Lilly had examined Alice many times since the accident. Many times, every day.

Alice was displeased with all the examinations. It would have been enough with only once or twice every day, not three or four times.

The examinations had turned out fine enough for Lilly and Taija to let Alice visit her sister.

Jill opened the door to Chris’s home and welcomed Alice, as if she did own the house herself. Of course with a wine bottle in one of her hand.

That person was the greatest reason why Alice felt she had to visit Ellen regularly, which she also would have done even without Jill there. But that woman could have a very bad influence at Ellen.

Jill had been drinking every time Alice had come over to visit her sister. Maybe not so she was intoxicated, but she was still drinking.

“Visiting you sister again girl?”

Alice followed her through the hallway, wondering if she had started getting brain damages.

“Yes, I am here to visit my sister.” Why would she otherwise even place her foot in Chris’s home?

Just like all the other times She had been visiting Ellen, so was she getting some training from Chris.

Sure they called it rehabilitation, but it didn’t seem to be more than some fragile words.

Real rehabilitation would mean to train Ellen so she could return to a normal life afterwards, but Ellen wouldn’t have any problems with that. And the training looked more like it was all about building muscles.

“Jill can you make some tea for our guest? So will we just finish of the rehabilitation.”

Just like the other times so was they sent to the kitchen while Chris forced poor Ellen to finish the training.

“You still look wondering about your sister’s training.”

Jill started to boil some water while Alice took a seat around the table.

“You call it rehabilitation, but it seems to be nothing more than normal training.”

“Don’t you think rehabilitation sounds better than training?”

Alice knew it. It was just a Fragile word they were using for some simple training. They were just trying to keep Ellen away from her, she saw right through it.

“It can be a hard work to work as a cog technician. So if she doesn’t train, so is there a risk she can get injured.”

Did Jill seriously think that Alice wouldn’t see right through that, right after she had been able to see through another lie?

It wasn’t much more said between them until Chris and Ellen arrived, just in time for the tea water to start boiling.

Poor Ellen looked worn out. The training had probably been hard for her, even if she already was strong.

There wasn’t much time it was silent around the table, and if it got silent so was Ellen very quick to ask about Alice or Jill’s everyday life.

“How are you feeling after the accident with that machine?”

Ellen asked one of the few questions Alice didn’t want to hear. She had been questioned enough about it by both Taija and Lilly. Every day and a couple of times each day since the accident.

Sure she knew that her sister only meant well with the question, but it didn’t change the matter that she still didn’t want to hear just that question.

“I am only fine. It was only a short while after it happened I felt a little dizzy.”

Fine, enough. Please understand that it wasn’t anything she wanted to talk about.

Ellen felt much better after asking Alice how she was doing.

She had been worried that her sister still felt something after it. Something that wouldn’t go away, something dangerous.

She and Jill were in the workshop to make sure her parts worked as they should.

Ellen considered herself to be lucky that Jill agreed to check it up. If it had been Chris that would have done it, so would she have died out of shame.

“It was the first time I have heard someone getting “purified” like that by a machine. You seem to be a very strange family. One that has got “purified”, one that has artificial parts and a father that is gone.”

That was right, Jack was still gone. Ellen hadn’t heard anything from her beloved one since the evening before they lost their house.

Where could he be, had there been something happening him?

“Soon it will turn out that he has revived you and that he was the one creating that machine.”

Jill was laughing. But it came to a sudden end when Ellen, without thinking, agreed to it. Only to seconds later noticing it and point out that it wasn’t Jack that had created that thing.

“So, he did revive you?”

Ellen was terrified by what she had agreed to. Chris’s warning echoed in her head. She had done a mistake, she didn’t mean to put herself and Jack in danger.

“Can we please keep this a secret Jill?”

She sounded pathetic while pledging like a scared dog.

“First you should strip and take your place at the table. Then I might keep it a secret if you answer my questions and calms my curiosity.”

Ellen did as she was told. Stripping and taking her place at the table.

“First of, did he dig you up from your grave or did he got you in another way?”

“He can’t have dug up my grave, since it ain’t around here. But I don’t know how he got hold of my body, sorry.”

Why did she even apologised, it wasn’t like she had done anything wrong.

“Then, if he had money he can have bought your body from a special place.”

Bought her body? Was it possible to buy someone’s body in this world, even if she wasn’t originally from this world?

