Storm Surge, an astro boy fanfic

Storm Surge

Part III of "Walkies some more"

By Dan Rush

From Part II

Takiuma's first meeting with Doctor Tenma didn't go as Astro hoped. While a second meeting may soon happen, Takiuma asks Astro to find the old blueprints to the Atom Project.

Astro has been suspended from school for fighting now he faces a lawyer looking to keep him out…or worse.

An explosion at a metals plant, a sound disrupter and now an EMP bomb over Shinjuku, something has government officials in Japan on edge.

Astro has been ordered to bring Atlas Boy in for questioning but the stubborn human hating red menace is ready for a fight.

Who is the strange figure preaching Haku Ichu and the dreams of a new and powerful Japanese Empire?

Morning

Reno's Apartment

Ministry of Science

Reno awoke to find a set of brown eyes looking back at him. "BWAHH!" He screamed as he fell out of bed and threw the sheets away. "UGH! DON'T DO THAT!"

Astro smiled and sat on the edge of the bed. "Good morning."

He watched Reno stumble for the sink at the foot of his bed and splash cold water on his face. "Why can't you knock?"

"I got suspended from school." Astro replied.

"Hmph…good reason too. What made you use a police hold on the dumb jerk?"

Astro frowned. "Wow. I thought you'd be supportive?"

"I am. I'm just curious. Usually your response programming is more steady, it's not supposed to let you go that far with a human."

Astro pursed his lips. "Maybe it's a sign I can over ride my program through emotion. I was pretty scared for Ken, he was getting his brains kocked out."

"Oh well…I'm sure the Doc will get you back in. Anyway why did you sneak in here?"

Astro laid back on the bed. "I have something to do for Mister Takiuma. I need to get into the achieves and look for a set of blueprints. Has to be "hush hush"

"I see." Reno said as he got dressed. "I'll take you down there. This early no one's gonna bother us. By the way, what do you think of the crazy things going on around here? That noisemaker, the EMP bomb. I've been hearing rumors that Atlas…"

Astro jumped up from the bed. "Atlas hasn't done anything. Can't people use their common sense and not fall into all this rumor stuff? I have to go chase him now though because he got stupid."

"I heard." Reno said as he grabbed his carry bag. "You could bring him in by holding onto his teddy bear?"

Astro laughed. "Then the world would really be in trouble. But hey…after we look around could you scan me over and make me a little less worried?"

"About your reaction programming?" Reno replied. "I think you're just fine. But you should have wedgied the jerk's jock strap over his nose."

"Eeewwww…." Astro replied contorting his face. "I'm not that cruel."

Morning

Doctor O'Shay's house

Zoran bounded down the stairs and ran up to Doctor O'Shay as he ate his breakfast. "Good morning Doctor!" She giggled as she went on her tip toes and gave him a cheek kiss.

"Zoran? Why are you being so sweet?"

"I told you last night. Today's the announcement of which dancing schools will perform for the Emperor on his birthday! I hope we're chosen. He's soooo cute."

Doctor O'Shay smiled. "I'm sure your school will be chosen but remember Zoran, performing for the Imperial family is a matter of the most replete level of manor and decorum…" O'Shay talked with his usual scientist like manor not knowing she was already up and out the door for school.

"Doctor? She's gone." Norra said as she put another cup of coffe on the table. Just then the doorbell rang. "I'll get it."

Norra opened the front door and came face to face with a hovering robot. "Excuse me, is the esteemed Doctor O'Shay available?"

Norra led Fred and Professor Wazu into the house. "Doctor O'Shay." Fred said as he gestured. "Professor Wazu."

"A pleasure." O'Shay said with a bow. "May I offer you coffee?"

Professor Wazu bowed. "Thank you. I'm so happy you accepted my call Doctor."

"I'm happy you accepted our dilemma." Doctor O'Shay said with concern. "Astro is aware of the other side getting a lawyer but not about the school board investigation."

Professor Wazu sat down. "They're pressing their case. They tried to take it to District Judge Inari but he threw it down to the school level on the case of the fight. But it may not be confined to just the issue of school matters, the Keel group will no doubt go for the full book "slap in the face". Our case may also be a little difficult given this morning's protest at the school."

"Protest?" O'Shay replied as Wazu turned on the television…

NHK/CNN…This is Toshi Uzawa here at Public school twelve where once again the issue of robots in school and safety has heated up after a recent fight between a senior classman and Astro. Groups of robots have been gathering here since 6am protesting Astro's suspension from class while anti-robot groups have been gathering since last night…

O'Shay moaned. "Ugh…that's all we need right now. The city's got enough worries to face and we have this going on…"

Wazu nodded. "That's why I have taken on this case for nothing. I'm committed to making it fast, open and shut. I'll need some time with Astro today if you can spare him."

"Well he's at the Ministry of Science right now visiting his friend Reno. Told me there was some research he needed to do for a project."

Ministry of Science

Archive and records

Morning

Astro looked around the big vault and smiled. "This would be a cool club house."

Reno was walking from file cabinet to cabinet reading the labels. "Wanna bet some people around here made out in this place?"

"I'm not interested." Astro replied smirking.

"What exactly are we looking for?" Reno asked.

"Blueprints for the "Atom Project" Astro replied as he turned on his eye lights. "It was a military project Doctor Tenma worked on before he created me. I want to make sure the prints are still here."

"This wouldn't have something to do with that special body right? We did find that arm cannon."

Astro had one cabinet draw open and was skimming through the folders. "I don't know. His brother asked me to find em….then trash em. They're too dangerous to keep around."

Finally Astro pulled out a brown accordion folder. "Here they are…I….think?" He said as he sat on the floor of the vault, pulled out each of the lengthy prints and spread them out. "This is it. Right down to the nuclear warhead."

Reno frowned. "He designed it like a kid."

"Well the choice had advantages. You remember the old cruise missiles? Well here was a cruise missile that could crawl through vents, hide in little places…" Astro shook his head. "It could probably ask for the bathroom and no one would give it another thought."

After looking at the prints for a few minutes and wadding them up in a ball, Astro stood up and fired a finger laser into the pile. "Hope I don't set off an alarm."

"I got a fire extinguisher over there." Reno replied before he gave Astro a smirk. "Did you photocopy those?"

"They're in my memory." Astro said folding his arms. "Remember, I don't throw anything out if it could be used but keeping the hard copies around was just begging for trouble."

Reno walked with Astro out of the vault once they were sure the plans had been well burnt. "When I do your check up, is there anything you want me to improve? You should be in the best shape possible to take Atlas down."

Astro smiled. "I'm not worried about Atlas. It's Shinsaku Ban. He's well known for being a tough cop and if he has too he'll shoot first and leave the questions to the ambulance drivers. I want to get to Atlas before he does."

Robot House Maintenance Union Local 45

West New Shinjuku

Morning

As expected…no one was talking, at least in an understandable truth. One of the robots, named Bugsy, was pretty bullish for his miniature size. "First you got no warrant, Second you're kinda in the wrong place trying to ask the wrong questions, third? If you think we're gonna rat a guy like Atlas out to a fat, "piller stash" wearing flat foot like you then there's my bridge and you can pack it in the hole pal!"

Shinsaku Ban walked from the union hall acknowledging his certain defeat on getting information. He was of course doubting the actual need to bring Atlas in, after all of the hundreds of robots he'd talked to there should have been a reliable group of them who would have ratted Atlas's location out had he really done something wrong.

He stopped to pull a cigar from his jacket pocket when he caught a quick movement atop a building across the street. "A hint of red?" Ban thought to himself. Could Atlas be following him? Perhaps goading the cop was something fun? Perhaps Atlas was just curious as to who was coming after him. Ban ignored him, if that was him, there was enough time to prepare a proper reception for the corpulent troublemaker.

Elementary/Middle/Upper School 12

New Shinjuku

Morning

Mrs. Shimazu's 4th grade class

Zoran walked into the classroom and excused herself before Mrs. Shimazu. "I'm sorry I was late teacher."

"I suppose Zoran that the reason was too obvious judging from the circus outside the front door? You didn't do anything I should worry about did you?"

Zoran rubbed a foot across the floor before her. "I called one of the big mouth anti-robot people a dumb rotten egg. They have my brother on these posters like he's a total monster. How can you draw stupid stuff like that when you don't even know who you're talking about?"

Mrs. Shimazu smiled at her. "I think your only concern right now young lady should be getting back to your studies and leave all that outside for the grown-ups to handle."

Zoran folded her arms and smirked. "Grown-ups? Some people should go back to school because they obviously flunked finger painting."

"Well I should explain to all of you, since some of you may not be aware of why we have so many obviously angry people in front of our school today, what has happened."

