"Bobby! Come here!" Spotting an orange tail in the bushes, Tristan once again called out the name of his cat. Although he wasn't convinced Bobby actually knew it was her name. She certainly didn't seem to listen to it.

His voice was hoarse from yelling for his pet across the campus. Amidst the chaos in his brain caused by the imminent interstellar attack on the university, that only he and his alien girlfriend knew about, finding Bobby and bringing her home safely was a clear mission to focus on right now.

First, he'll save the cat, then he'll save everyone else; Brody, who probably had met up with a cute cheerleader after practice and decided to spend the night at her place; Robin and Tyler, who probably were still busy making out in the movie theater; Tristan's quiz bowl team; the members of the chess club; all his other classmates and university staff he'd come to care for during his two years at Vale Tech.

"Bobby!" He tried again, squatting down in an attempt to spot the feline among branches and leaves.

Suddenly, there was a flurry of rustles and creaks. Then, a familiar orange head peeked out from the bush. "Mrooow?" Bobby said as if asking if it was her who Tristan looked for.

"Come here, silly!" He urged the cat to come closer by putting his hand down against the grass, trying to entice her to come sniff.

Bobby obeyed, acting as if he'd only told her earlier to come, she would obviously have done so immediately, as the good kitty she was. As she trotted toward him, tail swaying proudly in the air, Tristan spotted something in her mouth: a glowing green object that didn't look quite at home on Earth.

Upon reaching Tristan, Bobby dropped the oval object right in front of him, just as she did with moths, beetles, and other types of prey she caught inside the apartment. "Mmmeow!" she exclaimed proudly while purring loudly and stroking her body against Tristan's jeans.

Another rustle came from the bushes. Tristan looked up to see the fluffy poodle Bobby had been chasing, cautiously scurrying out of the bushes with its tail between its legs.

"Frances! There you are darling!"

Tristan recognized the voice calling for the defeated canine.

"Professor Armstrong," he greeted his Astronomy professor, noting that her curly white hair perfectly matched the fur of her dog.

It may be a good thing that Tristan had already, in all likelihood, butchered his chances of a good grade in her class by arriving late and writing an important test distracted by an otherworldly arrival. Because his cat giving her dog a whooping certainly wouldn't improve his standings in the professor's book.

"Mr. Conway," the professor replied, catching the leash of her dog and bending down to caress a fluffy head. "Is that your cat?"

"Yes," Tristan admitted, quickly grabbing the green egg-like object from the lawn before the professor saw it. He stuffed it into his pocket for later investigation. Considering her field of study, he suspected Professor Armstrong may have a keen interest in its origins. "I mean... Bobby's just visiting." Realizing that cats weren't allowed in student housing, Tristan started to blather nervously. "She definitely doesn't live in my room. I mean... I know that's not allowed. So she doesn't. She lives elsewhere. And I'm sorry she chased your dog. She probably just wanted to play. I apologize, Professor Armstrong."

Feeling like he'd already said way too much, Tristan scooped Bobby into his arms, noting that perhaps all that tuna Vyrsa had fed her had upped the difficulty level of the cat-carrying task. He gripped the scruff of Bobby's neck to make sure he didn't lose her again.

The professor didn't appear as angry as he'd imagined. "I don't care where the cat lives, Mr. Conway," she said. "I know the school has guidelines regarding pets in student housing since those apply to staff living on campus as well. This is why I always walk Frances at night when the residence staff has left. So if you won't tell on me, I won't tell on you." She did a zipping motion across her lips and smiled conspiratorially. "Oh, and great work on your test earlier this week by the way. I can really tell you have a keen interest in Astronomy."

"Yeah..." Tristan mumbled, parring an escape maneuver from Bobby, who seemed to think she could be trusted to walk home on her own. "Astronomy is really fascinating."

