This chapter follows chapter 4: This time, we ally with Luna in the first round of the Ambidex Game.

Phi fell forward, her finger stretched towards the console. In the last second of the countdown, her finger stabbed down… and pressed 'Ally'. Huh. To her considerable surprise, Sigma had managed to convince her after all. Maybe Luna had voted 'Ally'. She exhaled, all the tension in her body releasing itself, as she collapsed in front of the screen.

"Round one of the Ambidex Game has been completed," said the announcement voice, "Results will be displayed in the warehouse."

Phi clumsily hauled herself up from where she had sprawled next to the console. She turned around to see Sigma staring at her with disgust.

"Not cool, Phi. Very not cool," he said.

Phi realised he hadn't seen what she had pressed. "No, Sigma! I picked…"

"Leave it," Sigma interrupted. He turned away from her and left through the opening doors of the AB room.

Phi trudged after him into the warehouse. She saw everyone rushing towards the projected screen, desperate to find out the results. She and Sigma were hardly the only pair who had argued in their AB room: Clover practically fled from K as they left their room, and Quark was almost in tears.

"Wasssuuuuup! Phido! We're about to announce the results!" Zero shouted to her.

Phi stumbled towards the screen to join the others. She only hoped that proving to Sigma that she had voted 'Ally' would bring him round.

With a fanfare, Zero began. "Ambidex Gaaame! Round One!" Giving a mocking bow, his avatar vanished from the screen to be replaced by an orderly table of results:

Player-BP-Vote-Change-Results

K - 3 - Betray - +3 - 6
Clover - 3 - Betray - +3 - 6
Alice - 3 - Ally - -2 - 1

Dio - 3 - Betray - +3 - 6
Quark - 3 - Betray - +3 - 6
Tenmyouji - 3 - Ally - -2 - 1

Sigma - 3 - Ally - +2 - 5
Phi - 3 - Ally - +2 - 5
Luna - 3 - Ally - +2 - 5

There was an uproar as everyone comprehended the results. Two people were now hovering precariously on one bracelet point, and they turned furiously on their opponents. Alice beckoned Clover sternly through the cyan door. Clover followed promptly but dispiritedly, leaving K behind; though K's armour masked his facial expressions, Phi could tell from his stiff motions that K was deeply troubled by what he had just done.

Phi could also overhear Tenmyouji as he protested to Dio and Quark. "Quark… What happened?" Tenmyouji asked, his dull eyes gazing at Quark sadly.

Quark, tears running down his cheeks, spluttered desperately. "No, no, I…it wasn't me! Dio did it! He tricked me."

Dio scoffed. "You serious? The kid's full of shit." As Quark gasped with surprise Dio continued. "I didn't do squat. Quark was the one who decided how we'd vote. He said you'd be a sucker for whatever he told you."

Phi listened with distaste to Dio's obviously fabricated story. He was a monster for trying to deceive Tenmyouji, and an idiotic one at that. It was obvious to everyone that he was lying, and that Tenmyouji would believe Quark over anyone else, not least Dio.

"You're lying! You're a lying jerk!" Quark shouted, "Grandpa! You believe me, right?!"

Dio frowned falsely. "Don't let this brat fool you, old man," he said, "All this is just part of his plan."

Quark erupted with anguished rage. "You bastard! I'm not gonna let you get away with this!"

However, before Quark could get any further, Tenmyouji placed his hands firmly on Quark's shoulders and drew him into a calming embrace. "Don't lose your temper, Quark. How long have I known you? I could be deaf and blind and still know you're not lying to me."

Dio spluttered, trying futilely to maintain his deception. "Hah! You… You're just as gullible as he said you would be." Still, it was clear to everyone, including Tenmyouji, that Dio had betrayed in cold blood and tried to pin the blame on the child. It didn't look likely that anyone would trust Dio again.

Much more amiable was the reaction from Luna. She approached Sigma with a warm smile. "Oh, thank you, Sigma," she said, "I believed in you!"

