Expiation//Elliot Alderson//Mr. Robot

[10]: His True Self

[ CHAPTER TEN: HIS TRUE SELF ]

The strangest night of Malena Ström's life so far began inside the Knowles' eloquent townhouse.

The three vastly differently couples had delectable food positioned in front of them, left untouched, because they had been far too busy pretending as if they were here for pure, genuine reasons, rather than malicious intent.

It was blatant that the families never truly engaged in an activity without some sort of underlying scheme or motivation. Tonight, was no different.

Yes, these couples all had an abundance of anything and everything. Yet that did not prevent them from trying to crawl over others to get somewhere, despite already having a secure spot at the top. Having painstakingly reviewed E Corp employee files, she knew Tyrell and Finn earned more than Scott Knowles did. They seemed to have more power too. So, what the fuck was going on here? All the host family had over their guests was age.

They didn't care about this though, they chose to fight for the invisible crown of dominance. Acting like a bunch of animals without a leader trying to figure out their social order.

Malena did not belong among the wolves, baring their teeth, circling each other, waiting for the precise moment to attack. Malena saw no use, no purpose to participate in the fight, meaning that she had no valid reason to be here; except, perhaps, to provide extraneous support for Tyrell and be Finn's arm candy. Every powerful man felt the need to have one. And, unfortunately, for his favor she had to play along.

She belonged elsewhere but where was that place? Could it be with hacker extraordinaire, Elliot? No.

Elliot was the key to her original plan. To remain in Albany long enough to avoid this evening entirely. However, his apparent unpredictable nature meant that when he discovered that she had a friendship with Tyrell surfaced, it was a major problem.

Elliot just had something against Tyrell. She wondered and questioned the precise reason why he seemed to detest Tyrell. She tried to reason it inside of her head, what could've transpired between them that caused these feelings. As her fingers mindlessly traced the edges of the half-empty wine glass, she came up with three theories as to why they did not get along.

It could be that Tyrell was a high-ranking employee at the largest conglomerate in the world but then again, so was her boyfriend. Still, Elliot seemed to have no problem including her in an organization filled with hacktivists that committed some of the most serious cybercrimes the United States has seen. The Federal Bureau of Investigation, E Corp, Allsafe Cybersecurity, the United Nations, and private glory-seeking detectives, wanted to find them. If Elliot thought being part E Corp would warrant being a terrible person then wouldn't that make her the devil's advocate? Wouldn't she be just as dangerous? He let her sleep on his bed, meet his girlfriend, and know the details of his dead father. It just couldn't have been a problem with executives. Unless he had made an exception for her. Doubtful.