vivarium | ambidex voting #7

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ambidex voting #7

A M B I D E X V O T I N G

Chop chop, everyone downstairs to the first floor! You're all done the puzzle rooms, so you know what to do. Well, most of you, but it's pretty basic, just enter any Ambidex Room you like (they're not elevators, you ignorant test subjects) then vote! How does voting work? Very simple! Pick Ally or Betray, and that's it! But with every round, there's always some prizes, depending on what you vote, so here's this rounds:

For anyone who chooses Ally, well, if your opponent chooses Ally as well, then 2BP for each of you. You get all that friendship, blah blah, whatever.

For anyone who chooses Betray, and gets a Betray in return, your BP doesn't change at all, but you do get two cans of food and 15 coins for each person, what, you have a problem with it being the same as last time? We're busy over here, quit your bellyaching.

Now, the best part: for anyone who chooses Betray and their opponent chooses Ally, Calhoun will be very generous with his prizes, again! You'll get two cans of food and a memory! We're switching it up a bit. Also, as usual, those who pick Betray get 3BP instead of just 2.

But if you're the poor sap that chose Ally and got stabbed in the back, well, sorry, you lose 2 BP. At least you got stabbed for the greater good, right? And plus, you might get a little something. He'll talk to you later about it.

But anyway, happy voting! Calhoun will see all of you later with the results.

BASIC INFO ✖ VOTES + FORMS ✖ RESULTS + REACTIONS

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

"Yeah," said Heiji, putting a hand to his chin.

"That kind of currency, ya can't just ask someone to fork it over sight unseen. Otherwise, we'd be better off just usin' the leftover med kit stuff we already have. You don't mind lettin' him look at what he'd be payin' for, right?"

Ehhh, you're so picky, test subjects! Don't you trust a mouse on his word?

[ He drops the tearful act almost immediately to rock back and forth as he explains. ] Sure, I'd love to, but there's the little problem of I need to know who the supplies are for! I know you rotten test subjects, if I give you an inch you'll take the next ten miles! So there's a few littllllle rules here.

[ He holds up one....... finger? Paw finger? ] Firstly! You have to tell me who it's for and you'll get eeeeverything that test subject could need! After all, if someone's got a bunch of burns they need different supplies than someone who needs to sew their ear back on, right? That's more useful that just a general, standard first aid kit. I'm just swell.

Unsure look over here, still didn't trust Calhoun on his word too much. "... what about for Ema and Jake then? What would supplies for them be?"

"And can more than one person split the cost?" Because that might make the price a bit more bearable.

Hey, that's clever, Rude Test Subject! I was just going to get to that!

Since I'm such a magnanimous host, I decided to let you cheating test subjects split the cost, if you reaaaally wanted to waste BP on someone for all this 'friendship' nonsense or whatever it is you harp on about. I'll even let more than two people pool BP, imagine all the teamwork! Brings a disgusted tear to the eye.

[ And he waves his paw. ] As for what you'd get for Anger-Management Test Subject and Practically-A-Corpse-Already Test Subject it'd depend. The big one needs what, bandages, disinfectant, twine for some stitching, a bit of burn ointment, maybe some painkillers and antibiotics? That kind of deal. See, not trying to stiff you! This time.

Innnn fact I'll even show you the supplies beforehand and you can decide for yourself. Well, is that good enough or are there more complaints and whining, hm?

"What, you'll really let us do that?" Shocked, that made things a lot easier. He glanced at Heiji in an almost 'do you really think he's telling the truth here?' before turning back to Calhoun.

"I see..." He took a step back. "We need some time to think about this. I don't even know how Snake's hand is doing at this point."

Well, hmm. That had gone surprisingly well, all told. Heiji hadn't actually expected Calhoun to agree to splitting the cost, and if they were getting actual supplies instead of just a box of band-aids or whatever, that actually was worth some change. They hadn't even had to trot out Hershel's poor, ailing grandma (yet).

"Just one more thing... Let's say Hershel wanted to be really disgusting with his teamwork and get supplies for all the test subjects here. Could he do that, or is there a limit on the number of people he can help at once?"

One batch of supplies per request, one person a person! Doormat Test Subject can get something for one person, anyone can help him split the cost, Practically-Dead Test Subject can do the same now, not to mention Cheating Test subject, that's that! Simple and generous, eh?

