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Bartholomew's eyes followed Miss Lukas, seeing where Alexandra went. He nodded a bit, seeing yet another person finally get their powers. He paused and thought, "Am I the only one who hasn't had anything yet...?" His eyes looked to each of the paradoxes around him,"Teleportation, Storm, invisible thingy, Exploding head syndrome, pig man." He tagged each of them in his head, before landing back on himself. Yup, he was the only one left being a normal human so far. Of course, somebody would have had to been, but it sucked that it had to be him. He knew it was dumb, but there was a level of exclusion he felt from this. He tried to push back and get over that, but still, now he seemed like the odd one out.

Bart shook his head, and grimaced, He didn't really want to spend a ton of time around tourists, and didn't have too much in the way of stories. Up until today, he had a pretty boring life. Then he got an interesting idea. While he hadn't done many interesting things, he certainly had read many, many great stories, some of which hadn't been written yet. If it was scary stories they wanted, he didn't mind the idea of bootstrapping the idea of dementors. Potential paradoxes aside, that sounded pretty fun, and Eve did say that anachronisms like that had a way of sorting themselves out.

Eve had asked them to pair up with an Emendator, and he was split on who to join up with. On one hand, he felt a bit comfortable with The Hat, having already met and spent some time with him, but he knew he'd need to meet up with the others eventually. He'd already spent some time with Sophia, and had no idea about Nancy. He knew that a few of them would need to double up anyway, so he chirped up, "I wouldn't mind joining Nancy either." He said, looking over to her and waving, "If that's alright with Sophia that is." He quickly tacked on.

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Nancy chuckled a bit as Giouse brought up September 1st. And Gilbert seemed to be quite insistent on using the phrase the Rules over and over again, as if Nancy could somehow be tricked into believing they were a good thing rather than horrible little restrictions on freedom. She would have done well as a nihilist or an anarchist. "Go on, Gio, remind me," Nancy baited him. She didn't care if Giouse thought September 1st was a disaster - she had had a great deal of fun that day. The more chaotic things became, the more Nancy enjoyed herself.

Andromeda couldn't help but find herself agreeing with those arguing in favor of preparation. Having a plan - even if it needed to be adapted - was always better than having no plan at all in her opinion. The process of formulating a plan forced a careful consideration of all the forces at play, lowering the odds that one could be blindsided by a foe. However, given that she had died and the fourth Emendator was still alive, Andromeda couldn't help but wonder if maybe Nancy was onto something. The Emendator had to have been doing something right in order to survive for such a long period of time.

Nancy raised an eyebrow at the Paradoxes just claimed her more or less - a ginger and a blonde. Well, she couldn't hide the look of irritation on her face. "I can hear," Nancy reminded them. Had they asked her if she would accompany them, she wouldn't have been so annoyed. Well, that too wasn't entirely true. She didn't end up bonding with Paradoxes very often. There usually would be one with an intangible quality that would pique her interest and she'd more or less claim them herself. It was largely how she had befriended George. There had been a few others as well, but those Paradoxes weren't around anymore.

Andromeda had only really seen three of the four Emendators. But of the ones she had interacted with chiefly, she felt the most comfortable with Lady Luck. It was hard not to be comfortable around someone after helping them to stitch up a corpse, in addition to the brief moment of connection they had shared when her powers first manifested. It was odd - in a way, Evelina had many qualities that reminded Andromeda of her own mother. "I'd like to go with you as well, Lady Lucas," Andromeda requested.

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Whereas Evelina thought of Paradox abilities as being some sort of gift from the Cosmos themselves, Giosue took a far more mechanical approach on interpreting the cause of the strange powers. They were something he'd thought over a lot since learning about them in the first place. As far as he could tell, the most accurate description for what the Emendators were was that they appeared to be human concepts given flesh, therefore human in appearance, yet not bound to the limitations of man for the most part. Of course they could actually be the last members of some hyper-advanced, ancient alien race or something, but that wasn't as poetic. The truth of the matter that none of them were likely to truly ever know, because truly studying the physiology of one of them to figure out what made them tick almost certainly required horribly invasive surgery followed by methodical dissection. There simply wasn't the willingness or numbers to make such studies feasible.

However, Paradoxes as far as he could tell did not receive their powers for the same reasons Emendators did. The best explanation he could come up with so far was that when Eve brought them back it wasn't as a human. Well they were human, but they didn't actually exist, but they did. The fact that they were walking around now "after" they'd died was a glitch in reality's code so to speak. And their powers were their unique glitches showing their effects, with training allowing them to reproduce it at will. At least, that was the best explanation he could think of so far.

It was at this point, Gio realized he had spaced out thinking about the nature of Paradoxes for the 500^th time and had missed out on whole segments of the conversation. Apparently the new arrivals were choosing a dodgeball team captain Emendator to hang around, and everyone so far seemed to be gravitating towards Nancy and Eve. Also somebody mentioned Alicia. Probably. The name was stuck in his head for some reason. And then it flashed in the back of his head. Of course that's why her name was stuck in his subconscious. Why else would he be thinking about that?

