…
Hope to Cope
Day 3
Men: Cato, Gary, Joe, Killua, Kirito, Kyon, Lucian, Mayuri, Prussia, Spike
Women: Alice, Ami, Haruhi, Jasmine, Karen, Konata, Michiru, Mine, Misty
The Women of Sabrina's alliance come back from Tribal Council in shock.
"Wow," Jasmine says.
"That was intense," Michiru says.
"I didn't think she'd have to be such a crybaby about it," Karen comments.
"You mean, it was you?" Misty asks. "You're the one who turned on her?"
"What do you think? Of course it was me," Karen says. "I wanted that $#*%& out of this game from Day 1. She and her stupid 'buddy system.' I had had it with her. So now she's gone."
Misty shakes her head.
"I just don't see one reason to vote out one of our strongest players first, especially when we need to win challenges," she says.
"That's because you played this game a couple of decades ago when that kind of stuff actually mattered," Karen replies. "The new-school way of playing is just the opposite. We vote out the biggest threats first."
"You sure didn't do that on your season!" Ami breaks in. "You kept Queen Cynthia around to the bitter end."
Karen laughs. "No wonder you've never gotten to the Final Three."
"Karen, none of us have ever made the Final Three," Michiru says. "That's why we're here."
"Look, I made my decision, and that's that," Karen says.
"Little do these imbeciles know that I have started my reign in this game, just like Queen Cynthia," Karen says. "I'm going to make life miserable for anyone who goes against me, whether that be Sabrina's former alliance, or the four who weren't part of her alliance. I control this whole tribe right now as the swing vote."
"I don't understand what Karen did in the least bit," Misty says. "Turning on Sabrina did no good to herself, and it certainly didn't do good for us. Now we're left scrambling. It's the four of us vs. the four who weren't part of Sabrina's alliance. And now we've somehow got to get Karen back on our side."
In the morning, Jasmine wakes to find a Fire Token in her bag.
"Thank you, Sabrina," she says. "I know this isn't the way I wanted to acquire a Fire Token, but I'm very appreciative that you thought of me as you exited this game."
She talks with Michiru, and the two of them seem concerned.
"Karen was supposed to be on our side!" Jasmine says, with a tear in her eye. "She was on our side!"
"It's okay," Michiru says, wiping the tear away from Jasmine's eye. "We've got to stick together as tightly as possible. There is still a chance that we can survive the next vote."
"I hope so," Jasmine says. "Because it would hurt really badly if we lose because of a back-stabber like Karen."
"Jasmine is emotional about this, and I can understand," Michiru says. "In my season Hikawa Shrine, I got separated from Haruka very early on. She just got separated from a friend very early on as well. I think we need to take a step back and rethink things, because it's not over yet."
Meanwhile, Alice couldn't be happier with what occurred.
"We're now in the driver's seat," she tells Mine. "This game runs through us."
"I'm not so sure about that," Mine replies.
"And why not? Because we've got the numbers now. We've got Haruhi and Konata and…"
"Don't count on those two," Mine responds. "They are volatile and can turn against us at any moment."
Alice ignores Mine. "And we've got Karen too!"
"Karen? Please," Mine says. "She had a personal vendetta with Sabrina. She knows the best way to the Final Three is with the rest of that alliance."
"Oh, really?" Alice says. "Maybe this is the reason why you and I didn't get along last season. Because you're such a pessimist and I'm such an optimist."
"I prefer the term 'realist,'" Mine says.
"I don't care what you call it," Alice says. "You've got to have hope to cope. We are going to be just fine!"
"Look, you didn't get your name written down, did you?"
"No," Alice says. "But it doesn't matter now, does it? There's no tiebreaker for votes in previous Tribal Councils like there used to be. You're just a worrywart!"
Mine shakes her head and walks away.
"I know Mine is all worried about what may happen if Karen doesn't join us," Alice says. "But we don't have to worry about that yet! Karen has shown no signs that she's linked to Sabrina's old alliance. We can get her as the swing vote and go on to dominate this game."
