Phi's arms burned with frustrated exhaustion as Alice gradually but surely overpowered her. Alice would win any contest of strength between them, but Phi couldn't see how this could be anything else. If Phi kept her hands on Alice's wrist, she was stuck in the struggle; if Phi released Alice in order to attempt something, she would only have a second before Alice killed Phi or herself or both of them. Phi's vision glazed over as she focused all of her energy into resisting, but then suddenly all the pressure was released from her arms, and Phi was somewhere else.

Well, not quite. When Phi's vision cleared she was still in the B. garden. Not only that, but she was standing in almost exactly the same place.

However, Alice was no longer in front of her. Instead, the alcove where Alice had tried to kill herself was veiled by a rushing waterfall. The water ran neatly to either side of the walkway and dropped into the stream.

Phi advanced towards the gushing water, then took a single step to the side, placing her in front of a chrome control panel with three identical buttons on it in a row. Phi's hand reached out and rhythmically pressed them in sequence. As Phi released the final button, the waterfall faded away with a mournful gurgle. Eventually, the way to the back of the cliff face was clear, just as it had been when Phi had first arrived in the B. garden.

Curious, Phi took a step forward. A glint of metal shone out through the shadow, but as Phi approached it, it winked out and Phi was surrounded by pitch black darkness. Undaunted, Phi took one last step forwards, and as she was consumed by the shadow she faded back into the present.

Alice had returned, still bearing down on Phi with mindless fury. In the few milliseconds that Phi had been distracted, Alice had stolen another couple of inches; her blade was now excruciatingly close to Phi's chest.

But now, Phi had a chance to stop her.

If Phi could reactivate the waterfall, that would change the game entirely. Alice didn't know about it. Even if she did, the virus had disabled any chance she had of reacting to it intelligently. If Phi could turn the waterfall back on, then she would win.

Phi glanced over her shoulder carefully. The control panel was there, just as it had been in her dream.

It was also out of reach behind her.

Phi wasn't going to let that stop her, though. All she needed was a bit of strategy. Phi stepped back, feigning unsteadiness as if she was being overwhelmed by Alice's strength.

Alice stepped forward in turn, pressing her advantage.

That was exactly what Phi wanted. Now she was one step closer to her goal, and still had control of the knife to prevent Alice from killing herself. Phi repeated the tactic, knowing for certain that it would work again.

It did.

Now Phi was almost there. As Alice once again closed the gap, Phi flexed her right arm, ready for what she had to do next. Phi, trusting her left hand to hold Alice at bay for just a second longer, flung her right hand out desperately towards the control panel.

She made it. With frantic rapidity, Phi tapped out the sequence she had seen in her vision.

For a moment, Phi thought she had failed: that the waterfall wouldn't return and all her efforts were for nothing. But then the echoes of a fierce roar emanated from within the cliff face. Water spouted over the top of the rocks and crashed down onto Alice's back. Alice, surprised, lost her footing on the now-slippery walkway; as Alice fell Phi levered her arm around and wrested away the knife. As the icy cold water washed over Alice, all the tension drained from her face; soon she was unconscious.

Phi had succeeded; Alice had been saved.


Once Phi had dragged Alice from the shallow but rapidly-deepening pool below the waterfall and checked her vital signs, she collapsed against the zelkova tree that overshadowed the doors in and out of the garden. She could barely move. The adrenaline rush had ended; as the pain returned it made it brutally clear how close Phi had been to failure. Now the only thing Phi could feel was the howling ache in her shoulders as they complained about what Phi had made them withstand. Heeding their tempting suggestion, Phi dozed in the shade of the tree.

Despite the roughness of the bark, finally having the chance to rest made Phi feel it was luxurious. Her eyelids drooped closed. Phi let gravity take her and her head slipped gently to one side. It fell, and fell, and fell…

Until she was abruptly halted by a lump of cold metal and unyielding glass.

Phi jerked awake, panic driving her heartrate to a torturous speed. Though she had only felt it, she had already guessed what it was. Still, she had to be absolutely certain. Phi opened her eyes and stared fretfully at the object.

It was a bomb. A second antimatter bomb, labelled '01'.

Phi's heart skipped a beat as she realised how dangerously close she had come to death: not just hers, but everyone's. If she had fallen on it any harder, she could have easily set it off. Phi backed away, making sure that there was no possibility she could be that fatally clumsy again.

Phi was interrupted by Sigma's hoarse voice, resonating through the doors. "Alice!" he yelled. He sounded anguished; he didn't yet know that Alice was safe.

