"Did you hear, Isaac Bur was one of the four who returned." One prisoner whispered to another.

The prisoner murmured back, "I know! They said he's strong now, like... immensely. He took over his block, right? Then will they recruit him?"

"You mean "them" right?" The first prisoner asked.

The second prisoner nodded, "Yes...the council..."

...

Isaac woke up in his cell, Isabelle was waiting beside him. She seemed to have something important to say.

"What is it?" Isaac rubbed his eyes while beginning to stand.

"There are some people who wish to meet you." She said before grabbing his arm.

"What-"

She tugged and brought Isaac out of their cell. As they ran out, he noticed the other cells were still closed, he then concluded something.

"H-How are we out of the cells?! It's still night!"

"Shhh!!" She shushed him and continued to lead him somewhere.

With no say in the matter, Isaac found himself brought to a janitorial closet. Yet, this was no ordinary closet.

Isabelle removed a pile of brooms leaning on the wall and revealed a switch.

Click!

A false panel came out to reveal wiring and a small tunnel leading somewhere.

Isabelle explained the current situation.

"No one knows how long this facility has been in operation, but at some point, a prisoner found this small space here while on janitor duty. From then on, a council was made, and the seats of the council have been handed down for generations. As the members died in experiments, new blood would replace them. I'm not affiliated with them but anyone who's anyone here knows about them, and they want to talk to you."

Isaac stayed silent and brushed aside the wires as Isabelle led him through the maze in the walls.

Taking out another false panel, the dripping of water echoed. Peering his head out of the wall, Isaac saw torches made from moldy wood and old clothes, outside of the light of the torches was dankness.

"We're in...a cave?"

"Yep, there are lots of tunnels down here, the council blocked off this part from the rest so they won't be found out. Surprisingly, the prison's lax rules for the prisoners allow us to accomplish a lot. Oh, and don't worry about the cameras, they have multiple people on our side within the faculty."

'So that's how our cell was open...' Isaac's interest in the council grew. If they had the reach Isabelle said, there wouldn't be an issue with a mass jailbreak, it was entirely on the table.

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

There were a few guards positioned in the tunnels, they were in their prison jumpsuits and only had primitive spears or shivs on hand. But it was easy to tell they had some prowess in the paths.

'Prisoners of war? Or are they similar to me, only they didn't come from the Bureau?'

Isabelle led Isaac into a large room, there was a primitive stone circular table with five people sitting around it.

"So you made it...good." At the center, there was a beautiful man with pink hair wearing glasses. "I am Lance, Disciple of the Path of Lust. I believe my fellows here would like to introduce themselves as well."

"Jakov, Disciple of Pride." A large white man with cascading blonde hair hummed.

"Ley, Disciple of Greed." Waving, the sickly-looking elder coughed while introducing himself.

The only woman present winked and introduced herself, she was on the thin side but her eyes burned with power. "Lesly, Priestess of Wrath."

Finally, there was a child, Isaac believed them to be older than twelve but younger than seventeen. They had brown hair and darker skin than the rest. They spoke in a strange accent.

"Dravo, Disciple of Sloth."

Lance clasped his hands together and continued. "As you may have guessed from our introduction, our paths are based on the Seven Sins, particularly, they are sub-paths of the Path of Sin, each being their sin respectively."

Isaac raised his voice and cut him off, "What do you want with me?"

Being cut off, Lance didn't seem to mind or mention it and smirked, answering, "Although this is a prison, we still receive information from the outside. We know who you are. Got a nifty arm and is said to be a great talent. Unfortunately, the Bureau doesn't like that, and you're now here, so instead, how about you join us? You've already taken over your prison block, this is the next step."

...

After the meeting, Isaac went with Isabelle to return to their quarters. Even though the council tried to heavily recruit him, he told them he needed time to think about their offer.

The council was willing to give Isaac all the resources they could give, which was surprisingly a lot, it was coming close to the amount of the Warden's own supply.

There were also multiple promises given and they even revealed plans of soon overthrowing the warden and the guards to take over the facility. From there, they would have to decide what to do as a group, but freeing themselves from their fate first was a given.

"So that was the council...why the hell is one of their members a kid?" Isaac sat down on his bed and began to prod Isabelle.

"That boy was the backup for the last Disciple of Sloth, they were in the last group that was sent for experimentation. He...never came back. Each of the council members has a backup, it wouldn't be strange for that child to have one already. In the past, the council was slower to get replacements, which resulted in the loss of two members."

"I see." Isaac didn't bother her anymore, he was too tired.

...

It was lunch. Isaac was sitting alone contemplating what to do.

'I now have options, but what should I do? Which one will bring me the most benefits so I might have a chance to fight "him"? Hah...I've wasted so much time already...'

He was at a crossroads, the choice he would make would change the structure of the entire facility and how he would go about his plans. Ultimately, he made the decision before the end of lunch.

Knock Knock

"Come in."

Isaac stepped in and stood across from the side he chose.

"I learned some things from the prisoners. They have a secret group who operate with the help of faculty inside the facility."

"Oh?" The Warden lifted his head from the paperwork on his desk and interlocked his fingers in intrigue.

"Tell me more, my dear fallen agent. With this, you'll surely find your place with the Bureau again."

Isaac went on and spilled everything. The more he spoke the more interest the warden showed, to the point he was leaning over his desk.

"Well...that was interesting. Everything you've told me has connection to "coincidences" that have been happening for a long time now. I've been so swamped with work I've ignored it to this point, but it's obvious now there have been nefarious machinations brewing within the subjects. Thank you for telling me, I will contact the Bureau about this. In the meantime, I want you to get closer to the council and join their ranks, it will make our subsequent plans easier to make."

Isaac bowed, "As you wish."