The Sender and the Messages
- All of the kids agree to be part of Mr. Benedict's team—Kate without hesitation, Reynie after a little thought, Constance after testing and pushing back a bit, and Sticky with a lot of stalling and indecision.
- Once they're all in, Mr. Benedict says it's time for them all to get some rest. He'll answer all of their questions and explain everything to them in the morning.
- As Reynie retires to the room he's sharing with Sticky, he realizes two things: (1) Sticky is a super fast reader—he's made his way through half of a textbook on tropical plants in a matter of minutes; and (2) Reynie's grown quite fond of Sticky and Kate already. (He's not yet sure about Constance.)
- Reynie makes his way back to Mr. Benedict's study to make sure someone has called Miss Perumal and told her where he is. Mr. Benedict assures him that yes, that's been done and all is well.
- Then Mr. Benedict asks Reynie about one of his test answers regarding a chess question. Reynie got it right, but apparently he's the only child ever to have done so and Mr. Benedict wants to hear his explanation. It has to do with the facts that (a) white always moves first, and (b) the white knight could move forward and then back again, making it look like the white player hasn't moved at all when in fact she's moved twice. (It's actually a rather fascinating problem. We didn't get it until Reynie explained it… Did you?)
- The next morning after breakfast (or rather, midway through it), Mr. Benedict explains the situation.
- Someone has been sending messages to people all over the world, subliminally, through radio, TV, and cell phone signals. Mr. Benedict has learned to pick up the messages, but he's not sure what their purpose is because they seem to be in some kind of code.
- He believes that the messages are connected to what many people refer to as The Emergency. The Emergency is a general sense that things are going very wrong in the world—economically, environmentally, politically, etc.—and that something needs to be done.
- Whoever is sending these messages is using children to send them because children's thoughts can be slipped into a person's mind secretly, without being noticed.
- The only people who aren't being affected by these messages at this point are people like Reynie, Sticky, Kate, Constance, and the rest of the Benedict team: people who have a powerful love of truth and don't spend a lot of time watching TV, listening to the radio, or using cell phones.
- Mr. Benedict has tried to share his concerns with the government (he was once an advisor to some high officials), but despite his statements and evidence, he can't get anyone to listen to him. Many good agents have disappeared, and the others? Well they've all been too affected by the messages already.
- The kids are starting to get the feeling that this is serious business, and that, as Mr. Benedict said, they are all in danger. And that's when the emergency bell in the hallway starts ringing.