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Grace just stared at Kalea, trying to think of how to respond. The last thing she could do was let other people get into her head. "Not sure. Do you need me to get you some water or aspirin or something?" She redirected the conversation, not wanting to let anxiety fester in her head.

Kalea sighed. "You're no fun, huh?" Despite her cool attitude, her voice wavered, and her body trembled. Sweat soaked through her clothing, and red feathers were scattered about. She grunted when her body started to shake more severely. "I'm just going to lay out here for a bit." With that, she laid carefully on her back and placed a hand over her eyes while taking slow, steady breaths.

Grace imagined what it must have felt like to go through a rapid transformation and winced. It was bad enough having it occur slowly; then again, the anxiety of not knowing constantly gnawed at the back of her mind. "If you need any help, let me know," she curtly replied. She didn't see any reason to antagonize Kalea any further.

After Grace walked away and entered the manor, her body began to tremble. Despite her initial response being one of neutrality, she couldn't stop Kalea's transformation from playing in her head. Without warning, fragments of her dream with Ella flashed through her mind. She then recalled Ella's horrific transformation during orientation and shuddered, closing her eyes tightly as she clenched her fists.

'Relax. I can't let this affect me. Kalea did this to herself,' she told herself, shaking her head. She took a deep breath and looked around the room. She heard voices from the gym to her right and saw Eun-ju playing pool as she had days prior. In the center lounge, she saw Ruby speaking gently with Lisa, who had a tear-stained face.

Considering Lisa's reaction to her thus far, Grace decided not to intervene. Speaking with Eu-ju was out of the question as well. While standing in the entryway, the gears turned inside her head. She shifted her mental focus to the schedule posted outside and what she had learned from Kalea's outburst earlier.

Without a second thought, she opened the door and quickly descended the steps to re-examine the board. Before investigating further, she felt how hot and sticky her clothes were and winced. There was no feasible way for her to change, so she picked at her shirt and fiddled with her bra, peeling the fabric away from wherever it got lodged. She chose to ignore the tingling sensation between her thighs.

She looked at the board and reviewed Richard's routine. Nothing stood out as particularly odd except for the breaks. Was it normal for farmers to take hour-long breaks during the day? The work was backbreaking, so that could be normal. She wracked her brain, placing a hand on her head as she attempted to piece the mystery together.

After reading the schedule from top to bottom multiple times, something stood out as particularly odd.

~~~

17:00-18:00: Break

                          18:00 and later: End of work day

~~~

Her heart and breath rates picked up as something within her started to click. Why would there be an hour break right before the work day ends? Wouldn't it make more sense to simply mark 18:00 as the end of the schedule? There was no way Yulia and the other powers that be would make such an odd mistake; it was hard to mean something.

"But, what?" She muttered out loud, feeling as though she had missed something crucial. If they were competing in the second Mollusk Match game, as Uma suggested, surely hints would be left so the contestants could figure it out. If the schedule board left a hint in the form of a peculiar break period, then there had to be others as well. But where?

After a minute of thinking, her eyes suddenly widened. 'I'm so dumb,' she sighed. Richard himself must provide some form of clue; maybe she could recall something strange about how he spoke. He refused to let anyone help him, so working the farm must not have been the second game's goal. Rich had clearly stated that no one else was supposed to perform farm chores.

'No, that's not completely right,' Grace frowned, recalling something odd about his phrasing. He clearly stated that no one else was to work on the farm while he was outperforming his tasks. She had only attempted to assist Rich while he was actively engaged in farmwork.

It was as if a lightbulb suddenly ignited above her head. She swiftly read over the schedule again, focusing on the strange entries at the end. A theory quickly brewed and took form, causing a surge of adrenaline to course through her perspiration-soaked body. 'What if I do work while he's on break?' It was a simple solution but one that resonated with her. She could be wrong, but there was no point in hesitating and wasting more time.

She made her way down the path to the right, heading toward the field where Rich was still working. A warm, balmy breeze wafted through the, carrying the scent of mother nature. It was still hard for her to believe this was an artificial enclosure. As she approached, she looked to her right and saw that Kalea was no longer nearby. 'It's better if I have some privacy.' Kalea snooping wouldn't help the situation.

