Morning beckons, Sara realizes with the attitude of a child who knows her playtime is up. Her eyes remain shut in defiance as though the endless night will simply not depart if she refuses to see it off. The conversation unfolding around her would seem like a dream were she the sort to believe in them. She wants to think she succeeded in creating an environment where parley can be reached through candy in place of gold, land, and blood.
“I was thinking about an experiment devised by two established tacticians,” Sara shares to her small audience of Leif and Miranda. “A dilemma posed to convicts whose fates had already been decided. They were granted the miracle of a chance for their sentences to be lightened. However, the convicts did not have the luxury of speaking to each other prior. According to the rules, all they had to do was choose to ally in order for both to benefit. By betraying, though, the traitor could gain at the expense of the other. My grandfather was like that.”
Rubbing the sleep from her eyes, she slowly pushes herself to stand to address the rest of the guests gathered at the "party".
“It is a pleasure to at last meet you all. I had the most lovely time witnessing the choices you made tonight. Would you still vote as you did if it was not only candy that was wagered? Some of you definitely acted that way. Do you feel betrayed even though it was a game? As people, we cannot help but judge and be judged. It did not take much, did it? Maybe not everyone here shares your values. Should they really be expected to? But none of that matters now, at least not to me anyways.”
The Witch raises an arm before her, index finger elevated gingerly to receive familiar company. B-ERRD swoops dangerously close to several unsuspecting heads before reuniting with Sara.
“The truth is not always as you see it.”