Phi could tell from Sigma's face that he didn't know how to react. "I… I can't believe I'm saying this, but it was actually Phi who pressed the button."

"Thank you, Phi," Luna said. Then she turned back to Sigma, tilting her head precisely and with a concerned expression. "Are you okay, Sigma? Did something happen in the AB room?"

"I'm not sure," Sigma replied, "It was really strange, like…"

Phi's breath caught in her throat. Sigma had implied, in the last minute of the Ambidex Game, that he was starting to suspect Phi of being Zero. If he confided that to the others, Phi was doomed.

"Phi… never mind," Sigma relented. It seemed that Phi's choice of 'Ally' had, if not dispersed his worries, at least tempered them.

It was then that Alice and Clover returned, Clover meekly trailing behind her friend.

"The past is past," Alice was saying, "There's no point in me complaining about it. I just have to get those points back in the next AB game." Alice turned to the screen, where Zero's rodent-like avatar was waiting for them smugly, and checked her bracelet. "Zero, our bracelets say the next round starts in an hour. How do we get through the next set of doors downstairs?"

Zero giggled. "Maybe you don't get through those doors. Maybe you have to stay up here, forever, with meeeeee! Won't that be fun?"

Alice answered confidently, "You called this 'Round One'. Where there's a round one, there's a round two."

K interjected, "Besides, didn't you say the goal of the AB Game was to get nine BP? That's impossible without a second round."

Zero pouted, his elaborate hat drooping to one side. "You lot are no fun. Yes, there's a second round. There!" Suddenly Zero perked up. "Yes, you get to vote again, loads more juicy betrayals! Just as soon as you get the AB gates open again.

Clover made a quizzical little squeak. "But… they're already open!"

Zero mimed slamming his head into his hand. "Whoopsie! Lemme just clooooose them!" On Zero's cue six pairs of doors whirred closed.

Once all the doors were fully closed an announcement played through the speakers. "Round two of the Ambidex Game will be the Moon round. Moon keys will be required to open the gates."

"So those Sun keys you have are just compleeeeetely useless now," Zero concluded, "Weeeell, I guess you could throw them at each other, or use them to pick your teeth, but other than that they're useless."

"So, how many times do we play the AB game?" Dio asked.

Zero shrugged. "Dunno? As many times as you need to? I plan on keeping this party going until somebunny opens the Number Nine door. It could be next round! Or you could get stuck below 9 BP, where everybunny just keeps going back and forth, back and forth, winning and losing points… After all, if no one has nine BP the door can't open… Round three, Round four, Round five… Round 100, Round 2000… you might even go all the way to Round 17,179,869,183: things get really weird if I get that high. I really, really hope it doesn't come to that."

Sigma, a curious look on his face, asked Zero a question. "There's rules about who can go through the Chromatic doors, right? Like, you have to have three people exactly. Are there similar rules for the Number Nine door?"

"Nope! There aren't any rules about how many people can go through that door. It could be one person, or two people, or even all nine of you." Zero frowned. "Just one thing, though, Siggy… All that stuff about how you have to have three people to go through the secondary Chromatic doors. Maybe it's not… 100% true. You just need to have the correct three bracelets. As long as the scanners see the right combination of bracelets… the people don't matter."

"So you're saying these things can come off?" Sigma said.

"Tell me how I take it off!" Quark shouted, pulling at his wrist.

"Well, there's two ways," Zero explained, "First is to escape through the Number Nine door. Soon as you do, you're free to go, none of my business, no more turbocuarine hanging over you. Second… well the second's far more enjoyable."

"What's the second way, Zero?!" Dio yelled, "Tell us already!"

Zero chuckled deeply. "Oh, B.O. I think you already know. Do you really want to get rid of that bracelet? It's easy. Nothing to it.

"You die.

"Now if we're lucky, we might see a few of them come off during the next round!" Zero giggled at his thinly veiled threat. "If I had to guess, it's gonna be Tenmyoldy or Alas…" – Zero grinned maniacally at Tenmyouji and Alice, the two people who had been betrayed in the first round – "or both of them."