Mrs. Shimazu said as she leaned on her desk. "Zoran's big brother has been suspended from school for getting involved in a fight. Many adults don't feel Astro or Zoran belong in our school because they see Astro as being too powerful and too dangerous."

A student raised her hand. "Teacher? Zoran is dangerous. Last week she ate my whole box of crayons."

"Zoran?" Mrs Shimazu groaned.

"Well….it was an experiment." Zoran replied smiling. "I was trying to mix em up into new colors…they tasted ugh…." She said sticking her tongue out.

"And what did this experiment achieve?" The teacher asked.

"Well….other than the cleaning bill for my insides?....nothing." Zoran said shrugging.

"She's ditsy!" Zoran's friend Nani said waving.

"You're a ditz!" Zoran said back. "This is the only girl I know who tried to burn her house down by trying to melt solder and pennies on her stove!"

"I thought it would work."

"That's what you get from reading off the internet silly." Zoran replied nodding. "I told you it wouldn't make gold."

Mrs Shimazu chuckled. "Let's not give out such good ideas in this classroom children. She then gave two twin brothers an evil look. "That includes you Senji and Mori Tamanaka!"

Maruzen Industrial Complex

North Harajuku Chome

Morning

In polite circles he was simply referred to as "Grond", however police circles were few between and his most known title was "Boss Grond". Before the advent of the Robot Rights Laws, Grond was just another heavy labor industrial robot who had come up from laying asphalt to organizing some of the largest efficiency programs through out Japan. With the passing of the law, Grond became the leader of the largest industrial union in Japan, The Iron-layers Nation Confederation or the ILAC.

Undetected as of yet by the national authorities, the ILAC was rooted in nationalism, its members carefully selected into an inner core body that followed a "Japan First, the world under Japan." Philosophy. They advanced the core belief of Jobs for Japanese and their robot allies, the world industrial complex under Japanese authority and the progression of the world under the guise of Japanese technology. Grond was the union's rallying force, an adept politician, skilled tactician and ruthless banner waiver.

He now sat along with others on a privy counsel of seven, at the head was the overall "spiritual leader" or what ever nickname had been given besides his Arthurnian title. Grond stood up, gave his assessment of progress and sat back down to sip from his cup of oil while others made similar reports.

The meeting then turned to Kushiro Ichi, Senatorial representative of the Kanto Plain to the Diet, the national governing body of Japan. "Any attempt to take control of Japan will ultimately fail without the validity of the Imperial Sovereign."

The head figure smiled. "How trivial. The concept of a royal house in any country is long past its logical usefulness. The Imperial family is just a weak relic of long ended formalities."

Major general Mishima stood up. "This is not England my Lord. To Japan, the Imperial Sovereign is the country. Many still regard him as the Son of the Universe, don't brush off his majesty's importance. If the Emperor were to tell the people to resist? A great many of them including much of our own followers will turn on us and fight to the death. The sovereign must be taken seriously."

The figure head laughed. "A 14 year old child? Seriously? Alright…we will "acknowledge" the supreme powers of a child who probably spends his days playing Nintendo, picking his nose and popping the acne bubbles on his face. But that will not decide the course of our movement."

The Imperial Palace

Tokyo

Morning

So….what does the son of heaven, the unbroken cornerstone of the nation, Grandson and greater son of emperors, the divine wind of light actually do in the mornings?

A skateboard flew over the head of a palace police guard and above that a shoulder length haired youth screamed at the top of his lungs to a crash landing on the West entrance bridge. He was soon ushered inside, much to her frazzled nerves, by his court caretaker. "Ugh! Your highness! What if that stunt got on the morning news or worse, what if you ended up in the moat!"

The young boy brushed himself off…"Someday I'll master that takeoff."

"Didn't you hear me highness?" The woman said exhausted.

"How can I not hear you Rhekoni?" The boy said sarcastically as he walked and removed his padding and helmet. "You know if you would have built that skateboard pit for me, I wouldn't have to do such risky things?"

"It would be a visual dissatisfaction with the dignity of the Imperial Palace your highness."

"Another reason why I am forced to escape every so often. And may I say? The tracking bracelet is about as lame a punishment as an Emperor can tolerate?"

His title was Emperor MitsuHito, Emperor Sawa, the reign of brilliant peace. To the boy however, fancy titles did not a good skateboard make. As he listened to his caretaker ramble off a laundry list of forthcoming imperial duties, the young boy was dreaming up another fancy escape to drive his minders insane. He pulled out a little note book and nodded to his caretaker in approval as he scanned a page for a willing confidant…

Astro…they did it once before although it was such a cruel trick to play on the friendly robot. He fell for the mafia excuse with naïve innocence and trashed three royal vehicles in the process. But he still gave his phone number so why not?

Doctor O'Shay's House

Mid-Morning

Astro walked through the front door and paused when he saw O'Shay and Wazu sitting at the coffee table. "Professor Wazu." Astro said cheerfully as he walked up and shook the Professor's hand.

"Nice to see you again." The professor replied. "Though not exactly in good moments I imagine?"

"Did you find that thing for your project?" O'Shay asked.

"Yeah." Astro replied. "All done. I can only guess why the Professor's here."

"The other boy retained a lawyer. You know they want you out permanently from the school Astro."

Astro sat on a floor mat. "The other kid was a complete jerk and I get blamed for it, it's not right."

Wazu crossed his arms. "Well the matter is the police hold. I have to convince the school board that you did the right thing at the right time for the right reasons. Sadly it has given a little kick to some of the anti-robot groups and they feel this is a good exploitation piece for their arguments."

Astro sighed. "I'll just apologize on television then."

"There's nothing for you to be apologetic for." Wazu replied "And it's a rather mute point in the matter. And in fact this little "trial" could actually benefit robots by rubbing the noses of these Keel types in the mud of public opinion."

Astro laid back on the floor and sighed. "I'd rather try and blow this whole mess over, finish my suspension and go back to school. There's better things to do than feel like everyone's voodoo doll all day long."

"I will try and make the whole process as painless as I can Astro." Professor Wazu said as he poked his clerical bot Fred. "Let's start with getting a deposition from Astro and we'll work from that."

Department of Intelligence

Japanese Self-Defense Force HQ

Tokyo

Morning

General Red reviewed a file of the latest investigation results with his aid Colonel Kimura. "International terrorism not suspected. Red Army involvement not a likely suspect…." The general brooded behind his desk. "What we have from the Ministry of Science indicates no missile type of weapons but a robot or drone…"

Colonel Kimura tapped the folder. "I know Doctor Tenma is in prison Sir but is there any way he could be influencing matters from afar through some process? I do have reports that Astro's been having regular visits with him over the past year."

"Supervised visits…colonel. Though I do have my suspicions about the completeness of their security measures. Tenma isn't some grade school punk."

"Then perhaps it would be safe to have the Ministry run testing on Astro? Shut him down for a day or two for a complete diagnostic investigation?"

General Red groaned. "That will probably meet with resistance from O'Shay and the Robot Rights corner of the nation. Perhaps a visit to the Prime Minister is in order?"

Doctor O'Shay's House

Noon

Astro flopped on his bed, kicked his moon boots off and rubbed his feet while he could hear the voice transmitting through his head. "How many times can I take the same questions over and over?"

"You got suspended?" The young Emperor asked. "I shall write a decree of exoneration at once."

Astro sighed. "I can take care of it on my own…gee I wasn't given 1 million horses to let others wipe my nose."

"So what did they suspend you for?"

"A troublemaker at school." Astro moaned. "I tackled him hard after he was beating one of my friends up and now I'm a mad robot going on a killing spree."

"They kicked you off the May pole dance? What dolts."

"I'm taking my XBOX and going home." Astro snorted. "Any way…kinda tired of the royal way of life again?"

"I wouldn't be calling if I didn't think you couldn't help me escape."

Astro rolled over onto his stomach. "How about….tomorrow night? But…I can't do it without an order, you know…by your command?"

Mitsuhito cleared his throat. "As sovereign Emperor…I command my subject Astro to come to my palace and take me to Ukiolla skate park under penalty of the Imperial tantrum should he refuse."

Astro nodded. "Good! All legal, legal….how about?.....11pm tomorrow?"

"Excellent. Now back to more torture…I have flower arrangement class today."

Astro giggled. "Don't break a nail."

"I intend on it." Mitsuhito replied as he hung up. Astro walked back out into the living room just as Professor Wazu was getting ready to go. "I'm sorry for taking too long on my break, I uh…got a little cranky."

"It's fine, we have enough to work with." Wazu replied. "The hearing is at 9am tomorrow. I suggest you wear something nice and please….don't show off."

Astro sighed. "Aw man….I was gonna do a fly by and bust some of the school windows, I don't get to have any fun!"

