The next morning, I agreed to stay home “sick” from school. It wasn’t every day an interdimensional megacorporation with armed robots mistook me for Las Yerbas’ most wanted dead girl. I tried to study at my wobbly desk, hoping for an oasis of normalcy in a vast desert of what-the-fuck. But the oasis was only a mirage, and ultimately I had to numb my anxiety by burning through a pack of gum while mainlining hamster maze videos.

If Mom sent me one more check-in text, I was going to tell her I’d been eaten by robots. She was out “borrowing” equipment from work and coordinating the Talisman search before meeting us back here. I guess so we could help her while that Laramee jerk-off interrogated Garrett. The only problem—I hadn’t exactly told Garrett. In fact, I’d put it off all day, as if the whole murderous robot thing wasn’t real as long as I kept my nose buried in a textbook.

What we needed to do was clear—find the Talisman before Otokotronics did. Only there was no guarantee interrogating Garrett or following Laramee’s warehouse lead would turn up anything. And that fact put more knots in my belly than anything else.

Matt came over late afternoon ahead of the meeting, quiet and heavy-browed. I’d been cooped up inside all day, so I strapped on my old Casio watch and met him in the yellowed field across the street. Even with Dad’s watch gone, a girl still needed to tell time.

The transmission towers here stood over train tracks like sentinels, the sun hanging sulkily above, a red welt in the sky thanks to the wildfires. A reminder of where Mom and I were from—and how Matt couldn’t help me with this otherworldly corporation if he wasn’t up to speed on the whole multiple worlds thing. Mom had given me her blessing to tell him, saying he was already read in on the robot stuff and we needed all the hands we could get. So even though I’d messaged him some last night, this part seemed like an in-person conversation.

“I’ve, uh, got some news,” I began.

He settled beside me in the grass, his eyes bloodshot and distant. “If this is about an AI vtuber, I don’t wanna know.”

This was going about as well as I expected. “Can you be serious for a second?”

“Okay. What’s the big news?”

My pulse skittered. Once I told him, there was no putting the genie back in the dumpster portal. “Sooo turns out … I’m kinda from another world.”

Matt froze, and so did my heart. I needed him to believe me. To acknowledge that my whole world was shifting beneath my feet.

Finally he turned toward me with smirk. “Lol wut?”

I about shriveled up and died. “You heard me.”

He snorted, his arms bent around his knees. “Hey, so, does Garrett know he’s needed here for interrogation?”

Why were my cheeks burning? I wasn’t the one being an idiot. “That dumpster is a fricking portal, Matt. You were right. It’s how the garbage disappeared. I guess I came through a different one when I was little.”

He tugged at a stubborn weed. “Because if you’re not gonna tell Garrett he’s in the hot seat, I can do it.” He reached for my phone. “He’s our ticket into your mom’s club, right?”

I slapped away his hand. “Matt, please. Can you just listen for a sec?”

He patted my leg like you would a child. “Ko, you’re from San Antonio.”

“And don’t you think it’s weird my mom doesn’t have an accent? Or ever says anything about Texas? Most of Otokotronics is in the other world now, but if they find the Talisman, they’ll come here on Sunday to kill us all. I-I don’t know what to do.” My eyes brimmed with unwelcome tears.

“What we’re gonna do is work with your mom to search the warehouse where Ko Prime was spotted, so—”

“And if the warehouse is a dead end? If we just leave this to chance—”

Matt held up a hand. “Laramee’s gonna talk to Garrett in case he knows anything. This is under control. We’re part of a team now.” He flashed me a look of concern. “Where’re you even getting this another world stuff?”

“My mom told me last night.”

He scratched his chin. “That woman doesn’t mess around. So if you’re not lying—”

“I swear it on my special edition TI-83.”

He considered that, and then his narrowed eyes shifted to a transmission tower. “When’re you calling Garrett?”

“It’s just …” I tugged on my hair, sitting up. “We were the ones who found him to begin with. And now my mom and Laramee want to swoop in and take over while we do assigned busywork until our deaths on Sunday? Once we bring in Garrett, that’s it. We’ll be playing by my mom’s rules and lose any freedom to investigate on our own.”

“This has to be a team effort now, Ko. We’ve each got a job. Your mom is the brains, clearly. Laramee’s got the connections. And you bring the angst. You know, all that …” He waved to encompass me. “… dark energy.”

I swallowed a laugh. “And, do tell, what’s your contribution?”

Matt hunched forward. “I’m the heart, duh.”

“Is that a self-appointed role, or did you have to interview for the position?”