“But if that is the case, I hope your lower parts didn’t hurt when you woke up. If he bought your body, it was sold to him as an… “adult toy”…”

He would never have done that, he wasn’t that kind of person. Jack is a loveable person, that not only would wait for Ellen’s agreement but also wait for only her.

“But anyway, you better think further before you quickly answer questions.”

Jill talked seriously while looking at the lungs.

Ellen couldn’t do more than agree with her. She had been lucky to dodge another bullet.

It could have been the end for both her and Jack if the secret came out.

Back in the room she temporary lived in, she took a seat at the bed.

Jill was right, Ellen really needed to be more careful. She couldn’t be the reason that Jack would die again. She couldn’t be the reason that Alice was left all alone again, now in their afterlife. When they once again could live together in the neitherworlds.

It couldn’t be happening again.

Poor Jack, he had to been crying so much over her death back then.

If she just only hadn’t done that decision then they could have lived happily ever after. Just like it should be as soon Jack comes back. The two of them should live happily together, loving each other from the core of their hearts.

He had to come back, he had to. Whatever the reason was that he had left, it couldn’t last forever. Ellen missed him by whole her heart.

Days passed and soon it was time for Ellen to return to Taija’s mansion.

She almost found it sad. She had started to really enjoy the time she spends in Chris’s house, and even the time she spent talking with Jill. Which had turned out to be from the same world as Ellen, but it was supposed to be a secret between the two of them.

Nothing had really changed when Ellen came back to the mansion.

Even Sain seemed to be the same as when Ellen left, still very uncomfortable because of the accident with the machine.

Sure it had turned out fine since Alice was still well, but she wouldn’t tell the fox that she was forgiven. Sain had been an idiot for trying to use the machine without really knowing how it worked. So she deserved some kind of punishment.

Ellen turned a page in a book about light giving gears, she had been lucky. Nothing had broke during her time at Chris’s place and neither had the fat bowling ball come back, so there was nothing for her to do.

Except maybe keeping an eye at the “princess” that by a strange reason had started to spend more time with Taija, the woman that she earlier had shown great dislike against.

They were both following Taija’s old habits. Leaving in the morning and coming back around the time when the dinner was served.

It had been one thing if it happened only a few times, but it seemed like they did it every day.

Even after the day that Mr Halluw came back from his business trip.

Maybe it had been that he told Alice to follow Taija around to keep an extra eye at her, but then he could have thought a little longer. Because the fat bowling ball had sent Alice with Taija, it was Sain that was left to do the dinner. And even if the food was eatable it wasn’t even close to as tasty like when Alice did it. Which simply was meaning that the fox wasn’t only doing stupid things, but she couldn’t cook as good as Alice either. Couldn’t Alice at least teach Sain how to cook before starting with whatever she was doing, or at the very least try to teach her how to somehow cook?

There was quite some light giving gears that stopped working in the mansion, at the same time.

Sure Ellen had got a couple of days to recover, but it would have been so much better if there had been just a few at a time.

The calm day becomes hectic as she needed to fix them as soon she could.

“Damn those gears.” Ellen muttered and cursed the gears as she worked to fix them. Only a few at the time, was it too much to ask for?

“Want something to drink Ellen?”

Sain had come up to her and offered her some coffee.

“Is it hard to repair those cogs?”

The fox seemed curious, just like before the incident with the machine.

“It ain’t really hard, but it takes some time to find out what is wrong.”

Ellen wanted to fix most of them today so it would be calmer the next day when she would join Chris and the others for a drink. All because she had asked Thom for help at the last wintertree blossom.

“Is it possible for you to repair those in the hallway before it gets dark?”

Was the fox afraid of the dark? Since she specifically seemed to want to get those in the hallway fixed.

“I will fix some in the hallway, and then some in the kitchen. So we at least will have some light.”

It was better to fix only a few in every room, so they had light. Even if it wouldn’t be as strong as usual.

The evening came quicker then Ellen had expected, but at least she had succeeded to do as she had thought, and even a little more. Most of them were repaired, so it would be calmer the next day. If nothing else broke.

She looked at the machine that had hurt her sister, it was something needed to be done with it so the same kind of incident wouldn’t happen again. There was a risk that the next time wouldn’t end so well as this time. Next time someone could be seriously hurt.

There was some knocking at the door.

