The Disparate One

Chapter 17

"You're not joking, right?" Ray asked eagerly, glancing at the robot who was pouring bowls of noodles and his attention, "You're going to leave us?"

Oxford shook his head No before taking a sip of orange juice. He explained to the two that he would only be gone for a couple of days, a short vacation, with some people. Ray figured Oxford would be hanging out with Chap and the others. Probably a good idea for someone who had been working for decades, non-stop.

"...plus, I'm not allowed to take my eyes off of you for a long time," Oxford looked at Ray.

The robot stopped the trolley nearby, at the middle of the long table, still at an equal distance between the two. While serving their meals, Oxford felt his phone start to vibrate. He placed his hand over his pocket, stood up, excused himself, and went to his bedroom, locking the door.

He brought out his phone and answered the call. It was Chap. Oxford moved and leaned against his desk that was surrounded by three walls of windows. It was odd for Chap to call this early, usually, they would talk before nightfall. Once the two had established that they were the real ones, by stating their made-up password, Chap requested to be put in a hologram.

Chap's digital body formed near the desk, he was holding a few papers. He wasn't wearing his labcoat nor any equipment.

"I'm sending you all of the results now, I've examined every sample I obtained," stated Chap, swiping on his tablet. Oxford's tablet on the desk pinged.

Oxford tapped on his phone which resulted in the curtains being lowered, dimming the windows, making the hologram more vivid and less distorted. Oxford then grabbed his tablet and examined the documents, some were the same, though some were new, and some of them were extraordinary.

Chap inserted a virus into one of his lab rats. As expected, their DNA changed along with their behavior and appearance. He then inserted Ray's blood along with the virus. The rat died instantly as expected. However, taking a closer look at the rat's blood, he saw no trace of the virus anymore, just Ray's, destroying the cells of its host. Like a parasite. Or a virus. A new one of its kind in history.

"...all of his samples also showed no match in our database," said Chap, taking a seat behind his desk, "Even from the other two facilities and other organizations... Ray is basically... completely... foreign. An alien. A robotic one."

Oxford sighed. Despite already knowing all those details, the fact that Ray looked and acted like a normal human being still prevented him from labeling what he really was, even though he was made out of microscopic robots. He also didn't ignore the fact that Ray couldn't remember anything about himself but managed to defeat the robot in combat and end a game of chess in stalemate!

Then he remembered something. He remembered the time when Ray told his interaction with Sion, the one with the staff. And the dreams as well. So many pieces, yet nothing made sense. He rubbed his temples when he sat on his bed, Chap remained silent, watching him.

"How is he by the way? You've forgotten to update us about him, you know that right?" Chap disturbed.

Oxford calmly looked at his colleague and told everything Ray did with the robot, their combat session, chess... and their recent bonding. Which he had been honestly craving years ago. He never knew a teen like Ray would bring joy back to his life and the robot. Teen. Oxford perked up.

"What if... Ray is made by an ancient civilization that left no trace for us to discover, except him?"

Chap rose a brow, seeing the sudden energy from his friend. Finally! Someone had gotten complete interest in this case. Though, it had been a long time since he saw those adrenaline from Oxford. Plus, the way Oxford said his idea made him sound like Chap who was a geek in sci-fi and mystery novels.