.
.
Date Unknown
Prologue
.
.
.
The trap was set.
Yuugo and Lucas are hidden behind bushes. Both holding a rope that they will pull to lift a net hidden in leaves. Summer has long since faded into Fall, so it wasn't unusual to see so many leaves covering the path's floor.
It's been five days since they discovered the truth of Glory Bell.
To make an escape plan, they needed information. Mr. Minerva's books did not tell them everything about the farm's operations or what awaits in the world outside the farm. There was also the issue of the spy. They could plan around the adults since the village worked on a set schedule, but the spy was a wild card who needed to be eliminated.
Yuugo suggested trapping her in the woods far away from the house. Dina would lure her there while Yuugo and Lucas waited for the right moment to catch her. The other children in the know would keep an eye on the adults. If their caregivers suspect anything it could ruin their escape. The one problem with the trap was that the spy operated on a random schedule, so they didn't know when she would come.
This was the second day the boys hid in the bushes while Dina waited for the spy. They wasted so much time waiting when they could have been preparing. Mike's shipment date was set a week from now. There wasn't much time.
Lucas's leg started to cramp fiercely while Yuugo's feet felt like they would split in half. They have been crouching down for over an hour. Neither boy spoke or moved since they got there. Their bodies hated being stuck in such an uncomfortable position, but the boys are stubborn and ignore the pain.
Yuugo was starting to become impatient with his own trap, but he knew any other trap they make would run into the same problem. Still, they were using up valuable time. He's already made up his mind that if they didn't catch her today, then he will suggest they forget about her and focus on leaving.
"Why would Hilda's doll be this far out here?" The boys tensed at hearing the distant voice.
"We were playing hide and seek the other day and Hilda came out this way." Dina wasn't lying. The young teenagers convinced all the children to play hide and seek around here so they could make a better cover story.
The sound of footsteps crunching leaves got closer, but the boys don't have the spy in their line of sight.
They were staring at the rag doll. It was lying in the middle of the path. Because of the bushes, they couldn't see in the direction where they were coming from.
"I see it." The spy quickens her pace towards the doll. The boys' grips tightened on the rope.
A second later, she comes into view.
She is fourteen years old, the same age as them. Her white skin has a few freckles dusking her cheeks. Unless you know her, you would think the freckles were dirt since she looks like she has been sleeping in the gutter. When they first met her, she claimed to come from a poor family that couldn't afford hot water to bathe. They know now she must have lied about her home life to gain sympathy.
Her short auburn hair is tangled and there are some leaves sticking on it. Her worn out clothes are covered in dirt and are a little too big for her frame. Every time she has paid them a visit, she has worn that exact same outfit. The clothes were pathetically too big for her years ago, but at least now she doesn't have to worry about continuously bunching up her pant legs. Yuugo remembers her button up shirt and pants being white when they first met and now they're a brown yellowish color with enough stains to rival a dye tie shirt. All the tears her clothes have suffered from have been sown back, leaving a lot of scars and patches. They've never seen her wear shoes. They offered to give her one of their pair, but she refused. Saying that she was used to walking around barefoot and they were already being overly generous with their handouts.
She is near the net, with one foot on top. The doll is in the middle, so she would need to step closer to pick it up. Once she bends down, they'll pull.
She looks over her shoulder presumably looking at Dina.
"You stopped." She states, not looking surprised or suspicious. Her face is just blank.
Before Dina could speak, the girl leaped back and darted into the woods.
"Grab her!" Yuugo shouted as he was already running. The trio went after the spy, but it seemed before their pursuit even began, they already lost. They couldn't see her move through the woods or hear her footsteps. There was no trail they could spot. It was like she never ran into the woods.
"Damn it!" Yuugo shouted in frustration, kicking a nearby tree. Dina, who would normally chastise him for using a bad word, looked worried and unsure. Lucas's jaw wobbled as though he was containing his own fears.
"How did she get away?" Dina whispered, talking more so to herself. "She was just there and then gone."
