Isso soa como o começo do O Supernaturalista de Eoin Colfer .
- publicado em 2004
- o protagonista tem 14 anos e mora no Instituto Clarissa Frayne para Meninos Desafiados Parentalmente, onde ele é forçado a agir como cobaia humana para testes experimentais de produtos
- os meninos dormem em seções de cano cortado
- quando tentam escapar, o marechal é ferido no nariz, mas ignora a dor para que ele possa alcançá-los.
Marshal Redwood did not pass out. He wasn’t that lucky. Instead, a block of pain battered him like a malignant glacier. He combated the agony using a trick from his army days. Locate the white centre of the pain and concentrate on it. Redwood found, to his surprise, that the root of his pain was not his nose, but in the middle of his forehead. He focused on the spot, sucking the pain in and containing it. He trapped it there long enough to pop a pain tab from its plastic bubble in his medi-kit. Barely a minute later the pain receded to a dull throb behind one ear. Under control. For now.