"It appears that I must go fetch our greeter," Gio spoke up as he rose from his chair and wiped himself of any stray crumbs. "She appears to have excused herself. Would anyone wish to accompany me?" He doubted most of the Paradoxes would catch onto what he truly meant, and Eve probably had something in mind for the rest of them, so he was about half-certain that he'd have to go alone, which was fine by him. But company would be nice as well. Either way worked for him.

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Seeing as she had thoroughly zoned out since rejoining the others, Alexandra found it quite perplexing to the mind to suddenly reintegrate oneself in the middle of lively conversations. To say she was feeling a bit lost right then was an understatement, as bits and pieces of out of context words hit her ears in rapid succession. Her brows furrowed and a frown came to her features as she looked back over at The Dice lady. The Emendator seemed to be kept in the loop. Herself? Not so much. Them? Who's them? Wait. Who are they talking about? Wait. Huh? She thought to herself in confusion. Her gaze flitted amongst the Emendators and the other Paradoxes looking every bit as confused as she felt. Did she miss something? Apparently she had.

Bazhooli! Mr. Clops! I know them! Wait. What do they have to do with anything? They're dead. Or rather I'm dead. Or I was dead but now I'm not dead but I am still dead. Ugh, I don't know. Alexandra rubbed her temple with the tips of her fingers as she felt a headache coming on. Talk about an information overload since the very moment she set foot in Ville au Camp more than a century into the future. And to think the information dump wasn't even done yet. A look of exhaustion came to her features as Evelina went on to explain more about their abilities. Don't get her wrong. It was indeed very interesting. She was just having such a hard time processing it all. So much information was being cram packed into her brain it felt like it could explode at any minute. She was a ticking timebomb right now.

She perked up some when the information dump came to a screeching halt and a question was posed that she could answer. Who did she want to pair up with? Her mind immediately went to The Hat, of course. And yet, something about The Dice lady also intrigued her. Maybe it had to do with the moment they had just shared, no matter how brief it had been, or maybe it was something else. Whatever the case, she figured that she would give Gilbert a break for a little awhile. "I want to go with you," Alexandra finally piped up, looking over at Evelina with a smile.

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Gilbert was actually a little taken aback by the choices of the new Paradoxes. His very nature (in recent centuries) was relatively charming and laid back; if not something that inspires comfort in others, his nigh everpresent smile might at least disarm wary psyches. It was probably why he was generally one of the first Emendators that newcomers met. That and, if any went off the deep end, he was a big, strong guy with a lot of experience handling raving lunatics in overbearing situations. Not that other Emendators did not, granted, even the less combat inclined among them had more than enough experience to handle themselves. It was just his role.

Still, none of the Paradoxes felt comfortable around him? Even to the point that they selected Emendators that they hadn't spoken with in any meaningful way rather than associate with him around the public. He must be losing his touch. Or maybe he came on too aloof, too ... "I AM GILGAMESH, HIGH AND HOLY DEMIGOD OF SUMERIA, DESTROYER OF WORLDS! BOW BEFORE ME, YE PLEBES AND VERMIN OF HUMANITY!" Or not. Hopefully not, anyway. It wouldn't have been his best moment, were that the case.

Even as no one had selected him, it still wasn't a huge point. Maybe he would use the opportunity to take it easy this night, just do what he did as quickly as possible and spend the rest of the evening in repose. It was a pretty solid plan. Gilbert has accepted this as the totality of his evening, and in fact had come to look forward to the idea in the seconds that followed, until the dark complected gentleman with the cowboy hat hanging on the chair behind him opened his mouth and screwed it up for him.

"Now, that ain't quite balanced, n'is it?" he began, looking to Gilbert. Perhaps he could tell that the tall immortal had a similar, easygoing attitude like himself. Or it could have been that, with the other Paradoxes going against the suggestion of the Dice Lady and choosing Emendators that they had little contact with for the purposes of (he assumed) getting to know them better, he was going to do the same. "If'n it's alright with y'all, I'll be hangin' with Mr. Hat, here."

That was it. The reason must be that James, a long time lover of head coverings (even to the point of wearing both a bandana and stetson simultaneously on a regular basis) gravitated toward Gilbert in that moment was because he had appreciation for his "hat game". James could only imagine all of the wonderous bits of knowledge that the Emendator could impart regarding head gear, both fine and utilitarian. Gilbert & James. It sounded like a magic act or a folk music duo. Gilbert nodded at the once formidable blackneck, cracking a polite smile and acquiescing to the idea that he would indeed have a hanger-on that evening; just the one. From what he knew about James, and he knew a lot, they'd probably get along okay.