[ He hops back. ] Now if you'll excuse me I'm a busy mouse! Some people made a mess in their rooms. Try not to bother me again unless you're ready to make a deal, hmm? [ And off he goes, to cause havoc elsewhere. ]

Hershel just watched him go before turning to Heiji, still a bit bamboozled. "Well, no one had a heart attack, I'd consider that a little more successful that the practice rounds."

Killing hypothetical old men aside, he sighed. "This... is much better than I was expecting. I suppose 15 BP really needs to be worth the price."

Heiji nodded. "Yeah, almost sounds too good to be true. But if those two are as bad off as ya say, then there's really not much choice, is there? It's pretty clear who the supplies have to go to."

"But ain't it strange? If more than two people can pool BP, that is. Theoretically, if 9 people had 18BP, they could each just pay 2 and get enough supplies for nine. That's an incentive for everyone to work together."

Sounded just a bit Robbers' Cave, in fact. "...I think next time we ain't dealing with a crisis, we should ask about the other 'prizes'."

"Absolutely, Ema definitely needs it, Jake does too though I doubt he'll accept the help." Hershel said with a tired tone, rubbing the side of his neck. "I'll try talking to him but I don't know... There's Snake to consider too. He seems better but something like this could really help minimize the damage to his hand."

And he listened- Heiji was right, it was strange that any of Zero's deals or rules encouraged cooperation for once. Definitely different from the norm. "Maybe Calhoun and Zero don't expect people to give up BP for this, even giving up one or two BP does make a big difference. Whatever the case I think you're right, I'm starting to wonder what else the BP rewards entail." He frowned. "Especially the second to last one. What could getting out of death possibly mean?"

Heiji paused, then nodded. "Though at this point, I think anything we could do for his hand is kinda limited, since it's already started to heal and all." Gosh, if only they had a black-market surgeon who played by HIS OWN SET OF RULES.

"...I don't think it matters if Jake ends up refusin'. You should still say it's for him. That way, ya still have the antibiotics and extra stitching and so on. I'm sure they'd come in handy at some point." You know. Considering how well the puzzle rooms are going thus far. He smiled a little. "Besides, I bet you could badger him into accepting at least some of it."

"I was thinkin' that we might be able to use it as a shortcut. Only people who have 63 BP are allowed through the door, right? But what if several people had at least 54? Couldn't they use it to nullify whatever punishment you get if you try and go through that door without 63 BP? Whatever's out there, if we're going to go that route, it'd help to have as many people together as possible."

If only they had a fugitive doctor with a heart of gold and a dark past, trying to make up for his innocent mistakes... "I suppose you're right, even if he refuses it that doesn't mean it isn't still there... There's also the issue of Ema though, let's say she spent the 15 BP to get her supplies, losing access to food in the state she's in may be worse for her than not having the supplies." Boy, everything sure was complicated in murder games.

And wow, that's some loophole. "That... could work. It'd be dangerous though, I doubt Zero would take very kindly to it." And suddenly his tone lowered a bit. "Just... don't talk about it outloud too much, if they did catch wind of it I'm sure they'd find some way to make sure whoever tried it paid for doing so. In the puzzle room Calhoun made it fairly clear he's listening as much as he can." Which was unsettling, to say the least, even if it wasn't surprising.

"If ya split the cost with her, though, that'd leave you at 10 and 11, right? That's enough to get into the cafeteria, and you could still get supplies for two people. I'd suggest asking Zelos to help out, only I really don't think that's gonna happen."

IT WAS WASN'T IT HMM.... "Well, I don't think he'd put such a glaring loophole in there unless it was planned, but... yeah, sure. It's not like we'd even be able to try it now, anyway." Long way to 63 man.

"Of course I'd need to convince her to do so." Everyone is stubborn here. Everyone. Hershel sighed. "I guess... I'll just have to see how they both react. Maybe something in Ema's supplies could help Jake out too."

Heiji, thank you for weirdly being the most sensible, level-headed of his friends right now. At this rate you're going to be a responsible adult doing taxes and not solving murders, how does that make you feel. "It's troubling, you've noticed how the rooms and traps have been getting worse and worse, haven't you? It feels like they're escalating their tactics already."

That was weird, wasn't it? The crazy world they lived in...

"Yeah. And probably laughin' all the way to whatever crafts store they're getting all this stuff from." Imagine Calhoun buying those theater mannequins with a 15% off coupon. Just imagine it. "Which is fine as long as you can avoid the traps, but not so great for the people who ain't good at puzzles."

Or... you know, the people who just smashed shit.