Zero then explained what Phi had already guessed. Anyone whose BP dropped to Zero would be punished just as harshly as if they'd broken the rules. She could see Sigma looking at her strangely, as if he still wondered how she had known.

Alice scolded Zero passionately. "What the hell! This is important stuff! Why didn't you tell us earlier? You were supposed to tell us the rules, not hide them! Is there anything else you've conveniently left out?! It's not fair to make us play the game without explaining all the rules!"

Zero smirked. "I think it's fair. It's not like anyone else knew… right Phido?"

So Zero had been eavesdropping on their conversation in the AB room. Phi conjectured that Zero had noticed Sigma's fear of her and intended to drive a wedge between the other players. Everyone turned to stare at her. Phi resolved to come clean before it did too much damage.

"I'd guessed. I mean, we already knew about the poison in our bracelets. Heh, what did you expect to happen at zero points, with that mad mouse in charge?" – she gestured at the screen, where Zero bowed mockingly – "So yeah, I guessed that going down to zero BP would kill. Why'd you think I voted 'Ally'? I couldn;t bring myself to risk someone else's life," Phi said acerbically.

This seemed to mollify everyone – or at least get them wondering why they hadn't worked it out – though Tenmyouji and Alice still looked grumpy as the two people most affected by the revelation. Phi also noticed Sigma glaring at her; he had been in the AB room and knew that her decision to ally was nowhere near as casual as she had implied.

"The next set of Chromatic Doors you'll be going through are downstairs," Zero continued to explain, "You already saw them, right? There should have been three: red, blue and green. That means to get through, you'll need bracelets in cyan, magenta and yellow. But wait! You already have those bracelets!"

Phi looked down at her wrist automatically. Her bracelet had been updated with her new score – '5' – and as Zero had implied the colour of the text had changed: it was now yellow.

Sigma muttered, "Hmm, mine changed from red to cyan." That was a surprise. Though it was probably for the best, given what had transpired in the AB room and after, she and Sigma were no longer partners. Phi's bracelet still said she was a pair, so she wondered who her partner was.

It was Dio. Ugh.

"Well, you're much better than the dead weight I had following me around last time." Dio smirked at her. "You'll do much better helping me solve those damn puzzles."

"Stop it, Dio," Phi said, "Whatever you're trying, it's not going to work. No-one trusts you."

"You don't need to trust me. After all, I won't be voting against you."

Phi left Dio sulking behind her as she went to see how everyone else's bracelets had changed:

Sigma's new partner was Alice; they were the cyan pair.
Tenmyouji and Quark were the magenta pair.
Luna was the yellow solo.
K was the magenta solo.
Finally, Clover was the cyan solo.

"When did they change?" Quark asked Zero.

"Back when the AB gates closed. As soon as the gates close, your colours get all shuffled up automatically. The pair and solo assignments hop around too," Zero explained, jumping around the screen to illustrate his statement.

"Now, with all that explained… I must bid you adieu. Sadly…" – Zero's lip trembled – "we may never meet again. There's not really anything for me to facilitate anymore. I'll never see you guys…again!"

There was awkward silence.

Suddenly Zero burst out laughing. "Did you really think I was gonna cry! I hate you losers. Anyway gooood luck. I may be gone, but I'm always watching. Have a nice tragedy!" With that, the mouse disappeared from the screen, never to be seen again.

Good riddance.

Quark was the first to speak. "So… what happens now? We've still got a while till the Chromatic Doors open." In fact, they had three quarters of an hour.

Alice took charge. "We should go and see if we can find any other exits," she commanded, "Maybe there's a vent or a disposal chute or something. I for one wouldn't mind examining the other rooms."

"Let's split up," Phi suggested. She estimated how much time they wold need to get down to the Chromatic Doors. "Let's meet in front of the Chromatic Doors five minutes before they open."

The group split up. Phi was about to follow them when Sigma grabbed her arm forcefully; they were the only two left in the warehouse.