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Evelina looked over towards Faith and nodded. Each Paradox was interesting in their own way and watching them chose who they would go with raised some questions. She had had expected that Faith would have wanted to go with Gilbert. She seemed more the fighting type and one that would have wanted to jump on a chance to be around the one that would be in charge of that. Yet she had picked Evelina. Perhaps that was because she would end up spending a lot of time with Gilbert training that she was taking the opportunity to deal with some of the other Emendators. "Yes of course, you are more than welcome to join me."

It seemed that Faith wasn't the only one wishing to go with Evelina. It seemed that Andromeda and Alexandra wanted to join her as well. The rest divided up between Nancy and Gilbert, leaving Gio high and dry. That was interesting indeed. Then Gio spoke and Evelina raised a curious brow. Her thoughts focusing for a moment and then her eyes narrowing slightly. This would not do, it would not do at all.

Turning she looked at the group. They were new, none had the training they needed but there was more. If we went somewhere, we went in pairs. It was for safety, it was for back up. Evening was here, people were coming. They needed to maintain a front, with so many new Paradoxes, this meant they couldn't afford to have more than one Emendator away at a time. There was no choice. Taking a breath she looked over between those that were there and made a calculated choice. "Bartholomew, you will go with Gio," she said before turning her attention to The Watch. "He is the only one that we do not need to worry about controlling his abilities as of yet. He is the safest and his background should make him the easiest to ready on short notice," she added before turning.

"Very well. Faith, Andromeda, Alexandra, do come with me. We will welcome our guests for now. Gilbert do ensure refreshments are ready. And dear Nancy, do what you do best. Cause havoc," she said, a slight grin forming on her normally cool exterior. She might have remained cool outwardly but inwardly, she was starting to boil.

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Alicia needed to check the scene but she couldn't. The woman was anything but patient but at least something else had grabbed her attention. George. Her empathy was kicking in and there was nothing she could do at this point to push it down. Sometimes that was just how it was, she couldn't control it. At least not fully, not yet. That would most likely take decades to perfect. She had been told that sometimes no matter how trained one was an ability would become too much and have to just be dealt with. That had to be difficult. At least for some.

Looking over at George she could feel a guilt eating away at him. "It's not your fault, he fucking came here on his own. Had he stayed where Evelina fucking told him to this shit wouldn't have happened," she said, trying to get through to him but George didn't react. He just kept seemingly to stare off at nothingness.

After a moment he finally said something. "Mmm. That is not why I am being punished, that is just a punishment," he said. It was more words than he normally spoke at her. Nancy was one of the few that could get the man to speak in complete sentences, so the fact he had just given her one was a hell of a thing in her book.

"Then why the fuck do you have to be punished? she asked. Swallowing slightly George reached into his pocket and pulled out a silk handkerchief. It was spotted in crimson, dried blood from the looks of it and worn, old. Handing it out to her she took it and looked at it more closely. Two lettered where embroidered into it. M.W.

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Truth be told, Faith had no other reason for picking Evelina than because she was the closest Emendator she knew. She hadn't interacted with the others as much. Gilbert was quite attractive, that was for sure, and she was sure Nancy and Gio were interesting in their own right, but she felt some connection to Evelina. It may be because she seemed to radiate power and leadership. Faith could respect that.

She got up and followed Evelina, who seemed so put together despite hearing the fact that Alicia had ditched them to go somewhere else. She wasn't too keen on greeting the visitors, but perhaps it could be fun? Havoc was referenced and she could get behind that.

Not really too happy to be having either of the others with her (especially the crybaby) she got up to go with Evelina. "So what is the game plan here?" She remembered the advice on telling the true story, but she was still a little uncertain as to how and why there were even people coming to see them.

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Sophia watched as the other Paradoxes started to choose their Emendators that they had chosen to go with for the evening, it seemed that Evelina was the most popular choice. Alexandra was probably the most surprising to her since she seemed to have some weird obsession with The Hat Gilbert. The pale girl Andromeda had chosen her as well along with Faith, she hadn't really had the time to personally talk to them yet. Sophia took another quick bite out of her dinner, when she heard her name called out seeing that Bart wanted to go with her choice as well. Sophia heard Nancy speaking up, the Emendator seemed to be annoyed, she didn't know why though since two wanted to go with her.

That was until Evelina spoke up and basically told him to go with Giouse instead of Nancy, which to her was an understanding choice, where she came from if you were apart of a group or community you'd always have to with someone else. Sophia gave Bart a slight shrug, it was Evelina's call after all she was the boss anyway and knew what was best. Then Black James decided to go with The Hat, it seemed like the two of them would get along pretty well together which was probably a good choice for the two of them. Sophia decided to pile her things up on the table, she was ready and eager to go out and do whatever was asked of her.

Sophia heard Evelina give out orders to the group, James and The Hat were to make refreshments for everyone The ladies were to greet all the incoming guests, and she assumed that Gio and Bart were both going to go and search for Alicia. Then Nancy was told to make some chaos, which she couldn't help but smile slightly towards her. Sophia did like to make things interesting every now and then back when she was alive and not in a walker filled world she and a few of her coworkers would occasionally prank the new people. "So what sort of chaos are we going to be doing tonight?" Sophia finally asked looking over at Nancy, waiting to follow her lead.