Phi forced herself to her feet as Sigma entered. "Oh, there you are. Good," Phi said, keeping her tone neutral. She'd had some time to steady her nerves after the frantic fight, but she was still worried that some of her latent anxiety would show through. She wasn't ready to discuss how she had known where Alice was, or the miraculous inspiration that had given her victory. She wasn't yet ready to discuss the mortal fright the bomb had inflicted on her. "I'm glad you showed up. I'll need your help to get her to the infirmary."

"Then she's, uh… alive?" Sigma asked.

Phi nodded. "Her breathing and pulse seem normal. She didn't manage to wound herself either: at least, no obvious wounds. She's just unconscious."

"What about the scalpel?" Sigma asked.

"I got it away from her," Phi replied. Then, since Sigma hadn't yet moved to help her carry Alice, she commanded, "Anyway, we need to get her back to the infirmary. Give me a hand here." Then, Phi remembered the bomb. Sigma had a right to know. "Wait, hold on! There's… something I need to show you. Just stay calm, and look at the tree."

Sigma did as instructed. He paused. Then his mouth dropped open.

"What the hell?!" he roared.

"Yep. It's another bomb," Phi stated, "And I've got more good news. Think about the numbers for a moment."

"You're saying there's another bomb out there somewhere: a number '02' bomb?!"

"I can't be sure, but it does seem pretty likely," Phi replied.

"Who set it?" Sigma asked.

Phi tried to think about who had the opportunity. "Clover, Tenmyouji and Dio investigated the garden," she recalled. However, remembering anything relevant after the end of the puzzles was impossible: Phi had been too focused on chasing Alice to notice unrelated details. "There's also a chance someone else set it," Phi conceded. Giving up, Phi returned to where Alice lay and placed her hands under Alice's shoulders. "Anyway, we need to move Alice. Help me out here."


It didn't take long to get Alice back to the infirmary, where they were greeted with relief by the rest of the players.

"You found her!" Luna exclaimed. She gestured at the ADAM. "Please, bring her over here." Once Sigma had laid Alice out on the ADAM's bed, Luna took another injection gun full of Soporil Beta and injected Alice just as she had injected Quark. "Just in case…" Luna muttered.

Then, she started scanning. After about a minute of waving the scanning attachment over Alice, Luna turned around and raised her voice.

"Please pay attention, everyone! You need to hear this. The ADAM has finished scanning Alice. Her results are identical to Quark's. She has also been infected with Radical-6."

There was a short, strained gasp from Clover. "Oh no… No! What's going to happen to her?!"

"Well, like I said before," Luna said, "there's only one way to cure Radical-6. The special anti-viral treatment Axelavir."

Clover ran up to Alice's bed, only barely able to keep herself standing beside it. "No… No… Oh Alice… I don't want you to die! Please… You can't die! I don't want to be alone."

Clover's grieving was interrupted by an impersonal announcement playing through the facility's speakers. "Ten minutes remain until Ambidex Game polling closes. All players please enter your votes. If no vote is recorded before the deadline has passed, any non-voting parties will automatically ally."

"Uh, guys," Dio murmured, taking a purposeful stride towards the door out of the infirmary, "I think we should be getting back to the warehouse."

"What about Alice and Quark?" Sigma asked.

Dio shrugged. "I guess we're just gonna have to leave them behind."

"No!" Clover jumped up from where she was knelt next to Alice and marched angrily up to Dio. "Like heck I'm gonna leave Alice all alone. I'm staying here!"

Luna patted Clover on the shoulder gingerly. "She's going to be fine… she's sleeping, just like Quark."

"I don't care!" Clover tensed up her entire body, but eventually her rage subsided and she relaxed, slumping back against Luna. "I just want to stay with her. She shouldn't have to be all alone by herself…"

Dio waved his hands in the air, scornfully dismissing Clover's statement. "Whatever. She can do what she wants." He looked unconcerned, but Phi saw a sliver of a grin instinctively form between Dio's pursed lips.

Phi's breath caught in her throat as she understood why Dio was so gleeful.

"I see… Dio and Tenmyouji's opponent in the next AB Game is Clover. If she doesn't vote, then she'll default to 'Ally'. Which, I don't need to mention, would be pretty favourable for Dio. If she stays, he's got an easy round."

"Wh-Whoa!" Dio spluttered, "What are you saying? You think I'm gonna choose 'Betray'?"

"Yeah," Phi replied bluntly, "Am I wrong?"

