Disclaimer: UNBETA'D.
I own nothing. Recognizable characters and events belong to other people. Together with the original characters and events, they collectively own my soul.

"I think we're all dead, really. This is purgatory or some such."

"Oh, don't be ridiculous."

"No, see, it makes sense. Time doesn't have any meaning in the land of the dead—that's why ghosts never get over old grudges."

"So all those Sleepers are what? Actually alive?"

"OK, that's creepy, stop talking about it now. Look, I heard that the universe is constantly expanding. Maybe we moved into some weird part of the universe. Or we're on the edge of reality and we have to wait for the rest of it to catch up."

"Well I heard that someone was trying to make the most accurate clock in the universe and it broke time."

"How would measuring time break it?"

"It's quantum, right? The little bits of the universe don't like to be looked at so if you get too close they change. Well, someone got to looking to closely at time and so it changed itself round."

As breakfast finished up and people started drifting off in groups towards their assigned work, Nabiki found that Mitsuko was right. Everyone had their own pet theory on what had caused the Time storms. A couple of people had expressed support for Ichigo's alien idea—they were the most optimistic group. Aliens seemed more likely to be capable fixing the problem than humanity; assuming the entire human race really was stuck in the Time.

That was another question that no one seemed to have a definite answer to. How large an area was the Time affecting? A few people on the Estate had traveled pretty far—but for the most part they only had proof that the Time extended across Tokyo and a few days travel beyond. Television sets only produced static. Radios worked occasionally—but they seemed mostly to pull stations and communications from World War II. The Estate didn't have a working telephone and the few times someone had tried one outside—either before they got to the Estate or on a foraging expedition—it either hadn't worked or the line had simply rung without answer until they hung up. There was no contact with the outside world short of traveling to it—and no one was willing to risk that chaos for what could be a futile hope.

Nabiki didn't participate much in the conversations around her. Instead, she sat back and listened closely. Even if there was no answer for what was happening, she could tell a lot about a person by their theories. Some felt that the entire world had to be engulfed by the Time—otherwise a rescue mission would have saved them all. Others wanted desperately to believe that it was localized and that everyone else was safe. Some people thought of the Time as a punishment—either divinely inspired or natural consequences to people's arrogance—while others thought of it as a random occurrence. Every idea, every voice of hope or despair, told her a little bit about how to persuade and control the people here if she ever needed their support.

For the most part, the conversations had the ring of well-traveled trails of thought. They were conversations people had had before and arguments that everyone knew by heart.

As the people left, heading out to the gardens or other work areas, Nabiki sat and thought. Without any real ideas about what was happening or why it had happened, it seemed people were concentrating on the short game. Survival came first. People were focusing on food, shelter and getting along with everyone else. Everything looked well organized and managed. But there were hints at problems—Ranma's speeches the night before and again this morning told her that they had had enough troublemakers that they had had to come up with a set of rules for dealing with them. And the Estate, large as it was, could only hold so many people. How long would it be before they had to start turning people away from the safety provided by the Estate's walls?

Nabiki had sworn to follow the "Queen's laws" without a detailed list of exactly what those laws were. It was unlike her, she knew, but what other choice did she have? This place and these people were the only things between her and complete and utter chaos. Nabiki only liked chaos when she had control of it.

She continued to wait in the dining hall as everyone else headed out to their work assignment. Kasumi was still busy in the kitchens, supervising clean-up and the preparations for the next meal rotation and since she was Nabiki's guide, Nabiki was free until she was done. Nabiki moved to the door and looked out at the busy Estate. Across the way she could see Yoritomi inspecting the skeleton of a small shed. She wondered where they were getting the wood for building. Was there someone outside cutting down trees in the overgrown lots or were they scavenging old houses for posts and beams free of rot? She pushed that distracting question away.

Nabiki had a fair idea of what would happen next. Kasumi would introduce her to some group and she'd be put to work washing clothes or hoeing vegetables. She'd work, eat, bathe, sleep, and wake up again to the same. She'd go crazy—and not just because she preferred intellectual labor to manual. With all their industriousness, all these people were really doing was surviving. It was subsistence labor, no more, no less. And it wasn't enough.

What would happen when the Estate did run out of space, or food, or fresh water? It couldn't last forever, especially with more people continuing to trickle in. Did they have some plan in place? Neither Ranma nor Kasumi had ever been the types to think too much ahead. They were the types that buckled down and dealt with the present. Very useful, especially when your main concern is survival from moment to moment, but not good enough for something like this. Someone had to really start thinking of the future—and the bubbling teenage girl that the Queen was when she wasn't busy with the crystal didn't seem like the type either.

