"My organization might be able to get us resources - an evacuation, or else some help sent in... Though it really depends on how much other departments believe us, we're not often taken very seriously."

"Exactly what organization do you work for, anyway?"

"The Department of Phenomenological Investigation and Research. Most of the time when we're called out it's because someone thought a shadow was a monster. But there are - inexplicable things, that we've handled before."

Jenn hums neutrally. "Anything this dangerous?"

"Not that I know of, sorry. Water cooler talk is mostly ghosts and potential post- or pre-cognition through dreams."

"Then, no offence, but involving them seems like a serious risk. Because it's not about how much you trust your team, but about how much you can trust the people your team answers to. Governments are very good at letting power hungry people get power."

"I suppose you would know, being an ambassador's kid. Still - they have resources we don't. The three of us can't get anywhere evacuated, let alone 'three blocks around the laundromat' or even 'the entire city'. This thing - it's going to be obvious. People are already looking into it. Going to them allows us to seize control of the narrative."

Jenn clicks her tongue, looks across to Bina. (Because she doesn't trust Elizabeth's superiors.)

Bina...

Still doesn't trust them.

But she's less certain her mistrust is - actually reasonable and not her brain just deciding to make everything her responsibility, and her brain doesn't always trust people even when they should be trusted - 

She wonders if her therapist knows how to deal with alien space bugs. Bina's not certain she does.

She wonders when she ended up the person apparently in charge.

But - 

"I don't trust them, not right now. We can - compartmentalize? Avoid observing stuff that'll change if we do get them to evacuate or something. And decide later. It's not like we have more than a day."

Putting off the decision feels like running away, but Bina does a lot of that. It's a familiar feeling.

Elizabeth takes a deep breath, and - "Alright. Fine. But if we start losing - we do it my way, alright?" She glances at Jenn, too.

Jenn seems to concede the point, with a gracious nod.

"...Alright. That's - fine, I guess." She rubs a hand down her face. "Look - is there anything else to decide?"

"I don't think so. Apart from what time machine we're going to take with us."

"Yeah. We'll need to look at those, then I guess - decide if it's worth it to sleep in the Moment one last night."

"We don't know how easy it's going to be to sleep once we're out of this. I don't think we can overestimate the use of a good night's sleep."

"Definitely. And it'll probably be late, when we figure out the time machines."

"One more night, and we go early tomorrow."

"Works for me."

"Any objections, Elizabeth?"

"Not immediately. I might think of something later - but it seems a solid enough plan for now."

Jenn nods, and steps off the back of the couch. (Ant mutters something about it being unfair how tall Jenn is.)

"Time machines?" she says to Bina, ignoring Ant's mutterings.

"Yeah." She smiles a bit. "No time like the present."

"No," Jenn agrees as she starts to head for where the time machines are. "There really isn't"

She smiles at Jenn.

And then time machines can be sorted through! Bina's not really sure what their division of labor is here - she thinks she might be good looking at the diagrams and schematics, since she knows at least some of how her alternate selves will have been thinking.

Well. They can figure it out somehow between them.

Did Elizabeth follow them?