Over the following weeks, Alessa counted down the days to Professor Liu's departure with anticipation. She played along with the producers' games, diligently visiting the lab every few days to receive her training, and in the evenings she and Janie huddled together, conspiring on plans to steal the equipment as soon as Alessa had the lab to herself.
Knowing that their "time travel" plot was only a ruse took much of the pressure off of Janie and Alessa's plotting. Though they debated the merits of different strategies and feigned distraction with their assignments and classes, they knew that whatever path they chose, the producers would ultimately make sure that their pilfering was successful.
Internally, however, both sisters anxiously fretted over their true plan: how they would orche