"Alice is too perky, too cheerful," Mine says. "Last night's vote didn't prove us to be in great shape; rather, it showed us exactly where we stand: on the outs. Without Karen using an advantage, we likely lose that vote and I go home. I got all those votes against me because I'm too big a threat, I guess. Alice didn't see her name written down, and that's why she doesn't feel the same way as me."
Later that morning, Misty gathers together what is left of Sabrina's alliance – Michiru, Ami, and Jasmine – and brings them to the beach. Killua, Joe, and Kirito all go down to meet them there.
"Okay, we need a roundtable discussion here," Misty says. "We've got to figure out what's best for the alliances here."
"What's the situation?" Killua asks.
"It's really simple, actually," Ami says. "Right now, this group of four here – we're in grave danger of going home. If Karen is as cunning and as cutthroat as she was last night, there's no way to ensure our safety beyond the next vote."
"And she's coming after me, most likely," Jasmine says. "I was paired with Sabrina in the buddy system."
"She has no loyalty at all," Michiru adds. "She could easily swap to either side – but there's much greater chance that she joins the others."
"Okay," Kirito says. "So, you're asking us for help? But how?"
"Help in the form of Fire Tokens," Ami says. "Right now, if we pool all our Tokens together, we've got…"
She places her two Tokens out in the sand. Jasmine also places her Tokens in front of her, one that she had before and one she received when Sabrina was voted out. Misty and Michiru each add their own Token.
"That's eight," Joe says. "You can do a lot with those."
"Right," Killua says. "For example, you can Steal-a-Vote with just seven Tokens. That should be more than enough to save your bacon."
"That only works for one vote, though," Misty says. "We can steal Karen's vote, but do you think they aren't thinking the same thing as us? Alice and Mine haven't spent a Token yet. They know their position in this game."
"And, if my calculations are correct, they have three each," Ami says. "If they are to use their Tokens properly, they could both buy extra votes, and then our stolen vote won't mean a thing."
"I see," Joe says.
"I am not sure your opponents are going to buy votes, but-" Kirito begins to say.
"Oh, they will," Misty says. "We thought that the 'buddy system' would prevent someone from flipping. That didn't work. Now we can put all our eggs into the basket of 'they won't do it.' Chances are, one of those eggs ends up cracked open, and it belongs to one of us four."
Kirito nods his head, and Killua looks to be pondering the situation.
"We are asking you for a little help," Michiru says. "If two of you three each gave us one Fire Token, it would be enough to clinch the vote for us."
Killua looks a little upset. "How so?" he asks. "If you guys don't want to steal a vote…"
"We're not going to just steal a vote," Misty says. "We are going to go with the old-fashioned route."
"Old-fashioned?" Joe says.
"We are going to buy an idol," Jasmine says.
"Wait, an idol?" Kirito says. "That makes zero sense. You can't ensure that it's going to work. How do you figure out who they're even voting for?"
"An idol represents power in this game," Michiru says. "All that's necessary is for us to show the others that we have an idol. Because, in that case-"
"-you can scare the others into making a mistake," Killua finishes. "It makes sense to me."
"How?" Joe asks.
"Simple," Killua says. "Our core four here… what should we call you?"
"Just call us 'JAM,'" Ami says. "Because our first initials spell that, with one extra M."
"Okay, then," Killua says. "Here's how it works. JAM hides their idol until Tribal Council, when one of the members of JAM pulls out the idol before the vote. All of a sudden, the others are thrown into a panic. It's possible Haruhi and Konata could turn on Alice and Mine, and vice versa."
"I see," Joe says.
"But doesn't it require some risk?" Kirito asks. "If you use the idol on the wrong person, it goes for naught."
"That's the thing," Misty says. "It's worth the risk, because it has the potential to cause the others to turn on each other. The very sight of the idol is the danger for them, and the catalyst to them scrambling at the last second. We don't even need to use it. Just having it is enough."
Killua nods, but Kirito shakes his head.
"All right, but what's in it for us?" Kirito asks. "We're giving up something to help you guys immensely. What are you going to do in return?"
"We can pay back the two Fire Tokens when we've got them again," Jasmine says.
"No," Killua says. "I want them back with interest. You take two from us, you return four of them back to us."
The Women look at each other, contemplating their choice.
