Playing House

Who: Mack and Nate
When: Day 8; around midday/lunch time
Where: Kitchen

( When the moment he'd been waiting for all week finally came, he'd stayed in his room. )

Who: Rupert and Daphne
Where: The library
When: Morning

Today's awakening had been a bittersweet one. While Rupert had woken up dry, not sweaty and not scorching at all - which felt amazing - what he read in his computer left him extremely unsettled. There were more people, a whole floor of them in the house, and they had been there all along. He supposed he'd have to live with it - and ten more people - it was just the fact that they had been hidden up there all along that bothered him. Why had there been ten people separate from the rest of them for a week, with nothing to do but talk to each other or remain locked up? Was this another experiment of some sort?

All these thoughts busied his mind during his shower, which he found actually refreshed him now. As it was his specialty, Rupert fixed himself some breakfast in record time and then scurried off to the library. There. He was in a public place, but he hadn't gone searching for people, and that was a good enough compromise for him. He settled into a chair, setting his tea and plate of toast on a table next to it, and picked up a book somebody had left nearby called 'My Sister's Skin'. It did not seem familiar, which was a good thing. Furrowing his brow, Rupert sipped on his tea as he prepared to read the first page.

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

( don't rock the jukebox )

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

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

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

( Just breathe, its just a creepy big 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: Delaney and Miles
Where: the billiards room
When: evening

( that wasn't supposed to happen )

Who: Cam and Avery
Where: First floor [edited so we're not running straight into Mick!]
When: Early afternoon

( She might as well get to know people -- before they got replaced. )

Who: Avery and Jess
Where: the billiards room
When: late morning

( It was fairly early in the morning to start drinking. )

Who: Rupert and Mick
Where: the kitchen because Mick lives there now
When: noonish

( If you've got a problem, I don't care what it is... If you need a hand, I can assure you this I can help )

Who: Damon and Spencer
Where: the common room, then Damon's room
When: evening
Rating: R

( an impasse )

Who: Delaney and Lark
When: midday
Where: the foyer to start

( a mellow song )

Who: Daphne
When: Early afternoon
Where: Her room

The day of the merge was nearly upon them. Despite the fact that it was the last day they would be able to use the communal viewing station, Daphne had been – and would continue to – spend most of her time in solitary. She had read all the private entries she could, and kept the journal system minimized to the taskbar as she watched the feeds. She had spent the majority of the morning reviewing her notes and solidifying her personal game plan, and finally came to a decision. Experiment B was not the single, solidified group she might have hoped for. She disliked Joseph outright, had no time to even attempt to form a decent bond with the new guy, and Jerrica was still keeping completely to herself. Three out of ten she had no good feel for at all, and she didn’t like those odds. Three out of ten wasn’t the majority, and not even what most people would consider a problem. Daphne, however, was not the sort of woman to wait for them to become a problem.

She would make alliances, then – and sooner, rather than later. She had limited interactions with Madison, but so far, no issue with her. They seemed to get on fine on the computers. Nate and Damon she was relatively certain she could win to her side with little to no difficulty at all. But it was Audrey she felt was her best bet. She and Audrey had hit it off immediately, and seemed to have an unspoken understanding about each other. Audrey would be the one she had to start with.

Once she made up her mind to do it, she sat down at her computer and began to write up her proposal. She would be revealing information to Audrey she would tell no one else – not even Nate or Damon. It was a risk, but Daphne almost never gambled unless she was certain the odds were in her favor. Daphne would not put herself in a situation she didn’t think she could get out of. It was a risk, but one Daphne felt would work in her favor.

When it was written and sent she took a deep breath and leaned back in her chair, a light smile playing upon her lips. Yes, this felt safe enough. The ball was in Audrey’s court now. If all went well, they would determine what came next tomorrow.

Who: Spencer and Nate
When: Day 7; mid-afternoon
Where: Common area

( He planned to sit there for a while, studying the subjects on screen more closely than before. )

Who: Emily and Bryce
Where: hot tub in the basement
When: Day 7; early afternoon

( Fight these demons off forever )

Who: Miles and OPEN
When: Day 7; early evening
Where: Basement storage room

( He was happy to have the exercise area to himself, not feeling even one iota of loneliness despite keeping to himself since the first day he'd arrived. )

Who: Ben and Lark
When: Late night
Where: Living room, mainly

( Her luck had finally run out. )

Who: Lily and Chris
When: Early afternoon
Where: Game Room A

Lily missed singing. She hadn't done so since the week between Christmas and New Year's - apart from humming to songs as she did things, which to her didn't really count. The past few days had actually been spent (amongst other things) gaining the courage to creep into the 'modern games room', as she called it, and make use of one of the consoles and one of the many singing games they had for them. She would have gone for the piano in the foyer, if that particular instrument didn't remind her of endless jam sessions between her and Drew. He'd play and she'd sing and feel the happiest she'd ever been. No. She wasn't going to sit in front of that piano and allow all those memories to come flooding back into her brain when she was trying to do something she loved. So, a more modern version of karaoke it had to be.

Finally, today, after she had some lunch, Lily crept into the room with the consoles. She found the one she was most familiar with - a PS3, which her roommate owned - and the game they used to play when they had friends over, or even when they didn't. Immediately Lily jumped to her favorite song of the lot, 'Son of a Preacher Man' by Dusty Springfield.

She didn't need to look at the lyrics, knowing them by heart already, and so Lily relaxed into it, not really taking into account that someone might just walk in and spoil her fun. Lily didn't really want an audience, especially not from people she didn't even know.