O'Shay bopped Astro off the head. "Be serious Astro. This is very important for you and all the other robots so act accordingly."

"Fine…I'll behave. Hopefully Atlas won't try to crash in and put me in hotter water."

New Shinjuku Police HQ

Noon

Inspector Towashi walked into the field investigation branch office. "I was told you all found something related to the Tsumitomo fire?"

A police woman named Kumiko passed him a paper. "It could be something worth looking into Sir. This man here is Shinjo Sakura. He's 30, lives in Sobudaime. Known supporter of radical causes and a computer/mechanics engineer with two Masters degrees in robotics. Two years ago he was trying to enlist some financial support for a planetary drone he developed…couldn't find any backers."

Kumiko showed Towashi a photo of Sakura with one of his prototypes. "This is the drone and this is the sketch of the object Astro described from the security camera image he was shown."

Towashi studied them both. "Spherical…so what exactly is this guy's thinking? You said radical beliefs?"

"He's a very vocal environmentalist. Six months ago he wrote an article in the Tokyo Shinbun about unchecked industrialism, he cited the Tsumitomo Company for previous violations of the clean air and water acts. Even had a private investigator look into the company's records."

Towashi frowned. "Ok he had a beef and there's a resemblance to the object in question. Notify the national constabulary office in Tokyo and tell them we want to talk to this man."

Old Nissan Car Plant

New Shinjuku

Shinsaku Ban stopped short of crossing the street towards the old front security gate for a good reason. He knew it was a sucker play. He chose instead to walk casually down the street that ran opposite the old factory and deduce a few choice spots where Atlas might be hiding out. He didn't see the small figure he bumped into until he turned to apologize and instead came face to face with the red skinned blonde robot who hovered a few inches off the ground…

"Hi." Atlas said as he waved to Ban with a dopey look on his face. "Surprise huh? You must be Shinsaku Ban."

Ban reached towards his coat and found his robot disrupter gun hanging on one of Atlas's fingers. "Looking for this?"

Atlas tossed the weapon over his shoulder after bending the barrel backwards. "I suppose you've been ordered to arrest me?"

Ban frowned. "I'd prefer it if you'd come in on your own. It might be helpful in your case."

Atlas hovered around Ban. "Not gonna happen. So whatcha gonna do now law man?"

"I must admit you have me sorely disadvantaged at the moment." Shinsaku said.

Atlas sighed. "I was hoping you'd be more up to your reputation than this. I heard you are the best detective in all Japan but your performance so far is sadly lacking."

Ban suddenly pulled a taser from his pocket and waved it in Atlas's face. "Ugh?! What the? You have to be joking!" The boy bot snickered. "You're gonna use a dumb taser on me?" Atlas offered his neck. "This should be hilarious. Come on Captain Mustachio, tickle me!"

Ban pushed the taser into Atlas's neck. Suddenly Atlas shook like a bush in a storm, his arms and legs flying all over the place and he flew backward end over end into a light pole. "ARGH!...." He staggered to his feet shaking his head. "I asked for that"

Ban pulled another gun from his waste belt. "Surprised huh? You may find flying a little difficult right too."

Atlas tried to click on his rocket legs and found to his shock that they were fried. He started backing away as Ban closed on him.

"Atlas…don't make me shoot son, you're not that fast."

Atlas smiled back. "You kinda forgot something?" He pointed a finger laser and quickly heated the gun out of Ban's hand!

"Work for those doughnuts cop!" Atlas screamed as took off running with Ban chasing him down the street. It would have been easy for Atlas to outrun and leave Ban in the dust but why spoil the fun? He would slow down just enough to let ban get a grip then run faster and watch the poor man gasp for breath. Atlas teasingly turned around and ran backwards. "See? You flesh bags need the exercise!"

Suddenly a siren came up from behind and made Atlas turn and slide to a stop as two policemen jumped from their "doggy patrol" car…

(Question…what possessed Sensei Tezuka to draw doggy cop cars?)

"Halt!" Screamed an officer with his gun drawn.

Atlas threw his hands up at first…then smiled….then giggled….then laughed.

"What's so funny robot?!" One of the officer's asked.

Suddenly their doggy cruiser became road pizza as a big asphalt roller plowed over it. "Wow! I'm sorry there officers…I was kinda looking at this thing of mechanical beauty and uh…the thing got away from me!" The robot driver exclaimed.

Atlas was gone through an alley way with Ban still on his tail. "Hey! Thanks a lot Sherman!" Atlas said to the roller driving bot, who was still explaining the mechanical object of his affection to the police.

"You're gonna owe me good for this one kid!" Sherman replied by radio as Atlas bounded a fence and stood on top waiting for the exhausted Ban to catch up.

"Gasp….Gasp….you…."cough"….you little monster…."

Atlas sat teasingly poking a foot in Ban's face. "You need to exercise more, fleshy. Pretty sad when a human can't catch a robot isn't it?"

Ban started to pull his taser again but Atlas jumped into a hand stand and flipped over the other side of the fence. "Nice to meet you Mister Ban! Maybe next time I'll give you a senior citizens chase discount!" Atlas screamed as he ran away.

Ban sat on the ground and pounded his fist. "Next time I won't be so nice Atlas!"

National Constabulary Office

Sobudaime

Early afternoon

Prefectural Chief Fusho walked up to one of his investigator's desk and dropped a folder on it. "Watada? I have a request here from New Shinjuku. You're to get a warrant and visit this gentleman for questioning concerning that big fire they had a few days ago."

Watada took a look at the folder and nodded. "I'll find Officer Harra to come with me. He's the best scene investigator and preserver in the force."

The Chief nodded in reply. "Make sue one of you carries a "ro-robber" rifle in case that probe this guy developed decides to make some trouble."

"Yes Sir." Watada replied as he pressed a button on his phone. "Officer Harra? Come to my desk please, we have an assignment."

" Samurai Jeff's"

A hover-bike shop in New Shinjuku

Afternoon

She backed off from probing inside the socket point and lightly backhanded her "patient" for allowing a hand to drift off course. "You do that again and I'll strap you down now quit it."

"I can't help it!" Atlas replied. "You keep hitting the attach points and shocking me."

She chuckled a little. "I guess it controls your hands and you smirkly faces huh?"

He reached out and patted her hand softly. "I love you…." Atlas said coyishly.

"If you really do then stop doing such stupid stunts? I can't keep patching you up everytime you have to "beef it" with the humans."

Atlas smiled. "You should have seen the looks on the cop's faces when their cruiser became a pizza."

Livian attached Atlas's repaired legs and tapped his chest. "Light one off." She watched as the right engine turned up and nodded approvingly. "Back to normal, or something close."

She turned about to put her tools away and felt him from behind wrapping his arms around her and digging his face into her back. "Thank you…" He said softly. "sniff"… You smell nice…not like a bike as usual."

Livian turned around and cupped his head in her hands. "When are you going to stop this lone wolf running around and live with me?"

"Not any time soon…sadly." He replied. "Besides Ban and Astro I've made a bees nest of enemies and it wouldn't be fair to have them trash your shop looking for me would it?"

Livian crossed her arms. "If you'd turn yourself in for a few months of community service, I wouldn't have to sit and fret over you now would I?"

Atlas snorted. "You too?! That wuss boots got to you too didn't he?!"

"He doesn't know anything about me so stop whining." Livian replied. "No one's telling you to stop standing up for our kind…just…do it in a way that's not so…hostile?"

Atlas huffed back. "When the humans live up to their promises and I mean all humans, then I might consider being a little less troublesome. But for now let them hang with a "boogy man" in the back of their minds…keeps em honest."

Livian sighed. "So…you're not staying over tonight?"

He grabbed her by the hands and pulled her down to his face. "Now why would I do something so stupid as to not accept the invite of the most beautiful robot in the world?"

He kissed her lovingly then swung her arms gently from side to side. "I kinda smell the bath oils…you didn't have too."

Livian pushed him towards the bathroom. "Get in there…you kinda stink. I'll tell you when dinner's ready."

Doctor O'Shay's house

Afternoon

Astro was sitting in the living room watching the television when Zoran came bounding through the front door clapping and cheering. "We won! We won!"

"Ugh?" Astro wondered as she flopped on the couch. "What?"

"Our dance school won the invitation to dance for the Emperor on his birthday! "Giggles" Super, super, super cute…I wonder what his favorite color is?"

Astro smiled. "Well good for you Sis. His favorite color is Midnight blue."

"How do you know?" She asked. Astro wasn't about to tell her knowing he'd never hear the end of the begging for him to help her meet his majesty. Though they were friends for some time when Mitsuhito was crown prince Shida, Astro never the less honored the customs of the Imperial house and the emperor's need for quiet time when he wasn't washed in court functions.

