Chapter III: Standing on at the edge of a rabbit hole

Issei rubbed his eyes as he woke.

Staying up as late as he had immediately made itself apparent from the exhaustion that rolled over him.

But his alarm pounding at his head brought him out of his slumber.

Sitting up, he rubbed his hands over his eyes and dragged them back down.

It was a school day today.

…Which seemed so strange to him, the idea of just going to school after literally finding out aliens existed and then just…

…What the heck was he supposed to do about it now? Could he even tell anyone and not get laughed at?

The thoughts rose one after another and flooded his mind, Issei's lips were pulled into a frown as he thought about it for a couple of moments, then decided against it. Not even going to tell his friends at school about it. Mostly because he wouldn't be believed and even if that was the case - for some reason - then it just felt mean to Highwire if he started showing him off like that.

So he could definitely keep it a secret for now.

Definitely.

It all relied on how long Highwire was going to be around for in the first place or-

Shaking his head, Issei put the thoughts from his mind and instead focused on the here and now.

The 'here and now' being getting himself ready for school once again.

Sweeping his legs over the side of his bed, Issei pressed his feet flat and then reached out towards his alarm clock. His fingers passed down lower than he thought they should have done, then they touched against smooth wood. His brows pinched rather quickly, turning his eyes onto the spot where the alarm clock was supposed to be.

But wasn't?

What?

It was only then that he realised the sound was coming from across the other side of his room, Issei turned his head about to the noise.

Oh, it was just Highwire with his alarm clock, no big deal.

…

…

…Wait…

"What-!?" Issei launched himself to his feet, throwing his blanket away from his body and staring bug-eyed at the intruder in his room.

Highwire turned to face him, still with the clock in their hands and making the loud buzzing sound to wake him. Tilting their head, the robot stared at him for a few short moments before making their own curious electronic beeps, holding up the clock rather pointedly and asking some clear questions.

"What are you doing-" Issei stopped and stumbled forwards, reaching out and hastily prying the clock from the hands of the robot and turning it off, tossing it backwards and onto his bed before he continued the conversation. "Why are you in my room?"

Beeping quickly, the robot looked at the bed and then back to him with slightly anxious eyes.

Issei pinched his brows. "I went into hibernat-...I fell asleep."

Curious and confused beeps followed.

"I…It's a thing people do." Issei explained, rubbing his brows. "We need to sleep to do stuff…do you not sleep or something?"

Highwire shook their head while continuing to beep, then waved a hand.

"No, about seven or eight hours at most." Issei tiredly explained, then caught himself and sighed.

So the robot came into his room because it had been hours since they last saw him and got worried about him. Which was endearing in a way but then it made him realise that they might have been staring at him in silence for more than a couple of hours. Which was a weird thought to have.

Well, better to forget about it.

Arms dropping back down, he waved a hand. "So yeah. Nothing wrong with me."

With affirmative beeps, Highwire leaned forwards.

"What? No, I have school."

Curious beeps.

"It's a place I go to learn things." Issei replied, then stopped for a moment before adding on. "I sort of have to go."

Highwire made a series of beeps while nodding their head excitedly, but the moment Issei caught wind of what they were actually saying, he stepped up with his hands raised and hurriedly started to push them down, all while shaking his head from side to side.

"You can't come with me to school and walk around! What if people see you and freak out? Remember what I said yesterday?"

They gestured to the wheel on their arm and made a more confident beep.

"All our bikes have to stay in the bike racks until the school day ends." Issei explained with a grimace. "You'd pretty much have to be there for hours without actually moving or doing anything…which sounds really boring, if you ask me and I don't want you to have to do that, to be honest with you."

Highwire slumped at that, saddened beeps made Issei wince.

"Look, it's not like I'm against it." He said slowly, "But I just don't see how it would work. We'd be able to talk when I got back and figure out all of that stuff then, but there's a whole day in which we're not really with one another. Basically, it would probably be better for you to stay here and…uhm…"

Issei trailed off when he realised a real problem.

Whether Highwire was in his shed doing nothing or at the school doing nothing, the same would be true in either case.

