Black River

[Gifted]

He nodded. "I think my next class starts soon."

[Raven]

"You should probably consider resting," Katrina said.

[Gifted]

He shrugged. "I'm fine. No rest for the wicked." He pulled himself to his feet.

[Raven]

Katrina sighed. "Alright. What's your next class?"

[Gifted]

"Math." He answered.

[Raven]

"That's too bad," Katrina said, amused. "Good luck."

[Gifted]

He nodded and left the room.
"Poor guy." Rick shook his head after Rook left.

[Raven]

"You should get to your next class," Sangria said.

[Gifted]

"Yeah, probably." He nodded. "Thanks, Katrina, Ms. Viette."

[Raven]

"Of course," Katrina agreed, waving.

[Gifted]

Rick headed off to his next class, making a mental note to tell his bosses that evening how their little experiment had been performing out in the field. His next plan was coming together. All he needed was a little time to get into Rook's head.

[Gifted]

It was not a hard task. Rook was already aggravated by doing nothing and wasn't fitting back into the typical school routine. Angry, impotent people were easy to radicalize. The harder part of the trick was that Rick had to take into account the possibility that Professor Clark would look into Rooks memories when Rook lost. So Rick couldn't just do it in one long, persuasive conversation. No, Kenny would see that and realize Rick was a liar. Rick had to be more subtle.
It took weeks. Weeks of carefully spaced out comments, set to seem totally unconnected to each other in Rick's mind - or so it would seem. An "it's a shame" here, a badly worded defense of the usual way there, and soon he'd twisted Rook into believing that not just the teachers, but Xanders whole philosophy was holding them back.

Unaware he was being manipulated, Rook's mood only got darker the longer he was back. The memories still haunted him, and now coming back he felt like he didn't belong here. He hated this place with its mock fights and safe little routines and complete pointless garbage classes. He wanted to be doing something.
In addition, now that he was back he was starting to realize (with Rick's help, though he didn't notice that) in what a truly cowardly way this school taught its students to operate. Before he really hadn't cared, the politics of it all merely boring him and making him quite keen to stay out of the way where he could amuse himself. But now, having been locked up by them and put through torture, hearing all his friends die, had left a deep burning hatred within him of the government and everything they stood for. And what were Xander and the others doing? What were the teachers here preaching to their kids? Cowardice. Fear of striking back. How did they ever expect the agents to stop coming if they never reduced the number of them? If they never killed agents, or took the agents territory from them? They were at war! That was how wars were fought, by pulling away the territory inch by bloody inch. And Xander just wanted them huddled in secret safehouses, attacking only to rescue their own and waiting to be bombed? No. The government were monsters. And the only way to beat monsters was to hunt them down and destroy them.
And yet the teachers here were holding them back. Treating the agents like people. The agents didn't treat them like people!It was despicable. People like the professors here were the reason these kids were going to fail and die. That gifteds were going to fail and die. No. Rook wouldn't let that happen. There had to be others who weren't taken in. He would find others and destroy the government his way, and stop these teachers from their pacifistic brainwashing. Even if he had to destroy this school to do it.