"Well," said Shirley to Winston, "we're going to need you to not just keep the kids safe, but to conduct actions that the children, as children, would find hard to do," [i]like kill in cold blood[/i], she thought; thankfully, she was protecting her mind with powerful imaginary barriers. "Basically, you and Agent Cartwright are going to be on missions with the kids as adult guidance."

A look at Conner, who asked a very reasonable question, before Shirley said:

"You are in a room with a lot of people with powers, everyone whom you can fuse with. One of them," she gestured to Stefan, the 16-year old redhead who had escorted him and Kimberly into the chamber, "has Pyrokinesis." Stefan then began juggling fireballs once Shirley finished her sentence, as if to emphasize the point.

"The other three Children in the front row," Shirley gestured to Emma,  Lexi, and Cedric, "all have skills that are very dangerous when fused with. There are also more children in the back row* with their own powers. Why would we do the equivalent of 'locking MacGuyver in the broom closet', if we weren't trying to gain your trust?"

Then, to Lexi:

"Good question, Ms. Kingsley," Shirley said. "First up, you will all have to be trained, of course, and it [i]will[/i] be hard; you will be taught how to use your powers, how to fight with weapons, and how to survive in general. However, there are compensations, such as one million in cash to your accounts up-front, insurance, a Government Car for when you are old enough to drive, and the chance to return to a normal life after this is over, provided that you agree to undergo genetic screening in order to make sure that any children you have do not inherit the Star Child DNA."

That was also to Emma; if she expected to be lazy, then she had another thing coming.

((*NPCs))

[@Scarifar][@Diggerton][@TaliPaendrag][@Mass City][@Simple Unicycle]