When Ronald was done with his speech, Xana had already planned out all the steps to have him wrapped around her finger. She couldn't approach him straightforwardly though, she went to him under the guise of one moved by his promises and asked for his phone number.
Ronald was not comfortable around her and quickly gave her his number and some cash. Xana smiled internally,
'First step, check. Now I can contact you after the second step is done '.
She walked home as fast as she could and started to prepare.
Firstly, she needed new clothes. ' Can't she dress neatly even though she's ugly?'
She had noticed, with her keen sense of sight and smell, that this village of hers was actually a gold field. Well, not literally.
There was a coal deposit at the back of her house extending to the bushes. There was also an iron deposit underneath the community center. But no one knew this, the government or the people were totally oblivious to this.
' Second step,' she thought 'Mine the raw materials and use it to begin making robotics '.
But she needed more materials and also an energy support. She was gonna tackle every problem coming her way and overcome them.
While she was contemplating, she heard some noises outside her door. She opened it and met three teenagers squabbling on who would knock on her door. She recognized them as the friends of the former Deanna and relaxed. She relaxed because she knew that the girl, Deanna, had a very good eye for finding friends and these chaps in front of her might be useful.
"Hi guys!" Xana broke the awkward silence that enveloped them after she opened the door to their banter.
"Oh, hi Dean", they greeted. The three of them were Sean, Maxwell and Samantha. Both Samantha (Sam) and Maxwell (Max) were the children of the village chief.
"Come in". They came in and sat on her bed, the only furniture in the room.
"Where you guys there for Hon. Ronald's meeting with the village?" Xana asked.
"Yeah, we were. Stop talking like you forgot our plans for today", Sam looked at her exasperatedly.
Xana smiled. "I didn't forget". Actually, she inherited all the memories of Deanna and remembered their plans for the day but forgot about them as she was thinking about her next step.
"Okay then, let's go", Max said.
Their so-called plan for the day was to go to the acorn field and gather acorns to sell. Xana shook her head at the poor mentality of her friends. She planned to test them a little and know if she could share her information on the natural deposits in their village.
On the way, they chatted a lot. Well, Max and Sam talked a lot and Sean butted in once in a while, while she listened. Slowly, she got to know about the characters of her friends.
Sam was a very kind person and who could never know when one was sarcastic to her.
Max was an absolutely shameless person and who loved to eat. He took fun in insulting his sister.
Sean was quiet and calm. He mostly agreed with whatever the group says.
Xana was satisfied. These were all children still wet behind the ears and she could just use them for her benefit.
"Did you guys ever know that we had iron and coal deposits under the ground?" Xana began.
"Deposits? What are deposits?" Max asked.
"Natural resources" Sean answered.
"Okay, we haven't learnt 'bout this at school yet but Sean has. So, what about it?"
"I plan to excavate them" Xana said.
The rest looked weirdly at her. Sam shook her head.
"Firstly, how did you find out. Then, how do you want to excavate them?"
"Finally, what are you using the natural resources for?" Sean asked.
Xana was stumped. She couldn't tell them she figured it out by calculating the geographical area or observing the plants that grow above it.
"I heard Mr. Ronald talk about it with the village chief" Xana replied after deciding who to pass the buck on to.
"Why didn't you tell us earlier?" Sam asked.
"Like you would have done anything about it", Xana muttered under her breath.
"Okay, we are here!" Max said to the group.
Xana looked ahead of her to see a whole field filled with acorns here and there. There were acorn trees around and if one looked carefully, one could notice deers hidden in the bushes and squirrels everywhere.
There were also baskets by the side of the field. Sam gave each of them a basket and they started to pick them up.
Xana smiled to herself as she worked. A plan was hatching in her mind.
"Guys, help!" The others heard Max's voice and they ran to where he was. They saw him in a ditch.
"Hahahahahaha", Sam burst out laughing. Sean shook his head.
"You never learn, do you?" Xana smiled mockingly.
"There will never be a portal to another world in a ditch, idiot", Sean said and put his hand onto his forehead like he was absolutely tired of the guy.
Xana started to laugh. Sean looked at her.
"Why are you laughing? Are you laughing at me?"
"Sorry, you just gave the expression of Max not having hope anymore", Xana said.
"Hey! Don't insult my beliefs. That movie is true. Next, I'll jump into a drum of water again", Max said with his hand on his chin.
Xana shook her head. 'Perfect friends she had!' she thought sarcastically.