Kenny swiped her ID card on the scanner next to her room, and the doorknob twisted under her hand. She slipped into her room and checked for her roommates, making sure she was alone before hurrying to her closet. With another swipe of her ID card, she opened her closet door and made herself comfortable on the floor.

Once she was settled, Kenny wasted no time removing the binder from her backpack. She turned to the third page of the files and retrieved her penlight from the corner of the closet. After clicking the light on and finding her place, the young girl continued reading the decoded papers:

09-20-50

In the Nursery, Group B produced results similar to Group A's. We found that children with related Gifts went through the same symptoms or Gift overexertion.

Example One: Blaze, Group A, and Warmth, Group B, both experienced second degree burns on their palms after holding fire for more than seven hours.

Example Two: Metal, Group A, and Magnet, Group B, both displayed an inability to touch the presented iron or nickel alloys without the metal changing shape after hour six.

Dr. Anderson has not returned from her trip to Snowcoast yet, so Dr. Zhang is temporarily the head of the Nursery project. He has decided that next week's research should focus on the sudden bouts of strong Gift usage that occur after five hours of constant Gift usage in all Gifted children. He is to message the head of iWAB's Gifted Department to see if she could conduct the same research we have been doing with the children on a group of Gifted adults. We will hear back from her within the next several days and compare research.

09-21-50

Group C displays many of the symptoms that members of Group B and A share. However, we have noticed that the severity at which they experience the symptoms lessens as we work with members of lower groups. Less students are fainting before the tests have finished, which suggests that the shorter one's Z-area is, the longer they can exert their Gift. We're looking for evidence as to why this happens and guess it has to do with the amount of energy being used comparing the ability of Group A's members to Group C's.

09-22-50

Groups D's results support yesterday's hypothesis. The tests seem to be going well, and the LM works fine. There is a slight concern about a boy from Group A who allegedly remembers his time at the Nursery. Dr. Anderson is still absent from the campus, and we're having difficulty finding someone to ask him about what he knows. We'll have to administer a stronger dose of the lacumemine drug next time he's present in the Nursery.

09-22-50

Both Group E and F were tested today; this year, the Nursery closes on Fridays. Only one child fainted from Gift overexertion, and this was only because he was unable to take in oxygen after breathing water for eight hours. Overall, the bouts of uncontrollable Gift usage were weaker and less violent than they were in Group A. The head of the Gifted Department returned Dr. Zhang's message, and the research she produced is listed in the chart below (Figure 1).

Kenny felt sick to her stomach as she reread the previous paragraph. Only one child fainted from Gift overexertion.... The only student at AGC with the ability to breathe both water and air was Fins. Kenny shook her head, pushing away any thoughts of what happened to Fins in the Nursery, and propped open her closet door with a book for more air. After taking several deep breaths, she continued reading:

09-24-50

The members of Group G never reached the point of Gift overexertion. They display incredible endurance, and their blood pressure readings were normal the entire eight hours. The only symptom they experienced was exhaustion. However, that might have been caused by the Nursery's hours rather than Gift usage. Mr. Roberto is working on a formula to explain how the G groupers were able to use their Gifts for longer periods for time than the A groupers.

Nurse Clara Hathaway spoke to the boy from Group A who remembered what had happened during his time at the Nursery. It appears he's always remembered being at the Nursery, and lacumemine has never effected him. This is alarming and will be studied tomorrow at the Nursery. Dr. Anderson will be notified about this so she can assess the boy's mental stability when she returns.

09-25-50

As planned, we studied the sudden bouts of Gift usage. They were most prominent in children with destructive abilities, such as Blaze and Electra. However, Flower unconsciously grew an entire field of flowers and was seemingly in pain as she did so. We recorded the children's readings in the chart below (Figure 2).

Problems are beginning to occur with the anti-anxiety effects added to the LM. The children seem to remember all of the tests that we have conducted once they set foot in the Nursery. Perhaps the setting triggers the recollection, but it isn't pleasant for the children. Because of this, students will not be allowed more than twenty feet near the building without severe consequences. Mr. Roberto, Mrs. Kendrick, and Dr. Harley will attempt to understand how this happens and create a new version of the lacumemine.

