( day 7 - morning )

[tearable]

[ 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. ]

Comments

[tearable]

[ Elizabeth is tied to a biblical belief that humans were here to do good - to serve a purpose and eventually, get into His kingdom. God was a fleeting thought to her once she saw her own death - saw how she gave everything up for some reason she can't quite remember. She saw her humanity a step above some experiment like she was lead to believe she was after leaving her tower. 18 years alone... she was just someone to study. Now she loses her omniscience that would have been able to save them. She's human, whether she likes it or not, and she'd rather have that than be some data on a piece of paper. ]

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.

[selfsufficiency]

If I were a part of that group, I'd tell the others to do everything I could to keep them guessing. I'd tell some of them to act like she was trustworthy, and tell others to act like she wasn't. That way there wouldn't be any way of tying one specific behavior to the entire group.

[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.

[tearable]

[ She takes Alice's words seriously. There's a divide there - a kind of... pokerface that Elizabeth can't quite comprehend. She's seen how vicious cardsharks can be to make a couple bucks - how they'd soon rather condemn a little girl to a life of mindless servitude than give her childhood. She needs to stop thinking of the good in people - stop hoping.


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.

[selfsufficiency]

[Elizabeth's motives are more altruistic than Alice is fully comfortable with, but...

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. ♡