"…Where am I?"
Mayex lay still for a moment, staring at the ceiling. Then slowly, he sat up and looked around. The other children were still asleep. He stood, walked to the door, and opened it.
No sunlight. Just the cold, harsh glare of a bulb hanging from the ceiling.
He stepped forward.
Two men in brown clothing — covering every part of their bodies — moved instantly to block his path. Silent. Expressionless.
"Excuse me… sir… where am I?"
No answer.
They grabbed his arm and dragged him down the hallway before he could say another word.
"Wait — where are you taking me?!"
Nothing.
They shoved him through a door and slammed it shut behind him.
"Hey! That hurt!"
He caught his balance and straightened up, ready to say more —
"SILENCE."
The word didn't echo. It just landed.
Mayex closed his mouth.
And then he noticed the room.
Children. Dozens of them. All around his age, maybe younger. Some were trembling. Some were staring at the floor. All of them wore the same expression — the same one he felt on his own face.
"Where are we. What is this. What is happening"
A woman stood at the front of the room.
She was tall. Unusually tall. Slim, composed, with a presence that somehow felt too bright for the dim room around her. She smiled at the crowd of frightened children like she was greeting guests at a dinner party.
"Hello, everyone. My name is Melon Violet. I am one of the heads of the Brown Organisation."
She stepped forward slowly.
"I came to Turkey specifically to collect some… younglings. Children who will belong to my branch." She tilted her head. "I am not the only head, of course. There is one in Germany — that would be me — another in Sweden, and the list goes on. But that is not important right now."
She waved her hand lightly.
"What is important… is that all of you want an explanation. Am I right~?"
The children glanced at each other.
Then, one by one —
"Yes."
"YES."
"YES!!!"
The woman's smile widened.
"Good. Then I will give you one."
She began to pace.
"Every single one of you has been abandoned. Betrayed. Or simply… left behind." She let the words settle. "In other words — in the eyes of the world — none of you have any worth anymore."
No one spoke.
"But we, the Brown Organisation, are kind." Her voice softened almost tenderly. "We saw you. We picked you up. We brought you here~"
There was something wrong with her smile. Mayex couldn't name it — but something about it made his stomach tighten.
"If we had not taken you in… all of you would have died."
She stopped pacing.
"So. In short."
Her voice sharpened like a blade.
"ALL OF YOU OWE US YOUR LIVES."
The room went completely silent.
"And I hate debt." She said it quietly, almost to herself. "Not only me — every part of the Brown Organisation despises it."
Then the smile returned.
"So you will repay us. All of you will become our soldiers. Part of our little… 'funny' gang~"
Some children were visibly trembling now. A few had tears running silently down their faces.
"You will have a place to sleep. Food. Everything you need to survive."
Her eyes moved slowly across the room.
"But in return… you will work for us."
A pause.
"Forever."
She clapped her hands suddenly, and the tension in the room shattered.
"Oh! But before anything else~"
Several adults entered from the side doors, each carrying a box. Inside each box — bracelets. Dozens of them, all different colors, different shapes.
"Each of you will choose one~"
She tilted her head at the silence that followed.
"You might be wondering why."
Her smile didn't move.
"It will decide your lifelong partner."
…
…
…
No one moved.
Mayex stared at the boxes.
What if it's a trap, he thought. What if they're watching — seeing who steps forward first, who's brave, who's stupid — so they know who to get rid of.
Seconds passed.
Then — movement.
A boy near the front took one slow step forward. Then another. He reached into the nearest box and pulled out a blue bracelet, turning it over in his hands once before slipping it onto his wrist.
He stood up straight and faced the woman.
Melon Violet looked at him with something close to approval.
"Brave boy. What is your name~?"
The boy met her eyes without flinching.
"Boran."
"…That's all?" A small laugh. "No matter."
She looked back at the rest of the room.
"So… is no one else going to come forward?"
Stillness.
BANG.
The sound hit the walls and came back.
A boy crumpled to the ground. The children nearest to him scrambled away screaming. Some pressed themselves against the walls. Some froze completely, unable to move or breathe.
Melon Violet lowered her gun.
She looked at it for a moment — almost thoughtfully — then looked back up at the crowd.
And smiled.
"So, kids…"
Her voice was completely calm.
"I strongly advise every single one of you to come forward… and pick a bracelet."
She tilted her head.
"Or your fate will look exactly like his~"