"We'll do it!" Michiru says, holding out her hand. Killua shakes her hand and smiles.
"It's a pleasure doing business with you," he says, as he hands over his Fire Token. Kirito also tosses his Fire Token into the pile.
"That's ten, and it's enough for an idol," Kirito says.
"Hey, what about me?" Joe asks. "I'm willing to help."
"Sorry, we can't take it," Ami states, sweeping up all of the Fire Tokens into her arms. "We can't afford the interest rate. Blame it on the real estate market."
Everyone has a good laugh at Ami's remark.
"We are really taking a risk by handing over these Fire Tokens," Killua says. "I'm not sure we're going to get back in return what we lost. And it's for people who can't even vote with us for a long time. But it is useful, in that we are basically buying jury votes. So, it's a double-edged sword. I'm not certain we're making the right decision, but come 23 days from now, we may have made the correct one."
"Having an idol is huge," Michiru says. "If we have that idol, then we can scare off Haruhi and Konata, or Mine and Alice. And Karen won't even be a factor. But, at the same time, it's a risky move, and we aren't sure that it will do enough to ward off their votes. My hope is that we can use this idol by not using it – if that makes any sense. Just having it could scare them into splitting their votes."
"Now that I've got all these Fire Tokens, I am making an exchange," Ami says. "I am handing in these Tokens and buying an idol."
Ami hands her Tokens over to a producer, who returns to her Kon, the immunity plushie.
"Awesome," she says, squeezing Kon tightly to her chest.
"Oh, Ami!" Kon thinks.
"With this idol, we can really make Karen regret her BIG MOVE," Ami says. "The goal is to either trick the others to vote for the person who uses the idol, or – even better – cause the five of them to rethink their alliances and turn on each other. If we can create chaos, then this idol will be a success."
But Cato and Lucian are busy plotting with Karen, and their ideas are not exactly friendly.
"There's one way to control this game," Cato says. "And that's by restricting food."
"Right," Lucian says. "If we make it so that no one can eat, at all, we're going to drive those goody-two-shoes crazy."
"Ooh, I like this!" Karen says. "So, what's the plan?"
"The plan is for me to take the rice bag out in the middle of the night tonight," Cato says. "I will wade into the water a bit and drop the bag when I see a wave coming. As you can see…"
The players all look over to the sea, where big waves are constantly coming in.
"That rice will be gone in no time," Cato continues.
"Now, we are going to have to suffer without food for a while," Lucian says. "But Cato says he grew up hungry. I know from my first season with my Queen Cynthia, I had to go a long time without eating."
Karen smiles, then looks to be pondering something.
"What is it?" Cato asks.
"What if we just flat-out sabotage the entire camp?" Karen asks. "If everybody's suffering, then we can force them to use their Fire Tokens if they want anything back."
"But how would we do it?" Lucian asks.
"This would all have to take place while everyone's sleeping," Cato explains. "We very subtly, in effect, burn this shelter to the ground. It's not that hard."
"I was okay with the hunger thing," Lucian says. "I'm not so sure this is a good idea. Can't we get thrown off the show by Probst – er, I mean, Jet?"
"Nonsense," Cato says. "He'd love something for better ratings. What better ratings can you get than by promoting a complete 'accidental' destruction of the camp."
"And it's not an empty goal," Karen says. "It's twofold. The first hope is to confuse and terrorize all the other players mentally. They won't be able to think strategy when they're forced to rebuild. The second is to get them to use Fire Tokens to replace the things they've lost."
"Yeah, but what about us getting in trouble?" Lucian asks.
"Would you shut your mouth?" Cato replies. "Or I'll shut it for you."
"Who are we going to blame it on?" Karen asks. "I'm thinking Jasmine. You put enough pressure on her, she'll crack and give a false confession."
"Or maybe we should blame it on Mine," Lucian says. "She's always in a bad mood."
"Or even Alice," Karen says. "She doesn't have the best of reputations."
"We'll see," Cato says. "I'm starting 'Operation Hunger' tonight. That bag of rice will be out at sea by the time we wake up tomorrow morning."
"Okay," Lucian says. "I can get on board with that. Just please don't do something as dumb as burning the shelter down."
