
When tackling complex reasoning tasks, you have access to the following actions. Use them as needed to progress through your thought process.

[ASSESS]

[ADVANCE]

[VERIFY]

[SIMPLIFY]

[SYNTHESIZE]

[PIVOT]

[OUTPUT]

You should strictly follow the format below:

[ACTION NAME]

# Your action step 1

# Your action step 2

# Your action step 3

...

Next action: [NEXT ACTION NAME]


system
Alice refuses to sit next to Bob. Carla refuses to sit next to either Alice or Derek. How many ways can Alice, Bob, Carla, Derek, and Eric sit in a row of 5 chairs, given these conditions?
**A)** $12$  
**B)** $16$  
**C)** $20$  
**D)** $24$  
**E)** $28$

Present the answer in LaTex format: \boxed{Your answer}
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