The closet door opened slowly.
Not wide. Not dramatic. Just enough to let a thin blue light spill across the floor and stretch toward Mayo's feet.
At first, he did not react. His mind reached for simple explanations. Lightning reflection. Phone screen. A trick of exhausted eyes.
Then the light grew brighter.
The door creaked wider.
Something stepped out.
The figure was smooth and seamless, its body glowing faintly blue. A circular core pulsed softly in the center of its chest. Two thin red antennae rose from its head, steady and upright. Its face had no features, only two points of light fixed directly on him.
Mayo's chair screeched as he shoved himself backward, slamming into the desk behind him. Books crashed to the floor.
"Wha-What are you?"
The figure stopped a few feet away. Its voice was calm, level, almost patient. "My name is Toviro."
Mayo's heart pounded against his ribs. "What were you doing in my closet?"
"I was sent for you." A brief pause followed. "I do not know how I arrived there."
A short, strained laugh slipped out of him. "Sent for me? What is this, some kinda prank?"
"No."
"Someone's filming this, right?" He scanned the dark corners of the room, searching shelves and shadows. "This isn't funny."
"There is no one filming."
Mayo pressed his shaking palms against the floor and forced them still. "So you're telling me you were sent for me. Like this is some sci-fi movie."
"I do not know about movies," Toviro answered evenly. "I only know my mission."
"Your mission." Mayo rubbed his face hard. "Right. A robot with a mission. In my room. During a storm." He let out a breath that barely passed for a laugh. "I'm dreaming. That's all this is."
"You are not dreaming," Toviro stated.
"None of this is real," Mayo insisted, though his voice lacked conviction.
"It is real."
Mayo looked up at him. The blue light in Toviro's chest pulsed steadily, calm in a way that made everything feel even more unreal.
"Prove it," Mayo said.
Toviro tilted its head slightly. "How would you like me to do that?"
"I don't know. Pinch me or something."
Without warning, the figure stepped forward and pressed two cool fingers against his arm.
The touch was cold. Solid. Undeniably physical.
Mayo jerked back as if burned. "Okay, okay, now that's real."
"I told you."
Mayo's breathing slowed, but only slightly. His eyes drifted to the red zero on the test paper lying on his desk. Then, to the rain sliding down the window. Then back to the glowing being standing in his room.
"This is insane."
"Perhaps," Toviro answered.
Mayo let out a slow breath. "You said you were sent for me. Sent by who?"
"I do not know."
"From where?"
"I do not know that either."
Mayo stared at him. "Then what do you actually know?"
Toviro paused briefly before answering. "I know my name. I know my mission. I am here to stop you from fading."
"Fading?" Mayo repeated, confusion tightening his voice.
Toviro raised a hand and pointed toward Mayo's chest. "The light inside you is diminishing. I am here to help it grow bright again."
Mayo glanced down at himself, then backed up. "What light? I don't see anything."
"I do not know how to explain it in human terms," Toviro admitted. "I only know it is happening."
Mayo ran both hands through his hair and exhaled sharply. "This is too much."
"There is more," Toviro added.
Mayo's stomach tightened. "More?"
"A message. I do not know who it is from. I do not know what it means. But I must deliver it."
"Fine," Mayo said, though he felt anything but ready.
Toviro's voice shifted slightly, flattening as if it were repeating something memorized.
"A shattered soul learned the language of worlds and walked between them. Its wounds point to something that should not exist. Only when it is unmade does the wandering end."
The blue core pulsed once.
"He is watching."
Silence followed.
The storm outside had softened to a distant drizzle, but inside the room, the air felt heavier than before.
"That's it?" Mayo asked quietly.
"That is it."
His gaze drifted from the robot to the rain, searching for something normal. "This doesn't happen to people like me."
"It is happening."
Mayo pushed himself to his feet, legs unsteady. "Stay here."
"Where are you going?" Toviro asked.
"Downstairs. I need a minute."
"I can come with you."
"No." The word came out sharper than he meant. "My parents can't see you."
"I can prevent them from seeing me," Toviro informed him calmly.
