The Gray Men’s plot to isolate Momo

The Men in Gray’s plot to isolate Momo begins as a response to their fear of confronting her directly and turns that vulnerability into a strategy: separate her from the people she loves, then use her loneliness to bargain for access to Professor Hora. The plan marks a change in tactics, from meeting an unknown danger themselves to manipulating Momo through her friendships.

Crisis and Change of Tactics

The discussion takes place in the Men in Gray’s boardroom, where panic follows a speaker’s warning that Professor Hora may have armed Momo against them. The directors shout, drum their fists on the table, or bury their heads in their hands. A calmer speaker restores order by arguing that direct combat is unnecessary. The fate of their late employee, Agent No. BLW/553/c, has already shown how ill-equipped they are for such a confrontation; they have human accomplices who can be used discreetly instead.

That proposal brings relief, but the next speaker reframes the problem. The Men in Gray’s motive, he acknowledges, is fear, and fear may be obscuring an opportunity: rather than simply get rid of Momo, they could try to recruit her. They believe she has found the route to Professor Hora that they have long failed to discover. If she can find it again, they reason, she can lead them there, allowing them to deal with him on their own terms. In this version of the plan, Momo is not only a threat but a possible guide.

The Proposed Bargain

The recruitment idea raises the question of deception. A sceptical director doubts Momo would cooperate if she understood their purpose. Another speaker rejects the need to lie: they could tell her their plan and make the offer attractive by promising her as much time as she wants. When the sceptic suggests that the promise would later be broken, the speaker answers that Momo would immediately sense if they did not mean it. The exchange presents the proposed inducement as a promise the Men in Gray claim they would have to make sincerely, not as an openly admitted falsehood.

Yet the board does not settle on persuasion alone. A tenth speaker redirects attention from Momo to the people around her. He argues that she loves spending time with others and asks what her abundance of time would mean if she had no one with whom to share it. He produces a folder from his briefcase containing the names of Beppo Roadsweeper and Guido Guide, along with a list of children who visit Momo regularly. His proposal is to lure these friends away so that she cannot reach them.

Isolation as Leverage

The plan’s intended pressure depends on a specific contrast: time may be plentiful, but without companionship it can become a burden. The tenth speaker predicts that Momo will eventually be unable to endure that isolation and will then accept the Men in Gray’s terms in order to get her friends back. His wager of a thousand years to a microsecond makes the proposed coercion’s scale vivid: they expect to exchange her access to her friends for the route to Professor Hora.

The scheme therefore treats Momo’s generosity not as a weakness in itself but as a bond that can be turned against her. The Men in Gray do not propose defeating her in a direct contest; they aim to change the circumstances around her until her care for others becomes their leverage. Beppo Roadsweeper, Guido Guide, and the children are identified as targets because they are part of her regular circle, not because they are described as opponents.

Decision and Significance

The board’s response gives the proposal its immediate consequence. The Men in Gray, previously downcast, raise their heads; their faces break into thin-lipped smiles and they applaud. The sound carries through the corridors. Their reaction signals collective enthusiasm for the plan, though this discussion itself establishes the strategy rather than showing the luring of Momo’s friends being carried out.

The episode turns the boardroom debate from a question of how to fight an unknown danger into a design for isolating a child through the relationships that sustain her. It also clarifies what the Men in Gray want from Momo: not merely her removal, but her ability to find Professor Hora. Their apparent willingness to offer her time and their decision to threaten her friendships are two sides of the same calculation—first offer a way to gain her cooperation, then make separation from her friends the pressure that may compel it.