"We need to talk," he said. He composed himself. "Lemme be straight with you: your shit is crazy. Hella crazy. I mean… you 'just know' stuff you shouldn't, like my name. You hide what you know from everyone else. You forced your decision on me in the AB room then made the choice that I would have made anyway. You're crazy." Phi began to protest, but Sigma cut her off with a gesture. "More and more I'm starting to think you've been lying to me, about who you are, why you're here.

"But I can't deny that when it came down to it, you did vote 'Ally'. I don't think you're Zero. At least, less than I did. No matter what crazy secrets you're hiding from me, I guess I can trust you… maybe.

"I… I'll follow you to look at the rooms soon." Sigma folded his arms uncomfortably and defensively. "I just… need some time to think, okay?"

"Sure," Phi replied, "I'll see you in a bit." She swivelled around on the ball of her foot and exited through the yellow door, leaving Sigma alone in the warehouse to think.

When Phi arrived in the infirmary, K had transferred the old lady's body from the ADAM to one of the convalescent beds lining the closest wall of the room; he was now erecting a white plastic screen around the bed to provide some privacy. As he finished, Phi approached him.

"Hey, K, you were in here before, right? Is there anything else I can help you look at."

K turned to greet her. "Hello Phi," he said, "We searched this room quite thoroughly before, but I would be grateful for your help in searching again. It is possible that your fresh perspective will find something that we missed."

Phi walked around the screen into the centre of the room. As she did so, she saw Quark sitting on one of the other beds. He was messing about with one of the packets on the side of his helmet, a frustrated frown on his face.

"Hello, Miss Phi!" he called out as her saw her.

"Hey Quark," Phi replied, "Are you doing okay?"

"Sure!" Quark said, "It's just that I can't find any of the stuff I left in my hat." Quark showed her both sides; they were indeed empty. "I didn't get a chance to check it until now, and everything's gone."

"They took almost everything I had, too," Phi said. She knelt down beside Quark, carefully tapping the wall with her fingertips to search for hollow sections behind it. "Are you sure you're okay, though?" Phi asked as she searched, "I mean, after…" Phi glanced past K at where the old lady's corpse was.

"I'm not a kid anymore!" exclaimed the kid, "I can deal with it. I'm not gonna cry!"

"I concur," K commented, "Quark has been admirably composed since we arrived."

"Hmm…" Phi was rather worried by Quark's reaction. Sure, it was better not to let negative emotions get in the way of what you were doing, but there was no way it was healthy for a child Quark's age to be trying that; bottling up his feelings like that would just lead to Quark becoming emotionally repressed... well, exactly like Phi was. Phi wasn't sure she wanted that for Quark.

"Quark, it's okay to be sad and cry when stuff this bad happens. It means you're still sane," she explained.

Quark looked at her, still trying to keep a steady expression. "Grandpa says that too," he said, a shallow smile gradually forming.

"What exactly is your relationship to Tenmyouji?" K asked, "I was aware that you called him 'Grandpa', but you appeared to be less amiable towards him when we first met than you do now."

Quark laughed. "He's only my adopted grandpa, but he raised me like a parent. I think he's better than any mom could possibly be.

"Grandpa's job is… he's like an archy… someone who digs up old stuff."

"Archaeologist," Phi supplied, "Does he have a whip?"

"No!" Quark answered angrily, "Why would you think he'd use a whip? Of course he doesn't!"

Phi was dumbfounded. How could Quark not have heard of Indiana Jones? Sure, the series had taken a downturn with film number four, and Indiana Jones and the Collection of Every Historical Artefact he Hasn't Found Yet was basically unwatchable, but he had to have still heard of it.

Before she could explain herself, however, Quark continued talking with an earnest expression. "Grandpa said we should pretend not to know each other, in case somebody would use it against us. I don't think I could do that for long, though."

"When did he say that?" K asked. "You were in separate AB rooms, and I was under the impression that Alice escaped first. I do not think you would be inclined to discuss such a thing in front of Dio."

"I… I don't know," Quark answered, flustered.

"Don't worry, Quark," Phi said, to Quark's apparent relief, "Let's carry on looking. Quark, can you look under stuff to see if there's anything us adults missed?"

