"How's the Wiggin project going?"

"Well. Except for this psychopath that Anderson put in charge of monitoring the kid. If I had the time, I'd get him off it, but no one else is qualified. He thinks the boy isn't good enough. If he isn't good enough, then I don't know who is."

"What about the sister?"

"Valentine? She's only two; we've had her in our program for just about a year. From what we've seen, very different from the brother. Kinder, sweeter, more malleable. She doesn't appear to have the 'killer instinct', but it's still early. Why? You don't agree with the man, do you?"

"Rotesan, we have to consider all possibilities, be prepared for the worst. Who else is on the list for saving the world?"

"The two we had before didn't pan out, and a potential we had our eyes on broke down. We had to send him home. Pace, we can accept a kid with a tendency toward violence; it's the ones that are weak that can't spare a glance for. Come on, let's take him!"

"Easy. No, not yet. We wait. We watch. And if this 'psychopath' has a history of being right, be even more cautious. This is not the time for mistakes."

"Ever wish you were one of the ignorant population of a remote country that didn't even know there was a war going on?"

"All the time. Supervising the training of kids to be saviors of the world is very stressful."

Oliver was a big boy for four. He wasn't that violent, though, just surly. He didn't like his new home, and announced it loudly and often. When he had finally decided the moment, Peter rallied his troops around him for attack: his cronies Brendan, Sebastian, Tina, and Charlie. After Oliver made a particularly rude comment about the school and its occupants while the teacher was out, Peter strode over to him. At least, strode as well as a 4-year-old can stride.

"Oliver," he announced. "I don't like your attitude."

"At-dude what?"

Peter rolled his eyes at his friends, as if to say, he's so dumb, he doesn't even know how to pronounce it. More classmates began to gather around, sensing the animosity.

"You're stuck-up," Peter clarified.

"Hey!" Oliver retaliated, pouting. Peter suddenly changed tactics, appealing to his audience for help.

"Did you all notice how Dandy was scared this morning?" The little children nodded eagerly, happy to participate. "I think it was because of him!"

They were only too eager to supply the reasoning behind this. "Yesterday, I saw him poke his cage, and I think he was saying bad things to Dandy!" shouted Sasha triumphantly.

"He doesn't belong here," Peter spoke to the crowd. "He thinks he's better than us! Remember how he refused to do the math on the board this morning?"

The kids all clamored agreement.

"We have to show him he's worse than us," Peter went on. "No one can be friends with Oliver anymore, because he was so mean to Dandy. If he's mean to Dandy, he'll be mean to us."

"I saw him push Cara yesterday!"

"He was so stuck-up; he wouldn't sit next to anyone at lunch!"

"Bugger-lover!"

"Yeah!"

Peter smirked at Oliver, who burst into tears, and ran to hide under one of the tables. Yes! He'll never be mean to me again, he gloated.