The great city was no more. Nothing but a crumbling ruin in which worker robots and human beings were struggling to rebuild. No longer did the glass skyscrapers tower above the busy roads. No longer did the inhabitants walk carefree and happily along. No longer did the voice on the speakers blare "Welcome to Metropolis". That was how Kenichi remembered the city as he boarded the plane to Tokyo. He'd done all he could to help, it was time to go home.

The boy was only fourteen at the time, standing in line at the airport. He could look out of the huge glass window and see the city, or what remained of it. He remembered it before, when it was still a futuristic cityscape. And with that memory, came another. The memory of her…

The green-haired boy sharply turned from the window and looked instead at the back of the person standing in front of him in line. It would be good for him, his mother had said on the phone, for him to come home and allow himself time to rest. It was a good idea. There was nothing for him here anymore.

Kenichi unconsciously slipped his hand into his pocket for his ticket but instead found something else. His fingers curled loosely around the small metal object as he fished it from his jacket and stared at it in his hand. Again memories flooded to him. Her. A robot, yes, but so different from the rest. She was beautiful. She felt so real. Felt like a human. Looked and acted like a human. But she wasn't… Not at all.

The line began to move and Kenichi was herded along with the other passengers ready to get on the plane. He handed his ticket over and went in. People slowly filed into the airplane, happy to forget the destruction and fear that Metropolis had brought them. Kenichi found his seat and slumped down next to a mother and her daughter of about four years. The boy offered the girl a tired smile, as she looked nervous to be on the plane, clutching her mother's hand.

The small girl raised her eyes to look at him and meekly smiled back. Moments later, the plane took off into the clear blue sky. Kenichi stared out the window, looking one last time at the city. They would rebuild it, life would continue as per usual. And even Kenichi was happy to leave it. He had fallen for a robot. She'd nearly had him fooled. Again he looked at the piece of metal in his hand. All that was left of her… He shoved the metal into his pocket again and pulled the blind down over the window.

Kenichi… who am I? Who am I?

"TIMA!" A teenage boy bolted upright in his bed, gripping the sheets tightly in his fists, his body glistened with sweat. He breathed heavily, staring at the darkness before it came to mind that he had been dreaming. His eyes slid closed and he sighed, falling back onto the mattress. In his room, he watched the ceiling fan spinning while he tried to calm down. Just a dream… just a dream. But he had it all the time, sometimes twice in one night. Since he'd stopped taking his medication a year ago, the dreams had returned to him, haunting him… calling to him.

Now nearly eighteen, Kenichi had returned to his home in Tokyo with his mother and little sister. He hadn't been to Metropolis since he'd left it almost four years ago. He'd been plagued by the dreams night after night. He rarely slept well. His worried mother had him take medication for the dreams but it left him feeling groggy and irritable all the time. He couldn't live like that either.

At seventeen, Kenichi had a fair paying job, just broken it off with his girlfriend, was planning to move out and he had big dreams of being an engineer or a lawyer. He was trying to live his life, gathering the pieces, putting them together. Metropolis had been one small part; it hardly mattered in the big picture.

But it did matter. He couldn't ever forget about it. It could, at times, near drive him mad as he could only think of what might have been. Of course, then his logical side would bring him back to earth. There was no what might have been. There was nothing. He had nothing there. Everything was here. Everything he wanted, here. His life, his family.

"Why do you haunt me?" he said out loud into the dark while he held one hand over his forehead. "Why? Why?"

He slipped out of bed, putting a pair of jeans over his boxers and left his room. He walked quietly down the hall and into the kitchen where he opened the fridge. The light illuminated the room for a moment and someone sitting at the table squinted against the light.

She cleared her throat and banged the bottom of her glass on the table. Kenichi whirled around, dropping the jug of water he had been holding. Sitting there was a girl a little younger than him, perhaps sixteen. She was small framed, pale, fragile looking. Her hair was long and dark green like his, with large brown eyes. Despite the time of night, she was fully dressed.

"Bro" she said, nodding her head once and sipping from her glass.

Kenichi realized one hand was clutching his chest and he let it drop down. "Ridoru… you scared me! What are you doing up, anyways?" He was a bit angry with his sister for scaring him.

"I just got home" she responded, shrugging. She looked at him, concern apparent on her face. "You alright?"

"Just a dream" Kenichi sighed, picking up the jug of water and pouring himself a glass. Really, if he drank anything else during the night, he'd never get back to sleep.

"Ah" Ridoru nodded as though she shared his grief and lack of sleep.

"I'm going for a walk" Kenichi said when he'd finished drinking. "I'll be back soon." He went to his room again, putting on a shirt before setting out into the warm summer night. He enjoyed it most at night. The air was warm but not hot like the day was. There wasn't the endless noise of traffic jams, people chattering to one another. It was easy to feel like he was the only person in the world. It really was lonely…

Tokyo wasn't like Metropolis, though it was a huge city in itself. It was late, but the signs continued flashing, music sounded from clubs, people were still out and about, mingling. The light pollution had long ago made it impossible to see the stars, but then, no one seemed to care. Everyone went on with their lives, not stopping to think twice about it. Kenichi included. He'd rarely seen the clear night sky.

As he walked down the street, only occasionally being passed by a car, Kenichi stopped fighting himself and gave in to the thoughts. It no longer made him cry to think of her. Suddenly he was frustrated with himself. "Why am I still thinking of her after all this time?!"

"Maybe you loved her, ever think of that?" In the shadows, the figure of a man was leaning against the building, just finishing a cigarette and he flicked it onto the ground. His eyes were hidden by a pair of sunglasses but everything else about him was familiar.

Kenichi took a step back, eyes wide. "You."

