I'm unable to stop myself from tensing, even as I hide a scowl.
Well of course it's Dio's fault. What isn't, in this game?
Dio blinks as the door closes behind him, seeming momentarily surprised to find so many people in here, before smiling widely and tipping his hat at everyone.
"Heh, I just stumble into a party or something?" he asks, tone light.
Not trusting myself not to say something snide and end up drawing his attention to me, I keep quiet and settle for silently glaring daggers at Dio from behind K's back, privately noting that he somehow looks even more exceedingly smug than usual. Unfortunately, I can't actually tell if it's any greater than his normal smugness, meaning he has something to actually feel smug about, or if I'm just imagining it because my tolerance for him has dropped to next to nothing after how the last two timelines ended.
"If by 'party' you mean 'dealing with a medical emergency', then I suppose you could say that." Alice dryly replies.
Dio squints. "Huh?"
Everyone other than myself jointly summarizes the events of the last however many minutes or so to him. It doesn't take long, but by the end of it, Dio has actually managed to make himself look convincingly worried.
"Wow, seriously?" he remarks. "Poor kid... glad you got him all fixed up. I miss anything else?"
Phi crosses her arms. "We were just discussing what we all found in our respective rooms' safes."
"That so?" Dio casually replies. "Well, I can tell you there wasn't anything good in ours. Basically just the same shit we found in the last one, plus some pretty pointless 'extra rules'."
"I would hardly describe those extra rules as 'pointless'." K interrupts. "The knowledge that at least one person of from each group must vote each round to prevent all three from being penalized is rather valuable information, whether you see it that way or not."
"And why would I?" Dio asks, rolling his eyes. "Seriously, what kind of moron would give up their vote in a game like this one in the first place?"
"Maybe the ones who weren't here, because you opened an AB Gate the second we got back." Tenmyouji retorts, some of his previous ire returning.
Dio sighs in a put-upon-sounding way. "Man, you're still bitching about that? Look around! Everyone's fine, and now we won't be stuck waiting any longer than we have to for the next round to start. If you two want to spend the rest of your lives wasting away in this place, it's no skin off my back, but I'd kind of like to get out of this dump as soon as possible."
I stifle a snort. So, same excuse he used last time, just delivered even more flippantly. Quite a feat, that.
"You think that makes it okay that you were willing to risk the lives of six other people?" Tenmyouji growls. "Not to mention that stunt you pulled back in the treatment center."
"Sorry, 'stunt'?" Dio scoffs. "Remind me, who was the one that actually opened the safe while you two were busy screwing around with those weird-ass pods and yammering on about ice mummies? I basically soloed that room for you ungrateful bastards, and this is the thanks I get?"
"Our problem lies not in the fact that you completed the final puzzle, but that you unilaterally chose to exit the room before we could conduct any further investigation." K replies, hunching over in anger. "Thus locking us out of the safe's second solution."
"Hold on." Phi interrupts, narrowing her eyes at Dio. "You're saying you left without the archive because you were in a hurry? Even though you were the one that opened an AB Gate, and put a timer on everyone else?"
Dio shrugs. "Yeah, sounds about right. Again, who cares? Looks like you all got out with plenty of time to spare."
"I care." Alice says, glaring.
"So do I." Phi agrees, leaning forward with a similar expression and spreading her hands to her sides. "Setting aside that you apparently could have killed us, that archive might have held important clues about our situation."
While I'm still doing my best to hold my tongue for the time being, I can't stop myself from shooting Phi a slightly incredulous glance at that. Seriously? You're willing to overlook that in favor of the folder topic?
"Yeah? Like what?" Dio sarcastically demands. "The only things those files have had in them so far are useless bits of trivia, pointless personal anecdotes, and rules we get told all of ten minutes later anyways. What makes you think another one would be any different?"
In response, Phi pulls a slip of paper out of her jacket pocket and carefully unfolds it.
"This does."
...well, looks like at least one of our groups ended up grabbing our respective room's secret archive. I wonder if that was at Phi's insistence, or Alice's? Probably both, if I'm honest.
