Tetra spoke from his corner, "what you could try is a radical new concept called 'thinking'. Heard it works wonders. You're an Astronomer, girl, you alone should know more about Math than any one of us knuckleheads, 'specially her." he pointed at Sophia, the two words and action meaning more than he could ever put into words himself. "Maybe there's some formula for it."
(in other news, Tetra started the Fourth Page! Maybe 4 really is lucky? XD)
Sophia had turned at Orion asking if she should try and caught what Tetra had said "What did you just say about me?" She stalked over angrily, glaring at the woman who had insulted her "You want to get of this boat? Or would you rather drown? If you'd rather drown maybe I can leave you unconscious down here and make sure you have no way out." Threat delivered she turned back towards the door and spat at it "I'd say wait for whoever it was who took us to make his little announcement. That's how this stuff usually goes."
Iroh still had his innocent little smile plastered on his face, even as Sophia made her threat towards Tetra "Well, Thats simply impolite my dear." He then turned towards Orion and smilled "You are an Astronomer? What a lovely profession." His voice tone was completely balanced, his interest towards Orion's profession completely genuine.
"I was thinking, actually," Orion murmured, her voice a shaky balance between anger and hurt. "I just don't know what will h-happen if I do it. I...guess it's worth the risk, I just...um..." She goes silent for a moment as she contemplates it. If it had to do with math...
The door had a number 4 on it.
So, considering their numbered bracelets, it could be a whole plethora of things.
It could be that whoever had the number 4 bracelet could just open it by waving theirs.
It could be that the bracelet numbers should add up to 4.
Maybe it had something to do with square roots or something....
Geez, could the kidnapper give them a little more to go on besides numbers?
Turning towards Iroh's voice, her nervous voice softened a bit. "Oh, um, you think it's l-lovely...wow. Um, thank you! I...d-don't really hear a lot of people call it that...."
And that's because you don't tell people you're an astronomer, you idiot!
Tetra gulped at the word, 'drown', and rolled his ball of putty, trying to calm his already beating heart. "Don't, say a fuckin' thing, about... that," He breathed to her, eyes full of hate. If they didn't stop saying that sh*t, he swore he would kill them all.
Aᴢʀᴀᴇʟ !
[center]
"We don't want any conflict. That's the last thing that we want, considering our situation. If we all want out of here, we have to work together." A slightly stern tone flitted from Lucky, their green eyes leaving the door to look back at Tetra and Sophia. Their eyes lingered there, examining, as if there were a way to immediately diffuse the conflict, but alas, nothing came to mind.
"Now," A sweet smile returned, erasing any trace of the slight, stern irritant that had crossed their face. "Perhaps we can all get along and not antagonize each other?"
[center]
"I-I'd like that," Orion stumbled, not liking any bit of the conflict. "B-before we start fighting or anything, can't we figure out how to get past these numbered doors?" As she said this, she pointed to the door with a 4 on it. "W-we won't get anywhere fighting...but we will get somewhere trying to figure out how to get outta here."
Sophia grunted, glaring at everyone in the room "You're all just dead weights, here. How many of you have actually been in life or death situations exactly? I live my life in fucked up places, where no one gives a shit if I live or die."
Iroh, who had been studying the door for a while, taking in the confrontation but not yet involving himself, snapped his fingers "Nonary." was all he said before turning to Sophia and looking like he was going to slap her. "Language young woman." Sophia, for her part just looked stunned that this old guy had to all extents and purposes just told her to shut up.
Bellatrix flinched and looked at the floor. She was a bit hurt by Sophia's points. "I...was...in an earthquake one time...but that's not important right now!" She tried her best to sound determined. "Somehow, we gotta figure out how to get outta here!"
Tetra couldn't help but laugh at Goose's stunned expression as the old man chastised her. "Life or Death. Hell, Taxi drivers deal with that on a daily basis. You ever had a guy enter your car with a gun? Threaten to kill you with it? Trust me, I was fuckin' scared out of my mind and shit. The next time it happened, I beat the guy up. Gun or no gun, nothin's stoppin' you from payin' your dues."
Aᴢʀᴀᴇʟ !
[center]
A twitch of Taylor's hand indicated an almost started action, though they decided against it. No, they'd rather not point out the amount of wobbly metal and plastic on their left leg, or talk about it, with all the hostility around. For all they knew, someone could use that against them later if something unfavorable broke out.
"Yes, crisis demands that those work together as a team to remove themselves from the unfavorable situation. It doesn't matter who has or hasn't been through chaos, but rather that we seek a way out." Then their eyes flickered to Tetra, smiling lightly.
