Chapter 084

Chapter 84: Registration

Filing ID registrations for two girls who might not even count as human was very new to Yu Sheng, but once he sat down in front of Foxy’s form, he realized it was only new to him. For the Special Affairs Bureau, it was nothing unusual.

Because the very first line on the form read: “If the applicant is of a long-lived species (average lifespan 1,000 years or more, inclusive), fill the Age field as a percentage and write the species’ average lifespan after it; if the species has no concept of gender, black out the Gender field; if the applicant cannot use pen-shaped tools or is identified mainly by pheromones or other special secretions, staff will assist with sampling or entry. For other special cases, explain in the appendix and have staff review and sign.”

Right after that came a string of disclaimers that boiled down to: “The Special Affairs Bureau knows all kinds of strange beings show up here. We have tried to respect every kind of life and taboo. If you still feel offended, take it up with the Council.”

Yu Sheng sat at the desk and stared at the long list of instructions and disclaimers for a while. Only when he turned to the second page did he finally see the normal fields for name, gender, age, and address.

He lifted his head, glanced at Ren Wen Wen beside him, and asked: “Regular people in Boundary City don’t use a form like this for their Identification Cards, right?”

“Of course not,” the young clerk from the Special Affairs Bureau nodded at once, then said: “The normal form is much simpler. This one is specially prepared for ‘guests’ who need to live in the Borderland long-term but aren’t human. The Identification Cards for the two misses will also be a special version. They look similar to ordinary cards on the outside, but they store extra data that only devices in specific departments can read. If the holder runs into trouble later, it works as a channel for help and priority service for ‘special residents’.”

“Do you register this kind of case often?” Yu Sheng asked with interest.

“It’s definitely far fewer than ordinary resident filings, but we still add a few thousand to ten thousand new files each year,” Ren Wen Wen said openly, then added: “The Borderland always has ‘travelers’ from everywhere who apply to stay for all sorts of reasons.”

Yu Sheng listened carefully as a strange feeling crept up on him. [So this dazzling Borderland and the world beyond everyday life are real enough to have forms and boxes to check.]

Beside him, Irene had already grabbed a ballpoint pen that looked huge in her hands and was hunched over her form, filling it out with great effort. For her, it was hard work. The pen was almost as long as her arm, and an A4 sheet was nearly half her height. But she didn’t ask anyone to help. She wrote very seriously and even looked excited.

Yu Sheng lowered his head and carefully filled in the name “Foxy” on his own form.

Then he got stuck on the next line.

Foxy noticed him pause and asked, curious: “Benefactor?”

“How old are you this year?” Yu Sheng looked at the fox girl with a puzzled face, then realized that was the wrong question and said: “Wait, first I should ask your species’ average lifespan. No, also wrong. Does one ‘year’ for you match one Borderland year?”

Foxy tilted her head. Her big, silver, furry ears twitched in the air, as if she didn’t get it at first.

After two or three seconds, she spoke, hesitant: “About two hundred-something? We become adults at one hundred eighty, but I don’t know how long we can live. Father and Mother said when you don’t want to live anymore, you ‘return to the Great Way.’ They said that isn’t death. It means you become one of the Skyfolk.”

“…”

Yu Sheng looked to the clerk for help.

Ren Wen Wen pointed at the Age field and said: “Just write ‘very long-lived.’”

“That works?!” Yu Sheng blurted.

“If you think that sounds informal, you can write ‘unknown,’” Ren Wen Wen said seriously. “Many people fill it that way every year. Some species live very long and don’t have a firm idea of lifespan. Others live in rapid birth-death cycles every few years. They don’t count age by years or months but by generations, and they can’t keep it straight themselves.”

Yu Sheng opened and closed his mouth, then looked at the next line and asked: “What about place of origin? We don’t know what to put.”

“Then write ‘Elsewhere,’” Ren Wen Wen answered, still all business. “If you were born outside the Borderland and the origin is unknown, we can file it under that.”

Yu Sheng’s face went a little blank as he asked: “Then species?”

“Tick the box for ‘Appendix,’ then turn to the last page and see if a listed category fits,” Ren Wen Wen said, pointing.

Yu Sheng flipped to the back. A dense forest of checkboxes crashed into his vision.

