Any evidence against me, far from valid

The meeting ended, and everyone filed out of the Meeting Room. The four remaining girls looked at each other warily in quiet contemplation.

Finally, it was Mary who spoke first.

“So I guess that confirms it… Morgana really was the saboteur.” Her voice carried a note of sadness as she’d said that.

“We all knew it, but getting it confirmed like this…” Kim let out a sigh. She couldn’t deny she felt bad about the result.

“It’s just how the game is played,” Dakota coldly admonished the two of them. “If she wasn’t the saboteur, then things would be over already. We did what we needed to do to win the challenge.”

A smirk crossed her lips. “Even her fellow saboteur must have realized that they needed to cut the dead weight off. Once she’d been caught, anyway.”

“Morgana is still our friend, though,” Mary replied, sounding a little more snappish than usual. To Kim’s eyes, it seemed like she was genuinely upset about having to vote Morgana off.

Or maybe she’s upset that Morgana was a saboteur in the first place?

“Come on, guys! We don’t need to be so down in the dumps!” Rose urged the others, looking around expectantly. “I know it’s sad for Morgana, but we’re so close to completing the challenge! I only have a few tasks left!”

“We have to do the tasks for everyone who was eliminated too, though,” Kim pointed out. “My transformation wouldn’t let me do anything less.”

“Oh, yeah, your 100% Completion thing?” Mary winced. “That must be brutal.”

Kim nodded. “Just leave everybody else’s tasks to me,” she suggested. “It’s not like I have any other choice…”

“And don’t forget,” Dakota added, “there’s another saboteur we need to look out for. Someone here was working with Morgana. To betray all of us.”

She looked pointedly at Kim. “And I know it’s you. I’m not buying your poor ‘boo-hoo, I need to finish everyone else’s tasks’ nonsense. You’re the saboteur.”

“Hey, come on, enough with the accusations,” Rose urged.

“Rose is right,” Mary declared. “Where’s your proof?”

“Process of elimination,” Dakota sneered, crossing her arms over her chest. “Granted, Morgana is probably responsible for eliminating Gina, Carly, and obviously Dani. I’m not going to argue about that. But there is NO way she’s the one who eliminated Dawn. That had to be someone else.”

Mary and Rose both tensed. They knew that was the case; they’d figured out as much during the meeting.

“Now then,” Dakota continued, “I know it’s not me. And it can’t be either of you. According to the three of you, Kim went off with Dawn while Rose and Mary went to the O2 Room. Neither one of you ever left the other’s sight, correct?”

“That’s right,” Mary confirmed cautiously.

“Not even to use the bathroom,” Rose nodded, wearing a look of shame for what she’d inadvertently allowed Morgana to do.

Dakota’s voice took on a triumphant timbre and she turned to Kim, smirking. “Then that means it can’t be either one of you! There’s only one saboteur left, after all, so only one person here is guilty. If you two never left the other’s side, your alibis are perfect. Which means Kim is the only one who had the opportunity to kill Dawn. It’s as simple as that.”

Kim tensed and Dakota narrowed her eyes.

“Enough playing around,” she growled. “I say we start another meeting, and toss her out as well. We can end this here and now.”

So that’s how it is, huh? Kim’s expression darkened. She wasn’t going to let her buddy push her around like this.

“It’s not as cut and dry as that,” she snapped. “Everything you said about me, I could turn right back around on you, you know.”

“Oh?” Now it was time for a shadow to cross Dakota’s face.

“I wasn’t the only one who didn’t have an alibi for Dawn last round,” Kim pointed out. “According to you, you went to Admin to fix the O2, then you just disappeared completely! That gave you plenty of time to hunt down Dawn and get rid of her. Was it just a coincidence that those doors closed when they did, conveniently isolating her from the rest of us? It gave you a nice opportunity, didn’t it?”

“You were the one with her,” Dakota replied. “I was trapped in a maze of doors trying to find my way out. Don’t turn this back around on me. You’re the guilty one. You’ve been playing everybody from the start.”

“Kim raises a good point, though,” Mary cut in. “You don’t have an alibi either, Dakota. You were all on your own for most of the round.”

“Yeah…” Rose took a step back from both girls, practically hiding behind Mary. “Mary and I are both workers… but the saboteur has to be one of you.”

“It’s Kim,” Dakota calmly replied.

“It’s not!” Kim shouted. “Dakota’s trying to frame me! She’s been doing it from the very start! Don’t you guys see?”