"Oh, come on, you're just a scaredy-cat," Karen says. "What I do know is: things are going to be different now, I'm sure."
"Lucian is such a baby!" Karen says. "How can this guy impress Queen Cynthia when he acts like this? Come on. Come. On. We are going to cause more chaos than has ever been caused in the history of this game. And nobody's gonna stop us, 'cause it makes good TV! It's going to be lit… literally!"
"I don't trust Karen, nor do I trust Cato," Lucian says. "But I'm trying to do is knock out those players who aren't on my side and who can completely wreck my plans. If that means getting rid of the rice, well… tsk, tsk!"
"This 'Operation Hunger' thing is a real risk," Cato says. "If I get caught, then I'm going to be sent home. I'm going to have Lucian ready to distract the Men and Karen to distract the Women, should any of them wake up. Then the second part comes when we have to defend ourselves against the accusations that we sabotaged the tribe. One way of doing that is to blame someone completely innocent, like Jasmine. If she is put under intense interrogation, she will crack and make false confessions. There are other options as well, like Mine or Alice. This may seem like I'm risking it all, because I am, but this is the way to play this game – cutthroat to the bitter end."
Meanwhile, it isn't taking Gary that long to get paranoid.
"You promise you aren't voting me," he tells Spike and Kyon.
"No way we'll vote for you," Kyon says.
"Nope, nothing to worry about," Spike says.
Gary nods his head, then goes off to talk to Prussia and Mayuri.
"Guys, I need some help here," he tells them.
"What might that be?" Mayuri responds.
"I am concerned that, because of my 'outing' of Ash Ketchum, I will end up being first voted out from our tribe."
"Well, that's not so awesome!" Prussia responds. "What do you want from us?"
"I want your word, that you're not going to vote for me," Gary says. "Instead, I want you to go after Lucian."
"Lucian?" Prussia asks.
"He's a loose cannon and can go off any second," Gary says. "Plus he has such a sappy story about him being left for dead but coming out of hiding. We need him out now."
"Okay, then," Mayuri says. "I guess I will try your experiment!"
"I hope, by crossing the aisle, I can get some from the other alliance to save me," Gary says. "I'm in big trouble right off the bat thanks to Misty being here, and she has the potential to blow me up over the outing. That's not what I want on Day 3."
Reward Challenge
"Come on in, guys!"
The two tribes march down the beach, to find two boats.
"First things first," Jet says. "Each tribe will send nine players to this challenge. To get to the start, you'll have to go by boat. Since the Men have one more player than the Women, they must sit someone out, and they will come to the bench right now. You cannot sit out the same player in back-to-back challenges. Who's it gonna be?"
The Men look at each other for a moment, then make a decision.
"We'll have Mayuri sit out," Lucian states.
"Very well then," Jet says. "Mayuri, take a spot on the bench, while the rest of you get into the boats."
The eighteen players get into the boats, which two producers use to take the tribes over to a couple of platforms in the water.
"Okay!" Jet shouts from the beach. "You guys ready to get to today's reward challenge?"
"Yeah!" Haruhi and Konata exclaim.
"On my go, you will swim oLuut into the water and dive down to untie buoys. Once you've untied all three of them, you will need to lift a ladder off the ocean floor. You will then take that ladder and use it to retrieve a key. Once back at shore, you will use the ladder again to unlock a bag of sandbags. You'll then shoot the sandbags onto five small platforms. First tribe to land all five sandbags wins reward. Wanna know what you're playing for?"
"Of course!" Misty exclaims.
"Each member of the winning tribe receives one Fire Token."
"That's it?" Gary asks.
"I told you this would be a harder season, didn't I?"
"Yeah, I guess you did," Gary mumbles.
"I'll give you a minute to strategize, then we'll get it on!"
The players talk over how they want to go about the challenge. As they do, the ocean waves start to grow.
"For reward! Survivors ready? Go!"
Misty, Mine, and Alice are the first three to dive down for the Women, while Lucian, Gary, and Spike go down first for the Men. Misty makes the first dive, and she is successfully able to untie a buoy for the Women. Lucian goes down to try to get one for the Men, but he fails. Gary has to go down after him, and he is able to get it almost untied. Spike is forced to untie it the rest of the way.
