—One week ago—

Senior Private Dokiki had an important task: track down the platoon's mangled ship.

Her search had been a long one. She had trekked for miles over the Pekoponian terrain, only to be attacked by a pack of dogs, tripped on by Pekoponian pedestrians, hit by many automobiles, and squashed by a falling piano. She had thought she was at the end of her rope. None of that mattered now, of course. For days she had been tracking the location of her ship, which finally led her to a single door between two buildings.

Inside the door was a house. There were many voices from within, so Dokiki quickly hid herself and began her search in each room. But she could not find any ship.

Feeling her mission was futile, she waited until the people in the house were out of sight and dashed to the front door, knocking it open.

She did not see the Pekoponian streets and trees beyond. Instead, she found herself staring into the void of space. A shadow cast over her.

Dokiki felt an electrical tremor running through her. Nerves, she told herself, even though she could see the sparks of electricity.

"You won't find anything interesting out there," spoke a voice behind her. That person shut the door that led into space. Slowly, Dokiki turned around and spotted a young Pekoponian boy rubbing his eyes sleepily. "Why are you in my house?" he asked.

Calm yourself, Dokiki, she told herself. This is what you trained for. When you can't lay low, you must deceive! She assessed the details of this encounter. Before her was an impressionable Pekoponian, uhh—what was the word?—pup. As every Keronian knew, Pekoponians weren't the brightest of creatures.

"I am an animal friend," Dokiki lied, "here to protect your home from evil spirits!"

"Suuure, okay," said the boy. He took her by the arm and started to drag her away. "You can come to my room. The front door operates trans-dimensionally, so you won't be able to leave unless you calibrate it properly."

I didn't know Pekopon has such technology, thought Dokiki. Clearly, it was a planet she had underestimated.

When they entered the boy's room, he shut the door and took a seat on his bed. "So. Who are you really?"

"I told you. An animal friend," said Dokiki.

The kid adjusted his glasses. "Well you look like a robot."

Dokiki opened her mouth as she processed a response. "Yes. I'm a robot animal friend."

"Uh-huhh." The kid looked up and down her battered figure. "My name's Oblivion. I'm part of the Junior PPL. Well… I suppose you wouldn't know what that is. Anyway do you want to be friends?" He sneezed.

"Uhhh." Dokiki looked around the room for a means of escape. "I'm actually on a mission—a friendly animal mission. It's very crucial that I complete it, you see—" Suddenly an idea struck her. "Sure, I'll be your friend, kid."

Oblivion's eyes brightened. "You will?"

"Certainly. But you need to find me a spaceship first." She bopped him on the nose. "That's how I'll know for certain that you want to be my friend."

"Okay!" He hopped to his feet. "But I don't know where to find a spaceship."

"When I came to you, I left my spaceship somewhere in this house," Dokiki fibbed. "If you find it, we'll go on many exciting, uhh, friendly animal adventures together!"

"All right I'll go look for a spaceship!" Oblivion said all in one breath. He dashed out of the room.

Dokiki let out a sigh of relief, leaning against the wall. "This is not why I joined the military." She activated her communicator. "Senior Private Dokiki reporting to Staff Sergeant Zurere. I'm in pursuit of the ship right now, although my search has exposed me to the Pekoponians. I will return as soon as I find a way to escape. Also, I'm a little worse for wear, so don't count on contacting me. I'll find you when I can."

She waited for the message to send. Instead, her arm exploded.

"Ugh! That happened last week, too," she griped.

Oblivion entered back into the room. Quickly, Dokiki hid her damaged, smoking arm behind her back.

"Sorry, no spaceship," he told her.

"What?! But my tracker led me directly to this place!" She threw her arms up into the air in exasperation. Several parts fell on the ground. "I mean, uh, that's too bad, kid." She grinned and kicked the bolts and screws away.

Oblivion eyed her suspiciously. "Do you need help with that?" he asked slowly.

"Nope. It's normal for robot animal friends."

"Does it happen a lot?"

"I'm good." She flashed him a smile. Little did this oblivious Pekoponian know that she was neither a robot, nor an animal, and not a friend. His name was quite fitting because he was totally oblivious.

If you're not a robot, how do you explain the bolts and screws that came out of your arm? asked a nagging voice in the back of her head.

Shut up, voice, she told it.

