Strange visitors

In a rare occurrence, Daddy Pane decided to cut short Devon's sleep the next day. 

Pane quietly went to Devon's room and saw him deeply enjoying his rest. He usually allowed him to sleep for as long as he liked, but not this day. He hesitated but steeled himself for the sake of today's agenda.

His one hand softly patted Devon's face, while the other brushed his hair up, thinking that these actions would be enough to interfere with his sleep. "Devi, wake up." But he underestimated Devon's ability to rest heavily.

Seeing his unmoving son, Pane marched towards the window and flicked open the black-out curtains to let the rays peek inside the dim room, knowing that his child wouldn't detest the view outside. 

Devon, who was in a deep slumber, was assaulted by the weak sunlight. He never knew that the sun could be this offensive. 

He hurriedly covered his face with the thick blanket and murmured, "Dad, it's too early. I'll exercise with Lime later. I promise." He let his thin right arm peek out of the blanket, as though taking an oath.

However, to Devon's surprise, his father didn't compromise. He didn't receive a response to his words and only heard steady steps vibrating towards him. "Lime, listen to me for a second." His strong hands gently held Devon's and helped him to sit on his bed. 

Devon was about to move his mouth and reason again, when Pane dropped a bomb, "Someone is coming." This news was enough to halt his brooding temper.

… Someone?

In their villa, there is only Pane, Devon, and Lime. Hence, 'someone' means a new entity, a stranger, which could be a human being or an extraterrestrial.

His face slowly calmed down. He understood an outsider would show up to their abode. An intrigued Devon reluctantly followed his dad's orders.

He slowly fixed his bed and focused on washing his face, pretending not to care. He hesitantly asked, "… Who is it?" His attention was focused on his peripheral vision. "Who will come to our house— ouch!" He accidentally touched the razor blade.

Pane hurried towards his son with the first aid and tended his wounds. He sighed, "Devi, always pay attention."

Devon sheepishly responded, "Sorry, Dad."

After applying a band-aid, Devon cannot help but ask, "Do we not have technology that can immediately heal wounds or regenerate?"

Pane chuckled as he put back the first aid one of the cabinets in Devon's room. "We are trying, but it is still unsuccessful." He stared at his kid for a second, then walked downstairs, while reminding. "Go and eat breakfast after you are done." 

Devon shouted in disappointment, "Okay." But his body defiantly sat on the bed and slowly slid to lay down. It's heaven.

The bed kept seducing him back to sleep, so he resisted for five minutes and successfully hypnotized himself to stand up. He, of course, did not forget to greet the partially-born sun, which was still shying behind the purple-tinted clouds.

Afterward, he woke himself again thoroughly, this time, with a cold water, washing away his drowsiness.

However, he was greeted with an even more surprise when he reached the dining room. The table, which usually contained bread, milk, fruits, and Lime's favorite oil was overflowing. It was filled with an enormous amount of food, mostly meat, oozing with flavorful juices. 

Their family is a fan of balanced meals. So, for sure, these were not for them. 

"Lime, why did you cook so much?" Devon stumped on his feet, scanning the various meals he had never seen before. "Can they finish all of this?" He felt his saliva dripping from his mouth.

Pane was preparing Devon's breakfast and turned to him with a betrayed expression, "Why did you think it was just him who cooked this?" But his scrunched-up face bloomed with amusement after seeing his child's hungry face. "You can eat this, but only what you can bear." 

"Why? Am I wrong?" Devon looked flustered. When he turned to his dad, he was handed a glass of warm milk and milk buns, carefully delivered to his hands.

"Yes, it wasn't me who cooked that. But… I did help." He braggingly emphasized, contemptuously glaring at Lime, who was stealing his child from him through delicious food. "In addition, 'I' made this 'only' for you." 

