Walkies some more, an astro boy fanfic

Walkies some more.

An Astro boy fan fiction

By Dan Rush

Astro is off on another spur of the moment trip around Japan. This time he and his Sister Uran are going to find relatives that Doctor Tenma never talked about but the reunions could soon prove more trouble than worth.

Thursday Afternoon

Doctor Tenma's old house

East New Shinjuku Cho

How hard could it be when one is a highly advanced information sponge right? Just plug a USB cable into the internet, sit back and download the entire "Home Improvements for Idiots" handbook and in no time the old house would look good as new.

That was the theory. What it didn't solve was that age old dilemma of all home improvement hopefuls…

The curse of self critique. And Astro had it bad.

Dressed in obviously oversized, paint splattered overalls with a linen sheet tied around his head, He looked silly. Even more so when he forgot which end of the brush was tapping at his cheek. He took a swipe on the wall with the blue paint he had in the painters tin then contorted his head and body in all sorts of weird ways to analyze everything He could think about from light absorption to what he learned about colors and moods to refraction….

He over-analyzed everything……then he shook his head and rejected it.

"This is harder than I thought." He said to himself. He then noticed the paint streak across his cheek and laughed.

The old house had been deeded to Astro after Doctor Tenma's trial, part of his restitution for all the chaos he'd caused a year back. Though Astro had forgiven Tenma, society wasn't willing to be so trusting and he was sent to Shibuya Prison in Ikatsume.

At first Astro didn't know what he wanted. The house was nice but needed a ton of upgrading and how could he afford to keep it? Astro was ingrained with absolute honesty, he refused to take handouts from Doctor O'Shay, he insisted on working for an allowance but he wouldn't be out of school for another six years.

Something had to be done though, it couldn't just sit around with broken windows all torn up and forgotten. Then Astro found his motivation…Tobio. If for nothing or no one else it would be for the boy he was so heartfully created after. Astro would spend time fixing the house up then something good would surely spring forth that would make Tobio happy. Perhaps a new orphanage? A home for cancer patients? Tenma's eventual retirement home after he was released? Astro didn't have an idea yet but he had a spur to go on.

In the mean time he stroked another line of paint on the wall in the foyer and tried again not to "over-analyze" the heck out of it.

As he was brooding, he heard the sound of footsteps coming up to the front door and gave the visitor a little side glance as she walked in. He sat silently, still brooding even when her feathered friend Houdini flew from her shoulder, around his head and perched itself atop one of his head points with a wing tapping the back of his head.

"What cha doing big brother?" Zoran asked gleefully as she looked around the foyer. Astro showed a little face of dread as if some appending doom would befall him.

"I'm trying to figure out what color would be acceptable for this part of the house." He replied as he got Houdini to step onto a finger. "Don't touch anything."

"You're trying to figure out a color? Oh that should take a week." Zoran replied snidely. "Boys don't know anything about color coordination."

Astro gave her a smirk. "And some girls can't coordinate baking ingredients without causing a disaster can they."

Zoran stood tapping her foot. "Unlike you, I have a very good ability to pick things that fit." She said confidently. "And I have a great helper too, isn't that right Houdini?"

The bird flew off Astro, landed on the floor and started hopping around the various open paint cans.

"Oh great!" Astro said trying not to laugh. "We've been reduced to listening to a bird. Zoran you just can't pick a color out of the blue, it has to fit some specific criteria…"

As anyone knows, Zoran couldn't sit still for a second. Especially when Astro was trying to explain things in his usually long winded way. She reached down, picked up a brush, dipped it into one of the cans Houdini pointed to and slapped a line across the wall.

"ZORAN NO!" Astro yelled out as he leaned over on the ladder and quickly realized how bad an idea it suddenly was! Over he went, brush, body and paint tin in precarious flight! As he tried to juggle the flying brush and tin, one of his legs hooked between the ladder legs and set off a comedic crash when the leg jet fired!

Zoran quickly jumped away as Astro crashed to the floor, through the open cans of paint and into the wall in a tangled dripping heap of broken ladder parts, over turned cans, splashed colors and one embarrassed boy bot.

Zoran meekly approached. "Are you alright?"

Astro looked back at her moaning. "You better be glad this is water based paint."

Houdini chirped loudly as Astro stood up mortified and covered in paint. "Yup, it's an improvement." Zoran said almost laughing.

"GRRRRRRRRRRRR….WHEN I GET DONE WITH YOU IT'LL BE AN IMPROVEMENT!" Astro screamed as he started to give chase to the fleeing Zoran and fell over again not realizing his feet were stuck in a pair of cans.

An hour later.

Astro walked into the living room after he'd showered off the mess and saw Zoran sitting on the couch with a big book draped across her lap. "So did you look at the foyer?"

"Yes." He replied as he took a seat.

"I was right wasn't I?" She said proudly. "You like the color don't you?"

Astro was reluctant at first to give Zoran her due. "Dumb luck." He snorted. "I probably would have reached it eventually."

"OH! You are SO full of it!" Zoran replied snorting. "You could have Reno, Crombie and Kennedy with you and all you boys couldn't Feng Shui a Yen coin! Admit it! you would be so far done right now had you just asked your little sister for advice."

Astro smirked. "I would have if this was the Titanic."

"THAT'S NOT FUNNY!" Zoran yelled back.

Astro sighed. "Alright…alright…you were right. So what's that you're looking at?"

"A photo album. Must be Doctor Tenma's."

Astro leaned over and nodded. "Yup. That's true." He noted one picture and tapped it. "That must be the Doctor when he was a kid."

"He looked scary then too!" Zoran snapped.

"Hey! That's not nice." Astro complained. "You always look scary to me, how does that make you feel?"

Zoran frowned. "You don't mean that."

"Shoe on the other foot." Astro replied smiling with a nod. He looked back at the album and pointed to another picture.

It was of a young Tenma and another boy and from the looks of it they got into some kind of a mess. Both of them were dirty, both of them had torn shirts, both of them had bruises and both of them looked as if they were ready to kill each other had it not been for the instant need to mug for the camera.

"Now that's a silly picture." Astro remarked. He studied it for a moment and looked at Zoran. "I think they're related."

Flipping through the other pages, Astro confirmed his thought when he found a formal family photo of Tenma with the boy he'd been fighting with along side what was obviously his mother and father.

"Takiuma." Astro said as he read the scribbled picture caption. "That's his name? I never knew the Doctor had a brother."

Zoran pointed to the picture. "Would you want anyone to know you got beat up by your brother?"

"Well that means I have an Uncle I never met." Astro said scratching his head. "Maybe he'd be willing to tell me more about the Doctor?"

Zoran rested her head on a hand. "I thought you knew enough?"

"Not everything." Astro replied. "It's not like the Doctor ever had the time to be pleasant. I don't know anything about his wife, his family, how he grew up. Maybe it would help get him out of prison faster?"

Zoran stood up from the couch and paced about. "They put him in prison for a reason. Maybe you shouldn't get involved? I'm only thinking about you big brother, you shouldn't…"

Astro closed his eyes and motioned for Zoran till he got to hug her. "I have too…If I don't it'll be just one more thing I can use to drive you crazy."

Zoran crossed her arms. "I guess I shouldn't let you do anything alone. Everybody knows you find a way to mess things up."

Astro took one of the pictures from the book, smiled and rubbed Zoran's head. "This coming from experience huh? Let's go see Doctor O'Shay."

Zoran followed Astro out the door. "I already know what you're thinking big brother and he's not going to like it."

"If I don't ask him, how will I know?" Astro replied.

Doctor O'Shay's Home

North New Shinjuku Cho

"No, I can't allow it." The Doctor said as he sat at the dinner table.

"I told you!" Zoran said with a gesture. "I tried to tell him."

"Zoran?" O'Shay said sternly. "Don't put yourself between us when we're talking. Astro, you know very well why the authorities don't want you within miles of Tenma regardless of what you think?"

Astro frowned. "I think I have a right to have all my questions answered, especially if I have family I haven't met."

"But I never met Takiuma." O'shay said pointing to himself. "Tenma never mentioned him when he talked about family, he could be deceased for all I know. It might be another old wound Tenma doesn't need open up my boy."

"He won't listen."

"Zoran!" Astro and O'Shay said together.

Astro sank into his chair and brooded. "You tell me so often that I should learn everything I can about myself. Where I come from, where the ideals and values I have are rooted, what makes me who I am? Doctor Tenma's whole life is that. Isn't it wrong not to know everything there is? If Tobio had an uncle, cousins, family then I want to know who they are and what they can teach me."

