This fanfiction is technically finished, but I'm going to post it in sections. It's not very long, only about 10 pages single-spaced. It's set in the 2003 series because that is the one with which I am most familiar. Yes, I used Ochanomizu and Astro together. Technically I should have probably used O'shay and Astro or Ochanomizu and Atom, but just bear with me. Otherwise, let me know what you guys think.
Introducing:
Adira, Adira
Dr. Ochanomizu paced back and forth in the deserted lab. He couldn't sit still. The ends of missions were always the most nerve-wracking, and the rain falling down in sheets outside did little to calm him.
Guiltily, he found himself wishing he had asked Yuko to stay late. He might have done so had he known what was to transpire after she left. Having someone to talk to at a time like this was always a comfort.
Any moment now he would receive a call from Astro, the robot responsible for so many victories in the past. Staring at the audio device he used to keep in touch with Astro, the doctor willed it to make a noise of some kind, and he felt a strange mixture of relief and apprehension when it suddenly came to life.
"Dr. Ochanomizu, are you there?"
"Yes, Astro! I'm at the Institute of Science! What's going on? Are you on your way back? Have you found Adira? Is she alright?" The flood of questions were like a stream breaching it's banks, and the doctor had to clap his hand over his mouth to stop them pouring out so he could listen to the reply.
"I found her, and she's okay."
The doctor breathed a sigh of relief. "I'll alert Professor Akamine. It's a long journey, so he won't make it here until tomorrow morning at the earliest in this weather."
"But I was too late," the tinny voice on the audio continued.
Dr. Ochanomizu felt his heart skip a beat. "What are you talking about, Astro? I thought you just said that Adira was alright!"
"I think you'd better take a look for yourself, Doctor. I'll be there in just a few minutes, now."
The wait seemed to take forever, but a glance at the clock told Dr. Ochanomizu that it had indeed only been a few minutes when Astro opened the door. "Thank goodness!" he cried. The wind whipped what little hair the doctor had on his head into a frenzy, and a flash of lightning briefly illuminated the continuing downpour.
"Hurry inside, you two!" Astro urged.
What came through the door made the doctor do a double-take. Not one, but two small girls stumbled through the door just before it was shut again against the gale. They were absolutely identical! Blonde hair plastered down by the rain, green eyes, matching dresses, black shoes, even their socks were the same.
He simply stared at the children until Astro's voice snapped him out of his shock. "Dr. Ochanomizu, they're soaked!"
"Dear me, what was I thinking? It's much too cold here; you'll both catch your death! We'll go to my house. Astro, bring me my coat, please!" As he spoke, the doctor took off his suit jacket and wrapped up one of the children.
"Here's your coat, Doctor," Astro said, offering it to the doctor.
"Not for me, Astro," the doctor said as he picked up the child in his jacket. "Bundle up the other girl."
Astro frowned, "But, Doctor, they don't both need a coat. One of them is a robot."
The doctor's eyes widened, and he studied the child in his arms. "Really? Which one?"
Astro looked from one to the other. Both looked miserable. "I don't know. I thought maybe you could tell."
"We'll worry about that later, Astro. Let's just go."
***************
The drive had taken longer than usual as the doctor had a hard time navigating through the downpour, and he was grateful to Astro for eventually offering to carry the car home himself. Finally, when they were all inside, Dr. Ochanomizu breathed a sigh of relief as he shut the door to block out the storm once again.
"You're back!"
The doctor frowned as the maid robot took his soaked hat. "Nora, I told you that you can power down after 8:00."
"It's a good thing I didn't! Look at you!" Nora fussed. "I'll just get a fire going right away!"
"I'll do it!" Astro offered. He walked over to the obsolete fireplace. Aiming one of his rocket jet boots, he set the wood ablaze. "Nora's right, come and get dried off. It's not good for you to be all wet."
The doctor was sure that if Nora's face was more suitable for expressions, she would have looked annoyed. "It's all right, Nora. Please go power down. You know what happens when you tax your energy cells." To his relief, the robot didn't argue further. She slid away out of the room to shut herself off for the night.
Ochanomizu opened a small closet and pulled out a heavy quilt to replace his soaked coat and jacket. "Hmm," he studied them as he picked them up. "I certainly hope that 'dry clean only' is merely a- a- ah-choo!"
"Oh, poor Doctor!" Astro gave him a worried look.
"Nevermind," Ochanomizu waved away the robot boy's concern as he hung the two garments to dry. He then joined the children by the fire to dry off himself. He smiled kindly down at the two girls bundled up in the blanket. "We haven't been properly introduced. My name is Dr. Ochanomizu."
