"Well," he said slowly, "I do suspect one pony more than the rest, but that's...well, there's not really anything except deduction and guesswork. Assumptions." He shuddered. "That's the worst part of all of this; there is no way we will ever come up with concrete evidence, so we are forced to think a priori,to deduce. I myself much prefer to think of things a posteriori, to take in the facts and come out with an answer based off of them. But, I suppose I have no option." Shield blinked in surprise at how much he had just spoken. Where had that come from? "Anyways, that's basically it. Have you caught anything that you would like to share with me that might incriminate one of our fellows? Or perhaps even me?" he asked. Well, this seemed like a good time to put their evidence togther. Perhaps it was a better idea, at this point. That way, if they both suspected the same pony, they could share their suspicions with somepony else. And, if they suspected each other, they could have a good debate about it. It might even help them trust each other more if they knew how the other was thinking.
(Sorry to take so long with this. Coursework, eh?) The azure colt just sits there, counting imaginary digits with his tongue stuck out at an angle. Teddy is rather lost in the search for the algorithm to it all. He'd heard this one once while sitting under a tree. Cherry was sat opposite on the chequered blanket and the sun was fragmented as it filtered though the leaves. The grassy hill stretched out underneath them; the green carpet being baked in the warm air. It was a lazy Sunday with only the honeysuckle wafting past. You could hear the downpour of a watering can from the gardens nearby. Cheery was hunched over the paper. He looked over her shoulder after catching a glance of her face contorted in thought. He reads the paper and they squabble for a good few minutes about those two guards and their doors. Teddy's vacant expression drops suddenly. He looks over to the retinal-scanner before he trots over to it. He scans over the eye-piece and around the device for any and all cracks they could get something in. Something to wedge the electronics open, maybe? His eyes traces the outsides of where he thinks a crack might have been. Teddy turns on the eye-piece, rears his back-legs and kicks the metal sheet with as much force as his legs could manage. It's like thunder rolling through the walls. Spinning back to inspect the damage, he only finds a few skuff marks and a scratch. "OK! I got nothing!" He walks, with a noticeable limp in his hind leg, back to where he was sitting before. "Anyone else got something?"
(Yep, I just wandered over to Wikipedia to make sure I was using that Latin right, and came back with my head hurting a little more than before. :derpe: That Philosophy stuff...)
Aima slouched against the wall and collected her thoughts for a moment. "Well, naturally I've collected my personal suspicions of just about every individual in this room to be honest. There's Cal, who seems to be the 'average joe' of our group, which might prove to be a tactic set forth by our game-master. There's Teddy, who appears to be undoubtedly cleve-" BANG! Aima was cut off by the loud slam of Teddy's azure hoof slamming into the metal sheet by the retina scanner. The sudden noise caught her off guard after such a long period of being stranded inside of a desolate room to be alone with her thoughts, suspicions, and those who would find her suspicious as well. "I may be wrong about Teddy, but he also may just be getting desperate like the rest of us. Anyway, there's Rex, who let's be honest isn't the brightest out of our ragtag brigade here. Such behavior only makes me suspect him more as it could be a ruse to throw our scent off the trail, but conversely, it might just be the way he is, placed here for a similar purpose. Perhaps he's truly the spy and is simply acting dense because he has foreknowledge about our personalities allowing him to know we'd simply cast off such an obvious gambit. He's completely surrounded in mystery as of now and meditating on his motivations would only send one's minds in circles. And then there's you, there's not much to go off really. You've spent a vast majority of your time in imprisonment contemplating just about anything and everything that moves within this cell. Your level of clairvoyance seems to be unfathomably deep and greatly suggests high levels of thought under the surface of the stoic mask you have diligently worn this entire time. I'm not sure what to think of it to be honest, because as I said, there's not much to really go on. The truth is, I only came over here to converse with you because it would only benefit me seeing as how there were only two possible outcomes. You'd either be the spy, and I'd learn a little more about you through dialogue which would then in return give me more of a foundation to base theories on, or you'd be innocent and judging by your constant meditation on the situation would become an invaluable ally to aid in discovering the mole among us." Aima sighed and scratched her head. She closed her eyes for a moment and began to reflect on the situation, maybe she could remember something before she woke up in this dimly lit prison with 8 others whom she had never met in her life. Her eyes opened and she scanned the dank cell once more. 4 of the original 9 ponies lay face down against the barren steel floor motionless. "And now there's only five of us left. The other four seemed to have expired for some unknown reason, which suggests the traitor among us has a method of execution giving us a time limit. With only 5 of us left, the odds are split practically in half. Tell me Shield, who do you suspect?"
