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( day 7 - morning )
[ Somewhere after Elizabeth disappeared from the new makeshift family in Apartment 7, she finds herself asking Alice to meet with her in the kitchen at a set out. She has what she can scrounge up - canned sausages and grits. It wasn't much, but when she was able to cook it, it turned up well for a woman with one working hand.
The two plates were set and she made sure that she waited for late enough in the morning where no one would disturb them. So, if Alice accepts, Elizabeth will already eating by the time she comes in. ]
The two plates were set and she made sure that she waited for late enough in the morning where no one would disturb them. So, if Alice accepts, Elizabeth will already eating by the time she comes in. ]
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[Elizabeth, at least, was invited. Alice just sort of bullied her way in. If there's anyone who's going to get kicked out here, it's probably her.
Her next words make Alice sit up in her chair and pay a little bit more attention, despite the way her head is spinning. It's early and she's ill, but her mind is still working, and given what they do know about the roles people have been given in the Complex... What was it Judy had said to Guy?
Two people work as a team where they may pick one. It is the same for the medical team and the third team you have not yet collectively discovered.]
...you're one of the six.
[Well. Five, now.]
You have the ability to determine whether or not someone is staff...?
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Right on the money.
[ She doesn't like it, but she won't really diverge in it being some noble cause. ]
There's one more that is innocent as well. Angel. I need for you and her to be prepared in case something happens to me.
[ It's a cryptic kind of gesture, she looks at Alice from the corner of her eyes now. ]
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[That's something of a relief - Alice was already planning to talk to her about the ankle monitor she took from Leo's foot, but now she can rest assured that she wouldn't risk getting lied to by a staff member.
But. Hm.
Alice's brow furrows as she thinks about it.]
There were five of the staff members... and six of you. ...thirty-five of us, in total.
[Fourteen innocents. Herself, Angel... that's two. It can probably be assumed that Charles and Rafya were also innocent. That's four. Lara was innocent, Diva was innocent... six. Adam and Kei were guilty of murder and attempted murder, but they weren't staff members. Eight.
Six others with no role to play. She's relatively certain that Bigby, Shijima, and Alfendi haven't been lying, so... three others.
What was Minatsuki, she wonders? Probably not a staff member, or she wouldn't have disappeared.]
Are you... have you been in contact with any of the other two teams? The medical team, or the... [She frowns.] The people who gave Kei a weapon?
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[ Elizabeth listens to Alice muse out loud. Truthfully, if she could talk with the apparent other people in this ragtag secret club, it'd make things easier. She sets her fork down and taps her hand against the table, trying to think of how to explain this that makes her make sense and sound believable - because half of this shit doesn't. ]
It'd make my task a whole lot easier. I don't know who gave Kei a weapon or who remains on the medical team. I'm playing detective like a damn fool - pretty sure Judy's playing us all as one, actually. She wants to help us, but -
[ She scoffs, rolling her eyes. ]
Things are about to get really messy and I can't have you or Angel painting a target on yourselves.
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[Like, seriously, Elizabeth. Alice doesn't care about people - or tolerate them, more accurately - easily, so she doesn't much care for the idea that something might happen to cause someone she can tolerate to get killed.]
...you're part of a detective team, right? Can you tell me who the other one is, so that if - and only if - something does happen, Angel and I know who else we can trust?
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[ She doesn't like thinking about it, she won't martyr herself. ]
There's a thin line between martyr and fool and I don't intend to be either one unless needed.
[ She wants to keep things vague for now, until her partner can pick the right time. ]
Right again. But - I made a deal I'll carry this out on my own. They'll come to you. In case I get taken out, I'm putting out some contingency plans. I need the voting power of Apartment 7, I've come to realize - especially with what I've discovered today.
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...Alice has found it easy to accept the idea that they're all from other worlds - and maybe even from other times - but she hasn't given much thought to the idea of alternate timelines involving this place. It's something to think about, at least.
And if it gives Elizabeth the courage to do what she has to, then...]
If they do come to me, then... when you talk to them next, tell them that my hometown is called Hima. If someone does approach me like you say, then I'll ask them if they know where I'm from. [She's been telling everyone she's from Palmacosta so far - Elizabeth is the first person she's told otherwise. It's not perfect, but it'll do in a pinch. If Elizabeth needs the voting power of Apartment 7, it's not impossible to think that others might get the same idea.]
...what did you find out today?
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So, Elizabeth nods and remembers to pocket that bit of information away. She'll mention it to her partner, to give a piece of mind to someone who feels like she's losing hers. Elizabeth wasn't keen on trust, she feels - but she's not sure why. The pieces don't quite fit in her brain and she wants to know why.
