Hi, Mattis,
You’re right. There was a dog. Good eye. I’ll tell the editors that’s something they missed. (And I missed it too!)
“Any toxic element has to be weeded out for the good of the group” refers to why Randy was sent away. Randy didn’t know anything, really, except that he was suspicious of the whole of Serenity and what was being taught in the school, etc. For the good of the rest of the kids, Randy had to be removed from the town. He was considered a toxic element, a poison that could infect the rest of the kids and spoil the experiment. And they were right! He did begin to infect Eli, and look what came from that!
Have you read #3 MASTERMINDS: PAYBACK yet? It just came out less than a week ago.
Thanks for posting, Mattis.
—-Gordon Korman—-