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Bartholomew was a little surprised by Evelina redirecting him, informing him he needed to go with the bald Emendator, Gio. He shrugged, and didn't think arguing with her on this would be helpful, or end well for him, so he rolled with it. "Well, I guess I am." He said, flashing a smile over to The Watch, standing up in kind, dabbing a napkin to the corner of his mouth, before resting it on his plate. It'd be nice to get a chance to get to know Gio, he supposed. He figured Gio was referring to Alicia, who was the only one he'd met that was missing. Looking around the estate would be pretty boring, but it probably wouldn't last that long. He strolled up to Gio, ready to go and look whenever he was.

Bart briefly eyed Evelina, wondering why she choose him to accompany The Watch. A paranoid voice in his head said it was something to do with that fact that he was powerless, perhaps Evelina wanted to talk to the real paradoxes without him, or something to that effect. He did his best to ignore it, but he was pretty downtrodden about being left behind in this respect. He quickly averted his eyes, looking for something to rest his gze at, and settling on Gio. "I don't think we've met yet, by the way." He said to him. Bart thought for a moment, thinking he might be the one who deposited Sophia in the Kitchen House earlier, but he was unsure. "Name's Bart, as I'm sure you heard." He said, softly, feeling a tiny but awkward in front of everybody. He motioned his head towards the door, figuring they should be off about now.

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Well, nobody was coming with of their own accord, which didn't really surprise him. Everyone in this batch seemed to gravitate towards Nancy and Evelina save for one. However, Eve did see it fit to appoint him with a follower in the form of the young man known as Bartholomew. He hadn't met him earlier outside the house, but they were in proximity for the funeral and dinner, needless to say. However, this was technically speaking, their first meeting proper. Gio took a moment to study him more thoroughly. He seemed rather worn and downtrodden, perhaps a bit overly self-critical, but there was definitely potential. Sharp on the uptake, not in the habit of back talking any given instruction. Something deeper in his eyes. The kid was not his first choice for taking on an expedition (a statement that applied equally to all new Paradoxes, really), but at the same time, there shouldn't be much of an issue given the task.

"Well met, you may call me Giosue, Gio, Father Time, The Watch, Joshua or Joe. Any of those will do just fine. Names you may not use are 'Baldy,' 'Old Dude,' or any variation of 'Jean-Luc Picard.'" With that brief introduction out of the way, Gio motioned for Bart to follow him, before turning around and heading to his room. As he walked, he spoke over his shoulder to his assigned companion.

"Unlike everyone else here, you and I shall be taking a trip away from the Camp. Hopefully it'll just be an in-and-out type situation, but knowing how hard headed Alicia can be, it might be awhile. However, there shouldn't be any major troubles that would place you in danger. Don't take that as an excuse to not keep your wits about you. Never can be sure what you might run into out there. But think of this night as getting a head start on your fellow Paradoxes as far as travel and missions go."

"All that said, is there anything you'd like to do before heading out? Now would be the best time to use the bathroom, grab any last minute items you think you might need, or get a drink of water. That last one might do you well, even on an October night, Egypt's air can really wring out all the moisture from your throat, especially coming from a climate like this one."

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Nancy most definitely would have volunteered to venture outside of Ville au Camp with Giouse, yet the decision had already been made. A Paradox - Bart, she recalled his name was - was selected to go with him. She and Gilbert were each left with a single Paradox a piece, with the others gravitating towards Lady Luck. Nancy smirked a bit as Evelina told her to cause havoc. She didn't really cause havoc, in her defense - it was hard to cause chaos when you yourself were chaos. "What better way to spend my birthday?" Nancy mused. She claimed All Hallows Eve as her birthday for as long as she had been conscious.

Nancy motioned for Sophia to follow her out of the room, thinking over her options. She raised an eyebrow at Sophia's question, before noticing Sophia's false arm. The Paradox wasn't standing out to her so far and she couldn't help but wonder why Sophia had chosen her. "How many types of chaos exist?" Nancy responded rhetorically. She hadn't really decided yet what she wanted to do to the visitors that evening. She could more or less cause whatever havoc she liked and the next day, the loop would reset and none of it would be remembered by the outside world. However, she did like to think of her mischief as being the lasting impression they would have - as if the loop would be broken that very night.

"What suits your fancy, Sophia?" Nancy asked. "What sort of mayhem would fill your heart with joy?"

Meanwhile, Andromeda had remained in the dining room with the others. She noticed how lopsided the arrangements had ended up being and felt a bit of surprise at it. The others had spent a lot of time with the Watch and the Hat, while she had gone off to walk with Lady Lucas. She imagined that they would have felt the most comfortable with the ones they already knew - and not the mysterious woman that could have been called the Grim Reaper. Perhaps they too were interested in the unknown, however. She smiled slightly at that thought. And then another one struck her - she adored ghost stories and had spent her life chasing them. Now, she was going to be part of one.

