Change Agent

by Daniel Suarez

Vegas shouted as they drew alongside. “Halt!” The boys snapped to, and slapped their boots on the ground as they stood at rigid attention. Vegas paced around them, resting his hands on the shoulders of the diminutive soldiers. “You like them, Bryan? They’re knockout mice of a sort—only the genes we’ve knocked out this time are those that support compassion and empathy. HTR2A. SLC6A4. BDNF. DRD2. And don’t forget CRHR1—shrinking the fear center of the human brain. These children are designed to grow into reliable soldiers. They will not fall prey to conscience, or be tormented by memories of horror. Nor do they fear death. They obey and tell no tales of what they’ve done. Likewise sterile. Don’t want these nasty fuckers breeding.”