Sister Krone's Downfall

At the snap of Ray's camera, Penny, Norman, Emma, Gilda, and Don walked up to the raven haired boy, who turned to them. "Let's review. During the free time we have after eating lunch, I'm going to be distracting Mom." He turned to Norman, Emma, and Penny. "Meanwhile, you three will inspect beyond the wall." He turned to Don and Gilda next. "Don, Gilda, stand outside where you can see the second floor window to the south. Stay alert. I'll signal to you if I'm not able to distract Mom. And that's when you two tell the others to cancel the inspection. According to our original plan, there are six days left. But we have the two and a half months 'till I get shipped out. So if things go wrong, we can bail. We do everything in secret, and pretend to be controllable."

Don and Gilda nodded. Ray's plan made sense enough.

"DONNN!" Mark called from a few feet away. "You should come play with us!"

"Gilda, too!" Sherry called happily.

Don grinned. "Sure! Are you ready to play tag?" He ran off, followed closely by Gilda.

"Ray, we need to talk."

Ray turned to Norman, Emma, and Penny, who looked upset about something.

When they told Ray what happened that night with Sister, Ray flipped out pretty easily. "What?! Krona found out that we can break the tracking devices?!"

Norman nodded. "We should move up the escape. How soon can you break them?"

Ray sighed and dug in his drawer, much to Penny's curiosity. He pulled out a strange object that she saw him holding earlier. He steadied the object in the direction of Penny, Emma, and Norman, and a bright flash came from the camera. Penny and Emma both yelped, causing Norman to laugh.

"What even was that?!" Emma snapped.

"That flash nearly blinded me!" Penny moaned, rubbing her eyes. "Care to explain what that was?"

Ray took the slip of paper from the machine and held it out. "With this. I've got all the pieces that I need! I can break them whenever."

Emma grinned excitedly.

Ray glanced at the paper in his hands and grinned, chuckling. Curious, Penny and Emma walked up to him to see the photo. He smugly glanced at the girls. "Look at your faces!"

"Heeeyy!" Emma whined.

"This is quite a double-edged sword." Norman said somberly. "Isn't it?"

"What do you mean, Norman?" Penny asked, suddenly nervous on where this was heading.

Norman glanced at her. "Think about it, Pen. Are we going to break the tracking devices and escape first, or is Krona going to find the evidence and turn us in before we have the chance to do that?"

Penny let out a panicked squeak. "You're right! She could turn us in with this! Snap of a photo and we're done for!" She turned to Ray. "What do we do now?"

Ray glanced at Penny reassuringly. "Don't worry. I handled it!"

He smirked.

Sister Krona sighed as she sat on her bed, petting her baby doll thoughtfully. "Hmm, I wonder...why did they pretend not to know anything? They knew exactly where the devices were, and how to destroy them. But how did they even find out in the first place?"

She stopped caressing her baby doll and just sat on her bed, thinking carefully. "Actually, how will they break them? Are they going to use a specific tool?" She tilted her head. "Could they have made something to do that? If that's the case, it could be the evidence I need! Is that why they were so scared and lied to me?" Krona smiled maliciously. "Well, then, guess it's time to start searching!"

Sister Krona walked out of her room and made sure to check the dining hall, where Emma, Ray, Gilda, Don, Norman, and Penny were setting up the tables for lunch. The woman giggled to herself. "Now's my chance!"

Penny glanced at Ray, who looked at her with a knowing look. Emma glanced at Ray suspiciously, and her gaze trailed to Norman, who stared at Ray.

Sister Krona smirked as she walked up to one of the children's rooms, humming excitedly. Making sure no one was around, she opened the door and walked over to Ray's bed. The first thing she did was check the drawers.

Nothing.

She undid his bed.

Nothing.

She angrily clutched the sheets and was about to search more when....

"Hey, what are you doing?"

Krona jumped and hastily turned around to see Phil smiling innocently and curiously at her. She tried to calm her thumping heart, silently sighing in relief in her head as she gave him a forced friendly smile. "I-I'm cleaning the floors in here."

"Oh!" Phil nodded happily and waddled away.

When he was gone, Krona narrowed her eyes and turned back towards her duty. With all her strength, she pulled back Ray's bed and climbed up to a part of the floor where the boards sounded hollow. She took the boards apart, but the only thing lying in the center of the little hide out was a note.

Curiously, Krona reached for it. She sat on Ray's bed and opened it. After reading it, she let out a shocked gasp. She numbly stood up and staggered to her room, stunned of what she just learned. Her slow movements quickly turned into running as she dashed towards her bedroom and slammed her door, panting as she glanced at the note in her hands.

Penny tilted her head curiously to the sound of a door being slammed shut and turned to Norman and Emma, each having the same expression. They turned to Ray, who smirked proudly at them.

Sister Krona sat on her bed, still staring the note in shock. "Found it?" She murmured, eyes never leaving the writing on the paper. "It's true...how could something like this not be?!"

A second later, she grinned happily and lifted the note victoriously in the air, laughing. "How unexpected!" She held the note in front of her happily as if it was a treasure chest. "Now I have Isabella's second weakness!" She hopped excitedly on her bed and glanced at her baby doll lovingly. "Well, then, how should I make my next move?! If I show this note to Grandma and appeal to her, can I overthrow Isabella? Her position as mom will finally be mine!" She giggled happily, kicking her legs. "Once that happens, I can ship out those brats, too!"

Her excited expression turned into a frown as she studied the note. "Wait a sec. But how does Ray even know about this? Because Isabella herself shouldn't be aware of it..."

