Temperaments

As Niels and Emma continued to watch, the scene before them shifted, going through different tests on baby Niels. It was impossible to see anything on the scientist's screen because Niels had never seen what was on it, and many things in the room were slightly blurred, as she never remembered them. In turn, other things were more vivid, such as the colour of his mother's red hair, the sharp sound of the scientist's pencil, and the soft ticking of a clock.

Emma could potentially recognize several steps as testing his ability to read emotions by letting him look at various images, such as three big-headed stick figures standing in a semicircle on a playground but leaving their faces blank—one-fourth of the kid in the middle with a sad face. After that, she gave the pencil to Niels to fill in the faces, and with some effort, he did, making the scene of someone being bullied. They also showed him cutouts of eyes from faces showing different emotions, and Niels pointed at different faces showing emotions to tell what emotions the eyes were showing.

He was also exposed to the "Sally Anne test". The scientist used two dolls, showing Niels how the Sally doll placed a small marble inside her basket before leaving, after which the Anne doll took the marble and placed it inside her own basket. "So, tell me, sweetie," the scientist said. "When Sally comes back, where will she be looking for her marble?" Baby Niels looked at the two baskets... before pointing to the now empty basket where the marble used to be. The scientist made a few notes before looking at Sonja. "You might have heard that empathy starts in infancy, but babies can’t regulate their emotions at all—even the sound of a nearby crying infant can cue a stress response in a baby. We call this emotional contagion—it’s not until about two that kids can begin controlling their emotional reactions."

"I see," said Sonja, but it did not look like she fully understood. "But, we've had no problems like that with Cornelius; he rarely cries at all."

"Yes, that's just it. Cornelius shows remarkable emotional control and understanding," she looked at her notes, " and you say he's not even a year old? Children usually cannot pass the Sally Anne test until age four. Cornelius is more cognitively aware than any infant I've been working with. This is most interesting, and we would want to do further testing. It's nothing intrusive, just some electrodes to view his brain activity."

As the two women talked, Emma (and Niels) noticed that, while they were not looking, baby Niels frowned before reaching out to take the marble and returning it to Sally's basket before glaring at the Anne doll. With that done, he seemed very pleased with himself and looked to his mother for approval, but she was listening to the scientist and did not notice. He let out a small huffing sigh but did not scream or cry at being ignored.

"I suppose-"
"Naturally, you and your husband would be part of every step."
"Well, if that's the case-"
"Wonderful, let's schedule another meeting next week?"

As if on command, the scene melted away, and the room shifted to another... this time, baby Niels was sitting on a playmat with a few electrodes attached to different parts of his head; he was building a fort with some blocks. His mother was absent, but a quick summary would show that she was on the other side of a window, reading a magazine but simultaneously having a perfect view of her son. In the room with Niels were two scientists this time, the woman from before and a man; similarly to the woman, his features were blurred, apart from the glasses that were very sharp in contrast.

"Yes, this- could be what we are looking for," the man said.

"Yes, look at the result of the sample we took when his mother was distracted, which is a clear sign of mutation. I think you're right, doctor." The woman replied, pointing to something on the screen. "This might be exactly what we're looking for, we need to send this information higher up."

"Agreed."

"And what will we tell the parents?"

"Anything that sounds believable, focus on the emotional growth, and perhaps... tempt them into our special program for children."

"We don't have a problem like that..."

"We do now..."

Niels, the teen one, frowned. "I think-- I remember this?" He said, glancing at Emma. "I remember those glasses and these things they said. It's odd. Why did I not remember them before? I also remember feeling angry at Anne for stealing Sally's marble..."