"Yet you became a Grandmother and Isabella a Mama. Many other women from the plantations here become sisters or nurses. Aren't you all food too? What makes them or you different?"
This question finally broke through Grandmother's ice cold exterior. Her face fell and she took a while to answer before she sighed "We are given the chance to prolong the inevitable and fight with every inch within us to do so. We live in the demon's world and they decide if we live or die. Without us they would have no sustenance."
Emma thought in horror at what Grandmother just said. What did she mean they lived in the demon's world? Doesn't that mean there were no spaces for humans or was there a human world too?
But before Emma could ask her. Grandmother suddenly pushed Emma to the floor. It surprisingly didn't hurt as Emma landed on the living room's soft fluffy carpet just missing the hard kitchen tiles. "Is this what happened to you in the cafeteria? Let's see what you will do differently this time." Grandmother stepped on Emma's stomach, repeating what happened to her in the cafeteria earlier. Emma groaned, and struggled to get out.
'Well at least you're putting up a fight this time. But this won't do. You need to put space between your legs and use them to push yourself up while twisting your you do that try to twist and pull my foot off with your hands." Grandmother instructed.
Emma tried and found it difficult and painful but managed to do it. Getting out of Grandmother's pin. "I did it!" Emma exclaimed weakly, being out of breath.
"Well done." Grandmother congratulated Emma.
"Now let's see if you can get out of this." Grandmother grabbed, pinned and trapped Emma in different ways and showed her how to defend herself and get out of was a fast learner and after the lesson her muscles ached.
"Breakfast is finished Grandmother." Sister Sienna informed as she put two plates of food on the table. "Good thank you." Grandmother nodded her head towards Sienna then turned to Emma.
"You have done well 63194. Now let's eat. I'm sure you are hungry." Grandmother took her seat on the table and Emma sat across from her. Emma looked at the food on her plates. One plate of steamed rice, vegetables and fish with a bowl of miso soup.
The second plate was a mouth watering pile of pancakes stacked dripping in golden syrup and decorated with whipped creams and a rainbow of different kinds of fruit. Including apples, cherries, strawberries, bananas, blueberries, oranges, both green and purple grapes. Every fruit she knew of, even some exotic fruits she hadn't tried before.
Grandmother had put her hands together to bless the food before they both tucked into it. Emma would take spoonfuls of steamed vegetables and rice together before drinking her miso soup. It was delicious and well seasoned. She reluctantly ate a bit of the fish so that Grandmother wouldn't scold her. Soon she ate the majority of the food on her first plate and drank all of the miso soup. Grandmother gladly ate the rest of Emma's fish that she didn't want. Emma then managed to eat two of the pancakes with all of its fruit before her stomach could not accept anymore, she was full.
"You ate a lot. Good job 63194." Grandmother smirked in approval.
"And if I am feeling generous I might serve you the rest of the food for lunch." She teased before signalling Sister Sienna to take their plates away.
"Thank you Grandmother." Emma replied timidly.
Sister Sienna then came back with an expensive tea set and began pouring mint tea into two intricate tea cups. Emma had a closer inspection of Sister Sienna. She had longish curly fiery red hair and forest green eyes just like Emma. Even had similar nose and facial features as Emma. In fact Emma would say she looked like an adult version of her with longer hair. A chill ran down her spine at the realisation of the woman's similarity with herself. Is she the woman who gave birth to me? She thought.
Just then their eyes quickly connect for a brief while. Sienna looked curiously at Emma before her curiosity turned into one of shock and horror as if she guessed a similar thing to what Emma just did. She quickly finished pouring the tea, almost spilling it. She almost slammed the pot on the table and quickly curtsying to Grandmother before scuttering back into the kitchen with their used plates.
"Always a trife, nervous that one." Grandmother laughed at Sienna. She then raised her tea cup while making eye contact with Emma. "A toast? To survival." she proposed. Emma quickly nodded and smiled. She blew on the tea cup before raising it to Grandmother's tea cup. "To survival." They both clicked their cups at the same time. Emma took a sip of the tea. The minty taste filled her whole mouth, refreshing her and making her feel more alert. She then remembered the task forcibly assigned to her by Sister Jessica.
Ask Grandmother about Krone. Get information on her.