“We can’t know for sure,” Mary pointed out. “It could be either of you. And there’s not enough evidence to say one way or the other.”

Dakota scowled. “If I was the saboteur, then why would I bother to go to Admin and fix the O2?” She demanded. “I could have just fucked off on my own somewhere and let the clock run out!”

“That goes double for me, though,” Kim pointed out. “I didn’t need to fix O2 either, if I was the saboteur. I could have just killed Dawn the second we were alone, and that would be that. But I didn’t do that, because I’m a worker. As for you… maybe you weren’t certain that Dani and Morgana wouldn’t be in Admin already and turn off the O2 themselves? So you didn’t want to take that risk. Or, hell, we found them in Admin; maybe you never DID turn it off, and it was the two of them?”

Mary’s eyes widened. “Kim!”

Kim winced. “Sorry, right… language.”

The farmgirl shook her head. “No, no, not that! …Okay, well, yes, that, but what you just said, about Morgana and Dani… I think you just solved something!”

Kim squinted in confusion. “I… did?”

“Yes,” Mary nodded. “Now we know for a fact that the saboteurs didn’t have some special magic power to communicate with each other, or anything, not even a cell phone! They had to communicate in person, like the rest of us!”

Dakota nodded, understanding what she meant. But Rose just looked confused.

“Um… how do we know that?” She asked. Rose hated feeling like the dumbest person in the room, but it was becoming all too common.

“Because of what Kim just said, about the O2,” Mary explained. “She was right. Whether she or Dakota is the saboteur, it would have been the perfect opportunity to win the game when the O2 went off. The saboteur would just need to send a message to Morgana to eliminate Dani, and then just not switch the last switch for O2. Then the saboteurs would win! But Morgana didn’t eliminate Dani until right before we caught her, at the end of the round. So either the saboteurs didn’t think of that, or they weren’t in communication.”

“Yeah, I think that makes sense,” Kim agreed. “We sort of jumped the gun on this whole ‘saboteurs can communicate with each other’ thing.”

“Which I pointed out earlier was speculation on Mary’s part,” Dakota reminded everyone.

“That means, unless someone planned things out with her in the first round, before we all paired up, Morgana’s actions were completely independent,” Mary said, scrunching up her face in thought. “I need to rethink all my theories! She might have just stumbled onto Carly by coincidence!”

That was good to hear for Kim. After all, if Dakota could convince Mary that she’d tipped off Morgana, then Kim would follow her into elimination shortly. That would be game over.

“Look, Mary, Rose, I know I have to convince you guys that Dakota is the saboteur,” Kim said, glancing at Dakota.

“You mean, I have to convince them that it’s you,” Dakota said, obviously intent on getting her own version of events out there.

It was too much work for Kim to correct her and turn this into another bickering match. She just pushed past it.

“I don’t think either of us will be able to completely sway you… and we can’t take the 50/50 guess, either,” she said. “Neither one of us could have risked not fixing O2 in case Dani and Morgana did it first. I can’t convince you from that. And if you guys vote out me, then Dakota will just eliminate one of you and that’s the game. We can’t let that happen. So I think the right thing to do is for the four of us to stick together.”

“…I’m shocked she’d be the one to suggest it, but she’s right,” Dakota said, her voice carrying a note of bitterness. “If the four of us stick together, then even if Kim eliminates someone, the other two can vote her out. It’s the best course of action.”

Rose and Mary looked at each other. As the two people who were guaranteed to not be the saboteur, the decision was up to them.

“…I think that’s for the best,” Mary said finally, turning back to Kim and Dakota. “The four of us will stick together and complete the rest of our tasks. That way, we won’t run the risk of someone running off, and nobody else has to get eliminated. It would be sad if the saboteur killed a third person, dragging the VP totals of everyone else down…”

“I’m with Mary on this one,” Rose nodded in agreement. She could practically taste victory on her tongue, finally.

“Then we’ll work together,” Dakota nodded. She held out her hand to Kim. Kim cautiously took it, feeling the crushing, ice-cold grip from the pale-skinned girl.

Kim didn’t let the pain show on her face, giving Dakota one of her best smiles. “It’s a pleasure to work with you,” she politely replied.

The four remaining girls, one of whom was secretly plotting against the others, began to do their tasks. It was slow work. They had jobs all over the ship, and completing a task with three sets of eyes staring at you with suspicion didn’t exactly make the job easier.

And with every task completed, the noose around the saboteur’s neck got a little tighter.

