Chapter Text
11th November, 11:11
"Hey, Erwin," Hange said when they were doing the washing the following morning. As much as they hated the task, it had become one of the best places for discussing the plan, as there were few children tall enough to reach the top of the clothesline. "You got time to hear an idea out?"
"What is it?"
"I've been thinking a bit on how exactly we're going to get everyone out. Last night showed us that Moblit, Miche, and likely a lot of the others aren't as immature as we thought. Realistically, if we want to take everyone with us, they need to be given a good reason to escape and take it seriously enough that they won't get caught giving anything away. And we can't lie to them, so I think we should start telling them."
"Start - you mean now?" Erwin's brows raised.
"It would be helpful if more people could contribute to our preparations. Everything could move a little faster. And if Papa and Brother Reiner are focused solely on us oldest kids, it means they're not watching the younger ones enough. The numbers we have is our one main advantage over Papa that we're not utilising right now." Erwin stared at the ground, deep in thought. "Do you think that's too risky?"
"Yes," he responded easily, and they deflated a little.
"Still, I think it's the best way to catch Papa off guard, and the only plausible method for having everyone escape with us."
The younger boy sighed. "That's true. If..." he hesitated. "If we start with-"
"Erwin," Miche called out from the house's entrance, Moblit following behind them. Both held various jars in their hands. "We got it."
"Thanks, you two," Erwin took the jars. "This will be useful for our investigation tomorrow."
"How?" Moblit asked. "Isn't the next stage to see what's on the other side of the wall? What about the trackers you mentioned?"
"That's easy," Hange patted his shoulder. "All we need is a distraction."
"Exactly," Erwin said, glancing around. The other children were completing their own tasks either out of view or inside, so he led them to the wall to continue their discussion more privately. "In the same way Levi is distracting Papa right now, he'll be doing the same tomorrow, informing him about these stolen items and how they could potentially be dangerous. It'll divert Papa's attention for sure. You two will probably be lookouts, in case Levi needs to signal that Papa is coming outside or checking the compass."
"Right," Moblit said uneasily. "What about Brother Reiner?"
"I've got a plan in place for him too."
Miche sniffed loudly and then froze, his head swivelling to the right. Hange followed his gaze, and there, standing right behind the tree they were passing, was Brother Reiner himself, staring intensely at them.
"I heard everything last night in the dining hall. The target is all five of you."
Shoot.
Brother approached the four of them with slow, purposeful strides. Hange was reminded of his sheer size in comparison to the rest of them. Even Miche, who stood at over five feet tall, barely came up to his neck. With how wide and muscled he was, he reminded them a bit of the wall surrounding the orphanage, looming over them and trapping them.
Hange glanced at Erwin, at a loss for what to do. This was extremely detrimental to their plan. They'd have to stop him before he told Papa, but how to go about doing that was a mystery.
Before any of the children could respond to him, however, Brother Reiner asked them a question.
"How would you like to work together?"
"Huh?" They blinked.
Brother stared at them, unsmiling.
"We'll hear you out," Erwin took a step forward, turning back briefly to give them what was probably supposed to be a reassuring smile.
"It would benefit both of us if we cooperated to achieve our goals," Brother told them. "Your aim is to escape, and mine is to get your Papa fired from his position and take over as the caretaker of Shiganshina House."
"You want to replace him?" Moblit echoed.
"Yes. I'd like to get rid of this, ideally."
Brother Reiner referred to the yellow spiked band on his left arm. It was the same that Papa wore, and almost identical to the white bands that were sewed onto all the clothing of the children at the orphanage.
"How's replacing Papa going to help with that? Isn't his the same?" Hange asked.
"Do you know how the titan powers are passed down to others?"
"They're eaten," Erwin replied.
"Yes, but they like to choose particular people to hold those powers once they get them out of the orphanage, or when others' time is up. There will be one available for taking soon, and those that inherit them get their armband upgraded to red. It gives us more freedom. I'll have a good chance of getting one if I can prove Zeke's been careless with the secret."
"What's the significance of the yellow ones?"
"Candidates for the titan powers. White is for regulars. I was put in an orphanage just like this when I was young, but I met the requirements to be a warrior candidate."
A collective gasp sounded amongst the four children.
"You mean not everyone gets eaten?" Hange asked with wide eyes.
