 Why are the children of Ridgeville so smart?
It's a privilege which I'm sure many educators must envy, teaching in Ridgeville, for our new school is a fine one, and our academic standards are high. On the other hand, the fathers of most of my students work for the Commission and a constant awareness of the Commission and its work pervades the town. It is an uneasy privilege then, at least sometimes, to teach my old-fashioned brand of science to these children of a new age. "It has the purpose," I told her, "of teaching the members something about commerce and industry. They manufacture simple compositions like polishing waxes and sell them from door-to-door. Some groups have built up tidy little bank accounts which are available for later educational expenses." Marjorie put back her head and laughed, and I was forced to join her, for we both recognize that my understanding and "feel" for commercial matters—if I may use that expression—is almost nonexistent. Mr. McCormack is going to put up fifty dollars to buy any raw materials wanted Back in the old Ridgeville, fifty-odd miles to the south, we had our home almost paid for, when the accident occurred. When Ridgeville moved to its present site, so, of course, did we, which meant starting mortgage payments all over again. This was to be our headquarters and factory for the summer—a roomy unused barn belonging to the parents of one of the group members, Tommy Miller. You're going to decide what to do, and if it's safe and legal and possible to do with the starting capital we have, I'll go along with it and help in any way I can. Peter Cope, Jr. and Hilary Matlack were skinny kids, too. Mary McCready was a big husky redhead of twelve, with a face full of freckles and an infectious laugh, and Tommy Miller, a few months younger, was just an average, extroverted, well adjusted youngster, noisy and restless, tee-shirted and butch-barbered. "The Miller boy and Mary McCready," he had said, "have exceptionally high IQ's—around one forty or one fifty. They have some of the attributes of exceptional pupils, but much of the time they seem to have little interest in their studies. You're Dr. Matlack's son, aren't you? "Some," said Hilary, "and I've got a home laboratory." Healthy mice of the right strain," I explained to Tommy, "might be sold to laboratories.
 An accident that included chemical fallout occurred, around the time that the children were conceived.
 An accident that included chemical fallout occurred, around the time that the children were conceived.  Tommy and Mary have high IQ's and the other three are androids, built by the Commission.  The children are androids, built by the Commission.  The children of Ridgeville were genetically engineered by the Commission.