vivarium | one post for the price of four

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one post for the price of four

T H E W A R E H O U S E

【 day 16 - 4:00AM 】

For all "old-timers" and "somewhat-old-timers", it'll be another typical night sleeping on the warehouse floor. It's not great, but perhaps you're getting used to it now. Maybe you're just making due. Maybe some of you are in a deep sleep because you've adapted. Whatever it is, you will be rudely waken up by... the sound of sirens?

A sense of deja-vu might run through you as you wake up and look at what's going on. Right in the middle of the warehouse, Calhoun is wearing a bike helmet on top of his gas mask, and standing next to one of these.

Well, standing isn't exactly the right word for it. Struggling to pick up Kariya and onto the stretcher is more accurate...

【 day 17 】

To the newcomer, welcome to the 【 Warehouse 】.

Once you escape your elevator, you will find yourself 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?

For the "old-timers" and "somewhat-old-timers", come meet your new fellow test subject and, oh, look! You can take another bath with that elevator open! Isn't Calhoun such a nice mouse, letting you bathe?

【 day 18 】

A M B I D E X R O U N D

After those two busy days, it'll be nice to sleep in, right? Well, too bad you're all test subjects, it's time to wake up! Itttttt's time for another Ambidexxxxxxx Round!!

Oh, but where is it going to take place this time? Not on this floor, that's for sure. Everyone, head out to the hallway, line up in front of the elevator! We're heading up to the second floor of our warehouse! Amazing, right? Who would have thought you would stick around long enough to see the second floor, huh?

The elevator, that was once non-functioning, turns on and allows everyone to head to the second floor. How many floors are there? It's unknown, as all the buttons are hidden under a single large metal sheet, asides from 'L2'. Well, don't worry about that, welcome to the next level. It looks identically to the first floor, asides from a few differences:

There are no Ambidex Rooms on this floor, nor is there Calhoun's shop in the corner. However, to make up for that, there seems to be four coloured doors, rather than three: Red, Blue, Green, and Grey. Yes, that's right, Calhoun has decided to add a fourth Ambidex Door, just to accommodate the new number of people. So, look down at your bracelets, you'll see what teams you're in.

The rules are the same: Go in, solve the puzzles, come out, vote! It's as simple as that, so line up in front of your doors, he doesn't have all day.

Oh, speaking of days... Before everyone enters, Calhoun will start to snicker uncontrollably. He hopes you haven't forgotten what today is?

It's the last day to give him a proper "show".

So far, all we've gotten were two lousy attempts at a show:

Some fake drama, hosted by the Blind-And-Dumb Test Subject (Snake) and Should-Probably-Drug-Again Test Subject (Ema)? Talk about yawn. You two get a 1/10. Half a point for getting two dumb teenagers all riled up about it, and another half a point for some form of effort.

The other was some sword fight by the Needs-A-Haircut Test Subject (Hershel) and Probably-Hiding-A-Bald-Spot (Heiji) in the lounge. Not as boring, but sheesh! Do you really think just something like that will entertain him? You didn't go in there with the proper intent of hurting each other, just some practise! Most of all, you've destroy Charlie, Calhoun's pot plant, so you only get a 4/10. Better than the other show, but not good enough!

And that's it, only two dumb shows. It looks like you guys really don't care about your secrets or memories. Maybe he should just end the contest here early and get this over with. He'll just reveal your secrets, destroy your memories, and get this over with. You clearly aren't bothered by it, so why keep this up any longer?

But you know what, Calhoun's a nice mouse. He believes in second chances, so he'll give you all until tomorrow morning, 6AM, to come up with something, or you can all say goodbye to everything!

Chao!

GOODBYE ✖ NEW ARRIVAL ✖ MINGLE
BASIC INFO ✖ TEAMS + ROOMS ✖ ESCAPE

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Hershel saw this from across the warehouse, shaking his head but not thinking much of it as he approached. Another free, ice cold bath would be sort of nice. Better than reeking or going broke on showers.

