Toby sat idly at his school desk as the video at the front of the class played on about how wonderful Metro City was. Robots did make life pretty simple, doing the mundane jobs so that people could work on more important stuff, but why did the government feel it necessary to advertise the fact? It smelled of propaganda.
"Hey Toby. Isn't that your dad?" It was the student who sat in front of him.
Toby checked the video as the narrator said, "... Doctor Tenma, head of the Ministry of Science, and father of modern robotics. Thanks to him, and the incredible innovations ..."
His brilliant dad. "It sure is," he answered softly.
Moustachio heard anyway. "Hush!" he hissed as the video finished and the lights came up. Stepping forward, he said "Okay, students, ready for a pop quiz?"
The first question appeared on the students' individual displays, and Toby glanced around as many of the other students expressed their shock.
"Begin," said the teacher.
Toby checked his display. This had better not take too long; he had an appointment.
"I am so busted," exclaimed a girl off to one side.
Toby smiled smugly and started to rapidly fill in answers. A couple of minutes later, he put up his hand.
"Yes, Toby?" asked Moustachio, looking up from his reading. "Is there a problem?"
Toby pulled the recorder out of its slot in his desk and started forward. "There's no problem. I'm just finished, and I'd like to leave."
The teacher gasped. "Finished?"
"What?" said a startled student.
"For rocket science," Toby said as he handed the recorder to Moustachio, "it wasn't exactly rocket science."
"Well," answered the teacher, "I don't suppose there's much point in you staying." He looked up, but Toby was already at the door.
"Good luck, guys," he called out as he pushed through the door. He heard a book hit behind him as the door closed, but he just smirked and headed to his locker. After all, he was going to the symposium on quantum mechanics at the university. He triggered the pager in his pocket to alert his father to come and pick him up.
"Hello, Master Toby," said O_rrin, the family robot, cheerily. "Did you have a good day at the ...?"
"Think fast, Arn!" Toby flipped his school satchel up into the air. He enjoyed giving the robot a hard time, even though he knew that it would never get irritated with him.
O_rrin struggled to bring in the satchel. It finally caught it and said, "Thank you, Master Toby. Very good throw, by the way." It got into the driver's seat as Toby settled in the back of the limousine.
He sighed. He had been really looking forward to going to that symposium, and Dad wasn't here. What's his excuse this time?
Dr. Tenma's image flickered into existence at the other end of the bench. "Hello, son."
Toby looked over. "Hello, sir." Might as well play along until Dad got around to explaining himself.
"How was school?"
"Oh, great! Moustachio dropped a pop quiz on us, but I'm pretty sure I got a hundred percent."
"That's good, son, very good; but, I don't want you to become complacent. It's important to keep studying. Onward and upward, Toby!"
Toby turned away and looked at the floor. "Sure, Dad." What about the symposium?
Tenma cleared his throat, plainly uncomfortable. "I'm aware I said that I'd take you to that symposium on quantum mechanics, but I'm afraid I have to take a rain cheque again."
"But you promised!"
"I'm sorry, Toby," he said sternly, "but it's unavoidable. President Stone has brought forward the unveiling of the Peacekeeper."
"The Peacekeeper?" Now that was an excuse he could understand. "You've got to be kidding me!"
"I never kid. Good-bye, son." He pushed an unseen button and his image flickered out.
"The Peacekeeper, huh." Okay! This sounded way better than that symposium! "Hey Arn," he said as he hopped over behind the driver's seat. "Change of plan: take me to the Ministry of Science."
"I'm sorry, Master Toby, but your father gave me strict instructions to ... " It noticed that Toby had entered the control centre in its back. "Stop that! What are you doing back there? Hey! Hey!" Toby gave a final push, and O_rrin straightened up. "Next stop, Ministry of Science!"
The car wove dangerously through the traffic as it turned around and headed in the opposite direction.
Toby watched smugly as the tall Ministry building loomed closer. He dreamed of the day when he could share in his father's work. He had the stuff; all he needed was the education—and he was working hard on that. He had wanted to take in the quantum mechanics symposium because his father was using quantum devices in his latest creations, and he really wanted to understand how those things worked. The Peacekeeper itself was loaded with them.
The Peacekeeper ... the herald of adaptive technology, his father had said, but he had been able to say little else of substance about this top-secret military robot, and Toby was itching to see it.
To Toby's annoyance, O_rrin refused to stay with the car, so he found himself shepherding an apparently drunk robot through the corridors of the Ministry. The staff was familiar with the boss's son, so nobody asked him any awkward questions as he worked his way up to the main laboratory. He was able, however, to find out that his father was headed toward the lecture theatre first.
