Today, Sarah visited Factory 24.
That, by itself, wasn't unusual. She usually stopped by once or twice a week, sometimes more if she felt like watching things closely. Even if she was supposedly part of some mysterious organization I still had no leads on, it didn't really hurt for her to come by and make sure the factory was running smoothly.
But today, something was off.
She wasn't casual like usual. She wasn't drifting her eyes around the building, quietly scanning for flaws in how things were being run. She wasn't calm in the same distant way either. She looked serious. Quiet. Focused. Like she had already made up her mind about something before even walking in.
I was studying when she approached me, trying to lock in all the formulas I'd need for an upcoming math test. I had the page memorized already, but I was going over it again just to be safe. When she stopped in front of me, I looked up immediately.
"Hey, ■■■■■. I need to talk to the founders."
Her voice was steady, but I could tell she was nervous.
Really nervous.
There were beads of sweat on her forehead. That alone was enough to tell me this wasn't something small.
Did something happen?
So I called the founders into the office.
George was the hardest to pull away. Of course he was. He was in the middle of a basketball game against a bunch of the high schoolers and clearly didn't appreciate the interruption.
"Can't you guys just do it without me today?"
"Sorry, George," I said. "It should hopefully be quick, but I know it's important."
"Important?" he repeated. "Alright, I'll come. Henry, sub in for me!"
He pointed dramatically as if he were some kind of pro player being called to the bench, then stomped into the office with the rest of us.
Once everyone settled in, the room went quiet.
No one said anything at first. Sarah stood there. George sat there bouncing one leg restlessly. Leo looked like he was already running through possibilities in his head. Mel and Melanie stayed quiet, waiting.
George eventually broke first.
"Come on, Sarah! Just say whatever you have to say already!"
By then, I already had a feeling of what she was going to say.
The way she was acting told me almost everything I needed to know.
"I am here to tell you guys something important."
"Yeah, no crap!" George said. "Get to it already! I have a game waiting for me!"
She looked straight at him.
"You play fifty games a day. One game won't change your life."
George gasped like he'd just been personally insulted at the deepest level imaginable.
We all agreed with her, though.
Then she said it.
"Null gives up."
My feeling had been right.
But somehow, I still didn't see that coming.
No one reacted at first. It made no sense. Null giving up just like that? Why? What was the trick? What was the real plan hiding behind that sentence?
Leo was the first to actually respond.
"What do you mean gives up?"
"You're joking, right?" George added, finally sounding serious.
Sarah shook her head.
"I'm serious."
Then she explained.
Null was never a large organization.
It was never some network of kids hiding in the background.
It was never some secret structure waiting to move against us.
It was just her.
Always had been.
There were no members. No hierarchy. No second-in-command. No outside force.
Just Sarah.
The founders were all confused.
I, for once, finally understood something.
That explained why I could never get any leads on Null. Why I only ever heard from Sarah. Why no one else tied back to them. Why they always felt more like an idea than a real organization.
Null had been a bluff.
A very convincing one.
And it worked because all of us filled in the gaps ourselves.
There was still one thing I didn't understand, though.
"How did you, by yourself, deal with all those Claim members outside Factory 24 during their first takeover?"
She didn't answer.
Not even a little.
I had a guess—chloroform, maybe—but it was only a guess. Even then, knocking out that many high schoolers alone, even with something like that, sounded nearly impossible.
But she ignored the question and kept going.
"The second time, when Andrew really took over the factory, I let him have it," she said. "There were many ways to stop him, but I was curious about his leadership."
That made the room feel even stranger.
She let Andrew take the factory?
On purpose?
She wanted to see what would happen.
How Andrew would lead.
How I would respond.
She wanted to observe both sides.
George was the first to get angry.
"So... we got played?"
"Yep," She said flatly. "I really wanted to see how you guys would turn it around. That's why I did nothing that night. I used the idea of a larger force backing me to keep them from attacking me while still letting me observe."
That answer bothered me more than George, honestly.