"We need to escape now. She must have some way of sending an alert to the Farm. Who knows how much time we have left before that." Yuugo pointed out, but Lucas didn't agree.
"It's the middle of the day. How could we get everyone away without the enemy noticing?"
"You're not suggesting leaving them here, are you?" Dina asked.
"No, but . . ." He trailed off, as though he could not finish what he wanted to say.
"But what?" Lucas asked, hands clinched into fists.
Yuugo couldn't look them in the eye. "But maybe we have no choice. Wouldn't it be better to get a few instead of losing everyone?"
His two friends didn't have an answer to that. Logically, they knew it made sense. The plan was to leave tonight right after their caregivers went to bed. They had Mr. Minerva's pen, the means to get across the wall, and they already have backpacks filled with supplies hidden away in the woods. The reason they wanted to trap the spy was because she sometimes visits at night. If she came to the house tonight and saw all the children gone then she would have sounded the alarm. Plus, they were hoping to interrogate her for information.
Now that the enemy knew they were on to the truth, they would act to insure none of their top quality meat runs away. They might be able to get some of the others who already know the plan, but the adults would notice and stop them if they took too many.
They need to decide fast before it's too late to even save themselves.
"I still think she isn't a spy. Her past actions don't make sense if she were spying on us." Dina spoke up, bringing up their previous disagreement. "We should wait and see what her next move is today."
"Are you so sure that you would risk our lives?" Lucas asked, he didn't think Dina was a naïve person, but she was good friends with the spy for a long time. They all were. If someone told him last week that she was pretending to be friends, he wouldn't have believed them. But he also wouldn't have believed his mother to be working with monsters.
"Yes. I should have told you guys before, but I thought we would catch her and get the truth so I didn't bring it up."
"What are you talking about?"
"She's been telling me and the other girls to hide something from our mothers. Even gave tips on how to keep it a secret and clean any evidence." She's blushing now and looking down at her feet. "She explained what it was and that it was normal. Now that I know this place is a human farm, I think she was trying to protect the girls by getting us to hide it."
"Why can't you say what it is?" Yuugo asked, confused on why Dina wouldn't just spit it out. Their lives are in danger. Any information needed to be shared for the sake of the whole group.
"Um, well you know the Talk we get when we turned twelve." The boys' own faces turned red. When a child turns twelve, their mother brings them to an empty room and explains the human reproductive system. Afterwards they tell them not to talk about it with others, saying it wouldn't be good if the younger ones overheard them. If they had any questions, then they could ask an adult in private. The topic of sex was treated as taboo in the village.
"Yeah, but what does that have to do with anything?" Yuugo asks, but part of him knew he didn't want to talk about it. Especially not with Dina of all people.
Dina's face gets redder. "They didn't tell us everything. Once a month the girls experience what's called a period." She goes on explaining it in more detail. The boys' faces go from bright red to pale. Neither interrupted her. "But Mom never mentioned a period during our talk."
"So you know about it from the spy?" Lucas asked.
She nodded. "One day, she mentioned having cramps and I asked if she was okay. Then she said it was just her time of the month. Of course I had no idea what she was talking about at the time, but she explained it. We were twelve then, but I hadn't started my period yet."
"Why didn't you ask your mom about it after she told you about periods?" Lucas asked, it seems like Yuugo became shell-shocked from the conversation. He's just staring at them face still pale. At least Lucas was able to handle the information.
"She begged me not to bring it up with Mom or any adult. You know how scared she acted if we said or did anything that could tip them off that she was visiting us. She said if I asked about it without beginning my first period then they would want to know how I knew about it. And I couldn't put the blame on an older girl since I was the oldest girl in the village."
"But you have been having periods now right. So why continue to hide it from your mom?"
"When we were talking about periods, she said when I do start it would be best not to mention it to Mom. She said Mom would have another uncomfortable talk with me and look at my private parts to see if it was a period. I was mortified at the thought of that happing, so I never told Mom. She also said I should tell the other girls if they started their period and that's what I did."