It certainly was an interesting subject, because Tristan couldn't deny the allure of studying certain alien life forms, but it was also a frightening subject since there was a risk other life forms could pose a threat to Earth's civilization. And unless he could prevent it the whole university was about to get a crash course in Advanced Astronomy.

***

With some new scratch wounds on his arms, Tristan finally let Bobby free upon entering the apartment. Carrying the cat back up several flights of stairs had been an arduous task, but now she was finally back in their safe haven.

Bobby celebrated by running to her food bowl. She gave Tristan a disgruntled look upon discovering it contained hour-old leftovers but still dug into them a moment later. Running wild on campus must have upped her appetite.

"You found her!" Vyrsa came running from the bedroom, flinging herself in Tristan's arms. She'd stayed behind during the cat hunt in case Bobby returned to the apartment, and because Tristan figured that having an alien lose on campus was probably not a good idea. Even if she could pass for a Lithuanian cosplayer. They had enough space-related issues for one night already.

"I did," he confirmed, placing a kiss on Vyrsa's glittering forehead. Despite the dire situation she'd put the university in, his feelings were still the same. Her actions in stealing the key may have been hasty but it wasn't like she'd chosen to end up in his bedroom.

It had been pure coincidence but yet it seemed like their meeting was fated in the stars.

"I also found this," Tristan revealed, pulling the bright glowing oval object out of his pocket to put it on the kitchen table. Almost as if she knew what he was claiming, Bobby gave him the stink eye. "Or Bobby found it, I guess," he corrected himself. "Do you know what it is?"

Vyrsa stared in amazement at the egg-like item, eventually reaching out to touch it. Her nails changed color to reflect the glowing green when her finger nudged the object. "It's a Coian communication device," she informed him excitedly. "It's what they plant on their agents, to control them and communicate with them. Where did you get it?"

"The poodle, Frances... I guess," Tristan replied. "So are all poodle Coian spies?"

Vyrsa shook her head. "What you call a poodle is a species that exist throughout the universe. They're fluffy, obedient, and easy to control. Which is why the Coians chose them to be their agents."

Tristan had to ask the obvious question: "How does being fluffy help for that?"

Vyrsa gave him a pointed look like the answer was obvious. "Because it makes them endearing, of course. Which makes it easier for them to infiltrate new planets. The Coians probably planted a flock of poodles here centuries ago, despite such action being forbidden according to the Union of Intelligent Life. Then, once planetary expansion started, they must have come here to plant their communication devices, so they would know if another force tried to take Earth before them." She sighed deeply. "This is against all universal treaties. They've probably planted their agents on thousands of uncivilized planets without anyone knowing."

Tristan decided to ignore the uncivilized part. This wasn't the time for discussing stages of technological development.

"Can you do anything with it?" He asked instead, nodding toward the device.

The glitter on Vyrsa's cheeks intensified as she beamed happily. "I can do lots of things with it!" The excitement reminded Tristan of himself when preparing for a quiz tournament. So many interesting subjects to study! "Luckily, I studied Coian Technology in school. I always loved when we studied alien planets and their customs, so I paid keen attention."

"So can you... save the school?" Tristan asked.

"Just watch me." With a glint of nerdy dedication in her eyes, Vyrsa tapped the device in a melodic rhythm. This made it start spinning in her hand and a moment later it hovered in the air in front of her. Rows of holographic signs—probably Coian writing?—spun in circles midair.

Noticing the intriguing moving shapes, Bobby abandoned her dinner and jumped up on the table to try to paw them. Tristan discreetly tried to move the cat out of the way while Vyrsa tapped away at the floating green, which reflected mesmerizingly on her skin and hair. She scrunched up her nose and squinted her eyes as she threw herself wholeheartedly into the task.

Somehow, her intense dedication to the important task made Vyrsa seem even more alluring to him. And Tristan had been pretty damn attracted to his alien visitor to begin with. It appeared that saving the world, or at least the university, through nerdy skills was a hell of a turn-on.