They would be doing nothing.

Which was really unfair.

"...You can stay in my room!" Issei quickly exclaimed, then pointed towards his computer. "I can get up some of my games for you to play! Think of it like a culture exchange!"

That felt like the right word for it.

Also for someone like Highwire, he doubted they ever got to experience the full majesty of what his vast collection had to offer.

Highwire looked at the computer, striding across the room and standing in front of it, then turning back to him and beeping for a few moments.

"Yeah, it's a computer." Issei dropped his arm, then chuckled. "I'm guessing yours are a bit more advanced than this?"

With some rather guilty beeps, Highwire hastily replied.

Issei snorted and shook his head. "It's fine, man. This probably isn't even the best computer out there. I wouldn't be surprised if there were some guys at school with better computers than me, but it gets the job done right…"

Highwire perked up a bit as his words, then turned their head and moved across the desk of the computer and pointed down.

Following their gaze and attention, he saw them staring at the cracked screen of his phone.

"Oh, that?" Issei had forgotten about that. "It's a phone, though it's broken-"

It was promptly snatched off the desk before he could even finish, Highwire flipping it open and examining it rather thoroughly. Issei was rather caught off guard by the speed and interest that they were suddenly showing to his phone, especially as if the reaction to the computer as 'archaic' had been any indication, he doubted his phone would be all that much better.

Highwire turned to him, releasing a sudden burst of excited beeps while holding the phone up towards him.

Issei shrugged. "I guess? But you'd need a phone too and that one is broken-"

Turning away from him, the mitten-hands started to move over the phone all while Highwire released a high pitched whirring noise which sounded unlike any other sound he had made. It was also rather loud and Issei winced at the volume, turning his eyes sharply to the door and then back to Highwire.

"Hey! My parents are going to be waking up and then come here-"

The noise cut out, Highwire turned back to him and thrust the phone right into his chest, all while chirping loud and pleased. Issei fumbled to catch the device, when he did he looked bemusedly at them, then down to the phone and flipped it around.

He blinked once.

Then twice.

Then looked up with wide eyes.

"...Whoa."

The screen was fixed.

In fact, it looked as if there had never been anything wrong with the phone in the first place, but just to be sure he turned it on.

He was also rather dumbfounded by the fact the phone switched itself on faster than it had before, with record time he was at his home screen and staring at the icons. Issei let out a small huff of disbelief before fighting the urge to slap himself on the upside of the head for forgetting something so simple.

Of course the robot from space would probably be able to fix his phone and make it even better than before.

Looking up, he met the glowing white eyes of his friend as they watched and waited.

"...This is incredible." Was all Issei could say.

Highwire puffed themselves up, a series of prideful beeps came forth as they gestured to the phone and then nodded their head.

Issei raised a brow at the command but did as he was asked, flipping through to the contact list and then staring at the sudden addition to the short list of names. He paused for a moment, then clicked it and flipped it open, staring down and then back towards Highwire, his eyes going back and forth.

"...Okay, what?"

A slight beep - similar to the noise of Highwire's voice - echoed from his phone and his eyes dropped down.

[Now we can talk to one another while you're in school!]

"...You're a genius."

Highwire shook his head, letting out some abashed beeps.

Issei snorted at them and folded his arms. "Don't start being a tsundere. It's not all that cute."

…Alright, maybe it was a little cute.

But he didn't know if Highwire was a guy yet or not.

…Did they even have a gender?

They were a robot…but then robots in anime sometimes had genders and even boobs.

He squinted really hard for a couple seconds and cupped his chin, humming to himself.

Highwire's puzzled chirping broke his thoughts, Issei quickly looked up and met their confused gaze. He smiled and waved his hand.

"Don't worry about it."

Looking down at his phone, he nodded his head.

"Yeah, this will work." He replied. "Though I'd need to wait until I had the chance to text you. Phones aren't really allowed out in lessons so…"

Frowning again, he placed his hands on his hips.

"Are you really alright with waiting?"

Highwire chirped back.