Lucas and Yuugo completely understood why that would be a frightening thing for Dina and the other girls. The last time they were comfortable with their mothers seeing them naked was when they were six. If they ever needed to examine them down there, then they probably would have runaway.
"So she manipulated you and the other girls to keep it a secret. I don't see any advantage to it if she is a spy. It should have been the opposite. The farm cares about our health and that seems like something they would want to know about." Yuugo muttered, seeming to finally gain back his composure.
"We never did find out where they were getting the babies from." Lucas pointed out. Yuugo jumped at the implication. Dina knew where Lucas' thoughts were going. She had already thought of that the day they found out the truth. "What if they keep some of us as breeders to resupply the farm. If that's the case, then they would want to see which children would be the most fertile. If the girls don't get periods, then they would think they would have a harder time conceiving. That's assuming she was telling you the truth."
Yuugo looked like he was going to be sick. Dina stared shaking, thinking about all her older sisters and friends who could be trapped in a horrible place and being forced to have child after child.
"She was protecting the girls from becoming breeders. But if she isn't a spy then what was she doing hanging around us for years? If she really is on our side, then why did she never tell us the truth?" Yuugo was getting frustrated. Their longtime friend obviously knew things they didn't, but for whatever reason she wasn't sharing. It made sense to think she was a spy. The adults couldn't watch everyone at the same time and having someone their own age would be the perfect informant.
Her wanting to hide was strange, but that could have been part of the ruse. There could be over half a dozen advantages for a child spy to pretend they live outside the community. For one, if the children got curious of the outside world, then they could ask her about it. Also, if any one of them wanted to explore outside then they would have asked her to be their guide. If that happened, then she could report it and they would set a trap to catch the child before they could get to the wall.
"Our free time is almost up. It's been over ten minutes since she escaped and with how fast she runs she would have informed our caregivers about what happened by now. I think the best thing to do is go back to our homes."
Lucas didn't seem to be in favor with the idea, but Dina had already wanted to wait and see what their friend would do next.
"Why do you want to do that Yuugo?" Lucas asked.
"If she is a spy then the adults will know we tried to catch her, but they won't know why. If we see signs that they know then we could pretend that we were just trying to help her."
"By kidnapping her?" Lucas deadpanned.
"Not exactly. Her cover story is that she lives in a broken home with a mom who mistreats her. She got us to never speak about her to our caregivers because she feared that it would just make her home life worse. For years we believed her, but now we could say that we've realized keeping the abuse a secret was the wrong thing to do. So we planned to catch her and drag her to my house where we would get her to tell my mom about herself. We thought Mom would know how to help."
"And if she isn't a spy?" Dina asked.
"Then we say nothing, and wait for her to make the next move." A second after Yuugo said that a bell began to ring, signaling for all the children to come back to their respective homes.
"We ran out of time. Looks like we'll have to go with Yuugo's idea. Be ready to leave at a moment's notice." They dismantle the failed trap and jog back to the house before their dear mothers notice them missing.
Notes: There isn't a lot of information on Glory Bell or the other Premium Farms besides Grace Field. So I'll be making up a lot of different ideas. For example, we know that Glory Bell let's children live to fifteen and this seems to the oldest age among the high-grade farms. I've thought why that might be and came up with the idea that they're waiting to see if the girls have regular periods so they know if they can use them as breeders. Sister training seems to take a lot of time and recourses so they wouldn't want to waste that on girls who might not be able to carry a baby to full-term.
Edited on November 9th 2022: Originally in my plans for this story, Yuugo and his friends lived in an "orphanage" very similar to Grace Field. But for some reason in the fan translated third light novel I read, there is a line that specifically says they live in a "small hamlet". So that got me thinking that maybe every Premium Farm has their own different system for hiding the truth. My version of Glory Bell's plants will be a mix of different systems. The plant Yuugo is from has a village set up, but the plant my OC is from will be an orphanage like Grace Field.