Einstein, the boy who recalled the Nursery without setting foot in the building, was given a larger dose of the lacumemine and questioned when he awoke. He was still able to recall the events of the previous night and is currently being studied. We think he may have another Gift; perhaps one that causes him to be unaffected by the LM. Because of the unpredictability that children who know of the Nursery program have shown, we may have to hold Einstein in the Nursery. Nurse Hathaway will speak to him.

Addition: Nurse Hathaway claims that Einstein has the Gift of mental manipulation or hypnosis. He reportedly told her to let him leave the Nursery, and Nurse Hathaway was unable to stop him from returning to his dorm. Because we have never seen a Gift such as this, it is important that Dr. Anderson returns and a Namer is brought into the Nursery--

Kenny's closet door was yanked open, and the girl jumped. A few stray papers were blown off her lap and onto the floor. She scrambled to pick them up before whoever opened her closet door could look at any of them closely.

"Why are you in your closet?" Metal asked as she bent down. She picked up a page and skimmed over it with her eyes before Kenny could take it back. Her face darkened immediately. "What is this? Who gave you these papers?"

Frozen, Kenny stared up at Metal. She wasn't sure what page Metal was looking at, but she knew whatever the teen had read wasn't agreeable in any way. She was surprised when her roommate handed the papers back to her, looked her in her eyes, and said, "You shouldn't have these. I know what they are, and I know where you got them."

Kenny paled, her cards forgotten in her pocket. She couldn't focus on anything other than the thought of her being lead in front of a firing squad-- one of the many ways she could be terminated-- or being taken to Detention.

"Dr. Anderson has been searching for those exams for weeks now. You should return them so she can give them back to Mr. Roberto." Metal stood." Don't look so anxious. I won't tell anyone as long as you return them."

Metal stood and walked away from the closet. Kenny let out a sigh of relief. Miss Kaylee must have told students that she had lost a stack of tests and was looking for them. The girl turned to the page Metal had skimmed over, relived once again to find that it contained more equations and charts than words. She felt as though her heart was beating as fast as a hummingbird's, and her hands trembled as she put the papers back into her binder.

Kenny decided she had done enough reading for one day. She left her closet and sat at her desk to begin her homework.

****

When the final bell rang at the end of the school day, Kenny was unsure as to where she was going. She found that her dorm was much too noisy in the afternoons; Metal's interruption was the first of many that had occurred the previous day. However, she didn't want to sit alone in the library with Miss Gavin again. She found herself wandering the school building to waste time. However, before she could stroll very far, Einstein appeared by the young girl's side.

"I wanted to apologize for my actions yesterday," he stated. "I was irritable, and I let this emotion cloud my judgement. I didn't mean to cause you any harm."

Kenny was silent for a moment before replying, I know that.

Einstein scoffed. "You're supposed to say something along the lines of, 'It's okay. I forgive you.'"

Kenny rolled her eyes at the boy, but she didn't respond. In truth, she had thought about Einstein's question for several hours before she managed to fall asleep last night. She'd taken the card that she thought explained why she didn't speak out of its hiding place and stared at it for the time she was awake. However, the more she'd squinted at the card, the more she realized how untrue it was. Before attempting sleep, she ripped the card into several pieces and thrown it in the trash.

Einstein cleared his throat. "I'll change the topic of conversation, then, because this is awkward. You said you logged into a PHC on campus, correct?"

Kenny nodded.

"Well, I've been thinking about how this escape plan is going to work. So far, I have this: I'll borrow Gene's ID card and we'll both sneak out of our dorms. Gene has access to the Nursery and Detention building because he spends his Training classes conducting genetic research there, not because of whatever you're thinking. Anyways, I'll borrow his card, and we'll sneak into the building together. Gene told me there are no scanners in the building except for on the door of the room he trains in, so we should be able to get into a room with a PHC. You'll log on, and I'll turn off all scanners and video cameras for exactly ten minutes. Then I'll leave AGC."

Kenny titled her head. She pulled a card from her pocket and paused to use the wall as a writing surface. The gate?

Einstein frowned. "I didn't think of that. Though doesn't the gate have a scanner? I believe it should be open."