Dio smirks. "Heh, I see... alright then, enlighten me. What's this one got on it?"
Phi stares daggers at him, but proceeds anyways.
"First of all, it contains the exact same information about the dead woman's wounds that the ADAM displayed when Luna scanned her earlier." she says. "Given that these files seem to have been put in place ahead of time, that would seem to indicate that whoever killed the woman either did so in a very specific way, or her body was planted in the AB room after the killer used the ADAM on it... which in turn would exonerate any of us here of the murder, since none of us had any opportunity to do that between first leaving and returning to the AB rooms."
I squint. That... seems like slightly shakier reasoning than usual for Phi. I can see the logic, but I'm pretty sure I could also poke at least two or three holes in it.
"After that, there are a couple of extraneous entries defining what a coroner and an autopsy are." Alice chimes in, evidently having read over this file as well. "Then there's one explaining the uses of a chemical mixture called luminol, which we found a bunch of bottles of in the rec room."
Right right, that glow-in-the-dark liquid spray this series likes to use to hide codes in plain sight. I'm... pretty sure it was used for something outside of the room it came from in this game in particular, but I don't recall exactly what off the top of my head.
"And those uses are?" K questions.
"Well, it's apparently most commonly used at crime scenes." Alice replies. "...typically to locate blood stains that have been scrubbed off a surface and the like."
Sigma makes a face. "Oh... hopefully we won't end up needing to use that."
Phi nods in agreement. "Hopefully."
"Still not hearing what's so fucking important about this piece of paper." Dio says, loudly and obnoxiously reminding us of his existence.
"We're getting to it." Phi grits out as she swivels to face K. "The last two entries are related to you."
"...me?" K says, surprised.
"Yes, you." Phi deadpans. "The first one just explains that despite how it may look, your bracelet isn't actually part of your suit, and functions identically to everyone else's."
I blink. Wait, it's not built in? That's... good to know, actually. Guess that means the foil might work to remove it after all, if push comes to shove.
"As for the second entry..." Phi pauses, lending a sense of weight to her next words, "it's a short breakdown of the topic of generalized amnesia, singling out your situation as a specific example of it."
"Oh- was my earlier explanation of the concept not enough?" Luna asks, looking ever-so-slightly put out.
"No, your explanation was fine." Phi replies. "It was a lot more detailed than this file's version, honestly. The fact that the definition is listed on it at all is still important though, because that in turn implies that K's memory issues were known about in advance..."
She pauses, her expression turning grave.
"...and were possibly even deliberately induced."
There's silence for a couple moments, before Dio abruptly snorts.
"What, that's it?" he asks. "We already knew the bastard that abducted us has the resources to make a cure for a virus no one's ever even heard of, so how's it some big surprise if he has a way to screw with people's memories too? And, just a thought, but isn't it a lot more likely that garbage was written up and put in the safe after both those things already happened?"
Much as I loathe to agree with Dio on literally anything, he has a point. That's a considerably more reasonable conclusion to come to than the alternative, since it would explain the file both mentioning Akane's wounds and mentioning K's amnesia without resorting to time travel or precognition — even if the latter is in fact significantly more likely in this particular case.
"That's certainly possible," Phi starts to retort, "but-"
"But nothing." Dio rolls his eyes. "We don't know that we're alone in here just because that little turd of a rabbit said we are. In fact, we don't know that anything these 'archives' say is even true! Let's not forget that they were planted by that Zero fucker, and the only information they have to offer is stuff he probably wants us to know, given that he's strewn them all around this place like trash. All you've really proved about these files is that you're just as full of shit as they are-"
"Don't you get it?!" Phi snaps. "If Zero has the ability to cause amnesia in people at will, that means we can't even necessarily trust our own memories! For all we know, Zero could be knocking us out every hour, on the hour, and then just erasing all knowledge of it from our minds! This might not even be the first time we've done this!"
"Ten minutes remain until Ambidex Game polling closes." the intercom abruptly announces. "All players, please enter your votes. If no vote is recorded before the deadline has passed, any non-voting parties will automatically ally."
