A girl stood in the office doorway.
She had neat, long blonde hair and heterochromia—one eye green, the other brown. Her skin was soft and pretty, almost completely clear of blemishes or freckles. She was around five foot four, with a slim build and a youthful, idol-like face.
She looked like the kind of person whose expression could change completely in a second. Cheerful one moment, gloomy or intense the next. And that was exactly how she was. At first glance, she looked sweet and bubbly, but her eyes gave away her calmness. She was much more serious, emotional, and unsettling than most people would expect.
"Sarah!?"
Only Leo, Liam, and I were capable of reacting.
The rest of the founders were still too shocked by everything that had just happened.
"You were the scout!?"
"Why!?"
"What the fuck would you gain from working with them!?"
I was pissed.
I didn't know what to do.
Sarah had been working with The Claim?
Unbelievable!
But then I looked at everyone else's faces.
Some of them were showing the same shock mine probably was.
A lot of them, though, were still trying to process what had happened a moment ago.
And the Factory 24 members who were still thinking clearly were probably wondering the same thing:
There was a Claim scout inside Factory 24?
Yes, there was.
But for it to be Sarah?
Unbelievable!
Then I saw Andrew's face.
It was confused.
The kind of look that said, Who is this girl?
Then I didn't know what to believe.
Was she really working for them?
If so, why did Andrew look so confused?
I looked back at Sarah.
Her lip curled up just a little.
The tiniest bit.
That terrified me.
She was too calm.
Like everything was going according to her plan.
Like she had expected this moment all along.
Then she spoke.
"Hello, everyone."
Her voice was soft.
Like a flower had just spoken.
Not some girl who looked like she had the whole factory under her control.
Like none of what had just happened bothered her at all.
"To confirm your suspicions, I am a scout."
So she was working under him.
"Just not the kind you were thinking of."
Huh?
"I do not work for Factory 24, nor for The Claim."
"I am part of a third-party organization."
Everyone was silent.
No one knew what to say.
Not even Andrew.
So she continued.
"My name is Sarah. I have been working as a scout inside Factory 24."
"My plan is to end this war."
End the war?
That's literally what we were trying to do though...
We didn't want this.
Andrew wanted this.
We wanted to stop it and go back to peace.
"Me—and my group—are going to destroy the factory."
At that point, I was overstimulated.
What the fuck was happening?
"Don't fuck with me, Sarah! I know you're working for The Claim!"
"Hm? Why would I?"
Why would she?
I... didn't know.
"Let me tell you all something. This factory is corrupt. It ruins relationships. Ever since it was discovered six years ago, nothing good has come from it. And now there's a whole war going on because of it. Do you guys really care that much about something that will end in ruin?"
Oh.
Relationships.
Elaine.
Back in first grade, Elaine and I fought over the factory.
Not long after, she and Sarah drifted apart.
Had Sarah really been planning this since way back then?
I couldn't even disagree with her.
I'd seen it firsthand.
It changed people.
It made all of us harsher.
More territorial.
Obsessed.
Like our lives depended on the factory.
"I don't want to control the factory. I want to erase it. What isn't there can't be controlled."
Andrew burst out in anger.
"The fuck is this fragile-ass girl talking about!?"
"Josh! Go shut this stupid bitch up!"
Sarah ducked back into the office.
"Look! She's scared! She can't do shit! Destroying the factory!? What a load of bullshit!"
She came back a second later.
This time, she was holding something.
In one hand was a box of matchsticks.
In the other, a bottle of gasoline.
Josh stopped in his tracks when he saw them.
Andrew looked scared.
Like he'd just been putting on an act this whole time.
He definitely didn't look like he knew what to do.
He tried to hide it behind his usual smug face.
But I noticed the slip.
Liam, too.
We'd have to talk about that later.
George snapped out of his shock and immediately tackled Sarah.
She wasn't expecting it.
I sure as hell wasn't expecting it.
Nobody was.
He tackled her lightly, making sure not to hurt her.
But he still disarmed her.
After they both got back to their feet, Sarah's smile had gotten a little bigger.
She was still calm, even smiling?
She was looking at the open doorway.
"Hey, Andrew... you like having fun, right?"
"This sure as hell isn't fun anymore!"
"Why don't you take a peek out the door?"
What had she done?
Andrew looked terrified then.
He didn't even try to hide it anymore.
