Once again, the glowing line lies below me, surrounded on all sides by naught but endless, undulating darkness. It seems to have grown a new branch, though it's a small and stunted one, endlessly shedding small particles of light from the sphere that caps it. The rest of the line remains unchanged, each rounded node thrumming in an almost hypnotic manner as the streams of time flow through them in thin, brilliant rivers.

Intellectually, I notice these things, yet I can't bring myself to truly care about them any more than the last time I was here. Instead, I simply let myself drift, languidly admiring the view as I weightlessly float through the void before me.

Eventually something seems to tug me towards the line, reeling me in like a gentle, ethereal fishing hook. I slowly draw closer, picking up speed as I go, until the light of one node is all I can see, and I find myself falling once again...

I blink rapidly, disoriented from my sudden return to physical existence. I- did I do it? Did I manage to SHIFT- no, dumb question. I'm alive, so obviously I must have... thank goodness…

The relieved sigh I let out at that turns to one of frustration halfway through as I look down at myself. I'm still Clover, which wasn't exactly unexpected, but is still a little disappointing. Additionally, while I'm glad to have miraculously survived my own death for a second time over, it still had to actually reach that point for my mind to move timelines, and I still had no real control over any part of the process. Where and when even am I now-

"Clover?"

I startle and whirl around. K is standing beside me, giving me what I can only assume to be a quizzical look.

"Are you well?" he asks. "You seemed rather distant for a moment."

"Uh- yeah, I'm fine." I automatically reply. "Just... spaced out, is all."

K nods, seeming to accept the excuse as I take in our surroundings. We're in an AB room...

"One minute remains until Ambidex Game polling closes."

At the same time the announcement rings out, I notice the files in my left hand. This must be the first ally/betray vote then, just after we found Akane's body. I've gone another step back... but still not far enough. Damn it.

"Hmm. To ally, or to betray…" K starts.

As he repeats the same lines he did the first time around, weighing the pros and cons of our two options, I quickly hold a silent debate with myself over the very same question. I'm not going to resolve my SHIFTing problems within the next minute, so we have to make a decision on this before I can do anything else. But we already allied last time, so if we don't betray now, am I just going to end up going down the exact same path I did before?

I barely manage to suppress the involuntary shiver that ripples through me at the thought of reliving either of those "endings" again. That… shouldn't have to happen though, right? Based on what's happened so far, the events of the Nonary Game clearly aren't immutable to change, and I have all my memories of what to avoid. As long as I do things differently, there's no reason things should progress the same way, whether we pick ally or not. I don't know which one is likely to give me more time to get better at SHIFTing though-

"Thirty seconds remain until Ambidex Game polling closes."

-argh, there's no time to think about this!

I quickly give K the same reasoning at last time and hit ally again, just before Akane's countdown hits zero. Better the devil I know, I suppose...

I take a moment to re-fold the files and stick them back in my pocket, dropping their folders on the floor again as the doors slide open. Stepping out of the room and moving over to the results wall, where Zero Jr. once again resides, I try not to react to the sight of everyone else as they emerge from their own rooms and gather around as well. While slightly disconcerting to see everyone alive and back to acting perfectly normal, when what feels like mere minutes ago I watched more than half of them consign themselves to their imminent deaths, it's mostly just a huge relief… mostly, at least.

My holdout on that statement comes in the form of Dio, who I nervously scoot away from as he saunters over to join the rest of the group. Unfortunately, everyone else being alive again means he is too, and while perhaps slightly lessened by having gotten to drop kick him in the face not too long ago, my death-induced fear of him is still acutely present. As soon as I get the chance, I need to grab and hide his knife again, lest he manage to reclaim it like he did last time.