The disruption is just as well — Dio doesn't seem terribly interested in continuing this discussion any longer, evidently feeling he's made his point, and Phi has gone quiet as well, now visibly attempting to dial her anger back. Glancing at the latter, I can't help but think that outburst of hers was actually rather prescient, even if her theory doesn't apply to this particular game, nor this particular time. Wonder if the MGF was involved in that deduction, or if it was just natural intuition...
"Huh?"
Necks snap towards the examination bed, all prior conversation seemingly swept away in the span of an instant.
Quark's eyes are open.
"Quark!" Tenmyouji exclaims. "Oh, thank god..."
"Grandpa...?" Quark confusedly replies as the man kneels down by his bed. "What's wrong?"
"It's nothing, Quark... nothing at all." Tenmyouji says with clear relief, wrapping his adopted son in a tight embrace. "Are you feeling alright? How much do you remember?"
"I... remember Miss Clover pulling a lever, which opened a door, I think?" Quark says, looking over at me. "It gets kinda fuzzy from there though... what happened? Is this the infirmary?"
Glances are exchanged around the room.
"You were sick." Tenmyouji whispers. "Very sick."
"So much so that you fell unconscious just before we could enter the next room." Sigma adds. "Clover and I had to complete the puzzles without you, then rush you back up here."
"Luckily, that room had exactly what we needed to treat you." I chime in, trying for a more cheerful tone. "You should be all better now."
...or at least, he will be, hopefully. I don't think injections just in general usually work that fast, so I doubt the virus is fully out of his system — though, the fact that he isn't going crazy right now is obviously a good sign.
"Um, I don't know if I really get it?" Quark says, still seeming a bit confused. "I don't remember feeling sick. Just kinda tired. If Grandpa says so though, then I believe you, so... thanks!"
"Yeah... thank you, Clover." Tenmyouji concurs, standing up and looking over at me with the most honest smile I think I've seen from him yet. "Looks like I owe you another one. You too, Sigma."
"It was nothing." Sigma easily replies.
I smile back and nod in agreement. "Yeah, don't mention it. Anyone would have done the same."
...though a small, dark part of me now wonders if perhaps I shouldn't have. If I'd held back the Axelavir for just a little while longer, Quark would presumably have been taken to the treatment pods for the time being, and thus defaulted to ally in the upcoming AB round — meaning, I could in turn have easily justified voting the same to Alice after the fact. Now though, I'm probably going to have to follow through on that promise I made to her in the crew quarters, even though that's seeming like less and less of a good idea by the minute...
My stomach churns, but I silently remind myself that there's nothing I really could have done about this. Luna announced the name of the medicine to everyone in the room, and Sigma knew about the Axelavir as well, so he'd most certainly have pointed out we had it even if I hadn't done so myself. Besides, Quark was likely "scheduled" to wake up around now one way or the other, and even if we managed to sedate him again... well, I can't say I particularly wanted to watch a ten-year-old desperately attempt to commit suicide a second time.
"As touching as this is, we should probably start heading to the AB rooms." Alice suddenly says, speaking up for the first time in a while. "We all heard that announcement, and if those 'extra rules' mean anything at all, then I'd rather not still be here when time runs out."
"Indeed." K concurs. "It would be best that none of us risk being penalized."
"Obviously." Dio and Phi say simultaneously, prompting them to briefly turn and glower at each other again before looking away again.
Luna nods in wordless agreement with the direction of the conversation, at which point roughly half the group starts filing out the infirmary's front door. Since my partner isn't part of that half, I linger behind with him, waiting and watching as Quark slowly slides off the bed, looking just a little unsteady as he gets to his feet.
"Wow, it's already time for the next round?" he asks. "I must have been asleep for a while..."
He grabs his hat from the nearby desk and sets it back onto his head, smiling at its return... only for it to drop into a frown a moment later.
"Uh... wait. I'm still a solo, right Grandpa?"
"Sure are." Tenmyouji replies.
"Don't I need one of those key cards to get into a room by myself then?" Quark asks. "I don't have one..."
In response, Sigma fishes the moon card I gave him back in the laboratory out of one of his jumpsuit pockets, and holds it out to Quark.
