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((Zeta Eight is Neutral at this point))

Zeta Eight was visibly taken aback at Eta 'Hermione' Four's reply, so much she jerked her hands a few inches from the table she had been resting them on, as if she had been scalded. If Eta Four had intended to shake the Zeta girl to her core, she had not only succeeded, but had done so with an effectiveness that was either very, very disturbing, or very, very lucky. 'I had no idea what I was supposed to be fighting for. There were no loved ones I could think to live for, no job or purpose for which I knew I cared.' Although no one could see it, her eyes had blown open wide, unblinking and glazing a little beneath the mask, a soft, hollow echo pressing subtly, insistingly against the back of her mind.

You are my sunshine~ my only sunshine~

She had stopped listening to Hermione by the 'and then I discovered I was a powerful witch' part, her gas mask tilting down slightly and to her right, a discerning gesture with no real purpose other than to give her nothing to look at. That part had no effect on her -- there would be no conversion of Zeta Eight to the 'Harry Potter Puppet Pals' tonight. In fact, she barely realized the girl had stopped talking, until she heard the sound of the hooded figure's voice somewhere behind her, her head lifting to watch him circle the room. And it was that methodical motion, the clear rules of the 'game' that allowed her to rest her hands back on the smooth surface, straightening again as she listened.

Still, the seed of doubt had been planted.

Turning slowly as the figure stopped talking, Zeta Eight quietly bent down to pick up the chair she had unsettled, setting it down with a quiet 'click' before seating herself in it again, listening to the others as they interrogated each other. She had no obvious interest in the grilling of Epsilon Thirteen that seemed to be going on, only speaking up when Fiver asked his question, although it wasn't directed at her.

"Keeping them ensures his survival," she replied, obvious in her disinterest on why he had two in the first place, "Or his demise. Regardless, my guess would be survival."

That being said, she turned her attention to no one in particular, although she announced her thoughts just the same, speaking up again. "It is likely not Epsilon Thirteen, Gamma Three, or Alpha Nine, as the hooded figure chose to cast them in a particularly poor light." She was almost certain of that fact. That would be too easy -- the figure had said as much, he wasn't going to reveal the traitor. That almost certainly left them out. Still, she didn't get much chance to advance on this theory, instead suddenly struck by another question, the voice coming from Theta Thirteen. It was both an intelligent and naive question, in her opinion, his asking about their records. Considering their game of survival, a mere killing wouldn't warrant being branded a traitor.

Now, a killing of a teammate...

"I assisted in the systematic neutralization of the former Alpha Five."

At this, she did glance over at Fiver, unapologetic although not wielding any particular malice either. She'd had her reasons, and she didn't expect him to accept them.

At least she was honest.

(( A5 is neutral ))

Oh and someone was asking now if any of the killed someone? Morbid, much? Okay yea, that was apparently the POINT of this whole thing, but come on. "I haven't killed anyone," he said, glaring over at Theta-13. "All I did was defend myself when someone else attacked me for pretty much no reason."

A beat. "Then I was the one who got killed. I think it was Tardis over there who broke my neck with his mace, actually," he muttered, jerking his thumb toward A-4.

((Zeta Five is inquiring A4))

Zeta Five gave a disagreeable look as Death began to circle them. A traitor in their mists. He didn't even know there were rules to break. Unless... killing one's teammate without any justification counted. Then yes, someone here was very much a traitor.

His eyes narrowed on Alpha Four and Alpha Ten. Both of them had been the ones to bring down Fiver along with his own team leader and the others. But it had been Alpha Four who'd struck the death blow. It had been Alpha Four who killed his best friend.

And so it was to him that the question was directed, "Why did you assist Alpha Ten in Alpha Five's assault when Alpha Five did nothing to warren said attack? Need I even need to remind you he was on your own team?" He asked pointedly in a cold voice. He had to know the answer.

((Still neutral?))