"You may send however many people you need to untie those buoys!"
Mine dives underwater and gets the second buoy halfway untied. As she comes up, a big wave hits her and sends her stumbling. Alice, who was about to dive for the buoy, instead rushes over to help Mine.
"One of the most turbulent days in Survivor history!"
Killua goes down for the Men, and he is able to get one of the buoys untied. Karen goes down as well, and she gets it about half-untied. Michiru follows after her, and she is able to get the rest of the second buoy untied. As she comes up, she finds the waves splashing right in her face.
"This is really getting rough out there!"
Kyon goes down for the Men, but he is unable to get anything untied. Prussia follows, but he can't, either. Cato then goes down and he is able to get it completely untied. Just as he is doing that, Ami manages to get the third buoy for the Women untied. But as she comes up, she gets crushed by a wave.
"We have never seen waves like this before!"
Michiru stabilizes Ami, as Misty goes down to grab the ladder. Killua and Cato both go down to get their ladder together.
"This is a very heavy ladder!"
Killua and Cato start bringing their ladder over toward the key, while the Women are really struggling. They are getting bounced and carried around by the heavy waves. Cato sets up the ladder to try to let Killua climb, but just as he does, a giant wave hits him and causes him to lose grip of the ladder. Both tribes have players gasping for air and barely keeping their heads above water.
"Hey!" Jet shouts. "Both tribes hold up! Bring your ladders in!"
The two tribes both drag their ladders in and place them on the beach.
"Here's what we're going to do," Jet says. "Due to no lack of effort of your own, you were unable to get those keys. And it's not getting any easier. We're going to have Keroberos go and fly to each of the keys and get them down for you. Then, we will restart the challenge on the beach, where you will climb the ladder and use the key to unlock a bag. Never done this before in Survivor history!"
Keroberos flies in, and he goes to gather both keys.
"A Survivor first!" Jet shouts.
Keroberos then flies the two keys over to the two tribes.
"On my go, you will raise the ladder up to the bag. Then you may have someone climb up. Survivors ready? Go!"
Cato places the Men's ladder up for Killua to climb up. Mine does the same for the Women, with Haruhi climbing up to unlock the bag. Both bags drop to the ground almost simultaneously.
"We are neck-and-neck!"
Lucian pours out the sandbags from the bag, as Alice does the same for the Women. Cato then starts throwing for the Men, while Mine starts throwing for the Women.
"Cato lands the first one for the Men!"
Mine misses on a few attempts, so Alice takes over for the Women.
"Cato gets the second on for the Men!"
Alice misses a few more times, so Ami tries a few. After hitting his first two, Cato starts having a harder time with the higher platforms, so he hands it over to Killua.
"Zoldyck tosses up his first bag – and it's on! That's three for the Men and none for the Women!"
Ami keeps on missing, so Misty takes over for the Women. On her second toss, she is able to land the Women's first bag.
"Misty on the board for the Women!"
Killua throws another one up… and lands it.
"Zoldyck gets another! And that's four for the Men! One more will win it!"
Misty tosses a second bag on for the Women. Killua also throws one up…
…
…
…
…
…
…and misses.
"Misty hits a third one! And now it's on!"
Killua tosses up another one…
…
…
…
…
…
…and it drops off the platform. Meanwhile, Misty makes her fourth one.
"We are tied, four-four!" Jet shouts. "Next one to get one wins!"
Misty tosses one up for the win…
…
…
…
…
…
"Misty misses!"
…
…
…
…
…
"Zoldyck makes his fifth shot! And that's it! Men… win reward!"
"Let's go!" Killua shouts, as Cato body-bumps his chest. Gary and Lucian give each other high fives, as do Prussia and Mayuri.
"Congratulations, each of you has won a Fire Token," Jet says.
He hands out one Fire Token to each of the Men.
"Now, we've got one last piece of business to get to," Jet states. "Each tribe must pick one person to go on a journey and make a decision. You will return to your tribe later before dark."
The tribes talk over who they want to send.
"Lucian, I think it'd be for the best if you went," Cato says.