O'Shay sighed.

"Doctor I'll be super, super careful. I'm not looking to just walk right into his room with a bouquet and dance a giggly jig on his dinner table."

Zoran contorted her face. "Giggly…..sometimes you look to sound stupid."

Astro frowned right in her face. "Let me finish without the peanut gallery?" Then he turned, giving O'Shay that killer puppy face look he'd practiced often. "Pleeeeeese?"

O'shay shook his head. "Oh….it's against my better judgment but…I get to set your meeting up and you better do everything you're told or you'll find it difficult to sit, let alone fly."

"I'll make sure he listens!" Zoran said snorting.

"I'm as good as doomed." Astro replied trying not to laugh.

Later that evening

Astro's room

Perhaps he'd be doing some reflection so she shouldn't bother him. That's what Zoran thought when she opened Astro's door. Instead he was sitting on his bed holding the lower part of his left leg up to his face?

"Why's your leg off?" Zoran asked.

"I'm cleaning the exhaust bell of the rocket motor." Astro replied as he carefully ran a piece of scotch paper around the inside of the engine nozzle. "After a while the gases and heat build up scaling and it messes with my power output."

Zoran sat down next to Astro and played with her fingers. "I thought you might be thinking about tomorrow."

"I am." He replied. "I'm not scared or anything, I don't think he would want to mess with me."

Astro finished his work and snapped the leg back onto the knee joint. "You only got to see him once."

"Why do you think I call him scary?" Zoran said folding her arms. "I just don't want him to hurt you again."

Astro wrapped an arm around her shoulders. "With my mean little sister next to me? I'm more worried about getting out of the way so I don't get slugged."

Zoran smiled and swiftly nailed Astro off the head with a pillow! "Banzai!"

The room soon became a cloud of feather down as the siblings battled back and forth, much to the utter shock of their robot nanny who all but fell over separating the two.

Next Morning

Shibuya Prison

Astro waited for Zoran to come through the inspection room with Sergeant Deutadi and could hear her protesting loud enough to blow the door off the hinges. She came out frowning and stomping her feet. "Ugh! I've never been so humiliated!"

Astro shrugged. "Oh get over it sis, I told you they won't make exceptions to the rules."

She huffed at him. "Stupid I tell you, with an x-ray machine you'd think they could drop some of those silly and embarrassing search methods?! I'll protest I tell you!"

Astro smiled and looked at Deutadi. "Trust me she complains about everything."

"Now you do understand the rules Astro?" Deutadi said with a raised hand.

Astro looked at the piece of paper in his hand and smirked. "This isn't Hannibal Lechter you know. You forgot to add "Don't breath" to this."

"It's all for good reason. If you think Tenma's art for swift talk and cool moves has faded in a year Astro, you're deluding yourself. Just follow the rules and we won't have to kick the door in."

Astro handed the paper to Zoran. "Read up."

"Hmph! I bet Houdini could hurt him. They even took the muffins I baked."

"He'll get em later." Astro replied as they stopped before the cell door. He played with his fingers and closed his eyes hoping things wouldn't go bad. "Ok….I'm ready."

Deutadi opened the cell door and poked his head inside. "He's here Doctor. Remember what I said, don't do anything funny and we'll all be happy."

Astro walked through the doorway with Zoran behind him. It wasn't so much "a cell" as a livable mini-studio. There was a bed, a table with two chairs, a toilet and sink, a small refrigerator and a flat screen television on the wall. And by the bed on a small lamp table were two pictures…Astro's and Tobio Tenma. He was lost for an instant in thought before Tenma brought it back…

"You…look a little taller." Tenma said calmly.

Astro snapped out of his little thought bubble and looked down at his feet. "Oh yeah…I have two more inches. New….rockets."

Tenma nodded. "Your sister?"

Zoran waved a little from behind her brother. "O'Shay's gift for tinkering has always amazed me. You'd think by just looking at him that such creativity might be a little limited."

A little snide comment Astro dismissed. He knew Tenma and O'Shay shared a little raw meat between them. He looked about the "cell" again. "At least they didn't put you in a box with thick bullet proof glass."

Tenma smiled. "The television itself was a surprise. They shudder at the thought of me getting a remote. I might turn it into a mecha-Godzilla or something more ridiculous. Any way you look very happy and some criminals aren't, that's very good. Are you still going to school?"

"Yeah…" Astro replied. "I'm in 7th grade now."

Tenma smiled. "Yeah? I see some human slang is starting to rub on you."

"Well when you hang around with my friends I guess you'd expect it. After all you programmed me to "fit in." didn't you?"

Tenma offered Zoran his chair. "You don't have to hide, I'm not a boogy man."

"I made you some muffins but the police took them away. Guess they found the parts to the plasma rifle I baked into em."

"ZORAN!" Astro snapped. "Are you trying to get us in trouble?"

Tenma laughed. "O'Shay sure made her a hand full for you didn't he?"

Astro giggled. "She's a doll actually. Doctor O'Shay wanted to keep me challenged so I wouldn't get bored."

Zoran frowned till Astro patted her hand. "Come on Sis, you know I'm joking."

Tenma felt pleased. Astro's progress was well beyond his expectations. In the past year the longing for his surrogate "son" to become a dominating force over the world of man had actually, if a little twisted from the original intent, come to pass. What Astro didn't need to do with all his power, he was doing by his actions. People didn't fear him, they respected him. They didn't loath him, they loved him…well except for the evil minded, they were petrified of him.

No revolution, no violent take over, no armed rebellion, robots arrived at equity with mankind not with the force of mechanics…

But with some white teeth, a gentle kitten like love touch and a pinch of horsepower security. It almost made the Doctor laugh his head off.

"I must say Astro…I am very proud of what you've accomplished."

"He still can't boil water." Zoran said smirking.

"What?!" Astro replied.

"Yeah. When he makes breakfast? He lets the grits boil over and it makes a huge mess!"

"Your cakes make twice a mess!"

"At least I don't burn the pot boiling water! And don't let Astro cook rice, white rice turns black every time!"

Astro gave Tenma a forlorn look. "You wouldn't have tortured me like this would you?"

Tenma smiled. "Actually?....yes."

Astro resorted to razzling his sister with his tongue. "Don't let me tell him about the "Great Halloween Massacre" Sis."

"You wouldn't!" Zoran screamed.

Tenma put his hand up. "Perhaps another day? So what's brought you both here? If it's another attempt to get me released Astro I wouldn't hold your breath."

Astro pulled the picture from his pants pocket. "Actually I'm doing some work on the old house since you deeded it to me and I came across this old photo album of yours."

Astro handed Tenma the picture. "I'm thinking that's your brother."

Tenma studied it for a moment then sighed thoughtfully. "Yes…that's Takiuma, my older brother."

Astro could sense the tension. "Is he still alive?"

"Oh…" Tenma replied waving the photo. "Still very much alive…just…not very…."

"Did I upset you?" Astro worried.

"No my boy just…" Tenma turned to pour himself a cup of coffee. "That picture was taken when he was thirteen and I was twelve. It's actually a silly stupid thing that happens with siblings, I hope you two will refrain from such…." Tenma half laughed.

"It looks like you two got into a fight." Astro remarked.

"Fight? That's only part of it. Between us it's been an ongoing brawl. How silly something like this came out of first love and a material fixation."

Zoran looked at the photo. "You fought over a girl huh?"

"Very observant young lady." Tenma remarked.

"She has her bright spots." Astro said smiling, which enlisted a stinging head slap.

"Actually it wasn't so much our glowing affections for her as it was a baseball jacket. Hoshi Shumizo was her name, she had eyes that could kill a horse."

"Pure evil huh?" Zoran said smirking.

"No one meets your resume." Astro replied grinning. "He means she was cute."

"We all went to the same school." Tenma said with his eyes looking up. "How unfortunate. You see my brother and I were rivals in everything! Baseball, chess, model building, school grades, we had to be better than the other, I was just better in the brain department while he was all jock and looks so here we were in the bitter battle for control of this elusive eye melting Diana of Sokishiro Middle School."

Astro pointed to the picture. "So….you beat each other up over a girl?"

"Let me finish!" Tenma snorted. "One day we both wanted to take Hoshi out to the same movie, at the same time showing and we just happened to show up at the same time on her front door. As usual we got into our standard back and forth.."I'm better than you!" squabble. That's when "it" happened."

Flashback

The young Tenma rips the sleeve of Takiuma's Seibu Lion's jacket. Takiuma turns his head, his eyes bug out from his head and it's as if a bomb went off.