Emma hesitated to do it because it was wrong to get information on people to use against them, especially against someone she didn't know and that seemed friendly like Krone. But she remembered Jessica's threat of false rumours being made about Emma that could cost her life. She carefully thought about how to bring up the subject to Grandmother.
"I'll admit Grandmother, I was nervous about attending classes, I hadn't met any of my peers my age except for those girls that bullied me earlier in the cafeteria. But now I feel confident because of those self-defence moves you taught me. Thank you Grandmother." Emma thanked.
"Good, You are welcome 63194. I hope you put it to good use. Don't let it go to waste and forget it. You will need it in the future." Grandmother instructed to which Emma nodded in response.
Emma thought carefully about what she was going to say next. So as to not harm the reputations of herself or the other women as she began to speak again."Though I did get to meet a few sisters. Sister Meera was the one that took me to the announcement hall and gave me my timetable. She was very helpful and seemed very determined in her role."
Grandmother's head nodded and mouth upturned slightly in agreement. "Indeed, Meera is an elder sister and the next candidate to become a Mama at Plantation 4 once she gives birth and helps raise the newborns."
Emma took a deep breath before she asked about her prime target "Another sister I met was Sister Krone. She was.. different from the other people I have met here. She seems very joyful, friendly and loud. What do you think of her?"
"While Krone is quite eccentric. She is a hard worker, has the best scores in both the academic and athletic exams and is also excellent with children. Which is why she is an elder sister and the next in line to become a Mama at Plantation 3." Grandmother replied factually, taking a sip of her tea.
"What about Sister Jessica? Isn't she from Plantation 3 too? She seems smart and athletic too." Emma sipped her own tea trying to fish more information out of Grandmother.
"Yes. Sister Jessica does score high in both academic and athletics. But she doesn't do very well caring for the children. She acts very cold and distant towards them. Which is very bad if she wants to become a Mama in the future." Grandmother explained taking another sip.
"Oh." Emma hoped that Sister Jessica would accept this as useful 'information'
"Why did you want to know why Krone was chosen to be an elder sister over Jessica?" Grandmother asked bluntly.
How did Grandmother figure that out? Was I that obvious? Emma thought her eyes began to widen but she stopped herself and just smiled. "Oh, I don't. I was just making small talk about the sisters I have met so far and was curious about your opinions on them." She over-explained.
"Well it doesn't matter who the elder sister is for Plantation 3. It's a fat chance that they will ever replace Isabella. Unless I die and she becomes the next Grandmother. But I plan to live for a few more decades. I'm only in my 50's. I want to become the oldest living human in the demon world."
She is only in her 50's?! I thought she would at least be in her mid 60''s! Emma thought in surprise. "Wow. Who was the oldest living human?"
"The previous Grandmother. She lived to 67 before she passed away from natural causes and I took over her position as Grandmother."
"I bet the Sister's would be trying to get me served on a plate to demons if they knew that it would give them a better chance to become a Mama. If they aren't already. Especially that Sister Jessica." Grandmother chuckled.
"Jessica wanted me to get information on Krone from you because she thinks that if she becomes an elder sister instead of Krone she has a better chance of becoming a Mama and living a better life. We made a deal. She said she would help me if I helped her. She would make it so that I didn't have to eat in the cafeteria anymore after being bullied and in return I would find out information against Krone that would make her lose her elder sister position so she could gain it. I felt really uncomfortable doing that but she pressured me into accepting." Emma explained and admitted.
"So here you are now snitching on her." Grandmother laughed wickedly which scared Emma and made her uncomfortable.
"I say let her try. Tell her what I said that even she does manage to replace Krone in becoming an elder sister. She still likely won't become a Mama unless something happens to Isabella or me. I would like to see her try to take me down. She wouldn't even lay a finger on me before she will be sent to be the demon's next meal. The best chance she has if does become an elder sister is to hope I die or that Isabella needs a sister to help her at Plantation 3." Grandmother advised. Emma breathed a sigh of relief "Good. I really didn't not want to spy on anyone and collect information on them that could be used against them to hurt them. Especially against some I don't know and someone who seems friendly and innocent like Krone."
Grandmother let out another wicked laugh "Don't let Krone's friendliness and eccentricity fool you. She is just as cold and manipulative as Jessica, if not more."