"That's Rock" the man answered, grinning. "Nice you remembered me."

"You're… you're… but I thought…" Kenichi stammered.

Rock raised his head to get a better look at Kenichi. It was impossible to tell what he was thinking. "You thought I died" he finished for him.

"Why are you here?" Kenichi felt anger flare up inside him.

"Why are you?" Rock countered. 

Kenichi stared, confused. "I live here."

"But you'd rather be there, right?"

"No"

"Heh. You lie" Rock continued to grin smugly. He straightened, taking a step towards the boy. Kenichi, in turn, warily took a step back. "Hey, can't we put the past behind us? Come on, I have nothing to live for now either."

"I have lots to live for!" the younger man snapped, turning away from him. "And whatever it is you want, I've decided I don't care. I've put that part of my life behind me."

Rock chuckled, amused. "No you haven't. And neither have I. Have you seen the city since you left before?" The brown-haired man sighed a little. "It's really come a long way already, everything is being rebuilt. It might never look the same, but it's close…"

"Look, that's wonderful, really it is, but I don't care." Kenichi walked off, aware of Rock following him. He wouldn't show it, but he felt afraid. Rock probably still carried a gun with him.

"Just hear me out, would you?" Rock called to him. "You remember that android. Really, it was a huge waste. She was more powerful then you thought, eh?" He started laughing. Rage boiled over in Kenichi and he stormed back to Rock, grabbing him by the collar of his shirt.

"What are you here for?! Tell me before I kill you!"

Rock stopped laughing but continued to grin as he pried the boy's hands off him easily. "Somehow I doubt you to be capable of killing anything."

"I can be very unpredictable"

"So I see. I've been living in Metropolis for a while after the whole big Revolution ordeal. Everyone would just as soon forget the whole thing, but the truth of the matter is that there are still rebels around. They're completely against the robots… All except one."

"What?"

"There's gonna be trouble again very soon. That little puppet of yours might be 'dead' but everything they need is on one tiny microchip. It happens to be on that piece of metal you've been carrying with you these four years."

Kenichi blinked rapidly, backing up. "Wh-why are you doing this? Why are bringing me more pain?"

He never could shake the image of her as she fell. Her skin was so white it almost glowed, but most of it had been ripped away to reveal the metallic parts underneath. Her one good green eye stared up at him. The wind whipped her short blond hair around her face. It was at that moment that it became painfully clear that she wasn't human. She was a machine like the rest. A well built machine, but still a machine. Kenichi couldn't save her. She was a robot, but he was so sure she had emotions. So sure… maybe she didn't. Maybe that too was part of her programming.

"Kenichi… who am I… I?"

"You think you were in pain?!" Rock's smile had faded and he too looked enraged. "You think you were the only one that suffered?! Think again! You had your uncle and a family in Tokyo to go running home to! I had nothing!" Rock's fist suddenly connected with Kenichi's jaw and the boy went flying backwards.

Kenichi recalled fighting with Rock before. He hadn't won then either.  

Wincing, the green-haired boy raised his eyes as Rock advanced on him. He scrambled to get up and fight. He felt a trickle of blood from the corner of his lip.

"I was alone!" Rock said brokenly. He almost sounded like he was about to cry. "I was scared… Everyone was glad to dismiss me as just another fucked up orphan. But I refuse to be what they want…"

Kenichi stood up, wobbling a moment but regained his balance. He wouldn't be caught off guard again.

"Kenichi, I can pretend to move on. You can pretend to move on. But we're both miserable and we're both pretty damn messed up in the head from it all."

It was true, anyways. Whether he believed it or not, it was true. He couldn't move on. He could stay in denial, but it was useless. The boy seemed to visibly relax. "Yeah…" Kenichi sighed. "You're right."

"You have the heart of that puppet. You've been carrying it with you the whole time. It has valuable information stored in it. Do you have it with you now?"

Kenichi reached into his pocket but found nothing. "It's at home."

"We have to get it. Now." Rock turned and hurried away and Kenichi followed after him.

"But why?" he asked.

"Because they want it."

"Who does?"

"I don't have time to tell you right now!" Rock responded, frustrated. "We're going to get it and then you're going to give it to me."

"No! No I can't! It's… it's all I have left of her!" 

"Then you'll have to come with me to Metropolis"

Kenichi stopped, looking frightened. Even when Rock went on ahead, Kenichi remained with his feet planted into the ground. The thought of going back now terrified him. "I can't… No, I can't go back there… you don't understand."

"Like hell I don't! I'm going through what you are. Tough it out and let's get going"

The two reached Kenichi's apartment but were surprised to find the door already wide open. They looked at each other then snuck in quietly, almost immediately greeted by half a dozen men dressed in black, wearing masks to cover their faces. One of them grabbed Kenichi roughly by the shoulders.

"Where is it, boy?" he demanded, shaking him.

"Get back!" Rock whipped out a handgun and shot the man in the head. He dropped down without a sound and Kenichi just stared, open mouthed as blood ran onto the carpet. Rock didn't look phased at the fact that he'd just killed someone. He grabbed Kenichi's arm and pushed his way through the crowded living room into Kenichi's room.

Rock turned and locked the door. "They'll kill us now" he sighed. "So where is it?"

Kenichi fumbled through his drawers and finally saw the metallic glint amongst the clothing. He held it up. "Got it."

"Let's go out the back"

"But my mom and sister are still in here!"

"They've already got them by now"

"I can't just leave them!"

"You can and you will!" Rock pushed Kenichi out the back door onto the balcony then herded him down the stairs. The two of them fled out into the street and Rock flagged down a taxi. They slid into the car and it sped off into the night.