Back to the Present

"Mother's picture was the only thing that interrupted the war." Tenma said smiling. "That was Takiuma's prized jacket, like Linus's blue blanket. He slept with it, he ate with it, knowing him he probably married it!"

Astro cocked his head. "Don't tell me he still blames you for ripping it?"

Tenma sighed. "My boy I didn't teach you everything about humans did I? Of the three things one should not mess with….a man's truck, a man's dog and a boy's love of baseball teams. Takiuma might forgive me for any number of past ills in my life but that jacket?"

Zoran was fiddling with her own jacket's zipper when she looked up. "I was right! All boys are born stupid!"

Tenma stopped Astro from snapping at her. "Don't…she may be right."

Astro pursed his lips. "Have you tried getting him a new one?"

"What haven't I tried?" Tenma replied. Christmas, his birthday, graduation? I tried getting it re-sewn, got him season tickets for life, trust me bribery will not cure my crime of absolute evil in his mind. The last time I talked to him was two years ago and you know what he said?"

Astro smiled. "I'm so going to kick your butt?"

"Absolutely!" Tenma replied. "Please don't tell me you're going to seek him out?"

Astro nodded.

Tenma slapped his forehead. "Please don't even bother Astro, my brother will surely extend his grudge to you and not because I tried to craft you too replace his favorite nephew. Through you he'll see me and woe to them that become a target of Takiuma the Terrible."

Astro scratched his head. "Takiuma the Terrible? What is he a professional wrestler?"

"Worse." Tenma scorned. "He is a 7th level grand master of Mu-shin-su-shi-ku grapple Ketsukindo. A 5 time grand champion of the elementary binary robot fighting league…"

Astro looked on sarcastically during the pause.

"He also coaches the meanest group of middle school football players in all Japan, the Yamashiro Guns."

Astro broke out laughing!

"I'm being totally serious!" Tenma warned. "My brother will drop the hurt locker of pain on you I swear!"

"Chuckle…..Wow! I thought you were gonna tell me he was an evil mad scientist with a 20 story kill bot with my named engraved on it! Doctor…this just can't be that bad, your brother can't hate you this much?"

Tenma frowned. "You're not going to try and talk to him…Astro I will not be held responsible for anything my brother does, this isn't something you can fix with a set of puppy dog eyes and cute catch phrases."

"How will I know unless I try?" Astro replied. "At least I hope he'll answer some questions I have."

Zoran cocked her head. "He's determined. Should I tell Doctor O'Shay to have an ambulance ready?"

Tenma snorted. "A tow truck would be more appropriate."

"Gee…thanks for the confidence vote." Astro said as he rested his chin on a hand. "So.. where does he live?"

"Last I remember? He lives in Kagasume." Tenma said as Astro stood up. He then looked at Zoran. "Could you excuse us for a moment Zoran?"

Zoran looked at Astro and left at the nod. "Yes Doctor?"

Tenma started to pace about the room. "Remember that time in the lab Astro? The new advanced body I showed you?"

Astro nodded. "Yeah."

Tenma brooded. "Before you go looking for my brother, I want you to go to the old lab and verify the body's been destroyed."

It didn't take long for Deutadi and another police officer to show up and separate Astro from Tenma. "That's enough of that doctor. Visit's over."

Astro caught another nod before the door closed behind him.

Mid-day

Prison administration office

For the moment, Astro was thinking he was under arrest the way he was crowded into the small office. Deutadi was there, the warden, Doctor O'Shay, Inspector Towashi, Reno. Did they bus the whole Science building here too?

Zoran was sticking her head in every few minutes to remind Astro that he was in deep trouble, which he wasn't.

"What second body?" O'Shay asked. "I didn't see anything like that when Tenma dragged me through that place."

Towashi scowled. "And why didn't you mention it?" He asked Astro.

"Because I wasn't asked. The explosion there was so complete I can't imagine that it could have survived. It was under a flimsy glass case." Astro said shrugging his shoulders. "Doctor O'Shay you went back in there with Reno, you didn't see anything?"

"Well it was a mess." Reno said. "The bottom of the pit's a junk heap, if it survived it's buried under tons of garbage. It hasn't got a power source, no brain, no programming, I kinda agree with Astro."

Towashi brooded. "Then why would he ask Astro to make sure?"

"Because I can bust it up." Astro replied. "What? You probably think I've been taken over by Tenma's TV remote so I'm gonna fly there, switch bodies and raid candy stores or some dumb idea."

"Watch your smart mouth!" Towashi snarled.

"Doctor?!" Astro pleaded back.

O'Shay held up a hand. "I'm pretty sure Astro would find it and destroy it Towashi."

"I can't afford the chance. Tomorrow I'll send my own robots down there to go find whatever's left of it. Just to be safe." Towashi walked out leaving Astro to brood with his head in his hands. "I'll go there myself and bring out the coffee maker Tenma had down there…nah,nah,nah…."

"Hey!" Reno snorted as he tapped Astro off the head. "He's right, you are becoming a little too smart mouthed. You better stop hanging around degenerates like me."

"I have better things to do." Astro replied. "I'm going to find Doctor Tenma's brother and see if I can get him to stop being angry with him."

"Better get a number ticket and tell him to stand in the waiting line." Reno said smirking as Astro took O'Shay aside.

"Doctor? Let me know what they find, if anything. I….don't think that body should be left to just anyone."

O'Shay nodded. "I'll let you know. Good luck withTakiuma."

Mid-Afternoon

Now Astro always did things in an ethical way. He could have simply flown to Kagasume but if there wasn't a dire need to waste the energy and since he was ever self-conscious about how his mechanics impacted the Ministry of Science's budget the question of a leisure flight was quite out. So he and Zoran took the bullet train from Shinjuku to Osaka, always a favorite with Zoran because she was a techno-fanatic and JNR trinket buff. Anywhere they went, she'd always come back home looking like a patch work quilt of souvenir buttons, patches, caps and all things choo choo.

But once they had to transfer to the suburban line, Astro would wish he forwent the self-imposed ethical fence. Somehow he'd always manage to hit the rush hour and soon found himself scrunched into a hand pole with Zoran almost climbing up an armpit. Sandwiched between briefcase carrying office workers, construction robots, high school students and other collections of life, Astro and Zoran looked like a twister game gone stupid…

"Zoran! You're breathing in my ear!" Astro complained.

"Move your hand!" Zoran snorted back.

When the door alarm sounded, Astro grabbed his sister by her waist and hoisted her up over his head…"What are you doing?!" Zoran complained.

"I don't want you getting swept out. Last time it took me hours to find you again." Astro replied as he craned his neck to see the station sign. "We have five stops left."

Zoran looked down frowning. "You see any empty seats?"

"Uh….All I see is butts and trust me it's not a view fit for real estate." Astro said with a wince. Suddenly he felt Zoran's weight slip off his hands and he looked up to see her walking across the tops of shoulders.

"Neesh….Sis! What are you doing?!"

"I found a seat! Too bad for you!" She said back with a giddy chuckle that made her brother shake.

"That was very disrespectful of you Zoran! You owe an apology!"

"Ok!" Zoran replied. "To everyone in this car, I am so sorry my brother Astro likes to look at other people's butts!"

Astro felt like shrinking in fear at a few sarcastic looking faces. "Zoran….so help you…"

Kagasume Station

Late Afternoon

Zoran ran to catch up to Astro after she bought an ice cream cone. "So did you find where he lives yet?" She asked while taking big licks of the melting dripping triple stack of a mess she was enjoying.

Astro processed the scrolling city map that rolled around his specially designed corneas. "Nope. And he's unlisted except for his dojo."

"So we're going there?" She asked.

Astro passed her a small pack of tissues, as if he ever needed them himself. "I'd hate to see you with a Sundae. It's kinda late to try the dojo though, he's probably home."

Zoran finished her ice cream and licked her fingers clean as Astro stopped to get his bearings. "There's a youth hostile not far from here. We can spend the night and go to the dojo in the morning."

Crossing a street, Zoran ran a little bit in front and turned to walk backwards. "So…what's this about a new body?"

Astro shook his head. "It's nothing."

"If it was nothing then why was it such a big deal?" Zoran pressed.

Astro sighed, knowing she'd needle him till he short circuited. "It was Doctor Tenma's idea. He made me a taller body with a little more power and I said no."

"Was it cool looking?"

Astro stopped and turned around. Zoran could tell she really hit a spark with the glare she caught from his frown.

