Cody didn't so much as shoot up as he did lazily roll over when Chris' horn went off. Live this thing several dozen times and you get a bit used to the schedule, what could he say. Looking up, he saw others like Geoff and DJ stumbling out of their beds, while Duncan had already gotten on the floor, the delinquent clearly used to this kind of thing.

Noticing the sunlight forcing itself through the shoddy screen door, Cody sat up in bed, looking down at his hands. He stared deeply at them, anticipating what he was about to do today, before finally getting up, and preparing for the day.

"Hey Beth!" Cody shouted as he caught up to the short Gopher girl, sliding right up to here. She was clearly still recovering from the first few kilometers, but was doing far better than guys like Harold or Noah.

Beth, for her part, was a bit confused as to why Cody had chosen to talk to her, but she decided not to question it. "What did you need Cody? I don't think the other girls would like it if they saw me talking to the guy who caused us to lose…" she looked away from the time traveler, a bit put out due to her words.

Cody just smiled. He'd done this enough times to know just what to say. "Come on, I was just having fun! You should've seen Miss CIT's reaction, she's been glaring at me the whole week!" That got a small giggle out of Beth, and Cody took the initiative to go further. "Besides, even if we're on different teams, that shouldn't stop us from hanging out like this."

"I guess you're right!" Beth chirped excitedly, baring her braces in a wide smile. Cody almost grimaced seeing them, remembering how difficult this part of the plan was to work on, just being able to understand the girl. Thankfully, his mind could now auto translate her garbled speech.

"So, what do you think of the game so far?" Beth asked as the pair started walking together.

"Been pretty fun, though we haven't really done much." Cody replied casually. "I guess it's interesting to see red ants up close, Harold's got a farm of them in our cabin."

"You've never seen red ants before?" Beth was being genuine with her question, like seeing red ants were some kind of right of passage any sixteen year old would have lived through. Cody just chuckled.

"I'm deathly allergic, so if I see one I try to get far away." Cody shrugged while Beth looked on in partial awe at the fact that someone could be allergic to something so small. "If I got bit, I'd need someone to jab my butt with an epipen." He stuck his tongue out while looking at Beth, who blushed at what he just said.

"Wow, I didn't know…" Beth mumbled, looking away. "I guess I do need to get out more."

The calmness of the conversation was short lived as a running Geoff shoved Beth over to Cody, who caught her in his arms. The party animal seems to read the situation in his own way, as he turned his head to look at Cody before winking, and continuing on his way. Cody just smirked.

"I-I'm sorry!" Beth stuttered as she tried to get off of him, only for the two to tumble onto the ground, ending up as a mess of tangled limbs, with Beth on top of Cody, her face tinged a light pink.

"You know, you're pretty cute like this." Cody said, causing Beth's pink tinge to turn red, leaving her as a stuttering mess while Cody worked on getting back up. "See you back at camp!" He cheered as he lifted the still flushed Beth onto her feet, and ran off.

He knew he wasn't much of a player, which is why he chose someone as sheltered and hungry for positive attention as Beth. Before, Cody would've felt bad about this level of manipulation, but right now he could only remember sinking to the bottom of the lake, an unwanted kiss burning his cheek all the way down.

'So easy.'

Everything else went as expected. He had tons of practice pacing himself and not eating too much from the meal Chris rewarded them with. Of course, Cody also had no ways to force himself awake, and he doubted he could last as long as Duncan and Gwen had in the original timeline, but he didn't have to win this either. He just had to ensure his pick for going home contributed to their team's aggravation.

That, of course, was Eva. They got lucky in the first season, with Heather manipulating the girl and later on stopping her from winning individual immunity. Most challenges would be easy for her, and she'd steal most individual immunities down the line, which could not happen.

So, as Cody sat at the fire pit and watched Heather make her moves. She was a useful piece this early on, but letting her stay would be a mistake. Even with her petty hatred to hold her back, she still held her own all the way until the final three, probably with interference from a certain host ensuring that. It didn't help that her hatred was so petty, she would target him in some loops simply for looking at her too long. He watched as she brought Beth and Lindsay into the fold, and then as she swiped Eva's MP3 player, her plan slowly falling into place.

So, Cody thought it best to play against her at this moment. Let her have the glory of removing Eva from the game, but take one of her pawns off the board at the same time. With that thought, he made his way over to an incredibly exhausted Beth.

"Hey Beth!" Cody said, a gap toothed smile plastered on his face. He saw Beth perk up, a pink tinge on her cheeks. Perfect. He sat down next to the stump she was sitting on. "So, I saw you and Heather talking earlier…" he trailed off, letting her take the initiative in explaining.

"O-oh, we were, I was, we just, I!" Beth stammered out, a mixture of several things collapsing in on her. Her exhausted mind, fear of Heather, and embarrassment around Cody. Cody decided to just laugh and put a hand on her shoulder.

"Don't sweat it if you can't say anything. I can guess though." Cody let his expression settle before launching into the most important part of the conversation. "Heather offered you an alliance, didn't she?"

Beth stared at him in shock, mouth agape, before slowly nodding her head. Cody just smirked.

"Let me guess. She'll take you to the final three or something?" Cody chuckled as Beth nodded once more, now intrigued more than shocked. He continued, "You really trust someone like her? She's just trying to use you by preying on your insecurities and making her completely reliant on you. Trust me, I know her type."

"A-are you sure?" Beth mumbled, looking around skittishly, like Heather would pop out at any moment. "What should I do then?"

Cody gripped her shoulder, shaking her out of her worries and forcing her to look at him. "Just trust me. Don't work with Heather, just let her plot and plan all on her own until eventually everyone gets sick of her. You saw how she was on the first day, right?"