She couldn't help but wonder what would have happened had something she said to the visitors ended up being passed on as a tale, only for her to encounter it in the future in her life. Though she supposed there was no danger in that occurring, as she didn't remember ever getting the sense that something supernatural in the world had been caused by her own ghost sent back in time. Not that she was a ghost, of course.

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Alexandra's mouth sort of fell agape as her brown eyed gaze looked over The Dice lady's cool façade for some kind of acceptance of her tagging along. Yet, she found that the formidable woman's demeanor was hard to decipher. There was more to the woman than she let on, surely, and perhaps that was what intrigued Alexandra. Evelina was a mystery wrapped in a cool, stoic exterior. And, Alexandra did love a good mystery, as it satiated the adventurous side of her. Her dark brows rose, and she glanced over and around at the others the woman stopped to address first.

Something about Bart going with Gio, yadda yadda yadda. Spit it out woman! she thought to herself just a tad bit impatiently. Her gaze returned in time to meet Eve's. When the woman finally gave her consent, Alexanda's gaping mouth turned into a wide grin, and she let out a girlish squeal of excitement. "Yay!!!" she exclaimed, clapping her hands together.

Wait. Guests? What guests? When did that happen? she suddenly thought in confusion, her eyes widening and the smile falling from her face for a split second. She quickly shrugged it off though. Whatever. She would go with the flow for once. She turned to face her other fellow groupies, Faith and Andromeda. She smiled over at them and gave them a small wave. "Hi," she greeted them.

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Looking over at the trio of women who had chosen to come with her, Evelina nodded and a slight tug pulled at the corner of her mouth. They were all quite different. All from different times, different places, and yet there was some odd similarity to them. What it was she could not yet place her finger on it but it was there and it scratched at the back of her mind. She would not dwell on it now, it would be something to think on later. For now they had matters to attend to, they all did. Some more pressing than others.

Gio and Bart were going to Egypt in the 1920's. She imagined that Gio would want Gilbert to gather a few items for them to take with them before they left. While it would be best if no altercations broke out, it was always better to be over prepared than to not. She gave the men a passing glance before motioning with a finger for them to follow her. They would be moving from the Main House passed the garages, down the main road, to the servant quarters (which were empty) and to the edge of the grounds. A large gate would be there for them to open and allow others to come into Ville Au Camp.

As they walked, she spoke. "We are simply a welcoming committee as it were. We will direct them where to go and try to put them at ease. The children that come are open and curious. They tend to be far more welcoming and open to things of another nature than the adults but isn't that how life is? When one is young they are unblemished by the world. Their imagination runs wild and all things are possible. As we age less and less becomes so. We close our minds to deal with day to day life, to cope with tragedy. Yet is blinds us to so much. With there being four of us, I do suggest that each of us take a small group to walk through the grounds and speak to. Be careful for anything that Nancy has up her sleeve. She tends to take full advantage of this night. If you abilities start happening, calm yourself. Do not worry. We will deal with anything that happens when it does, otherwise it is foolish to worry about what might happen. Worrying about matters s about as effective as trying to solve an algebra equation by chewing bubble gum," she said in a mild tone.

Reaching the gate she smiled. Seemed they had guests waiting. The costumes that the children wore were creepy to say the least. It was nothing though that Evelina wasn't accustomed to though. She had seen the same ones night after night and years before that. The world had not yet moved into the sluty phase of costumes, which to her was a good thing.

"Well my, what marvelous costumes you all have tonight. You are sure to scare off any demons that are out tonight," she said in a kind voice as she pulled a key from her sleeve and unlocked the gate. The old iron creaked as she did and people started flowing through it. Children looking up at Evelina but moving passed her quickly, and the other girls as well. Thankfully the change of attire for them made it easier for them to blend in. Yet one child wandered straight up to Andromeda.

"Are you dead?" she asked of the girls pale skin.

Evelina chuckled and nodded. "They all are, she just doesn't hide it," Evelina joked a bit.

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Looking around, Alicia ducked back into the alleyway. They had spent the last near hour walking the streets and grabbing a small bite to eat from a street vendor. It was all they could do while the so called crime scene had been tended to by the local law enforcement. Staying down there in hiding was risking too much to be seen. Alicia would have been fine but George had seemed to be a bit more morose than usual while they were talking and she felt it was something that had needed to be addressed. So she shuffled aside her personal mission to figure out what had happened to Peter and why a Destruere had attacked them in Cairo.

There hadn't been much talking, at least not on Georges part. He was always the quiet one but this was down right disturbing the silence that came from the man right then. This was something he hadn't ever opened up to anyone about. Not even Nancy. In fact he had asked her not to delve into his previous life. Whether she had or not was not something he ever asked her about. It was just one of those things he had asked and never brought up again.

