more aggressive than defensive? Maybe kendo leaned towards one or the other?

Yeah, he was already having fun and it barely started.

Heiji didn't bat the jab aside, but slid the blade of the shinai down along the length of Hershel's and redirected the blow harmlessly to the side. Then he darted forward in an explosive burst of speed, striking the inside of Hershel's sword.

A shinai was meant to be held with two hands; if Hershel was going to use a one-handed grip, he reasoned, it wouldn't be as stable -- meaning that it should be easier to throw Hershel off balance.

Heiji managed to knock a magazine off the table as he attacked, but it went wholly unnoticed.

Heiji was smart and Hershel couldn't help but smile at that tactic, even if it did totally throw him off balance. He had to tighten his grip quite a bit, making a mental note in his head to try and focus more on making sure the shinai didn't get knocked straight out of his hands.

He stepped back to steady himself before deciding to meet speed with speed. trying for lighter, quick swings again before taking steps back to avoid any of Heiji's. He had to try to avoid more than defend, or else he'd probably lose his grip and shinai.

Backing up so much might mean that he eventually backs up enough to turn over the plant, sorry there Charlie... If he does he doesn't notice because he's too busy trying to read Heiji's body language and figure out where his next swing was coming from before he tried to get his swings past Heiji's defenses.

Charley the houseplant tipped over and rolled helplessly across the floor, looking forlorn and desolate. Which was just fine with Heiji. He braced a foot against the edge of its pot. "Hope you ain't thinking of just going on the defensive, there... 'cause you're in for a surprise!"

He kicked the houseplant toward Hershel, aiming it directly at Hershel's feet; it rolled by its pot end-over-end, spilling dirt everywhere. Heiji was right behind it, shinai in hand and looking to catch Hershel off-balance.

The carcass of poor Charley was a fun obstacle, and Hershel didn't have too much trouble dodging it in a dramatic sort of fashion. Heiji's attack was much more of a problem, and he had to square his feet and put his other hand on the shinai's handle to properly meet Heiji's swing with his own. Of course he wasn't used to using both hands so the block was sloppy at best.

"I can't say I'm surprised you seem to prefer offense to defense." He answered in amusement. There was no way he was going to beat Heiji, he could tell that already from exchanging blows and his own lack of skill at two handed swordplay, but hey he could be competitive too and not go down without making it a challenge, buddy.

So he pressed back again, managing to send one of the stools flying as he did. He feigned going for a more defensive stance again, waiting to see if Heiji was going to attack aggressively again. If he did Hershel decided throwing caution to the wind this time was best, pressing forward with a few straight jabs in hopes of finding a hole in Heiji's defense was probably his best shot at actually doing anything. Of course he didn't want to actually hit Heiji, but a tap to the chest was fine right? He sure missed foils, you didn't need to worry about stuff like that when they couldn't hurt a fly.

Heiji grinned widely. "Yeah? What makes ya say that?" He was having clearly fun -- probably the most he'd had since waking up here, and when Hershel sent the stool at him, he was honestly impressed. THAT'S THE SPIRIT, BUDDY. THAT INANIMATE OBJECT DESERVED IT.

He ducked and leapt on top of the nearby sofa arm, distancing himself from Hershel's offense. He even feigned the one-handed stance of a fencer as he landed, just to egg Hershel on. Behind him, the stool flew through the air and hit the flatscreen TV; it tottered over and fell screenfirst, making a loud clunk. Uh... hopefully nothing was seriously broken?

This is a war zone, everything is a weapon. Hershel was grinning just a touch, clearly more in his element. If you thought puzzles were fun, fencing/kendo? The best. "Maybe it's your enthusiasm, you don't seem like the type who likes playing the long game." He answered, unable to keep from laughing at the new stance. "Maybe one of these days we can convince Calhoun to sell a chess set, I'd love to see your strategy there."

And he fell into a more traditional fencing stance as he hopped up on the other arm of the sofa, throwing a flurry of quick swings and parries from across the just to see how much Heiji really liked that one-handed stance. Did they break the tv? Of course not. Probably. He wasn't saying anything if you weren't, things happened when you dueled, okay.

And the answer was: not all that much. Holding a shinai like a foil just didn't feel right, so by the time it was time to answer Hershel's strikes, Heiji was back to his normal grounded stance. Not, however, without taking the opportunity to wing a couch cushion at his opponent as he bounced off the couch and onto the table. The Braille magazine on top ripped loudly, scattering pages across the floor. SORRY, SNAKE.

"Well, maybe someday he will! I'd rather have some mystery novels, though." MURDER MYSTERY NOVELS okay no.

Heiji hopped off the table and in front of the doorway, flashed Hershel a smile, and then... ran right down the hall, heading in the direction of the cafeteria.