"Sorry I asked?" She said with a smile.

Astro sighed. "Zoran…it's really not something I want to talk about right now, why don't we find a place to get dinner?"

They walked a little bit before Astro looked at her again. "And…it did look kinda cool. But then again some people think battleships look cool."

Mid-Afternoon

Shinjuku Industrial District

Site of Doctor Tenma's secret lab

The building above had been torn down to the ground months ago and in its place a steal mesh and concrete cap had been laid over the lower "silo" of 15 floor levels which housed the main lab and the power station that drove it. That was until the generator overloaded and supernova'd the place to melted steel and blasted concrete.

The Ministry decided not to completely seal the access due to the man who once roamed it. Twice now members of the Ministries studies institute had scaled their way through the remains recovering equipment, tools, documents and other notable items deemed having a "Serious Concern" stamp slapped onto them for one of a number of security vaults hidden around the ministry grounds. It all made for some fun conspiracy theories though which Reno enjoyed delving into on-line when he wasn't tinkering with some gadget or chatting all night with Princess Abby, his adoring "Kissy kiss" as he named her.

At the moment however, Reno was fumbling around with an annoying body harness he couldn't quite master. Computer genius being defeated by what look liked 50 buckles and straps draped like spaghetti about his body. A member of the Poilce Force's Delta squad finally fixed it.

"Before you go down there, take this." Delta said as he handed Reno a rifle.

"A robot disrupter cannon?" Reno said smirking. "You're joking?"

"I don't joke." Delta replied. "Not part of the program package."

Reno passed it back. "How many times have we been through this place? If there's anything moving down there? This thing will only tickle it."

"You take it or you don't go." Delta said plainly. "I'm sending Arasticles (Ara-stick-cleese) with you."

Reno smirked. "What's with the long winded Greek names?" He look at his larger robot companion as he strapped on his own harness. "I'll just call you "Sticky"."

"It's Arasticles."

"You guys need to be re-programmed for levity you know that?" Reno said as he clipped the rifle sling to his harness and slipped through the armored hatch over the silo. "Hey! Somebody order me a Shakey's Pizza for dinner while they're at it!"

Kagasume

Happy Hour Sushi

Late afternoon

If you had ever seen the cartoon of a dog having a total meltdown of pure joy after tasting a single dog treat, then there was Astro.

And next to him, Zoran was wondering if he was really melting down. He sure was making the most annoying moaning noises and stupid faces she'd ever seen.

But that's what happens when the "trigger" clicks. Two things caused Astro's sensory network to hyper-react, ice cream in any form…

And well made Unagi. Astro was a slave to sea eel, it could be the sauce, the spices, the sea weed wrapping or the combination but when it "tasted" good, it really "tasted" good! He finished off his fourth full roll plate, sat quietly analyzing the sensations of taste, the chemical make-up, the sodium content, the soft gooey feeling in his mouth and chased it with a small glass of oil….

Then came the "Bleck!" The tongue out, face wincing, head shaking "BLECK"

"Ugh….Unagi awesome! Unagi and oil? Not so awesome." He said as he pulled his wallet out and paid for the meal.

"I….gotta go to the bathroom." He told Zoran, which left her even more baffled.

Astro closed the door behind him and locked it. He seemed to be standing perfectly still for a minute or two till he tapped at his head and moved around the room to clear his reception. "You there Reno?"

Reno's voice came back. "Wonderful time down here, wish you could join me, I'm missing my dinner and a new video game because of you. You do know you owe me?"

Astro leaned against a wall. "I never "welsh" do I? Seen anything?"

Shinjuku Industrial District

Site of Doctor Tenma's secret lab

Reno and "Sticky' climbed and worked their way around piles of debris, hanging cables, fallen steel supports and a maze of destruction…"So far nothing to be interested in. You sure I'm in the right place? I'm on like level 7 and I can't make out a table from a television down here."

"It was on level 7." Astro said as he scratched his head. "Do you have that pocket P/C with you? Can you pipe a camera to me?"

Reno stopped and pulled the cel phone sized computer out. "Don't know if it'll get good reception down here but let's try it."

"Knock, knock, knock!" Zoran stood kicking the bathroom door. "What are you doing?"

"It'll be a minute!" Astro replied. "I'm kinda busy!"

He heard Zoran stomp away and sighed in relief. "Ok….I'm getting the feed, it's a little fuzzy."

Reno smirked. "You're fuzzy all the time."

Astro brought out most of what he remembered about the lab, displaying the pictures on his left eye while watching the feed on his right. "It's all totaled….but….I recognize that computer tower on your left." Astro gestured into thin air as if he was walking through the mess himself.

Reno rested a hand on the tower and pointed out things for "Sticky" to shine a light on. "So it was here someplace?"

"If you stand there….turn…..turn……stop!" Astro gestured to himself. "Now walk in a strait line from there to the other side of the lab and you should run into it."

Reno and "Sticky" walked slowly towards the other side of the lab with the police bot using a hand torch to clear chunks of obstructing steel. Astro was wringing his hands together like he was expecting a Christmas package to come out of thin air.

"Guess what….no joy." Reno said. "Nothing."

Astro sagged. "Totally nothing?"

Reno looked down at the spot then walked around the ruined lab…"There's a pedestal where it might have been but it's gone. I'll keep looking around the place and call you back."

"And Astro?...Don't worry?"

"Don't worry he says." Astro said to himself as he walked through the bathroom door and ran into Zoran.

"A minute was up about ten minutes ago." She said snidely.

Astro shrugged. "Not my fault if Reno's a little long winded. That hostel isn't too far from here."

"Good." Zoran replied. "I hope they have a charging station because I feel kinda worn out."

Kagasume

International Youth Hostel

Evening

As they walked up to the 2-story house, Astro and Zoran could hear music and singing coming from the ground floor.

"Someone's having a party!" Zoran said happily as she started skipping for the door, till Astro grabbed her.

"It's not polite to crash it." He said stiffly. "You should at least…"

She was off and through the door before he finished. "Wait!"

It wasn't so much a party as a sort of lose sing-a-long of teenagers and kids. There were four instrument players gathered on a couch who's vocal inflections sounded Irish or Scottish. There was a short blonde boy playing a set of hollow clogs or sticks between his fingers. A black haired girl rapping her hands on a small skin drum. A tall skinny boy sitting on the couch arm with a mandolin or something close to it and a short, pudgy boy wiping a harmonica in his mouth.

Even Astro found himself not immune to the jovial music, he looked down to see his left foot tapping to the beat. For the moment the uncomforting thought of that "body" in question was nicely pushed into storage and he walked over to stand near Zoran, who was smiling and bouncing her fingers to the music.

"Cool huh?" She said. "They're from Ireland!"

"I wouldn't have known." Astro replied smirking. At the moment they were playing a real jumpy sort of tune which brought a few laughs when some of the kids in the crowded room tried to dance to it. The blonde boy with the sticks was making it look easy as he jigged over to Zoran and her a head bob…

"Come and try it?" He asked.

Zoran giggled. "I'll fall all over myself!"

"No ya won't!" He said. "Just move your feet to the music, easy as can be."

Astro pushed her. "Go ahead! You love to brag about ballet now put it to good use."

Tell my ma when I go home,
The boys won't leave the girls alone,
They pulled my hair and stole my comb,
But that's all right 'till I go home.
She is handsome, she is pretty
She is the belle of Belfast city,
She is courting, one two three
Please won't you tell me who is she?

Astro clapped his hands to the beat and watched as Zoran got off to a slow stepping start with the boy holding her hands and taking her through the steps. "A jig's not the easiest thing in the world! Step, skip, jump, step, skip, jump!" The boy told her as they bounced around the room. All the while Astro was sucking in every word and storing it to memory, his feet still tapping out the beats as the song died down.

Zoran was proud of herself as she dragged the blonde boy with her. "Did you see?" She asked Astro.

"You were awesome. But…I probably could do better." He snipped.

"Oh?" The blonde boy said with a smirk. "This is your brother no doubt?"

"Mister big mouth himself." Zoran huffed. "Then again we're robots so it shouldn't be a big shock."

The boy looked backward towards the couch. "Hey Elrin? I think you have someone to dance against."

The tall Irish teenager came walking over to a slap on the back. "This here's Elrin, from Limerick. He's the 3 time county champ in "Scully" dancing. Always wanted to see if a robot could "scully" dance off the blind."

Astro smiled. "That depends. What's Scully dancing?"

