Playing House

WEATHER REPORT: It's a little sunnier than it was yesterday, which makes for bright blinding light reflecting off the snow. Once again, there's a lot of snow out there, and anyone not used to that sort of thing might be better suited to staying inside.

EVENTS: It's a day of miracles in the house! Miracle #1: no one was removed in the night! Miracle #2: Avery and Rupert are back to normal! Miracle #3: More new people! Miracle #4: Magical new floor of the house out of fucking nowhere!

Okay, seriously now. Avery and Rupert are no longer being plagued by troublesome temperatures. Sometime in the night things would have evened out completely for them, so gradually they wouldn't have even been aware of it for a while. And now, hurray! Normal! Perhaps one of them has learned a lesson about needing people to survive in the house. Perhaps not. But it is a day of miracles.

At five AM, everyone in Experiment A receives a message from the scientists on their computer. It reads:

"Greetings,

We are most delighted to inform you all that this past week we have conducted the first test in our experiment. You will all find access to a staircase on the third floor, one that was previously hidden. This staircase leads to the fourth floor - where ten other participants of the experiment have been living this past week. Their living conditions have been slightly different from yours; those living on the fourth floor had no kitchen, and their meals have been provided via a dumbwaiter at pre-appointed times through-out the day. They have had none of the perks that you have had, such as televisions and movies, games, or even books to read aside from those which were brought in their luggage. In short, the residents of the fourth floor have had no way to pass the time but to get to know each other and find their own ways to entertain themselves.

They have performed quite admirably, and though they have also suffered two removals, we have opened up the barrier between floors. From this point forward, they are the same as you - they have merged with the rest of the experiment. We hope you will welcome them like any other member of the experiment.

To celebrate the end of the first test, we have decided to reward you all. Tomorrow night at 8:00 PM we will be throwing a large party in the ballroom. Dinner will be provided.

In addition to the fourth floor residents, we have also added Michael, Ethan, Abel, and Trix to the experiment, as replacements to others who have quit.

Thank you for your continued cooperation."

Sure enough, on the third floor is a new staircase. It is almost immediately adjacent to the stairs to the second floor, and would have been previously been hidden by a wall. Use of the dumbwaiter is now available to all floors as well. It can be found in a hidden panel in the second floor hallway and the third floor laundry room.

Experiment B has viewing access to the message the scientists sent Experiment A, but their own announcement is predictably different.

"Greetings,

The time has come for you to merge with the rest of the house. You will find that the staircase has been revealed, and you are all free to roam and do what you will.

You will also find that the viewing station has been removed. From this time out, you will find that you cannot access the camera system if your bedroom door is open - nor can you turn the volume up past a certain point. This level has been set so that what you are viewing cannot be overheard by anyone in the hall. If you would prefer to use headphones, you will find a set has been provided and can be found in your top desk drawer. Additionally, to access the camera system you must now enter in a certain command as, needless to say, we would not want someone to wander in your room and access something they should not. The command is CTRL, ALT, E + B, F4. You will be prompted to input a password, which we have set as the six-digit format of each of your birthdays. You are free to change your passwords if you feel the need.

Before you begin exploring and meeting the participants of Experiment A, we wish to remind you that any discussion of the true nature of Experiment B with those of Experiment A will not be tolerated. You are not to mention your true purpose, nor are you to mention your access to the camera system or private journal entires and private messages. Should you violate these rules, you will be removed from the experiment immediately.

Thank you for your patience and continued cooperation. Enjoy."

Who: Spencer and Emily
Where: the kitchen
When: morning, around 9am

( Just breathe, its just a creepy big house. )

Who: Ethan and Lina
When: ASS O'CLOCK Eaaaarly in the morning, couple hours before Emily and Spencer
Where: Back door/kitchen

When it had started snowing like it was never gonna quit again, Lina had wondered if her peaceful outdoor runs would be a thing of the past. Had that been the case, okay, she would have dealt with it. There was a perfectly good treadmill downstairs. Luckily, once the snow had let up Lina had found that a couple of the trails she had taken to had such thick coverage by the forest canopy that it was still free enough for her runs. So her routine hadn't changed -- although honestly, fighting her way through two feet of snow to get to the trails took almost as much energy as the run itself did. She didn't mind. She really liked being outside, and her morning runs left her feeling centered and okay enough to deal with everything else. Like attic people that had been stashed away like an unwanted mongoloid bastard, or just that pesky redheaded stepchild. Because that wasn't creepy at all. Nope.

More often than not, Lina didn't encounter anyone this early in the morning. After a complete week she'd only seen another person awake and downstairs this early once, so perhaps that explained why she showed no care in the world as she shoved open the door and marched inside - almost to hit some random dude in the face with the door. She managed to snatch the door-knob and catch it back just in time, but it was a near miss. "Jesus," she blurted out. "Where the fuck did you come from? Shit. Sorry."

Who: Chris and Audrey
Where: The gym
When: Morning, around 8:30


The day of the merge, Audrey was up bright and early - even for her. She'd gotten up and dressed, fully intending to hit the gym first - but she wanted to explore a bit, first. So throwing a towel, her handwraps, and her training gloves into a bag, she headed downstairs. She didn't do much more than a cursory exploration of the lower floors; she already knew more or less what they looked like, and it was so early that there wasn't really anyone up and awake for her to talk to. Not yet, anyway, though she recalled there were several early risers amongst the downstairs folk.

Deciding she might as well introduce herself, she made a quick stop back upstairs to post a public entry, then pulled her hair back in a high ponytail and headed down to the basement, gym bag in hand. Grabbing a couple water bottles from the fridge on her way through, she added them to her bag, dropping it in a corner near a treadmill. She bent to check the laces on her shoes, before straightening and pulling one foot up behind her to stretch her quad.

Now that she was here, she wasn't sure if she wanted company or not - on one hand, she could never start playing too early. But on the other hand, she was sorely starved for a good workout. She just wanted to run, and then she wanted to hit something.

Who: Damon and Mattie
Where: the library
When: mid-morning

( he thought about how he might present himself to the girl )

Who: Delaney and Emily
Where: Game Room B
When: around 11 a.m.

( don't rock the jukebox )