He stopped when he realized Heiji was still under there. He was just... enjoying it? It takes him a couple of seconds before yeah, he's getting concerned and pulling himself up sloppily to look into the hatch. "Heiji?" He sounded pretty concerned, he didn't hit his head or something, did he??

The cold water in the elevator below churned, but there was no sign of Heiji surfacing...

Had something... happened?

Oh my god Heiji you're killing him. "Heiji! Oh dear..." What exactly was he going to do? He could go in there after him, maybe he hit his head and was bleeding and drowning and oh god Hershel had to save him this was clearly exactly what was happening.

He shoved his hand in the water, waving it around incase hey, maybe Heiji could grab his hand still? He started unbuttoning his shirt though, if he did have to jump in. Don't worry Heiji, help is coming and it's fro will probably absorb most of the water anyway.

Heiji burst out of the water, splashing everywhere as he shook his hair clear of water. "Ahh! That water sure is refreshin'!"

...Yeah. Sorry about that water, there, buddy.

"Hershel?" To his credit, Heiji looked genuinely surprised as he started to tread water. "Whatcha doin', waving your hands around like that? If you wanna get in, you should jump in all at once! Otherwise it's way too cold."

HEIJI- Yeah Hershel leaned back, getting splashed and almost falling off the elevator. Thankfully he recovers, putting a hand over his chest because for god's sake Heiji, give him some grey why don't you.

"Heiji, for goodness sake! You were under so long I was starting to think something happened!" He sighed, calming down enough to frown at his now wet clothes. Well. They needed to be cleaned anyway.

"Well lovely, I guess they were going to get wet anyway." He took his vest off, giving Heiji a long suffering sort of look. "I may have... overreacted." He was on edge, okay. "My apologies."

Heiji flashed him an apologetic smile as he dog-paddled up at the surface of the water. "Sorry, sorry. Didn't mean to scare ya or nothin'. But now that your clothes are all soaked... well, you can borrow some of mine when we get out!"

What a pal. Heiji patted the empty space in the water next to him. "Hurry and strip! Maybe you can jump in before any of the girls see ya."

Assuming, of course, that Hershel was concerned about that sort of thing.

"It's alright, I'm sure they'll dry quickly enough." Hershel answered, shaking his head and his vest a bit to dry it some.

He does look a little embarrassed by Heiji's suggestion, glancing around. He still wasn't sold on this whole stripping down in public and bathing thing, even though he knew it was probably sill at this point. He did it before anyway, he probably shouldn't be so weird about it.

"Well... are you sure? I don't want to intrude, it might be cramped and all." He answered after a brief pause.

Gosh, Hershel, were you really that embarrassed? Heiji's smile widened. He hauled himself over the side of the elevator, resting on his elbows and cupping his hands over his mouth as he called out to anyone who might be hanging out below.

"Heyyy, any cute ladies down here? Hershel's got his vest off!"

SCANDAL.

HEIJI I THOUGHT WE WERE FRIENDS Hershel is going to go bright red even though he has nothing to be embarrassed about at the moment, leaning forward and covering Heiji's mouth before he could do more damage to his reputation. Because saying Hershel didn't have a vest is basically sewing a scarlet A to his shirt.

"Heiji! You prat, just- fine, stop doing... that!" He shuffled back, looking around to make sure no one was looking at them and taking off his shirt, then his shoes and pants. He places them to the side, sliding into the elevator and giving Heiji A Look as he held onto the side. "You're terrible, do you know that?"

Heiji, on the other hand, looked perfectly content with himself as he paddled around in little circles. "You sure are bashful, huh? Whattaya got to be ashamed of? It's just like bein' at the beach, and you work out with that fencin' and all. I bet there'd be a lot of cuties coming over to talk to you!"

Yes. The problem was clearly Hershel's insecurity about his workouts. And Heiji was here to help.

