Playing House

Who: Audrey and Nate
Where: Linen closet
When: Day 5; early evening

( Nate still didn't have a strategy, and at that point he was pretty sure he was just going to fly by the seat of his pants, but that was what he always did. )

Who: Damon and Daphne
Where: Daphne's room
When: around 4 p.m.

( I always wanted to go to fuckin' Antigua, didn't you? )

Who: Jamal and Open
Where: Game Room B
When: Two p.m. or so

When you were stranded in a house with a bunch of strangers, and possible freaks or druggies or god knew what else they might be, it was a good idea to stay in shape. Jamal didn't have to worry much about that since he'd come in that way and that was good because the fitness room was a joke to him. They actually had a dance bar in there! Was there a ballerina chilling in the house? That actually wouldn't be too bad, Jamal thought, scratching at his chin as he wandered into 'Game Room B'. Ballerinas had nice bodies. He could see that Eden chick from upstairs in a leotard doing all those weird stretches, jumps and twirls that they did. Which he only knew even happened because he'd seen it in a movie somewhere. With the guys? With one of his girls? "Don't matter," he mumbled as he looked over the selection of games available. With that storm carrying on outside there was no way he was heading out to get a good run in, so instead he'd decided to play some games. Maybe then he'd catch a glimpse of someone else in the house. Like a dude. Jamal was a big fan of the ladies and would be fine being the only guy in the place, but he didn't think that was quite right.

But it would be pretty damn sweet for a year.

Grinning just at the idea of being left alone with a houseful of women for an entire year, Jamal decided that he wasn't going to play a video game exactly. Instead he walked over to the old-fashioned Pac-man game he'd seen stood in a corner and pressed the button to bring it to life. Man he had loved these things when he was a kid, skipping out of school because who the hell cared about it? He hadn't gone and he'd only ended up in jail the once. Wasn't like knowing algebra would've kept him from hot-wiring those cars. "Alright Pac-man," Jamal said, pointing one hand at the screen as the familiar little yellow man sprung to life. "Let's eat some ghosts."

Who: Rupert and Open
Where: The hallway/open area outside his room, third floor
When: At around 11am

( I'm gonna take my clothes off )

Who: Avery
When: around 8 a.m.
Where: his room

( Was it really possible for one's teeth to knock together? )

WEATHER REPORT: Temperatures have dropped again, lingering around 10˚F/-12˚C during daylight hours, and even lower in darkness. Additionally, it’s snowing much harder now, with white-out conditions. Definitely a day to stay inside!

EVENTS: As they did yesterday, the scientists once again let everyone know there have been more removals. Bobby, Kai, and Connor are gone this time, though there have been no replacements as of yet. Anyone doing the math would realize that there’s a few more women than men in the house right now, and may find that ratio amusing.

Though no one could know it, there is something interesting happening to both Avery and Rupert. In fact, they may be losing their sanity. How delightful!

Okay, actually they’re both as sane as they were yesterday, but they’re bound to be feeling crazy. Any time Avery is alone, he will feel chilled. No matter how high he turns the heat up in whatever room, even if he turns his thermostat up to 90, he’s going to be feeling cold. Unless he’s in a room with someone else in it. Should that happen, the temperature warms to a comfortable level immediately. The exact opposite is happening to Rupert: he is being plagued by high levels of heat. Even if he opens his bedroom windows and walks around wearing nothing but strategically placed ice-packs (and we’re quite sure that’s something Experiment B would enjoy seeing), the room he’s in is going to feel like a boiler room - unless someone else enters the room. In which case things cool immediately, never leaving any hint of the inferno he had been experiencing. That’s not possible, right? No, no, that’s totally not possible. Yup, they’re going crazy alright.

For the first time, those in Experiment B are going to experience a little special treatment. In the morning, no matter how they left their computers, the computers are on and a tiny light is flashing for their attention. They will find a note waiting for them from the scientists! It reads:

“Greetings.

We feel as though those below have had enough time to settle in, and so we have finally begun our first series of tests on the participants of Experiment A. It may interest you to watch Avery and Rupert for the next few days, as we have selected them for our first test – though of course, they have no knowledge of this.

Happy viewing.”

Oh, that’s just fabulous, right? So nice of the scientists to give pointers on who to watch for the juicy bits. Most unfortunately, they are in for quite an unanticipated side effect. Meaning?

Heat rises.

Whatever the scientists are doing downstairs is affecting the uppermost floor. It’s hot. By 3 PM, even if every heater on the fourth floor is turned off, the entire floor is at a toasty 80˚F.

Okay, so, that’s annoying. But the scientists are sure to fix the problem. Aren’t they?