Not because she fooled us.
Because she had been watching the entire time and decided not to interfere.
I still didn't understand why she was giving up now.
"Why are you giving up?" I asked. "What are your intentions?"
"Factory 24 has been in your control for almost seven months at this point," she said. "After observing for that long, I realize you might actually be right. Not her. The factory is running well, and no one is fighting anymore. It's over."
Not her.
She was talking about Elaine.
It seemed no one else noticed though.
Then she looked at all of us.
"I want to come back. As a member. A member of Factory 24, like old times."
"No."
George, Leo, and Melanie answered quickly.
They didn't like the idea of someone who had worked against us just casually becoming friendly again.
That made sense.
But Mel and I didn't react the same way.
"Okay," I said. "You can come back."
Melanie snapped her head toward me like she'd assumed I would say no too.
I ignored the looks and kept going.
"She's already been here," I said. "She knows everything. And she didn't even destroy anything when she had the chance. She keeps her word. If Null really was just her, and she says she gave up, I have no reason to doubt that."
Even Sarah looked slightly surprised.
"Wow," she said. "I thought you'd be a bit more hesitant."
"I know you well enough, Sarah," I said. "Welcome back to Factory 24."
The others still didn't like it.
But they trusted me.
After everything that had happened, my plans had worked more often than not. Not perfectly—there were things even I couldn't react to in time—but in the end, I had always found a way to put the members of Factory 24 first.
I let Andrew take the factory with the plan of stealing it back later, and it worked flawlessly.
So from their point of view, inviting Sarah back was just another decision I had thought through more than they had.
Leo, though, wasn't focused on Sarah anymore.
He was focused on me.
"You've changed, ■■■■■," he said. "A lot."
That got everyone's attention.
"You're confident in your plans now. You've become one of the top scorers on tests at school. Even I wasn't one of the top, and I'm considered the bookworm here. But you're different. Since the second stroke, it's like you've become an entirely different person."
I didn't know how to react to that.
Was that supposed to be a compliment?
"Thanks...?"
George added on immediately.
"Yeah, how did you become so smart!? You used to barely pass your classes, and now you're pretty much aiming to be valedictorian in high school! Your leaving me behind, man!"
I paused.
I guess I never did tell them.
Melanie was the only one who knew.
Well, there probably wasn't any harm in it.
"I have a memory better than photographic," I said. "I can remember everything since I was five. Perfectly. To the last detail. Sounds, too."
That shocked them.
Not just a little either.
They genuinely didn't know what to say.
Even Sarah looked stunned, like I had just told her something far more important than anything she had revealed.
And weirdly enough, it only reinforced their trust in me.
It meant I wasn't just leading them well. I understood more than anyone else. I could recall anything. Any conversation, any event, any detail.
George looked half amazed, half offended.
"Dude! Isn't that like a cheat code for tests!? Have you been purposely hiding it until now?"
"Mmm... yeah, I guess it is kind of a cheat code, huh..." I said. "And no, I haven't been hiding it. I just didn't know about it until recently."
That answer seemed to satisfy them enough.
Mostly.
George still looked jealous.
———————————————————————
Sarah has officially been allowed back into Factory 24.
She reintegrated into her old group of friends almost immediately, which was honestly impressive. There was no awkwardness, no weird distance, no struggle. It was like she had been gone and not gone at the same time.
And now that she wasn't acting as Null anymore, she seemed different.
She wasn't scanning the building as much.
She wasn't quietly watching for cracks in the system.
She wasn't waiting for arguments to start.
She was normal again.
Or maybe this was how she was always supposed to act.
There was still one thing I had to ask her, though.
Again.
"Come on, Sarah! I really want to know! How did you take out all those Claim members that first time!?"
She looked back at me with the most tired expression I'd seen all day.
"Hmm... I'm just really strong."
"We both know that's not true! Quit brushing it off, I want to know!"
She just walked away.
Completely done with me.
And now I'll probably never know how she did it.
Which is deeply annoying.