Meeting

That night, as much as Penny didn't want to, she, Norman, and Emma walked to Sister Krona's room to discuss about the secrets this place had. She stood close to Norman, clutching his hand. He glanced at her, noticing her anxious looks. "You know, you didn't have to join us tonight, you could've just stayed with Ray while we did this."

Penny shook her head. "No, I think I can handle the truth I'm about to hear,"

Emma glanced at Penny admirably. "Wow. Even in your anxious state right now, you sound braver than you intend to be."

Penny smiled at Emma. "Thanks, Emma. I'm trying."

They walked up the hall and up to Sister Krona's room and looked at each other with a nod. Norman raised his free hand and knocked. Sister Krona opened, looking scarier than ever. Penny immediately started wishing she was reading with Ray, but she already made her decision. There was no backing out now. She, Norman, and Emma glanced at each other, and nodded. They walked in, closing the door behind them.

Sister Krona stood in front of them, tenderly holding an old baby doll in her arms. After a moment, she glanced at the three kids and gave a friendly smile. "We're allies now, so ask me anything."

The seams on the baby doll's head snapped, and it rolled backwards in the kids direction. Penny's heart thumped rapidly inside her chest, clutching at Norman's arm, trying to ease her nerves at the sight of the baby doll. She hated it, it felt like it was staring right into her soul. She, Emma, and Norman quickly released their tense expressions and gave Sister Krona hard stares.

"We can ask whatever we want?" Norman began slowly.

Sister Krona tilted her head. "Yes. It can be about the farm, or even Headquarters."

Norman slightly turned his head towards the door and glanced back at Sister Krona, blue eyes narrowing in her direction. "Then..."

"Show it to us." Emma finished. She reached out her hand. "The thing that receives signal from our trackers."

Sister Krona looked taken back, but she smiled. "Oh. Of course." She dug into her pocket and pulled out a shiny watch-like object dangling from a gold chain in her hands. She walked up and handed it to Norman, who opened it up. Emma and Penny glanced at it curiously over his shoulders. Penny almost felt disappointed at the sight of it...there was only a map of the continent and a single star of where Penny guessed was the house.

"There's not much to it, is there?" Sister Krona said. "It shows the current location, but doesn't say who it is." She glanced at the three. "So. You knew that there were tracking devices."

"Yeah." Norman said, not looking from the device.

"We found out from Mom just a couple of days ago." Penny added, glancing up at the older woman.

"But we don't know where they are or how to break them." Norman finished, finally looking from the tracker. Emma glanced up at Sister Krona. "Do you know, Sister?"

"Yes." Sister Krona nodded. "They're found in your ear."

Norman, Penny, and Emma gasped slightly. They knew that was the answer but they were still surprised hearing that from her. Sister Krona pointed to the lobule part of the ear. "They're found here, on the left." She walked away from them. "I don't really know how to break them, but I do know if they're broken it notifies the tracking tool and HQ." She placed the baby doll on the pillow of her bed, and Penny shuddered. It STILL felt as though the baby doll was staring into her soul.

"You'd either have to take it out, or just cut that part off." Sister Krona grabbed her ear and made a snipping motion with her hands under the lobule of the ear.

"How?" Norman asked, lowering his hand. "There are no sharp blades here."

"There IS one. A scalpel."

"There's no medicine outside. And I don't want to start our escape with blood loss or infection."

"The infirmary has medicine and anesthesia you could use. Tools as well. Now, the supplies should last at least five kids. I can teach you how to use them. I'll even lend you the key!" Krona clasped her hands. "Since that's settled, anything else?"

Emma, Norman, and Penny glanced at each other, and Emma turned to Sister Krona. "How old are you exactly?"

"And have you always been a product?" Penny added. "I've been itching to find out."

Sister Krona sighed, shaking her head. "It's pretty rude of you to ask a lady her age. But I'm gonna let it slide this time. I'm 26. I was born and raised at this house, though not here at Plant 3."

