The morning sky was soft and pink. A light breeze swept across Kaelen Farm. Two boys stood next to the barn, staring at a strange-looking scooter.
It had three wheels, a bunch of wires, a fan from an old drone, and a big battery tied to some iron bars. It looked like a cross between a scooter and a toaster about to explode.
Satyel frowned. "Are you sure it won't blow up again?"
Isothal grinned. "Don't worry! I fixed the power thing. Last time it caught fire because the fan was spinning backward."
Satyel didn't look convinced. He quietly put on his backpack and sat down.
Sizzle—pop!
The scooter jumped. The battery sparked a little. The light turned yellow… then green.
"See? It's fine!" said Isothal cheerfully.
"Normal stuff doesn't catch fire," Satyel mumbled.
They took off.
The scooter zoomed down the farm road, kicking up dust. Wind messed up their hair. Their backpacks flapped behind them like little flags.
"We won't be late today!" Isothal yelled. "No boring old school bus!"
Satyel held on tight. The school gate was just ahead, at the bottom of a hill.
"Hey," he said, "start braking early—"
"Relax!" Isothal shouted. "I upgraded the brakes yesterday!"
But before he could finish, the scooter sped up down the hill. Way too fast.
The school gate came into view.
Five seconds.
"Brake! Brake!" Satyel yelled.
"I'm trying!" Isothal slammed the brakes.
Nothing happened.
The scooter raced straight at the gate.
The gate was silver, with blue lights. Sensors scanned students as they walked in.
The scooter didn't stop.
BANG!
They slammed straight into the gate. Sparks flew. Alarms blared—"WOOO-WOOO-WOOO!" The screen flashed: System Error.
Both boys flew off the scooter and landed on the grass. The scooter rolled into the fountain and started sparking.
Everything went quiet.
Then came the shouting.
Two security guards ran over—one carrying a fire extinguisher.
"What happened here?!"
"Where did these kids come from?!"
Isothal looked up, a blade of grass in his mouth. "I think… the brakes weren't working."
Satyel sat up and brushed off dirt. "Told you we should've used the double-stop system."
The guards helped them up. One asked, "What class are you two in?"
Isothal said, "Uh… we haven't checked in yet."
The smoke hadn't even cleared.
Then—ding! The classroom door opened.
Two boys walked in, covered in grass and mud like they'd been in a storm.
Thirty heads turned. Some gasped. Some giggled.
A woman stood at the front, wearing a dark green coat. Her ponytail swung as she turned to look at them.
She sighed. "Wow. What an entrance on your first day."
She tapped the table. "Alright, class—settle down. Let's welcome our new students."
She pointed to the older boy, who looked a little nervous.
"This is Satyel Kaelen. He just graduated from Haruze Primary. Quiet kid. Unless you hand him a wrench."
The class laughed.
She smiled and pointed to the other boy, who looked like he might take the desk apart.
"This is Isothal Kaelen. Also from Haruze. Super smart. Great at building things. Sometimes… too great."
More laughter.
Satyel said softly, "We just like making small inventions…"
Isothal nodded. "Yeah! Like teaching eggs to jump into the pan. Or making the school clock show Thursday all the time!"
The teacher rolled her eyes. "If only that actually worked. Then I wouldn't have to stay up grading on Sundays."
She looked back at the class. "Some of you might know them already. So—are they geniuses, or just troublemakers?"
Whispers spread like wildfire.
"Did they really blow up the science room once?"
"I heard their backpacks can sing!"
"Do they really have robot sheep?!"
The teacher knocked on the desk. "My name is Ms. Elia Thorn. I teach Class B, Grade 7. I'll also be your science and history teacher—and your guide through Disaster Recovery 101."
She smiled in a spooky way. "Mess with me, and you'll find out what Monday Doom really means."
Then her tone softened.
"Satyel. Isothal. Welcome to middle school. Just remember—every 'little experiment' now comes with a little more responsibility."
She pointed to the back row. "Seats are back there. You're official middle schoolers now."
That night, lights twinkled across the farm like stars on the ground.
The Kaelen farmhouse was small but warm. Hand-painted windmills hung on the windows. Dinner smelled amazing.
Isothal grabbed the last egg. Satyel stirred his soup, sneaking a glance at him.
"How was your day?" their foster mom asked while washing dishes. "You didn't blow up the school, right?"
"No explosions," Satyel said quickly. "Just… excitement."
Isothal mumbled with a mouthful of rice, "Someone already wants to join our Tiny Tech Club!"
Their foster dad chuckled. "You haven't even made the club and you already have members?"
Late that night, after their parents had gone to bed, the brothers snuck out to their secret workshop behind the barn.
The tiny lab buzzed with sound—clicks, sparks, and whirrs. Wires tangled like vines across the floor. Tools covered every surface.
Satyel was soldering a small energy board, focused like a laser. Isothal lay on the table, sipping soda and pulling apart a weird old core chip.
"If I plug this into your thing," Isothal asked, "will it blow up your face?"
Satyel didn't even look up. "Don't mess with it. I just fixed the capacitor—wait, actually… it's stable now."
"Really? Let me see!"
They leaned over the table, laughing, like they always did on starry, invention-filled nights.
Meanwhile…
A big city glowed in the dark. Cars hummed. Towers blinked with light. Everything seemed normal.
But high on a rooftop, something strange hovered above an old antenna.
A silver metal ball—smooth, silent, no wings.
It pulsed.
A red scan line lit up and swept across the city.
It picked up two faint signals. Alive. But not from Earth.
It saved the data.
Then, the ball drifted away into the shadows, silent as dust.
Watching. Waiting.