"I am not, it's just-" Hershel paused, ok he knew this sounded ridiculous but he couldn't just leave that hanging so, "-... improper. Besides, this is hardly a pool side for shenanigans and cat calling or whatever it is you do." British.

You sure hit the nail on the head there, Heiji, totally 100% got it sure.... Have yet another long suffering look. "I live in London as far as I can tell, I somehow doubt we have beach weather very often." He shook his head. "You lot are so... adventurous, I suppose. There never is a dull moment around here."

And with that he dives under for a second, coming up a few moments later. Enjoy seeing his hair wet, he looks like a soggy sheep dog and can't see a thing until he pushes his hair out of his eyes.

Edited 2014-08-26 05:57 (UTC)

Heiji looked insulted. "Cat-callin'? Hey, who do you think you're talkin' to? I ain't a delinquent!" Really now, how dare you sir!

He took a good, long look at Hershel's face. "You never go to the beach? Ever?" Dude, that was like... seriously deprived! Goodness, was there even swimsuit season in London?

Hershel couldn't help a small smile at that, tone somewhat teasing. "Well, you're the one talking about cute nurses and such, what am I supposed to think?" And a pause. "I still can't believe you got Ema to nurse you. I think she likes you- n-not in that way or anything, just in a friendly way."

Have a good, confused look back. "Well, I couldn't really say but as far as I remember London isn't really a tropical resort, and Stansbury was close to a desert. If we did go swimming it was probably in pools." He shook his head, trying to dry his hair a little, again like a wet sheepdog. "I'm guessing Osaka enjoys it's beach going?"

...That was too cute, Hershel; no matter what you said, you HAD to have some cute girls pining after you. Heiji turned a little red. "D-dummy, of course not! Besides, she said she was older than me."

Suddenly, an idea occurred to him, and he pulled himself up out of the water and grabbed his jacket. "You stay right there, okay!"

With that, he scampered off, and a minute or two later, hauled back the remains of Charley, which he planted right near the opening to the elevator. "See? It's like a palm tree. Now it really is like the beach!"

Finally, Hershel isn't the flustered one! He really can't help a little more teasing, he's sorry (not really.) "You seem a little flustered, Heiji, are you sure?" And have an apologetic look, he knows man, he knows the flustered. "I'm glad you have her as a friend at least, and she has you. You're both good people."

"Oh, okay, maybe you should-" Hershel started but off Heiji went. "... put on your pants." He sighed to no one, at least he brought his jacket. He leaned back, wondering what Heiji was up to now, stirring when he heard Heiji approaching again.

"What are you-" He glanced over, eyes widening a moment before he couldn't help but start laughing, trying to smother it with his hand. Poor Charley, even now his corpse was entertainment. Maybe it's his frayed nerves but Hershel laughed a little longer than he probably should have, shaking his head as he finally calmed. "Ah, so this is the beach experience. The uh, the scenery really makes it something special."

"Now all we need is sunglasses and some drinks with umbrellas," said Heiji. He bent over and splashed Hershel a little. "Well, I guess we could get ya one of those swimming rings, too. But it's gotta be shaped like a rubber duck."

Yes, sipping mai tais while laying back on an inner tube: clearly a fantastic use of their time. In any case, Charley did provide some nice shade. From... you know, the fluorescent lights.

"Also, we need some tropical fish in here. And some sand, of course!"

"Heaven forbid they not be ducks." Hershel answered dryly, being a shit and not taking duck intertubes as seriously as he obviously should. He tried to shield himself from the splashing, pointlessly since he was in the water already who cared, before shaking his stupid hair a bit just to get Heiji wet. Take that, punk.

"Sunlight would probably be a plus, though I doubt Calhoun's going to install a window over here anytime soon." They could dream. They were going to end up all being pale and pasty at this rate. "Knowing our luck all we'll get are beach towels with his face on them." Gross.

Heiji laughed, raising an arm to shield himself from the extreme onslaught that was being hit by flying droplets from Hershel's hair. "Well, I could think of a couple uses for 'em, anyway."