There were other possibilities though. Ranma had mentioned a couple of people who helped Kasumi and one person who was in charge of inventory and supplies—Harumi? Hitokiri? Hitomi? Something like that anyways—that person might be more forward thinking. And there was someone else. Someone with a similar power to the Queen who helped maintain the magic protecting the Estate. Ranma had called her...Set-chan. Searching her memories of the night before, Nabiki remembered a woman in the bathes talking about Lady Pluto doing something similar. Were Lady Pluto and Set-chan the same person? Nabiki hadn't paid much attention to the Sailor Scouts—they were notoriously unavailable for marketing campaigns and nobody ever bet against them. It was much easier and more profitable to focus on the Nerima Wrecking Crew.

"I'm sorry Nabiki. I didn't mean to take so long, but Emi is still learning how to use the sun oven." Nabiki refocused her attention to her sister as Kasumi walked out of the kitchen, cleaning her hands on her apron.

"A sun oven? Is that high tech or low tech?" She had been interested in solar technology before—Nabiki always made sure to stay aware of new technologies especially if they seemed promisingly lucrative. Still, Nabiki could see the darkness lying outside the Estate's wall, a looming blackness pushing against the safety promised within. She shivered and turned back to Kasumi's smile. "Can you really use it with this weird light?"

"Oh, it's brand-new. 'High tech', I suppose. We only have one—and a stove we can use generators for but we don't like to use that too often. Mostly we use firepits and clay ovens. The sun oven is nice though and it's very reliable." Kasumi led Nabiki past the gardens and back towards the main house. A few people in the fields waved to Nabiki--she recognized them vaguely from breakfast and waved back. "The Crystal 's light acts just like the sun. Mariko used to be a scientist—she says it has the same spectrum? I'm afraid I didn't understand much of it, although it was very nice of her to try to explain it. In any case, neither the solar machines nor the plants seem to notice any difference."

"Hmmm. Does this happen often then? The sun doesn't come up?" Nabiki managed to control her shudder at that possibility. She was trying to avoid looking at the horizon—the darkness outside the walls seemed more threatening every time she looked at it.

"Not really. Only every few months or so. It is just that it lasts a very long time when it does happen." Kasumi sighed, her happy mask dropping for a moment. "It is so hard on Her Majesty when it does happen. And everyone gets a bit grumpy. Ranma seems to have sort out almost as many fights at times like these as he does when there is a big snowstorm."

"Huh. And every time it happens, the Queen makes that crystal shine like the sun?" Nabiki wondered how much power that took—the light didn't stretch beyond the Estate's walls and there were lamps that could mimic the spectrum of the sun. Was the Queen really as powerful as everyone seemed to think? Of course, she was keeping up a shield against the Time as well. Or so she said. And Ranma said. Ranma, who had threatened to throw Nabiki out into the cold, cruel, chaotic world. Nabiki carefully tucked that line of thought away. The risk seemed greater than the possible rewards, for the moment.

While Nabiki had been pursuing thoughts of usurpation, a part of her had continued listening as her sister spoke about the last few times that the Queen had created light with the Crystal . Apparently, she turned the light off during the "night." That made sense—the plants would be used to a certain amount of darkness as well and it would probably make things easier on the Queen.

That conversation lasted through the hallways of the main building. They passed a few rooms where people were sorting through clothing—Nabiki thought she recognized a few pieces from the cart that Kazaki's group had brought back. From what she could tell, most the rooms in the main building were being used as storehouses. Every once in a while, she saw a guard standing at attention or patrolling through the halls. Kasumi had said that only a few people slept in this house—and they were all names Nabiki remembered as being in charge of things. They were keeping all the important members of the "government" and all the goods brought in from outside in one place then—probably as a security precaution. If they had to post guards, better to concentrate the loyal ones in one area. So they were concerned about threats within the compound.

Kasumi had told Nabiki earlier that the woman in charge of the stores—what was her name? Nabiki was furious at herself for forgetting it so easily. Stress and shock was no excuse for missing something important like that—was also the person who assigned duty groups.

They paused at a room filled with cans of food. Two women were sorting through a few boxes scattered around the floor and a guard stood at the door. "Oh, good morning Tetsu," Kasumi smiled. "Have you seen Hitomi anywhere?"

It was Hitomi then. Nabiki was glad she hadn't had to ask—she'd hate to let even her dear, oblivious sister know how much she had slipped. The guard Tetsu—Nabiki vaguely thought she recognized him—smiled back at Kasumi. "Surely have, Lady Kasumi. She's been running around organizing that shipment from yesterday. Think she's in sundries. They brought in a lot of pretty things, that crew." He winked at Nabiki and grinned.

Kasumi thanked him and led Nabiki down another hallway. The building didn't seem that big from the outside, but Nabiki was almost lost in the meandering corridors and small rooms that comprised the insides. She concentrated on memorizing the twists and turns and placing them in relation to the room she shared with Kasumi. She refused to let her disadvantages in this place grow any larger.