"…I read it in the newspapers…" A truth of course. "He likes midnight blue and cherry red, that was his mother's color."

Zoran smiled widely. "Can you help me chose something for a kimono? Please?"

"It's not like I have anything better to do right now huh?" Astro replied shrugging. Just then there was a knock on the door. Astro opened it to see Ken, Tamao and Abercrombie standing with signs slung over their shoulders. "What's up guys?" Astro asked.

"We're going down to the school to give those anti-robot morons a piece of our minds." Abercrombie snorted. "Dumb jerks ruined the whole school day! We couldn't go outside for recess and they were saying the dumbest stuff about you!"

Tamao snorted. "They have these signs…"

Ken frowned. "They show you kicking a little kid! Some others have you with these dog fangs coming from your mouth! It's a load of crap!"

Astro waved his hands. "Guys…they can say what they want, they have a right. If you go down there you'll only make things worse. The last thing I want is you guys getting trapped in a riot, then I have to come down there and try to settle it…it's not worth getting upset."

Ken pleaded. "How can you say that? They're threatening to pull you out of school, they're badmouthing you…you're not a monster Astro!"

"We got as much right to tell them to shut up as anyone!" Abercrombie snorted.

Astro sighed…"I can handle it you guys, come on please? Do me a favor as my friends and just stay home for now? That's one less thing I have to lose sleep over tonight and I do need my sleep."

Tamao nodded sadly. "We just want you to know how much you mean to us."

Astro held each of their hands. "Shoot…without you guys I'd probably be spending my days on more interesting stuff…like….sorting raw sewage?"

The three boys winced and pursed their lips. "Sometimes you're so weird." Ken said before giving Astro a playful push. "Guess we'll see you tomorrow at school then?"

"With my book bag. That should make the anti-robot people upset."

New Shinjuku Police HQ

Late Afternoon

Towashi slammed his fist down on his desk. "DEAD?! WHEN? ARE YOU SURE?"

The Prefectorial Chief replied. "Yes…my investigator and an officer served a warrant and when no one answered they did a forced entry through the front door. Sakura was in his bathroom on the floor. No signs of foul play so far from the coroner, he must have been dead since that morning or during the night. We did find his "drone" in the basement all disassembled and scattered about."

Towashi frowned. "I want legal title over that drone and have it delivered to the Ministry of Science for forensic evaluation."

The Chief replied. "It may take a day or two on the documentation. I'll send you the preliminary autopsy report when it's done."

Towashi hung up the phone and brooded when Delta walked into the office.

"You look enthused." The police bot said as he stood with his arms crossed.

"I just got word our person of interest in Sobudaime is dead."

Delta nodded. "Perhaps he was aware he'd be targeted for investigation? Or it's just an unfortunate collision with time."

Towashi moaned. "Anything new on the Daisu investigation?"

Delta took a seat on the floor. "Nothing. No new witnesses yet who may have seen whatever the generator of the noise was. Plenty of suspicion for our Tsumitomo probe though."

Towashi waved a finger. "Well keep at it on your end. I'll be getting a briefing from the National Intelligence Center in Tokyo in a few hours to hear what new stuff they've found."

" Samurai Jeff's"

New Shinjuku

Afternoon

"Perfect peace." Atlas thought as he felt Livian's wonderful fingers massaging through his thick blonde hair. They were on a couch watching a movie under a thick blanket, he laying on his side with his head resting on her chest and a content look on his face.

"What kind of hair is this anyway?" She asked him. "You never told me."

"Lipizzaner flax." He said softly. "I guess you like it?"

"It's soft." She replied. "Let me style it?"

Atlas snorted. "Uh uh! No one's touching my hair."

Livian pursed her lips. "You always look like an out of control wolf child though."

Atlas smirked as he sat up. "But who's YOUR wolf child?" he said as he played with her hands. "Come on…I'm your Mowgly and you're my….I dunno….momma wolf?"

"Giggle…you can be so sweet!" She replied as she played with his cheeks. Atlas grabbed for the television remote and changed the channels. "What are you doing?"

"We saw the movie before." Atlas moaned. "It's just a chick flick and I mean the ending was quite obvious. You can't sequel it I mean what about a movie "if" the Titanic actually made it to New York? You could cast Bruce Willis, Chuck Norris and Jean Claude Van Dam and make it a Diehard kinda thing where the Titanic becomes a Transformer and makes out with the toaster oven from first class…"

Livian gave him a slap off the head. "Now you're being insulting."

Atlas winced from the blow then turned his attention to the television news and the scenes of protests in front of the school Astro was going to.

"NHK NEWS….Police were called in a few minutes ago to serve as a buffer between anti-robot and pro-bot protestors who've been arguing back and forth with each other now since last night. A near fight almost broke out when soda bottles and cans from vending machines were thrown among protestors causing police to react…"

Atlas rolled off the couch and was just as quickly snatched in the arm by Livian. "And where are you going?"

"Where do you think?" Atlas snorted back. Livian jerked on him several times before she pulled him back on the couch.

"Oh….no. That's all we need is you getting into the mix down there hot stuff. Uh, uh…sit."

Atlas brooded. "I swear…if I hear some robot got nailed with something I'll…"

"I'll kick you out of my house and you can sleep in the backyard in the rain, I promise you."

"But Livian?!" Atlas gestured to the television.

"While you're in my house Atlas, you'll do as I say or you can go back to your little hide out and cry to your teddy bear because I didn't approve of you being a dunce cap. Make a choice?"

Atlas sighed. "You're a blackmail artist."

"And a good one. Now shut up and sit down?"

Atlas gave up trying and fell back onto the couch as Livian flipped back to Titanic. "I still think they should have put the Predator in this. "GET TO DEE STERN….NAAAOOW!"

"Thwack!" "Ouch! Livian?!"

Doctor O'Shay's House

Early Evening

Doctor O'Shay stood looking at the vast collection of books on the shelves surrounding his study desk when Astro peaked in through the door. "Are you busy?" He asked.

"Oh not really." O'Shay replied. "Something on your mind Astro?"

Astro walked in slowly and rubbed his head. "Yeah…I…" He hesitated for a moment, obviously he'd been playing with Zoran since he forgot about the Ken doll still in his hand. "It's about school? I was wondering if we might be doing the right thing by maybe limiting my power when I'm on school grounds? Kinda fix it so I'm less than the average 6th grader in strength."

O'Shay scratched his head. "And just how would this work?"

"Well you could put a limitation switch in me and the only one who'd have control over it is you. Kinda…a password sort of thing I can't tamper with you know?"

O'Shay rubbed Astro's shoulder. "A very conscious idea Astro but I can't do that. Suppose you're suddenly needed? If you couldn't reach me you'd be vulnerable and my old brain does tend to slip up from time to time. If I can't remember your password?"

Astro sighed. "I was just wanting to avoid another incident."

"Oh there you go again, taking the blame when it's not deserving. I never stop praising you for all the best reasons do I?"

Astro took a seat. "But honestly doctor, I've heard all these complaints and there's a little truth to em. Like that fuel truck a few days ago, I could have stopped it a hundred different ways with different risks and I chose a very hazardous result. Then I took that senior classman down like that? Maybe I need re-programming? Maybe I'm…"

O'Shay sat and pointed his finger. "Stop it…you're just fine." He noticed a glint in Astro's eyes and rubbed one. "Oh here comes the water works. Please don't flood my study?"

Astro wiped his face and sat back. "It's just so much I guess. I try so hard to make a good impression about us robots and yet there's still so many people who hate our guts. I just want to show them all that I'm not a threat."

"And be treated less than you deserve? Absolute nonsense. I believe that your record speaks louder than any of these ignorant fools."

O'Shay sat on the chair arm and wrapped his arm around Astro's shoulders. "You know what I want you to do tomorrow morning? I want you to walk into that school with your head up and a big smile on your face. I want you to hug your friends, say hi to everyone, even to the anti-robot protestors and I want you to feel and look as if everyone thinks you're the best, most friendliest person on the planet. Nothing will stick far deeper in the hearts of those foolish bigots than that."

Astro smiled. "You make things nice and simple Doctor."

"It's only the truth. Now go to bed and don't think up any more of these ideas about cutting yourself short."

Astro gave back a questioned look. "Uh? Why would I cut….?"

"Figure of speech my boy. Now off with you."

Operations HQ

JMSDF Yamamoto Bunker

Yokosuka Naval Base

Evening

Admiral Maraguchi left for the evening, pausing only briefly to look across the way at the radar tower of the USS Earnest King docked at pier 12 before getting into his car. He drove down the winding road from the operations bunker, past the serviceman's gym and the security gate which controlled the entry to the US Aircraft carrier and turned on Yumuri Street towards the sea wall on the far side of the base.