"Well..." Shield was loath to accuse anyone, but he reminded himself that this was not, in fact, an accusation. It was merely a suggestion, a sharing of ideas. "I..." He thought of how he should word this statement. Probably best to say: "Although my intellectual side is loath to admit it, there is not an overwhelming amount of hard evidence to base my suspicion on... however, if I am to listen to my intuition, I would have to say that my prime suspect is Rex." He took a deep breath. Here came the hard part. Attempting to explain your intuition is always difficult. "It's..rather hard to explain, but...it's the way he's acting. I haven't known him for long, but he seems to...ugh, how can I put this..." He pondered this predicament. "His personality, it's...not remaining static. I don't know if that's evidence enough to justify any kind of accusation, or even this suggestion, but that's what my...intuition...tells me. That he's the spy." He said 'intuition' slowly, as if he didn't use that particular word very often.
Aima crossed her arms and listened as Shield He was having difficulty explaining his suspicions, though she understood. In a situation where there's a lack of evidence it's hard to explain your theories on much else except assumptions. "You seem to have come to a similar conclusion I see." Aima said quietly as she stood up off the ground. "Come on, let's discuss this with Teddy. If he reaches a similar conclusion than it's likely that Rex has been fooling us all along. If not, we'll at least be diving deeper into our blue friend's personality."
Shield wondered if it wasn't just their pining for freedom that was causing this mounting suspicion, but he had to admit that this was likely the only way they were going to make any progress, whether they were right about this or not.
Nothing in the corners...Maybe... Teddy started waving hooves at the ceiling and the walls of the room, straining his eyes with all the squinting as though that would reveal invisible listening equipment. After a minute of this, he stops and throws his head back. "Heellooo!" He calls to the ceiling. "Anybody there?! Hello! I know your there! Hello? Weird, crazy voice-voice over pony? I just want a little chat! Hellooo!" Teddy checks any of the corners and walls for movement. All signs of acknowledgement never surfaced. No speakers or cameras to suddenly point at him. He wasn't sure he'd get a reply over the PA system their captor had set up.
Aima walked slowly over to Teddy as he peered up curiously at the ceiling. He had been scanning it for a moment in hopes of finding something before he began to vocalize his thoughts. "Heellooo! Anybody there?! Hello! I know your there! Hello? Weird, crazy voice-voice over pony? I just want a little chat! Hellooo!" Before he could continue this strand of shenanigans, she approached him. "Teddy, do you mind if I inquire something?" Aima began quietly "Shield and I have been discussing it, and we'd like to hear your thoughts and suspicions regarding everybody among us if possible. Such information will surely aid in the capture of our mole."
Silver wondered what exactly Teddy was trying to accomplish by establishing communications with the "creepy voice", but he ignored the strange behavior and stood to the left of and slightly behind Aima. He said nothing, but tried to project the fact that he supported Aima, as well as he could.
(What? Nah!) Teddy bashfully bites his bottom lip, scuffing at the floor with one of his hooves as his eyes wonder around the room. It was as though he was following invisible butterflies around the room. "Err..." He mumbles, shifting from side to side uncomfortably. "I, err...I kinda, err, thought that...you might have...well..." He swallows, readying himself to just blurt the information out. Teddy looks Aima straight in the eye. "I kinda wondered if you had any thing extra installed, like a communication device attached to your inner ear. Anyway, you keep pressing for us to learn more about each other."
Aima matches Teddy's gaze and answers his question. "The only thing I have implanted within my person is this ocular device within my skull, other than that, I've lost no other organs to merit such upgrades. Now that your curiosity is satisfied, would you do the same for me?"
(Not if I can help it!) Shield watched this exchange with a repressed interest. Teddy seemed to be rather stuck on that bionic implant; in retrospect, it was a deviation from the normal, and deviations from the normal were what he should be watching for. On the other hand, he didn't want to accuse anyone based on the lone fact that they were different than him. You can have mounds of evidence, but if it's all flimsy, your accusation is less sound than if it were random. No, he needed to wait. Patience was the key from here on out. He would wait for the spy's mistake, and then make his move. (Yeah, no pressure, spy guy/girl. XD)
Teddy's eye's narrow at Aima's request. For some reason, he felt as though a thorough search of his person was about to be carried out. "I don't understand what you mean..." He said, drawing is hooves back as he sits his flank down.
