In her office, Mrs. Sigsby reviewed Luke Ellis’s intake while Dr. Dan Hendricks stood by. They acknowledged Luke’s prodigious intelligence but agreed it was irrelevant to the Institute’s work, which focused on telekinetic (TK) and telepathic (TP) abilities. Hendricks’s crude humor and height-based nickname, “Donkey Kong,” and Mrs. Sigsby’s severity underscored their strained working relationship.

Rosalind entered with news: five more children were scheduled for intake, two arriving that night via Emerald team and three the next day via Opal team. She listed four TKs and one TP with exceptional metrics—Avery Dixon from Orem, notable for a BDNF level of ninety-three. Mrs. Sigsby decided Avery would be treated carefully, with minimal injections and no risky procedures, marking him as highly valuable.

After Rosalind left, Mrs. Sigsby explained they took Luke early to avoid future media attention; he had been accepted to MIT and Emerson at age twelve. She reasoned that abducting him before he could become a public prodigy in Boston would keep the Institute out of the news. She reiterated their guiding principle that in their business, no publicity is best.

They reflected on dwindling numbers of suitable children, comparing them to other scarce commodities, and noted that while the current week’s haul was good, yields were down compared to two years prior. Luke’s BDNF level was not especially high, as indicated by a pink sticker on his form, suggesting he would be subjected to standard, harsher protocols.

Turning to a surveillance feed, Mrs. Sigsby and Dr. Hendricks watched Luke approach Kalisha Benson, the senior resident in Front Half. Sigsby expected Kalisha to brief Luke in her own way, and Hendricks sardonically suggested making her the official greeter. Their mutual disdain simmered beneath professional restraint, revealing a toxic administrative culture.

The scene ended on their unspoken but shared thought that their work would be easier with mutual liking, highlighting how personal animus threads through their clinical exploitation of the children.