There he stopped for the moment, remaining in his car against the in climate weather outside and pausing a moment to ensure his privacy before he tapped on the dashboard twice…

From beneath the passenger's seat a small baseball sized orb with multi-colored lights rose up to hover just below the windows of the car. "You have what we need?" It asked as the admiral took out a zip stick from his briefcase.

"The sailing schedules of the American battle group and all future planning of naval and air forces in Japan for the next 6 months. It was quite a risk to get a hold of these you understand?"

The Admiral pushed the Zip stick into the top of the orb and waited for it to pop it back out. "You will be rewarded as a hero of the nation I assure you."

"I expect that." The man replied. He opened the window and allowed the orb to fly off before driving away into the rain filled night.

Route 16, Ayase City aka "Devil's Speedway"

10pm

Livian arrived just in time after leaving Atlas to a sound sleep at the bike shop to find the evening races underway on the long strait highway that separated Ayase from Kamakura. She walked up to Amagatta and Shinji and slapped them on the shoulders. "So where's Kanada?"

Shinji pointed down the street and coming up to the set of lights that hung over an intersection was Kenada Shotaro on his custom red ground bike. He looked over for only a second and waved to her before he turned his full concentration to the road ahead. He paid no attention to the crappy looking Kawasaki next to him, the guy had no hope of catching his "Fire Demon".

Red light……………..GREEN!

The Kawasaki jumped ahead off the start leaving the Fire Demon to spin its tires and burn rubber. Kenada was being himself the crazy show off. Suddenly he kicked in his nitros supply and the red bike all but leaped into the air with a vengeful snarl of its powerful engine. It blew by the Kawasaki at 55 yards down the 200 yard strait and slid across the finish line with a loud screech!

Kenada's gang went walking and taunting their way among the crowd as the Fire Demon came back down the and pulled to the side of the road. "Once again the clowns prove that superior technology trounces inferior brains." Kenada said as he hopped off his machine and waved to Livian. "Impressed by my God given skills?"

She smirked back at him. "Where's my ladder, my knees are deep in it. Being abusive to her as always Kenada? If you treat your future wife like you treat your bike you might end up with a slit throat one of these days."

Kenada shoved his hands in his jacket pockets and walked beside her. "I'll have you know that I show high respect for my bike. After all…it was created by a master craftsman who has as many if not more wonderful lines and curves than the Fire Demon itself?"

Livian laughed. "You never cease to amaze me."

Kenada followed her to her own bike. "Hey look, when are you going to stop spurning my offers of dinner?"

"I have a friend I'm very fond of right now and unfortunately he's a little jealous and possessive. I'd hate to see you…" She snatched Kenada's hand before he could move it. "I'd hate to see you wrapped up in that bike like a pretzel for making him upset."

Amagatta snorted as he leaned on his gang boss. "Look Livian, you tell that "kid" to come here with a bike and race Kenada on the level. The winner will get to take you out to dinner fair and square."

Livian laughed. "He'll cheat! Besides…he's not fond of bikes. I think he has Harley-phobia. Besides…" She pulled Kenada close to her…"He is far softer and cuddlier than you."

Livian walked back to watch the races as Shinji walked up to Kenada. "You got served."

Amagatta nodded. "Silver platter served. Better luck next time boss."

New Shinjuku

Engine Company 17

The Dragoons

Midnight

Timber was on the midnight phone watch in the office surfing the internet while the rest of the company was asleep. Except for Bobo who walked in and offered a can of oil. "Slow night." He said as he took a seat.

"Let's keep it like that huh?" Timber replied as he scanned over Amazon. "I need some new boots. What do you think? Razerbacks or Tuff Puppies?"

Bobo looked over Timber's shoulder. "I like the Razerbacks. Looks like some heavy bottom treads."

"I dunno?" Timber wondered as he rubbed his chin. "The Tuff Puppies are made of thick saddle leather…they might stand up to a lot of water."

Timber moved his mouse point over the screen then suddenly found it wouldn't move. "Oops…looks like the computer's locked up."

But it was more than locked up. Suddenly windows started opening all over the screen in rapid succession. "What the heck?" Timber said as he moved his mouse around.

"Looks like you caught a virus." Bobo snorted. "Told yah to stay off them manga porn sites."

"Shut up!" Timber snorted back. "I don't do that!"

"Well something's screwing it up."

New Shinjuku Police HQ

Midnight.

"Hey Sarge!" One of the front desk officers called to his night sergeant. "The computers up here are all going stupid! The file windows are opening like crazy!"

HQ 4TH Armored Division

JSDF Camp Honshu

Midnight.

"This is Major Takashi. We have a situation here at the duty office. I'm getting calls from all over the base of computers rapidly opening their files for no apparent reason. You're seeing the same thing at Prefectoral Command HQ?"

Ministry of Science

New Shinjuku

Midnight

Reno raced from floor to floor in his shorts and slippers screaming out to anyone still in their offices. "Pull the plug on your computers! Somebody's scanning our drives! Cut the power! Cut the power!"

Route 16, Ayase City

Ten minutes after midnight

The crowd froze in their tracks in clusters of people who gathered around those who had their laptops along for taking videos or making blog reports about the night's festivities. Now their laptops were steaming hot from overloading! Some sparked to death while others simply crashed from the over speed of flying data. The traffic lights around them were screwing up, the lamps overhead were blinking off and on then finally it all went quiet…

Engine Company 17

Fighting Dragoons

Timber and Bobo sat looking at the computer for a moment before Timber tried the mouse and found it working again. "Now that…..was stupid."

"I told you to lay off the manga porn sites." Bobo said smirking. Suddenly the house alarm went off!

"BEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!.....Engine 17, Engine 12, Engine 19, Engine 11, Rescue 9, Rescue 51, Rescue 24…Respond numerous auto accidents…Engine 17 ticket number 29348…"

"And I thought this would be a quiet night!" Timber shouted as he snatched his coat and slipped on the floor trying to get his boots on.

"I told you not to visit those manga porn sites!" Bobo screamed as he jumped on the back of the engine and snatched Tim by his coat.

"Will you lay off that!"

Morning

Doctor O'Shay's house

Astro and Zoran came into the living room where Doctor O'Shay was watching the news and talking on his cell phone. "That's what they've been saying, did our network security catch any evidence? None? The most up to date cyber security system in the world and we didn't catch one bit of evidence?"

Astro and Zoran looked at each other then sat on the couch as Doctor O'Shay brooded. "Uh….dumb question time?" Astro asked.

"Sigh….last night we had what looks like a massive hacking attack at the Ministry of Science in fact reports are coming in from all over Honshu that computers, Laptops, blackberries and any computer drive device, even in some robots, might have been hacked into."

Astro sat back crossing his arms. "Then I shouldn't go to school today."

"Nonsense. Especially in light of these incidents! It's more important than ever that you stand up not only for yourself but for humans and robots who believe we must live together. Don't worry about this hacking problem just remember what I told you last night."

Astro sighed. "Ok…do they have any ideas though who may have done it?"

"As of yet not a clue in the cloud but I'm sure it has the Prime Minister ripping his hair out about now."

New Shinjuku Police HQ

Midnight.

"Hey Sarge!" One of the front desk officers called to his night sergeant. "The computers up here are all going stupid! The file windows are opening like crazy!"

HQ 4TH Armored Division

JSDF Camp Honshu

Midnight.

Ministry of Science

New Shinjuku

Midnight

Route 16, Ayase City

Ten minutes after midnight

Engine Company 17

Fighting Dragoons

Timber and Bobo sat looking at the computer for a moment before Timber tried the mouse and found it working again. "Now that…..was stupid."

"I told you to lay off the manga porn sites." Bobo said smirking. Suddenly the house alarm went off!

"BEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!.....Engine 17, Engine 12, Engine 19, Engine 11, Rescue 9, Rescue 51, Rescue 24…Respond numerous auto accidents…Engine 17 ticket number 29348…"

"And I thought this would be a quiet night!" Timber shouted as he snatched his coat and slipped on the floor trying to get his boots on.

"I told you not to visit those manga porn sites!" Bobo screamed as he jumped on the back of the engine and snatched Tim by his coat.

"Will you lay off that!"

Morning

Doctor O'Shay's house

Astro and Zoran looked at each other then sat on the couch as Doctor O'Shay brooded. "Uh….dumb question time?" Astro asked.

Astro sat back crossing his arms. "Then I shouldn't go to school today."

Astro sighed. "Ok…do they have any ideas though who may have done it?"

"As of yet not a clue in the cloud but I'm sure it has the Prime Minister ripping his hair out about now."