Ellen should just begin to open up the machine to see what she could do.

After letting out a light sigh, she screamed that they could come in.

“Pardon Ellen.”

Alice and Taija came into the room.

“Can I ask you for a favour?” Alice had a small irritating smile.

“Sure?”

Ellen didn’t like her sister’s smile. It gave her a bad feeling.

“Can we borrow your machine for a while?”

Did they want to borrow that machine that hurt her? Why would they like to something like that? Hadn’t she got enough of it?

“Is there any special reason you want to borrow it?”

Ellen really didn’t like the idea of that they should borrow it, but maybe they could have a good reason for it.

“We want to find a way to help others with the machine.”

Her sister seemed to be sure about her thing, but it could just be that she wished it could help others.

“I believe that it can be better if I explain it.”

Taija spoke up in a serious voice.

“As Alice said we want to see if it can help others. According to her so was she feeling slightly emotional numb for a while after the accident.”

There was another reason to not letting them borrow the machine. Nothing good could come out of that, and why hadn’t Alice told her anything about that.

“So little Alice got the idea that the machine maybe could help those that are crazy and those with emotional problems. Maybe even more.”

“So what you are trying to say is that you want to try to use it at others to see if you can make them feel better?”

Ellen didn’t like the idea at all. Had they even considered the risk that someone could get hurt by it? And was that the reason that they had been leaving regularly lately?

“We have even talked with Lilly about it, so she will be helping us.”

It had taken Ellen a longer time than planned to fix the remaining lamps.

Mostly because of the visit by Alice and Taija the last evening.

She didn’t like their idea, even if the promised to be careful and that Lilly would be there to help if anything happened. It could still end horrible bad, which was hard to tell if they even had spared a thought.

They said that Lilly was about to help them. But could she really help if something went wrong while using the machine? Not even Jill had heard anything about using purifying gears on humans, or other human-like beings. Yet she had at adventures in a lot of different places for a couple of years.

Ellen let out a sigh as she sat at her chair in the workshop, looking at the machine that was created with a horrific purpose.

Was that the reason those guards had searched for Jack? That he created the crystal drug? But wouldn’t that mean that they just as well could have jailed Ellen for her involvement in it?

As always Alice used her intoxicating charm to get her will through, and Ellen found herself dumb enough to fall for it, again.

“Is it your first time going to a bar?”

Chris had come to pick her up so he could lead her to the bar that they all would meet. And just as he was guessing so was it her first time to visit a bar.

She had been too young in the other world and too uncomfortable in this world. But was a little more at ease now that she had company by Chris and the other two guys.

“It’s the first time I visit a bar, yes.”

“Then I would recommend you to not drink so much that you can’t get home.”

Even if it shouldn’t have been her first time at a bar, so would it still be a bad idea to drink so much that she couldn’t get home. What was he seriously thinking, was he even thinking?

It was only a small bar they would meet the others at, but it was still filled with more or less intoxicated people. Which wouldn’t have bothered Ellen, if they should have at least try to speak in a normal tone. But instead they seemed to enjoy scream out what they wanted to tell each other.

Chris lead her straight into the bar and toward a specific table. There Thom and Sour already had taken their places.

“So you got hold of our usual table.” Chris sounded glad. Could it be that he wanted to sit around this specific table, for some strange reason?

“And I see that you got hold of that baby girl. That is wearing a dress?”

She had decided to wear a simple dress, not too flashy and not too worn out. But did Thom really needed to express it like if he never ever could have guessed that Ellen would wear a simple dress?

“That is almost like I reacted, but without sound rude.”

That was also one way to express it. Thanks for nothing Chris, jerk.

“I think you look great in the dress girl.”

At least one of the guys tried to be nice.

“She is too young for you Sour.”

“She is FAR to young for you brother.”

Ellen couldn’t help but believe that it was something wrong with the company she found herself in. But she still took a place around the table as Thom called over the waitress to order four beers.

“Is the beer a little too strong for the little baby girl?”

Thom interrupted the chitchat in the group, when he noticed that Ellen made grimaces while drinking the beer.

“It’s tasting very different from the wine I have been drinking earlier.” Simple said, the beer was drinkable but still not tasting good.

They had made fun off Ellen and fallen into even more chit-chatting, slowly falling in at talk about gears and the connections between their jobs.

