Tessa spent the majority of the second day trying to avoid Miss Briggs and Sir Cornwall. She was unnerved by them, about how they did not mention the stolen experiments from the university, how they offered her a position and residency with their country without hardly knowing her, and on top of all of that, the memory of what she saw with miss Briggs in the laboratory—whatever episode she had gone through—gave Tessa even more reason to wonder whether they were truly people that she could trust.
In the end, Tessa felt as though she needed to know more about the delegates before she could make a deal. In the late afternoon, during another performance that most of the passengers, including Miss Briggs and Sir Cornwall, attended, Tessa slipped out of the dining hall and made for their cabins. After stalling for a sailor who was passing by, she made her move.
Using a skeleton key that she had lifted from one of the sailors, she snuck into Miss Briggs's cabin. It was a tidy space with all the items well organized. Tessa was admittedly impressed by their assortment of belongings and the quality of all of them. She had to suppress the urge to take anything as she quickly and quietly looked over several of Miss Briggs's dresses hanging in the closet and carefully rifled through her trunks to see what she could learn about her.
She immediately found the woman's passport.
Well, at least they are from where they say they are from, Tessa thought as she double-checked the lining to make sure that they were not counterfeit. Next, she thumbed through several documents in a manila folder tucked away in one of Miss Briggs's bags. They were a series of correspondence between Sir Cornwall and the Avalon naval shipyards, discussing a trade agreement between several local companies in the city of Grace and what appeared to be the Royal Navy of Avalonia. There was also an ID badge for the Royal Navy Academy, along with a teaching certificate belonging to Sir Cornwall.
Tessa then found a familiar small case containing a series of vials and a notebook strapped inside it. Tessa realized that it was the experiment that Sir Cornwall took for Briggs when they left the city of Kenton. Inside the case, Tessa found that the notebook sported the words 'Project Warlock' stamped with an ID number below it. However, just like all of the others that they had handed over to the Count, everything inside the booklet was coded in a cipher.
Taking a closer look at the vials, Tessa found a note scribbled on the side of one of the larger bottles, "Final dosage. Congrats, Briggs." Like all of the ones they had stolen, there was a second set of vials below the first. Tessa pulled out the container that she had stolen and compared it. They were the same.
Whatever this stuff is, Tessa thought to herself, Miss Briggs must not be the only one taking it. After all, the ID numbers on the sides of both bottles were different. Tessa wondered if that was perhaps identification numbers. She had just put everything back in its place when there was a noise out in the hall. It was Miss Briggs and Sir Cornwall. Tessa swore to herself as she quickly scanned for somewhere to hide, settling on under the bead.
Miss Briggs stated as a rebuttal to something Tessa had missed, sounding rather annoyed.
"All I am saying is that she may not be what she says she is." Tessa watched as they stepped into the room, their feet wandering back and forth. She held her breath, hoping they wouldn't notice anything out of place.
"Oh, come now, Nora. Why must you always be so suspicious of everyone?"
"Because you take things at face value too readily," she snapped. "Did you not notice that she took your pocket watch?"
Sir Cornwall stated rather carefully, "In fact, I did notice. I also noticed that she skillfully returned it at some point."
"At dinner. When she first sat down. She slipped it into your pocket when you were not looking."
Sir Cornwall laughed, "Of course you saw her do it. But you are more observant than most. I must admit that I was rather impressed by her tact and capabilities. Never mind her big ideas and the things that she built. Which we will be observing more of shortly—
"Seriously? She's a pickpocket! A thief, maybe even tied to whatever happened at the labs."
"We don't know that—
"Come now, it's obvious; if she's a pickpocket, she has to be working with whoever stole the formulas."
"Really? What proof do you have?" the man asked patiently.
"None." Miss Briggs said with a huff, "I searched all over her room and found nothing."
Tessa bit her lip and took a moment to appreciate the irony of her position hiding under Miss Brigg's bed.
"So then? What is the matter? Why don't you trust her?"
"Call it intuition."
Sir Cornwall laughed, "A gut feeling?"
"Intuition is a thing." Miss Briggs retorted, "Measurable, observable—"
"So are tarot cards."
