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She sighed and pulled away from him, opened her purse, and retrieved a palm-sized pad. She adjustedthe brim of her wide straw hat to shade the pad from the noon glare. With a tap of her finger, sheaccessed and scanned the file she had assembled of their subject.
Number 117 had all the genetic markers she had flagged in her original study—he was as close to aperfect subject for her purposes as science could determine. But Dr. Halsey knew it would take morethan theoretical perfection to make this project work. People were more than the sum of their genes.There were environmental factors, mutations, learned ethics, and a hundred other factors that couldmake this candidate unacceptable.
The picture in the file showed a typical six-year-old male. He had tousled brown hair and a sly grin thatrevealed a gap between his front teeth. A few freckles were speckled across his checks. Good—shecould match the patterns to confirm his identity.
“Our subject.” As she angled the pad toward the Lieutenant so he could see the boy, Dr. Halsey noticed
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that the picture was four months old. Didn’t ONI realize how fast these children changed? Sloppy. Shemade a note to request updated pictures on a regular basis until phase three started.
“Is that him?” the Lieutenant whispered.
Dr. Halsey looked up.
The Lieutenant nodded to a grassy hill at the end of the playground. The crest of that hill was bare dirt,scuffed clean of all vegetation. A dozen boys pushed and shoved one another—grabbed, tackled, rolleddown the slope, and then got up, ran back, and started the process over.
“King of the hill,” Dr. Halsey remarked.
One boy stood on the crest. He blocked, pushed, and strong-armed all the other children.
Dr. Halsey pointed her data pad at him and recorded this incident for later study. She zoomed in on thesubject to get a better look. This boy smiled and showed the same small gap between his front teeth. Asplit-second freeze frame and she matched his freckles to the picture on file.
“That’s our boy.”
He was taller than the other children by a full head, and—if his performance in the game was anyindicator—stronger as well. Another boy grabbed him from behind in a headlock. Number 117 peeledthe boy off, and—with a laugh—tossed him down the hillside like a toy.
Dr. Halsey had expected a specimen of perfect physical proportions and stunning intellect. True, thesubject was strong and fast, but he was also dirty and rude.
Then again, unrealistic and subjective perceptions had to be confronted in these field studies. What didshe really expect? He was a six-year-old boy—full of life and unchecked emotion and as predictable asthe wind.
Three boys ganged up on him. Two grabbed his legs and one threw his arms around his chest. They alltumbled down the hill. Number 117 kicked and punched and bit his attackers until they let go and ranaway to a safe distance. He rose and tore back up the hill, bumping another boy and shouting that he wasking.