The sound of running water was the first thing Halo heard the next morning. She yawned and rolled over to catch the last few minutes of sleep before Aunt Dora knocked on her door. She pulled the coverlet up around her chin then shoved it back when she didn’t recognize the feel of it.
“Where am I?” She sat straight up in the bed. The other one in the room was already perfectly made.
The water stopped running in the bathroom. Chimes rang seven times from the speaker above the door. Footsteps and the babble of voices in the hallway outside the door answered her question. She shut her eyes tight, hoping yesterday would go away. This couldn’t be real. Why was she here in this crazy place where everyone wanted to study with angels?
“Hurry, you have to be ready when Koze gets here,” Zadie yelled while jerking open the bathroom door. She wore slim white pants paired with a snug black top with music notes dancing across the front. Her long black hair was pulled back in a tight ponytail.
“Sorry I can’t stay until Koze gets here. I’d really like to meet him. Professor Notes gets totally out of sorts if I’m half a tiny bell late.” She grabbed a music folder and headed toward the door. “See you. Good luck.” Zadie waved bye and was gone.
“It’s okay,” Halo muttered under her breath.
She pushed herself out of the bed and shuffled into the bathroom. New soap, toothbrush, toothpaste, a glass, and a stack of clean towels rested on one side of the sink. The face staring back at her from the mirror was the only familiar thing in the room, and it needed help.
Her red hair was a tangled mess, and her freckles seemed bigger and darker than ever. Taming her curls was a hopeless task, so she went to the closet to retrieve her soiled clothes and put away the new pajamas she’d found on her bed last night.
“Wow, talk about a surprise!” she said to no one in particular. Folded neatly on the closet shelf was a new pair of jeans, underwear, a T-shirt with Star IV written across the front, and a new pair of canvas shoes with clean white socks stuffed in the tops. Her roller blades were there, too. They were clean and hung from a hook in the closet. There was a note from Miss Ruth with instructions to pick up the rest of her wardrobe at a place called Necessities on the esplanade. Attached to the note was a requisition form for personal items, a laundry pickup schedule, and an account statement for purchases. Her account held one hundred pinfeathers. She didn’t know what pinfeathers were, but guessed they used pinfeathers for money here.
She tried on the underwear and the jeans, pulled the shirt over her head, and slipped her feet into the new shoes. Everything fit perfectly.
“It’s a mistake. This Koze person is coming to tell me I can go home. They’ve probably already told Aunt Dora I’m here.”
There was a knock on the door. She stopped talking to herself and stared at the door, afraid to answer.
“I am here to escort Halo to Angel Vesta’s office. Are you ready?” a strange mechanical voice asked.
“Coming. Be there in a sec.” She cracked the door open and stepped back in shock.
A tall, bald man-like creature dressed in a shiny red zip-up-the-front suit with matching gloves and knee-high red boots stood in the doorway.
“Yikes! Get away. Stay away from me!” She screamed and tried to shut the door, but the creature-person blocked it with his foot and a firm grip on the edge.
“I am Koze. I didn’t mean to frighten you.” His voice and outfit reminded her of the old actors in the TV series Star Trek.
She stood frozen to the spot. Koze’s black eyes with golden star-shaped pupils blinked with every word he spoke.
“I am here to escort you to Angel Vesta’s office. Please follow me.”
“Are you for real?” Her heart was beating like a drum.
“Yes, I am real. I am an android, actually.” Koze walked ahead of her, his voice echoing down the now-empty hallway.
“What’s an android? Wait. I know, like on TV, you’re, well, like a man with a computer for a brain.”
He stopped, his eyes blinking rapidly. “Yes, my design is that of a human male. My data system allows me to communicate mentally and physically with humans.” He clicked his heels together. “TV is not a familiar word.”
“You don’t have television? Bummer! Why do your eyes flash when you talk? Can you see out of them?”
“If you are referring to my visual sensors, the answer is yes. My sensor eyes connect electronically with my brain and respond appropriately to inquiries or objects.” He snapped his lips together in a thin line and walked away.
“Hey, wait. I didn’t mean to hurt your feelings or anything. You aren’t mad at me, are you?” She jogged behind him taking two steps for each of his.
“There is no need for an apology.” Koze faced her, his eyes lighting up with each word. “The English word mad means insane or angry. I assure you that I am neither. The word bummer is not part of my vocabulary. Perhaps you will explain the words television and bummer later.”