"Would you like to try opening the Number 4 door? It has your number."
They were slightly surprised, however, when Iroh spoke. "Huh? Nonary? What do you mean?"
[center]
"Huh?" Tetra asked, finally giving the door a look, then a glance at his bracelet. Well, they did have the number 4 on them, so maybe... He stood shakily, still unused to the sea, and wobbled over to the door, looking at it dumbly. "Um, I, just, uh, place my hand here, right?" he placed his hand in the indent, and waited to see if something happened.
Iroh nodded to Taylor "Yes, Nonary." He didn't offer any other explanation. This mannerism would get aggravating after a while, but the strange old man didn't seem to want to talk, or couldn't.
Sophia coughed angrily "Get on with it. Its not like it's going to eat your hand or anything."
Aᴢʀᴀᴇʟ !
[center]
As soon as Tetra's hand hit the scanner, an asterisk lit up the small digital screen again, showing it had registered him. Lucky cautiously pulled the lever, only to be treated with another red ERROR message before the screen went back to being blank. "Then it has to be something else other than just one person can open a door with their bracelet on them." They murmured, looking the door up and down.
When David responded again, Taylor turned, a small smile still staining their face. "Um, what does it mean, exactly? Other than dealing with Numbers, of course."
[center]
"Nonary?"
From what she could remember, nonary was ...relating to the number nine.
Unsure of what it meant, she waited for Tetra for scan her bracelet. She was a bit worried though. What could happen?
When 'error' appeared again, she shook her head in confusion. "Should...I...try?"
(Would the bracelet work with Orion? I think it would.
8+4+1= 13
1+3= 4
But I dunno.)
Iroh blinked slightly and opened his mouth up before closing it again. He stroked his chin before speaking, but not in English "Watashi wa eigo o yoku hanasanai"
Sophia sighed slightly "Great... so not only do we have an old guy, but its an old guy who can't speak english..."
(Truth be told, this is all going to be Google Translated, so blame that for any errors. Also, I'll put the real meanings down here. 1st message "I do not speak English very well" Google Translate is messing me around and I'm tired, so thats why it might not match up.)
Aᴢʀᴀᴇʟ !
[center]
"That's alright." Though Taylor hadn't any idea what he said, they assumed that Sophia was right. "We'll just have to work around the language barrier." They smiled in an optimistic way, before answering Orion's question. "Sure, you're welcome to try."
(You would have to reenter everyone that will try to input digital roots, but here's the combinations that would work with Orion in them. <3
1 3 4 5
3 4 6
1 2 3 7
2 3 4 6 7
1 3 5 6 7
2 3 8
2 3 4 5 8
1 3 4 6 8
3 5 6 8
3 4 7 8
1 3 9
1 3 4 5 9
3 4 6 9
1 2 3 7 9
2 3 8 9
3 5 6 8 9
3 4 7 8 9
Though there are other bracelet combinations, they don't contain #3.)
[center]
(Okay! Sorry I don't always get the digital root thing.
Also I totally forgot her bracelet number was 3 whoops.)
Orion was hesitant. She held out her bracelet, leaned it towards the machine....
Aaaaand immediatly retracted it in fear.
C'mon Bellatrix, you can do this...
She moved her arm towards the machine, and....
*beep*
A dot appeared on the interface of the machine.
Bellatrix proceeded to panic.
"Oh, crap, crap, crap, what did I do, what did I do?!"
She backed away from the machine in a hurry, holding her bracelet like it was her lifeline.
"Oh god, did I mess up? I didn't mean to! I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry!"
Aᴢʀᴀᴇʟ !
[center]
((It's fine c': It's a bit wonky to get the hang of, so don't worry. cx ))
"It's alright, you've just let your bracelet be recognized by the scanner." Taylor explained calmly, nodding. "Tetra and I already tried it, though nothing happened other than the error message when we pulled the lever."
[center]
"Oh, okay...." She was still, admittedly, very unnerved. Why did her bracelet work and the others didn't? Was it because she had the number three and that was less than four? Why didn't Tetra's work? That bracelet was four!
She was so confused.
"Maybe it's more than one person." Tetra shrugged, stuffing his hands in his pockets. "I mean, it's the number '4'. Maybe 4 people are supposed to put their hand on the pad before you pulled the lever?"
(I just suddenly thought of a great idea; it's one pad per door, right? what if one of the characters was germophobic? I mean, he wouldn't dare touch the same pad that everyone else just touched! so what would he do? XD I'm so cruel, putting my characters through their deepest fears.)