This disappointed Emma more than it should. She was hoping she could find a potential ally or friend in Krone in this prison. But what Grandmother just said about Krone made her feel uncertain. Is everyone in this place cold and manipulative? But then Emma remembered Nurse Rebecca and reminded herself there are still good people left even in this hell.
"Do you know what your first class is 63194?" Grandmother asked Emma, changing the subject. In response Emma grabbed her class timetable from her breast pocket. She looked at the Monday section on the timetable the first class that was labelled 'History: Floor 14, 3rd room'
"My first class is history on floor 14." Emma explained to Grandmother. In return, Grandmother creepily grinned as if she already knew Emma was going to answer that.
"Wonderful, I teach that class. Why don't we head there now? Since we have finished breakfast, we don't want to be late." Grandmother remarked. Emma nodded her head in agreement not that she really had any choice in the matter. They both quickly finished their tea. Grandmother got up from her seat and went to head to the door. Emma reluctantly stood up from her seat and followed behind her.
When they reached the elevator Grandmother pushed the button to floor number 14 with both her index and middle finger. The outer ring lit up an orange light in a circular motion before it filled the inside. Similarly to what happened when Jessica pressed the button to Grandmother's room. Once the elevator reached number 14, Grandmother led Emma to the 3rd class on the floor. The class was filled with about twelve other girls ranging from 12 to 16. Emma was clearly the youngest there still being 11 years old. They were all nervous and anxious to see Grandmother arrive. A few of them had frowned at seeing Emma accompanied by Grandmother including the girl that had pushed Emma in the cafeteria earlier.
Emma went to sit as far away from the bully girl as possible and sat near the back. The bully girl sat right at the front with her posse of friends that laughed and stole Emma's lunch.
Grandmother cleared her throat then addressed the class "Good morning trainees and fresh meat forgive my tardiness I was…occupied with something." She commented as she stared at Emma coldly. Even though they only arrived two minutes after the class started.
"Today we will be learning and going over the history of the wars between humans and demons and the promised pact which made peace between them, that we still continue to this very day. I know that you trainee's have covered this already but you will need a refresher for this upcoming academic exam during the culling so no griping and play close attention if you want to survive further! I will hand out your learning pads to you so you can take notes on what is being said during this lesson. You will hand it back to me once this lesson is finished. But you can find another learning pad in your room to read over all the notes you have made during this lesson and others. All learning pad's are saved towards your HQ account here that was pre-made for you before you started your classes. Your username is the number on your neck. You can create your own password when you first go to sign in if you haven't already. And don't forget it otherwise you must inform me or another member of staff and we will reset it for you."
Grandmother then picked up a box from her desk and started handing out tablets to the class. Since Emma was at the front of the class, Grandmother handed her a tablet first. "Thank you" Emma thanked her and quickly held down the on switch which caused the screen to light up. Two options appeared on the screen.
One said Member of Staff login the other said Trainees login. Emma figured that her login must be "Trainee" so she held down the trainee button on the screen then asked for user id. Emma remembering what Grandmother said, typed in '63194'
New user detected please create a password that is at least eight characters long and includes a special character (such as # or ^ e.g.) and a number or more.
Emma thought it over a while and decided to make her password: RayNormanEmma12!
After her trio of best friends in the order of when they left Gracefield house or Plantation 3 as headquarters called it. Ray first, Norman second, then finally Emma herself. She put 12 as the number at the end because it was the age they left and Emma almost left Gracefield.
An exclamation mark right at the end will be an easy special character to remember. It was quite a long password but lucky Emma had a good memory and was a fast typer.
Once she was logged in successfully. She saw several folders already premade for her classes. Like History, Psychology, English or Mathematics. Emma clicked on the history folder and created a new document. She first titled it with the date and header which Grandmother wrote on the board.
June 1st 2046
The Promised Pact between humans and demons:
Emma, waiting for Grandmother to finish handing out the laptops, looked at the person sitting next to her, a boy with magenta hair and dark brown skin with golden honey brown eyes.
Why would a boy be here? She thought. But that was when Emma realised the person sitting next was a girl with her hair styled into a crew cut. Emma had barely ever seen boys with hair that short let alone a girl. She looked to be one of the youngest girls in the class too.