"Yes! Of course I'm going to pick 'Ally'!" Seeing that his mere assertion wasn't convincing anyone, Dio scraped together a defence. "For one, Tenmyouji's going to be in there with me! I can't just ignore his opinion and make my own choice. Right?"

Unfortunately, Tenmyouji shook his head. "I won't be going. I can't leave Quark in here when he's like this. I'll be staying, just like Clover."

Luna suddenly spoke up with an idea. "What if Dio stays behind too? If Clover, Tenmyouji and Dio all don't vote then everyone allies, right?"

It seemed like a good plan, but suddenly K intervened. "Oh? You don't know? You didn't find a note like this one?" K unfolded a piece of paper and read it aloud, "It's from Zero Jr. 'Hare are some more AB Game rules for you! Not voting is not an hoption. If both parties refuse to vote, then everybunny get penalised!' So you see? At least one member of each trio must vote. Otherwise…" K trailed off.

"So, that means K has to vote," Phi pointed out, "Quark and Alice certainly aren't in any condition to. If he doesn't, all three of them are screwed."

"Wait!" Dio snapped indignantly, "K's got six BP right now. That means if K chooses 'Betray', he's going to have nine points! Why's everyone hounding me about what I'll vote, and letting K just saunter out of here?"

K sighed. "Dio, please, think for a moment. You do realise Alice currently only has one BP, don't you? I am not so desperate to escape that I would be willing to kill. Therefore, I will definitely choose 'Ally. I have no choice. Unless, of course, I wish to become a murderer."

That probably wasn't the best way for K to have phrased it, but it didn't matter. If K voted, Alice might die. If K didn't, she would definitely die.

Another announcement interrupted the argument. "Five minutes remain until Ambidex Game polling closes."

"We don't have time to argue about this," Tenmyouji stated authoritatively, "There's only one solution. Clover, you're going to have to go vote for us."

"What does that mean?" Dio snapped.

Suddenly, Tenmyouji lept at Dio. "It means this!" Tenmyouji launched his fist towards Dio; it landed with a sickening crunch and Dio collapsed against the wall. "He's not gonna stay down forever! Get out of here!" Tenmyouji told Clover.

"B-But," Clover stammered.

Tenmyouji interrupted, "You and K are in the same position now. I've only got one BP too, so…"

"Are you saying you trust me with your life?" Clover asked hesitantly.

"That's about the size of it. Now go! What the hell are you standing around here for?! Go! I'll keep a good eye on Alice for you, I promise."

Finally, Clover started moving, and all the other players who would be going to vote – Phi, Sigma, Luna and K – went with her.


There wasn't much time, but Phi felt it necessary to at least talk to Sigma and Luna before they voted. "Hold on a minute!" she called after them as they dashed towards an Ambidex Gate, "You're going to choose 'Ally', right?"

"Yeah, of course," Sigma replied instantly, "Why do you ask?"

"You promise?" Phi paid careful attention to Sigma's eyes, looking for any hint of deceit.

"Sure. I promise," Sigma replied.

"Cross your heart?"

"Cross my heart."

That was as good as Phi was going to get: she hadn't noticed any duplicity as she tested Sigma. "You're going to be in for a world of hurt if you double-cross me." With that said, Phi turned away and entered her AB Room, letting the Gate close behind her.

Once again, those two options appeared weightily on the screen. 'Ally'. 'Betray'. Phi had to pick one, and she had only a minute to do it.

Could Phi trust Sigma to vote 'Ally'? She'd done as much as she could to test his trustworthiness, and he seemed to be sincere. Not only that, but during the first AB Game when they had voted together, he had been insistent on allying with Alice. That boded well for this round.

But… what if Sigma was thinking the same thing? It had been Phi who had chosen to betray Alice: Sigma had to remember that. If he expected Phi to betray because of that…

Those were just the normal things Phi had to consider. After Sigma's prediction about the antimatter bombs and after his behaviour in the reactor control room, Phi wasn't sure that she trusted him. What was he hiding? He was hiding something from her, and that worried Phi to her very core.

And with both Phi and Sigma on six BP, this round was too high-stakes for Phi to take it lightly. Maybe, just maybe… Phi should betray Sigma first.

With everything that had happened so far weighing on her mind, Phi placed her hand over the touchscreen and made her choice.

Choice:
A) Ally
B) Betray


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

And it's time for another AB Game! Once again, I'll put a poll up on my author profile for you. I'm rather curious to see what you'll pick here...