"I believe she is asking you to be open and share your opinions and facts with us; answer our questions, et cetera." He paused, and reviewed what he had just said. "And even if that wasn't what she meant, that is what I would expect from you, in any case." With that, he closed he mouth and stood back, ready to listen.
Rex lays down in a corner keeping to himself now. The situation starting to get to him. 'I'm getting scared. What do I do? I'm not as smart as these other ponies, If they can't find the spy what hope do I have. Oh dear what if they can't. I don't wanna be traped in here until...' *sniff* Rex sobs softly. He covers his eyes with his hooves so nopony will hopefully notice. 'I have to figure this out. I know one of them is spy. Why do I have to be so trusting they all seem like nice ponies. I can't picture any of them lieing and wishing pain on the rest of us. One of them has to be though right? I mean the voice doesn't have a reason to lie about that... but if it's the truth. If there is no spy there is no way out.... are we just meant to suffer until the end. Then again maybe any of us can open the door this just some kind of weird game... hmm I could test this theory and go try to open the door.... no, no thats really stupid I mean I'm sure there is a spy... and so doing that will activate the trap, then who know what will happin... what if the trap is deadly and if thats the case we have to be right on our first guess there is no room for error. Then again if it had to be done it should be me. I'm a useless part of this world all these other ponies are important to society in some way. I guess I could try and find the spy it couldn't hurt. Shinning Shield and Aima they are very smart and are using their knowledge as best they can to get us out. would a spy do that? I trust them completly. I have since the begining. Teddy awefuly inquisitive he is looking for something. seems so nice though there is no way Cal just kinda seems along for the ride so to speak, and he is unusually calm given the circumstances... he did seem to care what his family was going through though perhaps he just doesn't care what heppining to him he is selfless and therfore trustworthy. I have come to the conclusion... none of them are the spy... and I know I'm not... maybe there really is no spy.'
Shield looked at Rex sadly. It seemed that the paranoia that this situation brought was getting to him. There were so many possibilities; one of them could be the spy, yes, but what if the spy didn't know they were the spy? Or, what if there was no spy? The voice seemed content to play this game with them, toy with their minds, so why shouldn't there be more to this than it let on?... But Shield felt that he could trust the voice. Crazed psycopaths usually follow a predictable line of thought, and that line of thought is twisted, but not usually particularly clever. They were in here for the amusement of some sick pony, who had given them a small chance to escape to make their defeat all the sweeter. That was it, plain and simple. Now, he had to concentrate on that small chance. "Teddy? ...What are your thoughts on the matter?" repeated Shield, looking at Teddy again.
"I said, didn't I?" Teddy snapped, raising a hoof in disbelief. "I have my bits on Aima." "No offence..." He adds quickly afterwards. "You seem overly eager to learn about all of us and you have to wonder whether knowledge is was the pony upstairs wants." He keeps his distance from the quietly sobbing Rex, making quick glances towards him out of the corner of his eye. He wasn't comfortable with having to comfort someone else. What the hey are your meant to do? You don't know everything'll be just dandy and it is probably going to suck pretty damn hard tomorrow. In fact, it'll probably take a long while to get to a point where this'll just blow over and you'll be fine. Sticking a brave face on it is like arming a time-bomb but what else are you meant to do, ey? He brings himself out of that particular tangent, addressing Shield again. "This is an idiotic game! We have no solid ground. This is guesswork and ideas built on nothing. We might as well tunnel our way out of this place! You know what I think we should do? We should sit here and protest! All I got is Game Theory and that's telling me to point my gun in the air and miss. We got nothing to base stuff on and what might be a death-trap to lead our suspects into. We either do nothing or throw ponies towards the scanner at random. You can't safely or logically test anything in this environmental, clear?"
Cal notices something weird going on with Rex he walks over to him "you alright Comrade you seem a bit upset is it because of the sitution we're in because don't worry i've been in many of situtions like this in my life time i can guide you though this mess we are in"