“Is it possible for a purifying gear to help a person that feels emotional ill?”

Sour had led the conversation into that Ellen had ordered a special made purifying gear. And everyone seemed to know a little about that kind of gear, so maybe she could get some information that would save some from getting hurt.

None of the worthless guys did know anything of how that gear could affect a person, and did turn it against her. Forcing her to tell them about Alice’s idea. Of course after they had promised to try to help Ellen if possible.

“It’s the first time I ever hear the idea to use a purifying gear like that.”

The other agreed with Sour, that honestly seemed to think very hard about it. And even if he was the one with the most knowledge about gears, so were they all taking part in a discussion about if it was possible or not.

“If you want so can I ask around if there is someone that might know something.”

Chris’s idea was good, but at the same time it could be a bad idea. If Alice had right with her idea, so was there a risk that someone else would steal the idea and use it themselves.

Thom once again called for the waitress and ordered something.

“I think brother beard is thinking that it’s time to invite a girl to our alliance.”

Alliance? What were they now talking about?

“You see baby girl. We are holding together in something like an alliance, there we all do our best to help each other. Of course it isn’t possible all the time, but we are still doing our best.”

Thom seemed to have seen that she didn’t follow and began to explain it.

“So easy said so are we trying to hold each other’s back, especially when it comes to prices.”

Chris followed up and explained that they often put prices for each other only a little more than what they had paid for it themselves.

“But I am new at this area, and since I haven’t worked for long so is there a bigger risk for you to lose money by inviting me.”

The waitress had come back with a bunch of shot glasses on a plate while Ellen had tried to express herself. The glasses were filled with a transparent reddish liquid.

“You are right, we might lose money by inviting you. But we might also earn some money, both when you are working normally and if you and the other girl will continue to do experiments.”

So, according to Sour so was the already knowing that they could lose money. But they still wanted to try since there was a chance they also could earn some money.

“To get into our alliance, you need to empty four shots of red absinthe.”

Chris seemed to enjoy the situation.

“Without throwing up.”

Thom was even worse and laughed as he talked.

The machine that Ellen created for their father got a new name at Lilly’s clinic, where they tried to find a way to use it.

“Angel”, Taija and Lilly decided to call it for “Angel”. Only to really separate it from the two other machines that Lilly had at her clinic. How could they even come up with a name like that?

“Taija, are you still feeling bad that we took the “Angel” before little Ellen came back home?

Taija had disliked the idea of taking the “Angel” the morning after Ellen had allowed it, which neither Alice or Lilly had seen any problems with.

“Yes. Ellen has said that she didn’t mind that we did like that. But still.”

Taija was really a worrywart about it, even after Ellen had allowed them to take it.

Ellen hadn’t even come back to the mansion that night, she had instead been sleeping in the same house as that bad woman.

Alice wouldn’t get surprised if it turned out that Jill also had been out drinking and tricked Ellen to drink far too much.

Alice quickly pulled herself into the reality and continued to think of how they would use the “Angel” correctly.

They had lowered the speed since she collapsed at the old speed, and had been trying without result for a few days.

She was sure that it was because they neither wanted to try the old speed again, and that they didn’t want to target the head. Alice was really sure it was because of that.

Sure she had collapsed, but it still couldn’t be that bad.

And since they had Lilly there, so could they take bigger risks.

Alice closed the door behind her as she walked into her room, letting out a heavy sigh.

It had gone another day without result, which for the moment made it five days without any results or likewise. So many days had been wasted, because the others are too afraid of leaving their comfort zones.

They need to set the “Angel” to spin at a higher speed, they need to take risks.

They can’t stay stumping at the same spot all the time and thinking about to give it up because it doesn’t lead anywhere.

Alice had even asked Ellen for advice, and even if she didn’t say it out loud she was agreeing to that they needed to use a higher speed.

Even if the books only was about how to get impurities out of things. There was honestly nothing said that it was like that with humans.

Everything was annoying.

Taija and Lilly that was too afraid to go forward and out of their comfort zone. Yet Alice couldn’t force them since she needed their help.

Ellen that only could help her with information on how the gear would work at normal things.

The “Angel” that maybe would lose its chance to make Ellen famous.

It was all annoying.

Alice began to undress and noticed her own reflection in a mirror on the other side of the room. Even though it was dark she felt that she saw the reflection clear.

