THE PERFECT TEN (Boxed Set)

nothing we’ve had before.”
    Mrs. Brown asked, “What specific markers?”
    “With just one pass through the new software program, her DNA spiked alerts in four of our profile areas with the strongest being algorithmic–”
    I didn’t understand the next part, a string of strange letters and numbers. I’d heard of “software” and “DNA” at some point. Software versus hardware. DNA determined ancestry. I could almost hear the words coming from something inanimate as it instructed me.
    Mrs. Brown spoke up. “I say we put her in the computer science program and see what she does.”
    What happened to ‘we can’t guarantee you placement without getting your family’s permission’?
    And what of my family? Did they exist? Did they know what had happened to me? Were they looking for me? A dark ache stabbed at me. A hole so large it threatened to swallow me.
    The door suddenly snapped shut at my back and I opened my eyes, quickly taking in my surroundings.
    I stood inside a larger room that had chairs placed around the walls. There were three doors and several small tables that weren’t as tall as my knees.
    And someone watched me–a young male. I corrected myself, mentally searching for words I’d heard in the last few hours. This young one would be a teen or kid, but the young ones captured with me had not called each other teens. Maybe because the adults often said it in a negative way.  
    A couple of the boys close to my age had called other males guys . That had seemed acceptable to all of them.
    Trying to talk like everyone else here could only help me.
    This... guy lounged in one of the chairs that appeared more padded and comfortable than the one I’d had in the doctor’s room. This new stranger had skin a deeper brown color than mine, closer in shade to that of the drink he held in a bottle with writing half hidden by his fingers. His short black hair curled in tight circles, matching the color of his pants and shirt, but his shirt had... buttons . Yes, buttons was the right word.
    Brown eyes watched me with an edge of intelligence that demanded others notice him.
    Not sure of any order to the seating, I strolled over to the first open chair. One of the small wooden tables separated us. I sank into the soft material, sighing over how good it felt against my abused body.
    “New recruit?” the guy asked.
    Would there be an end to the questions I couldn’t answer any time soon? I flipped through my knowledge and came up with the word recruit. It meant being called to a task. I weighed what had been said before and after I’d left the meeting, deciding on another simple answer. “Possibly.”
    “I’m Nicholas. You certainly appear to be new recruit material, since you’re adorned with that leg iron.”
    I glanced down at my leg that still throbbed with pain.
    Punishment for not listening to my instincts earlier when I’d first arrived here at this school. Those instincts had warned me not to jump at an opportunity that had “too easy” stamped all over it.
    But my gut had badgered me to escape at my first chance.
    The adults in blue clothes who’d delivered me to this place had turned their backs for a few seconds outside, long enough for me to try to vanish. But the minute I’d stepped through what looked like an exit gateway, a bolt of energy screamed through my left leg, the one with the wicked-looking metal ankle bracelet those adults had attached. I’d fallen to my knees, writhing in pain, then dragged myself away from the invisible field of current just as one of them walked up.
    The man had chuckled and pointed to the metal contraption. “Guess I don’t have to warn you what’ll happen if you try to run with that latched to you. These fine people take in low-life scum and you half-breeds. You best show your appreciation and don’t give ‘em no trouble. Or you won’t like where we take you next.”
    That might register on my barometer of concern if I had any idea where I was to begin with.
    “Hey, just kiddin’ with you, sweetheart,” Nicholas said in a lighthearted tone, bringing me back to the present with a snap. “Don’t feel singled out. Recruits who arrive via government channels rather than being enrolled by family wear a security device until the front office receives all the records. The Institute is responsible for you. No big deal. They can’t risk being sued if you wander off the property. Not as though you’re in prison or something.”
    That made