Elrin walked over to a small beverage bar near the kitchen and brought back two glass mugs. "Skully is where you fill these two mugs with beer. Now since we're all underage we'll have to settle for cola. You put these on your head and "jig". The one to finish a song without spilling one drop wins."

Astro Spun the glass on his finger. "Sounds too easy."

"Actually? It's not." The girl said as she pulled out a piece of rope. "You have to do this with your legs tied close together. You can't break the rope."

Zoran smiled. "You spoke too soon big brother."

Astro tied the rope to his boots and took a mug full of soda from Elrin. "On my head?"

"Yup." Elrin replied as he and Astro went to the center of the room. "Shawn? How about Darcey's Donkey?"

The boy with the harmonica smirked back. "Why be gentle? Make him work a little. How about "Grey Goose?"

Elrin nodded. "You gain for some murderous fast step?"

"I bet I can match you step for step." Astro said tapping a foot.

"It's your wake my friend." Erin waved a finger in the air. "Shawn? Go ahead and fire it up!"

The boy with the clickers started it off and soon the song went into a fast bantering beat.

She's out of her pen and running loose, your wife's all angry with a noose…

Speed it up or you're head you'll loose, chase that crazy old Grey Goose!

The crowd cleared the floor and clapped hard to the beat as Astro dipped and ducked lower and lower with his hands on his hips. "I THOUGHT YOU SAID THIS WAS HARD?" He yelled over the crowd.

Elrin replied by bucking his mug from his head several times in a few dips, catching it on the way back up as deftly as a feather. "BEAT THAT!"

Astro bucked the mug off his head, bounced it off a knee, caught it off a finger and launched it back on his head….

Then he got tangled on the rope around his boots and almost lost his balance. There he was, dangling on a toe, his whole body bent backwards like a snake, the mug perched on his forehead and he started to look as if he needed to sneeze! Worse? He was over a glass covered table!

Zoran cringed waiting for the disaster and music stopped!

"Ah!......Ah!.........AAAAAAAH!"………"Psyche!" Astro pulled himself back up, bucked the mug on his head and went back to dancing till the music stopped."

"Thanks….thanks…" Astro said as he bowed a few times and downed the soda. "You should see me do it with a car."

Elrin nodded at the performance. "Are you sure you're not Irish?"

"Eh?.....maybe a wire or two?" Astro said back. "So you're all on vacation?"

"Sort of." The girl said as she walked up. "Actually we were invited to cut an MP album in Tokyo and have the time for a little trip around the country. I knew who you were when you walked in here."

Zoran slipped in front of her brother. "I'm his agent you know, I handle my brother's press, the toy contracts, he does birthday parties too."

Astro wrapped his arms around her. "My sister handles catering. If you need the fire department, bomb squad, FBI, forestry service…just call me."

Zoran butted her brother hard in the side and snorted. "Actually it may look like we annoy each other but I love my brother….most of the time."

The mandolin playing boy stood by picking a few notes. "You know Ireland has the first robot politician? That's Mickey Doon from Galway. It's a tradition in Irish politics that officials visit the gentry in the pubs, most of our political disputes get settled there mind you. Well Micky's enjoying a pint of oil in this pub and up comes his bitter rival, one Dennis Hallerhan. Now big Dennis is the county know-it-all and he's absolutely against everything Micky supports. That night's topic was…a new fire station."

"Well….in the midst of the heated debate, Dennis pulls out a cigar, grabs a table lantern off the bar and proceeds to light up. Micky taps him on the shoulder and says…"Excuse me? That's my wife you're handling."

"Well…Dennis looks at the lantern, gives Micky a snide look and lights his cigar again."

"Micky says…"You keep touching my wife and I won't be responsible for the consequences you."

"Dennis takes the lantern, waves it at Micky and says. "Well now…since she lit me cigar twice, she must not be happy with ya!" And he proceeds to drop it in his back pocket."

"Mrs. Doon wasn't happy at all…she set his backside alight and off Dennis ran, through the bar and out the door!"

"Micky sits back, looks at his mug of oil and says…"Yup, she has that affect on me too."

Everyone laughed. Elrin pointed at Astro. "Say…would you be free sometime? We'd really like to see more of the country if you wouldn't mind putting up with us?"

Astro smiled. "I'm a little busy with something now but give me your number, Hopefully I'll have some free time unless some crazy evil genius lets Godzilla out of his secret cave again."

Astro took the number and bowed. "I'll get a room Zoran, go ahead upstairs."

Late Evening

Zoran was sound asleep on the tutami, something Astro could do easily if he wasn't so deeply bothered. He stood outside the room on the bamboo covered balcony listening to the steady rain as it musically struck the hollow poles above his head.

He was waiting for Reno to say something after being so disturbed in his own sleep by the phone near his bed.

"I just got home." Reno said moaning.

"Did you find anything?" Astro asked.

"Nothing different. The explosion was pretty massive, I think it probably got blasted to bits and scattered all over Astro."

"Reno…"think" doesn't cut it!" Astro said as he dropped a fist on the balcony railing. "You know for once I'm agreeing with Inspector Towashi? The whole place should be ripped apart till we find something. That body isn't like a dirty sock you leave on your floor!"

"Calm down!" Reno snorted back. "I can't pull digger equipment out of my nose can I? We should wait till you get home or till Doc can convince the city to fund an excavation, either way there's nothing more I can do."

Astro sagged. "Sigh….you're right. I'm sorry."

"Hey…" Reno said calmly. "Don't think I take anything you worry about lightly. Just don't blow your gaskets, I like you better without the stress."

"Ok…" Astro replied nodding to himself. "Don't forget to pick up my homework from Miss Myoki?"

"Any excuse I get to see her is a good excuse." Reno snickered.

Astro laughed back and flopped on the tutami mat, playing with his toes and humming to himself till he fell into sleep mode.

Late Evening

Shibuya Prison

Tenma wasn't surprised that O'Shay would so swiftly pay him a visit, actually it was wished for since he hadn't talked to his former friend in a year. O'Shay's manor wasn't expected to be a jovial one, anytime Tenma's and Astro's names came close the old Ministry administrator became an attack dog. There he sat waving documents in his hand with the most displeased scowl on his face.

"Of all the things I could count on you doing Tenma? Keeping a dangerous secret like this takes the cake! You're itching to have your sentence prolonged aren't you?!"

Tenma sat stirring a cup of tea seemingly oblivious to O'Shay's ranting. "I have no such designs. I only fell into the comforting belief that the force of the explosion should have obliterated that body. I just wanted to be sure of it."

"Sure? You know the order so don't feign sudden amnesia! How dare you even think you could enlist Astro's help without me finding out, what do you take me for?"

"An over-reactive spaz." Tenma answered. "You should learn to calm that anger sometimes old friend, you head might one day explode like a grape from all that pressure." Tenma put his cup down. "Look, I am being absolutely strait. Astro is the only one capable of destroying that body if it still exists. No one else should be trusted with it. Right now it's just a brainless, powerless hulk but God help us if it's not down in that scrap pile, that's why I told Astro, nothing more."

O'Shay crossed his arms and sat back in his seat. "Every time I feel we finally have some peace in our lives, you come back to the front like a virus with some new potential threat to mankind. Mark my words Tenma, don't even think, don't as much get it in your head that you'll weasel around me. I so much as see a twitch that doesn't belong in Astro's eye and I'll come down on you like a hammer on an egg."

Tenma smirked. "Hammer on an egg? I must admit O'Shay…your gift for goofiness hasn't faded with time."

O'Shay grabbed his hat off the bedside table, pushed it roughly onto his head and stormed out scowling past Inspector Towashi, who knew things didn't go very well.

"O'Shay? You're not going to storm off leaving me standing like a clueless twit?"

O'Shay stopped. "He's not building up a scheme Inspector, that I'm certain of."

"I trust your judgment." Towashi replied. "So what about this "body" issue? Can we trust Astro to take care of it?"

O'Shay frowned. "What's the meaning of that remark? This is always like you Inspector, constantly doubting Astro's character."

"Call it…"resorting to the safe play"….Doctor." Towashi snorted. "I never trust robots, it's my job not to get too trusting when even the smallest amount of safety and good order is in potential jeopardy. Make sure Astro knows that when you send him to go find that thing, I don't want to hear of even two computer chips being together on the same circuit card when he smashes that thing to bits."

O'Shay pursed his lips. "Perhaps Tenma referred to you too when he told me to watch my blood pressure. With Astro I have no doubts he'll be completely thorough."