"Don't worry, we've got an extra."
Quark blinks, then gratefully takes the card, smiling up at Sigma as he does so.
"Phew. Thanks Mister Sigma!"
Sigma grins and rubs the back of his head, while I resist the urge to start tapping my foot. Thankfully however, the conversation ends there, and so the four of us make our way into the adjoining hallway as well, heading towards the first floor warehouse. As we walk, I try to get a handle on my roiling thoughts, feeling increasingly conflicted about what I was "instructed" to do this round.
Alice told me to betray whoever Sigma and I were partnered with no matter what, so as to ensure our, or at least my survival, regardless of the other party's choice. We then intentionally maneuvered the teams to get me paired up with Quark, since he's currently the only solo option that betraying has no chance of killing... except, now that the time has come to actually do so, I'm having serious second thoughts. Barring the possibility of Tenmyouji instructing him otherwise when Sigma and I aren't looking, I don't see Quark picking anything but ally here, and while I suppose the former scenario is technically possible, it seems exceedingly unlikely, especially right now. Not only did we just kinda-sorta save Quark's life, but even as worn down by the world as he is, I'm fairly sure Junpei isn't the kind of person who would knowingly murder two people just to improve Quark's chances of leaving this place, and Quark strikes me as too nice of a kid to really even consider doing something like that.
But if I decide to ally...
I softly bite the inside of my lip. The odds this round are as stacked in favor of my survival as we could make them, but Alice is correct that betraying is technically the only way to absolutely guarantee that. Sure, Quark is almost certainly going to choose ally, but "almost certain" isn't the same as certain — in the game proper, Sigma at one point chooses to ally with Alice while she's supposed to be unconscious, yet still ultimately ends up getting betrayed, resulting in his bracelet euthanizing him shortly after. Can I really trust that something similar couldn't somehow happen with Quark? Like, what if he suddenly relapses into his Radical-6 mindset while alone in the AB room? I still don't trust that the injection worked that fast, and given the kind of things he said during his suicidal fugues, he'd likely see killing any of us as a kindness in that state...
My thoughts drift down to my back pocket. I do have my emergency option, I suppose — if I end up hitting 0 BP, I can still use the aluminum foil to release my bracelet and save myself. I've already exposed way too much this round to Sigma alone though, and Phi is apparently just as wary of me as ever — meaning, I'm currently in the crosshairs of both of the SHIFTers ultimately driving the plot, and this might just be the worst possible time to pull a stunt like that, given that publicly displaying inside knowledge about the death bands wrapped around our wrists will definitely just cement in their minds that I had something to do with us being here. Given that, I... really don't think I can justify relying on the foil in these circumstances.
Not when I have another out available, at least.
The warehouse door slides up, and as the four of us step into the wide open space, I come to a decision — I've been wrong too many times already to trust that I can account for every possible variable in this game, no matter how set in stone I think they might be. So, as much as I dislike it, I think I'm just going to do as Alice said. I certainly won't feel good about it, but Quark has plenty of BP to spare, so the only thing it should actually hurt is his trust in me... as well as Tenmyouji's. The latter of which I only just managed to get back.
I do my best to swallow down my regret as Sigma and I scan our moon card and step into a room. Nothing for it though. For the time being, I'm just going to have to be selfish — no matter how scummy this is undoubtedly going to make me feel.
As the doors of the AB gate slide shut behind us, Sigma suddenly turns to me and frowns.
"I haven't forgotten about what happened before everyone else arrived at the infirmary, Clover."
I curse internally, not really having expected him to, but having quietly been hoping that he at least wouldn't bring it back up just yet. I still haven't fully thought out how to deal with this...
"Seriously, I don't get it." Sigma continues. "If you already knew what Radical-6 was, and probably what was needed to cure it as well, then why-"
"Five minutes remain until Ambidex Game polling closes."
As seems to largely be its raison d'etre, the announcement interrupts Sigma mid-sentence — conveniently giving me an excellent opportunity to jump in and interrupt him as well.
"Sigma, I know you have questions for me, but can we please just focus on getting through this first?" I ask. "This isn't exactly the best time for an interrogation."
