Ray sighed as he walked to school. He was never a morning person—but today, he felt more drained than ever.
The reason? A tiny robot that was currently stuffed inside his backpack.
He wanted to leave Oro at home, but... no. What if his mom found it? He couldn’t trust Oro not to wander outside his room and blow the whole secret. And so, here he was—dragging a grumpy piece of alien tech on a secret mission to school like it was just another Tuesday. Why did it have to be him?
He yawned. Sleep had been nearly impossible. All night, his brain had been spinning with questions. What was Oro’s mission? Where was Rowan? How could he hide a sentient robot from his parents?... And also: what should his new Insta profile pic be?
It was well past midnight when he finally managed to fall asleep—only for the robot to decide it was a brilliant idea to wake him up at 4:30 a.m. Ray sighed again, remembering what had happened that morning.
[Flashback]
“Wake up! Psst! Wake up, you furless monkey!” a voice whispered—well, whisper-screamed—right into his ear.
Ray stirred, groaning. His eyes cracked open—and immediately locked onto a pair of enormous, bug-like lenses hovering inches from his face.
“AHHH!”
He screamed and sat up so fast he headbutted the thing. There was a loud metallic thunk, and the poor creature toppled over like a fallen lamppost.
Ray blinked down at the floor.
It was Oro.
“Oh gosh!” Ray said, shifting back in bed. He already knew what was coming next.
Sure enough, Oro sprang to his feet and hopped up onto the bed. Ray let out a low whistle. “Dude, you just jumped twice your height. That’s actually kinda cool.”
Oro clearly didn’t appreciate the compliment. He launched himself up again and smacked Ray on the head.
“Ouch!” Ray groaned, clutching his forehead. “Why do you keep hitting me?”
“Because you’re a buffoon!” Oro snapped. “Now get up!”
“What are you, my mom now?” Ray asked, raising an eyebrow. Oro threw a pillow at his face.
Ray sighed. He grabbed his phone and squinted at the screen.
4:30 AM.
“The heck?” he hissed. “It’s freaking 4:30 in the morning! Why would you wake me up this early?!”
Oro shrugged. “Rowan always wakes up at 4:30. I thought all humans did.”
“Wha—?” Ray stared at him, dumbfounded. “Rowan is a guy who goes on missions and fights enemies. I’m a high schooler, you tin can! Let. Me. Sleep.”
He huffed and flopped back down, yanking the blanket over his face. But sleep? Yeah, no chance. Oro kept hovering, fidgeting, and nagging around him the whole time.
[Flashback Ends]
Ray walked toward the lockers, yawning as he went. He opened his locker, unzipped his bag—and Oro immediately jumped out, landing on his math book with a plop.
“Why do I have to travel in a bag?” Oro grumbled, slumping dramatically.
“You know why. I can’t risk anyone seeing you,” Ray muttered as he pulled out his textbook. “It was your choice to stay with me, remember? Now jump into my pocket and stay quiet. I can’t leave you in here.” He held his jacket open, motioning to the inside pocket.
“Humans,” Oro mumbled, but to Ray’s surprise, he climbed in without any extra complaints or tantrums. So far, Ray wasn’t complaining either.
“So, where are we going next?” Oro asked from inside the pocket.
“Will you shut up? There are people around,” Ray hissed under his breath.
“Tell me first,” Oro demanded.
Ray sighed. “Math class.”
“I am a genius at math.”
“Of course you are. You’re a freaking robot,” Ray muttered, lowering his head so no one could see him whispering. The last thing he needed was for people to think he was the weird kid who talked to himself.
He walked into class and spotted Brandon waving from the front row. Ray gave a small wave back before heading to his usual spot—by the window, at the back. Brandon had tried a dozen times to convince him to sit up front, but Ray never budged. Why would he want to sit right under a teacher’s nose like some obedient statue?
And today, he was especially glad he didn’t give in—he definitely didn’t need extra attention while carrying chaos in his jacket.
“So… you have friends?” Oro asked.
“Of course I do!” Ray whispered back sharply as he sat down.
Ray placed his book on the desk and began flipping through the pages. Oro, who had made himself comfortable in his jacket pocket, was thankfully silent for once. Ray could only hope the rest of the day passed without any problems.
“So, what are we learning today?” Oro piped up from his pocket.
Ray glanced down and whispered through gritted teeth, “Me. Not we. And what will it take to make you shut up for once?”
“I’m bored,” Oro replied flatly.
Ray was about to snap back when his eyes caught someone entering the classroom. Jenna. A beautiful blonde girl with amber eyes. Tanned, slim, and absolutely stunning. She didn’t even glance his way as she laughed with her friend and slid into the seat in the row beside his.
“Woah,” Ray muttered, staring as she sat down. He wasn’t complaining about his luck today.
“So that’s the girl, huh?” Oro said smugly from his pocket.
Ray’s eyes widened in horror. “How can you see through the jacket?!”
“I’ve got X-ray vision,” Oro said proudly. “My camera’s 320 megapixels with nightcam.”
Ray blinked. “Right... should’ve guessed."
Mr. Anderson, the math teacher, walked in. He was in his late 40s, serious-looking, with thick glasses and a permanent scowl. Ray always thought he looked like the kind of guy who secretly hated kids and was one bad day away from starting his villain arc.
The class greeted him with a chorus of "Good morning," and the lesson began.
“Let’s start with where we left off in quadratics,” Mr. Anderson said in his usual dry tone. “A quick revision, shall we?”
