Alex went quiet after Claire said that and they ended up returning to the couch to continue with their anime binge. He did that sometimes; randomly shut down in the middle of a conversation. She figured it was because of the way he had been raised to say nothing unless answering a direct question.
It really was a horribly sad way to live. Her heart ached whenever she thought of those little kids in the Numbers program having their natural curiosity and childlike wonder stifled.
Her mom had been a preschool teacher and Claire was fairly familiar with all of her little students back then. Trying to imagine even one of those kids being trained as a human weapon was impossible.
Yet all of the Numbers had been like that once. Tiny, innocent, and in need of affection.