Alicia however wasn't as standoffish and she was pressing now. the alleyway was now empty and dark. The later hour in this part of town meant no street vendors. The government areas were always empty at this hour. And now that the police were done and cleared out, it was probably the deadest place in Cairo outside of a cemetery. Whatever it was that Alicia said seemed to make some small part of George snap and he finally let it all out. Alicia stood there, jaw slacked as she listened. It was hard to believe. Not so much that he was talking, that was astonishing in its own right, but what he was saying.

The man was shaking when he spoke, anger an pain etched on his face, in his voice, in his body. The emotions coming off of him were intense and it caused Alicia to real back in over-stimulation. This was a flood of emotions that had been building up and now the dam had broken. Reaching back she grabbed the edge of a crate and slumped onto the ground. Looking at the man, she couldn't believe that story was coming out of his mouth. He was still half hidden behind his tin mask but it seemed he had been hiding something far worse and far more devastating.

"Mmm, I am a monster..." he said, finally done telling his tale as he turned away from her. She couldn't say he wasn't. After that tale of woe she knew she would never look at the man the same. Yet something in her understood. Not what he had done but how he felt right then. She too had lived a life that had only come to her in memory when she died. Yet she was hardly very different in either life. This man was a nearly completely different person from one to the next. Living two lives was shaking enough, to find out you were everything you detested was a completely different matter.

"No, you were a monster," was all she was finally able to say.

"Still am... mmm. Still kill, still hurt people," he said shaking his head. Alicia sat there for a moment. He did still kill and hurt people but that was different than what he had told her. Now he did like she did, like the rest of they did, out of necessity, out of survival, not out of pleasure. There was a difference.

"That isn't who are anymore, you have to put it behind you. Move on. This life isn't a punishment." It was rare she didn't let out a slew of curses but right then, she didn't have it in her. She could feel his pain. She believed what she was saying. That this life wasn't a punishment, not in a karma type of way, but she did believe he was making it a punishment. Punishing himself.

"It has to be,mmm she deserves the justice of me being punished for eternity. After what I did to her mm, she deserves me spending an eternity in hell."

"Then wait for hell to punish you, stop doing it to yourself."

George looked over to Alicia slowly, he couldn't agree with her. He refused to do that. After what he did to her, he deserved everything he got and more. Just because it had been a different time, just because it had been basically legal back then to do what he did it didn't make it right. She deserved better from him.

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Sophia gave Nancy a nod as she stood up and proceeded to follow Nancy out of the dining room, leaving her plate of food behind she wasn't as hungry as she thought she was. That and apart of her also didn't want to experience her sensory overload again, passing out in front of everyone was embarrassing enough as it was. Once they were out of the dining room Sophia heard Nancy speaking up, and raised her eyebrow slightly. She had a feeling that it was a rhetorical question, because there was a lot of chaos some she had actually lived through caused by the outbreak anyway. Sophia then started to think of what Nancy's next question was when she turned to face her looking at the Emendator in the eyes for a moment and gave a slight smile.

Sophia decided to remove her hand for a moment thinking of the best way to cause a little bit of chaos. "I always did get a good kick out of scaring the hell out of my nieces and nephews whenever they did come to visit." Sophia said and then handed her hand towards Nancy. "Maybe a little bit of a fake little outbreak scenario, any ideas to freak them out with a fake hand? We scare the hell out of the kids like that, and maybe some classic pranks for the adults as well?" Sophia suggested, she wasn't sure if Nancy wanted to do that she did seem to know what she wanted to do and Sophia would of course refer to Nancy's judgment.

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"Cairo, 1920's..." mumbled Gilbert. He didn't recall being part of the movement to reclaim the treasures of Egypt during that time period, at least not in any direct, situation-influencing way. He had been there when a lot of these miracles of the ancient age were created. Coming to think of it, he was responsible for destroying a few of them. Before they were the priceless bits of antiquity that they were today, at any rate. Nonetheless, digging up the bones of a past with which he was not directly involved was not a thing that held his particular interest at that time, especially while it was being sensationalized by a culture that mostly sought to profit from it.

James noted the sense of concentration on Gilbert's face, and peered at him with a touch of curiosity mixed with concern. "You okay there, Mr. Hat? Need you a Pepto-Bismol or somethin'?"

Gilbert snapped out of his little foray into his history. "No, I'm just fine. I was having a thought about the present situation in Cairo. Or, the situation twenty years ago." It tended to get confusing. This was expected. Gilbert stood from the table, wiping his hands with the cloth table napkin. He tossed it nonchalantly on the table and moved to recover his hat fro the back of his chair. Not the most gentlemanly spot to leave it, but perceived years of existence led for a sense of casual behavior. For someone like Gilbert, it concepts like "casual" carried more weight. He had been a little more formal than usual, owing to the presence of new Paradoxes.

An infectious smile parted his face and he looked down at James, who was still wrangling a fork around some sort of fruit dish or another. James responded by giving him a sideways glance and pushing his food back away from him. He knew that look. It meant someone was contemplating mischief. He held that look many a time before, and with like minded company. He just didn't know what it meant on the face of an immortal. "You sure you don't want that Pepto there, Mr. Hat, sir?" His voice was almost condescending.

