diff --git a/drools-mas-acl/pom.xml b/drools-mas-acl/pom.xml
index 88d5d93..922f918 100644
--- a/drools-mas-acl/pom.xml
+++ b/drools-mas-acl/pom.xml
@@ -58,7 +58,7 @@
         <dependency>
             <groupId>com.thoughtworks.xstream</groupId>
             <artifactId>xstream</artifactId>
-            <version>1.2.2</version>
+            <version>1.4.1</version>
         </dependency>
         <dependency>
             <groupId>org.codehaus.jettison</groupId>
diff --git a/drools-mas-core/src/main/java/org/drools/mas/core/DroolsAgentFactory.java b/drools-mas-core/src/main/java/org/drools/mas/core/DroolsAgentFactory.java
index 9cded0e..66c41b5 100644
--- a/drools-mas-core/src/main/java/org/drools/mas/core/DroolsAgentFactory.java
+++ b/drools-mas-core/src/main/java/org/drools/mas/core/DroolsAgentFactory.java
@@ -110,12 +110,12 @@ public DroolsAgent spawn( DroolsAgentConfiguration config ) {
                 SessionManager sm = SessionManager.create( config, descr, grid, true );
                 StatefulKnowledgeSession mindSet = sm.getStatefulKnowledgeSession();
 
-                try{
-                    mindSet.setGlobal( "grid", grid );
-                } catch (Exception e){
-                    //maybe 'grid' is not even defined in subsession
-                    logger.debug("Global 'grid' not set on session '"+descr.getSessionId()+"' due to "+e.getMessage());
-                }
+//                try{
+//                    mindSet.setGlobal( "grid", grid );
+//                } catch (Exception e){
+//                    //maybe 'grid' is not even defined in subsession
+//                    logger.debug("Global 'grid' not set on session '"+descr.getSessionId()+"' due to "+e.getMessage());
+//                }
                 
                 mindSet.fireAllRules();
                 
diff --git a/drools-mas-core/src/main/java/org/drools/mas/core/SessionManager.java b/drools-mas-core/src/main/java/org/drools/mas/core/SessionManager.java
index 9bef196..9839a54 100644
--- a/drools-mas-core/src/main/java/org/drools/mas/core/SessionManager.java
+++ b/drools-mas-core/src/main/java/org/drools/mas/core/SessionManager.java
@@ -119,6 +119,10 @@ public static SessionManager create( String sessionId, DroolsAgentConfiguration
                         // should indicate that someone else left an orphan row in the WP
                         node = grid.claimGridNode( nodeId );
                         grid.get( SocketService.class ).addService( nodeId, port, node );
+
+                        if ( forceRemote && ! node.isRemote() ) {
+                            node = grid.asRemoteNode( node );
+                        }
                     }
 
 
@@ -127,8 +131,11 @@ public static SessionManager create( String sessionId, DroolsAgentConfiguration
                         logger.debug( " ### Session Manager: Creating a new Local Node" );
                     }
                     node = createLocalNode( grid, nodeId );
-
                     grid.get( SocketService.class ).addService( nodeId, port, node );
+
+                    if ( forceRemote && ! node.isRemote() ) {
+                        node = grid.asRemoteNode( node );
+                    }
                 }
 
             } else {
diff --git a/drools-mas-core/src/main/resources/org/drools/mas/acl_common.drl b/drools-mas-core/src/main/resources/org/drools/mas/acl_common.drl
index 7b31577..2417d4c 100644
--- a/drools-mas-core/src/main/resources/org/drools/mas/acl_common.drl
+++ b/drools-mas-core/src/main/resources/org/drools/mas/acl_common.drl
@@ -30,6 +30,7 @@ import org.drools.mas.util.LoggerHelper;
 import org.drools.mas.util.helper.SessionLocator;
 
 import org.drools.grid.Grid;
+import org.drools.grid.helper.GridHelper;
 import org.drools.grid.api.impl.ResourceDescriptorImpl;
 import org.drools.grid.api.ResourceDescriptor;
 