Just then the girl noticed Emma staring at her and made eye contact with her. Emma blushed in embarrassment. Emma took notice of the girl's face features, her high cheekbones amongst her baby face stood out even more with her short haircut. Her naturally thick eyelashes brought a shine to her golden brown eyes and the shape of her lips reminded Emma of a love heart. Even though she had some acne on her face and thick unkempt eyebrows. Emma thought she was beautiful.
The girl frowned back at Emma which caused her to avert her eyes in embarrassment. "You're that new fresh meat from Plantation 3 that Jiah pushed right?" she asked, making sure she whispered the girl's name.
Gosh, even her voice sounds beautiful! Emma thought before replying shyly "yeah." So Jiah was the name of the bully girl.
"Ah don't worry I won't do that to you as long as you don't try anything bad with me." she threatened. Emma nodded, unsure if she was intimidated by the threat or her.
The girl then smiled at her. "Jiah tried that on me but never again after I fought back and she got a nasty bruise on her cheek."
"Oh but I thought we were not allowed to call each other by our names." Emma whispered.
"We aren't but don't be such a wuss! the old hag won't hear us, her hearing has not been so good recently". Emma knew by "old hag" she meant Grandmother.
"Normally I call Jiah 'The Demon's daughter' but that can be quite a mouthful. I'm Tammy by the way or Tam for short but don't you dare call me Tamara!" Emma could tell by her tone of voice that Tam was serious about not being called "Tamara" though Emma thought it sounded really pretty.
"O-o-okay My name is E-e-Emma nice to m-meet you!" This was the first time Emma was ever nervous to introduce herself even in a place so cold as the headquarters. Normally she would be the first one to cheerfully introduce herself to the new children at her old Gracefield home. But something about this girl made Emma feel very shy.
"Emma huh? Well Emma you better try and stop being so nervous and scared like in the cafeteria with Jiah and start toughing up and fighting back or else you will end up dead." She advised bluntly.
Emma wanted to say something back but instead nodded her head passively as Grandmother finished handing out the tablets and began to teach.
"For as long as we know humans and demons have shared the earth since the beginning. A millennia ago there was constant war between humans and demons. Families torn apart, countless lives needlessly taken on both dies." Grandmother began.
Emma wrote notes on her document while Grandmother spoke.
"But that all changed when one human man Julius Ratri made a pact known as 'The Promise'
with the ruler of all demons that would ensure peace between humans and demons." Grandmother continued.
Emma paid close attention, she was very interested in learning about the history of the current world she was unfortunately currently living in. A few of the other girls looked bored having gone over this before. Others made sure they got as many useful details down for their future tests that determined their lives.
"The world would be split into two. One half belongs to the humans and the other half to the demons. The human world would be left alone from demon hunting in exchange demons are allowed to farm humans that are left in their world for food. Humans are either farmed in factory farms or at free range premium farms."
Humans being farmed like cattle for food is unimaginable..It's horrific! But it is the reality Emma was in. She wondered what the differences between a factory farm and premium farms are.
As if Grandmother read her mind she explained the differences between the factory farms and premium farms. In factory farms the mass production of human meat for the common demon population. The quality of this meat is cheap because the livestock are kept in poor conditions, kept alive on machines unable to move or speak and fattened up to they are ripe for slaughter.
While on the premium farms the human livestock are raised in the best conditions with "love and care" taught human language, maths and other academic subjects and are also given a lot of exercise and the most scrumptious of food all to ensure their meat is high quality when harvested. The meat from this farm is reserved for the most wealthy and noble-standing among demons. Until this morning with Lord Bayon II announcing he would create two new premium farms for the "common" demon folk.
Emma thought that it was horrific and cruel enough that she and other children were raised under false pretences of being orphans waiting to be adopted by loving families when in reality they were raised to be demon food. But, at least she was given the chance to experience life, to be able to talk, run around in a fresh green environment, to have siblings, a mama, a family. Unlike factory farm children who can do nothing but sit and be force fed all day until they are fat enough for harvest. Emma only realised how lucky she really was until Grandmother mentioned that there were only four premium farms up until now with the other two new upcoming farms. Each with their own separate number plantations. With Gracefield having only there are hundreds of factory farms.
This caused Emma's hand's to sweat, overwhelmed with all the information she was learning as she finished typing. Her fingers were sore and tired as she finished. Emma read over her document and after feeling satisfied with what she had written wiped a sweat from her forehead as she sighed.
