Sara sat on the edge of her bed while Rebecca pulled a chair closer to the bed. She sat expectantly to hear what the girl had to say, and by the look on Sara's face, Rebecca realized some truth was going to be demanded.

"Becca, do you like what you do here?" Sara cautiously set her plan into action.

"Y—yes," the woman hesitantly responded, taken aback by the question.

"You stuttered." Sara squinted her eyes at her, scrutinizing the details of the woman's face.

"No, I didn't."

"Yes, you did. And you know how I know you're lying?" she asked.

Rebecca simply blinked back at her. "Because I stuttered?" she asked unsurely.

Sara gave a loud sigh. "Because every time you tell me something about WICKED or the like, you always have a certain look on your face." She pressed the tips of her index finger and thumb together, trying to grasp the right words somehow. "Especially when you say, 'WICKED is good.' It's honestly not even slightly convincing," she commented innocently. Sara gave the woman an expectant look, trying to figure out in which position Rebecca stood regarding her job there.

Rebecca thought carefully for a good couple of seconds. It was hard to handpick the things she decided would be good for Sara to know. Perhaps Sara was old enough to understand a few things. Maybe she was actually too young.

~A little background on Rebecca. Strap yourselves in, people~

She was a young woman who desperately sought a job no matter what kind of job it was or what responsibilities it would entail. The day she showed up at WICKED headquarters followed the day Janson first laid his eyes on her.

She was walking down the street that previous day, right where he was walking in the opposite direction. Enchanted by her beauty, he tactfully approached her, and offered her heaven on earth with a promising position as part of the WICKED Administrative Crew.

With her options running dangerously low, she had no other choice but to accept the job, even though she was reluctant at first. Rumors were heard about WICKED, and everything in the world had come to a point where skepticism was a must. But now, it was her skepticism or her life.

She received the proper training for it, and Janson was impressed by her incredible ability to handle the responsibilities given to her.

When she discovered what the real intentions of the organization were, however, she felt compelled to confront Janson. They had the duty to protect humanity without losing their own humanity as a government entity. She viewed the work done in HQ as a horrific means to do the right thing but for the wrong reasons, and she wanted no part in that.

She despised the idea. Especially taking children—practically as prisoners—for an experiment to develop a cure to the Flare. That alone ignored many ethical standards.

There was no guarantee that investing millions of dollars on a project like that was going to bring forth the desired results in the end. By testing their young minds and their durability for the purpose of the experiment, WICKED seemed to bypass any ethical code of government-approved laboratory work. But the government was now run by the elite of the world, WICKED taking first stance. Who could stand against that?

She approached Janson's office one day until she heard the murmuring of voices coming from the other side of the door. She leaned her ear against the door and what she heard next was what kept her from asking what she had come to ask. That action quite possibly had saved her life.

"Please reconsider, A. D. Janson," a woman was speaking from the other side of the door.

For a brief moment, Rebecca's heart leaped with joy, relieved that she wasn't alone after all. Then she only heard a strained grunt and a gasp for air from inside the room. She never saw that woman come out of that room, or heard of her at all after that. Rebecca was alone again.

She stood with her back against the wall, paralyzed, imagining every possible scenario about what might've happened to that woman.

As her thoughts crammed her mind in a cloud of panic, the door burst open, and an agitated Janson came out of the office. As soon as he took notice of Rebecca standing right next to the door, his features softened, and he visually relaxed.

She pinpointed the exact moment when a flame flickered in his eyes, and they were overcome by a new look of lust as they scanned every inch of her body.

Before she had time to escape, he gripped her by the arm, and rushed her inside the office.

After what happened in that room, the line that marked the difference between Janson and a savage beast was completely eradicated.

That day, since the moment she heard that woman's agonizing breaths, marked the beginning of her hatred toward Janson. A burning passion that was ignited simply by the mere sight of him. And not only had he attacked her, leaving her vulnerable to his uncontrollable desires, but he had threatened her in case she decided to reveal what had just occurred.

The poor woman was left to succumb to terror, subjecting her to years of silence. She wasn't permitted to resign. She had to follow his orders and carry on with her duties as though nothing had ever happened. Her every day challenge wasn't completing the tasks to which her position forced her to comply. It was having to face the man who ruined her life. Helplessly, she had to pretend everything was alright while she cried herself to sleep every night.