A thin and weak girl, almost dripping of disgust for every breath she took. A girl that didn’t even deserved to be a part of either this or the last world. A girl that only deserved to die alone, just like Ellen did once.

Why couldn’t she look more like Ellen? Be strong, look healthy and beautiful. Or at very least not look like she did now.

They had called her beautiful since she was young, always overshadowing the true beauty with the eyes of the blind. Always standing in the way of the only one that truly deserved to be called beautiful, always getting cared of by the only person with a pure heart. Always…Ellen.

Alice violently shakes her head. It wasn’t time to think about that.

She had to find a way to make Ellen famous. Like the smart and wonderful sister she was.

Alice had to give Ellen what she truly deserved.

Ellen had now even helped Alice get rid of the one truly annoying thing, her ability to feel emotions. They were still gone since the incident and was no longer welcome back.

Alice did her very best to fake all emotions, but couldn’t help but to worry about if Ellen had seen through her act. Which wouldn’t be surprising since Ellen was a very smart girl.

Ellen had been working to change the broken warmth giving gear that had broke in the bathroom.

Or she had rather been changing it while she had been thinking.

The little “princess” had decided to take the prototype before she came home after the drinking with Chris and the others. Sure it had been a little too much, so she had got carried home to Chris’s house and been sleeping there during the night. But they could still have waited to take it until she came home.

It didn’t get better either that Alice and Taija have been out of the mansion, trying to find a way to use it.

Alice had shown clear signs of getting worn out, but didn’t say anything about it herself. Yet it was so clear that it was impressive that neither Taija or that doctor did anything about it.

“Pardon Ellen, there is someone that wishes to talk with you in the front door.”

Sain was standing in the door opening, looking worried at her.

That fox knew that she wasn’t forgiven yet. Which she wouldn’t be for quite some more time, but still she didn’t need to be afraid of talking with Ellen.

“Okay, I will come right away.” More disturbance during her work, wasn’t that just wonderful.

“I would like to ask you for some help with a job offer.”

Chris had come over to ask for help from here with a work.

They walked to her workshop to talk without disturbance. Especially from Sain that looked curious at them from a door opening to another room. She really still was curious about gears, even after what had happened to Alice.

“So you want to ask me for help to turn some old steam driven boats to gear driven?”

That sound far more complicated than the last time he had asked her for help.

“Yes, I asked for that. I believe it can be some good training for you and you will probably also learn a new thing or two, that you can have use of in the future.”

Ellen didn’t have so much knowledge about warmth giving gears, so it would mean that she needed to do some more study to. Even if she would work with Chris.

“The work is at a bigger scale and further away than last time, so to save time so will we take in at a cheap hotel nearby.”

“How much time do you think it will take?”

She had to know. She would need to ask Taija for allowance to work with him during that time, so she had to know what she would ask for.

“I believe it will take about two weeks.”

It had already got late when Ellen walked to the door of Mr Halluw’s workroom.

She had waited for Taija and Alice to come home so she could ask Taija about the job offer. But it didn’t seem like they would come home this day, and she needed to tell Chris the next morning. So she needed to ask that fat bowling ball.

Why did they have to be gone for the night just this day? Any other night would have been fine, but not this day.

“I apologise for interrupt your evening Mister.”

She curtsied for the man as she came into the room. Which she felt that she wouldn’t need since he just was an old fart that happens to own the mansion she helped out at.

“What do you want Ellen?”

He didn’t even bother to try to hide his disliking for her.

“Since miss Taija hasn’t come back and probably won’t come back for the night, I will need to ask you for allowance for a work offer that I got from Mister Behorned.”

Why did she have to be so disgusting formal in this world? It was a big pain, and especially when it was to those that didn’t even deserve it.

Ellen began to explain the situation as good she could from the information Chris had given her.

The fat bowling ball clearly didn’t like the fact that she would be gone for two weeks. But seemed to not mind the fact that it was warmth giving gears she would work with.

“I understand the situation, and do gives you the allowance to help Mr Behorn with the work.”

He was probably only hoping that she would learn something that he could have use of later on.

Ellen was back at her room when she dropped a heavy sigh.

She hated being polite toward that man, and even more hated the smile he had when she left the room.

He was making plans to abuse her knowledge for his own winning, wasn’t he? At least that was what his disgusting smile was telling her.