"So let me get this straight. Elaine stayed for the factory, but I haven't seen her since elementary school. And you were the one who joined later on?"
"Yes."
"Why?"
"I don't want to talk about it anymore."
"What? Why not?"
She gave all that story just to leave me even more confused. And now she wouldn't even tell me?
"Because I'm not the right person to."
"What do you mean?"
She didn't answer. She just looked behind me, staring at the person sitting behind my seat.
As I turned around, I heard a quiet sigh. The person behind me stood up, walked over, and sat down next to Sarah.
I froze.
It was a girl around our age. Ginger hair. A fleece hat pulled low. Her eyes were sharp—too sharp. Like nothing about this situation surprised her.
Then she reached up and took off the hat. And her hair came off with it.
I pointed without thinking.
"AH—wait! what...?"
"A wig," she said calmly.
My brain lagged behind for a second. Then it hit.
"…Elaine?"
She looked at me like that answer was obvious.
"Hello, ■■■■■■."
"What the hell is going on!?" I said. "Why are you here? I haven't seen you in years!"
"Sarah told me to come."
"Yeah, no shit! But why? You two aren't even friends anymore—she literally just told me that!"
I looked between them. Nothing about this made sense.
Sarah didn't say anything.
Elaine did.
"We aren't friends," she said. "That part's still true."
"Then why are you here?"
She leaned back slightly.
"Because she's not the right person to explain what's about to happen."
I paused. My stomach dropped a little.
"…What do you mean, 'about to happen'?"
Elaine's eyes locked onto mine. And for the first time since she sat down, there was actual tension in her expression.
"You still think this is about getting the factory back," she said. "It's not."
"Then what is it?" I asked.
Elaine didn't hesitate.
"It's about what happens after someone wins."
"After someone wins? What are you talking about?"
I was so confused. Elaine had shown up out of nowhere acting like she knew everything that had happened, and now she was talking like she knew everything that would happen too.
"Who's in control of the factory right now?" she asked.
"Andrew, obviously!"
"Do you really think that?" she asked. "And if you do, are you saying you can't get it back?"
"I can get it back, but what does that matter?"
"Then why haven't you?"
"Not saying. There's an enemy of mine—and you—here, whose intentions I couldn't even begin to guess."
"I'm neutral right now. If you get the factory back, it only helps Null," Sarah said.
Elaine didn't even look at her.
"I don't care about what's happening right now either," she said. "I care about what's going to happen after a leader gets defined. So. Out with the plan."
I sighed. I didn't really have a choice. If I wanted to figure out Elaine and what she was doing here, I had to give them something.
"Fine," I said. "Andrew is only strong on the outside. Internally, he's struggling, even if we can't see it."
"Explain," they both said at the same time.
"I am, I am. Basically, the old Factory 24 members pretty much all knew each other since first grade. Close, y'know? Strong bonds. But Andrew's group isn't like that. The new Factory 24 is full of smaller groups of people all under the same dictator. All we have to do is put tension on certain groups and make them fight internally. Once they fracture enough, we swoop in and take it back."
I watched their faces the whole time I said it.
They barely reacted.
That only made me feel worse. Because if they understood the plan that easily, then there was a good chance Axel understood it too.
To be fair, it was a pretty simple plan. But with someone like Andrew, I still thought it could work.
Elaine looked at me for a second longer than I liked.
"That's exactly what I thought."
"Hm?"
"When I was younger," she said, "when I first started hanging around the factory again, I thought if the right people had control—if the wrong people were pushed out—then things would settle down."
"And?"
"And I was wrong."
That answer was annoyingly short.
"Would you stop doing that?" I asked. "You keep saying stuff like you've already seen everything play out."
Her eyes narrowed slightly.
"I've seen enough."
That annoyed me even more.
Sarah finally stepped in.
"You wanted to know where she's been, didn't you? Why you haven't seen her at school?"
That got my attention back immediately.
"Yeah. Actually."
Elaine answered this one herself.
"I'm not at the middle school."
"No shit. Why?"
"I'm in independent study."
That caught me off guard.
"Independent study?"
"Yes. I still do the work. I just don't go there in person."
"Why?"
She stared at me like I should have been able to answer that myself.
Then Sarah did it for me.
"Because after everything with her family, her mother, the moving around, the foster homes, and all the rest, normal school stopped being normal."
Elaine didn't say anything. She didn't deny it either.
"So you've just been gone?" I asked.
"Not gone," she said. "Just somewhere else."
That was vague on purpose.
"Then why the wig?"
This time, Elaine actually looked a little irritated.
"Because I don't want to be recognized."
"By who?"
"People."
"That doesn't answer anything."
"It answers enough."
I wanted to yell. These two were impossible. Sarah wouldn't finish answers, and Elaine would answer, but only halfway.