She wasn't satisfied with any of it. Her life became a hollow package of misfortunes, but she hoped for a glorious time when she could retaliate. She clung to it, actually. Technically a prisoner, she still decided she was not going to show any more weakness.

Rebecca was careful to reveal to Sara only the surface of what Janson had done to her, which she figured would be enough to answer her question.

The girl had become that spark of hope that promised to fix everything wrong with Rebecca's life. And not just her life, but also the lives of all the kids, including the friends she'd made amongst those. It wasn't coincidental that Rebecca had given her the subject name, 'The Remedy', even if it was only provided to her so she wouldn't raise any suspicions from Ava Paige.

Through the past weeks, Rebecca had observed Sara's actions, how she handled things, how she solved matters, how she had a proficient intellect and was able to demonstrate it through her progress in everything she was taught.

After all, the majority of the children in the facility were classified as having above-average intelligence, and it was no surprise that they were the key to WICKED's pursuit of a cure.

As an expert in technology herself, Rebecca made the most drastic decision of her life.

She decided she would put an end to WICKED. Eliminate them. Eliminate Janson. Free the children. And she was going to do it with Sara's help. The girl deserved at least some truth rather than being confined to live with her uncle who was practically the devil in disguise. She deserved to help her friends who had become the closest thing to family to her.

But everything had to be carefully planned out, even if progress was slow. One slight error could be catastrophic.

Sara remained frozen, seated on her bed, and tightly gripping the edge of her bed frame after hearing Rebecca's response. She expected a complete answer, but she got more than that. A haunting story about Rebecca's past that opened a new vault of suspicion towards Janson.

How could he? Becca didn't deserve that. Wasn't he married? Didn't he love his wife? Didn't he have a little girl? Does he really not care about his own family? Does he even care about me? What else is he hiding? These were the only thoughts that crossed her mind as she continued to process what Rebecca had revealed.

"Sara, I know this is very hard to believe, but it's true. And now, please, more than ever, I need you to listen to me," Rebecca began.

"I believe you. It's just... how could he?" Sara asked, disgust and horror lacing her voice. Nonetheless, she needed to know more. "I'm listening, tell me."

"I need to find a way to get you out of here. You need to stay away from Janson."

"But Becca, I can't just leave all my friends behind. And you! You, more than anyone else, deserve to stay away from him. I can't believe my own uncle did all of that," she muttered under her breath.

"It's too risky," Rebecca whispered vehemently, pressing her finger against her lips for Sara to quiet down. "Listen, there are security cameras all over the place except for your room. I've done my part well here, and Janson learned to trust me. Since I spend almost all my time with you, there's nothing to worry about as long as we keep anything said within these four walls, you understand?" she asked, and the girl nodded.

Sara thought about everything that could go wrong and all the different ways she and Rebecca could get caught and killed for this. Thoughts of her family and all the people who died protecting their children invaded her mind. Even how none of it stopped the kidnapping from happening anyway. Maybe dying was inevitable even if she tried.

But she also thought about the promise she made to her father the day he died, how she promised she would escape and survive. She couldn't break it just yet.

"Okay," she whispered. "I understand."

"I just need you to keep in mind that you cannot share any of this—hear me out—any of this with the rest of the kids. I know they're your friends but until we know where this is going, we trust no one. Starting from tomorrow, one of them will be sent elsewhere for uh... further testing, and this will continue once a month. One by one, they will be sent away. But we need to be patient. I have a plan in mind," the woman instructed.

Sara wasn't fully convinced she'd heard the full story. "Sent away? But I'm gonna be alone at some point, when they all leave. I don't want that, Becca," Sara complained. "Besides, there's this boy... a strange boy that told me to join him and his friends to help them discover what's going on. There's something else to this whole story. You can't just ask me to keep this from them. They need to know who Janson really is at least."

"I know, but you're not saying a word," Rebecca replied sternly. When she saw the look on Sara's face, she softened up. "I'm sorry, but it's the only way to get you out. It'll be too dangerous to alert your friends. Especially when they're all getting sent away at some point, and they won't know when that would be until their turn comes."

"How can you be so sure this is gonna work? It's you and I versus my crazy uncle and his stupid army of guards. They have access to practically anything. We're gonna get caught."

"Don't worry. You're going to help me tamper with the security cameras. And that's barely the first step. After that... well, we'll figure it out."

Wait, what?