She gave a sudden start as someone knocked on the door. Hastily, the woman grabbed something from her pillow and desk and shut it tightly in her suitcase and hurried up to the door, where Isabella was standing there with a strange smile.

Sister Krona's eyes widened, and her gaze trailed down to the small pocket knife in the older woman's hand. She cringed as Isabella held the knife out to her...

....but nothing happened.

Krona opened her eyes and watched as Isabella turned the knife around, handing its handle out to her. In the other hand was a letter. "It's from Headquarters. You should open it."

Krona shakily took the knife and letter from Isabella and opened it. After reading it, Krona let out a startled gasp, and her hands started shaking.

Isabella shook her head. "It's unfortunate. But that's how it is. This is goodbye."

021145

Krona stared at her in shock and turned back to the paper, slowly reading. "Number 18684, Sister Krona, we appoint you to be mom of plant four...." She turned to Isabella, shocked. "I'll be a Mom?!"

"Yes." Isabella nodded. "It just so happens a position's suddenly opened at plant four. I've been pushing your name for a while, so they chose you to fill it."

"You..." Sister Krona stuttered, still shocked. "Recommended...me?"

"Grandma is waiting for you at the gate. Hurry up and pack, so you can return to Headquarters."

"Wait. Right now?"

"That's correct. I wish you luck at your new location." Isabella stared at Krona's shocked face. "What's wrong? Aren't you happy?"

Krona forced herself to smile. "Of course I am. I-I'll go g-get ready!"

Isabella softly smiled.

When the door closed and Isabella's footsteps clomped away, Sister Krona gasped, falling to the floor in shock. She narrowed her eyes. "That woman!" She gasped. "She's trying to get rid of me!"

After packing a few things, Sister Krona held up a piece of paper and a strange pen. "Guess I'm going to have to risk it..." She narrowed her eyes. "I refuse to let all of this go the way that she wants!"

"Hey Mom! Sister Krona! It's time to eat now!"

Isabella turned to Phil, who walked up to her happily. "Okay, we're ready! Where's the sister? In her room?"

Isabella kneeled down in front of the kids lovingly. "Not quite. She had work to do. We're fine to start eating without her."

After delivering a small gift, Krona walked towards the gate with her suitcase in her hand, thunder rumbling in the distance.

The gate bars slowly opened, and Krona walked in, and the first person Krona saw was...

"Grandma."

Grandma smiled eerily at her.

Krona gulped and walked up to the older woman. "I'd like to report something." She held up a slip of paper, narrowing her eyes. "

At the dining hall, kids glanced curiously at Sister Krona's empty spot, a few asking where she was. Phil grinned at them. "Mom said she had to work!"

"Aw, man!"

Ray just stared suspiciously at Sister Krona's empty chair.

Krona waited anxiously as the older woman read the note in her hands.

"If I'm understanding this correctly, in addition to what I'm reading right here, there are three other children with perfect scores who know the secret."

"And the two below them know as well!" Sister said frantically. "I don't have evidence of their escape plan, but please believe me! We have to take action! If we don't, then-

"But."

Krona stopped short.

Grandma continued. "They're still under control, aren't they? If they remain under control, there's no issue. Just like it was back in my day. You see, Sister Krona, I'm afraid I can't have you getting in Isabella's way. In case you don't know, Isabella and her plant are quite special." She walked up to Krona's side. "It's necessary to keep her here as my pawn. You are insufficient to replace her. You've become a problem."

Sister Krona let out a horrified gasp.

"To offer the best plate at the Tiwari, everything at the farm has to be optimal."

Grandma walked off.

Sister Krona stood there, shocked, until she burst out laughing. "I see. They were in it together! I had no chance!" She laughed angrily. "Of wining this! From the start!" She turned towards the outside of the gate and laughed as the gates closed shut.

Her laughter stopped short at the sound of footsteps approaching, and she turned around to see a demon reaching out towards her.

Penny sat down next to Ray as Isabella gave the blessings. "Thank you for the food."

"Thank you for the food!" The kids repeated happily.

Krona gasped as she leaned against the gates, her whole life flashing before her very eyes.

She remembered when she first got her baby doll. She treasured it dearly.

Her memories trailed on to later life of her "adoption" day. She clearly remembered the choice she was giving, and that she chose to live and become a mom.

Her memories changed to her room, where she looked at the scar which held the chip planted inside her heart.

Krona backed towards the wall, shaking in fear as the demon walked closer. She grabbed her pocket knife and swung it at the monster, but that didn't have any affect.

Her memories trailed to how hard she worked to become a mom and to survive.

She remembered her defense lessons, and how she was taken down a lot.

She spent many nights sadly hugging her baby doll.

She continued her work as a mother in training, getting better at sewing. She even got better at taking down a foe. She remembered spying on other workers talking to each other. She remembered picking up a pen one of the men dropped on the ground while walking out.

Krona yelped as she tripped to the ground and frantically started crawling towards the gate. She gasped in fear as the monster caught her in its talons, and the woman let out a frightened scream as it stuck a flower in her heart.

The monster dropped her heartlessly on the ground. As she laid there, her thoughts drifted to the kids in Plant 3. She narrowed her eyes as she stared at the sky above her. "You brats. You better succeed, you hear me?! You're great at tag, so, run away. escape! Survive this! And then destroy then destroy this awful world we life in!"

The red flower bloomed, and Sister Krona laid on the floor of the gate, dead.

At the same time, kids at Plant 3 had just finished their food, and they smiled happily. "Thank you! It was delicious!"