Nobody broke the silence. Food was brought in as always, and the children ate. They didn't steal from each other—each took their fill. There were exactly ten bowls of food, so no fighting was necessary.
They didn't play afterward. The exhaustion from everything that had happened today weighed heavily on them. They went to sleep, even though the lights were still on.
This time, Li Heng didn't have a dream like the one before. He slept peacefully.
When he woke up, he looked around. Some children were still sleeping, others were already awake. The lights were not on, which meant it was either night or early morning. It felt more like morning. Even though the food bowl was not small, one fill a day was only enough to keep them from starving. It would have been good to have something more to eat.
Li Heng looked at Number 2 and Number 3, who were still sleeping, and waited for them to wake up. He glanced at the others who had already risen, but no one paid attention to him. They ignored his looks.
"Well, I didn't want anything bad," Li Heng muttered to himself, feeling ignored.
After some time, Number 2 finally woke up.
"Good morning," Li Heng greeted.
"Oh… yes… good mooorning," Number 2 replied, still groggy. Their interaction roused Number 3 as well.
"Yes, good morning," said Number 3.
"Well, everything looks normal, so nothing happened during the night," Number 3 added.
The lights turned on. About five minutes passed in stillness before the door opened. A guard walked in. Then another. In total, ten guards entered the room.
"Sit on your respective beds. We mean no harm," one of them said.
Not like I can resist them, Li Heng thought. They wouldn't kill them—it was clear they were needed for the project.
Of course, the kids were scared, but they didn't resist. The guards brought suitcases with them and approached each child, one guard per child. The guard nearest to Li Heng set down a suitcase, picked up a small chip, and took out a stun gun-like object from his waist. He inserted the chip into the device, held Li Heng's head with one hand, and pressed the object against his neck. Pop. A sharp pain, then nothing else. The guard packed up quietly.
Li Heng saw one child try to resist. The soldier pinned him in place and swiftly struck the back of his neck, knocking him out before performing the same procedure.
Then, the guards left—presumably heading to the next room.
"Are you alright?" Li Heng asked Number 2 and Number 3.
"Yes," they both answered in unison.
"What do you think it was?" Number 3 asked.
Li Heng thought for a moment. "Well, it should be a monitoring or tracking thing," he replied, trying to reason it out.