Zenith : In Character → Threads, Logs, Events

Who: Jerome and Pam
When: around noon
Where: Lounge

( It's like a sticker on your forehead )

Day 29.

Weather: It's still cold and windy! Are you sick of winter yet?

Events:
No one wakes up in their bed this morning. Most people don't even wake up at the same time this morning. Today, everyone wakes up alphabetically, going by their last name, in groups of four. This doesn't really matter right away, since no one will see each other until they're done with today's Thing, it just helps to know that Joe Allen's quiz will start around 7AM, while Marco Vasquez's will be around 9:30AM.

Everyone wakes up alone, in a little room similar to the one that they usually wake up in on arena days. There's the cot, the plain concrete walls, and the fluorescent lighting, but these rooms also come with toilets and sinks. The door out of that little room doesn't lead to a locker room, just a hallway with a few other locked doors, or open doors to empty bedrooms if you're in the later groups. There's no change of clothes left for anyone, which is unfortunate, because everyone wakes up in their underwear.

The only place for anyone to go is a door at the end of the hallway, which is open and waiting for each subject to enter. If they loiter in the hallway or bedrooms for more than ten minutes, their implant will start to shock them at low intensity to motivate them to continue forward. As soon as they do, the door will close behind them, and they'll find themselves in an old classroom. That's right, it's that cliche old nightmare of being in school in your underwear. It's that. We're doing that.

And, oh man, it's test day! You're at school in your underwear and you didn't even study for the big test! Yikes.

So, four subjects will be taking the same test at the same time, but in four separate, but identical, classrooms. Sitting on one of the desks in each room is a tablet, which will post everyone's quiz answers publicly onto the network. About a minute after walking into the classroom, an unseen projector puts the instructions on the chalkboard:

You have 20 minutes to complete the quiz on the tablet provided. If you attempt to avoid participation, you will be punished. Those individuals with the highest scores will be rewarded tomorrow. Those with the lowest scores will be punished.

You will be released from this room either when your quiz is completed, or when time is up.

Start now.

True to their word, if you don't start the test within the next two minutes, that implant is going to start shocking, with the pain increasing every 20 seconds until you sit down with that tablet. It doesn't act up for bad answers, but do you really want to risk bad answers when there's a punishment on the line?

Once the quiz is completed, or time is up, and answers have been posted to the network, a second door at the back of the classroom will open, allowing subjects to exit. Once they exit through that door, it will close on it's own, and can not be reopened. At this point, the next group will be woken up and will start their half-hour cycle. Upon exiting the classroom, subjects will find themselves in a larger room with four other metal doors (they cannot be opened, and you cannot hear through them), as well as a somewhat rickety looking wooden staircase leading up to a trap-door in the ceiling. The trap-door opens up behind the counter at Cassi's. They couldn't very well let you walk back to the house in winter in your underwear, could they?

Oh, and if anyone attempts to get out of this by damaging the tablet? You're gonna end up shocked into unconsciousness, then wake up locked in the same room you woke up in, where you'll have to wait until afternoon to take the test again during detention. The only clothes you'll be provided with this time is a Dunce cap.

So what's the quiz? Well, it's... random. Everyone needs to answer as much as they can of the following:

1. What fruit flavor is used in Crêpes Suzette?

2. In Greek mythology, Hera was the goddess of what?

3. Which current occupant of Mount Zenith was a massage therapist prior to their arrival here?

4. What German composer wrote "Ode to Joy"?

5. Which current occupant of Mount Zenith was born on October 27, 1985?

6. In which country is the source of the river Danube?

7. What sport is played by the Chicago Bulls?

8. Which current occupant of Mount Zenith has several large burn scars on their body?

9. Which element has the atomic number 81?

10. Which current occupant of Mount Zenith still has an unused prize allowing them to put any shop in town?

11. What is a second full moon in a month called?

12. How many calves does the average giraffe mother give birth to each time?

13. Which current occupant of the house was at Coco's Boom Boom Room when they were relocated to Mount Zenith?

14. Who wrote the novel "War & Peace"?

15. How many current Mount Zenith residents have had drug overdoses at some point in their life?

16. What literary character lived at 221B Baker Street?

17. Which current occupant of Mount Zenith left their job after their business partner threatened their child?

18. How many current Mount Zenith occupants have spent some portion of their life in foster care?

19. What Shakespeare play is often called the Scottish play?

20. How long does it take for light from the Sun to reach Earth?

As previously stated, everyone's answers will be posted publicly to the network. There wasn't really any real reason for Them to drag you down to town for this, but They did anyway.

Oh, and then there are some ExB updates. Mainly, the pieces from Simms's old rappelling system have been left in the batcave for Audrey, and the knives that she had offered up are gone. The file that Felix had offered is also missing, though he's just been given a sticker that says "I've got a wild card!" on it. Who knows if he'll actually get to keep it once he cashes that wild card in, but that's for another day.

There's also a private note waiting for ExB when they return to their computers at the house:

We have reviewed your requests, and have decided to grant you a discreet, quick transit system that leads from the batcave to the a hidden entrance in the hospital. It will be completed within the next few days.

They were probably too busy building underground classrooms to get around to tunneling through town last night.