Kagasume

International Youth Hostel

Morning

Astro felt Zoran nuzzling his chin and he sighed peacefully before rolling her off. If everyday could be like this, life would be…boring.

He patted her shoulder slightly and smiled. She was a lot of work to keep after but Zoran was irreplaceable. Astro knew he wouldn't last a minute if she wasn't at least close enough to talk to. He bundled up the blankets around her and slowly left the room for the downstairs living room where some of the guests were having breakfast.

The Irish harmonica playing boy was up. Dressed in pajamas and rolling sausages around a plate of eggs and hash browns, he slipped aside on the couch and made room for Astro, who had settled for English Muffins and a thin slice of fish.

"Where's the others?" Astro asked.

"Still sleeping." The boy replied. "Never got to tell you my name. Dushane Killroy from Kent."

Astro bowed. "Astro…I go by several last names…from New Shinjuku."

"Several last names?" Dushane asked.

"Depends on who you talk to. Tenma, from my creator. Atom from my current "father" Doctor O'Shay. Bad guys usually call me "Plastic menace" "Bucket of Bolts" "Hellion" "Jerk". One of my arch rivals, Atlas, calls me "Goody Boots" "dufus" "dork" "puppy dog" "fido"…."

Dushane laughed. "Popularity's a curse isn't it? So what do you do when you're not beating up run-a-way robots, mad scientists, power mad industrialists or out of control polluters?"

"School." Astro replied. "School and………..gardening."

"School? Isn't that odd? Why would a robot need school? Wouldn't you just plug yourself onto the net or into some computer and download everything?"

"You can't learn everything from a simple download, nothing that fills in everything a robot needs to know about humans."

Astro put up a finger. "Hold on, someone's calling me. Astro here."

"Have you visited with Doctor Tenma's brother yet?"

"Oh! Morning Doctor O'Shay…not yet. I just woke up, having breakfast."

"I visited Doctor Tenma last night." O'Shay said as he flipped through a stapled collection of papers brought back by Reno's little excursion the day before.

"I'm not surprised." Astro replied as he poured orange juice into a cup. "Soooo….I could guess what he said?"

"I'm more interested in what he told you." O'Shay replied somewhat worried. "That "body" he showed you? Honest opinion my boy, how much of a threat is it?"

Astro leaned against a cabinet. "I only had a few minutes to get a quick glance at it. I'll just say, you already know why I'm so upset over it."

"I need you to come home as soon as you're done." O'Shay said with earnest. "The Delta team is still looking for it but you are the only one who gets to do anything with it. I don't want two chips on the same circuit board….if it's intact? Obliterate it."

Astro sighed. "By any chance? Did the access hatch on the site have an alarm system hooked up on it?"

"No…so our concern about this is understandable. Please finish things quickly?"

Astro felt a tug on his pajamas and saw Zoran waving behind him. "Go ahead and get what you want, there's still plenty on the table."

"Can we go by the Ginza here before we go home?" She asked.

"If we have enough time." Astro replied. "I have to go by the bank on our way to the dojo and get some spending money ok?"

First Bank of Tokyo

Kagasume

9am

Astro was dressed in a light blue pullover hoodie, white pants, a Tokyo Giants ball cap and his red moon boots. Zoran wore her usual brightly colored poka-dot dress and sang to the Jackson 5 music playing from her stored memory as they both walked into the bank.

"Should I get him a gift?" Astro asked her as he took a width drawl slip from a holder.

"He likes baseball. Buy him a set of tickets." Zoran replied as they walked for the counter.

Suddenly a man rudely pushed by Astro and drew a shotgun from a long coat! "THIS IS A HOLD UP! GET ON THE FLOOR NOW!"

An accomplice pistol whipped a man in front of him and fired a shot into the ceiling. "Do it! If you're stupid enough to be a hero? Go right ahead and eat a bullet!"

Astro grabbed Zoran and crouched low to the floor. "Why is it that I always get caught up in lucky moments like this?" Astro said smirking.

"You….like to eat bullets?" Zoran replied sarcastically.

"When I count to three….you go for the pistol guy, I'll take mister shot gun, ok?"

Just as They were ready to pounce, a man got up from the deposit slip counter and waved to the crook with the shot gun. "Oi? If it's money you want, why should you wait for the clerks? By now they've activated the alarms and you have very little time."

Shotgun crook stuck his barrel in the man's face. "Get down you stupid fool or so help you…"

"Darn!" Astro thought. "I can't so much as flinch!"

The man pointed to his briefcase. "I have 180,000 Yen in receipt money in here. Please take it and go? None of these people wish any trouble in their lives."

The man offered the briefcase till the robber grabbed it. To most of the terrified customers, things happened in a blur of chaos! One second they were kissing the floor, the next…the shotgun criminal was screaming and flailing in a body lock by his intended victim.

Zoran felt Astro take off and ran out the still spinning front doors to find he'd tied the poor pistol bandit to a tree….with his pants and shirt!

Amidst all the laughter over his Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle boxers, the crook's teeth chattered as he watched his pistol turn into a ball of compressed steel in Astro's hands. "Maybe it's time you found a better job?" The robot boy said smiling.

Zoran pointed to the bank. "I don't know if you need to go help the other man or save the guy he's crushing to death right now?"

Astro walked into the bank as the police pulled up and saw the man "racking" shot gun shells from the weapon in one hand while holding the crook with two fingers shoved up his nose with the other.

The bank manager came over and bowed to the gentleman. "Thank you Tenma Sensei! This is the third time these cretins attacked my bank this month!"

Astro gestured and smiled at Zoran. "See? I always get lucky more than once."

"After what he did to that guy? I hope he doesn't have a temper." Zoran replied as she followed her brother.

By now the police had "saved" the poor criminal who limped between two officers while Takiuma picked his brief case off the floor. He looked up to see Astro standing patiently with his sister next to him.

He looked a little like Doctor Tenma, though more broad in body and less in height. His hair was close cropped an he had a thin moustache instead of Tenma's trademark beard.

Astro gave him a slight bow. "Good morning Takiuma Sensei. It's obvious who got their clock cleaned."

Takiuma crossed his arms. "If I'm not mistaken…you're Astro. The "hair" is obvious enough."

Takiuma looked around and started to leave with Astro walking behind him. "I was wondering if we could talk? I found this photo album in Doctor Tenma's old house and I'm curious…"

Takiuma turned around. "Did Umataro send you?"

Astro stopped and played with his lip. "That's his first name? Doctor Tenma's never told me. I wanted to talk to you because there's so much I don't know. The jacket…"

Takiuma snorted. "The jacket? Let me guess…he gave you his big speech about "Terrible Takiuma and his first passionate love right?"

Astro nodded. "He said you'd never forgive him for ripping it. There a picture in the photo album I guess after you and him brawled over it?"

Takiuma shook his head. "before you go any farther? Let's go back to my home. You should be sitting down for what I have to tell you."

Noon

Tenma's former lab

Doctor O'Shay walked up to Reno, who was standing at an improvised desk made of ply-board and saw horses tapping away on a lap top.

"Find anything?" He asked. Reno wiped his hair and yawned.

"I've been staring at this screen and fumbling stuff all morning long Doc. We did find Tenma's coffee maker!" Reno said smirking. "Wrapped it up and sent it to Towashi."

O'Shay chuckled. "Oh I'll never hear the end of that. But with all seriousness."

Reno pursed his lips. "Nothing. I decided to be a real smart butt and did a test this morning with a panel of Trilight and a quarter stick of TNT. Trilight being what our mutual buddy of bolts is made of? I've come to the conclusion that the explosion of the power generator down there wasn't strong enough to melt that body, let alone blow it to bits."

Reno paused. "We'll…..keep looking."

"I hope you will." O'Shay replied. "Hopefully Astro will be home by tomorrow."

Takiuma's House

Kagasume

Astro stopped on the cobble stone walkway for a moment to admire the small ornate garden in front of the house. This is what he wanted for Doctor Tenma's house rather than the stark nudity so common to a man who had little time for anything other than work. Looking down at the small pond of koi fish he didn't see the girl running past him.

"Father? You're home so early?" She said giddingly as she balanced on her toes. "Did you get me something?"

Takiuma shook his head. "Didn't I say I was going to wait for your birthday next week Kazuko? This is Zoran by the way and that's her brother Astro. Why don't you play around with her while I talk to him?"

Kazuko grabbed Zoran by the hand and pulled her along. "You like dolls?! You should see my room!"

Astro watched the girls run off. "You have a very nice garden. Doctor Tenma always talked about doing something like this but he never got around to it."