"Tough session huh?" Tam smirked at Emma she then sighed as she said "We still have a whole day ahead of us." They were both tired after this first lesson. Emma wasn't sure how she was going to survive the rest of the day if it was as intense as this lesson.
Grandmother concluded the lesson and asked the class to finish what they were writing, then turn off their tablet and put it carefully back in the box upfront. "And there better be no damaged or missing tablets otherwise there will be consequences. Understood?" Grandmother threatened. "Yes Grandmother." The class responded in unison.
After Emma carefully put away her tablet she grabbed her timetable from her breast pocket to figure what her next class was. Sewing and Embroidery class, floor 15, 2nd room.
She put the timetable back in her breast pocket before heading to her next class. Emma had become used to using the elevator but with no Sister or staff member present to occupy her she had no choice but to take the stairs to her next lesson. Might as well get used to it. Emma thought, remembering what Grandma said about them needing it for exercise.
As she began to go upstairs she was shoved out of the way by Jiah and her group of friend's. "Trainees before fresh meat." They laughed. Emma shed tears of frustration. It was so unfair! She then felt a comforting hand being placed on her shoulder.
It was Tam's. "Don't let Jiah and her minions get to you. They are just trying to gain whatever sense of power and control they can in this hopeless place. Don't worry I'll watch your back as long as you watch mine. Us freshies gotta stick together." Tam said encouraging her. Emma gave a warm smile in response. "Thank you so much Tammy. You are taking embroidery class too this session right?" She asked as they both climbed the stairs together.
Tam nodded in response "Yup and the good is it is just us freshies. So no Jiah and the gang."
"Yay! Why don't we help each other during classes? I think we will have a better chance of survival if we work together!" Emma suggested enthusiastically. Tam hesitated to answer but then sighed "Sure we can help each other. But we could lose each other's support if we fail our tests during the culling and then become monster lunch." "But like I said if we work together we have a better chance of survival." Emma replied not losing her optimism.
Tam looked slightly taken aback by Emma's enthusiasm about working together. Tam was used to keeping to herself in this place since she came here a little over a year ago. Because so many other "fresh meat" she had trained with had been executed. She thought it was hopeless to try and make friends if they were just going to die soon. But Emma's optimism had encouraged her to try. She smirked, "I'll tell you what, we can help each other in classes until the culling and if we both survive we can become friends and help each other all the time, eat lunch together and do other kinds of friend's stuff." Tam suggested she was unsure since she hadn't had a 'friend' in a while.
Emma beamed "Thank you that sounds wonderful Tammy let's do our best!" She gave Tammy a warm hug. Tammy's face went bright red. She hadn't had a hug in a while either. But she didn't push Emma away, only stayed still until Emma let go. "Yeah, yeah alright, class is right here." She gestured to the room ahead of them. They were the first ones inside of the class then Emma realised when the rest of the fresh meat arrived that in total there were only 5 of them. Including Tam and Emma!
Emma looked around the classroom which was very different from her previous one. It had many sewing machines and two soft couches and many moveable comfy chairs that made the room look more like a lounge or living room. The only thing that gave away that it was a classroom was the chalkboard on the front of the wall and the boxes of materials, machines and pincushions needed for embroidery and sewing on the sides of the room. Emma and Tam moved their comfy chairs next to each other and close to the chalkboard so they could get a clear view of what they were studying. Emma then realised the familiar face of the teacher that approached the board. It was Sister Meera!
"Good morning everyone for those who don't know me. I am Sister Meera and I will be teaching and overseeing your sewing and embroidery lesson today. " Meera formally introduced. "We will be practising sewing simple shapes into a piece of fabric. Some of you have already started sewing your shapes but for those who haven't started or have finished a piece. Grab a new piece of fabric, choose a shape then using a pen maker draw the outline of the shape onto the fabric. We then will be going over the shape using thread and sewing it onto the shape. Feel free to choose whatever shape and thread colour you like." She instructed and explained
Emma obeyed Meera's instructions and went to grab a piece of fabric from the 'unused fabric box.' then a shape from the 'shape examples' box before grabbing a pen maker. Once Emma finished going over her chosen shape, the love heart with her pen marker and putting them both away, she grabbed a red thread and needle and waited for Meera's next instructions.
Meera then explained how to thread a needle and how to begin stitching it into the embroidery fabric. Emma, having read books about stitching and embroidery during her recovery period, was already familiar and adapted quickly to Meera's instructions. She even managed to help Tam out when she was struggling with her embroidery piece.