She hadn't been particularly enthralled by the conversation, overall, mostly just paying idle attention to the banter before she had spoken up. So it was not difficult for Zeta Eight to look away as she heard the sudden screech of metal chair legs against a tile floor, the scraping sending an uncomfortable chill down her spine, like nails on a chalkboard. She'd noticed Alpha Seven prop his feet up on the table a few moments before, but she hadn't realized he had righted himself until she turned her head to see him approaching her quickly, her mask tilting upward a little to accommodate his larger, imposing size. And it was distinctly imposing. it wasn't always, of course -- he had certainly revealed himself to be a naturally easy-going, fun-loving person, even if she hadn't had the unsettling instinct. The plethora of jokes certainly revealed as much. But there was no denying the dangerous aspect of him as well, the hints of a violent temper, especially when protecting one of his own. She could feel it now as he stood behind her, like a threat, only the threat was not to her, but to the others circling the table.

He was very protective, wasn't he.

Please don't take my sunshine away.

Once again her hand reached out to brace herself on the table, fingers splayed wide in her glove. She was almost relieved when Alpha Five spoke again, once more bringing up that he was completely innocent in his killing, clearly a victim of happenstance. Shifting her attention back to him, she leaned back slightly at his words, feeling the subtle brush of Alpha Seven's body against her shoulders.

"You separated yourself from the collective."

Despite how she knew Alpha Seven's presence was purely to protect her from her own incriminating words, she couldn't stop herself from speaking up, again no malice in her voice, although there was a hint of hardness there. She wasn't helping her case.

"Someone had to die. Your viewpoint would have assured the destruction of the entirety."

Still not helping her case.

"And as Alpha Seven stated, it was nothing personal. And you happen to be alive now."

(( Still neutral??? XD ))

Fiver blinked and shifted his gaze to Z-8, eyes narrowing a bit behind his mask. "Separated myself from the collective? What is this, the Borg?" he asked - though he wasn't entirely sure what the Borg were ... but STILL. "I wasn't the only one that thought drawing straws was a stupid way to pick someone to die." He folded arms over his chest. "I was just the one to bring it up."

A little pause. "Does having an opinion mean you get killed around this place? Seems a little harsh to me. If this is some kind of TEST, what is it a test of? Ability to survive, sure. But it seems like to me, you need a brain to do that. Which means... Ooooh opinions!" He made spooky motions with his fingers. "But oops, those aren't allowed, sorry." Cue invisible eyeroll. "Saying that I separated myself or whatever doesn't justify anyone trying to kill me. And that's another opinion. Anyone wanna attack me for it?"

God these people were stupid. All of them. Well, except for Three and Fiver II. And Mouse. They'd at least tried to protect him back then. Though Mouse seemed to have lost it a bit since then, joining up with those other guys and all. But he couldn't really hold it against him.

Oh, and now a*****e was gonna pipe up. "Uhm, wrong. I didn't say 'hey let's argue about how to do it'. ALL I said, was not that way. You can think it was gonna be fair and right and all that s**t but WHAT ABOUT ANY OF THIS IS FAIR? That's my question for you. For any of you. What's FAIR about dumping us on an island, saying we signed up for this s**t, and telling us to kill each other? Far as I know, survival of the fittest isn't about being fair. It's about being the strongest and the best. If that's not me, fine. But I'd rather have gone down fighting than by luck of the ******** draw. And I did. And I still survived. What have you done since then?"

A10 had opted to keep quiet while most of the rest spoke, and not only because one of the girls hanging around A7 kept calling her Buckwheat.. or some other kind of noodle. As insulting as it was, she didn't think it merited any sort of argument. She did have A4 beside her, and he was a surprisingly comforting presence, constantly stroking her ego.

You're going to get it later, she thought, shooting A7 a dirty look he probably wouldn't catch. What was with all his moodiness.. and now flirtatiousness? Rebellious teenager phase, or something? Whatever it was, two could play at this game- and she'd win it, for sure.

With a deep sigh, she leaned back against the chair, watching people as they spoke in turns. The conversation shifted quickly to deaths and murders; curiously she glanced over at E13 as he spoke, telling his story about the 'game' he'd played. And then A5 was speaking up, telling everyone about his death.