"It was a unique situation. There were no powers circulating in the orphanages at the time, so high scorers like myself were given an opportunity. But even if you could have done the same, I wouldn't recommend it. Once you've got a yellow armband, you're truly stuck in the system, and you can't leave their sight."
Before anyone could ask what he meant, Brother Reiner undid the top view buttons of his shirt and revealed a large scar running vertically down the middle of his chest.
"What's that from?" They peered over Miche's shoulder to observe.
"There's a power circuit inside. If I step a foot outside the facility without a titan power, it will trigger and send an electrical current to my heart and kill me instantly. If my heart stops, the tracking mechanism will inform the higher-ups."
"So we can't kill the adults after all," Erwin murmured, and the other three turned to him in shock. Of course they couldn't! Hange couldn't believe he would ever consider such a thing.
"Unless I'm granted a red armband, I have to spend all my life in these farms. Experience as a caretaker adds credit to my name, and increases my chances. To achieve that, Zeke needs to be removed from his post sooner rather than later. If you escape, he'll be blamed and struck off the list, which will benefit me."
"You're not going to ship us out?" Moblit spoke timidly. After his last private encounter with Brother Reiner, Hange couldn't blame him for hiding behind them a little.
"I won't." Brother Reiner leaned down and outstretched his right hand for Erwin to shake. "Do we have an agreement?"
"Not yet," Hange interjected before Erwin took it. "How do you know that we won't betray us?"
"You don't trust me?" He smiled lightly.
"No," they answered.
Brother laughed. "Good. But your double-edged sword is our bargaining point. If Levi tells your Papa, I'll be killed without a second thought. If I tell him Levi's double-crossing him and helping you escape, you'll all be shipped out and eaten. It's not wise for us to betray one another."
For a moment, all the children regarded him, and he stared back impassively. Eventually, Erwin grasped his hand and shook it firmly, sealing the deal.
"Excellent." Brother Reiner stood back up to his full height and folded his arms. "It's time you get back before lunch, if you don't want anyone to know you've been out here. But I have plenty of information I'm willing to share to help you escape. Come to my room tonight, if you're interested," he called back to them as he walked back out of the forest.
"Well, this makes tomorrow's inspection easier," Erwin said once Brother was out of sight. "We won't have to worry abo-"
"Are you kidding me?" Hange burst out. "He's awful. He's been in our exact position before, and all he can think about is his own gain. He'll continue the cycle of shipping us all out even though he's had siblings that have been killed because of it! He doesn't care about children at all."
"I agree. But he has no evidence of an escape plan that could be presented to his higher-ups to bring Papa down," he claimed. "So as long as we don't give him any and use him exclusively as an information source, I think we'll be fine."
"What about the rope?" Miche asked.
"The rope can be used to play with, like making a swing, for example. He couldn't conclusively use that on its own. The tracker-breaking device Hange and Levi are working on, though, would be an issue if it was discovered."
They all began making their way back to the orphanage, making sure they walked slowly enough as not to catch up to Brother Reiner.
"If he finds the parts to that..." Moblit trailed off.
"He won't," Erwin assured him. "We'll tell Levi as soon as we're back. You know him, if he wants something hidden, it won't be found. Besides, if we go to Brother's room tonight and pretend we know nothing of the trackers other than that they exist, he won't think we're already preparing to break them."
Just as they exited the forest, the bell chimed noon for lunch, and they sped up to get into the orphanage before their lack of presence was noticed.
"Hange, can you go and tell Levi what just happened?" Erwin asked. "I need to talk to Moblit and Miche as soon as we're done eating. I'll fill you in later."
"Sure," they smiled as they walked into the dining hall.
Levi was already sat down between Furlan and Eld, but he glanced at them when they passed him. There was a large gauze pack taped to his cheek. They gave him a look with wide eyes and raised eyebrows, and he tilted his head into the direction of the kitchen.
Within ten minutes, they had wolfed down their food and begun washing up their plates. Levi joined them soon after, and they filled him in.
"You're not seriously gonna take him up on his offer?" Levi asked, astonished. "That's definitely a trap. If you go to his room, that's more than enough evidence that you're plotting to leave."
"We need to, shorty. As much as I don't want to talk to him at all, there's so much he knows. He can tell us everything we might need to know."
