 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. 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." 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. 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. Healthy mice of the right strain," I explained to Tommy, "might be sold to laboratories. The parents had agreed to underwrite lunches at the barn and Betty Miller philosophically assumed the role of commissary officer. It's standard practice for every member of the group to be a company officer. Peter Cope waved it off by remarking that they'd each do what came naturally. It was Mary, finally, who advanced the thought of kites. Most of them were impractical, of course, for a group of children to attempt, but several of them appeared quite attractive. These latter ideas had made unknowing use of some basic physics, and I'm afraid I relapsed for a few minutes into the role of teacher and told them a little bit about the laws of radiation and absorption of heat. "My," said Marjorie, "they're really smart boys and girls. Four of them were at the barn when I arrived next morning; or rather on the rise of ground just beyond it, and the kite hung motionless and almost out of sight in the pale sky.
 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.