Breeder

Secret Meeting (3)

Third Pov

Grabbing a handful of peanuts, Erica stuffed them inside her mouth and chewed. Norman quietly pushed the pile of peanuts and other assorted nuts toward Erica, but kept his gaze on Emma.

".....I'll beat the bad monster and protect everyone!! I can't choose between others! It's not fair!" Emma argued, huffing.

"Even if it's a life-or-death scenario?" Ray asked again.

"Yeah! I'm going to save everyone! They're family!!" Emma stated.

Idealistic and stubborn. Optimist. She could prove to be a hindrance in the future... but if someone can reign in her idealism and give her some realistic suggestions, then she could become a good physical asset. Erica made a mental note.

"Okay. What about you, Norman?" Ray turned his attention to Norman, who seemed slightly uncomfortable with the dark scenarios.

"If it's a necessary choice, then... I'd do it. I'm not as strong as you guys physically, so if it was just me and the others, then I wouldn't have much of a choice. But if there was a chance or some other way for everyone to live, then I would do anything to make sure everyone survives." Norman answered.

Hopeful but realistic. I bet that he's the one that bridges Emma and Ray, who are relatively opposites in terms of cognitive preferences and methods. While he lacks in the physical department, he makes up for it with brains. Erica organized mentally. I don't know if he'd follow through with whatever cruel, horrible choices he may end up facing after our escape, but as long as he's with one of us we can cover him physically.

"I would focus on getting rid of the problem. As long as I can beat the monster, I have nothing to worry about. But if I can't, then I would probably switch my priorities to keeping the most number of people alive." Ray answered in turn, turning to Erica.

Realistic but slightly conservative. He's keeping his options open rather than choosing and sticking to a single plan. He's probably the type to have multiple plans instead of a few. But to be fair, he's the only one right now out of the others that know the truth behind these orphanages. Erica noted, before giving her own answer.

"I would just kill the monster and be done with it. If it'll be a while, then I would tell the others to go ahead. I'd catch up with them later on, so it's not that big of a deal." She finished, shrugging nonchalantly.

"Eh~? But what if the monster's too strong?" Emma asked.

"I hold it off for as long as I can, then dip the hell out of there. If I'm not strong enough to hold it back or run away, then I die. At least the others would have gotten some time to hide away or come up with a plan."

Not like I would end up dying, though. The last couple of tries didn't go that well, after all.

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Meanwhile, at that exact moment, Isabella was taking a walk out around the building to clear her mind. With all the children asleep, the paperwork finished, and lots of thoughts on her mind, the female walked around the forest area in peaceful silence.

Despite the fresh night air, everything felt confined and stale.

Like many others, she was just a bird stuck in a cage- forced to foster young until the end of her days.

But as time went by, she couldn't help but feel as though Erica was the key to the cage door. Something familiar but also completely foreign suddenly thrown into her nest, like the silver of hope that she had felt so many years ago.

What was so different about Erica? what made her different from the other children? Other than the weird blood colour, behaviour, personality, scars on the blades of her hands and feet- and all the knowledge now forgotten to most of the humans in their world.... and the way she acted like an adult...

Was she an adult in a child's body? Was that even possible? Even if she was, why send in a child instead of an adult? It would be weirder to learn from a fellow child rather than an adult, and definitely harder to control. Was it some kind of a new test or method of teaching new curriculums from the higher-ups?

It didn't make any sen-

"Huh?"

Isabella stopped in her tracks, brought out of her thoughts by an object on the forest floor, just barely hidden in the bushes near a big tree.

Small and pale white in colour, the object that was about a third of the size of her forefinger seemed to glow in the moonlight as Isabella picked it up for a closer look.

Her eyes widened immensely as a sudden realization came to her mind.

Without further thought, she began to dig.

~~~ /// ~~~ \\\ ~~~

Guess what the object is?

19July23

2.4 pages, 855 words