"He really should let us start petition for items." Hershel mused, slapping the couch cushion to the side with his shinai. Of course it went crashing into the DVDs, sending a lot of them flying, but with gems like The Room sailing gracefully through the air could you really call that a bad thing.

Hershel was a little surprised when Heiji ran off but recovers quickly, hopping down and running after him. Part of him wanted to stop Heiji and make sure all of this was okay given Heiji's leg, but the other part was enjoying it all too much to slow things down like that.

When he reached the cafeteria he let out an amuse breath, calling. "Are you sure you aren't tired yet?" Enjoy this, Heiji, this is the cockiest you're ever going to see this doormat. He doesn't even think he's going to win and he's being a shit.

"What about you?" said Heiji, hopping up on top of a cafeteria table. "We can stop if ya need to catch your breath!"

Whoops, he might've knocked over a water pitcher, but at least it didn't have much water in it! Anyway, this place was boring and had boring food. It could clearly use some EXCITEMENT, where EXCITEMENT = disarray.

Hershel's not even a little surprised Heiji hopped on a table. He jumped on as well, kicking a tray out of the way and taking his shinai in both hands. If Heiji was willing to try a fencing stance hey, he could play along a bit.

At the very least there wasn't a whole lot for them to break, though Calhoun was going to have fun cleaning up (or whoever the disarray annoyed enough to spring them to action.) "Hardly, this really only has been a warm up, wouldn't you say?" Shitlord.

He charged, trying to mimic some of what he saw Heiji doing with his swings and footwork. Yeah, two handed was weird as heck and he's clearly not used to it at all, but at least he can pick up the basics. A bit.

Heiji hopped from table to table, swinging at Hershel but never actually trying to hit an arm or a leg or anything -- he knew how much that could hurt. Instead he focused mostly on Hershel's shinai.

"Use your left more when ya swing, use your right to guide where ya hit!" Whoops there went someone's glass, hope they weren't using THAT any more!

"Like this?" If someone told him he was going to be jumping around on cafeteria tables, swordfighting to appease a mechanical mouse... what a life. He tried Heiji's advice, against Heiji, of course. It was probably a good thing Heiji was only trying to hit his shinai, or else Hershel would be screwed.

There goes another glass of water, and he almost slips on the water but recovers by jumping to a new table with a small laugh, reverting to one handed again. "I think I need a little more practice to be able to stand up to you two handed."

Finally, Heiji took a moment to look around... at the sorta-maybe-kinda mussed cafeteria. Utensils had been knocked off tables, and a lone bowl of gruel dripped slowly onto the floor nearby. "Uh... and speakin' of practice, whattaya say we practice bein' real discreet and getting out of here? I can give you some more pointers in the... ah... warehouse."

Whoops well this was just what happened when you had a super awesome swordfight okay

... "Heiji, we broke Calhoun's potted plant." Hershel just sighed. "Maybe we got a little-"

Well look at the place. He nodded though, stepping down from the table. "Do you think Calhoun's the one that needs to clean this up?" He felt a little bad but a little not bad because making Calhoun clean up after them for his stupid shows was pretty much the best.

"...Probably?" Heiji didn't know for sure, but someone took care of the dirty dishes, right? And he didn't want to be around when Calhoun found their mess.

"Eh, that plant was looking a little peaked, anyway. It'll pull through if it's meant to pull through! That's what we call a survivor!"

He shook his head, amused. "That's a very Darwin approach to the situation."

Yeah let's split and get out of the cafeteria. He started sneaking out, turning after a moment to smile at Heiji. "Um, thank you, I hope you don't mind if I request doing that again sometime. Maybe not this... enthusiastically but it was a lot of fun." He certainly felt better than he had in a long time, even if his stabbed arm smarted a little.

Heiji grinned. "Hey, no problem! We're still growin'; we gotta do something to stretch our muscles once in a while. Right?"

Then he lowered his voice and raised a hand to mouth. "Uh, and let's keep this whole thing as quiet as possible. You know, if no one mentions it..."

Now you've done it, Hershel. You're fleeing the scene!

"My lips are sealed." He promised quiety. Admittedly he was a shitty liar sometimes so yeah, take that as you will, but he won't sell you out Heiji. People who broke everything in a stupid attempt to impress Calhoun needed to stick together.

He does slow down a bit, growing a little more serious. "We're running out of time, you know." He glanced at Heiji. "Are you ok?" Hershel's situation sucked but Heiji's... never finding out was rough. Really rough.

He offered an apologetic smile. "Sorry, it's probably better not to focus on something like that. Just- I don't know, if you need anything."

Heiji paused for a moment, then nodded. "I know. And I think I'll be okay. No matter what happens, it's in the past. Doesn't matter if I remember or not; I gotta deal with it either way."

He turned to Hershel. "What about you? You gonna be okay if that rat spills what he told you?"

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