Imperfections

Chapter 1

Cody leaned back in her chair as she finished the last question of her assignment and sighed. She was tired and hungry and needed pasta. She looked out the window to see the bustling crowd and the dipping sun in hues of oranges and reds. Her reflection looked back at her. She had her father's brown eyes, and her mother's wavy brown hair. Her locket's cold chain rested on her neck, her mother's locket, which she had kept after her death. The city was restless, with robots monitoring the streets for any possible threat or misbehavior. Her favorite place, a small market tucked away in the corner of town could be seen from her room. It was where she and her mother used to go to drink steaming hot tea on rainy days. It was something that was close to her heart, those memories that could never be washed away. Her father often would say no to these meetings and would've said no to Cody if it weren't for my mother's lovable smile. He would say, "You drink tea once, you won't be able to say no ever again." But now, Cody found it ironic that she was the one to refuse tea. She was scared to develop a habit that would hurt her too much, remind her of moments that had slipped away from her grasp.

Cody decided to visit her father's science lab. He had been working on something big lately, locked away behind doors. She hadn't seen him in a while, Cody would go to school, and Alexis, their personal A.I assistant would make and bring him food. Cody did remember him saying that it would change the world. But, isn't that what every mad scientist says?

As she walked in the dark hallway, echoes of her boots clicking against the metal floor rang throughout the hallway. The slightly ajar door let a strip of light seep in, illuminating the narrow hallway. She crouched near the door crack as her father walked to the center of the room. He was facing a group of colleagues and private doctors who worked under my father. They watched anticipatingly as my father took a large breath in. From his pocket, he took out a small test tube with an orange string like substance inside.

"This is a gene modifier. This gene modifier will perfect humans, from getting 20/20 vision, to a sharp jawline, to good height, to enhanced skill and brainpower. Better eyes, better vocabulary. Normal skillsets would be running as fast as Usain Bolt, cooking like Gordan Ramsay, singing like your favorite Pop Stars. I will change the world and unify it. This will create a new species, a new chapter for humankind. And no imperfections will be tolerated." An eerie silence hung over in the room. He cleared his throat, snapping everyone's attention back.

"As I was saying, I have brought a test patient with me." As he spoke, two robots accompanied a girl who looked around Cody's age. She had freckles and glasses, wavy hair and was slightly short. But she was beautiful in her own way.

"As you can see, her freckles are annoying, her glasses are ugly and her height is irritating. We will now insert this gene in her skin." As my father injected the gene, she winced but didn't fight it. Her eyes were full of misery. Cody wondered why she had volunteered. Maybe she wanted to be better. To be perfect. As her father talked about scientific things that Cody neither cared about or understood, the girl's eyes drooped until she fell asleep.

"We will see our outcomes in about 20 minutes. While we wait, I would like to discuss our revenue." As Cody rested her head on the door frame and wondered how that girl could get any more perfect, the murmurs of the doctors lulled her to sleep.

The clanking of metal woke Cody up. She rubbed her eyes, and thought to herself how ridiculous she would look if Alexis were to be walking by. She looked through the door crack and refocused her eyes on the patient lying on the bed. Her eyes fluttered open and right from the get-go, Cody could see that this experiment was more than it seemed like it was capable of. As robots assisted her, the girl sat up. Gasps filled the lab, and Cody let a sharp breath out. She had changed completely. Her eyes were crystal blue. Beautiful, but blank. Blank and metallic.  Her jawline was more defined, her freckles and glasses gone, and if Cody recalled correctly, maybe the girl had even grown a few inches. Even her hair, which had been wavy before was straight. It looked strange. To be honest, Cody was a bit disappointed. She liked the older version. Just when Cody was about to get up, the loud cackle of her father filled the lab, and rang out into the halls of their home.

"It worked! Oh, yes it did. The one of many! Imagine a whole family, a community, a city, a country, an entire planet looking like this! We'll be perfect, strong and beautiful. And nobody can stop me!" His eyes widened with a glint in his eyes, and his lips turned into a crooked sneer. As the doctors pushed their way out, and Cody made her way into her kitchen. She couldn't help but to think that the glint that she had seen in her father's eyes were evil. He was a madman.

As Cody sat down at the table, waiting for Alexis to make her a small plate of pasta, she let thoughts swarm into her head. Perfection meant enhanced skill. Which meant that there would be no such thing as talent. Which meant there would be no more dreaming, no goals, no aspirations, and suddenly values they had grown up with, like hard work and dedication would all be gone in an instant. They would be walking around mindlessly. Blankly fulfilling their duties. What about her children? What lives would they lead? This was a horrible idea. A terrible, scary idea.

"Cody, your food is ready." Cody jumped up at the familiar voice of Alexis putting down her plate of hot pasta on the table.

"Thanks, Alexis," Cody said, smiling at her companion, and didn't hesitate to dig into her food. The comforting melting of the cheese, and the tangy sauce made Cody melt into a heavenly bliss. As she was about halfway through eating her pasta, she saw the girl walk into the kitchen. What was she doing here? Right now, Cody didn't care. All she had been wanting to do for the last 2 hours was to eat. And she was going to do it without interruption. A couple of minutes later, when Cody was finishing up, the girl joined her at the dinner table. Cody froze, not knowing what to say.

"Um, hi." Amazing job. The perfect way to start a conversation with a girl who's been injected a gene modifier. The aroma of hot pasta tickled her nose, and she looked down to see the girl who brought her own plate of pasta. Just then, Alexis strolled into the dining room. Her pasta looked delicious. Topped with basil, it looked gourmet.

"Can I....um....try your pasta?" Cody sucked at this. But she didn't say anything when the girl nodded and took a forkful of steaming pasta and shoved it inside her mouth. The sauce was a little tangier, but to balance it out, Cody could taste two types of cheeses. On top of that, Cody tasted more spices which she probably didn't even know the name of. She let out a groan in happiness.

"This is so good. I mean, Alexis's pasta is good, but this is just..." and stopped short when she could feel the smoldering eyes of Alexis burning holes in her back. Her voice caught in her throat.

"Anyways, what's your name?"

"Leo."

"Leo, who taught you how to make past"- and stopped herself again when she realized that none of this pasta cooking talent actually came from Leo. It was the gene. Cody basically slapped herself on the forehead. The gene. Right. So, no one taught her. It was just a thing. So, Cody got up, smiled one more time at Alexis to let her know that her pasta was amazing and left perfect Leo to eat her perfect pasta.