"So what, you've just been hiding and watching everyone?" I asked.
"Yes."
She said it so casually it threw me off.
"What?"
"Yes," she repeated. "I've been watching. Not you specifically. Everything."
I leaned back in my chair. That was somehow worse. Worse than her being gone. Worse than her being on some side. Because if she'd really just been watching, then she knew way more than I thought.
"You know about The Claim."
"Yes."
"Null."
"Yes."
"Me."
"Yes."
That one pissed me off.
"What the hell do you know about me?"
She didn't flinch.
"I know you think you're different now."
That one hit harder than I wanted it to.
"I am different now."
"You're smarter," she said. "That's true."
I almost felt good hearing that—until she kept going.
"But being smarter doesn't mean you stop repeating yourself."
That shut me up.
Sarah glanced at me like she agreed.
Great.
Now I had both of them on me.
"I'm not repeating myself," I said. "I'm being strategic."
Elaine nodded.
"Yes. Strategically."
"What's that supposed to mean?"
"It means you're still doing the same thing. You're still trying to control the outcome by controlling the place."
"That's not the same thing."
"It is from the outside."
"No, it isn't."
"Yes, it is."
I was getting heated. She still stayed calm.
"You don't get it," I said. "You haven't even been there."
Her expression shifted slightly. Not hurt. Not angry. Just… disappointed.
"That's the problem," she said. "You think the factory is the center of everything."
That stung.
Because it was probably true.
"And what do you think the center is, then?" I asked.
"The aftermath."
That shut me up again.
She continued.
"You're all obsessed with who gets to run the factory. Who owns it. Who deserves it. Who gets control of the space. Andrew thinks taking it proves something. Sarah thinks destroying it ends something. You think taking it back fixes something."
She leaned forward slightly.
"But none of you pay enough attention to what happens after."
I didn't respond.
Because I knew exactly what my mind had jumped to.
After.
After someone wins.
After someone takes the factory.
After someone loses it.
Memory B.
Parking lot.
Blood.
Rain.
I didn't say any of that out loud.
Elaine went on.
"Andrew's group isn't stable. Thomas's group didn't disappear cleanly either. The kids under him didn't all suddenly stop caring. The old Factory 24 members still care. Null still exists. You have multiple groups circling the same thing, all pretending this ends when one leader is decided."
"And it doesn't?" I asked.
"No," she said. "That's when it gets worse."
A silence settled over the table.
"How do you know that?" I asked.
She glanced at Sarah, then back at me.
"Because I know what people are like after they lose."
That wasn't enough.
"You're doing it again."
"Doing what?"
"Talking like you know something you won't actually say."
She reacted slightly this time.
"Fine," she said. "You want me to say it clearly?"
"Yes."
"Your plan is going to work."
That caught me off guard.
"What?"
"Your plan is going to work. Andrew is too unstable to hold the factory forever. Axel is holding it together more than he is. Thomas's group is already cracked. Null is watching. The old members are still waiting. If you keep applying pressure, it will split."
That sounded like good news.
"And then," she said, "people are going to get hurt."
There it was.
"The factory is too crowded with grudges now. Too many people hate each other. Too many people think they're owed something. Once Andrew starts slipping, nobody is going to let the transition happen peacefully."
My chest tightened.
"How bad?"
"Bad enough."
"Stop being vague."
"I'm not being vague," she snapped. "I'm trying to tell you that once your plan starts working, you won't be able to stop what comes after."
I stared at her.
"Then where does all that go?" I asked.
Elaine frowned slightly.
"What?"
"All that tension," I said. "If Andrew starts losing control, if his people split, if everyone's still pissed at each other… where does it go? They can't keep all of that inside the factory forever."
That made more sense to her.
She looked away for a second.
"It won't stay in town," she said. "Not fully."
My chest tightened.
"What do you mean?"
"There are too many eyes here. Adults. Neighbors. Teachers. Parents. Once it gets bad enough, people stop wanting witnesses."
That tracked.
"So where, then?"
She hesitated, but only for a second.
"Outside town. Somewhere big enough to gather without being bothered. Somewhere people can park, leave fast, and pretend they were never there."
That was already enough to make me feel sick.
"There are a few places like that if you go far enough out," she added. "Old lots. Closed businesses. Pull-off spots. Places nobody checks unless they have a reason to."
Sarah looked at her.
"You think they'd actually go that far?"
Elaine nodded.
"Yes. Especially if they know what they're doing is bad enough that they don't want anyone local seeing it."
I stayed quiet.
Too quiet.
Elaine looked back at me.
"You have that look again."
"What look?"
"The one where you stop hearing what people are saying and start hearing something else in your own head."
I forced myself to respond.
"I'm listening."
"Then listen carefully," she said.
"This doesn't end at the factory."