Sensing his apprehension, Gilbert assured him, "Just a magic trick, James. Nothing up my sleeve..." Of course, having his sleeves rolled up prevented a lot of that, but it was merely the antics of an impromptu performance. A more serious look crossed the face of the tall Emendator, and he began to reach into his mildly distressed fedora. Impossibly far - hand, wrist, up to his forearm into a space that was not really there. "Here we are..." he finally said, removing his arm from the dimensional nonspace of his hat. "Bartholomew!" he exclaimed, his head snapping in the young man's direction. From his seemingly magic hat, he pulled a fine suit of tweed and Egyptian cotton. He laid it across the back of Bart's chair, and remarked, "You're welcome, boy. Here, you'll need this." He dropped a gold pocketwatch into a driving cap which matched the suit, and set it on the table near him.

"You can't pass as anything else but American. Yet. Don't try. In fact, it might be better not to say much at all. Just tag along with Gio and make yourself useful to him." A similar feat of headwear-based mysticism brought out another suit of richer appointment and cut for Giosue. He had seen this several times already; there was no point to theatrics with him. "Clothes make the man, I suppose. I had thought to go with something more scholarly for you Gio. You should find a fair amount of local currency in a wallet in your suit pocket, and I have taken the liberty of providing you a map. Inside breast pocket."

"They gonna need to go packin'?" inquired James.

"That... is up to Gio. Your call."

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So not only were they the welcoming committee but now she wanted them each to take a portion of them to tour the grounds and to be on the lookout for any chaos one of the other Emendators may cause? Was this going to be her life now? She ignored the crybaby and proceeded outside, following Evelina. She didn't know the first thing about touring or about where anything is really. Maybe she wasn't ready for this.

And then when they got near Faith saw them. Worse than Walkers. Worse than annoying people to deal with. Children! Ugh, even after death she still had to deal with kids? She had to be in hell.

It made matters only worse that they were dressed up in what could only be described as Stephen King's wet dream. She avoided the one that came eerily close to a clown. Evelina took to them immediately. She probably has done this many times before. Faith looked at each of the kids and gave a weak smile and a wave. She really didn't like children. One of the kids asked if the pale girl with them was dead and Faith had to hold in a chuckle.

Ok, maybe they weren't THAT bad. She liked that one, at least.

IF she had to do this, she may as well make the most of it. "All right kiddos, name's Faith. Who wants to join me on a super awesome adventure?"

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Bart listened with a bemused smile as The Watch listed what he could and could not be called, ending on the funny note of his resemblance to a certain Starfleet captain. "So Professor Xavier's on the table then?" He asked jokingly. It certainly would fill out the Xmen vibe he was getting with this group. Shaking his head with a chuckle, he said, "It's nice to meet you Giosue." Bart started following along as Gio led him out of the room, letting him know the specifics of the task ahead of them. He raised an eyebrow in surprise at the details brought to his attention. He hadn't realized Alicia actually had left, but hey, it sounded like a cool adventure to head out on in any case. Maybe doing some kind of mission like this would kick start whatever kind of abilities he might have. His eyes looked up to Gio as he reminded him to keep vigilant. He nodded eagerly, trying to keep up his calm and logical facade, but very clearly excited at the chance to go on his first mission.

He gave a hmm at Gio's question of him needing anything, and was going to shake his head, wanting to go out and start as soon as possible, but paused when he heard the location. Cairo was bound to be beautiful, but dry as a bone for sure. He'd just had dinner though, having soup, and a glass of water there, he'd probably be okay. He continued to shake his head, "I'm sure I'll be fine, hopefully we won't be there too long, right?" He asked. Even as he spoke, this felt surreal. It didn't feel like it made any sense, them just talking about casually going to Cairo. He did continue to ask however, "When are we arriving though? Will it still be 1940?" He questioned, realizing he couldn't take the time staying the same as a given any more.

As they neared the edge of the dining room, his name was called out by Gilbert, just in time for him to see a full suit be pulled out of the piece of head-wear. He laughed out lough, his mouth agape in awe, While not the most impressive thing he'd seem out of the man, it still was magical to watch. He hurried back towards his seat, and grabbed for the new suit, taking a long look at it, and reaching into the hat to further examine the pocketwatch. "Nice. You have good taste Gilbert." He said, his voice breathy, clearly excited. He'd always wanted a good suit, but never quite had the spare money to invest in one. This was something he really did appreciate. He gave a look over to Gio, saying, "I'm gonna head up to my room and change into this, where should I meet you?" He asked, bouncing in his shoes a bit. While he was back at the table though, he quickly poured himself some more water, drinking it while waiting for a response.

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"Ah, thank you, my good man." Gio took the suit and looked over it. Judging purely on a visual basis, it seemed like it would fit on his frame perfectly. Fine work as usual from The Hat. It would be more surprising if it came out badly considering how many articles of clothing for the other Emendators he had ended up making over the years. He probably knew all of their measurements off the top of his head as well.