Tam chose to do a complicated diamond shape with a thread the same colour of her hair magenta. Tam would have thought she would have been the one to help Emma, having been there longer she started classes almost a year ago and still had struggles with starting a new embroidery piece. She saw Emma had already made a good start to her piece.
Of course she is doing a love heart with red thread to match. Tam thought fondly as she smirked at Emma. "How are you so good at this so fast?" Tam asked in amazement."From the study books Grandmother gave me while I was recovering from the heart surgery." Emma explained.
"Oh yeah I found it really hard during my recovery. I was in so much pain. Luckily I managed to adapt quickly to classes thanks to Nurse Rebecca's help! She comes from the same plantation as me and she helped me study and do my homework with me. She is an angel and if it weren't for her I would be culled by now." Tam didn't know why she was telling all this to Emma, someone she barely knew. But something about her made Tam feel comfortable and safe.
"I know Nurse Rebecca too, she helped me too and is very kind! Don't try and downplay your own hard work and determination for being the reason why you are still here. Keep trying to work hard!" Emma encouraged Tam. "T-thanks." Tam replied shyly no one her age here had encouraged her like that before.
Tam and Emma continued to work on their embroidery until class finished.
"That's it for today, girls class is finished. Hand in your pieces of fabric to me and will make sure they are put in a safe place until the next time you work on them." Sister Meera explained.
As the other fresh meat went to hand in their work Meera gave each of them helpful advice:
" A nice attempt but try to hold the needle more carefully next time 28698."
"Great try 12192, But don't panic so much when you make a mistake."
"Oh dear… I think you need to start over next time with a smaller needle and better posture 73196."
When it came to Tam's work Meera looked up to her in approval. "Well done 63390. You have improved a lot since you first started your embroidery lessons!" When it was Emma's turn to hand hers Meera looked at her work in surprise then smiled widely. "Wow Emma this is amazing for your very first attempt! Keep it up!" "Mm" Emma nodded and smiled sweetly as her cheeks went slightly pink as she was embarrassed by Meera's appraisal of her. Tam looked at Emma's work to see she had already finished the bottom quarter of the love heart she was making.
That was when Tam realised "Why did she call you by your name instead of your id number?" she asked Emma another question. "Because I told her my name is Emma." Emma said honestly, as if they weren't discouraged from using their names and only allowed to call themselves by their id numbers unless they were Sister candidates. Tam thought that Emma was a strange girl. How could she remain this optimistic and brazen in this place? Tam would come to find she would have much more questions as the day went on.
The next class was Human Anatomy and Biology on floor 14 again, at room 5. The teacher was the bitter sister Emma saw in the elevator with the curly brown pixie cut. Her name was Sister Dani. She taught the class different parts of the human body using a life size mannequin that was a fake replica with all the plastic human body parts inside. All of the students including Emma and Tam had a go at holding and labelling the parts as well as learning what they do.
Using a learning tablet Emma wrote down important things she learnt in class. Including that the brain was the most valuable and scrumptious part of the human body to the demons. Gracefield House and its plantations focus on the mental development of the cattle to produce the best brains for harvest. Emma realised that's why she and her siblings were taught a lot and given daily IQ tests. It was to check their mental development and who had the 'tastiest' brains among them.
The age of 6 is when the brain is considered developed enough to be harvested. From that age those who score the lowest in their tests will be 'shipped out' first. Emma felt tears welling in eyes as she remembered her younger sister Connie who was "adopted" when she was 6 years old. Emma remembered how she stopped her from leaving without her Rabbit toy 'Little Bunny' Connie thanked her gratefully and gave Emma a big hug before she promised that she would write to her. She was so sweet and innocent. But Connie isn't happy with a new family or with Little Bunny. Connie isn't going to write Emma any letters because she is dead. Killed and became a meal for some heartless demon without a second thought.
At the age of 12 the brain is considered fully developed and the 'cattle' are shipped out on their 12th birthday no matter what. Emma thought over her friend Ray's "adoption" day. His 12th birthday. How he was badly burnt in a fire and Mama must have put the fire out using the huge bucket of water. Emma wondered how the fire had started. Could it be that Ray had knocked over a candle in his room? No! There was a gasoline can and a matchbox in the room. Emma could understand the matchbox being in there for lighting the candles. But how did the gasoline get in there? That must have been how the fire started, a match used for the candles must have been ignited by the gasoline.