"I doubt that. He doesn't need to tell you enough to escape successfully. He just needs the evidence that you're trying to. And if everyone gets caught after escaping, it won't matter to him. He might even get praised for it."
Hange bit their lip, darting briefly out of the kitchen to grab the last few utensils to wash up. "Erwin thinks we should."
"I wasn't asking Erwin, was I?"
"Well, I don't see that we have that much of a choice! This is a unique opportunity. You were the one that said we should use Brother Reiner for information."
"That was before all of this. It's different now."
"It's not," they argued. "It's not like we're going to act on his information only. We've still got the investigation tomorrow, and we're not giving him hints as to what you and I are doing. As for getting caught in Brother's room by Papa, can't you just distract him again?"
"With what information? Everything I have is reserved for tomorrow. Do you expect me to just pull something out of nowhere?"
"Thought that was your job," they muttered.
Levi scowled. "You two are absolute pieces of work. Why do you always get into more trouble the second I leave you alone?"
"That's our job," Hange grinned.
"You're not funny."
"I disagree."
"As you always do."
They became very solemn at that. "I feel like that's all we've done recently. I don't want to fight."
"It's fine."
"Is it?"
"This was never gonna be easy. It's... important that we don't just accept the first solution that comes to mind. You should always pick on it and see if there's something better. Otherwise you'll end up like Erwin, with your head swelling to try and fit your ego. It's really done a number on his eyebrows."
"Don't be mean!" They whacked him with a towel, cackling all the while. He smirked. "I understand, though. It's one of the most important rules of experimental science to aim to prove your idea incorrect rather than correct."
"Good. Papa will have a much easier time picking the plan apart if it's just Erwin's. Better that you go with a combination of ideas, so it's harder to predict."
"We're already implementing stuff that Erwin doesn't really agree with. I forgot to tell you, but I think it'll work."
"That's fine. Save it for another time, though. I have to think of some plausible rubbish to make up on your behalf," Levi said, drying off the worktop around the sink.
They smiled sheepishly. "Through thick and thin."
They held their hand out to him. He looked at it before hanging the towel over it.
"You'll drip water over the floor."
Hange sighed, threw the towel over his face, and ran out of the kitchen before he could retaliate.
11th November, 21:02
It was Hange and Erwin who were sent to talk to Brother Reiner after bedtime, as decided by their group discussion with Moblit and Miche during free time, where they drafted a brief plan and list of questions for the man.
"Oh, you came!" He seemed pleasantly surprised as he opened the door for them. "Ask away."
Hange and Erwin looked at each other briefly before stepping through, and they closed the door behind them. They were a little nervous, as this was an important and unique situation, but hopeful that it would go to plan.
"We can ask anything?" Erwin took the lead.
"Sure. Whether that's about the titans, the facility here, anything."
Brother Reiner sat comfortably on his bed. The yellow band typically around his jacket laid on the bedside table. Erwin nudged Hange, and nodded at them when he had their attention. They took a deep breath and stepped forward.
"Show us the compass. The thing that can locate all the trackers." They held out their hand.
Brother looked surprised for a moment before smiling and pulling the compass out of his trouser pocket, handing it over. It was so unexpectedly heavy that Hange almost dropped it.
Carefully, they opened up the lid, revealing a single needle suspended on a cog, which wavered between Hange and Erwin. They took several steps back and held the compass out to their right before sweeping it towards the left, watching as the compass adjusted to remain pointed towards them. Then Hange held it back between themself and Erwin so that he could survey how the needle swivelled between each child in close proximity.
A magnet system was more primitive than they expected. But as they didn't feel any pulling in their ear, it was likely there was a magnet within the compass' circumference that adjusted its direction based on the incoming radio waves. There was also a dial that ran around the side, and when they turned it closest to themself, the needle wavered again and slowly swung towards the wall. Fascinating.
"It's useful, but has its limits," Brother Reiner explained. "It prioritises the locations of the closest children, and becomes weaker the more obstacles are between the compass and tracker. You knew about the tracking devices, then?"
"Papa showed us once," Erwin answered absentmindedly, watching the needle as Hange adjusted the dial again. "But we don't know where it is or how to break it."
"Do you?" Hange asked.
"Yes. They're located in your ear, right around here," Brother demonstrated without hesitation. Hange raised their eyebrows. "If they break, a signal is sent to both the compass and the higher-ups. You'd have to take it out or cut an ear off if you wanted to get rid of it.