But... no, she gets different answers. ]
Well, found out what happens when I do my "job" properly. [ ?!?! ] I found one of them - the staff - oh, no. Scientists.
[ The information did not come lightly and she's held this so tightly to her. Speaking it into existence feels freeing. ]
Rhys is a goddamn scientist. The rotten little man... my hunch on the technology aspect had to have been right. With Angel confirmed innocent, Rhys was the next step - especially after his display at the trials.
[ No one would bat their eyelashes at the "village idiot" right? ]
Don't ... don't know if we can trust Jack - he said they're from the same universe but be careful. Whatever happens next, we need to get Rhys voted for.
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Scientists...
[Alice murmurs the word, mulling it over. There's something almost sinister about the word, but then, that's not too surprising - science was used for more nefarious purposes than most things in Sylvarant. She drums her fingers on the table and thinks it over.]
Angel seems to trust Rhys. This might be a problem. [Enough of a problem that she might consider not handing over Leo's ankle monitor to her until Rhys is dead, but... no, they can't really afford a delay.
Then, a moment later, her eyes light up.]
I'll pick a fight with him. People will be expecting me to vote for Cici, but if I can get Rhys to say something even vaguely suspicious to me when he gets mad between now and the end of the next trial - I can make it look natural if I push for people to vote for him.
He seems like a pretty easy person to get mad. And he did already say he doesn't like me. ♡
[what happened to being careful, alice]
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Judy confirmed this is some... experiment. [ Her words were bitter, eyes focused more in a glare. ] A damn experiment...
[ Elizabeth wasn't thrilled about the prospect - about being in some cage. She's made mention of animals in cages many times since arriving... so the songbird would love nothing more than to fly once more. ]
He's hiding behind his stupidity, I believe. He vomited when we discussed the aspect of technology playing a role in these scientists and then - hm. I'm a bit pleased to know I wasn't off for yelling at him after his insults last week.
[ No pity. ]
I don't want you to be targeted, however. Franziska was killed by revenge - and even if it was Adam doing it, this group of strangers are capable of anything. We need to bring this up without anyone taking the fall. I can't - I can't ask that of you or anyone.
[ NO ONE IS CAREFUL IN THIS ROOM, GOD DAMN. ]
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[Going along with the trials, getting people killed - that's probably feeding into what the scientists want, but it can't be helped for now. First Luke, then Rhys. If they can whittle down the scientists' numbers, they can do things to make the data they provide so messed up that they wouldn't have enough people to interpret it.
Or so she hopes. Alice herself is not a scientist - not for experiments like this, anyway. She wouldn't know exactly how to skew the results, but she knows she would like to throw a wrench in their plans.]
...that explains something, actually. [Alice drums her fingers on the table again, thinking.] The first day I was sick, I sneezed on Rhys during the trial. Luke told me to tell him if it made Rhys get sick, too, so even though I thought Rhys was suspicious then, I decided not to vote for him so I'd be able to see if he did get sick over the next couple of days.
[Ugh... playing right into their hands.]
The staff members were looking out for each other even back then. ...Luke was trying to get me to help him with an experiment back then.
[ugh how did she not notice]
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[ She says, snickering to herself. It's almost youthful despite how mature she's come off. A bit amused that there's going to be some payback. She seemed... disenchanted with the whole thing, if she's to be blunt. She could estimate that this scenario would play a hell of a lot differently if they brought in a girl who hadn't spent her life caged. Now, she'd rather die and bring them down then sit idly while more people fall into some - well, experiment.
She listens to Alice, gritting her teeth and trying her best not to show how upset she was. Luke talked to her in a warm familiarity - trying to weigh in on what makes her tick. He said it before he died: you've never given me the answers I wanted.
She's haunted with what those answers were. ]
Who else has Rhys or Luke defended? [ She says with a thoughtful expression. ]
... We can't let them win. After the dust settles, we can't. I can't be some experiment again. I can't - ... I can't lose my humanity.
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Humans are cruel. They're weak, so they lash out at people who aren't and try to make them weaker. They look down on people who are different. They have such a high opinion of themselves even though it's undeserved. If humans are like that, then who would want to be human?
...but Elizabeth herself doesn't seem that bad. Maybe she means something else by humanity, and Alice is tired enough that she doesn't really want to argue semantics, so she keeps quiet about it. Figuring out who Luke and Rhys might have been looking out for takes more precedence, anyway.]
Umm, let's see...