A few scholar-types nodded eagerly, as if he was about to hand out candy. Ray, on the other hand, groaned quietly. He couldn’t even remember what they studied yesterday—was it something with graphs? Roots?
“So,” Mr. Anderson continued, writing on the board, “if we have ax² + bx + c = 0 as a quadratic… what’s the quadratic formula?”
He turned around, eyes scanning the classroom like a tiger choosing its prey.
“Uhhh… something something minus b?” Ray muttered, ducking his head.
“Minus b, plus or minus the square root of b squared minus four a c, all over 2a,” Oro recited from inside his pocket. “Seriously. How do you not know this?”
Ray scowled. “Don’t judge me, okay? Not everyone’s born with advanced processors in their brain.”
“Just admit it. You’re an idiot,” Oro replied with a sarcastic hum.
Ray gritted his teeth and glanced up—only to find Jenna giving him a weird look.
Crap. He’d forgotten where he was for a second.
He quickly smiled. Jenna just shrugged and turned away.
Ray groaned inwardly. Great. Now she thinks I’m the guy who talks to his pocket.
At the front, Brandon was confidently reciting the formula to Mr. Anderson, who nodded with an approving glint in his eye.
The lesson rolled on, and the teacher scribbled three quadratic equations on the board for them to solve. The room went quiet, filled only by the soft scratching of pens on paper.
Ray stared at the first question. No idea. “Man, this sucks,” he muttered, tapping his desk.
“How in the world did I end up partnered with a primate who has zero IQ?” Oro said dramatically.
Ray muttered a curse under his breath. “You’re a robot, right? Got those good processors? So why don’t you go ahead and help me?”
“Good processors?” Oro scoffed. “I’ve got the best processors.”
“You know,” Ray said slowly, “it’d be nice to have your support for once.”
“Heads up,” Oro said.
And then—somehow—a clear image of the solution appeared on Ray’s worksheet.
He blinked.
Once. Twice.
He wasn’t dreaming.
“Whoa! That’s so cool!” he blurted out, too loudly.
The entire class turned to stare at him. Ray froze. “Sorry,” he mumbled. “Just got a question right.” He ducked his head, cheeks burning.
“Weird,” he heard Jenna mutter under her breath, and Ray let out a defeated sigh.
Well, there goes the image I spent my entire high school life building. Still… at least he was finally finishing his work correctly for once. He grabbed his pen and scribbled down the answers like a man who had just discovered gold.
“Think of it as my rent,” Oro said smugly from his pocket.
The rest of the class went smoothly as Mr. Anderson droned on about discriminants. Oro, thankfully, stayed quiet. Ray silently prayed it would stay that way.
Soon, the bell rang, marking the end of the lesson.
Ray got up, grabbed his book, and was just about to head out and meet Brandon—who was waiting by the doorframe—when something happened that made him freeze.
Jenna walked up to him.
“Hey!” she greeted casually.
“Uhm—hi! Hey! I mean—hello!” Ray stammered, practically short-circuiting. Behind her, Brandon grinned and gave Ray a thumbs-up before slipping out the door.
Ray was about to combust from nervous energy when he heard it: a strange, low chuckle coming from his jacket. Can robots even laugh? Ray didn’t know, but it wasn’t a good sign.
Jenna glanced at his pocket, raising a brow.
Ray panicked and slapped a hand over it—accidentally hitting Oro, who let out a tiny squeak and squirmed.
“Is that… a hamster?” Jenna asked, frowning.
“Yes!” Ray blurted out.
“I’M NOT A RODENT!” Oro screamed from inside.
Ray groaned. “Oh boy…”
Jenna’s eyes widened. She looked between him and his pocket like she was watching a magician mid-trick.
“What was that? How is it talking?”
“It was nothing,” Ray said, laughing nervously. “You’re probably hallucinating. Or maybe it was someone yelling outside? Gets kinda loud sometimes.”
“No. I saw you talking during class, too,” Jenna said, suspicious now.
“She’s a smart one,” Oro muttered. “Unlike some cabbage I know. You can’t hide from her.”
“Uh… thank you?” Jenna said, confused.
“Can you stop insulting me for once?” Ray hissed.
“No. It’s fun.”
Ray took a deep breath. “Okay. You won’t believe what I’m about to say… but you have to.”
“Okay…?”
“I found a metal box in my yard yesterday. It turned out to be a bug-faced robot.”
“I’m not bug-faced!” Oro shrieked, peeking out from the pocket.
“Unbelievable,” Jenna whispered in awe, eyes locked on Oro’s head. She extended her arm, and Oro hopped onto it. “Aren’t you a cutie?” she cooed.
“I’m not cute! I’m dangerous!”
“Sure. And I’m a genius,” Ray said, rolling his eyes.
Oro smacked Ray on the head. Again.
“Ow!”
Jenna laughed at the exchange, shaking her head. “So… where are you from?” she asked, calming down.
“I don’t think this is the right place to talk about it,” Ray said seriously.
“First smart thing you’ve said,” Oro nodded, solemnly agreeing.
Ray was about to flick Oro off Jenna’s arm when something strange happened.
Oro froze. His eyes flickered faint red, and a low mechanical hum buzzed from somewhere deep inside.
Then— BEEP.
A holographic message flickered to life above Oro’s head—grainy, blue, and pulsing. Ray and Jenna stared at it as the words appeared:
“Coming for you.”
Write a comment ...