***

"Norman... You need to escape by yourself tomorrow at noon." Ray stared at Norman with a fixed stare. This was something that he, none of them, were going to back down on. Norman was their best friend. Why would they just willingly let him go to his death? They should definitely make an effort to help him. Who wouldn't? Alex had to make sure that Ray's plan went smoothly. She couldn't let Norman die and she wasn't going to let him.

There was silence on Norman's side. He then smiled softly at the three in front of him, "I'm sorry, but I c-"

"No." The other three cut him off. Did he really think that they were going to let him walk straight to his demise? That was a funny suggestion, but it wasn't going to happen. They were going to fight as hard as they could to keep him here. Giving up was definitely not an option for them to take.

Surprise was clear on Norman's face. He didn't seem to expect the response he got. Alex shot him a look that clearly said that she wasn't going to back down, "Well, what did you think we were going to do? Let you go off to your death? No way!"

Ray picked up a stool from nearby, "Listen here. To be more specific, we want you to pretend to escape tomorrow." He took the cup of water from Norman, handing it to Alex. Alex drank it with a thankful expression. She was becoming a little parched.

The stool was handed off to Norman who was still really confused about what was going on, "Huh?" He inquired. Ray probably should have elaborated a little more at the start. It would have saved them from having to explain so much.

"We'll disable your tracker, and you can pretend that you've left us," Ray started to explain, "However, in reality, we'll have you hiding within house grounds until Alex's leg heals."

"And on the day we can all finally escape together, we'll have you come with us!" Emma exclaimed.

"Just like we had originally planned it," Alex stated with a smile. The plan was kind of risky, but it was something they could deal with it. They had to. It was the one situation they could come up with where Norman was safe and alive.

Ray sat down on Alex's bed, "Until then, you'll be 'gone' from the house, so you're free to leave and investigate whenever you'd like. Since you don't 'exist,' we won't have any issues meeting back up with you either."

"Mom won't be that suspicious seeing as we usually go into the woods to talk about our plans," Alex quickly chimed in. She was trying to convince him to at least think about the idea before shooting it down. "She'll just think that we're talking with each other and not you."

"But..," Norman trailed off, "Even if it's all a lie, if they think I've successfully made my escape, the security around here will..." He didn't continue with his sentence. Alex was at a loss too. How bad would they up the security if he disappeared? That would make it easier to figure out what to do.

"No problem," Ray said with a nonchalant attitude, "Judging from the way this house works, I highly doubt they'll be able to change too much in terms of security."

"The way this house works?" Norman asked.

Ray started listing off things on his fingers, "One, This house values the mental and physical health of its products before death. Two, this house does everything it can to hide its secrets," He held up his thumb, "The first rule is maintained in order to help the brain reach its full potential of development. For the brain to fully develop, not only must one be raised with a good education... But also with a healthy amount of love and physical exercise. The minimum requirement for any product that comes out of the Grace Field House is 'cage-free, healthy and raised with love,'" Ray then held up his index finger, "The second rule is maintained for similar reasons. Those demons would never dare intentionally show themselves to us. One, obviously because any sane kid would run if they saw anything like them... But also because controlling the children with fear won't get them the right kind of quality brains."

"So my theory was actually right, then," Alex said with a thoughtful look. She had theorized a few days ago that they wouldn't want the kids to grow up in an environment filled with fear. It wouldn't be good on the brain which would probably make it taste bad.

A nod of confirmation was aimed at her from the dark-haired boy, "That's why they go out of their way and hire humans to take care of us. That's why they go out of their way to make up this elaborate imaginary setting for us to live in. From this, we can gather... That those demons won't be able to take away much, if any of the freedom we already currently have. They won't be able to make any obvious changes to the house ground in order to restrain us. Heck, they won't be able to increase the height of the wall surrounding this place much, since it might stress the kids out if they look outside and all they can see in the distance is a huge wall. If anything at all, they'll increase the number of caretakers keeping their eyes on us. That's nothing at all. We can deal with it. No, we will deal with it!"

As expected, Norman still didn't look convinced with the idea. Alex hated how stubborn he could be sometimes. He always acted like he knew everything and he could handle everything by himself. When would he realize that it was okay to ask for help? He didn't have to know everything and go in alone on everything.

Norman started poking holes in the plan and picking it apart, "But what if they raise the height of the wall just enough so that we won't be able to use any kind of rope to get over it anymore? What then?!"

"You could just build a ladder for us or something while you're in hiding!" Ray stood up.

"You could make it out of the stronger sticks in the forest," Alex suggested.

"What if they implant even higher-tech trackers into your bodies?" Norman questioned them.

"If they do, we'll know where they are this time!" Ray yelled. He was clearly getting more and more frustrated with Norman. "We can effectively get rid of them whenever we need! New trackers are useless against us because we already know that they exist! You know all of this already! Quit coming up with one excuse after the other! In any case, there's no need for you to die right now! It's clear as day that accepting your 'fate' isn't your only option left at this point. (Norman has a blank face) We'll get you food. We'll definitely make sure to keep you hidden! The security increase won't be much for us to handle! I also still have a trump card I'm saving... That can be used to defeat Mama! So live! Pretend to escape! With our plan, we ca-"

Sitting down on the stool, Norman had tried to cover up how he was really feeling with a smile, "I can't, Ray," He moved his gaze over to Alex. She was looking more upset than she did before. She hated when he acted like this. He never showed how he was really feeling. "I can't. It's no good."