They searched in relative silence, Phi and Quark only talking to show things to K, each of which he dismissed as something he had seen during the puzzle. They were only interrupted by the arrival of Sigma. He nodded to Phi; while things were still awkward between them, they had at least returned to normality.

"How's it going? You guys find anything?" Sigma said.

The three of them showed Sigma what they had found and K explained how it all was used in the puzzle.

"Well, Alice, Clover and I did go over this room quite thoroughly. I doubt you'll find any hidden hallways here," K concluded, "I only came back here because I was concerned about the lady you found. Who would do such a horrible thing?"

Phi recalled Dio's outburst from the last time they had been in the infirmary. Impolite as Dio had been, his hypothesis was reasonable. "Given what we know so far, you're the most likely candidate." K prepared to rebuke the accusation once again, but Phi stopped him. "Hey, don't get me wrong. I'm just saying the evidence points to you right now. If we find more evidence in the future, that could change."

Sigma looked around the privacy screen that K had erected, careful not to move it. He spoke thoughtfully, "We were so busy earlier that I never got to ask, but do any of you know who she is?"

No-one did. K's gauntleted hand scratched his chin in contemplation.

"Well I suppose I might have known her before I lost my memories, but there's no way to know now, is there?"

"You'd better be telling the truth about this amnesia stuff," Sigma said.

"Are you suspicious of me too, Sigma?" K raised his hands passively.

"Suspicious? Have you looked in a mirror lately? You might as well have 'suspicious' tattooed across your forehead." Sigma said.

Phi had to agree with him. "If someone ran into you on the street at night, they'd probably pass out from fright."

"Or maybe even during the day," Quark completed Phi's joke.

"I'm so sorry. I apologise for my frightening appearance," K said, "I'm not sure why, but to me none of this feels particularly strange. The mask and the suit, I mean. In a way it almost feels natural. I don't feel as if I was forced into it."

"This might be a pretty obvious question, but is there any way for you to take it off?" Quark asked.

K shook his head sadly. "No. I've tried several times, to no avail. I honestly don't even know where to start. Ah, but there is something I'd like to ask of you. There are parts of the suit I can't see. Could you have a look, and tell me if perhaps there is a switch or something similar?"

K removed his cape and turned his back to the other three. The thing K wanted them to find was immediately apparent. Just above the neck of the suit was a finely machined socket; currently the mechanism was pointed towards the top of his head but to one side was a label saying 'OPEN'. It was clearly the lock to K's suit. Phi attempted to manipulate the lock and rotate it open, but it was too flat and smooth for her fingers to grasp. It seemed to require a special key to use it.

As they described the lock and their failure to open it to K, he perked up, though he still moved slowly to avoid hitting the people behind him. "I see. That's excellent news," K said, "We just need to find whatever it is that goes in there, then. I feel somewhat relieved. I was beginning to fear I might have to spend the rest of my life like this."

"Wait. A minute ago you said it felt natural," Quark asked.

K looked down at the kid, trying to explain exactly what he meant. "That does not mean I want to stay in it forever. Imagine having glasses, for instance. Wearing them doesn't feel strange, but you'd hardly want to wear them all the time, forever, would you? That's what wearing this suit is like."

The conversation died down, as did the now merely perfunctory search. K looked around the room, his motions sluggish and disinterested. "There doesn't appear to be anything else to find in this room," he stated, "Do you think we should move to the next room?"

Sigma stretched his arms out. "I think I'll be moving along too. I still want to check out the crew quarters."

"An excellent idea," K replied, "I will accompany you."

Once Sigma and K had left, Phi flopped herself down on the next bed over from where Quark was sitting, strategically placing herself between the child and the disturbing presence of the dead lady; though Quark stridently claimed he wasn't bothered Phi still felt a… duty, almost… to shield him. Pursuing that purpose, she tried to distract Quark by reigniting the conversation.

"So what do you do back home?"

"I help Grandpa with his work," Quark replied.

"Aren't you a little young for that?" Phi asked.