At that, Emma, Norman, and Penny started. "There's more than one?!" Norman asked, surprised.

"And from what I saw in the records, it seems that Isabella's 31."

"Sister Krona, would you kindly tell us if you've ever seen the outside?" Penny asked the older woman. Emma and Norman glanced at her, surprised with their younger sister's sudden bravery in asking such a question.

Sister Krona shook her head. "Not once."

Penny, Norman, and Emma gasped.

Sister Krona raised her eyes. "Oh? Did you think that I'd lie and say yes? I haven't. But there ARE humans out there. The higher ups and the adults make all the food that you kids eat. However there are humans who bring your clothes and supplies from outside. I've seen them at Headquarters once. And it seemed like they were all in equal stand in with each other. What you all need to do is get mixed in with the humans who won't get eaten."

"So...just how long...have the demons been around?" Emma asked.

"Demons?" Sister Krona looked confused, and then she smiled in realization. "Oh. You must mean them."

"How did the world get like this?" Penny asked. "If you have any idea."

"I don't." Sister Krona said. She walked up to them, and Penny slowly clutched Norman's arm.

"Where is this house located?" Emma asked.

"No idea."

"What about the security?" Norman asked, slowly moving Penny behind him as Krona moved closer.

"Now, that, I know. There isn't too much. They rely on the tracking devices, so there aren't many guards posted. I doubt they even patrol."

After a few moments, Norman handed Krona the device. "Thank you for all your help."

"Is that it?" Krona asked, sounding surprised as she took back the tracker.

"Yeah." Norman nodded. "Have a good night."

The three kids glanced at each other and nodded, and were about to head out the door when Sister Krona started chuckling. Her chuckling soon turned into laughter. When she calmed down, she sneered at them. "So. You already knew where the trackers were and how to break them! I'm actually impressed! I've learned a lot of interesting things things during our talk tonight."

Emma, Norman, and Penny just stared at her in horror.

"Info can be provided," Krona continued, grinning maliciously. "Without words. Humans tend to give away a lot of information even if they're just standing there! Blinking. Gaze. Sweating. Attitude. Gestures. Pupils. And pulse. They all hint at what you're really thinking. What gave it away was when I said the tracking device was located in your ear, and neither of you even bothered to check. Then, when you found out how to remove them, you didn't look the least bit happy about it!

So, why did you ask when you already found out on your very own?" Krona sang obnoxiously as she walked around them.

Penny shuddered as she clutched Norman's arm, her eyes never leaving the woman as she paused and glanced at the three shaking kids. "Is there something you wanna hide from me? I bet there's a secret you're all keeping, isn't there?" She smirked at the three kids' expressions. "Anyway, have you heard of the one?"

Emma, Norman, and Penny gasped.

Krona smirked, pleased at their reactions. "I bet that you haven't! Do you want to know?" She leaned in close to their ears. "I'll save it for your next visit here. So come back anytime."

Krona grinned. "And we can talk much more than we did today!"

While that was happening, Ray smiled as he glanced at his new reward...a camera. He glanced at his mom with a smile. "Hey, Mom."

Isabella turned to him with a smile, and Ray shot the photo. The picture slid out, and he took it from the holder. He grinned. "I see. So nothing shows up here at first."

"Your last reward is a camera, huh?" Isabella hummed.

"I was just curious of how these things work." Ray said, eyes never leaving the photo. "Since I've only ever seen them in photographs from cameras in the books." He glanced up slightly. "If I were greedy, I would've wanted to develop them..." he glanced at the phot and grinned. "Whoa! It looks like you froze a moment in time!" He stood up and picked the camera up. "About that other thing, can it wait 'till after lunch?"

Isabella nodded. "Yes. That should be fine."

Ray nodded and walked off, closing the door behind him. Isabella's eyes trailed to the picture of herself that Ray had took, resting on the table.

Isabella tenderly touched it as soon as the clock struck 12. The woman walked up to the calendar and scratched the first square of the month and smiled. "Well, then. I think it's about time to begin."