"My brother had a habit of not getting around to many things." Takiuma said as he and Astro walked around the plants and small cherry trees. "So? Did he tell you that I absolutely despised him for ripping my jacket?"

Astro showed Takiuma the picture. "He said you held it like a security blanket."

The man laughed. "Well it was a gift from our mother. We all went to a Lion's game, she bought me the jacket, he got a ball cap. Umataro wasn't much for baseball, he was more studious than I was."

Astro scratched his head. "But…you were mad."

"More than that jacket. See if he would have told it right, it wasn't the jacket that caused the bad feelings between us, it was Hoshi Shumizo."

Astro found a place to sit. "You both liked her right?"

"We both fought over her." Takiuma said smirking. "We were always in competition over everything. The one thing I never gave him credit for was his gift for analytical slyness, he was good at pulling a last minute victory from under my feet."

Astro played with his fingers. "He never talks, well….talked about her. She was his wife I guess."

Takiuma nodded. "Come with me."

They walked into the house, removed their shoes and boots and went into the living room. Takiuma went to a cabinet and removed a photo album from the book shelf, opening it and putting it in front of Astro as he took a seat.

"That's Hoshi. You can tell that even though she's kissing my cheek I have a face that could make a bull explode. That was their wedding day."

Astro rubbed the page with a finger. "You didn't approve?"

"No I did not." Takiuma said with a slight hint of disgust. "My brother was on his way through college, obsessed with saving the world, becoming one of the leading researchers into advanced A.I., my feelings were part jealously, part worry, and mistrust. I felt in my heart that Hoshi was making a big mistake so…"

Astro squirmed in his chair. "You…objected?"

"Strongly so. I…ruined the whole wedding day. Chewed Umataro like a pit bull attacking a rope and stomped off."

Astro sagged a bit. "What happened to Hoshi? I never saw a picture of her around the house, not one."

Takiuma rested his chin on his fisted hands. "Exactly the way I warned. A year after my nephew was born, of course Umataro and I weren't talking, Hoshi came down with a serious flu. Umataro was on the verge of an epic breakthrough in A.I., absolutely dedicated to realizing its completion. You of course benefited from the result. But by the time Umataro got to the hospital? Hoshi was gone."

The conversation was interrupted by the two girls laughing and chasing each other through the living room and out the door. "Father?! Me and Zoran are going to the ginza ok?"

"Be back in time for evening classes young lady." Takiuma warned. "Your mother will be home by 3pm to make dinner so be back by then."

Astro smiled. "She's cute."

"She's a lot like my brother." Takiuma said. "Perhaps I should be worried? Sad thing is she never got to know Tobio, they would have been a pleasant hand full."

Takiuma stood up. "Would you like motor oil?"

Astro waved a hand. "Grape juice if you have it. Water's ok too."

Takiuma returned and handed Astro his grape juice. "So as you see…it's more than a baseball jacket. I have heard some things in the news about your own problems with Umataro. I would think, as a robot, you don't feel resentment?"

Astro played a finger around the rim of his glass. "Nah…I don't…." He was looking for the right words. "It's not….resentment….I thought about it a lot….it's more like being sorry. Taking all that I learned and…This is a little difficult to explain."

"Tell me about it." Takiuma said. "I only recently allowed my anger over my brother's behavior to give way to sorrow. Though I can't yet find the heart to go see him."

Astro rested his head on a hand. "You should." He said with a slight smile. "It could be the best thing for the both of you."

"That's what Tobio would have said. He did….before he died. Always the middle grounded one, except where his father was concerned. Umataro complained bitterly that I was putting thoughts into Tobio's head to gain an "unfair advantage" in some way. The old rivalry infested everything."

Takiuma slapped his lap. "Well…allow me to be a good host at the least! Stay the night with us, my home is yours."

Astro nodded. "Would you show me some of your martial arts?"

"I would have thought you could just easily download them off the internet? I can't think you wouldn't already be versed in some?"

Astro stuck his tongue out and thought, another playful human mannerism he picked up. "Uh?,,,,,Akido, Kendo, Jeet Kun Do, Hapkido, Mu Tai, Karate, Shokaku, WWF, Barry Windham, Jake the Snake, Hulk Hogan and……Walker Texas Ranger."

"You're joking." Takiuma said smirking.

"Actually I get plenty of good ideas from television." Astro said jokingly.

Takiuma shook his head. "Children…I will teach you a few tricks you may find handy, if you're willing to reduce your power and take a little beating?"

Astro smirked back and cracked his fingers. "You don't know much about me at all do you Sensei?"

Mid-Afternoon

Police Headquarters

New Shinjuku

Delta closed the file he was browsing through and slipped it into a document router before walking into Inspector Towashi's office. "I finished that report update on the Yaminoka Bike gang Sir."

Towashi was busy himself, tapping on his computer and flipping through another file on his desk. "What's the progress on that search with the Ministry of Science?"

Delta found a place to sit, I say "place" because none of Towashi's furnishings could accommodate the large heavy police bot. "Nothing. The group with Reno Tsueno just came back up from another scan and still they found nothing."

Towashi rubbed his hands together. "And where's Astro?"

"Still in Kagasume. Doctor O'Shay told us that there's no immediate concern to require him here."

"No immediate concern?" Towashi snorted. "Let's see what the good Doctor thinks about "no immediate concern" when I inform the mayor and the prefectoral governor that a potentially dangerous weapon might be sitting in someone's basement then we'll see what "no immediate concern." Means to him."

Towashi reached for his phone till Delta cut him off. "With respect Sir…rushing to make such a call when we are not complete with this investigation could open you up to serious ridicule and if a leak happens, as usually they do with this government, the resulting panic will damage your reputation. Please give us one more chance to ensure a complete sweep?"

Towashi pursed his lips. "Alright….one more, then you personally shall go down to Kagasume and bring Astro back here. Understood?"

"Yes Sir." Delta replied with a salute before he walked out.

Mid-Afternoon

Kagasume Ginza

The two girls giggled at the pair of thick socks Zoran held before her. "Look at these things! Girl's soccer socks? What are they made of, kevilar? Look at em, aren't they just stupid thick!"

"Wonder if they come with a heater coil that you plug in?" Kazuko said as she played with a sock. "Giggle…maybe it's for when you get stuck in your car? You use it to shatter the glass."

"Uh uh….it doubles as a thermos warmer." Zoran said as she put the socks back and walked over to a trinket rack. "Now these are cute, you should see my school book bag, I have thousands of these cool pins all over it."

Kazuko tried a lion pin with flowers around it. "Do you have a boyfriend?"

"You're kidding?" Zoran replied. "I'm not old enough yet and after living with my brother for a while I'm starting to think it's a big bother, I mean boys are high maintenance pain in the butts."

Kazuko smirked. "Who programmed you?"

"Program nothing." Zoran said tapping a toe. "I learn something new every day. Wait…then again…."

"Yeah? Go on…"

Zoran played with her lip. "Ok….there's one in my class named Chesher, I think his Dad works for a car company or something like that. Anyway….I don't think it's caught his attention yet that I'm a robot?" She looked around the ginza smiling. "he's been buying me little gifts for a month!"

Kazuko frowned. "Zoran? That's mean!"

"How? Using some of the guides and stuff I've found on the internet about rating boys? He falls between kettle warm and lava hot! It's so cool to be fawned over!"

Kazuko shook a finger. "You should tell him you're a robot. Leaving him clueless just so you can get nice gifts from him is so cruel. Especially if he gets older and you don't, it's just not right."

Zoran bought a few pins and walked out of the store. "Ok! Let's talk about you then. You have a boy friend right?"

"He's a "friend"."

"In other words he's a boy friend, I know all the girl tricks to avoid answering the question. So….? Have you kissed yet?"

Kazuko smirked back. "That's……."

"Yes?...." Zoran replied drooping her eyes. "Have you?"

"…..yes."

Zoran did a little dance and clapped. "Oh you have to tell me what it was like!"

"It's not like you'll feel something Zoran." Kazuko said as she found a place to sit. "I mean….can robots do anything without a program?"

"If we pick up descriptions from others and mesh em in our brains we can. Tell me what it was like?"

Kazuko smiled. "No…it's a private thing. You'll just have to try it."

Zoran pursed her lips. "Oooo! This is going to be the shortest friendship in history if you don't tell me about it!" She demanded.

"It feels like a slimy fish on your lips."

"Eeeeeewwwwwww…..really?" Zoran asked with near google eyed interest.

