I’m trying to type, but I’m distracted.

I’m on my computer, trying to get some work done, but it’s so hard when a recent occurrence is disturbing me from functioning properly.

I hate it when things happen like this. It always feels as if I did something wrong. I guess this is what they call a conscience.

The problem is, I pride myself in lacking one.

I wonder if how I acted in front of him was rude. Then I shake my head and justify my actions by stating that he doesn’t feel anything, since Exons are incapable of feeling emotions beyond their wired program. Was I too rash? Did I act correctly? Did I say the right things in the right way, or was I, in my state of insecurity, misunderstood?

It irritates me that I can’t focus on what I’m trying to do, which is to write myself a study guide for school.

Everyone in the Argent region is homeschooled. There is no public school, no private school, and no community college or outside university. We study on our own through an online curriculum that the Government offers us. We take it if we want. It isn’t mandatory. However, there is a test all citizens have to take in order to determine their future careers. Although the test is more than half a year away, I’m getting a head start on preparation. I need to get a good mark on the test, since I’m aspiring to become a Government council member just like my dad and mom. I need to score a perfect one hundred. A perfect one hundred will add council member as one of the positions for which I can apply.

The Brasses can take this test, too. It’s their chance to suddenly acquire a privileged future. Every time the Government’s officials come to the Brass region to organize the mandatory test taking, the Brasses attend dressed in all white to represent the potential start of a new life. Since the test is electronic, test takers receive the results immediately after the test has been completed. When a person receives a score of ninety-five or above, he is given a blue tattoo. It is a small sphere placed on the inside of one’s right wrist. This tells the Government officials overseeing the test that this test taker has achieved the close to impossible. He is then brought underneath the wing of the Government and, depending on his age, is trained for his assigned governmental position for a certain amount of time.

Argents are not exempt from receiving this tattoo. It is the one thing that connects us to the Brasses. Even though we prefer not to have anything in common with the Brasses, not possessing the tattoo because we failed the test is more humiliating than owning the sole thing that relates us to a Brass.

There hasn’t been a single Argent that has failed the test. This shouldn’t be shocking, considering that every family in the Argent region is naturally gifted, but the Brasses complain that the test is rigged and that the Government is biased. This is false. We receive high marks because we studied for it.

Just as there has been no Argent who has ever failed, there has been no Brass who has ever passed. This shouldn’t be shocking, either. Brasses are only capable of so much. If I were to put the situation into consideration, then I understand from where their suspicions of the Government’s scoring policy come. However, I think they should refrain from complaining about the scores. If they wish to resolve the supposed ‘inequality’, they should try harder in their studies.

The reason why I can’t entirely immerse myself in my studies is because there is a picture of the Brasses’ test-taking facility on my laptop. It’s my desktop background, actually. Every time I turn on my laptop, I am reminded of the fact that I need to study. In the photograph is a courtyard in the Brass region. There are chairs and desks set up in rows of eight, with a total of ten rows in all. Test takers are bending over the desks, intent on successfully passing the examination. Their white shirts and pants, so different from their usual, sprightly colors, are a stark contrast against the brown grass.

The Exon in my house is dressed just like them, save for the blue belt, which I promptly threw away. This photograph has ceased to remind me of my studies. Instead, it’s reminding me of a very specific Exon.

I close my laptop and curl up on my bed. I don’t want to think about that thing. I hate how distracting he is.

He seems different from Lane, but I don’t want to allow my first impression of him to change my views. Exons are all the same. They are machines ma