imperfect (7 page)

Chelsa cut her off, “No, I highly doubt
Wilson’s crew kidnapped your family. This doesn’t seem like gang
work. Trust me, if it was Wilson’s crew that caused this mess, they
would’ve already sent you a message asking for a ransom.”

Kristi didn’t bother to ask Chelsa how she
knew this. “What do you think happened? I can’t think of any other
reason why my family would suddenly disappear.”

Chelsa thought for a minute, then said, “Why
don’t we try locating your brother—er, Jaiden? I think he might
have an idea of what is going on, judging from the note.”

“
I suppose you’re right.”
Kristi stood up and left the empty stable. Chelsa seemed to be a
very smart and logical person—exactly the type of girl she needed
to be around right now. “Let’s go check the learning center. Jaiden
might be there.”

Kristi had Chelsa and
Ghost
wait outside while she went inside
the learning center in search of Jaiden. What she hadn’t thought
through with her plan was that she didn’t have her electro-slate
anymore. Without the electro-slate, she didn’t have her electronic
ID card. The actual, physical ID card was locked inside her
bedroom.

“
Can’t I just give you my
name and have you can look up my ID?” Kristi asked the
receptionist.

“
Nope,” she said. The
receptionist’s long, sleek hair was pulled into a flawless French
twist. Diamond studs glittered in her ear and an expensive ring
adorned each of her fingers. She was Glenn’s girlfriend and was
taking great pleasure in aggravating Kristi.

“
I really need entry into
the learning center. Is there any way I could get in? Please, this
is very urgent.”

“
Can’t do. Go buy a new
slate I’m sure the retailer could give a discount to someone
like
you
.”

“
I don’t have time to do
that.”

The girl giggled, like Kristi had just said
something hilarious. “No time? Why would you have no time? It’s not
like—Glenn!” She abruptly broke off.

“
Veronica, I got you the
rest of the day off. Let’s go have lunch somewhere more pleasant
than this dump.” Glenn strolled over to the two of them. “I got
Michel to take your shift.”

“
What’d you do, Glenn?
Bribe him?” Kristi said.

“
No, more like blackmailed
him,” Glenn shot back, knowing she couldn’t do anything about
it.

Kristi restrained herself
from slapping his oh-so-perfect face.
He’ll look better with a bruise on his cheek,
she thought.
One that I
am more than happy to give.

Glenn turned his attention
back to Veronica. “Let’s go. I’m going to have my father promote
you to somewhere where you don’t have to encounter
it
.” He threw Kristi a
pointed look. Veronica tittered and Glenn sauntered off with
Veronica sashaying next to him.

Chelsa poked her head into the reception
room shortly after the couple left. “Is Jaiden here?”

“
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.”

chapter eight

[ Troop ]

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.

“
How was school today?”
his mom asked, massaging her temples with her index
fingers.

“
Oh, you know, the usual.
Classes, tests, exams, lunch, more exams, etcetera.”

“
No troubles with
kids?”

“
Mom.
That’s the past. That part of
my life is over. I’m doing just fine at school.”

“
Just making
sure.”

Troop softened his tone, knowing his mom
hadn’t meant to sound overbearing. “Everything’s good. Why don’t
you take a shower and I’ll fix up some minestrone soup to go with
the chicken salad?”

“
You’re an angel. I think
I’m going to take you up on that offer.”

If you only knew,
Troop thought.
I highly
doubt you’ll look at me the same.

She kicked off her heels and floated out of
the room. Troop heated up a small saucepan. While he waited for the
soup to simmer, he flicked through the world studies notes Darrel
had sent him. Most of the material he already knew, thanks to
private tutoring sessions provided by the Company.

His electro-slate vibrated. The caller ID
informed Troop it was Bruno calling him.

“
Hello,” said
Troop.

“
Hey. Listen, you’ve got
to hear this. Are you listening?”

“
Yeah.”

“
Jack’s planning a
coordinated hack on the school system tomorrow after school, but he
wanted to get an okay from you first.”

“
Why doesn’t Jack ask me
himself? And anyways, he knows he doesn’t need my permission to
hack the school system—he knows the rules we play by.”

“
Jack doesn’t have your ID
number, so he asked me to call you for approval,” said
Bruno.

Troop nodded, even though
Bruno couldn’t see him do so.
That makes
sense. I don’t remember giving Jack my number and even his hacking
skills are still one step behind the Company’s.
The Company had encrypted all of Troop’s personal
information; things could become disastrous if they leaked into the
wrong hands.