03. And So It Begins

"Does Seph seem off to any of you?" Julia asked suddenly at dinner.

"Yeah," Eddie agreed, "she seemed a little off after training today." The conversation they shared feeling a little out of the blue.

Georgie put his fork down, really thinking about Seph's recent behavior. She wasn't any more or less demanding than usual. The late night training a couple times during the week wasn't out of the ordinary either. As far as he knew, Seph was completely normal.

"Seph is fine. You guys are probably just tired."

"Joan, do you mind?" Julia asked.

Joan pulled out her tablet, looking through some of the security feed. She pulled up the training room and put it up for everyone to see.

There was Seph, still in her training gear, taking shots at a punching bag. Over and over.

"Looks like normal Seph stuff to me. She always goes to the workout room after group training."

"Yeah, but look at this. This is from about 2 weeks ago." The old feed showed Seph in her training gear, throwing punches at a bag. Joan put the old and current feed side-by-side.

"It looks the same to me," Eddie said, squinting.

"Hush, sweet summer child," Osamu put his finger over Eddie's lips as he leaned closer. "Let me look."

"She's pulling," Julia said, "that's not a full force punch-"

"I was getting there," Osamu grumbled.

"No you weren't, Samu." Julia continued, "As opposed to right now, when-"

The team watched as Seph landed a punch that forced the bag off the chain and onto the floor with a loud thud.

"Well, fuck me, then."

"Osamu, cut it out!" Georgie slapped the side of his head.

"This is serious!" Julia glared at Osamu. "But that's not even the worst part. Look at this." Julia turned and nodded at Joan, who pulled up the feed from 4 days prior.

It showed Seph punching the bag before slumping against it and falling to the floor. She laid there, not moving from what they could see on the camera.

They all frowned watching their leader curl up into a ball.

"She stays like that for the next hour, just laying there. It's messed up. I mean, I spend a lot of time studying Seph, but this is just ridiculous. Even by her standards. Don't you guys just get a little curious? Seph has been here the longest and we know nothing about her. Not really, anyway."

"That doesn't make Seph any less of a leader. People are entitled to their secrets. Let it go, Julia."

"But, Georgie-"

"If it's important enough for Seph to tell us, she will. Until then, I don't wanna hear about it any more."

Joan's tablet beeped with a notification.

"Guys, the Lieutenant needs us."

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All 6 teens stood at attention as Lieutenant Sage entered.

"This might come as a surprise, but you were going to find out eventually. You are not the only ones working toward ensuring the future of the world. In other facilities, there are more like you, teens being trained and tested.

Julia and Joan glanced at each other, while Osamu stood with furrowed brows.

"Unfortunately, a small group of these. . . individuals has broken away from WCKD and turned against us."

Lieutenant Sage put the faces of the remaining subjects from Maze A on the screen. Seph's eyes briefly narrowed in anger before returning to its normal, stoic expression.

"Thomas, Minho, and Newt are your priority," the three pictures were enlarged on the screen, "but any number of them that you manage to retain will be a success. You're being sent to the Scorch, which is their last known location. Once you locate and retain them, send a signal so that an extraction team can come get you."

Sage placed a beacon in front of Seph before pulling up another file.

"We also believe that they may be in search of the Right Arm, a rebel organization seeking to end WCKED and the world. It is imperative that you get to these boys before the Right Arm does."

"When do we leave?" Seph asked.

Lieutenant Sage looked down at Seph, thoughtfully. "Right now. And remember-"

The six of them chimed back at her,

"WCKED is good."

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QOTC question of the chapter :

What do you think caused Seph's "weird" behavior?