"Dead." The pain was evident in Carolyn's voice. "All four of us tried to protect the children the best we could; they simply paid with with their death." She sobbed, "They were due to be married a week from the day Essex captured them." Sobs quieted, "CJ tried too many times to break through the bars and the electric simply overloaded him. We think 'Rica had a bond with him; she died, spasming, not a minute after."
"Why didn't either of you..."
EJ broke in, "We decided to both try different styles of fighting back--"
"Basically amounting to getting his confidence by portraying ourselves as self-opportunists, mercenaries of the worst type... to take advantage of his trust. I still feel as if the dirt won't wash off, no matter how hard I scrub--" she glared at EJ, "Yeah, yeah, I know we were the only ones capable of pulling it off, doesn't negate what we did; so 'Rica and CJ settled on openly rebellious. Which I would have preferred to help with, but Mister Subversive here convinced me otherwise."