You shut up, said the voice.

Oblivion interrupted her mental conversation. "Do you wanna just find your platoon some other way?"

"Platoon? What?" Dokiki gasped. "Who—who said anything about a platoon?" Ah, I see. "Platoon" must mean something else in Pekoponian. "I don't need to find a platoon."

Oblivion shrugged. "Suit yourself." He sat back down on his bed and picked up his DS.

An awkward silence passed by. Dokiki sat down. She stood back up. She started pacing.

"So…" Dokiki twiddled her fingers—what she had left of them. "You think you could open that front door for me now?"

"No," said Oblivion. "You're staying with me."

Another electrical spark—er, nervous twitch ran through Dokiki. She didn't like how Oblivion said that. "Are you—are you sure?"

"You're my robot animal friend, aren't you?" Oblivion rolled over onto his back. "I wanna keep you."

"You can keep me!" she shouted. "Just as soon as I go get something really quick." Desperate, she swung the door open. She would not let herself become a prisoner of war—especially not to some oblivious Pekoponian kid!

"You really shouldn't go," said Oblivion. He wasn't holding his DS anymore. In his hand was—what was that? An electrical plug?

The next thing she knew, Dokiki was on the ground, sparking, and she was feeling very sleepy as her systems were shutting down.

When Dokiki came to, it was morning. The Pekoponian Oblivion was in his bed, fast asleep.

Dokiki stood up with immeasurable ease. Glancing down, she noticed that her arms were whole. Odd. In fact, her body no longer seemed so battered from her wear-and-tear journey. She was perfect, pristine, flexible, and hadn't felt so wonderful since she left Keron. It was astounding.

Astounding, but not enough so to distract her from her mission—escape. Quietly, so as not to awake the sleeping child, Dokiki turned the knob of Oblivion's door and slowly crept out of the room.

Let's see… now where was that front door? She crept around the hallways, sticking closely to the wall so she could peer around each corner. So far the coast was clear…. Wait! There it was—the front door. She stepped forward.

"And where do you think you're going?"

Dokiki froze.

She heard a groan. "Dad, I'm just going to Yutoto's."

Dokiki breathed a sigh in relief and stepped back. Whoever was speaking hadn't seen her. She peered around the corner and spotted a tall blue-haired Pekoponian at the front door, speaking to someone out of her field of vision.

"Why so eager to leave, hm? You already ditched us for a weak. At least eat something before you go, Eternity."

"Not until you clean off all your stupid inventions off the table!" shouted the blue-haired one. "I swear, this place is always a mess whenever…"

The voices faded as Dokiki crept further away from them. Until the blue-haired Pekoponian was out of sight, she had to find a different way out of the house. Looking cautiously over her shoulder, she pressed forward.

All of a sudden, her foot snagged on something and she fell tumbling to the ground.

"Oof!" Dokiki rubbed her face and sat up. She looked down at what she had tripped on. Now she felt bad—It was a baby. An entire baby. Well, more like a toddler. Lady Luck was not in her favor today.

The toddler sat up and stared at Dokiki a moment, her golden eyes boring into hers. Then she stuck her hand in Dokiki's mouth.

"Ack!" Appalled, Dokiki pushed the toddler away. Pekoponian children were so disgusting.

The toddler picked up a small laptop and typed something. She turned the screen to Dokiki. The screen read, Be grateful, peasant. You now have the Overlord's blessing.

"The—The—Over—" Dokiki lowered her volume, remembering that there were other people in the house. "The Overlord's blessing?"

Yes. I am the future Overlord of this galaxy, the toddler typed.

Dokiki scratched her head. This was no ordinary Pekoponian fledgling. Perhaps she knew the location of Dokiki's ship.

"What is your name, Overlord?" Dokiki whispered.

My name, the toddler typed, is Sweetie.

Dokiki furrowed her brow.

However, you shall call me Supreme Ruler, the toddler went on. As my subject, you shall obey my commands. Now sit down and put your legs out.

Puzzled, but compliant, Dokiki did as she was told. The toddler crawled onto Dokiki's lap and brought her laptop with her.

"Overlord"—It felt so absurd to say it—"I haven't told anyone else this yet, but I'm an alien invader. My sources tell me that our space ship is located somewhere in this house. Can you tell me where it is?"