Shibuya Prison

Morning

Tenma was in the prison garden looking at a pair of Bonsai he caring for when a guard and his brother Takiuma walked up. "You have a visitor Doctor. I'll leave you two alone, just remember the rules."

"What made you come back?" Tenma asked as he stood up.

"Your…he is quite persistent."

Tenma nodded. "You noticed? Yes indeed, I gave him a strong tendency to stay with anything he sets his mind too…a family trait don't you agree?"

Takiuma nodded. "I…was too hasty."

"I was too cold." Tenma sighed.

Takiuma smirked. "You still owe me a new jacket."

"You owe me a new big wheel." Tenma replied.

"Yours was old and you didn't ride it any more. The wheels went to a good experiment."

"Your go cart was foolish and dangerous."

"You chose to sneak out and ride it down that hill."

"You didn't add brakes."

"You….deserved to have Mrs. Yamagawa's rose bushes in your butt."

"I hate you."

"Mutual."

Both men looked each other in the eyes and cracked up laughing. "I'll never forget the indignity of you bent over mother's legs getting thorns pulled from your butt. It was priceless!" Takiuma said laughing.

Tenma giggled…"Remember the flame thrower?"

"The super soaker with the lighter?! Father was furious!"

Tenma laughed…"You'd think we could have been smart enough to throw the thing in the trash instead of leaving it by the burning tool shed?"

Both men slapped each others backs. "We allowed our rivalry to get too big. I was so stupid to protest your wedding." Takiuma said wiping his eyes.

"Sometimes I didn't blame you for doing so." Tenma said with seriousness. "You were right on many things…I wasn't the husband I should have been."

They went silent for a moment. "I think she would have been proud of you had she lived to see Astro…"

"No she wouldn't." Tenma replied. "She would have been appalled. Trying to replace our son…what I've done…"

Takiuma took his brother by the shoulders…"It is I who ask forgiveness. I wasn't there when you needed family the most. I allowed our petty rivalry to hurt you. If our parents were alive…I have shamed them."

Tenma smiled softly. "No…you have done good and decent things with your life my brother. Things I sometimes wish I'd pursued…it is I who owe our family an apology."

Tenma hugged Takiuma for minutes before sighing and backing off. "Now…do tell me about my niece? Is she gifted or more like you?"

"God help us." Takiuma replied. "She's a teenage girl, how dangerous could that be?"

Ministry of Science

Morning

"Here it is." Inspector Towashi exclaimed as a Delta bot dumped the remains of the Sakura drone all over the floor.

Reno winced. "You guys blew it up? Oh thanks a lot, so much for finesse."

"We found it like this." Towashi snorted. "You'll just have to examine it and give us your best guess as to the results. Is this what we're looking for or what?"

Reno gave him a quizzled look. "You know Astro isn't exactly the best artist in the world."

"Just look at it and tell me what you think?" Towashi said waving a finger. "I'll be back at the station working on this new problem with the computer hacker. I'm sure you egg heads here are doing the same thing right?"

Reno smirked. "No…actually I was playing Tetris till you busted my fun."

"Wise ass." Towashi said as he walked out.

" Samurai Jeff's"

New Shinjuku

Morning

Atlas sat on the floor of the small living room pulling his boots on, watching the television and talking to himself….well…talking to Bugsy with an annoyed tone.

"He told you to leave?"

"Yeah. Said we'd make things worse."

Atlas huffed. "Figures…he's such a whimp. Probably tried to say sorry to the anti's didn't he?"

"Actually he got em even more angry. You should have seen him smile at em..right in the kisser!"

Atlas brooded. "Well…don't leave. The anti's make so much as a wrong finger at him and I want em to pee themselves running, you got that?"

"No problem." Bugsy replied.

Livian suddenly snatched Atlas by an arm. 'What are you doing?"

"Just talking to a friend about keeping things honest." Atlas replied.

"You're meddling! I'm warning you to cut it out." She snorted.

Atlas pursed his lips as he tied his yellow loin cloth. "Can't be too careful. You know what some of these fleshy dolts are saying now? They blame us for all the stuff going on, you know…that fire, the noise thing and now this computer hacking stuff?"

"And just as many call it nonsense." Livian replied. "Let Astro fight his own battles?"

Atlas started walking for the door. "Where are you going?"

"Bwah! I'm going to see Timber Tim at the fire station, stop being nosey!"

Livian walked up to him and huffed. "I see you at that school Atlas…I'm warning you."

"Ok!" He replied snorting. "Damn maybe you are my mother after all….sheesh!"

Elementary school 12

Mid-Morning

Tamago Hamu stood up from his desk and walked up to the school committee. "Good morning my friends." He said with a toothy smile. "Let's cut to the quick shall we? Now.. this whole thing isn't about Astro's good deeds, who wouldn't love this little guy when he's busting up bad guys, trashing out of control machines or catching airplanes like fly balls? Gotta love em…"

Then Tamago leaned on Astro's table…"That is of course until you have all that strength running around our schools. Then you have unfortunate events such as happened to my client. Now I'm not excusing my clients actions leading up to this matter but we have the right to question the inherent risks that came with Astro throwing my client about like a rag doll in a china shop!"

Tamago turned to the committee and pointed back at Astro. "It's a simple matter of safety. Robots as powerful as Astro can be supplied their data by less hazardous means or…perhaps some sort of power restriction is in order to prevent an unfortunate result from adverse contacts between robots and our children. Very simple matter."

Tamago took his seat. Professor Wazu stood up, removed his wool artist cap and rubbed his hands together in a moment of thought…

"Simple. The opposing attorney calls the matter simple…not so fast. This isn't about any sort of injury my opposition's client may have sustained as a result of the incident. Of course the issue itself is the police hold Astro used to take down the young man in question…after that same young man assaulted a boy 5 years his junior!"

"No my friends…what this comes down to is simple enough. The opposition wants Astro gone from this school, limits and controls besides the point are a mute subject. Trust me…You'll hear my opposition pull all sorts of rabbit tricks to make you believe that Astro is a nuclear time bomb just waiting for the right spark. I ask you to keep your minds and eyes open however and get to know my client…it shouldn't take rocket science to know where the truth is."

Wazu took his seat and felt Astro pulling on his jacket. "A beep about now would pep things up."

"Stop cracking jokes." Wazu said back softly.

Kenichi entered the room shortly after the opening remarks and took a seat in front of the committee. "Ok Kenichi…go ahead and tell us what happened when Fushio Ugi started to taunt Astro."

"Well…he was trying to get Astro to fight him and Astro was walking away. Then he threw an egg at Astro's head. That's when I got angry."

"You went after Fushio." The Superintendent said.

"Yes Sir."

"And another upper classmen grabbed you and tossed you against the lockers?"

"Yes Sir."

"And then Fushio beat you up."

"Yes Sir."

"What happened then?"

Kenichi rubbed his knees. "Astro came up from behind and threw Fushio to the floor."

"Can you remember what it looked like?" The Superintendent asked.

Kenichi imitated the throw as he could remember it. "Like that!"

"And what did the other upper classmen do?"

"They pissed their pants."

Laughter broke out.

"They did! I mean they ran so fast one of em left his shoes behind." Kenichi said smiling.

When the laughter died down, Tamago walked up. "Kenichi? Can you describe for us the look on Astro's face when he snatched my client off his feet?"

"He was angry."

"He was angry? Was he frowning angry, snarling angry, what kind of angry?"

Ken played with his fingers. "He was….snarling."

"Snarling? So….he was showing his teeth huh? Like….like a dog?"

"Objection!" Wazu snapped.

"Relevance." Tamago snapped back. "Just gauging the level of anger in response to stimulus. Your witness Professor."

Wazu walked up. "Snarl…Ken is this the only time you've seen Astro snarl?"

"Nope." Ken replied. "He snarls a lot around creeps."

"Oh? And why is that?"

"Because Abercrombie taught him. He thought Astro was too dopey looking, said a snarl would make him more scary against creeps."

"So…he learned to snarl? Abercrombie didn't teach him when it was appropriate to snarl?"

"Uh uh…." Kenichi replied. "And unlike my dog at least he'll play fetch."

Wazu tapped his shoe. "You got beat up pretty good didn't you?"

Ken nodded.

"In fact!" Wazu exclaimed. "According to the school nurse you got a black eye, a shoulder bruise and according to witnesses you were punched several times in the stomach by Fushio while being held by another upper classman, hardly a fair fight!"

"You can go sit down ken." Wazu said as he walked around the room. "A 16 year old soccer player, quite athletic mind you, beating up an 11 year old boy. From all indications of the witnesses it didn't look as if Fushio intended to stop. I'll ask Nurse Hina to come up please?"

The school nurse took the seat.

