The Scientist's Cultist

xii. - the alma.

- - - - - - SEPTEMBER 1, 1888 - - - - -

Whitechapel, London 2:30 p.m.

"I HAVE AN idea," said Theo from where he was seated on the motel bed beside her. "What if we fled the country?"

"What?"

"You know, what if we went to Paris or something and just waited for the directors to get bored and bring us back? Surely Thomas and his crew wouldn't follow us that far."

For a moment, June allowed herself to entertain the possibility. Paris was beautiful and romantic—the perfect place for her to finally tell Theo how she felt about him. The Eiffel Tower was only partially constructed, but kissing in front of it would still be just as magical.

A girl could dream.

"We can't," she said. "We don't have enough money to last us more than a week or so. Also, if the directors get suspicious, they can track our location. The only thing pissing them off would accomplish is replacing us on the mission and then we'll lose our chance at taking them down."

Beside her, Theo sighed. "I hate it when you're right."

June didn't like that she was right either. Anything sounded more appealing than trying to figure a way out of the sticky situation they were in. "Any other ideas?"

"No, I'm fresh out."

It made sense. They'd been bouncing ideas back and forth for hours, confident the only place they would get any semblance of privacy to discuss their course of action was at the motel. To their surprise, they'd gotten the room entirely to themselves the previous night, not that they'd been able to sleep much with their ominous test looming over them.

June couldn't—wouldn't—be responsible for a murder. The woman they were supposed to be testing, Sarah, didn't deserve any of this simply for doing what she could to get by.

"We're supposed to be judging Sarah on whether she is worthy, but what exactly are the criteria for that?" June asked.

"Unsure," said Theo. "Surely, they can't be expecting us to walk up to her and be like 'Hey Sarah, I know you're a prostitute and everything but how would you feel about leaving that world behind to join a creepy cult where you agree to murder other women like you.' I mean, I personally can't see a single way that method could go wrong, can you?"

Leave it to Theo to make a scary situation feel silly. "It's certainly, uh, transparent."

Theo went silent for a minute. Then, a smile took over his face like the sun through the clouds after a thunderstorm. "Oh my god, June, you're a genius."

"I am?"

"Yes. Transparent. We have to tell her everything."

"Her as in Sarah?"

"Yes. If we told her about the cult, maybe she could lead us to others who have heard of the New World. At the very least, we can pretend she's 'worthy' so we don't have to kill her."

"That plan only works if Sarah agrees. If she doesn't and just thinks we're crazy Americans, we're back to square one."

"I think that's a risk we have to be willing to take, right?" Theo asked. "Do you have any better ideas?"

June pretended to think, but she already knew the answer. "No."

"Then it's settled," said Theo. June didn't hate the burning sensation that grew in the pit of her stomach watching Theo take charge like this. "Let's go to the library and let the team know what's happening here and then we'll hit The Ten Bells and find Sarah. Sound like a plan?"