"No," Killua says. "I think I should go, because I won the challenge. I deserve the opportunity."
"That sounds about right," Gary says. "Let Killua go."
"I just think Lucian will make the right decision for us," Cato says.
"Nonsense!" Mayuri exclaims. "Lucian isn't all that smart anyway."
"Excuse me?" Lucian says.
"Oh, come on, just let Killua go," Spike says.
Cato grimaces. "Fine, then, go ahead, Killua. But you better bring back something good for us and tell the whole truth as to what happened."
Killua nods. "I understand."
The Men then turn to Jet.
"We're sending Killua," Kyon announces.
"Very well then," Jet states. "How about you, Women?"
"We're sending Alice," Mine says.
Ami shakes her head.
"What's the matter, Ami?" Jet says. "You don't look happy with that decision."
"I think it should be decided randomly," Ami says.
"But we counted five wanting Alice and four wanting you," Mine replies. "Sorry, you're the odd one out."
"Whatever," Ami says.
"Okay then," Jet says. "Killua, Alice, the two albinos, you will go together on a journey. Here's a map; you can head on out."
Killua grabs the map, then leads Alice out of the immunity challenge area.
"The rest of you, it's been a tough challenge," Jet says. "Luckily, no one got hurt."
"Yeah, that's not much solace," Mine states.
"In any case, Women, I got nothing for you," Jet says. "Both tribes, head on out."
The seventeen players walk back to camp.
"I didn't want Alice going because it's highly likely that she's going to get some sort of advantage," Ami says. "But she, Mine, Haruhi, Konata, and that traitor Karen all picked her to go. So, she got the option. Obviously that means that having this idol isn't going to guarantee us safety."
Journey
Killua and Alice make their way to the top of a hill with each other.
"So, we're both albino!" Alice says. "I never thought I'd meet someone like me!"
"Yeah, that's true," Killua says.
Alice pauses. "You haven't talked all that much on this journey," she says. "What gives?"
Killua sighs. "I've kind of gotten into an alliance with the opposite alliance as yours," he says. "I'm with Ami, Michiru, Misty, and Jasmine."
"Oh, I see," Alice says. "Well, let me tell you something. I'm not that bad of a person myself. Even Mine has come to that realization."
"I'd be happy to work with you," Killua says. "But if they found out…"
"We don't have to tell anyone else," Alice says. "Let's face it, we're never going to sit at a Tribal Council where we can vote together. So, why don't we make this our little secret? The Albino Alliance. We help each other as need be. And we each promise not to tell anyone – not even our closest allies."
Killua nods. "That's something I'm totally on board with. Let's do it."
The two of them shake hands.
"Okay, this is the point where we have to separate, to go and make a decision," Alice says. "I look forward to seeing you back at camp! We won't say anything, but I'll make sure to give you the best rice."
"Thanks," Killua chuckles. "Man, you've really changed your reputation!"
"I'm a Woman, not a Man," Alice replies, and the two of them laugh. They then head down different paths. Eventually each of them ends up at a station with a ship's wheel and two phrases: "Protect Your Vote" and "Risk Your Vote."
"Let's read what this says here," Alice says. "You now have a decision to make: Protect your vote or risk it in an attempt to get an extra vote. What you get depends on the combination of what you pick and what the other person who was with you picks. If you both choose to protect your vote, you both keep your vote. If you both choose to risk your vote, you both lose your vote. But if you choose to risk your vote while the other one chooses to protect theirs, then you receive an extra vote."
Alice pauses to think about it.
"Well, a promise is a promise," she says. "I'm in a pretty good spot right now, I don't really need an extra vote. If Killua comes back with no vote, then he's going to immediately think of me as a snake. This is in good faith."
She turns the ship wheel over to "Protect Your Vote." Meanwhile, Killua mulls over his decision on the other side of the hill.
"So, it's the typical prisoner's dilemma," Killua says. "Well, this might be a litmus test as to how much I can trust Alice. If I risk my vote and lose it, I know I can't trust her. If I protect my vote, I have no idea whether I can trust her. But there's another thing. The Men are headed for a 5-5 tie. Would I rather face picking rocks or the possibility of someone flipping in order to avoid rocks? Or would I rather risk that vote that I have, with the opportunity to give our alliance a 6-5 advantage? I think I'm going with the latter."