"Miss Hina? Kenichi's injuries were quite serious for a child involved in a school fight were they not?"

Hina nodded. "Yes they were."

"Could they have been worse? If fushio had continued to punch Kenichi further could the injuries have been more life threatening?"

"Objection!" Tamago shouted. "It was not the intention of my client to cause life threatening injury!"

"Reason…the intent of cause usually goes out the window when an adrenal pumped and angry teenager starts swinging, I site the case of Bushi vrs. Hitakawa 2004, a 17 year old football player got into a fight with a 15 year old and continued to pummel the other, even escaping the hold of other players. He caused a blood clot in the brain of the other player which ended his life. Children rarely take the time out of beating each others snots to realize the dangers of pugal rage."

Astro shook his head as if a baseball zinged past his nose.

"Your witness." Wazu said to Tamago.

"My dear nurse…would you please describe the injuries suffered to my client by Astro's use of a police hold?"

"Scratches to his chin from scrapping the floor, complaints of a soreness in the upper arm and stiffness in the neck which is usually the result of being whipped about unrestrained."

Tamago looked back at Astro. "Was there another way these injuries could have been avoided?"

"Any attempt to stop a fight can result in some risk of injury." She said.

"I was asking about injury to my client not injury to Astro."

"Any attempt to stop a fight can result in some risk of injury to your client."

"But this was by far the worst attempt right?"

The nurse pursed her lips. "Yes."

"No further questions." Tamago said as he walked away.

The Superintendent stood up. "We'll take a ten minute break."

Engine 17

The Dragoons

Late morning

Atlas flew up to the window of the second floor and slowly moved next to Timber's bed while he slept….or was sleeping…

"You try anything and I'll beat you senseless." Timber said as he pulled his blankets tighter around him.

"Long night?" Atlas asked as he took a seat.

"It sucked. Car accidents all over the place. Did you hear about the computer problems?"

"Uh uh…" Atlas replied.

"All over the country." Timber said sluggishly. "Computers getting hacked…caused a mess."

Atlas rounded the bed and bent down to tap Timber's head. "That bad?"

"could have used the extra help. Oh I'm sorry….you're not Astro."

Atlas frowned. "Something stupid is going on."

"Yeah…I'm sleeping and you're bothering me."

Atlas tapped his head. "Maybe I should look into this?"

"Maybe you should…no wait….you're not Astro."

"Shut up." Atlas snorted. "How about tonight?"

"Tonight what?" Timber groaned.

"A truck ride? You promised remember?"

"I'll see…now go do something worthy….then again…"

"You're/I'm not Astro I know I know don't rub it in."

Emergency cabinet meeting

Diet building in Tokyo

Noon

In attendance:

The Prime Minister Tadashiro Naha

His legal aide Satoshi Yaru

General Red, JSDF CINC

Opposition representative, Mariko Koga

National Constabulary Chief, Captain Yahagi

Chief of National Intelligence, Yoko Mitsuda

"The question before us is the final draft resolution specifying the procedures to monitor robot activity in Japan as part of the overall security response in the wake of the events that have occurred within the last few days." The Prime Minister said as he passed copies of the 10 page document around the table.

Mariko raised her hand. "You realize Prime Minister the delicacy of our situation with regards to the Robot Rights Law. We of the opposition demand the utmost strict accountability regarding the behavior of the constabulary, we can't afford to risk false charges or worse a wrongful detention without concrete facts and evidence."

Captain Yahagi leaned forwards. "Might I remind the honorable representative that there may come events which sadly warrant detention until proper evidence states otherwise? We may not have the luxury of time should these events indeed be part of a larger scheme."

"There is no evidence that any robots are involved in subversive acts against the nation or our government despite the cries and mythical concerns of a few conspiracy bloggers on the internet."

Satshi Yaru interrupted. "We have been most careful in crafting this document with respect to the concerns of the opposition party. We must ensure the safety of our nation while at the same time jealously guarding our democratic process. We urge the opposition not only to adopt the measure but to be its most critical enforcer."

Shibuya Prison

mid-day

The officer waited another five minutes before leaving the cafeteria and walking to Tenma's cell. "Late again? He knows better than to be late."

Opening the door, the officer looked around then down towards the floor. "What?" He dropped to the floor and key'd his shoulder mic. "Assistance! Assistance! Cell 15, Doctor Tenma! Hurry up!"

Elementary school 12

Mid-Afternoon

Tamago paced back and forth as Fushio Ugi took his seat. "So Fushio? Do you deny bumping into Astro?"

"No."

"Do you….deny throwing the egg at his head?"

"No."

"The younger boy attacked you after you threw the egg right?"

"Yes."

"And you don't deny punching him for that attack?"

"No."

"How hard did Astro throw you to the floor?"

"Hard enough for my chin to bounce off it."

"Did he crank your arm behind you? Did it hurt?"

"Yes…"

"How hard? 1 to 10, 10 being the worst pain."

"A….five I guess."

"He had his boot on your neck? The back of your neck?"

"Yes."

"Did that hurt?"

"There was pressure."

"Did it hurt you?"

"Yes. My neck was sore."

Tamago turned about. "Sore…hurt….pain. Obviously goes counter to the Robot Laws doesn't it? A robot will not HURT a human…A robot will obey the orders of humans so long as it doesn't break law one. A robot will protect itself unless that conflicts with laws one and two…obviously Astro doesn't know the law very well does he?"

Tamago went back to his desk and grabbed a piece of paper. "Case in point. A few days ago Astro was involved in a potential disaster on one of our highways. He stopped an out of control gas tanker…well he didn't actually stop it because he allowed it to fly off an unfinished sky bridge and explode among some construction workers below. Another little…miscalculation that caused injury to several of those workers."

Tamago looked at Astro. "A behavior pattern problem? Some programming issues? Perhaps a glitch? Ok when you have a lot of open space to play with but not so good in a hallway when you're tossing a human child around like a rag doll!"

Wazu stood up and walked up to Fushio. "Am I to understand young man that you have a sort of hate streak against Robots?"

Fushio was quiet.

"I'll ask you again. You have a recorded history of hate against robots? You have a blog site for anti-robot rantings, your father just happens to be a member of the Keel movement, do you deny these?"

"No."

Wazu rubbed his hands together. "You wanted to push Astro into a fight. You got angry that you couldn't get your way. You tossed an egg off his head then you got jumped by one of his friends…correct?"

"Yes."

"So….one of your pals grabbed Kenichi, tossed him against a locker and you started punching him. You kept punching him. You weren't going to stop were you? You wouldn't have stopped until Kenichi was bleeding!"

Wazu turned about to face the committee. "My opponent seems to have forgotten that a 4th law of robotics was introduced during the Yokohama Convention of Robot Ethics of 2004, that same law was drafted into the Robot Rights Law of 2008 and I quote….

"A robot SHALL NOT allow a human to suffer injury as a result of their inaction." "What does this law mean?"

"2005 a burglary at the First Tokyo Exchange Bank turned into a hostage crisis. There were 17 people and three robots present in the bank. These three robots were constructor class chassis fully capable of taking out the two criminals. Even after two hostages were brutally murdered, all three robots remained fixed to where they stood because they had been programmed not to do anything for fear of causing harm to any of the humans. That included the two gun man."

Wazu walked back to Astro. "Witnesses placed the gun men within easy arms reach of these robots and still they were not allowed to do anything…"

"Can you possibly imagine how things would have been if Astro had to sit back and allow Kenichi to be so brutally beaten all because his programming told him that causing the slightest injury to Fushio was wrong?"

Wazu turned to Astro. "Give me one of your boots."

He walked up to the committee. "Here….feel this boot. Is the sole hard?"

The committee members passed it along. "Soft isn't it? Of course between the outer layers is a flame retardant inner core. What Fushio doesn't want you to know is how he was seen struggling against Astro's foot. Hey doesn't want you to know how he swore and said he would beat Astro blind."

Wazu pointed. "I bet….except for his chin that Fushio caused his own aches and pains from trying to continue a pointless and rather silly confrontation with a robot who was following the law."

Wazu threw his hands up. "I'm done!"

Tamago jumped up. "Well I'm not." He said as he approached the table. "Armed gunmen? Hmm…no weapons. The Robot Rights Law also specifies the following…

"A robot when engaged with a human in a confrontational event shall use only the amount of force less than that which would be considered an escalatory act."

Tamago looked at Astro. "That means…a human pulls a knife? The robot can't hit him with a table. A teenage boy throws his fists? The only acceptable response is to get in front of him or push him off. A police tactic is an illegal escalation of force which required a serious movement of the opposing body radically different than a simple shove or a block."

Wazu stood up. "Astro, come with me." He took Astro by the hand and walked up to the committee's table. "Mister Superintendent…I want you to slap Astro in the arm with an open hand."