“Just a few left!” Mary couldn’t handle her excitement as she looked over the list of remaining tasks. It had been over an hour since they’d started working, and the challenge was almost done.

“I can’t wait,” Rose sighed, her voice filled with exhaustion. “I wasn’t built to do technical work like this…”

“Then what were you built for?” Dakota raised her eyebrow and scanned the blonde’s curvaceous figure. “Because it looks to me like you were built for sex.”

Rose smiled coyly and batted her eyelashes. “Well, you’re not wrong…”

“Done!” Kim said, standing up from the control panel and wiping the sweat off her brow. As the person in Dakota’s crosshairs, it had been rather difficult to relax. Her transformation helped her take her mind off things a little by making her focus on completing her work, but it was starting to wear on her.

“So what’s left to do?” Dakota asked, studying the sheet.

Mary was happy to answer. “Only-”

A blaring alarm cut her off, drowning out her response. Four pairs of eyes shot to the flashing light.

“WARNING!” A robotic voice blared over the loudspeaker. “REACTOR OVERLOAD IMMINENT! PLEASE READJUST SETTINGS AT BOTH ACCESS PORTS BEFORE THE SYSTEM GOES CRITICAL!”

“We should have expected that,” Rose sighed once the robotic voice died down. “The saboteur’s last trick, huh?”

She turned to Kim and Dakota, and the two suspects glanced at each other. Dakota’s expression was as inscrutable as Kim’s.

“It said there are two Access Ports,” Mary said, frowning. “That means we’re going to need to split up.”

“Just like in O2,” Kim nodded. “It seems like all the sabotages are designed to separate us.”

“So… how should we do it, then?” Rose asked warily.

“It doesn’t really matter,” Dakota shrugged. “Whoever pairs off with whoever, everyone is safe. If Mary goes with Kim and Kim eliminates her, then Rose and I will have the votes to boot her off. Same as if Kim went with Rose, or even myself.”

Kim frowned. She didn’t like the insinuation, but she’d gotten used to it over the last hour.

“What if we split into uneven groups, then?” Rose suggested. “I could go with Dakota and Kim, and Mary can go off alone?”

Kim shook her head. “Won’t work. Dakota would just kill you, and then point the finger at me. And I’d just point it right back. Mary would be stuck. And if you send Dakota off alone, then she’d just not do the job, and we’d all die.”

Dakota narrowed her eyes. “And we can’t send you off alone, because you’d let us all die.”

Another impasse. Rose and Mary looked at each other and sighed.

“You both make some good points,” Mary agreed. “Okay then. We’ll split up in groups of two. And if we see Kim or Dakota without their partner, well… we’ll know who to vote for.”

She sounded sad as she said that. She had good reason to be. The saboteur had dashed her hopes of getting through this without another elimination.

“What about this?” Kim suggested. “Since Dakota and I are the two suspicious ones, we’ll go together. That way, we can keep an eye on each other. And if one of us comes back without the other…” She glanced pointedly at Dakota as she said this, “…then you’ll know who the culprit is.”

“I’m good with that!” Rose said a little too loudly. “I don’t want to be eliminated, thank you! Let’s go, Mary!”

Then, her face lit up, like she’d just had a really great idea.

“I just had a really great idea!” She blurted out. How did they ever suspect that someone who wore her heart on her sleeve so clearly could be the saboteur? “Okay, so, we need to get to the Reactor like, super fast, right?”

“Right,” Mary nodded. She glanced warily at the clock. Every second they spent here was another second that wasn’t spent dealing with the Reactor issue.

“So I can get there fast!” Rose said, taking a deep breath. “Using my Method Acting transformation, I can copy Dani’s again!”

Just like in her first challenge, Rose copied Dani’s transformation. Her body plumped up slightly and softened, while underneath the skin her muscles grew more powerful with the aid of magic. She now had Dani’s super-athletic, super-curvy body.

“And this way, if Kim or Dakota come after me, I can get away!” Rose crowed.

Kim wasn’t sure if that would work or not, and it was clear that nobody else was, either.

“That’s a really good idea, Rose,” Mary smiled, obviously not wanting to crush the other girl’s hopes that she could be useful. At this point, it was abundantly clear that Rose’s biggest contribution to the group was being the extra vote the workers needed; if someone was going to figure out who the other saboteur was, that person was definitely going to be Mary.

