We leave the confines of Monchaville. It’s a shift I can sense—as if it’s something real and tangible. Even the air seems to smell different in the part of the city that is not under the control of Moncha Corp. A shiver runs through me that has nothing to do with the cold. Is it still Monchaville if Monica Chan is missing? Or is it now Eric-Smith-ville?

It’s two bus journeys and a short walk before I arrive at the St. Agnes school gates. It looks so drab compared to Profectus Academy. There’s no grandeur about the building design: a single-story concrete block, wide and squat, with window frames painted in garish orange.

The doors to this school open right away, and Slick chirps as soon as we pass through.

>>We’re a few minutes late but your schedule is downloading onto my system now.

I feel so conspicuous in my Profectus uniform. Why didn’t I think about going home to change?

Because you didn’t think this was really going to happen, I remind myself.

>>Your first class is math with Mrs. Pendle, in classroom 24A.

Slick guides me, and I follow the bland hallways lined with lime-green lockers until I reach 24A, staring down at the strange speckled linoleum floor. Why do they make schools so hideously ugly? I wonder. Is there some reason, some thought process behind it all? If we were in Monchaville, I know everything would have been thought out down to the tiniest detail. But here’s it’s just proof that students are not the main priority.

I’m procrastinating. I take a deep breath before opening the door.

The first face I see is Zora’s. She’s sitting in the front row, Linus on the desk in front of her projecting some pages from a textbook. Her dark brown eyes open wide as she sees me.

“Lacey, what are you doing here?” asks Zora, standing up from her chair. Everyone turns to look at me—which makes me want to turn around and run away.

Mrs. Pendle looks up from her desk. “Oh, Lacey Chu, right? I wasn’t expecting you quite this soon, I just got the notification…” She looks down at her baku, a hare model, who is tapping his foot impatiently. She gestures at a pile of chairs in the corner of the room. “Grab a seat for now and set up at someone’s desk. You can catch up on what you’ve missed after class.”