The only space ship residing in this place is gone now, typed the toddler. A creature greatly inferior to myself—Hope—brought it in a while back. It has vanished since then. I would not approach Hope if I were you. She will take photographic evidence of all your failures and flaunt it to every being she knows, under the guise that it is "cute" or "funny." When I rule the universe someday, I will have to banish her. And what a shame it is. She is so good at peek-a-boo.

"Right…" said Dokiki, scratching her cheek. "So, do you know how to get past the front door?"

The toddler's tiny fingers typed away. It takes rare qualifications. Your legs must be able to support the weight of your body in order to reach the handle.

"I can take care of that much," said Dokiki. "But how do I get it so it won't open up into space?"

The toddler looked at her strangely, then typed, Why would you want to go anywhere that's NOT space?

"How do I get to Pekopon?" she specified. "I have no idea what to do."

Self-doubt is a mortal construct, the toddler explained, built on the belief that your only limitation exists within the constraint of your own lowly imagination. Perhaps that will assist you.

Hearing footsteps approaching, Dokiki took the toddler off her lap. "Have to go," she whispered to the toddler, then dashed off.

As she ran from the footsteps, she checked back on the front door and noticed the blue-haired Pekoponian was still there. She looked around for a means of escape. Seeing nothing else, she dashed back into Oblivion's room and shut the door.

Here she was safe. It was likely the Pekoponians wouldn't enter the room because Oblivion was still sound asleep.

She turned around and inspected the sleeping child. He had left his glasses on a desk beside his bed, where a couple of tools and electronics lay. Cautiously, she approached the sleeping child and poked him. "Hey. Oblivion. Psst. Wake up."

Oblivion rolled over, tightening his blankets over him. He omitted a small groan but otherwise remained wholly unmovable.

"Hey! Wake up already!" She hit the kid across the face. Finally that seemed to send a jolt through him, and Oblivion sat up with a whiny, "Oww! What was that for?"

"It's how we wake people up in the friendly robot animal realm," said Dokiki.

Instead of saying anything, Oblivion went back to sleep.

She began to pace around his room. The kid seemed to sleep forever. Dokiki didn't risk making any more loud noises to awaken him, because she was terrified the other Pekoponians in the house would find her. She heard of the horror stories of what Pekoponians would do if they found her—torture, dissection, interrogation, the list went on! So she approached her situation with the mindset that this was a stealth mission. She had always been keen on stealth missions. Being a tech officer was never her dream, but for some reason or another, everyone always told her, "Oh, Dokiki, don't be silly, you'll be great with technology! It's like you practically speak the language of computers." To be fair she did take one or two courses in computer hacking and reprogramming in training school, but it never really clicked with her.

The thing was, people were right. She was good with technology and she didn't know why. She liked to call it the "magic touch." Though it wasn't like she enjoyed her job. After all, she was raised to be a killing machine. For whatever reason, the second she stepped into boot camp, her captain replaced the blades she was holding with a keyboard and told her, "wrong sector, kiddo."

She was still bitter.

"So, uh, are you going to mumble to yourself all day about your past?" Oblivion asked behind her.

Dokiki swiveled around. She hadn't realized he'd awoken. She also hadn't realized she was talking out loud. She quickly composed herself. "Will you show me how your front door works?"

Oblivion gave a whimpering "Uh-uh" and rubbed his eyes. "Don't feel good today. I might be sick again."

Dokiki nodded. At least I can understand that pain. So much of the time I feel like my body is working against me.

"What's your name, by the way?" asked Oblivion.

Dokiki wondered if she should tell this kid her real name or a fake one. Finally she spoke, "Dokiki."

"That's weird for someone who's heartless."

"That's a little rude for someone who's…" She thought a moment. "…you."

"Well, see you later, Dokiki." Oblivion hopped out of bed. "I'm going to go eat breakfast." He walked toward the door.

Dokiki bit her knuckles. "Wait, you can't just leave me here!"

It was too late. He had already left.

For many days, Oblivion kept her trapped there. Whenever she asked if he would finally open the front door for her, he managed to beat around the bush. Finally Dokiki waited till the house was empty and went to the front door herself. If Oblivion wouldn't let her out of this prison, she would escape without him.