"I am not a kid!" Quark yelled again. However, he quickly calmed down and continued, "It's really fun. Grandpa and I get to go and explore all the old ruins and look for stuff! You all think I'm just a child, but I bet that if there is something here to find, I'll be the one to find it. I've gotta lot of practice finding things."

"Come on then, mister archaeologist!" Phi said jokingly, "What do your finely tuned senses say about this place?"

Quark scratched his head curiously and concentrated hard, but before a minute was up his head sunk back down. "Dunno. Everything about this place isn't right. There's just a warehouse, a lounge, a hospital and some bedrooms. It's not like any other place I've been before. There's not even any toilets!"

Phi considered Quark's statement. Though she hadn't yet felt the call of nature, nor did anyone else seem to have been since they had awoken, there was not a single indication, in the rooms she had searched, that they were any toilets. Quark was right: surely a facility this large had to include them. Phi unfolded the map. Though there were no toilets depicted on the map, there were places where the symbols for doors were greyed out, and one such location was in the lounge. Phi realised that any place with that much alcohol served would also require nearby bathrooms; the lounge was therefore the best place to test her theory.

Phi raced out of the infirmary, pausing only to shout "That's brilliant!" to Quark.

As Phi entered the corridor behind the infirmary she was shocked to find Luna standing there perfectly stationary. Phi waited for Luna to say something but she just stood there, a hauntingly serene expression on her face. The dim lights cast inhuman shadows across her face; Luna appeared completely unconcerned about how she looked. For a moment, Phi thought she saw Luna's lips move, and heard a slight hint of a high pitched squeal, but then Luna was still again, just as she had been before. As she tried to comprehend what she was seeing, a strange headache exploded in her mind, abating only when Phi turned away. Phi didn't have time to wait and see what Luna would do; she ran to the left trying to put Luna's strange behaviour out of her mind. As Luna receded from view, Phi could only think that, though Luna had voted 'Ally' during the AB game, her demeanour was as disconcerting as ever.

Phi burst into the lounge, surprising Dio and Alice who – it was becoming increasingly clear this was entirely typical of Dio – were in a heated discussion. However, they stopped at Phi's boisterous approach.

"Hey, partner," Dio said sleazily, "You went through here, didn't you. Sigma was here earlier, but I'd bet you'd be able to see more than that senile old fool." Dio's blatant and feeble attempt at flattery made Phi feel sick and violated.

Phi was about to mention what Quark had helped her realise when Alice interrupted her. "Actually, before you look around, you should have a look at this." Alice held her hand out to Phi, showing her that Dio and Alice had been fighting over what looked like a newspaper article. Phi read it curiously.

'Radical-6 Infection Spreads, Cure Continues to Elude Authorities.

'The Radical-6 virus continues to spread across the globe like wildfire.

'The WHO has confirmed that the death toll is estimated to have passed 100,000 victims.

'Immediate quarantine of any infected patients is strongly advised.'

"What do you make of that?" Alice asked, once Phi had lifted her gaze from the excerpt.

Phi flipped the paper over, but the reverse side was merely matte black. Combine that – the unusually formatted paper – with the fact that she had never heard of this so-called 'Radical-6', and there could only be one conclusion.

"This has to be fake," Phi stated, "Zero could mock up anything he wanted, and leave it for us to find, just to get a jump out of us."

"Ha! Told you the others would agree with me," Alice exclaimed at Dio, "Dio seems to think we should believe this piece of rubbish."

Dio snarled. "You must have looked at yourself in the mirror too many times, let your vanity rot your brains." He spread his arms out expansively. "There's a great and terrible virus ravishing the world outside and all you idiots are too self-centred to believe it."

"Just drop it, Dio" Phi commanded, "I didn't come in here to get in an argument with you about a scrap of paper. Just get out of my way."

She pushed past Dio and marched over to the left hand side of the bar. There was what she was looking for: the middle of the wall stood out from the rest of it; it had been sealed over with a welded steel plate shaped like a larger version of the door it was clearly covering. Phi rapped her knuckles rhythmically against the metal. The echoing pure tone that resulted told Phi that she had found exactly what she was looking for. There was a passageway behind the plating: inaccessible at the moment, but worth remembering.

