Masterminds

While her friends are engaged in their secret activities, Amber remains in the dark. She’s upset because Tori isn’t spending time with her, so Amber goes to Tori’s attic studio to work on their Serenity Day mural together. While she waits for Tori to get out of the shower, Amber stumbles across the photos that Eli snapped in the basement lab. When she confronts Tori about them, Tori admits, “They’re studying us the way a scientist studies the stuff in test tubes and on slides” (186). Amber refuses to believe this but agrees to keep Tori’s secret anyway.

Eli tries to make sense of the collage they found in the basement but has no luck until he finds a Wi-Fi hotspot close to the factory. There, he researches the two words “kids study” and “Hammerstrom.” To his horror, he discovers that his father is actually Hammerstrom, who has been studying the effect of environment on criminal behavior.

The experiment involves human cloning—the medical process of creating exact genetic twins of living people through the harvesting of their DNA. Under Osiris, clones would be created of the greatest criminal masterminds currently in prison. The babies born would be raised by surrogate parents in a fabricated community (199-200).

Hammerstrom’s research was initially supported by a billionaire named Tamara Dunleavy, but because of the controversial nature of his project, it lost university funding, and he resigned. After Dunleavy also broke ties with him, Hammerstrom dropped out of sight to conduct his own research secretly in Serenity.

Hector and the others are stunned when Eli shares his findings with them. They’re all clones of master criminals, and none of them have biological parents. They debate about informing the other children in the experiment, but Malik objects that they’d alert their caregivers. Even Amber can’t be told. The four teens resolve to escape from Serenity permanently, even though Tori doesn’t want to leave her family.

Knowing all these secrets and lies, Eli can barely get through his usual routine. He goes through the motions of being a dutiful son, a good student, and a star athlete while the group plans its next move. Mrs. Delaney notices that he’s off his game, but Eli is afraid to confide in her. Nevertheless, he thinks that she’s the only adult in town whom he’ll miss.

Tori is still undecided about whether to leave when she accidentally overhears a conversation between her parents about Malik. According to the experiment protocol, any subjects who exhibit bad behavior by age 14 will be weeded out. Tori races to tell this news to the boys and agrees to leave with them as soon as possible. Together, they plan to ride their bikes to the nearest train tracks that night and hop aboard a freight train bound for the city. That afternoon, Tori drops off the finished mural at Amber’s house and tries to say goodbye, but Amber still treats her distantly.

After Amber thinks about Tori’s behavior, she’s convinced that her friend is leaving and resolves to make a last-ditch effort to stop her. That night, she stays awake and waits until she sees Tori sneaking away on her bicycle. Amber follows on her own bike and catches up with the group at the edge of town. Just as she tries to persuade everyone to stay, they all get nauseous and dizzy. Eli explains that there must be some kind of barrier at the town’s perimeter to keep them from escaping.

The group hides in the bushes as they hear the Surety helicopter approaching. Not finding anything in its search beam, the aircraft moves away. Then, Mrs. Delaney arrives in her truck. She offers to take the kids back into town and pretend that nothing has happened. She explains that sometimes a breach alert is a false alarm, so the Surety will be unlikely to pursue the issue further. By the time they get home, everyone is feeling better, but Mrs. Delaney says, “I’ll keep your secret just this once, because it’s my secret too. But I’m not on your side. I’m not on anyone’s side, and I intend to keep it that way” (245-46). Amber, however, is finally convinced that something’s deeply wrong with the town of Serenity. She doesn’t even know herself anymore.