After many attempts of trial and error, she figured out how to work the door. Depending on how she turned the handle, the door would open to various places—space, Keron (why did it open to Keron? What was with this strange house?), some intergalactic market, a few other areas, and at last, Pekopon. Her luck ran out, however. Just as she had taken a whiff of that dry Pekoponian air, she found herself staring at Oblivion.

"Thanks for getting the door for me," he thanked, taking off his shoes. "I just told all my friends about you."

Dokiki screamed internally.

"I told them that I had captured you all by myself," he said. "Which I have."

She tried to find a way out of the situation. "But—but why would you capture an animal friend—"

Oblivion narrowed his eyes. "You're not an animal friend. You're a robot. Why won't you just admit that to yourself?"

At her wit's end, Dokiki gave up. She didn't know what came over her, but before she knew it, she had blurted out her secret. "I'm not a robot. I'm an alien!" She quickly covered her mouth.

"Yes," said Oblivion. "A robot alien."

Deciding to ignore his insistence about her technological makeup, Dokiki whispered, "How long have you known I was an alien?"

"Ever since I saw you," he replied. "That's why I can't let you leave. I have to turn you into the Junior PPL so they can take care of you. We can't have any invaders on Pekopon."

"Junior PPL?" she asked, confused.

"Yup." Oblivion plopped down in front of her and began to talk rapidly, only stopping to take a breath in the middle of his sentences. "Kohizou already captured a Keronian you see and so now I have to capture one too because he already"—breath—"found one so I got kind of jealous sorta and it's not fair that everyone thinks he's really cool now so I have to capture a Keronian too from the"—breath—"Zurere Platoon before he finds another one."

Dokiki stared at him. She blinked. "Kid, uh…. Those words that just came out of your mouth? What were they?"

"Kohizou already found a Keronian," Oblivion restated, a whine entering his voice. "It's no fair."

Confusion swept over her. How did regular Pekoponians know about the Keronian invasion? This was dangerous. How many others besides Oblivion and his friends were aware of this? She slumped against the wall in shock.

Oblivion noted her sadness and decided to speak up. "How about we make a deal? I'll teach you to repair yourself the next time you fall apart," he told her, "and you let me capture you."

This was a stupid exchange, thought Dokiki. She didn't need repairing because she wasn't a robot. That was just silly. And why would she willingly let herself become a prisoner of the Pekoponians?

Then it struck her.

Oblivion had mentioned that his friend, "Kohizou," had already found a Keronian.

She got to her feet. "If I let you capture me, will you bring me to the rest of my platoon?"

"Well… sure, I guess," said Oblivion after thinking it over. He didn't see what the problem was. He was only thinking about showing off to everybody how he captured an invader.

"All right," said Dokiki. "It's a deal."

Oblivion started teaching her how to repair herself right away. Unfortunately, as much as she hated to admit it, the kid made a good point: If she wasn't a robot, then how come there were wires in her back? How come she could detach her legs? How come there was a compartment in her arm? How come she didn't suffocate when she opened his front door to space?

Dokiki had to come to terms with the truth. She was a robot. Shuddering, she realized that a lot of things made sense now.

"Why wouldn't you want to be a robot?" Oblivion asked her the next day. He was showing her how to program her communicator. "I think being a robot would be awesome. I would never get sick." He paused to turn away and sneeze.

Dokiki pitied him a little. Here Oblivion was, living out his existence miserably, and she currently had never felt better. "I don't know, I guess…" She bit her lip. She didn't want to tell Oblivion all this personal stuff, but found the words spilling out anyway. "I guess that I always wanted things to be my way. I joined the military to fight, not to be trapped behind some desk with bright lights and fancy buttons. I never wanted to consider that the job I was given was due to me, but rather, the stupidity of everyone around me." She smiled softly. It felt kind of good to vent all this. "My dad wasn't helping. I'd always wanted to see him as my actual father, you know, not just some man who commissioned me to make him feel less miserable about his own lonely life, teaching me to blame all my problems on the people I despise." She clenched her fist. "He's still a dad to me. He was the only one who ever supported my dream to fight. He actually wanted me to become an assassin, you know, but…" She blew a puff of air. "…the military loves to spoil our fun."

"That—that's so terrible," said Oblivion. He wiped away some tears, which surprised Dokiki. He was genuinely sad for her. She had never felt pity by anyone before. She'd never had one of these heartfelt conversations. It was kind of lame—but she was also touched. Not that she would tell him that, of course.