"Hey! You're taking a break at two, right?" Grace asked as she waved and smiled.

Rich looked up and squinted. "Yes, ma'am," he curtly replied before returning to field tilling.

"Sorry to bother you, but where do you keep your tools when you're not using them?"

"Where do I keep em?" Rich raised an eyebrow. "There's a small storage shed behind Verdant Manor. I lock em up there at the end of the day. Otherwise, I leave out here when I'm on a break."

Grace noted Rich's willingness to answer the question; that seemed like a good sign. "Am I allowed to use the tools when you're not?" A non-answer would speak volumes even if he couldn't answer any of the questions.

Rich hesitated for a moment. "As long as my tools are where I left them when I come back from a break, I don't care," he insisted before changing focus to his work.

Grace felt a sense of elation at this revelation. She was more confident now that she was on the right track. Instead of leaving, she carefully examined the way Rich performed his task. "Do you mind if I watch you work for a little while?"

"Fine by mean. As long as you're not bothering me," he insisted.

Grace nodded. "You won't notice I'm here," she promised.

"Sure thing," Rich shrugged before going back to work.

Grace couldn't help but feel a sense of dissonance while watching the farmer toil away. Just a short while ago, he was laughing at Kalea as she broke her hand, and now he was back to work like nothing happened. It hadn't taken her long to realize how different of a world these S.O.U. government people lived in.

As a little girl, she had been a starry-eyed child who lapped up all the stories and supposed history she was taught behind her city's walls. "Citadel…" She murmured the name of her hometown. A bastion against the horrors that lay outside, and also one big fat lie. The fact that most of her life was a lie weighed heavily on the back of her mind, but she tried to repress these concerns to focus on the matches ahead. In the past, Margaret had given her hints that there was more to the world than she thought, but she could never have anticipated how deep the rabbit hole really went.

On top of that, she still wasn't entirely sure why she had been marked as a criminal and sent here. Before bringing her to this awful nightmare, they made it exceedingly clear that no amount of screaming or proclaiming her innocence would lead to freedom. Did they find out she had been harboring a fugitive? 'Margaret disappeared months before I was captured. And the police usually disclose which crimes they're arresting someone for,' she contemplated, scrunching her eyebrows.

She took a deep breath and focused on observing Richard. If she was going to start working the fields, she'd need to do the job correctly after all. The library was always an option if she wanted to study later in the evening.

Thirty minutes passed before Grace decided she had seen enough. She was confident fifteen minutes ago, but it was better to play things safe. "Thanks for letting me watch. I will head off for now; would you like something to drink from the kitchen?" Being cordial wouldn't hurt.

"Appreciate it, but I'm good," Rich replied without looking up.

Grace nodded and said her goodbyes before making a beeline toward the back of Verdant Manor. After a few minutes, she rounded the back-left corner of the house and saw the wooden storage shed standing against the manor's back wall. She unlatched the door as it creaked open, and she stepped inside.

The room had a dusty, mildewy scent; one familiar to most who have been inside a shed in the summertime. Much to her delight, she saw a variety of tools lined up against the wall. A rake, multiple hoes, a shovel, hand tools, and more. On top of that, there were gardening supplies and other odds and ends you'd expect to see. She knelt over and opened a small bin to find various pairs of gloves. Some were for gardening, and others appeared to be nitrile gloves suited for handling chemicals. The multiple sizes made her think Yulia wanted to ensure each girl could find a pair that fit. Upon further inspection, her eyes suddenly widened. She scanned the wall of tools and began counting the number of hoes.

"One, two, three…" She felt a surge of excitement as she broke into goosebumps, her eyes widening. "Twelve."

There were enough hoes for each girl to theoretically work simultaneously if they wanted to. Everything clicked into place as she grew increasingly confident in deducting the second game's rules.

She exited the shed and closed the door before taking a few steps and slumping against the wall, sitting with her legs crossed. 'What now?' She had to hold back her giddiness and maintain focus. Who should she tell? Arina was a given, but was it worth cluing anyone else in? There was no guarantee that this Mollusk Match game would have six winners and six losers. If she clued too many people in, they would immediately become her competition. Some of the others would probably start figuring it out on their own once they saw Grace working. The best thing she could do was make sure she and Arina started before anyone else; if they did that and worked hard, they would have a considerable advantage.