That's when it all came together into Emma's subconscious mind what she had known but denied until now. Ray purposely set the fire using the match and gasoline on the room and himself..He knew that he wasn't getting adopted out to a new loving family, that it was all a lie. He knew in reality that he was just food on some demon's platter and he would rather die by his own hand than let it happen.
Ray's last words to her were "Emma..I'm sorry." Emma was on her way to her next class, when she collapsed to knees and started to sob. Ray, one of her best friends, tried to tell her the truth about Gracefield House and wanted to escape with her. But she was too blind and too naive to see. Now he is badly injured with serious burns all over his body and most likely dead because of her. Do demons even eat humans who have been badly injured?
"Hey are you okay? Come on, our next class is house care at floor 15 again. We get to do cooking and baking…also cleaning. But we also get to eat the food we make. It's a lot of fun!" Tam encouraged trying to cheer Emma and helping her off the floor. Emma tried to fix her composure but when she arrived in class she broke down in tears had asked the teacher of the class, Sister Sienna if Emma was allowed to have a quick bathroom break.
Sienna glanced sympathetically at Emma, looking as if she herself was hurt by her crying. She gave them both a quick nod and handed Emma a permission slip in case any members of staff stop her. Tam then told Emma where to find the bathroom and that she would help her when she gets back. Emma thanked her deeply before quickly heading to the she got there she let out a huge sigh of relief and let herself cry out all of her pain and frustration.
Norman…Ray...Are you still alive? Where are you? I can't do this alone! I miss you and all of our siblings so much! Even Mama..But my other siblings are going to be eaten by demons and here I am training to become one of their servants! I have to save them!
Emma then saw the bathroom window. I'm getting out of here! She thought as she forced the window open. Emma then almost instantly changed her mind when she looked down and saw the ground so far away from her. Of course it was level 15 if Emma tried to escape through the window by climbing which was unsafe and highly likely she would fall and the impact of the fall would kill her instantly. It reminded Emma of when she and Phil climbed the giant wall on the day of her "adoption day" and they saw the giant cliff that led to nothing but an abyss.
She quickly closed the window and that's when she remembered how Nurse Rebecca told her that the microchip in her heart will let a bomb deactivate if she goes to far from Headquarters or one of the Plantations.
Norman..Ray what would you do if you were in my position? Emma thought about how Norman and Ray both wanted her to become a Mama for her survival. Even if it meant forgetting them like Norman said in his letter. But Emma could never forget them! She won't! She wasn't going to give up trying to rescue them.
That's when Emma realised that the best way she could get out of headquarters alive is to become a Sister Candidate or even better a Mama Candidate! Even if she does not come up with a plan here to save the rest of her Gracefield siblings in time, if there was a chance that Norman or even Ray was still alive out there she could still find them if she was permitted to leave as a Sister or Mama.
I have to become a Mama no matter what for Norman, Ray and my siblings to help them or at least keep the memory of them alive just like Mama told me!
Emma then stopped crying having found new determination, quickly used the toilet before cleaning herself up and returning to class. Once there Tammy informed Emma that they are instructed to make a simple meal of rice salad with a protein of their choice. Following Sister Sienna's instructions they both worked together to measure and boil the rice then cut and grate the vegetables.
Emma noticed that Sister Sienna was deliberately trying to avoid eye contact with her when teaching. While Tam noticed how enthusiastically Emma was helping her as if she wasn't sobbing before. Tam thought that Emma's optimism would have dampened a bit but it was if after her short bathroom break she was renewed and back to the strangely optimistic and blazen girl she saw before. Which made Tam think she was even more strange but was also glad that it wasn't dampened at all.
Emma and Tammy then mixed the rice and the vegetables into their own individual bowls and decided on which protein they wanted to use. Tammy picked beef while Emma chose tofu. Once their meals were finished Sienna taught the class how to correctly set a table while their food cooled down.
The class then sat together on a long table with the meals they made. Sister Sienna then blessed the food before they all tucked in which reminded Emma of mealtimes back with her family at Gracefield House. As Emma tucked into her meal, Tam asked her how it tasted.
