Abby glanced nervously at Cam and the two unfamiliar men they'd run into. One of them, a dark haired man who looked a bit older than Abby, took a few hesitant steps forward, drawing closer to the light.

The light that, if the recording was to be believed, would show them the truth.

"He's right," she found herself saying as she glanced at Cam.The girl was so innocent, still unsullied by the cruelty of the world. "This is no place for a child. I... if this hurts, I can take it. It can't be as bad as some of the stuff I've already been through."

She approached the light, yet stopped briefly to muse on what a fool she was. Her curiosity had always gotten the better of her - it was, in part, the reason she'd started stealing things in the first place. And, perhaps, it was the reason she didn't belong in a city like the one she'd been teleported to. The people there gave her everything she asked for, never held back. That luxury was more than a little tempting... but where was the fun in it? If there were no rules to break, what would she do with herself?

Was that really why she was moving forward?

Perhaps it was for Cam... Abby didn't think she wanted to stay in the mysterious city. She missed her family. Abby gulped. She'd lost her real parents forever ago... they would never come back. So why did she even care about the little girl? Didn't she deserve to suffer a fate similar to Abby's own? Altruism had never been one of Abby's strengths. If Cam wanted to find the way back, she ought to be the one walking into the light. Not Abby. Abby had nothing to gain by proceeding.

So what was driving her? 

Abby stood immobile. "I can do this," she muttered to herself, eyes focused on her trembling feet. The light washed over her stockings, yet she stood on the brink of it, unable to move forward. She didn't dare meet the eyes of the others, her fear having just been exposed. She didn't understand. Why... why was she so afraid? She could just stay... even if it was boring, she'd never be discarded again... yet that didn't feel right. To her chagrin, a tear trickled down her cheek. Something was wrong with her. She was broken - she had always been broken. Her trial had defeated her before it had even begun.