Astro looked at Wazu…"Astro…relax. Please Sir. Put some "umph" into it."

The Superintendent made the swat and shook his hand.

"Stings don't it? Now Astro has this synthetic skin, a unique combination of Kevlar and composite resonates. It doesn't forgive very well. So let's say he tried to put himself between Kenichi and a very angry, adrenal pumped teenager…what do you think will happen? 9 times out of 10…he's going to throw a punch and guess what? His hand will shatter like a pane of glass."

Wazu put Astro back in his chair. "Was the police hold wrong? What was worse? The move Astro used had one advantage….it kept Fushio from throwing a punch and breaking his hand, well within the confines of the law. A little rough…but better than a shattered hand."

Now it was Astro's turn. He took the chair before the Committee and gripped his pants.

"Now let's take this from when the egg was thrown." The Superintendent said. "You were still walking away when Kenichi ran past you, that's correct?"

"Yes."

"You turned to see Kenichi being beaten up so you took Fushio down with the police hold. I assume you've used it before?"

"Uh huh." Astro nodded.

"And that stopped the fight. The other two upper classman ran off. Ok Mister Tamago."

Tamago came up to Astro and smiled. "Can you feel anger?"

"Yes."

"Can you…understand….what anger is?"

"Yes."

"Were you angry when you got pushed? When that egg hit your head? When you saw Kenichi getting beat up?"

"Yes."

"Ah…so were you…by your own thoughts about anger….were you so angry that maybe you wanted to perhaps be a little more harsh towards Fushio?"

Astro shook his head.

"You can speak you know." Tamago snorted.

"No…I didn't want to hurt him."

"You didn't WANT to hurt him…but…your were angry at him and maybe being a little angry you couldn't control what you were doing? Maybe you just skipped over your boundaries just a tiny bit?"

Tamago snorted into Astro's face. "Maybe….just maybe…you wanted a little revenge for yourself? It's alright…you can tell everyone."

"That's not true!" Astro snapped.

"My, my….the kid's getting upset now aren't you? A little run a way emotion in a robot might be a bad thing after all. Then again let's go back to that truck incident shall we? Wasn't there other safer options Astro than shooting up the engine and allowing a dangerous tanker truck to go flying off a highway?"

"It's what I thought to do at the time…."

"You thought? You thought? Hmmm…well perhaps your thought processes are a little off whack? Perhaps you have bats in the bell free there clouding your judgment?"

Astro squirmed in his seat.

"Gee…he's starting to cry…"

"That's enough!" Wazu shouted. He walked up to Astro and patted his back. "It's alright Astro…let me ask you this question? How long have you known Kenichi?"

Astro wiped his face. "Two years."

"Is he important to you? Why?"

"He's my friend. He was the first human who made me feel welcome in the school."

Wazu nodded. "There's been times when Kenichi put his own life before yours hasn't there?"

Astro nodded.

"You'd risk your own life for him wouldn't you?"

Astro nodded and teared up. "When he was getting beat up…I…."

Wazu looked at the committee. "Can we take a break?"

Elementary school 12

Afternoon

Closing arguments…

Tamago walked up to the committee and stood with his hands behind his back. "Well… it seems clear that there is just a little danger present when you have a robot with such power possessing emotions backed by an unstable program. Am I questioning Astro's heroics or saying he's a menace to our society? Absolutely not, though I do question if something shouldn't be done to "tweek" his system a little bit so his actions don't speed over his emotions. We have to be careful ladies and gentlemen because our children are at stake and blame us if someday because he gets angry or any robot gets angry and they over ride their programming…we could face a potential disaster. There's only two choices…Astro gets reprogrammed or we find better ways for robots to get their information without placing our children at risk for accidents. In the end my fine people, it's your decision."

Wazu stood up and walked up to the table. "My friends…segregation? That's the answer? How can plugging into a mainframe teach Astro as much as flesh and blood experiences? He's learned more in one year of school than most of us had learned in twelve and what does he do? He takes what he's learned and he passes it along. We built robots like Astro to be just like us, what a remarkable achievement isn't it?

When we wrote the Robot Rights Law, we recognized that because of advanced A.I. we could not longer consider robots as simple machines who pick up our trash, dive into the hottest volcanoes to gather data or build cars on an assembly line. We realized that we had created a new form of being and as is our nature, we welcomed him into the family of man because the benefits were far more exciting to us than the risks."

Astro is different, indeed he's a power house, a dangerous weapon, to some who think ill will towards our society this little tornado is their moment of pause…but…he loves ice cream, plays kick ball, giggles his brains out and…has toilet papered a few houses." Wazu looked back with a smirk. He's just like other human children…and I warn you, if you throw him out of school you better be ready to suffer the wrath because as we all know…a child's anger can be quite cruel."

Wazu leaned on the table. "The great writer Shelby Foot once said…"Man has a gift for compromise though the road isn't always smooth." Well the road is pretty smooth enough for all of you. Show that you're not willing to turn the bus around and head back to the last stop? Show that gift for compromise."

Two Hours Later…

Miss Myoki's classroom

Wazu walked in to see Myoki and Kenichi talking to Astro. Obviously he'd been a little or more upset as he wrung a soaking wet cloth into a small waste bucket.

"Half full?" Wazu said smiling.

"I've done better." Astro replied.

"They finished talking." Wazu said with a sigh. "Hold your head up."

Ken hugged Astro tight…"We're all set to make em pay. Got enough "TP" and shaving cream to cover the whole city."

Astro smirked back. "Don't even…I'll end up cleaning the mess." Astro then gave Ken an evil grin…"But that Tamago guy? Oh yeah….smother his house a la mode."

Ken gave a thumbs up as Astro and Wasu walked to the conference room and took their seats.

The Superintendent waited for the room to be silent before closing his hands together and adjusting his posture. "After our closed meeting we of the school committee came to the following judgments…"

"On the decision of suspension and detention for those involved? Enforced. School rules on fighting and bullying were ignored by all involved, that is inexcusable."

"In Fushio Ugi's case…you're lucky we don't charge you with assault. This was your second major violation mister and we conclude that you got what you deserved. You are one violation away from all out expulsion and I was this close…this close to booting you! You so much as make one stupid remark and I will see you gone! Blind bigotry and hooliganism will not be tolerated in our school system."

"Astro? Though you do display a knowledge of emotions, and rightly you reacted to stop your friend Kenichi from being beaten up, this Committee does have legitimate concerns. The police hold you used was deemed illegal though not carried forth with the intent of malice. We do request that your benefactor review your programming to strengthen your reaction levels and the ability for your programming to quickly and adequately chose a response that will fall within the guidelines set forth by the Robot Rights Law of 2008. We found the idea of segregation or removal to be…ridiculous."

"This hearing is adjourned."

Outside the school, the crowds reacted as expected. Inside Astro simply got up and walked out of the room to avoid the embarrassment as rivers flowed from his eyes. It was Ken and Tamao who found him as he walked into the boy's room…

"Aw man….they have to remove the Tetrus, what creeps." Tamao said as he hugged Astro.

Ken shook him by the shoulders. "Stop your balling? Sheesh you're like my mom!"

"This really sucked." Astro said as he leaned on a sink. "Worse then when they banned dodge ball."

'Well I think it was useless and stupid!" Tamao snarled. "How dare they! After everything you've done. Dangerous….the grown ups are more dangerous and stupid than my house cat!"

Ken snickered. "Only because you tease it too much. Huh! Astro defeats the forces of evil again. So what are you gonna do now? Disneyland?"

Astro smirked back. "Ice cream."

"A big goo encrusted, six foot tall sloppy mess of sugar!" Tamao exclaimed. "It's gotta be epic like Moses parting the red sea, Captain Kirk enslaving green women…."

Astro and Ken looked puzzled. "What?"

Just then the door flew open and Zoran ran into the bathroom. "ZORAN!" Astro snapped. "GET OUT!"

She stood gasping. "I've been trying to find you….something's wrong with Doctor Tenma…he's in the hospital now!"

Astro bolted from the bathroom, knocking the door off the top hinge.

" Samurai Jeff's"

New Shinjuku

Late Afternoon

Atlas sat tapping his feet together as he watched the television coverage from the school. "Good on you Goody. Man that's got those anti's all ticked off now."

Atlas then looked at the piece of paper in his hand and frowned. "Tokugawa… you just won't learn your lesson will you jerk? Well….no being nice to you this time fleshy, I guess your vintage car collection wasn't enough to make you behave."

Atlas threw the paper aside and walked toward the front door. "I better be ready to face the teeth gnashing when I come back…she's really gonna tear my hide up after this little jaunt."

The end

Next: Part IV…Land Fall.