"Let's get ready to rock!" Zero Jr. announces, still in a far-too bombastic way to feel remotely appropriate to the situation. It hasn't actually been that long, but it feels weird having him back. "AM. BIDEX. GAAAAAAAAAME! Rouuuuuund one! The resuuuuuuults! If everybunny would please direct their eyes to this monitor…"

As the others focus in on the holographic display, I instead decide to focus on figuring out what my plan for this timeline is, since I never intended to be here. Thankfully, I already know what's coming, so as long as I keep away from Dio, and don't blow up on everyone again — at least not in a way that leads to everyone being blown up again — I should be able to avoid the pitfalls that led to such unpleasant ends before. That should in turn give me plenty of time to figure out where I'm going wrong with SHIFTing at will. I'm not entirely sure I can really make any more headway in that regard — it's not like I haven't been trying before now, and there's only so long I can consider a subject before I start repeating myself — but I have to try.

"Here are the results from your game! Now, lettuce check the numbers on our bracelets."

Since I already know the results, I ignore Zero Jr.'s announcement in favor of continuing my current train of thought.

Even if I don't figure out how to SHIFT without having to die to accomplish it, the fact that I've now managed it twice makes me significantly more confident that I can keep any future potential deaths from "sticking" the way I've been hugely concerned about. While I'd still like to figure out how to move timelines in a way that doesn't require my becoming a cadaver in the process, what's likely more important is figuring out how to "steer" myself when I do, since both times thus far I've just been sort of pulled back into the timeline at random, without any real say in where I end up. That said, how exactly am I supposed to-

"It appears we chose poorly, Clover." K says from beside me in a vaguely unhappy tone.

I blink and look up at him, my focus broken. What? Chose poorly? Didn't we just get...

I finally look over at the results.

Dio + Quark: BETRAY

Luna: ALLY

Clover + K: ALLY

Tenmyouji: BETRAY

Sigma + Phi: ALLY

Alice: BETRAY

I turn towards Tenmyouji, my lips parting in surprise. He stares back at me, eyes slightly lidded, with his mouth set in a thin, hard line.

"…why?" I ask, unable to articulate myself any better.

"Sorry." he says, seeming honest, but unregretful. "I wanted to trust you. Really, I mean that. But in the moment, I just... didn't feel like I could."

His brow furrows for a brief moment, as if even he isn't exactly sure why he felt that way. At the same time, the reason hits me like a bolt of lightning, and my eyes widen in shock.

He... he must have resonated with himself through the Morphogenetic Field. Of course Tenmyouji can do that; he literally has almost this exact same scenario play out with Sigma in the game — something I already considered earlier — and the fact that he's an esper is the entire reason Akane even wanted him here to begin with. I didn't even... think about... that...

K is saying something to Tenmyouji, but I fail to process any of it, too busy hanging my head in regret. Damn it, I really shouldn't have done what I did last timeline. I'd thought that without the actual SHIFTers present, nothing I did past that point would make any difference, but I got so wrapped up in the importance of SHIFTing that I managed to completely overlook what the concept is based on, even though I'd literally been thinking about it in detail before Alice came and fetched me from the infirmary. How was I so stupid as to forget that…?

My current expression and stance must make me look pretty pathetic, because Tenmyouji's face seems to be growing increasingly guilty the longer he looks at me. Maybe he only unconsciously remembers the previous timeline then, or doesn't remember anything but the feelings from it... better than the alternative, I suppose. But even if that's true, it doesn't change that on some level, he does remember — remembers that I said I'm not really Clover, and all but deliberately got everyone killed — and that's going to color every interaction he has with me from here on out. Sure, the Bracelet Points may not really matter, but pushing away potential allies certainly does, and I just majorly screwed myself over in that regard.

Eventually Tenmyouji looks away, averting his gaze from me entirely, and moves over to where Quark is again protesting his innocence to Luna. As he leaves, I turn to K, the mood between us heavy and melancholic.

"...sorry." I say. "About the vote, I mean. I just... I thought..."

I pause for a moment, close my eyes, and sigh. "...I thought wrong, I guess."

