The Reagent

Obedience

                  

She felt a strong pair of arms lift her body from the rusty, metallic surface as she continued her pretence of being asleep.

The excited voices could now only be heard in the distance whilst she almost relaxedly stay put in the comfortable arms of her saviour.

She will execute this plan perfectly. After all, it was part what WICKED relayed for her to do and it was also an act of obligation and generosity to them.

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She looked at the screen showing the glade one last time. This was it. Her last day of working at WICKED before she had to be transported to the maze, but unlike the others, she would be going on her own will.

She had been doing watching over them ever since the maze trials had started. She accessed the glade through the screen using a beetle blade. She knew all of the glader's names, knew all of their situations, what they've been going through, including very unfortunate deaths and near-deaths from the very beginning.

From within the compound of trees her beetle blade was hiding in, she discreetly scanned the gardens where the track-hoes as they called it, were working. Amongst those group of boys was Newt.

She didn't know why, but ever since the start she has always took notice of him. Not only was it because he actually was eye-catching in terms of looks, but perhaps it was because of the way he grew and changed over the years. This particular boy interested and intrigued her the most out of all of them. She had witnessed everything - his smiles at the start which turned to griefs and sorrows overtime. Of course, that included his attempt at the wall.

However, what she didn't know was that within his facade of happiness or enthusiasm, he was suffering on the inside, since he had always hid his feelings and never poured out to anyone. Not even his best friends Minho or Alby.

When he returned to the maze with a limp, that's when she realised that Newt was in fact, fragile and vulnerable. He had been keeping his hopes up at the beginning, but soon his resolve had shattered which nearly caused him his life.

Since the incident, she grew a tiny fraction of fondness for him. He held an albeit small, but special place in her heart. This she hated to admit. She wasn't supposed to feel anything for them -be it pity or admiration- since she was working against them.

As soon as the boys had finished tending to the crops, she heard the clicking of heels fast approaching her desk. She stood up from her seat and turned to the direction of the sound, whilst smoothing out her plain white short-sleeved shirt and denim shorts.

It was Ava Paige, the chancellor and also her aunt.

The woman stood in front of her. As always, the girl felt intimidated by her demeaning presence, as she looked up at her icy blue eyes. Somehow, they held a malicious intent in them, but she couldn't pin-point what exactly it was. She reminded herself that they were related, so there was no reason for any of those feelings.

"Do you understand what you have to do, Elizabeth?" Ava asked, making sure that their plan will be perfectly executed by their precious variable.

The said girl recited their plans flawlessly with no hesitation:

"Make them believe you are innocent. That you have been put in there just like them and make Subject A05, -or rather, Newt as he is called- to fall in love with you."

"That's a good girl. I knew I didn't raise you up for nothing," Ava Paige and gave a slight smile to Elizabeth. The latter missed the slight glint of eeriness in her eyes that appeared momentarily as she glanced at her niece.