Loser. That was exactly what she thought of him; what she had always thought of him. Someone who couldn't keep his mouth shut, someone who was always, always whining about things like INJUSTICE and whatnot. Trivialities.

"You argue about the wrong things," she said, addressing him directly. "And I don't need to justify my actions to anyone but myself. We were all put on this island, shoved into groups- there's nothing fair or unfair about it, so deal with it. If you're going to voice an opinion, you had damned well better defend it, and prepare to take any consequences that come your way. If you can't do even that, learn to shut up. What you did was inexcusable; telling people to vote for who would die. You don't seem to realise how offensive that is, but look- you're taking offense at being the one voted to die. Puzzle it out yourself, if you can. You've been nothing but a whiny loser the whole time I've seen you."

A pause, for breath. In all honesty, she wondered why she wasn't jumping up onto the table, dagger in hand, and aiming for his heart.

"I will kill you again," she said, struggling to keep her tone level. "If you say anything else I don't approve of. And as for surviving, do you think you get the credit for it? You were the first to die, A5, in a fair fight; I think that says something about your... capabilities."

Having said her piece, A10 picked up the pen again, quickly scrawled something on the paper, then slid it across the desk to the reaper. It said, very clearly: Alpha 10.

I am the traitor, she thought. I don't know what the rest have done, but I attacked a teammate. I don't regret it, though- I admit it. In the end, no matter who she ended up voting for, the true traitor would die. There was no sense in writing down someone else's name; she did not want to wrongly accuse them.

[A10 is ACCUSING herself]

(( E-13 is Neutral. ))

"What's lady got to do with it?" E-13 asked. "There's Thirteen slots, that's all. And they ain't equal-gender-opportunity slots, either. It's either gonna be you, or it's gonna be someone else. That's all."

He got his cell phone out again.

"First message we got is, Take a look around, this is your group. Whether you decide to stay with them is up to you. I didn't do it, but ...shouldn't matter if I guy attacks anybody, even his own color. That was in the first rule. This traitor stuff doesn't make sense. The only reason I'm bringing it up, we start accusing people because they killed other people, Death's gonna say it's not against the rules, and it's back to this two pendant s**t, so I figure I might as well say it. They gave us weapons. Not plastic harmless weapons, either. We got to figure out the rules before we can figure out who broke em."

E-13 was trying to remember the Rules, but all he could remember was a bunch of vague cell phone messages and a classroom orientation. Only one way to fail. What made someone a traitor? What were they missing? But he knew one thing for sure.

"A lot of us here have killed people, people that would have done the same to us. There's one traitor. Killing people ain't against the rules."

Oh, Doctor! So suave and eloquent! I'll be your nurse, anytime!

Only, uhh, not really. As grateful as she was for his speaking up for her, there was only one person in A10's heart. It just wasn't big enough for more. Regrettably. Sneaking a quick look at A7 across the table,

"As far as I can see," A10 said, shrugging, "You're clinging to the number 'one' like it's some precious gem. Like it's the keyword that will save your life. I don't think numbers matter so much, really." She looked around the table, at all the people who'd been on the beach with her. They remembered, didn't they?

"The last time we heard the number 'one', it turned into 'two'. Two deaths before the monster was satisfied. And what about your game? One survivor. Maybe that guy over there will make us go in circles. One traitor. Oops, no, I forgot to mention there was another one. And oh, how about third time's lucky?" Tracing circles on the table with her finger, A10 sighed. This would not end so easily; that they were seated comfortably around a table, too, unnerved her a little. No way anything on the island would end well.

"Just because I wrote my own name on a piece of paper, though, doesn't mean I can't still bring the rest of you down, if need be. Face it- none of us wants to die... or at least die alone."

A10 paused, thinking about everything she'd heard in the last few minutes. Was it possible that she'd been too hasty?

"I guess we don't want to die not knowing what we did wrong either," she finally conceded, so softly that no one else probably heard it.