Tina Chan - imperfect

“I don’t know. Veronica wouldn’t let me in since I don’t have my ID.”

“Excuse me, could you move out of the way,” said Michel.

Chelsa stepped to the right, allowing a tall, curly haired boy to pass through. He took his place behind the desk and peered at the two girls.

“Are you entering the learning center?” he asked.

“Yes,” said Kristi. “The problem is, I don’t have my electro-slate or my ID card with me.”

“I’m afraid you’ll have to present some form of ID in order for you to pass through. It’s not your fault that you forgot your electro-slate or ID card though.”

Kristi sighed. Michel was starting one of his endless conversations.

“The fact is the human brain will sometimes forget things, such as bringing an electro-slate with oneself when visiting a public place. Of course, with science, the brain’s memory skills can be boosted with a few DNA tweaks. But since you don’t have any changes done to your heredities, your memory is naturally going to be more forgetful. There are so many things for the brain to remember it has to prioritize information. From the looks of it, tutoring at the learning center isn’t very important to you as you didn’t bring your ID.”

Kristi turned around to Chelsa and mouthed, “Help.”

“Ah-hem. Are you listening to me?” An annoyed expression crossed Michel’s face.

Chelsa causally strolled up to Michel. “I would love it if you would tell me more about the wonders of genetic science. I find the topic extremely interesting and you seem to be very intelligent. ”

She offered him a coy smile and fluttered her lashes for a good measure. Then she whispered something into Michel’s ear, provoking a self-satisfied smile onto his face.

“Why, of course I would be more than happy to inform such a smart person like you,” Michel said. “ Some people appreciate an innovative chat.”

Kristi had to give credit to Chelsa for being a good actress; she truly looked interested in Michel’s conversation. In fact, she even got Michel to show her some pictures of a zygote being formed on his electro-slate. While Michel was busy finding the pictures on his slate, Kristi snuck around the reception desk and into the learning center.

It was time to find Jaiden.

She instinctively checked the library first; ninety percent of the time Jaiden could be found in the library if he was in the learning center. Kristi barely peeked into the library before she left. It was obvious the room wasn’t occupied; it was too quiet.

Next stop was the classrooms. Kristi flung each door open and peeked inside each room. However, thirty-six classrooms later, Jaiden was yet to be found. She was steadily growing concerned about the whereabouts of Jaiden. Aside from the learning center, the only other place where Jaiden might be was the lab.

Feet dragging against the tiled floor, she went back to the reception room of the learning center. Michel was still explaining the miracles of science to Chelsa, using words too big for Kristi to even bother to pretend to understand.

“Hey, I thought I said you couldn’t enter without a valid ID!” Michel exclaimed. His curly head shot up when Kristi walked by.

“That was a lovely discussion we just had. Thank you so much,” Chelsa said.

“Why don’t you stay for a bit and we can talk some more? Let me just deal with Kristi.”

“I would love to stay, but I really must go.” Chelsa grabbed Kristi’s arm and pulled her out the front doors.

Michel called out, “Wait, let me give you my instafication number. It’s—”

Chelsa allowed the heavy glass door to slam shut behind her, drowning his voice. “Conceited little idiot.” Chelsa sent Kristi a mischievous smile. “Michel really thought I was interested in him, didn’t he?” She didn’t wait for a reply and kept on talking. “He wouldn’t stop rattling on about how science has improved human genetics and that Perfects were the apex of the human race. He must’ve thought I was getting bored of listening to him talk science nonsense because then he was all like ‘I love the color of your eyes; did your parents customize them to be green?’ and I’m thinking to myself ‘I’m a freaking Accident. Of course my parents didn’t choose for me to have green eyes’.”

Chelsa dragged Kristi down the streets, scanning the buildings lining the pavements. Kristi pointed to the direction of Professor Smetana’s lab and Chelsa readjusted their course. Chelsa continued talking and Kristi continued bobbing her head and making noncommittal sounds at the right places.

“Hey, um, Kristi, is that your mom and dad?” Chelsa pointed to the public screen broadcasting NRN (North Region News). Kristi looked up. A picture of Don and Maria’s faces scrolled by and reporter appeared on screen to announce:

“This is NRN. Breaking News: Two spies of the South Union were caught this morning at 7:32 a.m. The spies lived on 37 Bridge Street. Police have declared the property to be under investigation and have installed surveillance cameras around the perimeters. Maria and Don Shea have been brought into a top security prison while their son, Jaiden Shea, is being held in the local jail until the court has decided the appropriate actions to take. As of right now, Kristi Shea is on the Wanted List. Evidence suggests she was involved in this network of spies for the South Union. Keep an eye out for Kristi Shea and help the North Region stay united and safe. Have a good day, fellow citizens!”

“You’re a spy?” Chelsa’s eyes bugged out.

“No! I didn’t even know my parents were spies,” Kristi said, her mind reeling with disbelief. “Things just got a lot more complicated.”

“You think?”

“At least we know where Jaiden is now.”

“We better find Jaiden quickly before this news spreads,” said Chelsa.

“How do you suggest we break into the jail?”

Chelsa let out a laugh. “I’ve broken out of jail plenty of time, but I can honestly say, I have never tried to break into jail. Breaking in shouldn’t be any harder than breaking out though.”

“What should we do first? Visit the jail so we know what the security is like?”

“Exactly what I was thinking.”

Troop’s mom arrived home later than usual; it was well past dinner and Troop was putting the dishes into the wash when his mom entered the kitchen.

“There’s leftover chicken salad.” He jerked his head to fridge humming beside the stove.

“Thanks, T.” His mom used a nickname Troop’s dad had come up with.

It had been a while since Troop talked to his dad; his parents divorced fourteen years ago.

“Hard day at work?” he asked.

“Yeah. I’ve been assigned a new project which I don’t have enough time to do.”

“We can always move again, to a place further away from the…”

“No.” Her voice was firm. “We are not moving again unless we absolutely have to. Not unless something like that happens again.”

Troop swallowed down a lump of guilt. If they hadn’t moved from Marbleton to the city, then his mom wouldn’t be so overburdened with work. However, that had happened and the company Troop’s mom worked for offered them to start a new life here in the city. The catch was his mom had to increase her workload by a third. She had begun working for the Company a few months after her divorce.

His mom was proud Troop had transitioned to his new school without any difficulties—but that was because she didn’t know the extremes Troop went to ensure he would no longer face any problems from anyone or anything at Ludus High. She didn’t know he was a thorn in disguise as a rose.