digiteyesed | PRIVATE TO MARY

[she holds Ene's offered hand the entire way there; she's all about scheming but also: friendship. friend.]

We have our own secret club now! That's so cool, that's soooo cool!

Only the best secret club for a pair of super cool girls like us!

Ooh! We're so cool, we have such a cool club! Okay, okay, what do we do first? What's our first super cool club business?

Our first super cool mission! We should decide what to do with that vote of yours! Mary's got a loooot of power now, you know?

I do?

[she knows damn well that she does]

You do, you do! That's a big responsibility. You have to make the most of it.

Ohhh...

So...what should I do? If I've got lots of power, I can...do something good with it, right?

You caaaan. You can play by the rules and decide your vote fairly with everyone else, like all the adults want. And then Mary gets to be the hero that rescues someone, and look like a good girl.

Or, you can try to play the game. We can't talk about our prizes, but is yours something important? Do you want to win, Mary?

...

[The silence isn't uncertainty—it's Mary realizing she doesn't have to play sweet and stupid with Ene. If she'll talk about winning like this...Mary could act childish and coy, but why should she?

Slowly, she's gone serious.]

It's really important. So I want to win it really bad. That's why I have an idea already.

But...I wanna hear what Ene thinks, too. [She smiles; it isn't so over-the-top bubbly as normal, but it's sincere. Ene still called her friend.] If five people get their big prizes at the end, it means we can win together, right?

[Ene's definitely not surprised to see her get serious. Kids have all kinds of serious stuff going on.]

We can. That's why it's important for friends to look out for each other, right? So we can help each other win.

I want to do that. I want to win together!

[Ene is rapidly climbing the ranks of Mary's favorites, which really is just no good for anybody at all.]

...One lady keeps talking about wanting to vote for me and Ib and make us go to the hotel, though... I think a few people want us to go away, but she talks about it the most. But if everyone else votes the way they're supposed to...

[It's fine this is fine everything that's happening here is okay]

They're talking about it because adults feel like they need to protect kids. They think you'll be safest there, and don't want you to suffer here. But adults don't understand that kids have things to fight for too.

It might be a good idea to get rid of your biggest advocate. But you have to be careful you're not signalling to the other adults that you have a grudge. It's a delicate balance. And you have to make sure to get rid of some of their allies too. There's a few people voting in groups for each other, and that's going to get dangerous down the line because they'll have the majority to vote for. There's the long term to think about too with all of this.

That Ushiromiya family worries me in particular.

I don't want to be protected. I wanna take care of myself, and I wanna take care of Ib.

[Mary's listening carefully, and she nods along.]

The lady who wears lots of purple is one of them, right? [She looks a little uncertain; she's met more people all at once in the past few days than she's ever imagined knowing; remembering names is hard.] Na...Natsuhi...? Natsuhi... She always talks about voting for me and Ib. Would it be a good idea to vote for her now?

[And suddenly Mary sounds saccharine, wide-eyed and curious.]

She always talks about how dangerous it is here... I think maybe she'd be happier if she could be safe, and she'd be less worried...

[Just as quickly, she's serious and attentive again.]

There's lots of people to worry about. That family's so big... Is that an okay place to start right now? I wanna know what you think, too.

[Aww Mary you manipulative little brat I'm so proud of you.]

Ib will wanna take care of you too, you know.

Natsuhi doesn't seem very happy at all, does she? Really, it would be a kindness to her. I don't think she even believes in the grand prizes, so it's not like she'll want to fight to stay. If anything, isn't it best to pick someone who doesn't want to win?

I know. We're friends, so we have to take care of each other. That's why Ib's gonna stay with me, too.

[She shakes her head a little.] She's always worried and nervous... I think she's getting sick, too. She always talks about how much safer it is in the hotel, so...she'll get better there, won't she? You'll agree, too, right, if everyone else tries telling me it was bad..?

Of course I will Mary! You're just worried about her, and children are so impressionable. Obviously if a lady who's so concerned about you looks like she's struggling so much with everything, you have to help her. And hasn't she been telling you that's the best way to help? If all the adults are saying that's a good thing, then it must be. How could you be doing anything wrong?

[puffs out her cheeks!!]

I've got lots of power so...I wanna do something good with it! That's what everybody said would've been good, right..? Ib and I are really tough, so I know we'll be okay here, but...Natsuhi...

[She looks awfully sad for a moment, and then she's all smiles.]

I'm really excited. I want her to feel better!

[who let these two near each other wtf]

[They are great influences on each other and will do wonderful things this game. Ene smiles and pats her on the head.]

I'm sure she'll feel much better once she's away from all this stress. Mary's such a good girl, to be working so hard and want to help others so much.

We have to be careful, okay? I'll definitely come defend you if anyone says anything, but since we're a secret club, we can't let anyone know what secrets we're talking about here.

Don't worry, I'm really good at keeping secrets! [BOY IS SHE] It's our cool secret club, so no one else gets to find out. Just us two!

[because boy oh boy is she also really good at keeping secrets from Ib?!?!]

Yaaay! Ene's so cool, we're gonna work really hard to win the big prizes together!

[Ene's a little surprised at how quickly and how keen Mary is to lie to Ib, but hey, Ene lies to all of her friends all the time for the greater good, sometimes that's just how it has to be.]

That's right! We're gonna win the whole thing~ So we need to work hard and get more votes too. We have to make sure all three of us make it to the final round, so we can always round robin our votes. Hmmm, maybe if someone wants to vote Mary or Ib out, I'll be their second, and then claim my tablet malfunctioned so you could only get one vote and have to stay, oh noooo, what a shame~

Ah, but we should be careful straying from the plans too much. Since everyone's keeping track, they'll notice if we deviate or seem to have our own agenda.

[SUPER SECRET HOTEL PASS ACQUISITION PLAN]

So~ Mary~ I've got a few ideas.

[SKIPS RIGHT ALONG OVER HERE]

Okay, okay, what do you think?

Mm. I'm gonna be honest Mary. It's not going to be pleasant for me.

Huh..?

What are...you gonna do..?

It's a long story, but, I'm not really a robot. Before I came here, I didn't actually have a physical body. I lived in machines like computers and phones. So, I was planning to wreck this body, and then ditch it and live in my tablet.

[honestly it is a small miracle Mary even knows how to work her tablet; she doesn't have enough of a grasp on what computers and phones or even robots are honestly to not totally panic over this]

W-wait, but—no, no way, you can't do that! If you do that, you'll go away, Ene, you can't go away, you can't!

Whoa, whoa, hey. Hey.

[Kneeling down and putting her hands on Mary's shoulders.]

Mary. Listen up. I'm going to be okay.

[indignantly:] You said you were gonna go away.

[away is definitely not okay!!! (that's not what she said mary)]

I said I was going into the tablet. See?

[Pulls her tablet out and turns it on]

It just means I'll be in the screen.

[Mary's taking the tablet from her and squinting at it.]

Are you sure...that's okay..?

[Normally this wouldn't be an especially big deal to her—it's not too different from having a portable painting, like the ones she spoke to in the gallery—but Ene gave her a hug and she's kind of realizing she can't get hugs if Ene's in a tablet?? Priorities.]

It will only be for a little while.

Only a little while... You're sure it's okay..?

PRIVATE TO MARY

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DAY 10

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