"OH, not this again." She said with a snap, "And what did your cards tell you this morning?"
"That there would be a happy reunion and that we should be open to new opportunities."
"You are so infuriating sometimes!" Miss Briggs muttered, growing even more irritable.
"All right then, tell me; what would be your plan?" Sir Cornwall asked, an edge to his voice that felt out of place for the otherwise boisterous man, "Do you intend to interrogate Miss Copperfield?"
"If it is required." Miss Briggs said ominously.
"Really?" Sir Cornwall said with an intensity that told Tessa he was no longer amused.
Miss Briggs did not rightly respond.
Sir Cornwall stepped closer, "You would be willing to blow your cover to interrogate and torture a more than likely innocent woman, on a hunch?"
"...No." Miss Briggs responded, sounding quite subdued.
"Good." Sir Cornwall paused a moment before stating, "You are jumping to conclusions, Nora. That is unlike you."
"Really, it's nothing. I am just frustrated, that is all," she said.
"you're showing signs of relapse."
"I'm fine. Just a small migraine," Miss Briggs insisted, sounding uncomfortable.
"Oh, tosh." Sir Cornwall shuffled over to the closest, digging around in a trunk. "I am glad that I insisted on bringing this."
"No," Miss Briggs said flatly.
"Now, now. Quit your fussing. This is literally the last dose." the man then laughed, "Ha, looks like the lab techs left you a small letter in here, congratulating you."
"Sir," Nora said, sitting down in the armchair in the corner of the cabin, "your brother should be the one to administer the final dosage."
"Yes, but it is also required that this is done within a timely matter when the symptoms start showing themselves."
"But sir I—
"Besides," Sir Cornwall cut her off, "Once this is out of the way, you should be stable. No more relapses. Don't you want that?"
"Very much so, but if I should have another bad reaction, what then? I won't be any good for at least a week. For that matter, I don't want to have to deal with the pain involved with adjusting to it, especially while we're at sea."
"Better now when you have time to rest, then when we get there. Now, put those blinders on."
A long pause followed before Miss Briggs sighed, "Alright."
"Good." Tessa could hear Sir Cornwall say, "Now, just hold still a moment."
Miss Briggs made a nose of discomfort as Sir Cornwall reassured, "Easy there, hold on, just one more jab— there. That wasn't so bad."
"Hell, I won't miss this..." Miss Briggs complained with a raspy voice. She visibly shook, as if she had violent chills. "I think I'm going to be sick. This stuff always makes me feel queasy."
"Yes, I know, but if this is the last time you need to get jabbed with the formula, it is worth it." Sir Cornwall said.
"I suppose." Miss Briggs huffed.
"Would some tea help your mood?" Cornwall chuckled as he crossed to the far side of the room.
Tessa could hear the clinking of porcelain before he shuffled back.
"Here you are, then. Jasmine. Fresh from the pot. With a bit of the mixture to help with the overstimulation."
"Thank you." Tessa could hear Miss Briggs say with a shuddery sigh. After a moment, she asked, "Do you intend to recruit that girl into the program too?"
"Miss Copperfield? Heavens no. Certainly, I think that she would be a great asset to the academy, but not in that way. No, I think that she would be far more useful in the research and development."
"Perhaps..."
"For what it is worth, I have a good feeling about her. I am sure that with our backing, she could do great things."
"You really think so?" Miss Briggs asked, sounding far more at ease than she had only moments before. "I am not sure. I will need to look into her background a bit more when we get to Utopia."
"Certainly, if you feel obligated to do so," Sir Cornwall said with a chuckle. "But remember, I had a good feeling about you too, and you turned out to be one of our best."
"You're too kind," Miss Briggs said with a sardonic tone. "I think I will retire for the evening."
"I think that is a good idea. Here. Should help you sleep it off." he offered her something. Sir Cornwall helped Miss Briggs into her bed before stepping out himself.
Tessa could hear Miss Briggs sigh, and before long, she could hear her steady breathing with an ever so slight snore. Taking her chances, she snuck out from under the bad, and as quietly as humanly possible, Tessa snuck to the door and slipped out into the hall with no one the wiser.