Beth seemed to be seeing his side of things, her worry slowly melting away. But, there was one last thing on her mind. "W-what about her deal? Making it to the final three together?"

Cody smiled once more, a wide, toothy smile that could only be worn by someone completely harmless. "How about the two of us make it to the final two together? I wouldn't mind that." Just like that, Beth was putty in his hands, almost melting at his words.

"Y-you mean that?" Beth slurred, exhaustion mixed with her lovestruck thoughts bringing her ever closer to sleep. "Y-you won't just use me like Heather would?"

Cody gave one last smile before telling the worst lie he could.

"I would never hurt someone I like."

Sayonara, Heather.

Cody watched as people slowly dropped off. He was close to his way out as well, but the numbers had certainly worn down. With no Gwen, Trent had fallen long ago, and it looked like the Gophers were ready to lose, with only Heather, a probably sleeping Justin, and Noah still awake. Meanwhile, the Bass still had Duncan, Geoff, Ezekiel, and Cody, of course.

Looking at the moon reflecting off the lake, Cody decided now was the time to initiate the final steps of his plan for the challenge. Get everyone else to sleep, which would be easy enough. Geoff was ready to pass out, and Duncan would do the same should he so much as move any distance and sit back down. Ezekiel though, Cody knew how long he could stay up.

There had been an incident back on the Playa where Ezekiel stayed in the hot tub for three days , only leaving to grab food occasionally. When asked how he could do it, Cody learned of his life on the farm, working early hours and staying up far longer than the average person. Sitting around and relaxing all day? Child's play.

So, Cody prepared for this. In the earliest loops where he learned of Ezekiel's ability to stay awake for far too long when he decided to play around with keeping 'homeschool' in the game, and so he went to the resident survivalist for advice on how to force people to sleep, to which Izzy gave Cody a sleep powder guide.

The crazy girl said that grinding up grass, wild berries, "those mushrooms you see growing next to poop", and ashes, one could make a concoction that would knock its target out. Surprising, this worked, though Cody was worried it would lead to some kind of debilitating disease should he inhale it.

But, with this, all he had to do was walk up to Ezekiel.

"Hey 'Zeke, still alive?"

Grab a handful of the premade powder from his pocket.

"Still going strong, eh! The Zeke's got this in the bag!"

And throw it in his face.

"Good job maaaaaaaaa-" Cody mock fell onto the toque wearing boy, the pair collapsing on the ground as a handful of the powder made its way to Ezekiel's face. As soon as he was done, Cody scrambled to his feet mumbling apologies. "S-sorry about that man, just slipped! Must be more tired than I thought."

Ezekiel looked up at Cody hazily, before yawning. "Me too, eh." Ezekiel then passed out, leaving nobody the wiser.

Eventually, Justin ended up winning the game. When Duncan had left for his bathroom break, Cody chose that as the moment to finally give in and fall asleep, knocking the model over. This, of course, woke him up, and he managed to wipe the makeup from his eyes before anyone noticed. Pretty lame strategy all things considered, but if it got Eva out of the game, who was he to complain?

Seeing Eva leave that night, Cody didn't feel much of anything for the bodybuilder. He tried several avenues of approaching her, but she never wanted anything to do with him. She was always focused on herself, and nobody else, playing a completely loveless game of pure survival… Cody shuddered at how much he related. He could see their distinction though- he was a smart player. She was an idiot.

Cody smiled and departed from the bonfire, ready to make a certain delinquent pay.

Loop 0045

Cody cringed internally as Beth's sweaty hand grasped his own. He tried to tell himself that this was because he hated her… but deep down there was a gnawing feeling that he was doing the wrong thing. That he was no better than Alejandro, leading a poor girl to her downfall.

"Of course I'm no better than him." Cody thought snarkily, gripping Beth's hand tightly as the pair walked with their group through the woods. "I'm playing to win, I have to do things like this eventually."

Looking over at Beth, he saw the girl blushing deeply, her eyes downcast. A feeling of pity rose up in him, but he pushed it down. This was the girl who nearly let him drown, he wasn't about to feel bad for her.

"You know, Cody, after all of this is over…" Beth asked, looking at him now, hearts in her eyes. "Do you think we could stay together?"

"Sure Beth!" Cody chirped in response, despite his internal protests. He had to see how far he could take it with her, how deeply enamored she could be with him. She was a tool, and nothing more, a secured vote and easy assistance for the late-game. He leaned over to whisper in her ear. "I mean, if we wanted to split the winnings, it'd be best to stick together, right? I wouldn't mind moving in with a cute girl like you…" he trailed off, smirking as the simple flirting made her a blushing mess.

"So easy."

That was when time in the scene froze. It threw Cody off, reliving a memory only for it to stop, but this was something else he had gotten used to. Sometime around his fifth loop, he noticed someone watching him, and slowly that person wriggled into his dream space.

"What do you want now?" Cody shouted, his memory self breaking away from Beth. The watcher never showed themselves, but they did respond, albeit always the same response.

"This isn't you, Cody." The same voice every time, some girl he didn't even know. He just groaned and rubbed at his temples in frustration.

"What would you know about me, huh? Poor little Cody, has to be dragged around everywhere! Can't make it to the final three without being carried by someone better at the game than him! Can only succeed by being ignored, and when he finally gets into the spotlight, you know what happens!? He dies!" Cody shouted, his frustration clear. He hated being reminded of how he used to be, how pathetic he was.

"That Cody knew love at least." The feminine voice said again, throwing Cody somewhat off guard. "I can see it in your heart, your true desire, it's-"

"Shut up!"

The dream world shattered as Cody finally drowned out the intruding voice. He glared all around him, before taking notice of the moonlight breaking through the trees above. He decided to go in the opposite direction, if only out of spite.