Experiment 10 - Theta

[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

[jackoclubs]

[. . . l-loosely defined as be filled with bullets]

No one thinks she's funny except for her, do they?

[fishpanties]

[might have. choked, just a little bit]

If anybody did, I'd hit them!

[jackoclubs]

[hovering very close '-']

We can worry about hitting people later. We've gotta figure out a way out of this, first.

[fishpanties]

If only there was a way for us to talk to the others...

[snagging a loose fold of his jumpsuit to cling to '-' also, shooting another question at GLaDOS]

[jackoclubs]

That would make everything too easy.

[fishpanties]

Of course.

I don't know... Who the hell are we supposed to choose? It's not like we can tell how popular the other teams are!

[jackoclubs]

. . .

Delta has those two new guys, right?

[fishpanties]

[nods...]

Beta, Eta, Zeta, Gamma, and Iota should be fine.

[jackoclubs]

[hrrrgh]

Delta might be okay too, if everyone is thinking along the same lines as us.

[fishpanties]

[reluctant nod]

Alpha doesn't get out much, and I don't know if Kappa does, either.

[jackoclubs]

And Epsilon lost a round of the last test.

[fishpanties]

Yeah.

[her grip on his jumpsuit tightens shakily]

S-So... Out of those three?

[jackoclubs]

[notices and shifts closer, reaching out to take her arm in his hand]

[swallows a bit dryly himself]

. . . yeah. Out of those three.

[fishpanties]

[bites her lip]

Give me a number between one and twenty.

[jackoclubs]

[god is this how we're really deciding. wry laugh]

. . . thirteen.

[fishpanties]

[i know, right? aoko's on the edge of tears]

I... I know who I'd rather protect, but if we don't agree, picking like that might-...

[jackoclubs]

Might. . . what?

We can only guess at this point. Even if we didn't pick randomly, there's no guarantee that we'll pick right.

[fishpanties]

[doesn't respond for a moment]

Alpha.

[jackoclubs]

. . . Sion-san's voting Kappa.

[fishpanties]

So did Garry-san.

I-I'm fine with that if you are... Sion-san's right that they're new, and there aren't many of them.

[jackoclubs]

. . . Kappa lost a round in the last game, too. So they both have a point.

We'll shield Kappa.

[giving her arm a squeeze as he says that]

[fishpanties]

[nods, shaky and sharp...

and quickly gives GLaDOS their answer]

[jackoclubs]

Hey-- [. . . he would've done that :(a]

[fishpanties]

[NOPE NOPE NOPE I was useless last time, that is not happening again]

And now we get to wait.

[jackoclubs]

. . .

[reaches for her hand and tugs on it]

Let's play a game.