"...But how'd your last room go so wrong? Thought Jake learned not to go around smashin' things up."

I'm imagining it. It's perfect. "It's true, and new people will be brought in without knowing just how dangerous things are other than our word." Which, given Akiko drama, he doubted new people trusted.

And he glanced away, rubbing his arm. After a long moment he sighed and looked back to Heiji. "It's... complicated. Do you promise not to tell anyone if I tell you? I really don't want people getting the wrong idea about Jake from it, it wasn't a smart move on his part but he wasn't thinking clearly."

"Huh? Sure, I won't tell anyone." Heiji figured Jake had probably just hulked out over something, anyway; after all, he had punched Heiji over a dumb truth or dare game. He could be pretty decent when he wsan't angry but... Jake was often angry.

"I mean, unless he did it on purpose, but I can't see any reason why he'd do that."

"No, he didn't." Hershel shook his head. "It was... one of the questions really got under his skin. He wasn't answering, or he was waiting for me and Ema to answer, and once we basically had Calhoun started antagonizing him a bit."

He glanced around, wondering if Jake was taking care of his god damned injuries properly. Probably not. "He was already agitated, so I'm sure you can imagine how Calhoun rubbing salt in an open wound went. Eventually Calhoun really hit a nerve and Jake lost his temper and punched the screen. A few seconds after that it exploded. He caught the brunt of it, Ema and I were a bit luckier, though Ema much less so."

Jake. Jake that room was LITERALLY THE SAFEST ROOM.

"I gotcha." Heiji smiled a little, though not out of good humor as usual. "I thought my temper got a little hot sometimes. Maybe he even goaded Jake in hopes of makin' it happen."

It was literally the safest room. It didn't have a puzzle to be trapped.

Hershel sighed, leaning against whatever wall was nearby because jesus christ. "I wouldn't be surprised. I have a feeling I know what Jake was upset about, he told me some of the memories he got back, and if I'm right then Calhoun was pointed in what he was saying. He knew exactly how to get under Jake's skin."

His shoulders slumped. "What a bloody disaster this round of puzzle rooms have been. Kuzuryuu was stabbed twice, Mr. Enjolras was cut up, Ema and Jake are both doing terribly now- I don't know how this all happened. After the Infirmary I thought it was just a matter of being careful and precise, but..."

He realized he was being a downer and straightens some. "My apologies, Heiji. Thank you for coming with me to talk to Calhoun, I'm glad at least we know how this all works now."

"Don't have to thank me," said Heiji, flashing Hershel a grin. "I hardly did anything. Although when and if we go back there, I wouldn't mind seeing if we could knock down the price a little..."

15 BP total was still quite a bit, after all.

"We might not be able to get away from these puzzles completely unscathed, but... that don't mean it's a bad idea to be careful and calm when approachin' them. I think that's what helped our team out this round. Kuzuryuu might've been stabbed twice in that last round, but he sure wised up for this one. And we've got a bunch of new people, too. As long as we're around to help them out, we should be okay."

And provided Jake could be kept from smashing things...

"I'm just glad we can split BP at least, dropping someone back down to three..." That was. not. good. "I doubt Calhoun will go lower than that, but if anyone could manage I suppose it's someone with Osaka bartering experience." Hasn't even been to Osaka and he's in awe of their innate ability.

"Kuzuryuu may seem a bit like Jake but he's really very levelheaded in the puzzle rooms. The only reason we triggered a trap was a simple mistake." Hershel lifted a hand to his throat before dropping it. "In fact he saved my life, in our room. I really owe him for that... I'm so glad you were all able to work something out."

Jake was never going to stop smashing things, but at least little Jake was chill?

Come to Osaka, Hershel, the land of puns and two-man comedy routines! Also baseball. "Yeah, same here. Didn't think he'd agree to that one, that's for sure."

He blinked. "Wait a sec, he saved your life? What happened?"

And killing old shop owners. "I wonder how annoyed he'd be if everyone gave up a little BP to help someone else one day." Annoying Calhoun was a way of life. "Ah well, I guess he'd just be happy to lower all our BP."

"Well, it was the statue with the sheet on it. We went to try and take it off for bandaging but it grabbed me by the throat." He explained with a small frown. "It... wasn't looking good, but Kuzuryuu was quick and used the iron spike to break the statue's arm off before- well, if he hadn't I don't think my neck could have taken much more of that."

"It was after he was stabbed too, for such an angry person he can be very levelheaded and collected when the situation calls for it." He mused.

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