Before she could explain to Alice and Dio, however, Quark ran in.

"Miss Phi, Miss Alice, Mister Dio!" he shouted frantically, "You've gotta hurry! Check your bracelets!"

Phi did so. There were only five minutes remaining before the Chromatic Doors opened.

"Quark's right. Let's go," she said.

The nine of them reunited at the elevator and rode it down to the atrium of the Chromatic Doors. As the elevator doors let them out and they spread out into the room, the three Chromatic Doors slid open invitingly.

"Chromatic Doors have opened. Five minutes remain until Chromatic Doors close."

Phi immediately took charge. She had been mulling over the new set of colours in her head and, once again, had calculated the only three possible options:

Option A:
Phi and Dio went with K through the Red door.
Sigma and Alice went with Luna through the Green door.
Quark and Tenmyouji went with Clover through the Blue door.

Option B:
Phi and Dio went with Clover through the Green door.
Sigma and Alice went with K through the Blue door.
Quark and Tenmyouji went with Luna through the Red door.

Option C:
Phi and Dio went with Luna through the Blue door.
Sigma and Alice went with Clover through the Red door.
Tenmyouji and Quark went with K through the Green door.

Before Phi could even take another breath after explaining, Tenmyouji voiced his forceful objections. "I'm not pairing up with K," he said sternly, "We'd end up playing against each other in the next AB game. Last time, you overruled Clover and betrayed Alice. This time, there isn't even anyone to restrain you. How am I supposed to know you won't do the same again?"

"It is unfortunate you feel about me that way," K stated politely, "To be honest however, I would rather not go with you either. You have only one BP left. I am not willing to risk murdering you, so would be forced to ally. However, I very much doubt you would choose 'Ally'. The result of our forced choices would place Quark on nine BP. Of all the pairs here, I believe Tenmyouji is the most likely to help his partner out through the Number Nine Door, regardless of the consequences to yourself or the rest of us. It would be a very undesirable situation."

Phi was subconsciously grateful for the opposition to option C; that would place her with Luna, and she was still somewhat freaked out by Luna's uncanny behaviour. Unfortunately, Alice spoke up, indirectly contradicting everything said before.

"Sigma and I will be taking Clover. I trust her more than any of you," she said.

"Yup!" Clover concurred, "I want to go with Alice."

"That won't work," Phi said angrily, "That's option C, which Tenmyouji and K won't take."

Alice scowled and folded her arms across her chest defensively. "I don't see why Tenmyouji's preference should be any more important than mine…"

Suddenly everyone was talking, declaring their preferences loudly for everyone who was listening – that is, no-one. There was no chance of a consensus being reached through the cacophony.

The argument was only interrupted by a sickening thud. Phi spun around. Quark had sunk limply to his knees next to Tenmyouji, and was staring vacantly into the wall.

"It's all over…" he muttered blankly, "We're all going to die here. We all have to die here… We should just stop playing…"

Luna rushed forwards. "We need to get him to the infirmary!"

Phi placed a hand on Luna's chest, stopping her firmly. "No. We don't have time. We have to get through the doors."

The time limit was pressing on them heavily. Much as Phi was worried about Quark, his collapse had at least silenced the pointless argument. Now Phi had the social momentum. If she chose now, everyone else would follow.

She couldn't bring herself to consider option C. Luna may be acting more normally while the entire group was together, but Phi couldn't trust her. The other two options, however, had their merits. K and Clover had voted 'Betray' during the first AB game, but her instincts told Phi that their contrition was genuine. Both were strong willed, which would be useful for managing Phi's unreliable partner.

Her mind made up, Phi raised her voice and announced her choice.

Choice:
A) Go through the Red door with K.
B) Go through the Green door with Clover.

This fanfic has branching storylines. To keep track of the various storylines, a link to the Flow Diagram is provided in my Author Profile.