[hr][hr][center][h1][b][i][color=#9370DB]Nancy Parker[/color] & [color=cca78e]Giosue Zino[/color][/i][/b][/h1][/center][hr][hr][center][b][color=#9370DB]Location:[/color][/b] Ville au Camp: Main House (Room 202)
[b][color=#9370DB]Skills:[/color][/b] None[/center][hr]	
[color=cca78e]"Remember, they don't know all that we know. There could be more paradoxes coming in any moment now, and they have yet to see either of us yet. While we still possess the element of surprise, we can make this work."[/color] An optimistic way of looking at things, yes, but also not inaccurate as far as Gio was concerned. The emendators had been through many, many rounds of paradoxes, this was the Paradoxes' first time being brought back from the dead. They certainly held the edge in level of experience and intelligence in that the newcomers didn't know how hard they were about to be pranked. These facts were enough to give Gio the confidence that their plan would still work out.

Nancy mulled it over, twirling a card absentmindedly between her fingers. Gio wasn't wrong - they [i]did[/i] have an edge when it came to experience. However, she couldn't help but think that the plan would still need some sort of modification to work. They hadn't brought Alicia in on this prank, as it was something the two of them had worked rather hard on. Yet Nancy had to admit, Alicia's help would be useful at the moment. She'd be able to lend credibility to Nancy's Paradox persona, whether they passed her off as a new Paradox or an old one. [color=#9370DB]"Mmm, alright,"[/color] Nancy said, popping a caramel chew into her mouth. She then grinned broadly a moment later after she had swallowed. [color=#9370DB]"Let's get Alicia in on this. The new Paradoxes probably trust her, since I doubt she did too horrible of a job...The house hasn't burned down, at least...Y'know, that [i]would[/i] potentially explain the ominous reading - maybe Alicia was just awful at her job and would end up being replaced later on by someone else."[/color]

[color=#9370DB]"She can lend us credibility, at any rate,"[/color] Nancy pointed out. [color=#9370DB]"It's either that or we start our Halloween fun early. I've been dying to let loose a little bit."[/color] Of course, the irony was lost on Nancy. She was the Emendator that practically lived for letting loose and doing whatever suited her fancy at the time. For Nancy to want to let caution go to the wind and chaos run free...Well, it must have been another level of mayhem entirely. 

Gio put his fist under his chin and contemplated Nancy's proposal. It was indeed true that Alicia would lend a significant amount of credence to Ashley's story; however things were not so clear cut. She could just decide to not help for whatever reason and they'd lose one of their two big edges. Alternatively, she could ruin the whole charade by not being to act properly, dispelling the illusion with obvious fake acting. Last, and worst she could pretend to help, then betray them at a crucial junction and turn the prank on the two emendators.

[color=cca78e]"Are you sure we'd be able to trust Alicia with this, so late into the plan? Surely if she were to be part of the plan, we had plenty of time to include her before now. We'd be opening ourselves to considerable risk by doing so."[/color] He didn't bother to list all the new ways adding a conspirator could cock up a plan even by virtue of added complexity. It would be unnecessarily long-winded, and they were already cutting time short as it was.

Giouse was right - there was a good deal of risk associated with letting Alicia in on the plan. It'd be a bit like playing Russian roulette - a game which Nancy would have eagerly played if Emendators were truly immortal. For every chance there was that Alicia would improve the prank, there was another chance that she would jeopardize it. In fact, Nancy was not blind to the fact that Alicia fancied herself an equal contestant in the centuries long prank war that she and Giouse had waged - though at the moment, she and Giouse were united against a common foe. A wicked grin then came to her face. [color=#9370DB]"Unrelated idea - we switch out all of Alicia's clothes with proper 17th century wear for the [i]Ton.[/i] She'd go ballistic,"[/color] Nancy snickered. 

It took her a good thirty seconds to get the image of Alicia in a ridiculously large gown out of her head.  [color=#9370DB]"Mm, but new Paradoxes aren't stupid - gullible, naive, bit annoying at times...Wait till they find out about the readings and the requests will last for days. Really need to write the [i]Handbook for the Recently Deceased[/i] at some point - but they aren't stupid. If you think we can trick them without Alicia, then let's go for it. If we fail, we go to the Bahamas and I change my name to Sally so I can sell seashells by the seashore."[/color]

[color=cca78e]"Well some of them are stupid."[/color] Gio pointed out, more to be contrarian rather than as a serious counterpoint to Nancy's assertion. They had gotten their share of stupid Paradoxes, but they tended not to last too long. While there was a real chance there was an idiot in this lot, they hadn't the chance to actually observe whether this was the case or not. Nor could they hinge their plan on the collection of greenhorns having a low amount of mental horsepower.