Mayo blinked. "You can what?"
But he was already stepping into the hallway, closing the door behind him, and leaning against the wall in the dark. His heart was still racing.
There is a robot in my room. He says I'm fading. He delivered a message about souls and worlds, and someone's watching.
He pressed his palms into his eyes.
"I've lost my mind."
Downstairs, the kitchen lights were warm. His mother stood by the stove, stirring rice and garlic, the smell grounding and familiar.
"There you are," she said. "Couldn't sleep?"
"Storm woke me up."
She nodded. "Since you're up, can you run to the shop? We're out of yogurt."
"Now?"
"It's just down the street."
"Yeah," he heard himself say. "I'll go."
Outside, the air was cool and clean. The storm had passed, and the clouds were slowly breaking apart, revealing a sky scattered with stars.
He walked without fully registering the movement of his feet.
Fading.
What does that even mean?
On the way back, he took the bridge path. It was darker there, quieter.
Halfway across, he noticed someone sitting beneath the bridge.
Aryan.
Same posture. Same calm stillness. He was staring up at the sky as if nothing in the world could shake him.
Mayo followed his gaze.
The clouds had almost disappeared. The stars were sharp and endless. It was hard to believe that a storm had been brewing just a few hours ago.
He remained there longer than he meant to. The yogurt hung forgotten at his side.
The sky tonight was so wonderful.
His attention returned to Aryan. For a moment, he almost called out to him, but the words never came.
Finally, he turned and headed home.
When he opened the door, everything was normal. His mom watching TV. The house quiet.
"Get the yogurt?"
He held it up.
"Good. Get some sleep."
Upstairs, he paused outside his room.
The robot is still in there.
He opened the door.
The room was empty.
Mayo let out a shaky breath and rubbed the back of his neck.
"So it wasn't real after all," he muttered, a nervous laugh slipping out. "For a second, I thought I was the main character in some sci-fi."
He shut the door.
Morning arrived too quickly.
Something pulled him awake before the alarm. Not a sound. Just awareness.
His eyes opened slowly.
Toviro stood at the foot of his bed.
Still. Watching.
Mayo's scream tore out of him. He kicked back, tangled in his blanket, and crashed onto the floor.
"Good morning," Toviro said.
Mayo stared up at him, pulse pounding. "How long were you standing there?"
"Seven hours and forty-seven minutes."
"…What?"
"But you disappeared last night," Mayo snapped. "I thought I imagined you."
"I remained here," Toviro said. "I calculated that my presence might overwhelm you, so I adapted to my surroundings."
Before Mayo could answer, the door flew open.
"Mayo?" his mother's voice came sharp with worry. "I heard you scream."
Mayo's stomach dropped.
He looked back.
The space at the foot of his bed was empty.
Where did he go?
"I'm fine," he said quickly, forcing a smile. "Just a mouse."
"A mouse?" Mina pressed a hand to her chest. "You scared me half to death. Be careful." She shook her head and walked away.
The door clicked shut.
Silence.
"Where are you?" Mayo whispered.
"I am here."
The voice came from the corner.
But nothing stood there.
Mayo rose slowly. The air near the wall shimmered faintly, bending light like heat above asphalt.
His breath caught. "You can turn invisible?"
"Camouflage," Toviro corrected. "I adapt with my surroundings."
Mayo let out a long breath. Fear drained, replaced with something else.
Excitement.
"That's actually insane," he said.
The light in Toviro's chest pulsed once. "Now we begin."
Getting ready for school no longer felt normal.
Mayo pulled on his uniform, hyper aware of the presence in the room. Even when he could not see Toviro, he felt him, like static in the air.
"You're not coming to school," Mayo said, adjusting his collar.
"Why?"
"Because you're a robot," Mayo said flatly. "And walking to school with a robot is not normal."
Toviro paused.
Then his chest light flickered. The blue surface of his body rippled, dissolving into the wall behind him until he vanished completely.
"No issue," his voice came from nowhere. "I will camouflage."
The air shimmered again. He reappeared.
"I can accompany you."
Mayo hesitated.