He soon spotted a column of soldiers, and figured that his father was probably up ahead of them with the president. Then he heard him speaking.
"Dr. Elefun is an esteemed colleague of mine, Mr. President. He may be resistant to having his discovery used for military purposes."
The resonant voice of the president responded, "Well, you leave Dr. Elefun to me."
Toby could see that he would need some help catching up, so he called out, "Dad!"
Everybody did stop, but one of the soldiers ordered, "Hold it right there," and grabbed him firmly.
"What are you doing here?" demanded his startled father. "I gave O_rrin specific instructions to ..."
O_rrin was blindly bumping into a corridor wall near by.
"I wanted to see the demonstration," Toby pleaded. "You're always talking about the Peacekeeper."
"Really, Toby," Tenma said.
"Your boy?" President Stone asked.
"Yes, sir."
"Well, let him tag along," he said indulgently. "It'll be good for him. Educational."
"Yes, sir."
The soldier holding Toby let him go, and he immediately joined his father at the front of the line.
The president looked down at the boy. "So you're interested in robots, son. Robot weapons?"
"Absolutely, though I'm sure you'll agree the latest D-class interceptor on-the-line deployment-to-target system is quite old-fashioned." This purchase by the military had bothered him ever since he had heard of it.
Stone scowled, then said, "Take this boy to a safe place and keep him there."
Toby, startled as a soldier took hold of him by the shoulders, appealed to his father, who answered, "I think it's for the best, Toby."
That wasn't good enough. "But you said I could see the Peacekeeper!"
The president settled the matter. "You still can, on tonight's news with everybody else."
Toby was disgusted, but he was trapped for the moment, and found himself being led back down the corridor. They stopped in front of a utility closet, and he saw his chance. "This is so unfair!" he said as the soldier triggered the door.
The soldier gave him a firm shove in and said, "Cool off, hot shot!"
Toby was prepared for this. He dashed back to the soldier. "Please don't leave me in here, sir! I can't stand small places! Anywhere but here!" He discretely pocketed the ID card that he had snatched from its slot on the soldier's belt.
The soldier pushed him back in and said, "Geez, kid, you're like thirteen years old. It's time you grew a backbone."
Toby watched the door close, then said, "Thanks for the life lesson. And thank you for this." He held up the soldier's card with a smirk. No mere grunt was going to keep Toby Tenma from seeing the Peacekeeper.
He waited for a couple of minutes to give the soldier time to slack off, then opened the door. Sure enough, the soldier had his back to his prisoner and was bragging to some woman.
"Onward and upward, Toby," he muttered in imitation of his father, and happily headed the other way.
As the big lab door opened, Toby heard, "Activate weapon drones!" and watched in awe as dozens of small flying robots poured out and attacked an immense robot—the Peacekeeper at last—in the centre of the lab floor. He couldn't get a clear view from where he stood, so, sneaking behind the soldiers, who were all watching the demonstration, he headed stealthily toward the other side of the lab.
Suddenly, one of the drones attached itself to the chest of the Peacekeeper and started to fire on the other drones.
President Stone noticed as well. "It's using that drone against the other drones. How's that possible?"
Tenma replied, "It's called adaptive technology: It can absorb and control anything."
Toby stared—so that was the adaptive technology! He watched for his chance, and took up station at the far side of the laboratory.
"Well," said Stone, "I may have flunked out of college, but I was right about the red core! You scientists think you're the only ones with the brains."
Toby glanced over at his father. What was this about a red core? He had never heard of it.
An apparent stray shot from the Peacekeeper crashed into the wall behind the president, scaring General Heckler, the president's aide. The Peacekeeper then turned and looked at the assembled people.
"Uh, sir ..." muttered Heckler anxiously to President Stone.
The giant robot broke into a loping run, bearing down on them threateningly. Tenma promptly hit the 'emergency door' switch, and a great transparent plate dropped from the ceiling in time to abruptly stop the Peacekeeper. However, smoke around its edge showed that the impact had done damage.
Toby turned to run, but found his escape route cut off. In a panic, he called out, "Dad!" and started to pound on the door.
Tenma quickly spotted him and shouted, "Toby!" He thumped on the switch plate, but it just reported the error condition. Toby kept calling, but his father could only shout, "I can't open it! I can't open it!"
Tenma finally rushed over to where his son was, and Toby again screamed, "Dad! Help!"
"It's going to be okay, Toby!" his father said. "I'm going to get you out. Everything's going to be fine. I promise!"
Toby swallowed. He could tell by his father's expression that everything was not fine—he was just desperately trying to make his son feel better.
The Peacekeeper began to power something up, there was a blinding flash, and Toby vanished.