[color=cca78e]"But now that you're starting to make me doubt us, I can't say for certain that we'd be successful as-is. For the record,"[/color] Giosue went on, as he grabbed the script once again along with a fountain pen, [color=cca78e]"I don't believe we can trust Alicia to not try to turn this around for her own benefit. If she does try to betray us, then we change out her wardrobe."[/color] As he said this, he wrote down his words as spoken onto the back of the script, officially recording it. One thing that did disappoint him was that the kinds of dresses they'd switch out were more or less impossible to put on by yourself, so they [i]probably[/i] wouldn't get to see Alicia in one of the truly ridiculous gowns they'd seen on their adventures. Unless they happened to need to go to a pre-revolution French banquet.

Nancy cracked a smile as Giouse recorded the decision on the back of the script. He was very much like Eve in some ways, with a penchant for order and timeliness. He tended to balance out Nancy's own chaotic nature. Before she had met Giouse, she wandered almost like a gypsy, using her ability like a parlor trick on occasions in order to get by. More often than not, however, the readings she "conducted" were nothing more than nonsense. Yet no one there knew that she couldn't use a crystal ball or pretend to read a palm. It was a chaotic lifestyle, one where she constantly moved from place to place as suited her sense of whimsy. She had become slightly more stationary and less nomadic since they met in Denmark. 

[color=#9370DB]"Maybe the answer is to preemptively prank Alicia,"[/color] Nancy mused. [color=#9370DB]"Pranking her after the fact isn't going to keep her from ruining things. And if you don't trust her Gio....Oh! What if you volunteered to take the Paradoxes on an outing? Then they'll bump into [i]Ashley[/i] and they won't be none the wiser."[/color]

[color=cca78e]"Yes, yes that might just work. How about you take a trip to the Regency for the clothes, whilst I take our esteemed guests on a field trip so you can prepare for the festivities?"[/color] He was pretty sure Nancy threw out her wardrobe any time they moved to a new time period that would permit her to do as such, so if they were going to swap out Alicia's wardrobe they'd have to acquire the proper apparels first.

Nancy lit up at the prospect of taking a trip. With the Glasses gone, she was the most adventurous and nomadic of the Emendators. The thought of leaving Ville au Camp, even just for a short trip to get prank supplies, was definitely enticing - even if she didn't really care for that era of history. Corsets ruined the 19th century for her. The Regency version wasn't too terrible - but she had indeed thrown those clothes out as soon as she could. On one occasion, she had even set her old clothing aflame. Maybe once the timeline suited her fashion sense a bit more she'd keep them, but even that seemed unlikely. Her eyes were always on the horizon, rather than on what was right in front of her.

[color=#9370DB]"It has been some time since I went by Ailith Lyall,"[/color] Nancy mused. She had lived in Scotland at the time with the other Emendators.  [color=#9370DB]"But I think you misunderstood me, Gio. I'd run into you all as Ashley while you're on the outing. I suppose we could ask Gilbert for some clothing..."[/color] She tapped her fingers against a card absentmindedly. She had an unusual relationship with Gilbert. When she had come into consciousness, she had been a citizen of Uruk named Inanna (the Sumerian goddess had been her namesake). Gilbert hailed from Uruk as well, from Sumeria. He was a constant reminder of the grim circumstances under which she learned who she was. Yet at times, the pair of them could be friendly even, with Gilbert acting like a big brother to Nancy. 

[color=cca78e]"Oh, I see."[/color] Gio said, as he barely stopped himself from crossing out some of the notes he'd written in the script. [color=cca78e]"Yes, yes. That could work. I would need to separate the Paradoxes from Eve and probably Gilbert as well, but that should be doable. As for asking him for clothes, he'd probably ask what you would need them for, so you'd need a believable cover story if you wanted to try going for that."[/color] The Watch jotted down a rough outline of a plan on the back of the script.

[color=cca78e]"So when you determine where we need to take our Paradoxes, I'll send you there first before I escort our new friends there as well. In the meantime, we need to make sure you're not seen prematurely, or this will all be for naught."[/color]

[color=#9370DB]"Does this really warrant a reading, Gio?"[/color] Nancy asked, with an eyebrow raised. While she [i]could[/i] take a glimpse into the future to optimize this, she didn't see much of a point in it. They had lived at Ville au Camp for some time and had grown accustomed to the routine everything followed. She didn't need to take a reading to know what the ordinaries in town would be up to this evening. [color=#9370DB]"Just pick a place at random - it'll be more fun that way, anyways. And then while you check that the coast is clear, I'll slip on out."[/color]

[color=cca78e]"Well I was thinking about this from an efficiency point of view. Accomplish some business that the others would approve of as well as the prank,"[/color] Gio retorted, looking up from the script. As annoying as proceeding forward without a clear plan in place was, they didn't really have the time to put everything into place. He'd just have to improvise and make things work. [color=cca78e]"but I suppose that won't be how we'll be doing this. Well if we're to choose a time and place. How... about... May 23rd 1848, California? The Wild West, poor Ashley's just escaped from a mission gone wrong and freed herself from the county jail. A fine enough setup for you?"[/color]