Roald's chest tightened.
"What did you do to him—"
His voice was already rising when Lomor cut him off.
"Roald. Wait."
Roald's eyes snapped back to him.
"You've got about three seconds to explain why you're hanging from the ceiling like a butchered pig," Roald said, anger bleeding into his voice.
Lomor let out a small breath through his nose.
"That's fair."
The chains shifted slightly as he adjusted his shoulders.
"I'm sorry I never explained things back on Emberwake," he said.
Roald frowned.
"You mean when you showed up wearing a mask with half a dozen lunatics and tried to steal my ship?"
"Yes," Lomor said plainly. "That."
Roald crossed his arms.
"That would've been a good time for an explanation."
Lomor nodded once.
"I know."
He glanced briefly at the armored woman before looking back to Roald.
"The Debt Collectors needed Emberwake. She's the most powerful vessel on this side of the coast. Fast. Durable. And strong enough to punch through Nux's blockade if things ever came to that."
Roald's jaw tightened.
"So you decided to take her."
"We decided to try."
Roald stared at him for a long moment.
"…You could have asked."
Lomor gave a quiet, humorless chuckle.
"Given the way that conversation went tonight, I'm not sure it would have gone better."
Roald almost snapped back — but then he looked again at the chains, the bruises, the blood.
And the confusion returned.
"…That still doesn't explain this."
He gestured sharply.
"The ropes. The bruises. The screaming."
For the first time Lomor's voice softened slightly.
"That part isn't real."
Roald blinked.
The armored woman stepped forward calmly.
"The injuries are staged," she said.
Roald looked between them.
"What?"
"The bruises are pigments," she explained. "The cuts are shallow. They look convincing in torchlight but they won't scar."
Lomor gave a small shrug despite the chains.
"The screaming helps sell it."
Roald stared at him.
"You were screaming on purpose?"
"Very convincingly, I'm told."
The armored woman continued smoothly.
"Nux already intends to execute him. That part is inevitable."
Roald's expression darkened.
"So the chains—"
"—are the beginning of the story," the armored woman finished.
She gestured lightly toward Lomor.
"He will appear broken. Tortured. Near death."
Roald slowly began to understand.
"And then?"
The armored woman's eyes remained calm.
"And then he escapes."
Silence hung in the room.
Roald looked at his brother again — hanging from ropes, covered in carefully painted brutality.
A fake victim.
Preparing to become a real fugitive.
"…You two are insane," Roald muttered.
Lomor smiled faintly.
"That's more or less what the other guards said."
Roald let out a slow breath through his nose.
Then he looked between the two of them.
"…Alright," he said. "So what's the actual plan?"
For a moment neither Lomor nor the armored woman answered.
They looked at each other.
Not long.
Just long enough that Roald noticed.
Then she spoke.
"Our original plan was simple," she said calmly.
Roald raised an eyebrow.
"That's rarely a good sign."
She ignored the comment.
"He is scheduled for execution within the next few days. When the time comes, I will be assigned to escort him to the courtyard."
Roald glanced up at the chains again.
"And?"
"And during the escort," she continued, "he will attempt to escape."
Lomor shifted slightly in the ropes.
"Attempt," he said dryly.
Roald's eyes narrowed.
"You mean actually escape."
"Yes."
Roald looked back to the woman.
"And you're just going to… let that happen?"
Her expression didn't change.
"Yes."
Roald stared at her.
"You realize Nux isn't stupid."
"He isn't," she agreed.
"But he is confident."
She folded her hands loosely behind her back.
"He already believes his guards are inefficient. That his soldiers lack discipline. That his officers are weak."
Roald slowly began to see it.
"So when Lomor escapes…"
"…it will look like another failure," she finished.
"A prisoner slipping free during transport is hardly unheard of. Especially in a city he already believes is full of incompetence."
Lomor gave a small shrug.
"I run."
"She chases," the woman said.
"And misses."
Roald exhaled slowly.
"…That's your entire plan."
"It was," she corrected.
Roald caught the wording immediately.
Was.
"What do you mean was?"
The woman turned slightly toward the doorway, listening.
For a moment the chamber was quiet.
Then she looked back at Roald.
"Your companion has already incapacitated most of the guards in this wing."
Roald blinked.
"…Springtrap."
"Yes."
Velanora's voice remained calm, but there was a faint edge of calculation behind it now.
"The corridors are already unstable. Patrols are broken. Command chains are disrupted."
She gestured lightly to the chains holding Lomor.
"In other words… the prison is already failing."
Roald stared at her.
"You're saying—"
"We are abandoning the original plan."
Lomor looked mildly surprised.
"That's new."
Velanora stepped closer to the ropes.
"If we wait for the execution escort, we risk reinforcements restoring order."
Her eyes moved between the two brothers.
"But if we leave now—"
She grasped the chain and tested its tension.
"—we leave while the castle is still blind."
Roald's expression sharpened.
"You're suggesting we just walk out."
"Not walk."
She pulled a small tool from her belt.
"But yes."
The metal lock clicked once.
The chain loosened slightly.
Lomor let out a quiet breath as the pressure on his shoulders eased.
"We escape now," Velanora finished.
Roald looked between them.
Then he rubbed a hand over his face slowly.
"…This city is completely insane."
Velanora tilted her head slightly.
"You arrived only tonight."
Roald sighed.
"…I'm starting to notice."
The lock clicked again.
And the chain finally gave.
Lomor dropped a few inches before catching his footing.
The staged bruises and painted blood looked almost absurd now.
A fake prisoner.
About to become a real fugitive.
Velanora stepped back.
"We should move quickly," she said.
"Before someone realizes the screaming stopped."
Lomor flexed his wrists.
Roald glanced toward the corridor.
"…You know," he muttered.
"This escape plan really depends on Springtrap not blowing up the rest of the castle."
Lomor snorted.
"…That's a very real concern."
Velanora said nothing.
But for the first time—
She looked mildly worried.