Though other guerilla teams composed of escaped children exist, we get to know the members of one team best. At nineteen, the leader Ella is, she believes, the oldest human being on the planet. The other young adults her age who managed to escape the Meat Factory have all died on guerilla missions ordered by Shade. As the oldest, Ella takes on the responsibility of keeping her team alive. However, there is nothing maternal about her. She is a hardened warrior who kills without regret or guilt. The younger members of the team are not yet so hardened.

Ella's Change Talent is the ability to create a physical object from an image in her mind. To effect such a change requires a great deal of energy, sometimes leaving Ella physically drained to the point of immobility. "It took three months of practice for me...