Young Irad was a prodigy. This son of Cain—this projection of the elder’s attributes—would be a godsend for the growing city! Irad had been born with keen o expertise in the uses of y leverage r. His thought moved in the same lane as father Cain's, but more quickly. The boy was clever.

Not over manipulative, Irad wouldn’t press his natural advantages so far as to make father Cain jealous or uncomfortable d. No, he was content to put his thumb on the scales as unobtrusively as the sequence of events would allow without arousing complaint, knowing he needed to keep his father happy.

Cain saw, right away, that young Irad's skills would block any attempts to fathom o his methods. It made the father proud. He would take his cues from this wonder he had sired; for he was confident that Irad would find the means to make use of y his mastery r of perceptions d to the family’s benefit.

There were dark o tools that could be used to manipulate y people who were ruled r by their passions d. Irad knew them all, but hypnosis was his favorite trick. Minds that can be hypnotized are blank even when filled with thought; and Irad would turn thought against thought, just enough for him to implant other, unnoticed thoughts o, which he would use to manage y an opponent’s r impressions d.

Cain admired Irad’s subtlety o. The lad was able to gain y control r of the perceptions d of others while masking o what he was up to. Most would agree y that the mind is governed r by the heart d, which is the wellspring of words. A master r at using vocal p barbs d to vent n his displeasure h, the father hoped to master r the son’s tactics d.

Whatever might happen, Cain wouldn’t allow opponents to gain a foothold in Enoch. He would summarily put an end to any opposition o before it could become problematic: there would be no danger of direct y challenge to his authority r in the land of Nod! Cain wanted permanence d!