She practically dragged the redhead away. Mary glanced apologetically at Kim and Dakota. “…Sorry about this,” she apologized. “Good luck you two. I hope you both make it back safely…”

Mary knew that one of the girls she was wishing the best was secretly conspiring against her, her face said as much. It reminded Kim of how kind she was to still feel camaraderie towards them. She wasn’t sure if she’d be able to do the same in Mary’s position.

Kim glanced at Dakota, who stared back at her. Without Rose and Mary, they could finally drop the pretense of civility.

“Let’s get going then,” Dakota gruffly ordered, turning and heading for the Left Reactor. Mary and Rose were headed to the right one.

Neither girl said anything as they worked to restore the Reactor’s settings. They didn’t really need to. They both knew as an absolute fact who the saboteur was, and a friendly chat wasn’t going to change that.

Kim actually appreciated the silence this time around. It let her do her work in relative peace.

A few minutes later, the alarm stopped flashing. Both the Reactors had cooled down.

“Well, that’s it, then,” Kim said, turning to Dakota. “I guess we should head back to meet up with Mary and Rose again.”

“Yeah,” Dakota nodded. “I guess we should.”

The two girls descended from the Left Reactor, and walked down the hall. They hadn’t agreed to a meeting place, but the Meeting Room seemed like the best bet.

Meanwhile, across the space station, Mary had just finished with the Right Reactor. It hadn’t been that complicated, she just needed to put her hand on the panel.

She was relieved that she was partnered with someone guaranteed to be innocent. As much as she trusted Kim, and didn’t want to believe that her friend was the saboteur, there was a difference between wanting something to be true and knowing it.

Mary could trust Rose. She knew that much, at least. And it was a rather odd feeling, to be sure.

“We’re done,” Mary said, climbing down. Rose had been pacing with an antsy gait, clearly worried about what was going to happen.

“Then… can we go back?” The blonde asked hopefully. “I don’t like it being just the two of us… don’t get me wrong, Mary, you’re great, but… I just want this game to be over, you know? And if we’re all together, we can clear it really soon.”

“Yeah,” Mary nodded. She felt the same way. It was better to complete the remaining tasks than to keep suspecting the others. “Let’s head back.”

The two headed down the hall, towards the Meeting Room. It seemed only fitting that would be where they gathered up.

Clearly nervous, Rose couldn’t stop talking.

“So… who do you think it is? The other saboteur, I mean?” She asked, shifting from one foot to the other. Mary was afraid she’d break into a sprint at the first sound, which was bad. Another Carly situation would cost them the challenge.

“I don’t know,” Mary said, shaking her head. She really didn’t.

“Well… I was thinking,” Rose said, keeping her voice down. “Look… if it’s Dakota or Kim, well… there’s something we can do about it.”

“Oh?” Mary perked up at that.

“I was wondering why the Reactors got fixed,” Rose said. “I mean, if you’re the saboteur, would you really want to fix them? Wouldn’t it be smarter to just eliminate the other person, and let the time lapse?”

Mary shook her head. “I don’t think it works like that,” she replied. “There wasn’t time. The Reactors are on opposite sides, but unlike with O2 they aren’t THAT far away… if one of the others got eliminated, and the Reactor was still critical, well… the two of us would have to go see what was up, right? And we’d run into the saboteur, alone, before their syringe could recharge. And with you there, with all your new strength, well…”

Sylvia hadn’t exactly nixed the “no ****” rule, so it was dicey.

Rose brightened. “Wait, so… my transformation was actually a good idea?”

Mary nodded. “I think it stopped the game from ending right there. I don’t think Kim or Dakota could overpower you, not without their syringe charged. So they had to complete the Reactor. The other girl wouldn’t have let them not, and they’d be **** to eliminate them. I was just pretending it wasn’t helpful.”

From Mary’s perspective, this all made perfect sense. Rose nodded in thought.

“But then… they could have eliminated the other person, right? Kim could have eliminated Dakota, and THEN fixed the Reactor?”

Mary nodded thoughtfully. “I… I suppose so…”

“Then her syringe could be recharging right now!” Rose gasped. “Come on, Mary! Hurry up! We’re running out of time!”

Rose picked up the pace, running as fast as she could down the hall. Mary gasped.

“W-wait, Rose! Slow down!” She cried, trying to keep up with the actress’s enhanced speed. She did as good a job as she could, but Rose was just too fast.

The actress turned the corner, and nearly crashed into a surprised Kim and Dakota.

She sighed in relief. “Oh, merci… You’re both okay!”

Mary had just about caught up when she heard the actress’s orgasmic moan echo through the hallway.