39:52

"After the hard work and when we were finally done, we went to the guy so that he can pay us, but of course, the money weren't enough for a group like ours. The man was stingy and only cared about his own person as well. Even Three was mad after the whole hours we had to spend for such a small payment. So, when we got back, he already had another plan."

[4S58]-...That man was surely a pain in the ass. But what are we going to do now? The night is coming and I don't think we could find someone to hire us very soon.

For some reason, the kid who goes by the name of Six in these times is holding a small sling and plays around with it, holding the elastic band and looking through it as if he aims at something.

[630G]-*sigh* Maybe if we ask the leader for a small advice? I mean, he goes with some of the other people around the city to work as well and gets a pretty decent payment.

[4S58]-At this hour, though, I don't think it has any point in asking...

[630G]-Then maybe if we ask around the city again? Maybe we will get lucky somehow.

[39J2]-Just stop with this conversation, you two. There is no need of us to work for someone else today anyway.

And yet, Six aims at Three, hitting him with a small rock and annoying him.

[39J2]-Hey! You got nothing better to do!?

[630G]-Heh...

[4S58]-What do you mean by that? We barely got money to buy some new clothes for the others and ourselves.

[39J2]-I mean that I know a way of getting some money in the end.

[4S58]-Really? How so?

[39J2]-This night we will go back to that guy again, but this time... we will take a part of his money, the money that we deserve.

Yet everyone is in shock this time. Both Eight and Four look surprised at him, and even Six stops playing with his small weapon.

[8LK1]-Wha... Are you insane!? What if we get caught?? I don't want to die this young!

[39J2]-We won't get caught. We will wait for him to go to sleep and enter the building in which he lives and in which we gave our souls today. We already know his house as he put us to clean a room, so it will be easier for us to know where he hides the money. And I think I got an idea already of their position...

[8LK1]-Oh, yeah? Then where are they, genius??

[39J2]-...Next to his bedroom, there was a door locked which seems to be the room in which he works. I saw it when I was trying to find a box he told me about.

[630G]-What makes you think they are in there?

[39J2]-In none of the house's rooms seem to be a good place to hide money, and it is a bit strange to lock that door out of nowhere if you don't have anything to hide.

[8LK1]-Don't you think it is still a bit risky? I mean, if the room is next to his bedroom, won't he hear us if we get in?

[39J2]-Do you really think that lazy man is that clever to realise someone is inside? He will probably just ignore the noises and continue his sleep.

[630G]-Even so... going in someone's house and stealing their property isn't really something that we do so often... We aren't so experience as you might think.

[8LK1]-Yeah!! Besides, what if the M soldiers see us!? You know they punish thieves the same way the would've punish us if they knew our true race!

[39J2]-You guys sure don't like to trust me, eh?

[4S58]-It's not that we don't trust you, Three, but a plan like this could cost us more than just a few coins. Six and Eight have their point in being a bit doubtful about it. We are trying to survive, not to kill ourselves.

[39J2]-And you think that man is the only one who is stingy in this whole city? Our chances to not get any kind of payment tomorrow again are pretty high. The M borns are evil people, remember?

[4S58]-Even so... is it worth the risk?

[39J2]-Is it not worth the risk, Four? We risk every day just by living.

[4S58]-Yeah, but--

[39J2]- --Look, I will make sure nothing bad happens. It's not like we are surviving together for just one day and we barely know each other. I know we can do it! I just know it! ...But I need your support as well if we want to succeed. So... I'm asking you again... are you with me or not?

"...His plan was simply insane, yet we were all so young and wanted so bad to make a decent living. Even with all of these problems in his plan, we had nothing better to do in that night anyway. In the end... we were by his side."

47:39

"When the sleep schedule of the city started, we were putting his plan in action. We went to the building in which we've worked that day and started looking for an entrance. Our way in though... was a window of his apartment, in which we entered silently."

And so, the kids entered the man's house late at night and they were sure he was asleep as they were hearing him snoring. They followed Three and tried to find the key to the room, searching around the entire house, the only room left being the man's bedroom. Six announced them that he will go alone, while they were still trying to find it in another room. It wasn't that hard for him to get it though, as he got in the room and walked silently to find the key, which was hidden in one of the man's drawers. He left quickly after and got to his friends and started opening the door.

"...The moment we entered the room though, nothing from what we were seeing there was something familiar to us. There were computers everywhere and papers with sketches on them, which I didn't really understand what they represent, but we started to search for the money not long after we admired a bit this strange room."

The four kids start looking around the room for the money as said. Some look around the papers, others in the drawers, yet it doesn't take long before someone finds something interesting.

"After a while... Eight, while searching, found a strange device which was similar to those advanced ones that people of our kind use to disguise themselves. We knew about their existence before, but we had never been able to put our hands on them. They were so rare as far as I knew. So, Eight took it and showed it to us, which Three simply didn't want to even hear about it, only for him to refuse Three's denial silently to put it back. It is normal that he decided to keep it though... if you find something that you know it might be useful to you in the future, why should you abandon it? Your instincts kick in and keep everything that might have a use to your survival."

After some time of searching, they finally found the money. There was a huge bag full of them and they were very excited seeing this amount in their hands. They started taking from them and putting them on their pockets, as much as they could.

"...But it didn't take long before we finally found what we came for in the first place. We were so happy finding so much money and being able to take it back to our group. Yet the happiness ended when we started smelling something strange, some kind of gas coming from outside the room... Then, we finally realised that we couldn't hear that annoying sound that we were battling ever since we entered this building. A snoring of a man that we hated so much... yet it stopped without us noticing because of the happiness.

It... seemed that we made too much noise and he heard us during our celebration. We started searching for a place to hide, and the first one to find it was Three. He showed us to hide under a desk and let himself be the last one to hide, as he didn't have space next to us anymore. In a moment of adrenaline, he started searching for a place for himself as well... even if... he didn't succeed."

Before Three could find a place to hide too, the man entered the room, carrying with him a gun, and as he noticed the little boy, he started shooting, putting him on the ground for good. The other kids though were watching this whole time what was happening, and when they saw Three taking his last breath in front of their very own eyes, Eight and Four started crying, Six being close as well.

"That night... we lost one of us for the first time. Three was the first one to be one of the fallen ones from the whole group. Seeing him dead... marked me for life. I covered up my other friends' mouths though... so that the man wouldn't hear us as well... but I was about to start crying myself. And yet... I had to keep myself strong for my friends. It was hard for me to look, to see an old friend die in front of my eyes... so I closed my eyes, waiting for the man to leave... and get ourselves out as soon as possible... looking at Three one last time, for a small goodbye.

It... didn't take long after we got back at our place with the money... traumatised from what happened. I was the one who reported everything about what happened that night, as Eight was still in shock... and Four and I had to calm him down. But even we were doing badly after seeing him die... Yet we remembered about the strange device and showed it to the boss, even though he wasn't so interested in it after hearing about the whole incident. Can't really blame him... I wouldn't be interested in these type of things after such a report, but... he took it with him anyway in hope we might learn how to use it.

...And as Three was the one leading us whenever we went somewhere alone... we had to decide who will take his position. To my surprise, they both said that I should be the one in cause... yet I didn't know what should I do since I wasn't really born a leader, but we had to keep going forward... for him."