He turns his ship wheel to "Risk Your Vote," then heads on back to camp.
Camp
Men: Cato, Gary, Joe, Killua, Kirito, Kyon, Lucian, Mayuri, Prussia, Spike
Women: Alice, Ami, Haruhi, Jasmine, Karen, Konata, Michiru, Mine, Misty
Killua and Alice arrive back at camp, hoping to get filled in on what went on while they were gone.
"What'd I miss?" Alice asks Mine.
"You missed Haruhi and Konata making snow angels in the sand," Mine says. "I suppose they're sand angels."
Alice looks down at the beach where Haruhi and Konata are throwing sand at each other.
"Wow," Alice says.
"Go ahead and cook the rice," Mine tells her. "Everyone was waiting for the chef around here to do it."
"Sure thing!" Alice says, beginning to cook. Cato watches at a distance.
"Tonight, 'Operation Hunger' gets underway," he says. "It's very risky, but it might be the catalyst to turn this game on its head."
Kyon and Spike are interested to hear what Killua has to say about his adventure.
"So, the two of us went up the hill," Killua says. "And then we went our separate ways, and we were given a choice, protect your vote or risk your vote."
"You didn't risk it?" Kyon asks.
"No," Killua says.
"I see," Spike says.
"Killua made a decision that could have hurt us, but now it means that we will have to pick rocks," Spike says. "He and his alliance are going to have five votes, and then we are going to have the other five. It's going to take someone flipping to avoid picking rocks."
"I had to lie," Killua says. "If they would have figured out that I could potentially have an extra vote, then they'd have to plan accordingly, either by buying an extra vote via Fire Tokens, or some other method, such as flipping one of my allies. I want to lull them to sleep on this. I also am counting big time on Alice – did she do me a favor or not?"
Ami and Michiru talk with Jasmine and Misty about their alliance's situation.
"None of us have any Fire Tokens left," Ami says. "Which makes the next immunity challenge a difficult thing. Because the others may have no intention of buying the Medallion of Power."
"Or they could throw the challenge," Michiru says. "We don't know. What we do know is that Karen is all-in on the other alliance. She made it clear in our choice today to send Alice. She cast the deciding vote for Alice. That's enough to know what she's going to do."
"You're right," Misty says. "We are in a really bad position now. Man, do I wish we had won that reward challenge!"
"Losing that reward challenge really sucked," Misty says. "We could really use those Fire Tokens right now. The Medallion of Power remains out of reach, unless Haruhi and Konata choose to cough up their Tokens, because we know Alice, Mine, and Karen won't. This is a very bad situation, and it might all be Sabrina's fault for that 'buddy system' she set up."
"I'm very nervous for this upcoming vote," Michiru says. "I know that Ami has the idol now, and I trust her to use it correctly. But if that idol gets used wrongly, then our alliance is instantly doomed. We will have absolutely no chance the rest of the way. Ami is smart, but she can't read minds."
The sun goes down, and soon all the players have gone into the shelter to sleep. Cato lies down next to Karen, on the edge of the shelter. He spots Jasmine's sandals. When all the players have fallen asleep, Karen nudges him. He gets up and grabs Jasmine's sandals and carries them out to the edge of the beach. He then finds the bag of rice, sitting near the fire. He looks toward Karen, who gives him a thumbs-up sign, telling him that no one is awake. Cato grabs the bag of rice, then heads to the water. He gives one last look back to camp, and sees no one moving. He then treads into the sea, which is still producing heavy waves. He throws the bag of rice in, then quickly heads back. He comes back to camp and lies down next to Karen.
"Mission accomplished," he whispers to her.
"No one saw you," she replies. "You're good."
"Great," Cato replies. "The fun starts tomorrow."
"I am beginning the most heinous sabotage of a camp in Survivor history," Cato says. "And this is only the beginning, only just the start. I got bigger and better plans. These Women – except Karen – are not going to know what hit them. And they'll be running through Fire Tokens like water running through their hands. I can't wait for tomorrow morning."