"It's a little…bland." Emma said disappointedly. "That's why next time you will know to add spices and flavouring to make it taste nice." Tam winked at Emma causing her to blush.
Despite her food tasting a bit bland she still ate it all as she was hungry from her first few lessons. It quickly filled her up and gave her energy. After the class finished their meal. Sister Sienna guided them how to efficiently clean the table up quickly. Then taught them how to properly clean their used dishes and utensils before putting them away. She then spent the rest of the time in class advising them how to dust the room, scrub the floors and how to correctly make beds using an example bed that was in the classroom.
The next class was Psychology in room C on floor 14 the exact same room Emma had her first lesson History with Grandmother. But this time her teacher was Sister Jessica. The class was teaching stuff Emma was already familiar with. The childhood stages of development which she learned at Gracefield House. Emma still took notes on her learning tablet that was given to her. That was when she realised that at around age 6 is where the when a child begins to finish the Preoperational stage of development.
At the Preoperational Stage a child has a strong imagination and are able to think about things symbolically even if it is make-believe such as fairies or a flying broom-stick. Their memory also develops allowing them to understand the differences between past, present and future. Their use of language also matures allowing them to express different concepts and ideas. This must be the reason why age 6 is the earliest age that a child can be shipped out of Gracefield house!
The next stage, preoperational stage is above the previous toddler sensorimotor stage but still below the concrete operational stage and the formal operational stages. The concrete operational stage is considered an important milestone for a child's psychological development because their thinking becomes more logical and can imply that to the physical objects like knowing that the water is the same amount even when poured into a taller glass. But they still struggle with abstract thinking. This stage normally lasts from ages 7-11.
Formal Operational stage is the final stage of childhood development. This is the stage where they start thinking and reasoning creatively to solve problems in their head. If they still have to draw or use objects when solving problems then that means they are in the preoperational stage. This normally starts from ages 12 and older. But all children are shipped out of Gracefield on their 12th birthdays no matter what. Why wouldn't they make the age limit a bit older to make sure that they have reached that stage?
But then again Emma, Ray and Norman had seemed to be at the Formal Operational stage even before the age of 12. Even most of Emma's other siblings at Gracefield seemed to reach their psychological development stages earlier than they are supposed to so that's probably why the maximum age for shipment is 12.
Then it clicked with Emma that is why her plantation is considered the best because they produce and ship the most children with higher developmental stages than their age. The children or 'meat' are considered 'unshippable' at the Sensorimotor stage. Well they are considered low or average quality meat at the preoperational stage. Good quality meat at the concrete operational stage. The high quality and premium meat are at the Formal Operational Stage like Emma. The IQ tests they took everyday were used to test their IQ scores as well as their developmental stages!
After the class was over Emma was pulled to the side by Sister Jessica once the rest of the class had left. "So did you get any information on Krone?"
Emma took a deep breath before telling Jessica what Grandmother had told her. "Grandmother said while both you and Krone score high in academics and athletics you seemed to be acting very cold and distant towards children which is very bad if you want to become a Mama in the future. Her words o-of course not m-mine." She explained nervously.
Jessica rolled her eyes as she twirled her hair with her finger. "I already knew that. Ugh I have been trying to improve that but how does she expect me to act all caring and affectionate towards them if they are eventually going to be eaten anyway!"
Emma felt disappointed that the information wasn't enough but was also sympathetic with Jessica not wanting to get attached to children knowing they were going to be killed one day. She hesitantly continued "Grandmother also said that even if you do become an elder sister instead of Krone you will have a very low chance of surpassing Isabella as Mama unless something happens to her which is unlikely or if Grandmother dies and Isabella replaces her. But Grandmother said if you try anything on her you will be executed before you even manage to lay a finger on her."
Jessica's face went red with anger, her knuckles turned white as she dug them into the wood of a desk. "Damned Sarah and Isabella!" Jessica swore then took several deep breaths. Then suddenly her whole demeanour changed and she seemed calm. "It seems you have failed to gather me any helpful information to become an elder sister. In fact it seems you have managed to put Grandmother's constant eye on my back now. How wonderful!" She remarked sarcastically then smiled at Emma. Her saccharine sweet smile plastered on her face was obviously fake, which chilled Emma to the bone. Suddenly Jessica grabbed Emma's arm and began dragging her out of the classroom into the hallway...