"There aren't any good blades in the house," Erwin said.
"There's a scalpel for medical use."
"Once we're outside, we won't have medicine to treat possible infections."
"The infirmary has a good supply. Don't worry," Brother Reiner smiled warmly. "It should be enough for the five of you, and I can teach you how to administer medication and where the cabinet key is. No problem!" He put his palm to his chest.
Hange tried to ignore his unnatural enthusiasm and focused on the information at hand.
Between Moblit and themself, they could probably work out the medical side of things. A key wouldn't be necessary either if several of them could use lock-picks.
"How old are you?" They asked. "You said you were raised in here like us, right?"
"21. I was raised in the Paradis facility, but not this specific orphanage."
"How many are there?"
"I don't know for certain. But they've mentioned that I'm from the west district, and that this house, Shiganshina, is the south district. Potentially four, from that information, but there's no telling whether there's definitely a north and east district as well."
"Have you been a warrior candidate for the last ten years, then?" Erwin asked.
Brother Reiner nodded.
"How long do you stay as one for?"
"As long as it takes," he responded. "There are nine titan powers, and they can be held by a single person for up to thirteen years."
"Why thirteen?" Hange asked, reminded of a prior conversation.
"Because after thirteen years, the wielder will die. The moment you're bonded to a power, it activates a degenerative disease alongside the ability to call upon that power."
"Does that apply to those within the orphanage that are unaware that they may hold such a power?" Erwin asked without hesitation. Hange's body went very cold.
"Yes."
"And that's why you take those with the highest potential at twelve?"
Brother Reiner grinned widely at that. "You're very intelligent. Though I doubt I'm the first person to tell you that. That's the cutoff age, months spent in the womb taken into account."
"Are there physical symptoms that come with the end of the thirteen years?" Hange asked faintly.
"I've never seen it. Perhaps frailty, or a breakdown of the immune system."
"Then why do they need to test the younger kids? Or anyone, for that matter? Shouldn't it be obvious?" Their voice raised without them meaning to.
Brother's expression turned sombre. "Is this relevant to your escape?"
"It's extremely relevant considering it's the reason we need to escape in the first place!"
"Hange," Erwin put a hand on their shoulder.
They huffed and snapped the compass shut, thrusting it back at Brother Reiner.
"Papa has a yellow armband too. Do you know how long he's been a candidate?"
"I can tell you that's he's 29 years old. It's on his file."
"Was he also raised in an orphanage?"
"I imagine so."
"So he's been waiting longer than thirteen years. Why?"
"I can't answer that. The higher-ups will have their reasons."
"I see. Have you seen outside of the facility?"
"No."
"No?" They were both surprised by that.
"No," Brother repeated. "I was born, raised, and trained within these walls. I've never been beyond headquarters or the orphanages. The facility itself is large, though. It's where your food, clothes and medicine is procured."
"So," Hange started, "do you know how long the orphanages have been around?"
"I don't."
"Or how long titans have been used by whoever's running them?"
"No."
"Where's the facility located?" They fixated him with a desperate gaze.
"Not a clue."
"What's the security around the area like?" Erwin asked.
"There's not a great deal. A couple on the gate at all times. They're confident that the tracking devices are more than enough."
Hange and Erwin looked at one another, then back at Brother Reiner. It was silent for a moment.
"Thank you," Erwin said, and they both stepped towards the door.
"That's it?"
"Yes. Goodnight."
Hange had gripped the handle and turned it halfway before Brother Reiner burst out laughing. They loosened their grip in surprise and turned back around, as did Erwin.
"I wonder what we must have been like as children. We were probably bad liars too, huh?"
"What do you mean?" They asked. The cold chill returned.
"Spoken words are just one form of getting information from someone. You may have asked where the trackers were, but neither of you checked your ear. Children as smart as you are far too curious not to immediately check for yourself."
Hange remembered how both Erwin and Levi had done just that when they'd first informed them about it, even though the latter had already known.
He should have come instead. They were getting sick and tired of having nothing of use to contribute, messing up their own plans, and never learning from what someone who had already lived through what they were doing had been successful at. They felt stupid. Stupid and useless. How on earth were they supposed to help everyone escape alive if they couldn't do something as simple as lie when they were barely under any pressure?