Kenny looked for other flaws in the plan and found too many to count. What if Gene noticed his ID card was gone? What if the two were seen out of their dorm after curfew? What if the computers on campus weren't connected to each other, and Kenny wasn't logged into any other of the other computers? What if the gate didn't open? Then, if everything went as planned, what would Einstein do if he truly did escape? He wouldn't make it very far if he ran, and children their age weren't allowed on any form of public transportation by themselves.

"If this doesn't work, we need a plan," Einstein voiced, calming Kenny's thoughts. "If we get caught, we need to figure out what we'll do. Do you have any suggestions?"

Kenny shook her head. You?

"I have one idea. I can tell whoever spots us that I manipulated you, and you're not doing anything of your own free will. They won't kill you that way."

At the word "kill," Kenny visibly flinched. She was still shocked at the severity of Einstein's predicament. He could either stay at AGC as nothing but an object to be experimented on or escape and face death upon being caught. The fact that he was a six-year-old didn't help much.

Kenny wanted to shake her head and tell Einstein that she deserved every much of the blame as he did if the plan failed. However, she knew that if they were caught, the best thing would be for one of them to take responsibility. She doubted a school administrator would wait for her to remove her index cards for her pockets and explain that the entire situation was her fault before taking both her and Einstein to Dr. Zhang.

Kenny removed a blank card from her pocket and leaned against the wall. One of us will take responsibility.

"I'll do it," Einstein stated firmly. "I'll take the blame. It'll make sense. Several of my teachers expect me to try to escape, anyway, so it won't be a surprise to them."

Kenny pursed her lips and changed the direction of the conversation. When?

Einstein frowned. "When what? When will we execute the plan? The best day to do it would be a Friday, as the Nursery is closed on Fridays. Speaking of the Nursery, what have you done with the files? Did you return them?"

Kenny shook her head. I read it.

"You really should return those files. Dr. Anderson is becoming suspicious and is beginning to think someone stole them. I heard she's telling people they're missing tests. If you could call experiment results tests." Einstein gave a humourless chuckle. "Did you find anything that could be of use to me-- er, us?"

Kenny shook her head. I searched it up.

Einstein froze mid stride, his eyes widening. "Oh no. On a computer? What did you search up?"

Kenny stuck out her thumb and her pointer finger to make an L before using her index, middle, and fourth fingers to make an M. LM.

"You searched up lacumemine!" Einstein exclaimed. "Why would you do that? I told you the computers had a virus on them so you wouldn't use them!"

You lied, Kenny replied as her eyebrows furrowed. She didn't know why Einstein was worried about her research. Why?

"I lied-- as I always do-- for a reason. I didn't want you to use the computers because all student searches can pulled up by any school administrator. If they look at your history, they'll find that you've been searching for a drug that's supposed to be nonexistent to students. They'll either think that I told you about it or that you stole Dr. Anderson's files, and both of those are true!"

The blood drained from Kenny's face. In her curiosity, she had sealed her fate.

She was going to be terminated for reading the files.

Einstein was pacing in small circles as Kenny thought about what she had done with her life. She thought about how much it had changed in the past few weeks, wondering if she would change it if she could. Before she could get too wrapped up in her thoughts, Einstein's movement ceased and he turned to face the young girl.

"You'll come with me. It's that simple. Instead of you returning to your dorm once I've escaped-- which was the part of the plan that I was the most concerned about-- you'll simply come with me. We can't hope that the administrators will never look at your browser history. Lacumemine is probably a flagged word on these computers, which means iWAB will call Dr. Zhang in about four days and inform him of your search. But they'll probably send you to Detention to see how susceptible you are to brainwashing before terminating you."

What? Kenny asked in alarm.

Einstein returned the girl's confused look. "I thought the files talked about it. Detention is fundamentally the place where students get brainwashed. I'm not entirely sure what happens, for I've never been sent to Detention before, but anyone who enters the room leaves with the mindset that everything the teachers say and do is unquestionably right. Gene went to Detention for turning one of your friends into a weasel last year, and he's been different ever since."

Kenny rubbed her temples. First, children were being experimented on, and now, they're being brainwashed. AGC was seemingly full of unpleasant surprises, and Kenny decided she didn't want to experience either of them. She paused and wrote something on a blank index card.

We need to modify the plan if I'm to be going with you, the card read.

Einstein nodded. "Alright. What do you have in mind?"