"It is indeed rather unfortunate." K replies. "I cannot say for certain that I would not have voted the same, however. There is nothing that can be done about it now in any event, so let us simply be more cautious in the future."

Cautious... yeah, that's probably sound advice. Especially since...

I look over at Alice, who's currently speaking to a visibly upset Sigma, looking honestly rather amused at his anger.

Tenmyouji's vote isn't the only one that changed. Alice betrayed Sigma and Phi this time, while they allied with her. Which means that she also got information through the MGF, and... she might remember the last timeline too. It's not a certainty — in fact, it's more likely she was just influenced by the outcome of the other time we made this choice, and she probably doesn't even recall it as anything but a strong gut feeling that she would be betrayed. But I can't completely write off the prospect that she remembers more than that, and if she does… then there's a distinct possibility that Alice now hates me.

I squeeze my eyes shut and look away again. I can't think about this right now. It won't do me any good anyways. I'll find out what Alice knows later, and... deal with it then.

The other two group discussions soon come to an end, and Alice prompts Zero Jr. to explain when the next round will happen and how long this will go on for. Like before, I try to make sure that it at least looks like I'm paying attention, but it's not all that easy. With all the repeated and drawn out tidbits of information, combined with my current less-than-positive mood, it's hard to even pretend that I'm genuinely focused on any of it.

Unable to concentrate on the screen, my eyes start flickering from person to person, considering my plethora of potential problems. Even if I disregard Dio, as well as whatever issues I may have just made for myself with Tenmyouji and Alice, there's also Phi to worry about. I'm still angry with her for her part in how the last timeline ended — while I admit the miserable note it concluded on was mostly my fault, she's still the one who "ended" the line in the first place, and thus kicked everything off.

More importantly however, I have no idea why her future self would be so hostile towards me to begin with. Her disdain was fairly unmistakable, given how obviously terse and angry she was while speaking with me in the infirmary, and with what she did during the AB round… maybe she only let Dio reach 9 BP because she needed Sigma to escape for some reason, but it honestly felt more like she did it out of spite than anything else. If so, as the only other SHIFTer still around, I can only assume it was deliberately aimed at me. But even if something happened between her and Clover in the line she came from, I don't remember Phi acting that petty in VLR. Not to that degree, at least…

Wondering if I'm just imagining things, I glance over at the other girl again-

And find her staring right back at me.

Both of us instinctively freeze upon meeting the other's eyes, then quickly snap our heads away from each other in eerie synchronicity. I force my gaze back to the wall, my mind racing even faster than it already has been.

...she's watching me. Why is she watching me? Everyone should be focused on Zero Jr. right now; this is important stuff to know if you haven't already heard it! Is this another Phi from "later"? Or...

My panic begins to subside. Or maybe, she's just more concerned with who the real Zero is than what Zero Jr. has to say. After all, Zero would presumably already know what his proxy is going to say, and thus wouldn't need to be fully concentrating on him... is that why Phi was suspicious of me back in the first timeline? She was watching everyone during these infodumps, and noticed how uninvested I was in them, so she suspected I might be the real Zero? I mean, I've been trying, but it's already been made fairly clear that acting is not necessarily my strong suit. It's been good enough for everyone else, but if Phi is specifically looking for signs that I'm faking my reactions, she's probably finding them.

I cross my arms, frowning at the thought. It's a bit childish, but the idea of Phi being suspicious of me for not paying attention when she's also not paying attention rather irritates me. I suppose if she's looking for someone who didn't seem surprised by the game's rules, she isn't wrong to pick me out of the crowd, but still-

"You. Die."

I abruptly realize that Zero Jr. just announced how the bracelets can potentially come off. Keeping Phi's scrutiny in mind, I try to put extra effort into my faux-horrified reaction this time, though I worry that just made it look even faker. Luckily I don't have to keep it up for long, as the AI continues on to explain how the bracelets sense bioelectricity, then gets right back to taunting everyone.