A robot no one else could see, walking beside him all day.
After everything that had happened last night, leaving him alone felt worse.
"Fine," Mayo said. "But don't talk randomly."
"I will attempt not to."
They walked out together. No one noticed.
The school hallway was loud, lockers slamming, voices overlapping, footsteps echoing against tile. It felt painfully normal.
Mayo moved through it with his hands in his pockets, head slightly down. Beside him, unseen, Toviro walked in quiet observation.
"So many humans," the robot murmured.
Mayo flinched. "Not here."
"Why?"
"Because if I respond, people will think I'm insane."
"You are speaking to a being only you can perceive. Is that not already unusual?"
Mayo almost smiled despite himself. "You're not helping."
They passed a group of girls near the lockers. One of them glanced at Mayo before quickly looking away.
"Your heart rate increased," Toviro observed.
"Stop analyzing me."
"I observe because I do not understand."
Mayo sighed. "You're like a therapist."
"A therapist—what is that?"
"Someone who asks too many questions."
Toviro was quiet for a second. "I ask questions because I do not know. You ask no questions because you do not want to know."
Mayo slowed.
A student bumped into his shoulder and muttered an apology before disappearing into the crowd.
"What's that supposed to mean?" Mayo asked under his breath.
No answer came.
The bell rang before Mayo could say anything else.
At lunchtime, the cafeteria buzzed with noise, trays clattering, chairs scraping across the floor. Mayo dropped into his usual seat.
Ozair was already halfway through a sandwich. Aryan sat across from him, scrolling through his phone with his usual calm focus.
"Yo," Ozair said, squinting at him. "You look crap."
"Thanks."
"You sick?"
"No, I just didn't sleep much," Mayo replied.
"Because of the storm?" Aryan asked without looking up.
"Yeah."
Ozair snorted. "Scared of thunder?"
Mayo shrugged and poked at his food.
Toviro stood behind him, cloaked, watching everything.
"Ozair keeps looking at your face," Toviro whispered. "He is concerned."
Mayo lifted his eyes. Ozair immediately focused on his sandwich.
"He would fight for you," Toviro said. "If someone hurt you."
Mayo blinked.
"And Aryan," Toviro continued quietly. "He observes differently. He is waiting."
"For what?" Mayo muttered.
Aryan nodded once and picked up his phone again.
Toviro did not comment.
By the afternoon, the sun hung low over the football field, stretching long shadows across the grass.
Ozair dribbled down the left side, fast and reckless, with Aryan keeping pace beside him. Ozair crossed the ball cleanly, and Aryan leapt to meet it, driving it into the goal with precision.
"They move well together," Toviro said quietly.
Mayo nodded.
"Ozair uses instinct. Aryan uses a strategy. They balance each other."
Elina was sitting on the same bleacher as Mayo, but a little further away. She had a book open on her lap, her eyes fixed on the book, reading something.
The sun dropped lower, and eventually Ozair waved Mayo over. "Yo! Your turn! We need a goalie!"
"I'm good."
"Don't be boring."
Aryan jogged to the goal. "I'll go goalie. You shoot, Ozair."
Ozair grinned. "Finally. Gonna show you how it's done."
He backed up, measured the angle, and took a breath. Then he ran.
His foot struck the ball hard.
Too hard.
The ball curved wide, spinning fast toward the school building, straight toward one of the windows.
Mayo's stomach dropped.
Oh no.
Time seemed to stretch thin.
Ozair's expression shifted from confidence to panic. Aryan lunged, but he was too far away. Elina stood from the bleachers, her book slipping from her hands.
The ball kept flying.
And then it stopped.
The ball froze midair, inches from the glass. It did not wobble or fall. It simply hung there.
Ozair's eyes went wide.
Aryan froze.
Elina froze.
Even the air felt quiet.
One second passed.
Then another.
The ball dropped gently to the ground as if someone had set it there.
Silence swallowed the field.
Ozair turned slowly toward Aryan. "Tell me you saw that."
And beside Mayo, unseen by everyone else, Toviro's chest light pulsed brighter.