"And while you're at it," Gio spoke, adding onto what Gilbert had just advised to Bartholomew, "make sure that you don't walk around gawking at everything. You'll just end up looking like a well-off tourist to mug."

"'Going in packing' shouldn't be necessary," he said, casually dismissing James' worries. If worst came to worst, he was the one with the greatest capabilities of 'bailing out.' And to that end, traveling light facilitated a hasty retreat. "Alicia has not been away for very long, so I doubt she could've gotten into too much trouble. It shouldn't be impractical to just walk on over to them and then pull her out."

"...Then again. No. No, it should be fine for us to go in with only what you've provided us. And funny that you ask that, Bartholomew. We'll be arriving there a bit early. October 4th, 1924. Barring unexpected circumstances, I don't imagine it shall take us all that long to complete the mission and return. I'd estimate an hour and a half. A few hours tops if Ms. Gonzalez decides to be especially stubborn or ended up hiding off somewhere difficult to find. Meet me in front of the Garages when you're ready and we shall depart." With one last wave farewell, Gio made his way to his room to quickly get himself changed up.

In his abode, he removed his dirty clothes he'd been sporting for most of the day, cleaned himself briefly as best as he could without taking longer than 10 minutes and then suited up in the fine Egyptian cotton that Gilbert had been so kind so as to provide them with. Now ready for what should be a brief walk followed by a stern tongue lashing, Gio strolled out from his room to the established meeting place.

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After giving the others one last friendly smile, Alexandra turned back to face The Dice lady. She nodded her head and began to follow the Emendator's lead. She skipped along in an ever jovial manner as their little party of four made their way across the grounds of Ville au Camp. Her still barefeet hit the ground with light, bouncy steps. She pursed her lips and nodded her head in understanding to Evelina's words. "Got it," she exclaimed.

As they reached the front gate, her eyes widened at the sight of the creepily dressed children waiting on the other side. She glanced over at Evelina before looking back over at the kids. She let out a chuckle at the Emendator's comment as the corners of her lips pulled up into a smile. "Indeed! I think you could make even the Soulless shake in their boots at the sight of you," she remarked with a snicker.

Alexandra backed up a few paces so as to give Evelina more space to open the gate. She watched with a sparkle to her dark brown eyes as the kids came pouring in. She chuckled at one of the children's bold comment as amusement once more lit up her features. "So, vho vants to tag along with me the crazy Russian Alexandra?!" she questioned enthusiastically, clapping her hands together. She gave a playful wiggle of her brows as her gaze took in the group.

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An idea popped into Nancy's mind and she couldn't help but cackle. Oh yes, there was indeed something they could do with Sophia's hand. It was a slight variation on something Nancy herself had once done to get out of a tight situation. Of course, a missing hand was far more theatrical than a scar was. "Inspired, Sophia," Nancy said with a grin, warming up slightly to the Paradox. She had to imagine that they could get the supplies they needed from the Hat. And if not, they could make do with whatever they could find on the grounds.

"How skilled are you at acting?" Nancy then asked, tapping her foot a bit as she thought. She was imagining the two of them coming out from the bushes to startle a group. They'd pretend to be locked in mortal combat, with a deadly duel. And then, as part of the climax, Nancy would "chop" off Sophia's hand. They could even find something that would pass convincingly for blood. She supposed they could have gone with Sophia's suggestion as well - ooh, or why not combine the two? She could then play dead, act as if Sophia had killed her - it wouldn't have been the first time - and then "rise" from the grave to startle the witnesses.

She couldn't help but be disappointed that Giouse wasn't there for these antics.

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Andromeda nodded as Lady Luck explained the ground rules for how this evening would work. As she mentioned that the other female Emendator - Nancy - was going to act as a trickster that evening, Andromeda couldn't help but think back to Lady Luck's confession that she had been the famed Dido. Andromeda doubted that Lady Luck would be the only Emendator with a double identity and she couldn't help but try to think of historical tricksters that appeared to be a young woman. Of course, she was also pondering what stories she'd tell. So much had happened to her in her last few hours of life - and so much of it, from her perspective, was still unresolved.

The costumes didn't unnerve Andromeda as much as they perhaps should have. She had seen many terrifying things in her lifetime, as well as having seen hundreds of old photographs of children on Halloween. There was even one on the wall in the small museum she had run back in her home town of Coventry. However, she did feel a touch of sadness as Evelina mentioned scaring away demons. A demon had killed her father, after all.

She crouched down and gave the kid a slight smile. She normally hated people making comments about her skin and her hair - her mother was albino. Big deal. Yet her thoughts echoed Lady Luck's when they came to children - their minds were open and they had a certain innocence, driven by a curiosity that arguably had caused Andromeda to run towards her own death. "Yes, she's right," Andromeda said softly, referring to Evelina's own conformation. "My name's Andromeda," she then added. "Do you like stories?"