"But if you're lucky, you might get to see a few of them come off during the next round!" Zero Jr. cheers. "…Oops, I guess it's not going to be very lucky for some of you, huh? He he he he…"

"Next round?" Tenmyouji repeats.

"Uh-yup."

"What do you mean?" Alice asks.

"Well, do I have to explain everything?" the AI pouts. "Somebunny might die during the next round of the AB game! ...There, that's pretty clear, right? If I had to guess, I'd say it's going to be Moony, or Potassium, or maybe Cleaver…"

Alice's gaze snaps towards me, an alarmed look on her face.

"Ooooooor… it might even be all three of them! He he he he he…"

Zero Jr. then proceeds to repeat the same speech as before about what will happen if anyone's BP falls to zero, which doesn't hold any real surprises for me. What does surprise me however is that once he finishes, Alice starts repeating herself as well.

"What the hell?!" Alice yells. "This is important stuff! Why didn't you tell us about this earlier?!"

I blink at her, slightly confused. Yeah, it's important, but she came out ahead this time, didn't she? Why does she seem just as angry as when she didn't?

I glance down at my bracelet. Maybe… maybe she's worried about me, since I only have 1 BP now? Does that mean she doesn't remember anything about the last timeline after all? I can't imagine she'd be this riled up for the sake of someone she doesn't know, and who she thinks stole her friend's body...

"Is there anything else you conveniently left out?!" Alice is still saying. "It's not fair to make people play a game without explaining all the rules!"

"I think it's fair..." Zero Jr. replies. "After all, it's not like anyone else knew..."

I wait for him to continue, and call Phi and I out for knowing about the 0 BP death penalty in advance... but he doesn't, instead just ending his sentence there. Huh. I didn't expect that, but I suppose it would be a little difficult to sell that to everyone when both of us lost points this time. Small mercies.

A few sentences later, Zero Jr. points out the new bracelet colors and pair assignments, prompting me to check mine. I'm now a cyan pair… I guess since the choices during the AB game were different from last time, these are too. Great, so I'm once again heading into a completely unknown situation. Because that went so well the last two times.

I sigh, then listen for whoever my partner is as everyone starts announcing their new designations. Quark, Luna, and K are on their own this round as the cyan, yellow, and magenta solos. Alice and Phi grimace at each other upon noticing their matching yellow bracelets, and Dio and Tenmyouji do much the same as they realize they're the magenta pair. Which means...

I turn to look at Sigma, who's just walked up to me.

"Looks like we're a team for the next round, Clover." he says, in that slightly awkward way one does upon speaking to someone they don't really know.

"Uh... yeah, I guess so." I reply, feeling equally awkward, if for a different reason.

…well, these pairings seem like a recipe for disaster. Or a recipe for great unpleasantness, at least. I don't see Tenmyouji and Dio getting along any time soon, Alice literally just betrayed Phi, and Sigma is... probably going to make more skeevy jokes at me. Yeah, this does not bode well.

Zero Jr. performs his insulting faux-tearful goodbye act again, wishes us all a nice tragedy, and disappears. A brief silence falls over the warehouse, which I choose not to break this time, and so Dio ends up being the one to speak up instead.

"That little piece of shit..." he mutters. "If I could get my hands on that little fucker, I'd squeeze him until he popped."

My god Dio, get a new favorite vocabulary word.

After Sigma denounces that visual as rather gross, Quark takes my place in asking what we do now. The same suggestion of splitting up and searching for possible exits is made, the only difference from the last time I lived this being that we apparently have 43 minutes left instead of 41. I guess Zero Jr. not calling me and Phi out saved us a minute or two.

Phi tells us to meet up ten minutes before the doors open again, and everyone begins to disperse. I guess that means I can go try to figure out my SHIFTing issues — again — and hopefully not just end up chasing my mind in circles like I did earlier-

I suddenly feel someone's palm on my shoulder, causing me to jump slightly in alarm.

"Clover?" Alice says softly as I turn to face her. "Follow me."

…oh, right. This.