Sigma raises an eyebrow at me. "It's not an interrogation unless you have something to hide."
I groan. "You know what I mean. I guess I can't really say I'm not hiding anything at this point, but I swear it's for a good reason. I'm on your side here-"
"Then I really don't see why you can't just tell me here and now."
"Sigma, for-! Ugh..." I nearly whine. "Look, if you're willing to wait just a little bit longer, I promise I'll explain after this round. Could you please just, trust me on this? Please...?"
Whether it's due to my words, my pleading tone, or just the fact that the clock is still ticking down, Sigma's gaze finally softens.
"...fine." He sighs. "After this round then."
Relief flows through me... though not all that much, as I've not actually resolved the issue, I've just kicked it a little further into the future. Not that I could realistically avoid it entirely at this point anyways — the longer it takes for me to tell Sigma what he wants to know, the more suspicious and distrustful he'll become of me, and as one of the two SHIFTers this whole plot revolves around, I don't dare risk that continuing into other timelines. Even if he hadn't brought the subject up again, I would have needed to make it a priority once this AB round was over.
...speaking of which.
"Anyways, Clover." Sigma starts. "We haven't actually talked about what we were going to vote this round, but I think we should al-"
"Wait." I say, holding up a hand and cutting him off. "Before you say anything else, let me just remind you that both of us only have 1 BP right now. Our lives quite literally hang in the balance of this decision... so don't be too hasty."
Sigma pauses, then enters a more thoughtful pose, lifting a hand to his chin and staring back at the screen. I can see his gaze still lingering on 'ally' however, and based on what he just almost said, its pretty clear he's leaning towards that option... and he's the one standing in front of the screen. Damn, on to Plan B then.
...wait, I don't have a Plan B! I didn't really think about what I was going to do if Sigma wasn't convinced by my very basic "save our skins" logic; I've been too busy being concerned about Quark, Dio, and my own screw up until now to even consider it!
I frantically wrack my brain for options. Should I try to dodge around Sigma and just hit betray before he can stop me? I'm smaller than he is, and if I slip these shoes off I'm likely more nimble, so that could potentially work. I don't think I trust my reflexes enough for that though — despite his age, Sigma moves like a much younger man, and I'm still not completely used to Clover's body yet. He'd probably be able to stop me, and then he'd just press ally anyways.
Should I get physical with Sigma, like Dio did? Sucker punch him and then dart for the button?... no way, not happening. Even as old as he is, I don't think I'd actually come out on top in a fight with Sigma, considering he's got robotic arms and more than half a foot of height on me, and that wouldn't be remotely worth the scrutiny it would draw to me anyways. Plus the idea of deliberately imitating Dio's contemptible ploy is, quite frankly, an utterly vile thought to begin with.
Should I attempt to simply convince Sigma? I've already reminded him that choosing ally is risking both our lives, so maybe I could push that angle further? If he was swayed by that logic though, then he probably would have already chosen... and if the fact that he's demonstrably willing to make either choice in this kind of situation against literally anyone he's pitted against in VLR translates to his actual decision-making process, that might not make any real difference anyways. Which means...
Alice's words from two timelines over echo in my mind.
...god, why does this have to be my best option...?
"Yeah, I'm decided." Sigma says aloud, nodding to himself. "You're right that there's an inherent risk to it Clover, but I still think we should al...ly...?"
Sigma's sentence dribbles to a stop as I press myself to his side and start slowly sliding my hand up the front of his chest. Sigma stiffens in surprise and tilts his head down towards mine, while I look back up at him in turn with half-lidded eyes and a languid smile.
"Sigma...?" I say breathily, already practically dying of embarrassment. "I'd be so very thankful if you chose betray..."
Sigma's expression flickers between multiple levels of confusion. "Huh? Clover, what are you-"
"So thankful, in fact, that I might just be willing to do you a sort of... favor, shall we say." I tumble on, too committed at this point to stop, even as every word makes me shrivel up a little more inside. "The kind I'm absolutely sure you'd like..."
"The kind I'd... like...?" Sigma repeats, color rapidly rising to his cheeks. "Wha- what do you mean by that...?"
