“Damn,” Seth sighed, letting his head drop a little.

 

“Please adjust face for temperature screening.”

 

The scanner in front of Seth flashed its lights, blinking twice, and making a harsh er er er sound.

 

“Please remove mask and adjust face for temperature screening.”

 

He had been warned several times by his Academic Advisor that Dr. Hallow was reaching her “wits” with his attendance. He tried explaining to her several times that the scanner did not recognize his face nor his ID, to which she would respond, “Stop making excuses and just fix it.”

 

Dr. Hallow did not understand that “fixing it” was something the A.I. creators would have to do.

 

“It’s about time you stupid A.I. machines recognize my face. Like, seriously? Even y’all are racist?”

 

He huffed. Great. Now he was talking to a scanner. He needed to stop lollygagging and figure out a way to get to class in the next 13 minutes.

 

He’d call Karima, but she was sent home today after her first class. Apparently, one of the students who had been exposed to another sick student was in her Analytics class.

 

“A stupid scanner couldn’t stop that,” he huffed, scrolling through his contacts.

 

It was pointless. Karima was the only friend he had classes with on Wednesdays. He would either have to wait for security to come back to the window, which could be whenever.

 

Suddenly, there was a loud buzzing sound.

 

“Welcome, Dalton P.”

 

Seth blinked and then quickly realized it was the door. He lunged for the door handle, pulling the door open wide and pulling himself into the building.

 

Yes!

 

Seth had to almost stop himself from skipping to class. How did that even happen? He peaked his head into the office to thank the security guard, but the chair in the small office was empty.

 

Huh.

 

Oh well. This would be a first. He even had some time to stop for some breakfast at Starbucks, if he wanted to.

 

He smirked to himself. I’m on time, so I deserve it.

 

Seth started walking towards the Starbucks area, opting to take a seat and order online. He didn’t really like talking to people much other than his friends. People could be very overwhelming to Seth, so he preferred to keep to himself and the people he already knew. He was happy he didn’t have to speak to campus police at the front desk, though they were usually hel-

 

“Percy Dalton, stand up with your hands up!”

 

Seth turned his head, having heard the booming voice from behind him. The man was dressed in a police officer’s uniform, pointing a gun directly in Seth’s directions. Was he talking to him?

 

He swallowed.

 

“I will say this one more time. Percy Dalton, stand up with your hands in the air!”

 

His ID!

 

“Wait, I’m not Percy Dalton!”

 

“Do not move!”

 

“But look,” Seth slowly got up from his seat, then reached into his pocket and pulled his ID from it.

 

Click. Bang!