The Disparate One

Chapter 14

Ray buried himself deeper into his duvet when the sun rose from the horizon with glittering gold rays. Even though he didn't do anything for the rest of the day yesterday, his mind continued to think about Oxford. Even at dinner, Oxford retained that same face and aura. Now that a new day arose, Ray hoped Oxford would be alright. He pledged to himself to not bring up any of these questions anymore. Even if it caused him sleepless nights.

He heard the robot's bedroom door swinging open and closed. Ray slid the sheet slightly down, enough for his eyes to see the blasting sunlight. He searched around for a clock. They spent thousands of dollars on Ray's belongings that they had forgotten to buy a single clock.

He started to hear noises echoing from the kitchen.

Ray rolled himself over to the other side of the bed, against the light. He smacked his dry lips and brushed his hair with his hands when he slowly sat up, yawning and rubbing his eyes. His body rested on the headboard. His eyes were still droopy. All because of his dream last night.

He couldn't find his pills for some reason, he had no choice but to endure the trickeries of his mind.

He had a dream of walking through a somewhat old-style lavished endless corridor. There were railings made of gold on either side. The floor was made out of wooden panels, lined with a red carpet. The wall was painted dark green and decorated with a dark wooden baseboard and cove. There were rows of quaint light fixtures on the walls, each evenly spaced out. The doors were carved out of wood, their knobs were as old as the lights. All that was left was his vision to be black and white.

He was apparently wearing his white general uniform when he opened one of the doors. Walking inside was a library, similar to what they had in the penthouse. Though, the fireplace was much bigger and old-looking. There were demon-like monsters carved out of stone on either side, acting as pillars to keep the hell burning.

There were two armchairs placed near it. Between them was a small table with a shot glass and a bottle of wine. The glass was half full. A shadow cast over the drink. It belonged to the man standing before the flames, holding the same glass, same half full, in his right hand. The fire crackled when Ray took steps forward. The unknown man stood tall in his place before turning around.

Ray's mind couldn't remember what happened after that, he couldn't even describe what the man looked like. But what his mind retained was that glass of wine. It had something in it. He didn't know what it was. But it was tiny.

He looked down at his dripping hands before staring at himself in the mirror, his eyes specifically as usual. He turned the faucet off and threw a towel on his face when his nose smelled something, making him slightly salivate.

The robot closed the fridge with his foot when he placed everything on the countertop, organizing them as fast as possible before rushing back to the stove to turn down the heat. He hummed softly while he sliced the bread and threw those slices onto the toaster. He then sliced the block of butter. When he turned around, the knife flew out of his hand and landed on Ray's grasp who was stalking nearby.

"Ok, first of all, don't scare me especially when I'm in the kitchen," said the robot with his index finger extended.

"S-sorry, I was just watching you cook," replied Ray, pointing the knife down and handing it back to the robot. "I assume you've been cooking for a very long time?"

The robot nodded when he placed the knife in the sink, washing it.

"Oxford taught me, I decided to excel on it, but believe me, becoming a chef will be the last thing I would do before getting decommissioned," said the robot, moving sideward to the pan, rattling them around.