He took some of the soap he'd ~~stolen~~ borrowed from the bathroom and offered it to Hershel. "Say, ain't it kind of a pain to have so much hair? You ever think about trimming it down a little?"

"Target practice?" They could play darts, use those scalpels and doll knives for some good. He accepted the soap with a grateful smile. "Thank you- oh, I still have some shampoo if you'd like." He gestured towards his clothes, somewhere in there and his bag...

He considered Heiji's question for only a moment before admitting, "I have, actually. It's not that I mind it so much but given the situation it'd probably be better to have things as manageable as possible." He pulled himself up so he could sit on the edge of the hatch rather than treading water, cleaning all the dumb little cuts he got on is arm and hand for Bingo, what a game. "I guess... maybe it's strange to say, but sometimes I wonder why I didn't cut it before we came here, if there's some silly reason for it that I don't remember. I'm not even sure I want to know the person I was out there anymore, but it's a little disconcerting, not knowing small things like that. I suppose that's why I've been dragging my feet with something so simple."

He smiled over at Heiji. "I don't suppose that made much sense. Do you ever think about things like that?"

"Hey, thanks!" Heiji made his way over to Hershel's bag, pulled out the shampoo, took a bit, and handed the rest to Hershel. He scrubbed energetically at his hair, which really was getting a bit long now.

"And well, not about the hair thing. But I have been kinda wondering about the hat." Heiji pointed to the baseball cap set on top of his clothes. "I mean, maybe someone got it for me. Or I guess I could have bought it as a souvenir or something. Maybe I don't even care about it and I just ended up wearing it by accident when I got kidnapped!"

He laughed. "But since it's here, I guess I might as well wear it." Apparently, Heiji wasn't consciously aware that he flipped his cap around while he was thinking. Imagine that...

"No problem." Thank god for shampoo. "Speaking of haircuts you could use a trim." Hershel pointed out, taking the bottle and doing the same for his ridiculous hair. When he was done he went back in the water, submerging for a few seconds before popping up with a little gasp. Cold. "If you want I could try trimming it, at least we have the sewing kit scissors." How hard could it be, right?

Hershel regarded Heiji's hat, he had to push his wet hair out of his eyes first but yes, there it was. "I wouldn't be surprised, you seem very attached." Hershel still liked the idea that kimono girl gave it to him, that would be a sweet story. "Akiko told me she was going to dare Ema to steal it, how did that go?"

"Oh, so that's what it was," said Heiji. "I was wonderin' why she was buzzing around like that. Eventually I just let her borrow it for a little while; figured it was a dare or something. Oh yeah, and I found out her height. 'One hundred sixty-two and five-eighths centimeters exactly'. Who keeps track of the eighths?"

Suddenly, Heiji's manner changed and he looked quickly from left to right. When he spoke again, it was with lowered voice and a hand next to his mouth -- SECRET TIME AGAIN. "Hey, um... I kinda got something to ask you."

"In Akiko's defense Ema dared her to do some... strange things." Hershel glanced to the side, no, never talking about that. Ema was a monster. He has to smile at Ema's behavior though. "Well, it sounds scientific, and she certainly seems to like science." Scientifically speaking.

Uh oh, secret time, Hershel turned more serious- clearly this is either important or gossip. "Sure, what is it?"

"Well..." Heiji looked a little flustered again. Hmmm. "I was wonderin' if you could do me a little favor. S-see, I was just kinda thinking... if you weren't too busy or anything... maybe you'd let me..."

He sank into the water suddenly. "O-on second thought, just forget about it!"

Hershel watched him patiently, wondering what the heck could get him so worked up. When he started to back down Hershel raised a hand placatingly.

"I'd be happy to do you a favor, Heiji, I certainly owe you more than one now, and even if I didn't we're friends, aren't we? So don't fret so, what is it?" He couldn't imagine what Heiji needed that would get that reaction.

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