Teenage Alien Nation

Chapter 6

The Copy Machine

85th Floor, Panuwat Building

Elevator door opens.

ETS.

Three letters that greet anyone that the elevator spews out.

SAT.

Three letters that determine which university you attend.

Three letters that say a lot about your future.

How fair is that?

I mean I'm good at a lot of things.

Hammer one whole piece of the latest desktop model, and I can put all the pieces back together and make it work.

Grab a map and ask me the names of the capital cities of most countries, and I'll recite them to you to the tune of Eminem's Lose Yourself.

Ask me to tune up your new car, I can do it.

Read me a few chapters of any world history book, and I'll summarize it for you.

To put it simply, I am not stupid.

The only problem I have is that I don't score well in exams. Especially the SAT. Maybe I have an issue with standardization which the SAT stands for. Maybe I am good at being an individual.

Maybe I'm okay being me.

Deep breaths.

We walked towards the waiting area and made sure to look as normal as possible. After taking a seat, both of us started scanning through the place. There's one female receptionist at the center, middle-aged, thankfully she's occupied at the moment.

Above her mounted on the ceiling – there's a surveillance cam that covers the entire entrance. On both sides are hallways that lead to big rooms, something that resembles a conference room.

If we have to make a move, it has to be now. I gave Kim a subtle nod to signal the first step. We got up and walked separate ways trying to blend in. Good thing, there are other students in blue short pants here.

I went left, Kim to the right. I strode across the hallway avoiding surveillance and attention. After walking past a few office rooms, something unexpected happened.

"Hey, kid!" somebody yelled. At me.

Shit!

Abort!

Mission abort!

These words are ringing in my head. I stopped for a second and slowly turned my head to look at who's calling me. Inhale. Exhale.

A man in a suit pressed a red button under his desk, and an alarm started sounding off. In a matter of seconds, men in full attack gear somewhat looking like a team of SWAT slowly walked towards me. I looked at my chest and saw red dots directed at my heart. Somebody shouted,

"Hands in the air, kid. It's over now."

I turned my head to the right in a slo-mo and saw Kim handcuffed being dragged by two of these men.

"On your knees!" somebody shouted again.

This isn't happening. No!

Wait!

Slowly, I got down on my knees, and in one quick move, I rolled on the floor towards the men, and they started firing at me. When I reached the two guys holding Kim, I used my right leg to topple the man in front of him, and as quickly as he fell on the floor, I shouted, "Kim, get down!", and I grabbed the man's firearm and shot at the one behind Kim.