In their background, "According to my calculations and experience, they could, master." (0 v 0)

Devon is already used to his father's doting and childish demeanor. Hence, when he felt the growing one-sided tension, he immediately responded, "Thank you. Let's eat, dad." He grabbed his dad's arms towards their favorite sofa in the living room to calm his nerves.

As they passed by the innocent robot, he stealthily whispered, "Lime, turn on some relaxing music, please." In an instant, a soft tune emanated throughout the place. His face smiled in delight at hearing something new.

The two were idling on the soft sofa, enjoying the music. "Dad, what's this music called? I like it." 

"… Oh, those." Pane pointed to the source of Devon's hearing.

"It's not music." His eyes immediately radiated from excitement. "Our ears aren't hearing anything right now. These are brainwaves sent to our minds and soothe our nerves. It is just, that our body translates these into music notes---."

A loud rumbling outside interrupted their conversation, like a massive bolder, humping their gate. Startled, Pane hurriedly stood up, "They are here."

Devon hurriedly peeked through the window from his seat but saw no one. A frown was apparent on his face. "But Dad, there's no one outside…" His voice slowly weakened after seeing his father's face. He had never seen such a grave expression from his parent before. 

In Devon's first time walking out of their dwelling, he discovered that their house was encircled by a circle of stones, which are around 36 inches (0.91 m) in height, ending at a cantilever gate, directly positioned in front of the home's entrance.

He estimated that the distance between their house and the stones was a kilometer, enough to grow vegetation. Although the structure wasn't good at protecting them against invaders, it allowed people to see through beyond the walls.

Devon uneasily took a peek again but still saw nothing beyond the fates. He just saw their yard filled with flowers, fruits, and vegetables planted on a small scale.

He felt his father standing from his seat. Devon attempted to follow him behind. "No, Devi. Stay here." He brought something with him and marched towards the door. "Lime, come with me."

Both of them swiftly made their way outside. When they reached the gate's entrance, Dad made Lime survey the area beyond it with the instrument Pane brought. After receiving a negative response, they finally permitted the undetectable visitor to enter.

The gates slowly opened with a loud sound and rattled the ground. Like a horror film, Devon saw silhouettes slowly emerging from the top of their head down to their feet, hastily walking inside the villa. 

After ensuring that they were all inside, they cautiously locked the gates. Unfortunately, the three visitors' faces couldn't be seen. Their whole body was covered with black cloaks to the ground. On their backs, Devon could visualize humongous lethal weapons, as if they mistakenly went to the wrong arena.

"Who are those people?" He grumbled, while secretly peeping through their window. "Is there a need to bring weapons when visiting us?"

Seeing that his dad was guiding those people toward the entrance of their house, Devon swiftly went back to his seat and preoccupied himself with analyzing the weapons he had just seen in his mind.

Devon voicelessly whispered, "Can I replicate those?"

He looked stupid most of the time, but he's sharp, both Little and Big Devon. As if a computer was programmed in his mind, he could easily analyze various data and devise multiple solutions. He could easily store information as much as he wanted.

But he is flawed, especially with his weak body and enthusiasm over things, which could not keep up with his mental ability. 

Lost in his thoughts, Devon suddenly sensed a warm hand patting his shoulders. He followed its source and saw the most terrifying man he had ever seen.

Devon's eyes widened in fright, "W-who are you?" His gaze immediately wandered, finding Pane for help.

"Don't touch him, Gavril." Pane instantly reacted and snatched the stranger's hand. 

"Sorry, sorry." The man looked amused and raised both of his hands in surrender. "I just cannot believe he woke up." 

He spoke to Pane, but his eyes stayed on Devon. His deep stare made it seem he wanted to bore a hole in the kid's face. The corner of his mouth appeared to lift as if fascinated by something.

His gaze slowly turned towards Pane. "… Well, we can be sure now that you are not fully deranged, Pane." He half-jokingly and half-seriously said.

Not caring about Pane's reaction to his words, he grinned at Devon.

"Hi, kid. I'm Gavril."