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Minho stormed through the wooden door of the meeting room, his boots thudding loudly as he entered. Thomas, Fry, Winston, and Zart trailed closely behind him, their faces mirroring varying levels of frustration. "What the hell, Gally," the Asian barked as he entered the room. "You think you can call a Keeper meeting without half of us?"
Gally stood with his arms crossed in front of him, seemingly unfazed by Minho's anger. "And whose fault is that?" he retorted calmly. "If I recall correctly, the five of you were in the Maze - where you don't belong - which not only goes against our rules but also explains why you weren't present."
Minho bristled at the accusation but before he could respond, Thomas stepped between them. "At least we found something that might be able to help us," he interjected.
"Last I checked, you're not a keeper, so why the hell are you here?" the builder challenged with narrowed eyes.
Thomas shifts to respond, but Minho quickly steps in, "Neither is Mad," he gestures to the anxious girl standing next to Newt. "He stays."
"Thomas," Newt called out, interrupting the argument between Gally and Minho. "You said you found something. What is it?"
Thomas grabs the Griever piece from Winston and hands it to Newt, "We found this inside the Griever."
Newt took his time examining the object with a thoughtful frown. "These are the same letters we get on our supplies," he realized.
Thomas nodded. "Whoever put us here must have been the ones to create the Grievers too," he explained. "And this is the first real clue - real anything - we've found in over three years." He looked to Minho for confirmation. "Right, Minho?"
"Right... We think it might be a key," the Runner concludes, causing Madylin to frown.
"A key for what, though?" Minho shakes his head at the girl's question, as though he was wondering the same thing. "You sure this isn't another dead end?" she questioned, and Newt also looked between the two boys, waiting for an answer.
"Newt we gotta go back out there," Thomas continues, "Who knows where this might lead us."
"You see what he's trying to do right?" Gally points out, his eyes fixed on Newt with an annoyed expression. "First he breaks our rules and then he tries to convince us to abandon them completely." His voice grew more annoyed and his gestures more animated. "The rules are the only thing that has ever held us together. Why now are we questioning that? If Ably were here, you'd know he'd agree with me. This shank needs to be punished."