"How long? Like…six hours? Six and a half tops?"

Highwire stared back at him, then made a small noise of surprise.

"Eh?" Issei blinked. "What do you mean short?! That's a long…wait…how old are you?"

Silent for a long time, Highwire made a slow noise.

And like that, his arms dropped down.

"...Are those like…dog years…?"

He got a slow shake of the head in response.

"Ah. Right." Truthfully, Issei didn't even know if he should be surprised. "...That was how old you were before you came here?"

Highwire nodded, then made a few more beeps.

"No, it's just…dude…you're, like…really old." Issei paused for a second, then added on. "Really old."

Millions of years.

Tens of millions of years, apparently.

Wasn't that, like, older than the dinosaurs or something?

This guy was older than the dinosaurs?!

What!?

"Issei!"

He jerked up and turned his head to the door, his ears strained as he heard steps closing in.

His mother!

Quickly turning back to Highwire, he stared at them dumbfounded for a couple seconds before blurting out the first thing that came to his mind.

"Hide!"

Highwire froze up, then dropped down.

And turned into a bike again.

Before Issei could even get a single word out, the door to his bedroom opened up and his mother stepped inside, she opened her mouth before her eyes caught sight of the bike and she blinked rather confusedly.

"...Issei? Why is your bike in your room?"

Issei was silent for a couple moments, then shrugged his shoulders. "Uhhh…So I remember to bring them-it to school?"

His mother looked at him, then made a small noise and smiled. "Ah, alright then. Just make sure you watch out for traffic…and don't bring it in if it gets too muddy."

And with that, she closed the door and left.

His shoulders dropped, he turned and looked down at Highwire and thinned his lips.

"...We're gonna need to figure something out."

Highwire chirped in affirmation.

"You ever think about aliens?"

The question was met with a short silence.

"Yeah." Matsuda replied rather quickly, wearing a large smile. "Like the really innocent princess-types from alien worlds who don't get human norms so they end up getting really physical? Those are some of the best."

"Mmmmh. Quite." Motohama added on, pushing up his glasses. "There is a certain enjoyment in the simple misunderstandings brought about within that genre. Though I find there is a degree of intrigue when the differences are explored."

A brief pause, then the latter turned on him with a raised brow.

"Is that what you meant?"

Issei let out a small chuckle at the mentions prior, he had almost forgotten about all of that. Then quickly recalled what he had actually meant and quickly wiped off the smile and shook his head.

"No, I mean like actual aliens."

The pair of them stared at him with a bit more surprise.

"...Like…alien, aliens?" Matsuda blinked very slowly at him, both he and Motohama shared a glance briefly. "Not really?"

"I will admit that I have often times thought of the possibility." Motohama said rather slowly, then shrugged his shoulders. "But I've not put much thought into it beyond that. Quite frankly, I'm more worried that if aliens did exist, then they would look nothing at all like how they are presented in Visual Novels or anime, and I would be really let down."

His shoulders dropped.

Issei rolled his lips inwards and only nodded his head.

The poor guy had no idea how right he actually was.

Highwire wasn't exactly exciting in that way.

"Yeah, leave me to the alien babes." Matsuda snorted, then blinked and looked at him. "Are you thinking about aliens all of a sudden? Don't tell me you've been seeing some of those UFO videos online…I'm telling you, those are clearly hoaxes. You can tell by the lighting of half, none of it really matches the position you see the sun in."

Issei…gave a very slow blink at the rather intellectual answer.

"Oh." He said. "Well, no but thanks for the warning. I mean like have you ever thought if aliens are real or not?"

"...Why wouldn't they exist?" Motohama queried. "It would be rather strange to consider the idea that alien life did not exist out there in the vast universe, but I rather doubt it has anything to do with us…but if some hot alien girls decided to show up and I inadvertently stumbled into a marriage pact, I would not complain."

It was worth a laugh, and he certainly gave a little one.

But he would appreciate an answer, even if he was also enjoying the diverging topic.

"Seriously though-"

"Why are you suddenly so interested in aliens?" Matsuda cut in rather abruptly, arms folded and eyes narrowed. "...Wait…"

His face turned sharp, then slack.

