The next morning, Quinn woke up as the first sliver of light began to crawl over the colossal stone walls of the Glade. His body felt heavy, his muscles aching from the repetitive labor of the previous week, but he dragged himself out of his bedroll anyway. It was a strange irony; the habit of selling his soul to the corporate machine in his past life, waking up early to beat the rush and meet impossible deadlines, had followed him even here into a literal nightmare. He made his way to the gardens and began his work, his hands moving through the soil with practiced ease while his mind stayed locked on a much more important project.
As he pulled weeds and checked the irrigation, he mentally cataloged the ingredients for the Sequence 9 Apprentice potion. Thirty milliliters of monster blood, ten drops of illusionary essence, and a crystallized soul core. He reasoned that the monster blood was almost certainly going to come from a Griever, the bio-mechanical horrors that roamed the Maze. The ten drops of essence would likely be hidden somewhere within the thick, overgrown forest that bordered the Glade. However, the last item, the crystallized core, remained a frustrating mystery. He knew he needed a solid plan to acquire these items, and he realized that if he wanted to succeed, he would have to nudge the original storyline off its tracks just a little bit.
During his breaks over the next few days, Quinn began taking casual, seemingly aimless walks into the dense woods. He played the part of the curious newcomer, wandering among the ancient trees and thick underbrush. It was during one of these scouting missions that he made an incredible discovery. As he sat resting against a tree trunk, he noticed tiny, skittering shapes moving with unnatural speed across the bark. They were small, metallic-looking beetles, and the moment he laid eyes on them, a sharp jolt of intuition hummed through his soul. Through the resonance of his status screen, he suddenly knew exactly what they were. These "Beetle Blades" weren't just forest insects; they were the source of the crystallized core.
He spent the next two days trying to catch one on his own. He tried setting primitive traps with sticks and twine, and he even tried lunging at them with a makeshift net, but the creatures were far too fast and intelligent. Every time he got close, the beetle would vanish into a crack in the stone or leap to a high branch, leaving Quinn frustrated and empty-handed. He was a gardener, not a hunter, and he lacked the physical agility to outmaneuver a high-tech surveillance drone. He realized he needed professional help, and he needed leverage.
The timing was perfect, as there were only two days left until the end of the month when the Box would arrive. Quinn decided to play a long game. He had been saving his personal rations and the small luxuries he received, and he used them to strike a deal. He approached one of the veteran Runners, a lanky guy who was always looking for extra food to sustain his long runs through the Maze. Quinn promised to give the Runner a significant portion of his upcoming supplies from the Box, provided the Runner used his superior speed to catch one of those metallic forest bugs alive. The Runner thought it was a bizarre request, but the lure of extra food was enough to seal the deal.
Two days later, the piercing alarm of the Box blared through the Glade, shaking the ground beneath Quinn's feet. Everyone gathered around the steel doors as the lift ascended, bringing the monthly crates of clothing, tools, and food. As the doors groaned open, a brand-new Greenie was pulled out, looking terrified and lost. Quinn watched the scene from a distance, noting that he now had exactly one month left before Thomas would arrive and the real chaos would begin. That same evening, the Runner he had hired came through on his end of the bargain, handing over a small, vibrating cloth bag.
Quinn retreated to a secluded, lightless corner of the Glade where the shadows of the massive walls hid him from view. He took a heavy wooden branch and began to crush the trapped beetle, smashing it down until the hard metallic shell finally gave way. As he pried the mechanical pieces apart with a sharp stone, he found it: the soul core. In the palm of his hand, it looked exactly like a sophisticated, glowing computer chip. He stared at it for a long moment as the realization hit him. Of course it looked like a chip—because the beetle was a machine, a synthesized spy for the Creators. He let out a long, weary sigh. Forgetting the specific details of a movie he had seen years ago was becoming a real problem, but he was relieved he had remembered enough to find the ingredient. He was willing to accept these memory gaps as long as he could stay one step ahead of the plot.
With the core secured, Quinn turned his attention to the second ingredient. He began asking the veteran Track-hoes about the stranger plants in the forest, acting like a curious student. He eventually found a few leads about a specific type of vine deep in the thicket that produced a sap known for causing intense, vivid hallucinations. He didn't want to risk getting poisoned or lost, so he hired the same Runner again to lead him to the exact spot. After a tense trip into the darker parts of the woods, Quinn carefully extracted the liquid, managing to secure exactly ten drops of the shimmering, iridescent illusionary essence in a small vial.
The final two requirements were the pure water and the monster blood. The water was the easiest part of the entire ordeal. He knew the Med-jacks kept distilled water in the infirmary for cleaning wounds and mixing medicines. He made his way to the medical hut and found one of the staff members who looked particularly bored. With a bit of smooth talking and a bribe of some rare supplies he had kept hidden, he managed to walk away with a flask containing 100ml of pure water. He couldn't help but shake his head at how easy it was to manipulate the people here; they were so isolated that even the smallest bribe felt like a fortune.
With the core, the essence, and the water all tucked away in a safe, hidden stash, Quinn knew the only thing left was the 30ml of monster blood. That was the most dangerous piece of the puzzle, and he knew he wouldn't be able to get his hands on it until Thomas arrived and the first Griever was finally brought down. He went back to his life as a quiet, hardworking apprentice in the gardens, keeping his head down and doing his chores without complaint. He played the part of the harmless newcomer perfectly, acting like just another face in the crowd while he watched the stone doors and waited for the real plan to begin. He was ready, and the countdown to the arrival of the main character had finally entered its final stage.