This is a Beta Test?! - A Literally Broken System

Despite what most people would believe about her, Gem wasn't nearly as innocent as they believed. Sure, she was still a kid, barely even eight years old, but her experiences had forced her to grow up far beyond her years should allow. She knew that her family was on the run, that her Mom and Dad still looked at her with guilt in their eyes even as they did their best to hide the pain they were feeling from her. It irked her to no end, and such, she did her best to keep herself informed just to try and help in the situation.

"They're awake again..."

Weakly opening her eyes, Gem rubbed the sleepiness off her eyes as she forced herself awake. As much as she hated when her parents left her to do their little talks without her, she understood that they were doing their best for her. Even now, she was doing her best not to let her [Wonderland] get too out of her control. And while this [Manifest] thingy was something that she only learned recently, she was already making leaps and bounds in terms of improvement. Why, she hadn't even turned her bed into pink sweet goodness even once for over two weeks now!

"Mhm... What're Mom and Dad talking about?"

Shaking her head, Gem prepared herself for yet another round of listening in on her parents' conversations. It was the only way she even acquired information, and it was through this that she learned what a [Manifest] was, to begin with. She was only five when she gained the power of [Wonderland], but back then, she merely assumed that it was normal for children to have cool powers. She just wanted to turn everything sweet and gooey, and the world gave her what she wanted. Of course, nobody knew what it was that she was eating, so they just assumed that she was eating trash that her power had produced.

But they didn't understand! It was sweet and great! And it felt so fun to chew that she could even make bubbles out of it if she used her mouth right.

"I agree. Let's just hope that she won't be too agitated while we're here. It's going to be a considerable voyage as we make our way to Kattleyna."

The girl blinked as she heard her Dad speak. It seemed that she was too late to hear the entire conversation, but at least she was still going to get something out of this.

"Agreed. Gem's safety is our number one priority."

Gem's heart warmed at her Mom said that her safety was the most important thing to them. Sure, it took her a while to even know what 'priority' even meant, but the tone in her parents' voices told her that they only had her well-being in mind. It was both comforting and kind of guilt-inducing.

After all, they were doing all of this for her sake. And what was she doing to repay them?

"So, to recap, we're going to be staying here on this [Rig] while befriending the Imperial Princess. From there, we'll try and seek asylum in Kattleyna, correct?"

"Correct. If we can secure a more comfortable living space for Gem, the better. Yagokoro is the Empire's most fortified city district from what I could recall, so we should move our efforts towards securing a place there."

Gem did her best to follow the discussion. She really did. Even if some of the words flew right by her head, she used everything she had learned from her parents' teachings to stay informed.

"Something about a new house?" she murmured to herself, her ear pressed against the cold hard door as she crouched near the floor. "Yago-something... Maybe it's like this previous place that blew up?"

It was the logical conclusion. At least, that was what she thought. Why else were they out at sea again in yet another strange ship? They told her once that they were done sailing through the Shallow Deep, and yet here they were again trying to brave the darkness of the Deep.

Honestly, a part of her felt bitter about that promise. She hated that her parents lied to her. She didn't like how they promised that they were done moving from place to place and that she could finally come out and play. But no, they were traveling yet again to a place she had no idea was even about. Then again, Dad did mention an Empire once... That they were 'savages...' whatever that meant.

"Then I'll suppose I'll leave you to your job then, Carbuncle. This is your field, after all."

"And I'll leave you to worry about our safety. You can plan how to sink this [Rig] with the three of us safe and sound if negotiations break down."

"Duly noted."

Gem moved. She didn't even wait for her parents to finish talking as she made her way back onto the bed. She could tell that their talk was about to be over, and she didn't want to be caught eavesdropping again. Not after what Mom did to her as punishment.

Snuggling up into her sheets, Gem did her best to stay still as she heard the door open. Footsteps echoed behind her, and she couldn't help but tense up as she felt her parents' weight return beside her. Against her better judgment, she couldn't help but hum in contentment as the warmth of the two people that took her in warmed her heart and body.

"Gem..."

The girl smiled as she felt a hand gently rub her hair. Her Mom was starting to give her a soothing lullaby, and she couldn't help but get drowsy as she purred at the attention.

"You're awake, aren't you."

Gem froze, her eyes still closed shut even as she did her best to pretend to be asleep. In fact, she refused to budge, hoping that she wouldn't get found out if she just held her breath.

"Gem, breathe."

She shook her head. There was no way that she'd get found out now. Not after she went a whole three weeks after she was last caught. No way-

"Gem..."

A cold shiver ran down the young girl's back. Her Mom's cold tone had instilled a primal fear in her heart, and she couldn't even stop herself from opening her eyes even if she wanted to. As usual, Mom looked at her with disappointment in her eyes. The guilt ran deep in her heart, and she shrank in on herself as she waited for the punishment that was about to come.

"Are you alright?"

...

...Only, it didn't come?

Looking up, Gem could still see the disappointment, but her Mom's eyes radiated with something more than just that. There was that, and anger... and an overwhelming amount of worry and guilt.

Somehow, even if she habitually did, she couldn't help but feel bad for even trying to eavesdrop.

"Sorry..." Gem guiltily murmured.

She prepared herself for the inevitable. Surely, Mom would now chastise her again for even trying to pull this off...

"Gem, it should be us that are sorry..."

Tears prickled against Gem's eyes as yet another wave of surprise caught her off guard. Her Mom was apologizing? "W-Why?"

"We promised that we're done moving, right? That you can finally play outside without worry?"

Gem blinked at her Mom's heartfelt reply. Behind her, she could feel Dad shuffle to look at her, his gaze only further softening her heart as tears now freely flowed through her cheeks.

"We know you've been doing your best to help. That you're trying to know what's going on with us," her Mom continued. "We know you've been listening."

Gem's eyes widened. "Y-You knew? You knew this whole time?"

"What kind of parents would we be if we didn't know our own daughter?" Dad chuckled, giving her a small hug from behind. "We let you do that knowingly."

She couldn't believe her ears. Her parents knew that she was listening. Even though they punished her when they caught her, they still let it happen? But then...

"Why punish me?" she couldn't help but ask.

"Gem, we want you to learn," Mom lovingly chuckled, her hand gently brushing away some of the pink hair that got caught in her tears. "The moment we realized you were listening, we let you learn how to hide. To keep yourself hidden from us while gathering information."

Gem blinked. "Why?"

"Because it'll help you survive," Dad seriously replied. "This is normal behavior. For us, at least."

"Indeed," Mom chuckled. "We'll make sure to give you a normal life, even if it costs us everything."

Gem couldn't take it anymore as her tears finally turned into full-fledged sobs. Holding onto her parents, she took comfort in the fact that she now had a family that she could onto unlike before. But while this was nice, she also knew that she should protect it as best she could.

On that front, she knew she could help. And based on what she had already learned, she had the best teachers she could ever ask for.

"Mom... Dad... Teach me..."

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