A note of incredulity spread over him before he huffed.

"It's not going to work."

Issei blinked. "What isn't?"

"Being all interested in aliens all of a sudden." Matsuda rolled his eyes and jabbed a finger. "For starters, Gremory-Senpai is interested in the occult stuff, which is entirely different-"

He choked at the sudden implication, made all the worse when suddenly Motohama was nodding his head and giving Issei some sort of sympathetic pitying stare.

"Indeed. I am afraid you are barking up the wrong tree on that front." Motohama reached across, then lay a hand on his shoulder, all while keeping that look on his face.

"...But if there is any conciliation." Motohama continued. "You would have no chance even if you knew everything there was to know about the supernatural."

With a scowl, Issei brushed off the arm from his shoulder. "Okay, first of all, this has nothing to do with the ORC."

Neither looked convinced by his words, their pitying stares got even worse.

"He's in denial." Matusda commented.

"It is the first stage. Next will come anger." Motohama added on.

"I'm being honest here!"

"And there it is."

"Screw you guys." Issei grumbled and sharply turned his head away from the pair of them.

Any other day they might have been completely right as well, but this was the one time he actually wanted a serious answer.

Matsuda sighed and rubbed his forehead, drawing Issei's eyes. "Alright then…what is it you want to say if it has nothing to do with Gremory-Senpai?"

Issei was dubious about responding, especially as he prepared for another couple jokes.

But it was a chance he was given.

"So what if aliens crash landed a really long time ago-"

"And all the myths are based off them?"

"I don't know, maybe?" Issei shrugged his shoulders. "Wouldn't it be the least bit worth considering?"

Both Matsuda and Motohama turned and looked at one another once again, a longer silence followed which was starting to make Issei feel as though he really was getting made fun of at the moment.

Eyes narrowed, he looked at them. "What?"

They looked back at him and slowly shook their heads.

"Poor fool."

With a scowl, Issei pushed himself away from the table and turned around, marching right out of the lunch hall and clenching his jaw. He was feeling a tiny bit annoyed at the moment and he was trying to make a serious discussion and-

He stopped walking when things started to click into place.

…Alright so he might have sounded a bit crazy and slightly desperate.

But he really wasn't!

He was being serious!

There was an alien robot that turned into a bike that was millions of years old!

Maybe they did inspire all those myths and stuff!

Who was to say it wasn't true?

…It would be kinda cool in a way.

Like something out of an anime or along those lines, but nevermind that now.

A vibration in his phone and an electronic chirping drew his attention, his hand delved into his pocket as he quickly fished out the phone and flipped it up.

Highwire texted him.

[What do you mean by myths?]

Issei stopped for a moment, then quickly texted back.

'How do you know about that?'

[I made use of the speaker system in your communication device.]

Issei stared at the phone for a second.

"...So I can just talk and you'd hear me?"

[Yes.]

He looked up and turned around, making sure no one was nearby, then quickly ducking through the hallways and making his way to the boys toilets, entering one of the stalls and shutting the door behind him, he took a deep breath.

"Alright, so basically there's a bunch of myths and legends and stuff. Like King Arthur and Zeus and all that…I think? There's a bunch of games and anime that constantly use the words and stuff so they probably all come from something, right?"

[You mean a shared origin?]

"Yeah! And then what if all of that stuff was…like…guys from your ship who woke up? Do you think that's possible?"

[I do not know. I have not been informed of these stories to give an accurate response. However our ship crashed and broke up into segments. Others might have been cast off into other continents on this world and awakened before me.]

Issei inclined his head, hand falling to his hip.

"Yeah…So there is a chance."

Tapping his foot, he hummed for a few moments.

[Should we research them?]

Issei stopped tapping and made a small noise.

"I…you know what? That's not a bad idea? I mean…how hard can it actually be?"

Highwire did not text back for a couple moments.

[How?]

Issei paused for a moment, then snapped his fingers.

"How else? The internet."

The internet always made things easier for him.

This would be easy.