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When the game ended, one of the older boys said, "Bout time they re-place

d thisso any pinbrain can beat it now"

Not a word of congratulation Just total silence as Ender walked away He didn't go far Just stood off in the near distance and watched as the next players tried to use the things he had shown theet me

He felt good He had won soainst older boys Probably not the best of the older boys, but he no longer had the panicked feeling that he ht be too as worked, and then he could use the system, and even excel

It was the waiting and watching that cost thethat time he had to endure The boy whose areance His name, Ender quickly learned, was Bernard He spoke his own naant Separatisin until the age of four, when the French language patterns were already set His accent ; his broken arm made him a martyr; his sadism made him a natural focus for all those who loved pain in others

Ender became their enemy

Little things Kicking his bed every ti hi hi of his outside his lockers; he also learned to be quick on his feet, to catch himself "Maladroit," Bernard called him once, and the name stuck

There were tier was inadequate It was the kind of person he was--a torly the others went along with hie Surely they knew that he had struck first at Ender in the shuttle, that Ender had only been responding to violence If they knew, they acted as if they didn't; even if they did not know, they should be able to tell from Bernard himself that he was a snake

After all, Ender wasn't his only target Bernard was setting up a kingdom, wasn't he?

Ender watched froroup as Bernard established the hierarchy Some of the boys were useful to hieously So whatever he wanted even though he treated them with contempt

But a few chafed under Bernard's rule

Ender, watching, kneho resented Bernard Shen was small, ambitious, and easily needled Bernard had discovered that quickly, and started calling him Worgles Look how he shimmies his butt when he walks"

Shen storhed louder "Look at his butt See ya, Worm!"

Ender said nothing to Shen--it would be too obvious, then, that he was starting his own co as studious as possible

He was not studying He was telling his desk to keep sending a e into the interrupt queue every thirty seconds The e was to everyone, and it was short and to the point What uise who it was froes from one of the boys always had their name automatically inserted Ender hadn't cracked the teachers' security system yet, so he couldn't pretend to be a teacher But he was able to set up a file for a nonexistent student, whom he whimsically named God