“Did you know you can be a joyless contrarian while texting Garrett?”

“Doesn’t this stuff get to you? You know, being hunted by robots? You were all shaken up in the shoot-out, but now everything’s under control?”

He made a show of shrugging, digging out a weed by its roots. “I’m fine.”

“So it is getting to you.”

He shifted on the dead grass.

“I didn’t sleep much last night,” I offered. “Just the thought of all those robots out there. To be honest, I kind of worked myself into a—”

“Ko,” Matt said, “can you cool it with the robot stuff for like two seconds?”

“Why?”

“I’m just tired of the constant drumbeat of We’re all gonna die.”

“Well, we are—unless we stop Otokotronics soon. You know you can talk to me about this stuff too, right? You don’t have to pretend this doesn’t affect you. I see you being all mopey.”

He sniffed. “What makes you think I’m worried about some stupid robots from a totally made-up world?”

Did you know this text is from a different site? Read the official version to support the creator.

“Then what is it?”

He picked at another weed.

“Matt.”

His jaw muscles worked at nothing. “You know how me and my sister used to be, like, unstoppable together, but then she up and left the country? It was to get away from me, okay? I was trying to help her. Be a good brother. She was using, obviously, but it was under control. Improved her sculptures, she said. But when they found her boyfriend in the walk-in at that teriyaki place … Of all the places to OD …” He trailed off, chewing his lip. “Then things weren’t under control.”

My cheeks blazed. Guilt climbed onto my back and just sat there. “I’m sorry, Matt. I didn’t know it got that bad. That you’re still dealing with this. But I don’t think you should blame yourself for—”

“I’m keeping her RV running in case she comes back.” He ground a weed into the dirt with his heel. “I never told you, but after she left I almost burned down the Drama room. Sort of on accident, but sort of not. And now I’m failing Spanish. And Chemistry. And Wood Shop. I’ll probably never get into college, not that I want to.” He laughed hollowly and threw a rock at the tracks. It fell well short, skittering into the weeds. “So, yeah, what’re a few robots?”

“Jeez. I had no idea about Drama … or Wood Shop. That all this was weighing on you. I’ve just been so wrapped up in my own problems. I should’ve asked how you were doing.”

He gave me a wounded look. “It’s okay. This only bubbled back up in the last couple days. I just feel so useless.”

“It’s not okay. I need to be less … self-involved. But I thought you were the one all worried about the game system? You know, telling me to consult my mom constantly?”

“That’s my point—we’re teamed up with her now. She’s not the type to take shit from robots. She has the union buddies to back her up. And, strangely, random cops.” He poked at the dirt with a stick. “This is the best I’ve felt all week.”

I gently socked his shoulder. “You should tell your face.” If only I shared Matt’s confidence in my mother and her friends. But if he got some comfort in joining Team Mom, I’d be a bad friend to ignore that, right?

He put on a bitter smile and we shared a beat of silent camaraderie under the hazy afternoon sun. It was the first oasis of normalcy I’d felt all day.

His smile faltered. “I really wish you’d invited me to this little chat with your mom and Laramee last night.”

“I’ll give you a call next time something comes up. Oh wait, you don’t have a phone.” I still couldn’t believe Matt had shoved it into that dumpster to record the cops. But an idea struck me with a jolt. “Laramee said somebody carted off the dumpster last night, that it wasn’t LYPD. So how about we track your phone to find out who has the dumpster? Maybe we can make our own lead for the Talisman.”

Matt gave me a bashful look. “About that …”

Uh oh. “You left GPS on when you stuffed your phone in there, right? You can just look up the location. Right?”

He leaned back on his hands. “Hypothetically speaking, what would you do if you forgot the password to your phone tracking app?”

I didn’t like where this was going. “I’d hypothetically request a password reset.”

“Uh huh.” He had a sly sparkle in his eyes. “And let’s say you’re only logged into your email account on your phone. An account for which you’ve also conveniently misplaced the password.”

“Then I would use the email account’s password recovery. Just ask it to send you a text to confirm your—”

Matt nodded expectantly while I caught up.

“Oh.” I slumped into the weeds. “So you stuffed your phone into the dumpster for pretty much no discernible purpose—and now have no idea where it is?”

“I’ve been trying to get through to support.” He dislodged an apricot-sized stone and flung it sidearm toward a stand of bamboo. It ricocheted off the train tracks, sending up a flutter of finches. “Guess it’s about time to head in?”

I let out a grunt of frustration. He was right; there was no more putting it off. We had to play by Mom’s rules now. And if that made Matt feel even a little bit better, it was probably worth it.