Finally they found the woman Hitomi—not with the soaps and ribbons in sundries, but in a room dedicated to seed packets and cuttings. She was a fairly plain woman, thought Nabiki. Her long black hair was twisted up into a severe bun, her clothes were clean and ironed, and her face was unremarkable. She was neither tall nor short and looked to be only a little older than Kasumi. If Nabiki had seen her on a train or in the streets, her eyes would have passed over the woman without pausing. Here though, she was one of the leaders of the Estate. Holding a clipboard and pencil, issuing orders to the two men sorting through a box of seeds, she looked a model of efficient management.

"Kasumi, I'm glad you're here. We're sorting through seeds for next season and we'd like the kitchen's input. When you have some time, please coordinate with Haru." One of the men sorting through the seeds grinned and winked one of his large brown eyes at the two sisters. Hitomi, busily scribbling something on her clipboard, didn't notice. "This must be your sister, Nabiki. I'll take care of her in a minute, just let me finish recording this bunch."

When she was done writing, the woman handed her clipboard and pen to the man Haru. She gave Nabiki a measuring look then smiled at Kasumi. "Well then, let's head to my office."

"I will see you later, Nabiki. Don't worry, Hitomi will take good care of you." Kasumi smiled reassuringly at her sister and then turned to Haru and started talking about vegetables.

Hitomi led Nabiki down yet another hallway. "I've heard a lot about you, from Kasumi and Ranma." Nabiki noticed that the woman wasn't using the more respectful honorifics that most of the people on the Estate were attached to. "Based on what I've been told, it would be a waste to put you in the kitchens or out in the fields." She stepped into a small room dominated by a desk and filing cabinet. In the corner, Nabiki could see a futon rolled up with blankets folded on top of it.

Hitomi pulled her chair away from the desk and set it next to another chair. She sank the chair with a sigh and then gestured for Nabiki to sit down as well. "You're intelligent and observant, so I'm sure you've got some idea about how this all works already. Queen Usagi is too busy with her magic to do much governing, although lately, with Lady Setsuna's help, she had been able to attend meetings and give some input into decisions. She also helps Ranma judge any disputes or crimes that might happen. Ranma runs the guards and the foraging crews—he trains them personally and I help him set up schedules. He's the enforcement and security branch of our little nation and his right hand is Fujiwara Jiro. Kasumi's in charge of most of the household related chores. She runs the kitchens, the cleaning crews, the bathes, the dormitories, and the small medical office. Harumi helps her."

This was mostly information Nabiki had heard before and she was sure Hitomi knew that. Where was the woman going with this?

"Most of the rest of the people are assigned to rotations with two or three different jobs to do. Spend half the day in the kitchens and half cleaning or working in the gardens. Someone skilled enough might just stick with one job—Haru's pretty much taken over managing the gardens. My job is to make sure everything runs smoothly and that Ranma hears of any potential problems. I keep the inventory up to date, consolidate the requests for items from every department and get them to the foraging crews and so on. I also have someone I trust keep an eye in every group here."

She ran spies then. This woman dealt in information—both officially and unofficially, she was the person who knew where everything was at all times. Nabiki felt a frission of excitement run up her spine. She had a good idea why Hitomi was telling her all this. Her smile was more predatory than she realized and Hitomi gave her a hard look.

"I don't really know if I can trust you. You're selfish and manipulative. Ranma thinks you're motivated by greed most of the time. From the stories I've heard, I bet its more about power and control than money." Nabiki's smile faded as Hitomi continued to speak, her voice low and hard. "I can work with that. Someone needs to be in control and someone who likes that and has worked at is better than someone who has no idea what they're doing. But—it can't just be a power game. This is the survival of the human race here and we need to be able to work together. Lady Setsuna's enough of a problem. I don't need a rival threatening the stability we have set up here. I do need an assistant."

Nabiki sat back in her chair. No one here seemed to have any concept of subtlety. She supposed that could come from being the last bastion of sanity and safety in a world ripped apart. Nabiki wasn't going to spend the rest of her life as someone's assistant—but it would be easier to consolidate a power base with the support of those already in power.

"I could help you. So how would you help me?" Nabiki decided she might as well go along with the bluntness everyone else was using.

Hitomi's eyes were cool and her smile tight. "You get a position of respect and responsibility—and the possibility for advancement. I'm sure you realize the Estate can't hold everyone forever. Eventually we'll have to find some way to expand. And you'll have experience and power when we do." Her face lit with amusement. "It also gets you out of laundry duty."

Nabiki chuckled softly. She could work with this. "As long as we understand each other. I do hate getting my hands wrinkly with soap and water."

Both women relaxed, trusting for the moment that they were on the same side. "Now, Hitomi, you said something about Lady Setsuna being a problem?"