"Isn't it obvious?" I reply in a husky whisper, almost wishing that he would punch me in the face if just to stop the torrent of word vomit still pouring out of my mouth. "I'm sure you can think of something you might want from me... something you might just ~desire~, perhaps..."
"I- I don't-" Sigma stutters, flustered now. "Y-you can't just-"
"Come onnnnn, Sigma." I purr. "It's just one little press of a button... pick betray, and I'll press your buttons... all... over..."
Go on and press it already so I can stop this! PLEASE!
"Thirty seconds remain until Ambidex Game polling closes."
Sigma's eyes refocus, and his expression firms.
"No, Clover, that's enough." he says, pulling away from me. "Quark's a good kid, and there's no way he's going to pick betray when he knows that it could kill us, especially after we just helped him. I'm choosing-"
*plink*
Drawing back my outstretched hand from around Sigma's torso, I let go of him and step away, allowing him to turn around and see that the vote has already been recorded.
"Sorry, Sigma." I say, reverting to my normal tone of voice with exceptional relief. "Had to do it."
Sigma turns back around and glares, clearly not happy with me, though he looks more frustrated than truly mad.
"That was a dirty trick..." he mutters.
Yeah, it felt pretty dirty too, in more ways than one. Be grateful that you, however, only have to live with the memory of it happening to you. I have to live with the knowledge that I actually did that. I feel unclean in ways you can't even imagine — hell, it'll be a wonder if I don't develop a semi-permanent blush from the sheer mortification I'll undoubtedly feel every single time I remember this event from here on out.
Once the expected countdown finishes, the room opens back up, and I walk outside with everyone else, all too happy to try and put what just happened out of mind. Sigma follows, clearly still disgruntled, and we join up with the others back at the now-familiar wall.
"Results from round two of the Ambidex Game will now be displayed. Please direct your attention to the results screen."
I look.
Alice+Phi: ALLY
Luna: ALLY
Dio+Tenmyouji: BETRAY
K: BETRAY
Sigma+Clover: BETRAY
Quark: ALLY
"Points have been assigned or subtracted accordingly. Please check your bracelet to see your updated Bracelet Points."
Seems the most likely outcome was the correct one after all. Which is good, because nothing went horribly wrong, but also bad, because...
Knowing full well what's coming, I glance over at Quark, who seems a little stunned. As the others start talking, he turns towards me, eyes wide.
"Miss Clover...?"
"Sorry, Quark." I say, looking down regretfully. "We just couldn't risk it. I didn't think for a moment you were actually likely to betray us, but the existence of the possibility, when we were both at only 1 BP, was just... we couldn't."
"You couldn't." Sigma quietly mutters from behind me.
"I... thought we were friends..." Quark mumbles.
"So did I."
I turn to my left as Tenmyouji abruptly cuts into the conversation, his face frozen in an expression of quiet fury.
"That's it then, huh?" he says through grit teeth. "I offer you my gratitude, my trust, and you immediately turn around and throw it in both my face and Quark's?"
"Tenmyouji-" I start.
"I should have known." he continues, utterly ignoring me. "I was a fool to think that I could-"
"I didn't WANT to betray him!" I shout, vehemently enough that Tenmyouji stops for a moment, and everyone even remotely near me jumps a little. "Put yourself in my place for a second, would you?! Quark had 6 BP, so it's not like he was in danger of dying like we were! Hell, it barely even delays him!"
I bring my left arm up in front of me, angrily displaying the 4 BP my bracelet now shows.
"Now Sigma and I aren't stuck walking a tightrope anymore, and the points are a more even spread, which means we all have a better shot at getting out of here together." I continue. "You know, like we're supposed to, assuming we're not planning on leaving anyone behind in this wretched place? I didn't really think you were, but if this is such a problem, maybe I was putting too much trust in you!"
My declaration leaves Tenmyouji stunned for a brief instant, but he rallies fairly quickly. "Don't try and turn this around on me! You knew perfectly well what you were doing!"