@@ -39,8 +40,8 @@ import org.drools.builder.ResourceType;
 global Grid grid;
 
 declare ResourceAdditionRequest
-    URL: URL
-    type: ResourceType
+    URL  : URL
+    type : ResourceType
 end
 
 query queryIf( Object $o )
@@ -77,6 +78,16 @@ end
 //end
 
 
+rule "Init Grid"
+salience 999
+when
+then
+    // need to initialize Grid in remote nodes
+    if ( kcontext.getKnowledgeRuntime().getGlobal( "grid" ) == null ) {
+        kcontext.getKnowledgeRuntime().setGlobal( "grid", GridHelper.createGrid() );
+    }
+end
+
 rule "Add Resource"
 when
     $rar: ResourceAdditionRequest($url: URL, $type: type)
@@ -88,10 +99,7 @@ then
     rd.setResourceURL($url);
     rd.setType($type);
 
-    //SessionManager.addResource(grid, $nodeId, $sessionId, rd);
-    
-    SessionManager.addResource(drools.getWorkingMemory(), rd);
+    SessionManager.addResource( grid, $nodeId, $sessionId, rd );
     
-
     retract($rar);
 end
diff --git a/drools-mas-core/src/test/java/org/drools/mas/core/tests/TestAgent.java b/drools-mas-core/src/test/java/org/drools/mas/core/tests/TestAgent.java
index ee44b38..83fc8a7 100644
--- a/drools-mas-core/src/test/java/org/drools/mas/core/tests/TestAgent.java
+++ b/drools-mas-core/src/test/java/org/drools/mas/core/tests/TestAgent.java
@@ -79,9 +79,9 @@ public void createAgents() {
         DroolsAgentConfiguration mainConfig = new DroolsAgentConfiguration();
         mainConfig.setAgentId( "Mock Test Agent" );
         mainConfig.setChangeset( "mainTestAgent_changeset.xml" );
-        DroolsAgentConfiguration.SubSessionDescriptor subDescr1 = new DroolsAgentConfiguration.SubSessionDescriptor( "session1", "sub1.xml", "local-mock-test-agent" );
+        DroolsAgentConfiguration.SubSessionDescriptor subDescr1 = new DroolsAgentConfiguration.SubSessionDescriptor( "session1", "sub1.xml", "mock-test-agent" );
         mainConfig.addSubSession( subDescr1 );
-        DroolsAgentConfiguration.SubSessionDescriptor subDescr2 = new DroolsAgentConfiguration.SubSessionDescriptor( "session2", "sub2.xml", "local-mock-test-agent" );
+        DroolsAgentConfiguration.SubSessionDescriptor subDescr2 = new DroolsAgentConfiguration.SubSessionDescriptor( "session2", "sub2.xml", "mock-test-agent" );
         mainConfig.addSubSession( subDescr2 );
         mainConfig.setMindNodeLocation( "local-mock-test-agent" );
         mainConfig.setPort( 7000 );
diff --git a/examples/drools-mas-emergency-agent/src/main/resources/META-INF/applicationContext.xml b/examples/drools-mas-emergency-agent/src/main/resources/META-INF/applicationContext.xml
index 2d954ae..9cb92ab 100644
--- a/examples/drools-mas-emergency-agent/src/main/resources/META-INF/applicationContext.xml
+++ b/examples/drools-mas-emergency-agent/src/main/resources/META-INF/applicationContext.xml
@@ -21,7 +21,7 @@ http://cxf.apache.org/jaxws http://cxf.apache.org/schemas/jaxws.xsd">
     <bean id="async-agent-service" class="org.drools.mas.AsyncDroolsAgentServiceImpl" destroy-method="dispose">
         <property name="agent" ref="agent"/>
     </bean>  
-    <bean id="agent-service" class="org.drools.mas.SynchronousDroolsAgentServiceImpl" destroy-method="dispose">
+    <bean id="agent-service" class="org.drools.mas.SynchronousDroolsAgentServiceImpl" >
         <property name="agent" ref="agent"/>
     </bean>