His eye landed first on the final note, which read: “If your species has mutable traits, select ‘Mimicry Family.’ If your species is not listed, write ‘To Be Added.’ We will open a new category for you as soon as possible.”

With a touch of awe in his eyes, Yu Sheng looked up at Ren Wen Wen and said: “Your day-to-day work must be pretty… complicated, huh?”

“It’s fine. I’m actually in Logistics,” Ren Wen Wen replied. “The Special Archives Division manages these directly, and they’re very busy. Male or female, not much hair left.” She pointed to a line in the checkbox area and said: “Pick this one: ‘Beast Spirit or humanoid Shapeshifting species.’”

Yu Sheng scanned it and frowned a little: “Why not ‘Immortal or gifted human’? That seems to fit too.”

“That category gets group benefits, like half-fare on the subway,” Ren Wen Wen said offhand, then added: “And her tail makes her look more Beast Spirit. But it’s not a big deal. If you’d rather, choose something under ‘Humanoid.’ People usually don’t dig into it.”

Yu Sheng grew more amazed as he filled things in. He sneaked a glance at Irene and saw the little doll carefully ticking “Advanced Doll or Alchemical Construct,” and in the remarks she had solemnly written: “From Alice’s Little House.”

After a long while, the forms were finally done.

To be honest, it wasn’t easier than doing Little Red Riding Hood’s homework. The form was packed with odd and tricky items. Without hearing Ren Wen Wen’s explanations while seeing real examples, Yu Sheng would not even have imagined some of the words you could use on an ID form. No wonder a staffer from the Special Affairs Bureau had to help in person. Without help, the two items “Thinking Type” and “Neural Evolution Classification” alone would have kept Yu Sheng busy for a whole day.

On the flip side, a lot of the fields were surprisingly loose. For many items they simply couldn’t fill, Yu Sheng followed Ren Wen Wen’s advice and wrote “unknown,” “random,” or “any.” By the end, he even started to doubt how professional the Special Affairs Bureau was. [Is this really how a serious agency works?]

“You don’t have to worry,” Ren Wen Wen said patiently, reading his doubt. “This form follows a ‘maximum fit’ rule. When an ‘outsider’ registers in the Borderland, filling even one quarter of the fields is enough to describe their origin, purpose, and traits accurately. We can’t expect a form to restrain an outsider. The Borderland runs smoothly because a huge, effective management system backs it up.”

As she spoke, she set a small device on the desk and said: “Next we collect biometrics. Since both of you are humanoid, let’s do fingerprints.”

Irene raised a hand and said: “I don’t have fingerprints.”

Ren Wen Wen froze for a moment and said: “Then blood… but dolls don’t have blood. Hair? Uh, dolls seem to dislike that. How about scraping a little surface residue from your arm?”

Irene sighed and said: “If you scrape it, it turns into lotus root starch.”

“…?”

“That’s a long story,” Yu Sheng said, rubbing his forehead. “This body is temporary. Maybe don’t collect anything. You won’t get anything useful. It’s all made from supermarket materials.”

“That… works too. The Director said we can be flexible,” Ren Wen Wen answered with a complicated look. She picked up the forms, skimmed them, sighed, then turned to Irene and said: “Miss Irene, in ‘Typical Form or Appearance’ you can’t write ‘pretty.’ You should put ‘humanoid.’ Forget it, I’ll rewrite this page for you, and you just sign to confirm. Also, get ready for photos in a minute. Foxy, can you hide your ears?”

Foxy casually took off her ears and tossed them into her tail.

“Ah?!” Ren Wen Wen blurted.

A second later she realized how outrageous that was and turned to Yu Sheng, stammering: “M-Mr. Yu, s-she just took her…”

“Stay calm,” Yu Sheng said, already expecting this. “You work at the Special Affairs Bureau. You should keep an open mind.”

“…”

After struggling to calm down, the clerk finally controlled her face. She pulled out another stack of papers and slid them to Yu Sheng, saying: “Here are the registration documents you asked for. Before the two misses’ Identification Cards go active, you can fill these in.”

Yu Sheng’s heart skipped. He took the printed sheets at once.

“Borderland Independent Operation Organization General Registration Form.”

A smile touched his face.

Finally, it was time for that.