"Yeah, I did." I bitterly reply. "And if you really want to hate me for making the only decision I could, then fine... just remember that you're the one who put me in that position to begin with."
That seems to bring Tenmyouji some actual pause — leaving him silent long enough for Quark to speak up again.
"I... get it, Miss Clover." he says, albeit rather hesitantly. "I wish that you'd trusted me enough to choose ally, but... I can understand why you wouldn't. I forgive you."
I let out a small sigh of relief. "Thank you, Quark."
With his momentum stolen by the "victim's" own words, Tenmyouji seems to deflate, anger draining out of his posture until he's left with nothing but an unhappy grimace.
"...fine." he mutters, not quite looking at me anymore. "You're right, I did put you in that position, so I guess it would be pretty hypocritical of me to judge you for it. Quark seems to forgive you, so I suppose we'll call it even... but this had better not ever happen again."
I nod. "It won't."
I mean it, too — in fact, if I have my way, I will never wind up in a position like this again to begin with.
As Quark and Tenmyouji turn away, I spot Alice giving me a small, relieved smile from off to my left. I try to smile back, but don't quite manage it, my mood still too low from what just happened. Ugh, yep, feeling pretty scummy... maybe I really should have just hoped for the best, let Sigma hit ally, and told Alice that I couldn't stop him afterwards. Or- hell, I could have just told Quark that we were going to pick betray in advance! Sure, Sigma might have protested, since I didn't exactly discuss it with him ahead of time, but it's not like anyone can really leave this place anyways, so it wouldn't exactly have mattered if we'd all just stayed at the same BP! Gah, might as well just call me Miss Hindsight at this point, since I sure do seem to be on a streak of missing better options until after it's too late to take any of them!
I glance over at the others again, feeling even guiltier now. I don't think my reasoning was actually wrong, but I can't share most of it, and Sigma rightfully pushed all the blame for betraying Quark onto me, so I still just ended up looking like a distrustful jackass in the end. I don't know if it'll impact any other timelines like my outburst in the last one did, but was this really worth it, just to guarantee an outcome that might have been guaranteed to begin with...?
I close my eyes and slump as much as my heels will allow. There's no way of knowing — or, well, technically there is, but even if I manage to learn to control my SHIFT destination, I'm not going back to this choice just to check, so that's basically the same thing. Realistically, there's nothing left to be done now but to move forward, and deal with the consequences of my choices as best I can.
I'm pulled out of my thoughts by the sudden sound of grinding metal, which echoes through the warehouse as the AB rooms all start closing at once.
"The Ambidex Gates have closed." the intercom announces as the doors finish sliding shut. "Round three of the Ambidex Game will be the Star Round. Star keys are required to open the gates. There is no set limit on usage of the star keys. The Ambidex Gates can be opened as many times as the players wish to open them."
"As many times as we want, huh...?" Sigma mutters.
A short conversation ensues about how that should let us all play the AB Game repeatedly, if not continuously, until Luna ends up prompting Sigma to bring up the new bracelet and pair assignments. I listen closely as the others list theirs off, checking my own as I do — seems I'm back to being a solo, as are Sigma and Alice, with our respective colors being red, green, and blue. Meanwhile, Tenmyouji and K are apparently now a cyan pair, while Quark and Phi are the magenta one, and Luna is yellow. This prompts a brief discussion of what the new mix of all six colors might imply, as well as some internal confusion and a brief scan of the room from me, as I abruptly realize we seem to be missing someone.
"Let's get along, Miss Phi!" Quark says brightly.
"...sure, kid." Phi replies without much inflection.
Tenmyouji and K don't seem to have much to say to each other regarding their new pairing, simply giving each other silent nods of acknowledgement.
As for the remaining "team"...
"Um, pardon me, but... did anyone see where Dio went?" Luna asks.
"I did." Alice replies. "He stayed just long enough to get a look at the results, then stormed out the magenta door while the rest of us were busy talking."
I wince, my thoughts flashing back to the laboratory again. I really need to go hide that scalpel before Dio stumbles across it...
Sigma shoots a meaningful look my way, his gaze locking with my own.
...but first, it seems I have some "explaining" to do.