By the end of the week, Dokiki was fully accustomed to all her curious functions, and she was ready to uphold her end of the bargain.

"All right, Oblivion," she said. "You can now take me to the rest of my platoon. Tell them that you captured me or whatever." She stuck her wrists out. Oblivion tied them up with rope.

"Sounds good," he said. "Just one problem. I don't actually know where the rest of your platoon is."

Dokiki face-palmed.

"My friends might know," he offered, trying to conceal a grin. "We can ask them."

Ah, I see, thought Dokiki. He just wants to show me to his friends. I suppose it can't hurt, could it? "Let's go then," she said. "What are we waiting for?"

Excitedly, Oblivion grabbed Dokiki by the hand and dashed out of his room. They headed to the front door together—

Then Oblivion froze. "My brother's there," he whispered. Dokiki ducked behind him.

Oblivion's older brother, Eternity, was leaning against the door frame, chatting away on his phone. A bead of sweat trickled down Oblivion's forehead. He didn't know how long this would take. Eternity's phone conversations ranged from anywhere from five minutes to five hours. He was a teenager, after all.

"Yeah, the other two band members are out for a week for some New Year's stuff, but I'll be hanging around," Eternity was saying. He made a face. "What? Yeah, of course I'll come. My parents are making me come, anyway, which is dumb of course, but at least you'll be there too, right? Haha, I know. Hold on a second—" He covered the phone with his hand. "You need something, Oblivion? Or can I have some privacy?"

"S-sorry," said Oblivion. He shrunk away, Dokiki well-hidden behind his bag.

"Yeah, sorry." Eternity put the phone to his ear again. "Nah, it was just my little brother. So anyway, what's new with you?"

Oblivion banged his head against the wall.

"Oblivion! Please quit that, I'm trying to talk," Eternity requested. He went back to his conversation. "What? Really? Good for you! Wait—what new platoon? Another platoon's on Pekopon?"

Oblivion and Dokiki both perked up.

"The Zurere Platoon, you say?" Eternity rubbed his chin. "And you say they're still missing a member… hm…."

"HERE I AM! HERE I AM! I'm the missing member!" Dokiki jumped out from her hiding spot and started waving her arms about wildly.

"Uh…" Eternity started blankly at her. "I'll call you back, Yutoto." He stuffed the phone into his pocket and narrowed his eyes. "Oblivion."

Oblivion jumped at the angry tone of voice.

"How long have you been hiding an alien in your room?"

Oblivion gulped. "S-sorry."

Eternity groaned and slapped his hand down his face. "Come on, you two. We're going to the Nishizawa manor." He grabbed Dokiki and Oblivion by the scruff of their necks and angrily stormed out the door to Pekopon.

The four frogs of the Zurere Platoon, plus Yutoto, were all surprised when a space idol barged into their secret meeting space and plopped Dokiki and Oblivion down on their planning table.

"I believe this one's yours," said Eternity.

"Uh, just Dokiki," Zurere corrected. He pointed at Oblivion and said, "Don't know who he is."

Eternity swiped Oblivion off the table, who shot a glare at him. Oblivion had been so excited to show his friends how he'd captured an alien, and now Eternity had to go and spoil it for him. He crossed his arms and gave him his best pouty look.

"Oh, can it," said Eternity. "You know you should have left that Keronian where you found it."

Oblivion exchanged a look with Dokiki. She shrugged.

Eternity sighed. "Say goodbye and then we're going home."

"Bye, Dokiki," Oblivion waved sadly.

"Bye." Dokiki waved back, then stopped when she noticed that her teammates were watching her awkwardly.

As Eternity left with his little brother, he turned his head over his shoulder and nodded at Yutoto. "Hey. Thanks for telling us where to meet you guys, Yutoto."

Yutoto tossed him the finger-gun gesture. "No prob."

When they left, Pulala gawked at him. "How do you know that celebrity, Yutoto?"

Yutoto shrugged and tucked his arms behind his head. "Eh. I got my connections."

Dokiki just scratched her head and asked, "Who's Yutoto?"

My favorite thing about Dokiki being a robot is that I get to mangle her as much as I want.

Don't let anyone tell you it took me over a week to write this chapter. That's slander.

-Scissors