With a plan in mind, she stood and dusted herself off before heading back to the front of Verdant Manor. Before she could get up the steps, the door suddenly opened.

"Grace?" Arina blinked, closing the door behind her as she looked toward the bottom of the steps.

Grace felt her heart immediately flutter as she locked eyes with Arina, her cheeks turning faintly red. "I was actually just about to look for you. Can we go somewhere private to talk?" Uma implied the whole house was bugged and monitored, but the bathrooms seemed fine. Also, considering Uma discussed private matters with her near the stables, that must have meant that no one would hear them over there.

"Oh?" Arina looked at Grace carefully. "Yeah, okay."

Grace couldn't help but feel something was off. Arina still seemed somewhat aloof or lost in her own head. "Let's head over to the stables," she insisted, gesturing for Arina to follow as they walked off.

They walked in silence, leaving Grace with an uneasy feeling. What was going through Arina's head right now?

Before Grace had too much time to worry, Arina finally spoke. "I'm sorry, Grace… I'm sure you're probably worried about me, but I want to assure you that you've done nothing wrong. I appreciate having you here," she said with a weak smile.

Grace felt her heart skip a beat, relief rolling over her. "I'm sure the pressure of our situation is getting to you a bit. I know it's getting to me, so don't worry about it. I don't expect you to be chipper every day while we're in captivity."

"That is very true," Arina said with a weak laugh.

Grace's concerns weren't fully remedied, but they were almost to the stables, and there was something important to discuss. When they made it, Grace leaned against the stable wall and slowly breathed. She hadn't seen anyone else nearby, so they should be safe to chat. "Arina. I'll cut to the chase; I think I know what the second Mollusk Match game is, and we're already competing."

Arina stared wide-eyed at Grace. "Wait, what? Hold on a moment; what do you mean? How did you come to this conclusion?"

Grace opened her mouth but stopped before she got a word out. She couldn't tell Arina about Uma, could she? Would Uma be upset? It likely wasn't worth risking the loss of a potentially powerful ally. "The whole farmer showing up and working thing is kind of weird, right?"

"Yeah, I suppose it is. I thought it was kind of odd," Arina replied, putting a hand on her cheek.

"Buckle up; let me explain my train of thought," Grace explained how Rich carefully worded himself when denying help, implying they could work while he was on break. She then delved into the odd schedule with a break immediately followed by the work day ending. Finally, she told Arina of her findings in the shed, which further pointed to the girls needing to work the fields.

Arina listened carefully, a degree of liveliness returning to her. "Holy crud. I think you're right. I wouldn't hold it past Yulia and those VVIPs to do something like this."

"Exactly. There's a break soon; we should get to work asap and test our theory," eagerly insisted.

Arina pursed her lips and briefly paused before speaking. "Are we going to tell anyone else?"

"I wasn't going to. I want to make sure you and I get through this together. I know this sounds mean-spirited, but this is a competition. If we clue too many people in, we may end up damning ourselves."

Arina grew more animated. "We should at least tell Ella and Phoebe! They're our friends. You even talked to me before about trying to be more friendly with them, right?"

Grace hadn't anticipated any resistance from Arina, so she was slightly taken aback. In hindsight, this kindness was entirely in character for her. "They are our friends, but then we'd have four whole people getting that head start. What if only two people are allowed to win this round? Four people is an entire third of the contestants."

Arina frowned. "We can't just abandon them! Even if it lowers our chances of winning, we should all stick together."

Grace wasn't sure how to respond. She saw the pros and cons of both sides. As a point for Arina, there could be a game later on where it would prove helpful to have trusted teammates who wouldn't betray them. Cluing them in would help ensure they remain allies for Grace and Arina.

"Let's at least tell Phoebe, and then we'll go from there. She'll also know what's best for Ella," Arina added.

Grace reluctantly nodded her head. "Okay, okay. We'll tell Phoebe." She couldn't shake this nagging feeling that they were making a bad decision.

















CHATPER END

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