"What are you talking about, Norman?" Alex clutched her blanket tightly, "Why won't you just listen to us and save yourself?!"

"A security increase isn't the only thing that's bound to happen if I do," Norman said. "If I run away, there's an incredibly high chance that either Alex, Emma, or Ray will get shipped out instead of me. Having one of you die in place of me..," Norman looked appalled at the thought of it, "Is the last thing I would ever wish for," Ray and Emma stared at the boy with expressions of shock while Alex just looked sad. Norman grinned, "Thank you. It's all right. I've already thought this through," He moved his gaze to the ground, "I must be the one to go tomorrow. I'll let them take my life. But in exchange, I won't let them take anything else from me. I have absolutely no intentions of losing. I will win! I'll make sure this escape will be successful," As if to make them feel better, he shot them a closed-eye smile, "That's all I want. It's all I need."

Alex couldn't keep herself from asking, "What about what we want? We don't want our best friend to die!" Sure... She was being selfish. She knew that. But she didn't want Norman to die. Besides... "You don't want to die either, admit it!"

"I have to do this, Alex-" Norman started to say.

"Quit messing around..," Ray was gritting his teeth with his fists clenching into tight fists, "With all of this happening... What the hell were the past six years of my life?!"

"I'm sorry." Norman was no longer smiling.

Emma raised her hands and cut into the conversation, "Then how about you and I break our legs too, Ray?" Ray looked interested in the idea while Norman looked terrified. It seems like he wasn't expecting them to do something this extreme, "You're fine with that, right?"

"That's a great idea," Alex smiled, "You guys can join me!"

Norman stood up so he could make his way to Emma, "Emma, what are you..."

"Well, you see," Emma pointed to Alex's broken leg, "Since Alex is so severely injured, I just don't think they'd dare ship her out right now. Remember what the demons were saying at the gate? We're valuable merchandise to them. We have to be in perfect condition when we're shipped. If anyone, Ray or me would be the backup. So if we both get injured just as badly as Alex, I bet they wouldn't ship any of us out."

"That's just-" Norman started.

"A good plan?" Alex inquired. "Why, yes. It is, Norman."

Ray laughed while he held his stomach, "You're damn right!"

"Ray?!" Norman was shocked at the conversation that was taking place. He should've expected them to go to these kinds of extremes, but he didn't. That was poor judgment on his part seeing as he grew up with them and should know what they're like. 

"All right," Ray made his way to Emma and Alex, "Time to break some bones," He placed a hand on his arm, "But don't you think my arm would suffice?"

Emma smiled, "Oh, yeah! Then go with your arm, please!"

"Then what about you, Emma?" Alex asked.

"Wait, hold on!" Norman yelled out. It was the only way he was going to get their attention. They were all so wrapped up in their new plan that they weren't even listening to him, "There's no guarantee that any of you will be safe just because of a broken limb."

"Then we'll just get really sick!" Emma yelled back.

Norman looked even more shocked than before. Ray tried to elaborate as best as he could, "She's saying that they wouldn't want their product to be riddled with some weird virus."

"Sounds about right," Alex nodded, "There's no way that we would eat something that had some kind of sickness. We might catch it too," She turned her attention to Ray and Emma, "I'm gonna warn you guys now. Breaking a bone hurts a lot and you already know that getting sick feels terrible. You guys will be able to handle it, right?"

"Yep," Ray said as he nodded along with Emma.

"Should we get started then?" Alex inquired. 

"No..." Norman spoke with a shaky voice.

"If even that doesn't work, just think of something else and manage to solve the problem!" Emma stated. They were all trying their best to come at this problem from a positive perspective. It was hard to do, though they still wanted to make an effort.

"We have to make sure that none of us get shipped out." Alex had a determined expression.

"Why... You three are nuts!" Norman looked at them with wide eyes, "You can't just-"

Alex cut him off before he could finish, "Yes, we can, you big idiot! For someone so smart, Norman, you can be really dense sometimes!" Alex shouted at him. "Absolutely any other bad thing in the world would be 100 times better than you dying! Didn't you say that we would escape this place together? All of us? You're included in that! We also have another promise, remember?" A sad look took over Norman's features. They both remember that day very well. "Together or not at all... That's what we said. Things aren't going our way, but death will never be an option. We can all escape, Norman. So please come with us. Live with us! If not for me then for everyone else! Just... Don't die."

Seeing the tears slowly build up in her eyes made Norman feel even worse. He was trying to protect her and the others, but it was hurting them. He wanted to sacrifice himself so they wouldn't be shipped out in his place and yet... He still wanted to live. Did that make him selfish? Norman collapsed on the stool. He rested his elbows on the bed and placed his head in his hands, "Yeah."

The four of them huddled together. A soft smile appeared on Alex's face, "I'm glad."

"Well, it's decided," Ray spoke up, "Tomorrow, you'll pretend to climb over the wall and escape."

Norman held up the binoculars that he still somehow had, "I'll also get the investigation over with then. It's better to get it out of the way before they reinforce security."

"Agreed." Emma nodded.

"Anyways, there was something in particular that's been bothering me. Speaking of, Ray..," Norman turned his attention to Ray, "I've already asked you this before but..," Ray hummed in question. "How did you find out about the 'secret' of this house? I mean there's really no way to tell under normal circumstances. Just how... Did you come to find the truth?"

"Oh, about that..," Ray smirked, "Well... I already knew from the start."