[ She tastes a tang at the back of her throat that reminds her of sick – but there's no nausea to accompany it. Her stomach feels watery and strange but she knows without even having to think about it that the cause is entirely emotional rather than physical. She's known since waking up here and seeing what they were being asked to do that she's at risk but it's been nice to play pretend that maybe she could find a way to live, regardless.

A thought bubbles up in her head, darker hued and more bitter than she usually allows her thoughts to be: It's a little late for that, isn't it? Maybe if someone back home had taught me something like that, I wouldn't be here.

But that's not a fair feeling to have. Who knows how many other children had come and gone from the home she'd grown up in, who were worse off than her in who knows how many ways? Really, she'd been one of the lucky ones.

So Ai keeps the thought to herself. ]

So the smart way to play is just to assume you're the only sheep in a whole pack of wolves, it sounds like. [ It's not that much different from keeping her head above water in the entertainment industry, right? She can handle that. ] But the problem with that is... what are you supposed to do when you get outnumbered by the wolves?