He walked back to the door, pushing his group out of the way.
After looking outside, he fell to the floor.
Fear was written all over him.
I could see goosebumps all over his skin.
He was sweating hard.
He saw something he shouldn't have.
So I went to look too.
"Holy shit..."
That was all I could say.
Outside were bodies.
All lined up right next to each other in a clean row.
"Don't worry, they're all unconscious."
Yeah, that's not what I'm worried about.
What I'm worried about is how.
She was the only one from this secret organization of hers here.
So how were they all knocked out?
And lined up like that?
They were practically twice her size!
Andrew was terrified at that point.
All the other members of The Claim inside the factory looked the same.
"W-What is that...!?"
"D-Did you do this!?"
"Thanks for asking. Yes. I did."
What.
The.
Fuck.
What the fuck!?
"Now, Claim... leave."
She said that in the most menacing way possible.
I would've thought that was impossible if I hadn't been standing there listening to it myself.
I wouldn't have been surprised if she'd killed someone before.
Just what is she?
Andrew and his gang didn't need to be told twice.
The second they heard those words, they were out the door.
Those of us who still had functioning brains watched them for a few minutes as they scrambled to load all the unconscious bodies into their cars and drive away.
After they left, half the factory let out a sigh of relief.
Like the big threat was gone.
But it sure didn't feel gone to me.
What the fuck is this girl?
She used to just be quiet and do whatever other people wanted!
I'd never seen this side of her.
This threat was bigger.
One wrong move and the factory could be destroyed.
Mel immediately ran toward me, wrapping her arms around me like glue.
Then Sarah addressed the whole factory.
"Everybody but the founders and Monarch, out."
"If you want to quit Factory 24, go right ahead."
"I would appreciate that, actually."
"But whatever you do, don't tell an adult about what happened today."
"Things have gone too far. If adults get involved, everyone will get dragged into it, and everything will only get messier. Nothing will stop just because they're involved."
———————————————————————
After about fifteen minutes, all that was left were Sarah, John, Alex, the founders, and me.
We were sitting in the main room, all in a circle around a table.
John and Alex looked dead.
They were alive, but barely moving, barely speaking, barely anything.
I understood.
They'd just been beaten to hell.
Who wouldn't act that way?
I'd have to find out how Andrew knew later.
That is, if I can.
"Let me explain my goal clearly to all of you."
"I know you all want peace, so I hope you understand where I'm coming from."
"I want the factory gone. Wiped from the face of the earth. Burned down, blown up, destroyed. Anything works."
"I also know you guys want to protect it. Obviously, if you didn't, why fight The Claim at all...?"
She waited for a response, but none of us had anything to say.
"So, that's my problem with you guys."
"I know you all treasure the factory. You've used it for almost six years at this point..."
"But I want you to work with me. Destroy it. Start hanging out and playing with each other at your houses. Life would be far easier then."
Leo disagreed first.
"But what about all the members? The point of the factory after it was exposed was for it to be a place where everyone could have fun and hang out."
Sarah continued.
"That's the problem. You care about it too much, as if your lives depend on it. You're willing to let violence grow around it."
"Just look at what happened today. You think it's going to get better!? No! It will only get worse!"
She was right.
Even I could agree with that.
But I didn't care.
So what if I valued the factory like my own life?
I still wanted to keep it.
"Please, work with me. If you do, everything will end once and for all."
"Look at Alex and John, and tell me you won't destroy it for good."
I answered her.
"Okay, let's do this like we used to, then. All founders will vote on it."
"If you want the factory destroyed, raise your hand."
Melanie. George. John.
"If you want to keep the factory, raise your hand."
Me. Liam. Leo. Alex.
"Looks like the factory stays."
I did question why Alex voted to keep it, but I decided not to ask.
Mel was still too shaken to vote after everything that had just happened.
She'd been sticking to me since The Claim left too.
It must've really done a number on her.
Because it didn't seem fair, I came up with a different proposal.
"Actually—as Monarch—I will overturn the vote. I say we should work with Sarah, but under our own conditions."
Sarah seemed pleased with that.
"I like it. And your conditions are...?"
"I'm not sure yet. We've only just heard about this. Give us a week, and we'll set up our own terms. If you disagree with them, then we'll revote and decide if the factory stays or not."
"Deal. In one week from today, I will come back and hear your decision."
After that, she calmly left out the front door.