The first trial, it wasn't really defending, but Luke backed Cici up at first when he was getting mad at me when I said that if we asked people about the death, we might be able to figure out who was lying because if they said they didn't do it then they wouldn't have been telling the truth and they might slip up somehow. He ended up backing off a little when I didn't back down, though... Which makes sense. The staff members were trying to subtly point fingers at people, not draw attention to themselves by digging their heels in.
...oh, come to think of it, he was against the idea of abstaining to find out how many staff members there are at first. He was pretty vocal about not trusting Judy, too. Maybe we should keep an eye out for people who are vocal about not trusting her?
As for Rhys...
[This is harder because Rhys has been alive longer. DAMN IT. Alice makes a face and crosses her arms.]
He defended Angel, but we both know she's innocent. I guess he defended Jack and Veronica, too, at the same time as when he was defending himself.
[Urgh. Thinking, thinking - and then she remembers something.]
When he got mad and broke Judy's terminal... [Right after she sneezed on him.] It sure seemed like he was pretty used to giving her orders, didn't it? ...and she did end up doing what he said, just in a roundabout way. We can use that to make people vote for him next time.
He didn't really go out of his way to defend anyone during this last trial, but he did try to get Adam to rethink his confession...
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That's a fair point - I was wondering if their attachment to Judy was a telltale sign. She's done nothing but devalue us and even if Judy gave me this role... it's not enough. She follows their orders.
[ GOD YOU'RE THE REAL MVP ALICE. JUST TAKE THIS ROLE BECAUSE A+ REMEMBERING SKILL. ]
I need to find a way to get Angel away from him. In case she doesn't listen, we need - ugh - we need to make a compelling argument. Jack is to be expected... he seems to know him. Jack mentioned there was some messy history between the two... not digging into that dirty laundry.
[ Who the hell would blame her? ]
And didn't he seem hesitant to throw Ciel out for slaughter as well? Alvin nearly took the fall on a vague hunch. Ciel is at the top of my suspicion list, you know, because he didn't find a single thing on Adam despite checking.
[ This is getting more messy than she anticipated. ]
Alice, this is important. Whatever happens to me - whatever we need to do to get him voted, we have to make it happen. You're all at risk unless you bring their numbers down.
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[Leo had been pretty accurate when he'd said that if Alice was a staff member, they were doomed anyway.]
It's hard to tell if they're smart enough to be doing that, though...
[To be terribly honest, Alice is bored. As much as she would like to just straight-up shank some of the more annoying people in the Complex, she knows that would only backfire on her at this point. The real power to be had is in consolidating votes. That's why she didn't even hesitate to promise the bed to Shijima in exchange for her voting however she told her to, and why she didn't let anyone else carry Leo during the last trial. If it had come down to the wire between voting for Ciel and voting for anyone else, she absolutely would have forced Leo's vote her way to tip the scales.
Since the overwhelming majority had voted for Adam, though, there was nothing to be gained by being stubborn. That's probably the scariest thing about Alice - she's mercurial. Even if she makes up her mind about something or someone, she'll change her mind in an instant if she can get something out of it.]
Worst case scenario, we could just poison him.
[That rat poison has to get used somehow. If they can't gather enough votes, then... Ah, but Rhys has annoyed enough people that they can probably get enough votes if they make a convincing argument.]
You're right that he didn't seem to want to vote for Cici. That could be chalked up for nobody wanting to kill a child, but Cici... I think he's definitely capable of murder.
[And the fact that he didn't find anything on Adam doesn't make him look any more innocent, either.]
Don't say things like "whatever happens to me," Elizabeth. You have power. You can't just go and die without doing everything you can to use it.
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People weren't always good.
Elizabeth went to Alice for more reasons than her "safety" stamp. She seemed to be able to detour others, to influence them. Be it through the frighteningly cheerful way she strings her words or the alliances she's made... it's beneficial to Elizabeth. ]
We'll see if - no, when - the trial occurs. I don't want to condemn anyone to death... that isn't my interest. However, there's a price to be made for the actions you take. Wicked men spread their influence easily and I'd like to do my part in wiping it out before it's too late.
[ There's a push of the plate in front of her. Instead, she opts to strike her cigarette with her lighter and take a few puffs of it herself. ]
Trust me, dying is the last thing I want to do. I - ... I got a lot at stake and I need to get back home. I'm not putting my partner and innocents at risk for some martyrdom.
I got a few other strings to start pulling but in the mean time, I appreciate your help in this.
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For now, it will work. Their end goal is pretty much the same: make it out alive. If Elizabeth wants to get as many innocents out with her as possible, that's fine as long as it doesn't slow Alice down.
For now, it shouldn't pose too much of an issue.]
Then I'll do my best. [She smiles.] And my best is pretty good. ♡