"My name's Adira," both children answered simultaneously, each giving the other a distressed look.
"But we can't both be Adria, can we?" one of the girls asked, and the other nodded in agreement.
Astro Boy spoke, "I think I'd better tell you about what happened, Doctor."
"Yes, I think you'd better," the doctor agreed.
"But I don't know if you'll believe it," Astro cautioned.
***************
"You were right, Doctor. Adira was kidnapped by a rogue robot. Her name is Drea, a companion robot who was driven crazy when her human companion, Madeline, was killed in an accident. I felt sorry for her."
The doctor looked sympathetic. "Hmm, well, that sounds a bit like Dr. Tenma, Astro. He was driven mad by grief, as well. That's why he created you."
Astro nodded and continued his story. "Drea took Adira because she looked a lot like Madeline, but she knew she couldn't keep her. She used Adria as a blueprint for the most human-like robot in the world. She wanted the robot Adira to be so human-like that even Drea herself couldn't tell the difference. She scanned Adira's brain and copied all of her memories onto the electronic brain for the robot, so they're as identical as a human and a robot can be.
Dr. Ochanomizu pondered this new information for a moment. "Am I to understand that not only do we not have any way to tell the human from the robot, but the children themselves don't know?"
Astro nodded. "Whichever is the robot, she practically is human!
One of the girls tugged at his sleeve. "Dr. Ochanomizu, I know I'm not a robot because I have emotions."
"No, you can't have emotions because I have emotions. You have to be the robot!" the other girl stated in what she must have felt to be infallible logic.
"I am not a robot!"
"You're both scared," Ochanomizu interrupted before a fight could manifest. "That's why you're accusing each other."
"There must be some way to tell them apart. What if we x-rayed them? Then we could see which one is a machine." Astro pointed out.
"It's a good idea, Astro, except that some robots can be badly hurt or even destroyed by x-rays. It would be terribly reckless to give them any kind of scan at all without knowing how the robot was made. But we must come up with something. Her father will be here to pick up his daughter tomorrow." Dr. Ochanomizu stood up and began pacing the room.
"Well," Astro mused aloud, "there are things robots can do that humans can't, right?" He jumped behind the sofa and lifted it up over his head. "Ta-daa! Can either of you do that?" he asked as he set it back down.
The two Adiras crawled out from under the blankets and grabbed ahold of the sofa. Together they were only able to move it a few inches across the floor.
"Are you sure you're both trying as hard as you can?" Astro asked.
"It's no use, Astro," Dr. Ochanomizu continued to pace as he explained. "You said that Drea was trying to create a robot that was like Adira. A small child couldn't lift a heavy object like a sofa, so I see no reason why she would give such an ability to her robot."
"I guess you're right."
"It's much more likely," the doctor continued, "that Drea may have overlooked some human trait that she forgot to add to her robot. For instance, robots don't grow."
"But we can't tell if either of them is growing in just one night," Astro protested.
"I don't want to be a robot!" one of the girls suddenly burst out crying.
"Me neither!" the other sobbed.
"Being a robot isn't bad," Astro said reassuringly as he patted one of the crying children on the back. Both girls ran to the doctor, each taking one of his hands into their own.
"There's nothing wrong with being a robot!" Astro reiterated, a little upset that they had run away from him.
Dr. Ochanomizu led the children back to the sofa to sit and calm down. "Don't take it personally, Astro. I don't think they're against robots. I think they're really just frightened that their memories might be false. How would you feel if you found out that everything you remember never actually happened to you?"
Shocked and a little ashamed, Astro bowed his head. "Gosh, I never thought of that. It would be just awful!"
"If I'm a robot, I won't ever get to go home!"
"Daddy won't love me anymore!"
The doctor stopped pacing and suddenly sneezed loudly, startling both girls into silence.
"Are you sick, Dr. Ochanomizu?" Astro asked worriedly.
The doctor rubbed his nose irritably. "Hmm, maybe I am coming down with something," he admitted.
"I sure am glad robots don't get sick," Astro added.
Dr. Ochanomizu stared at Astro, an idea forming in his head. "Yes… Yes, that just might work," he thought aloud.
"What might work? Doctor, you're not going to try and make them sick, are you?"
The doctor was taken aback. "What? Absolutely not! The very idea! However," he continued a bit more calmly, "I have thought of something that might answer our question. Wait here; I'll be right back." With that, he disappeared into the kitchen.