"You couldn't have been less interested when I told you how you'd need to get rid of them either," Brother continued, pocketing his compass and pacing around the room. "I don't know why you'd bother asking such things. Were you seeing what information I'd be willing to give you? I'm your big Brother, you know. I'll help in any way you need."
"How many titan powers are they looking for right now?" Erwin asked after a moment of silence.
The man grinned, and approached them both. "Just one more," he told them in a very low voice. "And it's the most important one. They call it the Founder."
"The Founder?" Hange murmured.
Brother nodded, and ruffled their hair with a hand on each of their heads. Hange couldn't stop themself from physically cringing. "It's late now. But if you like, I can tell you next time you come here."
"We'll see," Erwin said, and turned back around swiftly. "Goodnight."
Once Brother's door closed behind them, Hange grabbed Erwin by the hand and dragged him into the bathroom.
"We can talk about this tomorrow with the others," he whispered.
"No we can't!" Erwin shushed them as angry tears welled up in their eyes. They gripped their trouser legs in an attempt to resist punching him. "There's no reason for them to eat us if they can tell when the older kids are dying from their power."
"They want us all dead, Hange. We're devilspawn."
Hange sobbed at his frank words. They knew it, really. They remembered the conversation, and they'd memorised the transcript. But it was just so hard to believe something so awful was happening when it was so illogical.
"He was five," they hiccuped.
"He was." They stood in silence for a moment as Hange tried to control their breathing. "Did you notice anything about Brother Reiner?"
"Yes!" They whisper-shouted. "He was so weird. So smiley but... not really in a fake way. I don't get him at all."
"I thought so too. It was very different from how he was earlier."
"What does it mean?" They were too tired to think for themself right now.
"I can't say. I don't know whether it's relevant. What we can take from this is that Papa and Brother don't have powers, and they've been waiting for a long time for them. Others have been chosen over them, so are likely much more capable. Plus, if there's only one left currently, they're probably competing to be chosen next."
"Great. That's what we need. More people that are much smarter than us to come and hunt us down."
"We'll work it out. We got what we came for, anyway."
"We didn't learn anything about the outside at all," they sulked.
"You know what I mean."
Hange sighed. "Yeah."
"Calm yourself down. Goodnight," Erwin quietly lifted the door handle and closed it back behind him.
Hange sat on the floor with their head in their hands.
If it weren't so late at night, they would have screamed. They were feeling too many things at once, and it was overwhelming.
Everything about this was horrific and disgusting. The more they learned, the less they understood. The only thing that was becoming more apparent to them was how inhumane it was, in every way. And for what purpose? War? They wanted no part in it. That they weren't even given a choice in the matter almost hurt as much as being involved to begin with. It was unfair. So unfair.
As they collected themself, they found that they were no longer hysterical, but still angry. There were many people to be angry at. Brother Reiner, for one. Both his motives and the contrasting ways he presented himself confused them to no end.
Erwin's complete stoicism in hearing such horrendous truths annoyed them as well. Hange didn't understand how he could just turn off his feelings like that.
Learning that Papa too had been in their position and not just Brother Reiner had really taken the cake, though. Why on earth would he try to stop them from escaping? If they were in his shoes, they'd certainly give their life so that others could live on. Especially if they were set up to not only inherit a power that would force them to fight in a war, but put a deadline on their life in the first place.
The bathroom door opened, and Hange shot up as Levi almost tripped over them.
"What are you doing?" He hissed.
"Nothing." They wiped their face.
Levi shook his head before turning to the sink, prising off the gauze on his cheek with a shaky hand. The purpling bruise starkly contrasted his pale skin, and it made them wince. He'd had few injuries before, but they always seemed to heal within a day or two, and never looked this bad.
"Do you need help?"
"No. Go to sleep. If Papa checks the compass now, he'll think we're exchanging information."
"Fine," Hange muttered, sick of their so-called best friends.
Levi didn't even look up from rinsing his face as they left.
They very much intended to sleep as to prepare for the investigation the next day, but found their mind was far too overactive. Tomorrow wouldn't grant them much time for talking out tonight's conversation with the others - and two of them were apparently completely uninterested in it, they thought bitterly - so they ended up in a mental dialogue with themself for several hours.
Dawn arrived before they knew it.