~Memories from the Beginning~

♟Chapter 9♟

"She was one of us and yet... All of this is just so she can have a better life." Emma angrily said as her hands formed to tight fists.

"What a monster. She doesn't care if any kids live or die at all."

"She said she won't ship us out though." Gilda recalled as she tapped her chin.

"What she meant was that she can't. If she really wanted us to escape, then she would have quietly helped us. The only reason she's showing her cards is to gain our trust." Norman said.

"But, what's the point of doing that?" Don asked.

"The higher-ups don't trust her and see her as incompetent, hence the reason as to why she's not a Mom and has no power. The only way to gain the higher-ups' trust is to have solid evidence of our rebellion." Y/n replied.

"Wait...What happens if she finds the rope we hid in the tree?" Don asked.

"It's fine. Explaining the rope is easy. We can say we were gonna use it for a game, but if-" Norman was interrupted by Ray.

"If she finds the tool to break the trackers, then we're done for." He said.

"That kind of evidence would be hard to explain." Norman said.

Y/n nodded in agreement as Don and Gilda were feeling anxious.

Ray noticed and spoke up, "No need to worry. I'm not gonna let that happen. I'm not finished making it yet anyway."

"That won't be an issue if we can convince her we don't know where they are or how to break them. I'm sure Sister Krone would believe us if we play our cards right." Norman smirked.

"You're going to her room? You're dealing with Sister Krone here. It's nice she offered to give us information, but..." Gilda trailed off.

"Hang on, why are we cooperating with her? Does it give us an advantage?" Don asked.

"If we use her well, we might obtain some information. Additionally, it'll keep her out of the way so we can focus on the inspection." Norman answered.

Don and Gilda still felt uncertain.

"We'll be fine." Emma reassured. "We have to use every opportunity we can."

"Ray. Y/n. Can I talk with you both? I wanna discuss the investigation." Norman said.

"Okay." Ray and Y/n said.

The three boys left and Emma looked at the ten-year-olds. "I have a favor I want to ask you guys."

-----

Ray took a picture of the children playing outside and when he turned around, he saw the group of the other older kids

"Let's review. During the free time we have after eating lunch, I'm gonna be distracting Mama. Meanwhile, you three will inspect the wall. Don and Gilda, stand outside where you can see the second-floor window to the south." Ray instructed.

"Stay alert. I'll signal you if I'm not able to distract Mama and that's when you two tell the others to cancel the inspection. According to our original plan, there are six days left. But, we have the two in a half months till Y/n and I get shipped out. So, if things go wrong, we can bail. We do everything in secret and pretend to be controllable."

The other six nodded in agreement. But then, Gilda asked a question.

"Wait, why isn't Y/n distracting Mama with you?"

"Good question. Well, if everyone had actually taken notice of what I said, you'd know that I repeatedly told you guys that I'm not technically a traitor, just an "oblivious" informant. It'd be suspicious if I joined Ray to distract Mama. After all, I'm usually the one wandering around with all of the kids or by myself, so sticking with Ray for too much time will raise some flags." Y/n replied.