Pulling out my phone, I dialed Garrett. Ringback cycled until I almost hung up. At the last second, a young, reedy voice picked up sounding nothing like Garrett’s bot. “Ko?”

“Garrett? Hey, so, my mom and one of the cops from last night wanna talk. They said they’ll help us if you tell them about Ko Prime. Are you available?”

“I’d be honored to chat with your mother and this officer. They might have an idea about where I should look for the Talisman.”

Tension slid out of my shoulders. “Oh, thank God.”

“There’s just one problem.” He coughed. “I’m unable to get there in person.”

The tension crept back. “Why not?”

The sound of a chair creaking came over the line. “This may be difficult to believe, but I live on the other side of a portal. In another world.”

My stomach plummeted. “Jesus Christ,” I said, pressing the phone to my chest. “Is there anyone here who is from this world?”

“What?” Matt said, hucking another stone.

“Garrett lives on the other side of the portal. In the world you don’t believe in.”

He turned to me with a shrug and another rock. “Well, for what it’s worth, I’m totally from Milpitas.”

“Ko?” Garrett said, muffled.

I picked up the phone again. “Yeah I’m here.”

“I know this sounds implausible. I’m using a device I borrowed from Father’s study that peers with phone networks on either side using tiny portals. And when I found my console in a dumpster, it was near Cedar and Thirteenth—the ones in my world.”

“No. I believe you. Turns out I’m originally from there too. Long story.”

Stunned silence was followed by another creak. “That is … amazing! Oh, I’m so relieved to hear that. So you’re not angry with me?”

“Why would I be angry?”

“Because I hid this from you.” His voice grew heavy. “Father said I would get in trouble if I told anyone. I listened in on his calls, and apparently he feels terrible about Otokotronics’ plans for the Talisman, given that he designed it. He wants to destroy it, destroy them. I’m not sure he’d approve of me looking for it though.”

“Well my lips are sealed.” Garrett’s dad sounded like kind of a hard-ass, but here Garrett was trying to be a good kid. Like I should be. “So how can I get you here to talk to my mom and Laramee? Otokotronics is apparently transiting to this world Sunday night—and killing us so we don’t tell the feds.”

“I’m unable to use a portal at this point in the cycle without my bones turning to mush. Otokotr—”

“Mush?” No wonder people were so finicky about crossing portals.

“Transiting is usually fatal for humans until later in the portal cycle. And Otokotronics has finally locked down the few bots they control now, as I’m not seeing any to connect to. However, I was going through Father’s desk and discovered he has some souvenirs—bots—stored in your world, secured using the password from his luggage. Including some not far from you. So I suppose … I can be there in a few minutes?”

Hope took flight in me. Man, this kid was resourceful. We finished the call, but only after agreeing on how to verify he was the one piloting his dad’s bot.

#

Matt and I returned to my apartment to fill in Mom, who didn’t appreciate that I’d only just informed Garrett about his interrogation or that his commute was longer than expected. But Garrett soon showed up at our door piloting his dad’s bot—less Terminator and more Data from Mom’s Star Trek show—just in time for Laramee to breeze in and usher him into Mom’s spacious bedroom for interrogation.

“So …” I called out from the kitchen where I was stress-washing dishes, “how do we search this warehouse for the Talisman? Can we just leave Laramee here with Garrett?”

Mom stirred in her armchair in the living room, looking up as if awakened. “We’re not going anywhere. I’m hoping your youthful minds can pilot our spare bots from here. It’s the safest way to get you into the field to help. We’d do it ourselves if there weren’t … incompatibilities. Older minds are more fixed.” She pushed the game system out from under her chair. “Matt, would you mind hooking this up?”

He grabbed the console and hurried behind the media center. “No prob, Mrs. S. I’m just happy we’re all here, working together.” He shot me a look.

I dried my hands, giving him the eye roll he deserved. What did he want from me? I was here, wasn’t I? “Are you gonna be searching too?” I asked Mom, padding into the living room. “Or is this just to keep us busy?”

She let out a motherly huff of exasperation. “Every pair of hands counts. But I’m on coordination right now.” She waved her phone, glancing at the screen. “We have people following leads all over town. In fact, I—” She went still, her eyes flashing wide. “We have a problem.”

My pulse picked up. “What is it?”

Mom rose to her feet, her face lit by the phone, every line of her body rigid. “Stanton spotted Otokotronics a few blocks from the warehouse. They must know something about the Talisman. They’re going to get there first.”