Experiment 10 - Iota

[testingphase]

[ The elevators do not take you up to your living area. Rather, they take you DOWN, to a small room with three white walls, and one that is a thick, translucent plastic. There appears to be a chute of some sort behind the plastic wall. ]

Now, in order to determine how well you know each other, we're going to see which teams are the most popular. The rules are simple:

* At the end of the test, each team will suffer an attack. Each attack will kill about half of everyone present.
* You may choose one team (other than your own) to defend from this attack. A team that is defended will not be harmed.
* If you wish to defend yourself instead of another team, you must choose a team to attack.
* You may not refuse to choose.

Comments

Ask GLaDOS questions here

[shockingly_nice]

Re: Ask GLaDOS questions here

[backwardscompatible]

If we defend ourselves, the team we choose to attack suffer an extra attack on top of what everyone is receiving, then?

Re: Ask GLaDOS questions here

[shockingly_nice]

That's correct.

Re: Ask GLaDOS questions here

[backwardscompatible]

And, just for the sake of clarity, if we defend ourselves then we will be protected no matter how many teams choose to attack us?

Re: Ask GLaDOS questions here

[shockingly_nice]

Yes and no. Think of attack and defense as units that cancel each other out. A defended team will not be harmed, but a half-defended team will be half-harmed.

Though I may be persuaded to let you defend yourself more than once over, if it's a concern.

Re: Ask GLaDOS questions here

[backwardscompatible]

Can you be persuaded to announce that to the other teams, if they haven't interpreted the rules to mean that? The rules we were given state that a team that is defended will not be harmed.

Re: Ask GLaDOS questions here

[shockingly_nice]

Which is true.

Re: Ask GLaDOS questions here

[backwardscompatible]

But a team can choose to defend themselves and still be harmed. It's unclear.

Re: Ask GLaDOS questions here

[shockingly_nice]

I'll tell anyone who asks for clarification.

Re: Ask GLaDOS questions here

[backwardscompatible]

I'll take that as a 'no' then.

Now, if I'm the only person here, does "killing half of everyone present" mean half killing me, or a fifty percent chance of me dying?

Final decision

[shockingly_nice]

Re: Final decision

[backwardscompatible]

Defending Zeta.

[backwardscompatible]

... well then.

[backwardscompatible]

[pulls out a pad of paper and a pencil and starts trying to write down a list of all the people she remembers from the mingle and which teams they're on, while the information is still fresh]

[in_the_blood]

[Whoops and then Cassie stepped through the doors late]

--River?

[backwardscompatible]

[fuck] Cassie.

[in_the_blood]

What's going on? Are you the only one here?

[backwardscompatible]

Yes. And this... complicates things. Read the rules.

[in_the_blood]

[Wanders over to where ever the rules are to read them with a feeling of trepidation]

...

[backwardscompatible]

I've been talking to GLaDOS too. Defending ourselves will only save us from the initial attack, not any subsequent ones.

[in_the_blood]

... Nobody's going to attack us.

Results

[shockingly_nice]

The results are in. You weren't defended, but then, you weren't attacked, either.

But don't worry. I haven't forgotten you.

Attack

[aperture_property]

[ A rack of turrets moves up the chute. They are secured in place, unable to tip. Not that you would be able to get close enough to do so. Even before the wall slides up, bullets are flying. They are all directed toward River. ]

Re: Attack

[in_the_blood]

[shrieks and covers her head with her arms]

--River!!

Re: Attack

[backwardscompatible]

[drops to the floor as soon as she hears gunfire but with no cover it's not hard for the turrets to make short work of her]