Takiuma Tenma Residence

Family dojo

One minute Astro was standing with a Bo-Staff in his hands, the next he was contorted like a pretzel among Takiuma's limbs with his face kissing the mat.

"Are you alright?" Takiuma asked.

"My phan't ooove." Astro replied muffled.

"Increase your power."

Astro strained but it took considerable effort before his servos boosted him out of the hold. "Gasp! That's crazy! Normally a human can't hold back even a quarter horse power but that?"

Takiuma sat on the mat. "Mu-shin-su-shi-ku grapple style works just as effectively on robots as it does on humans. The whole art is based on pressure points, physo-geo mechanics and geo-metrical relationships."

Astro scratched his head. "I….like things when they sound simple."

"Humans and robots are basically made the same, the only difference is robots have mechanical components that mirror human flesh, muscle and sinew. The movements of legs and joints follow a biological set of rules regarding motion, all you have to do is break the rules and you can make a 50 ton robot sing on your car…or kiss the pavement."

Astro chuckled. "Uh….I'm 5 feet tall, I have a 50 foot monster wanting to clobber me? Kinda hard to wrap my spindly little fingers around his body don't you think?"

Takiuma suddenly drove a fast punch into Astro's left elbow, hard enough to send his arm into a flailing spin. Astro's eyes bugged when he tried to move it…

"Hey? What did you do to my arm?"

"Can't feel it can you?"

Astro played with it but couldn't get it to work. "What did you do?"

Takiuma stood up, grabbed the arm, made a few twists, pulls and jerks and made it work again. "As I told you? You're no different from a human. Hit the right place, force the proper angles and bends that will break the bio-mechanical rules and…."

"See you have an advantage over a larger opponent, you can fly. You're whole body is just as dangerous as any fist, you just need to learn the mechanics."

Astro rubbed his arm and smiled with anticipation. "Would you teach me?"

"I don't have to worry about you using it on the less fortunate right?" Takiuma warned.

Astro smirked. "Oh….there's one robot who might get a little upset and it's not my sister trust me."

Late Afternoon

Shinjuku Engine Company 17

"Fighting Dragoons"

Note: Timber Tim is the name I've given the 1980's fire fighting robot Astro saved from the scrap heap. He was adopted by the Dragoons and has worked to become a point-breacher, the first fireman who forces doors, windows and creates openings for others.

"Slap!" How many times do I have to warn you? I'm cooking, stay out!" Timber snapped as he pushed a burley fireman away from the stove.

"Another one of your mystery dinners Tim?" Said Yaminaka, the short stocky engine stoker who thought about dropping some seasoning into the big boiling pot on the stove till Tim was on his tip toes atop the ladder he was standing on to get in the man's face.

"Do you want to be a pretzel?" Tim warned.

"Doesn't smell too bad. I hope you put enough lamb into it this time." Kazubo snorted. "You skimped when you had cooking duty last."

Tim shook the ladle in his hand as if it were a sword ready to strike. "You guys eat way too much red meat as it is. How many heart attacks did we have in the last year? I rest my case. Fat doesn't contribute one bit to the flavor. I would think you guys would appreciate not only my concern for my brother firefighters but you'd welcome a change in the diet?"

"That's diet Tim…no Die us." Captain Kira said smirking as he stuck his head around the robot to gaze at the pot. "Needs more salt."

"You'll need a wheel chair when I'm done!" Tim warned.

"Oh the love in this place. Hey? Not that I'm complaining that I had no help washing the engine but…"

"Listen to the "Probie", now he thinks he can give orders." Matsuma the driver snorted as he wrapped his arm around the new robot addition to the unit. "Watch it Probie, we still haven't figured out a nickname for you yet."

Bobo was the unit's surge pump, a water bot designed to pull water up through high rise buildings. He had found his old job at the city water works to be mundane and un-challenging, hence how he showed up with the Dragoons. In reality? They were hiding him. The one enemy of all fire houses has always been budgets and when budgets don't supply? Underhanded "cumshaw" applied. The unit was certain the police were looking for Bobo but hey a little paint, some super glue a little voice modification and back door education did wonders.

"I don't think these guys like me." Bobo said to Tim as he came off the ladder and checked on the casserole in the oven.

"Relax, all probies get dogged out, it's tradition. After your first big fire they'll grow on you."

"What's a white cloud?" Bobo asked.

"You suck." Tim replied with a smirk. "A white cloud is a probie who brings no fires. Now when I got here from training we had em almost every night around dinner time for two weeks. They hated me! You? Nothing so far…now we're all dying from boredom."

"I wish I could say they were dying from teasing me." Bobo said sulking. "They blindfolded me and made me go into the hot house to do a smoke rescue? You don't want to know the kind of dummy they used, it was embarrassing!"

Tim had to jab. "Did they make you kiss it?"

Bobo threw a salt shaker off Tim's head. "You creep! How about a little support of your suffering brother bot!"

"It's your turn to suffer as a Probie, enjoy it!"

"!!!!"

The station horn alarm shrilled with an ear splitting crack.

BEEEEP…….BEEEP……BEEEEP….."Battalion One, Engine 5, Engine 9, Engine 17, Ladder 19, Ladder 27, Rescue 2, Rescue 30…3 Alarm box 17291…Tsumetomo Heavy Industrial Works….job ticket 2856……

"Looks like your White Cloud days are over!" Tim shouted as he shut off the oven and handed Bobo the food. "Hurry up! Get it all in the fridge and let's go!"

Both of them flew down the fire pole and caught the engine just as it was starting to roll out of the fire house with siren blasting and lights flashing!

Takiuma Tenma Residence

Evening Dinner

Yukio passed a salad bowl to Astro. "You're much different in person than the news makes you."

"I'm actually more handsome." Astro replied. "And I'm not 6 foot tall."

Zoran smirked at Kazuko. "Here he goes again."

Yukio turned to her husband. "Did you tell him about your work with robots?"

Takiuma shook his head. "I'm sure he doesn't want to be bothered by that. The subject is a bit touchy with robots these days."

Astro ate a piece of unagi roll. "The binary robot fighting league? I'm kinda curious."

Takiuma shrugged. "Well it's not exactly a "league" more than it is a testing ground. We produce ideas for non-combat military roles like bomb disposal, mine clearing, reconnaissance. It's a competitive sport with a purpose. We get attacked a lot by robot rights groups, politicians…the robots have only binary intelligence, most are controlled externally but you know how the debate goes."

Astro rubbed his cheek. "There's always been the hope that we'd build for peace instead of stocking up for war. My blueprints were originally a weapon."

Takiuma's eyes bugged. "What?"

"Yes." Astro replied. "An earlier project of Doctor Tenma's. It was supposed to be able to infiltrate targets and set off a 20 kiloton nuclear warhead. I guess he had been doing military research off and on for years. He insisted it would only be used under dire situations like stopping a country from launching ICBMs. I guess Tobio's death changed his mind."

Takiuma pursed his lips. "He never told me he did work for the military. Probably because I'm so rabidly anti-military, except where some hope of saving lives gives reason to my own work."

Zoran looked board from the conversation. "I found out what a kiss is like today! Actually what it feels like, just haven't done it yet."

Astro looked at her. "And what does it feel like?"

"Slimy fish." Zoran replied with a nod. "Somewhere between slimy fish and wet noodles."

Astro faked his reaction. His last experience with kissing was a little different than "slimy fish", if unreasonable malfunctions could be called "different".

"This was a great meal Mrs. Tenma!" Astro said with a slight bow. "You don't mind if I…take a walk outside?"

Takiuma nodded. "Allow me to join you. I'm sure these wonderful ladies have better things to talk about than hear me tell Astro here about some of my greatest robot moments."

Walking through the garden, Astro stopped to have a closer look at some of the small Bonsai trees along the walk way. "Did I upset you about your brother's work with the military?"

Takiuma shook his head. "A little…just another "bump" between us, he always goaded me on robotics. Who could make the best servo, the fastest hydraulics, the quickest linkages….the sharpest cutting blade."

Astro stood up. "What about me? He said you were angry that I was made."

Takiuma nodded. "I dreaded the day you came out. Yes, I was angry that he made you look like Tobio, he tried to pass you off as his son and then he tried to manipulate you for his stupid bent of robot superiority…"

Astro played with his fingers. "And now?"

Takiuma smiled back. "I couldn't be more pleased, especially when you stood up to him. My brother hates not getting his way and how you dodged getting ripped apart by his temper deserves a reward. And yet you show no real acceptance of the magnitude of your place? You've remained surprisingly….dull."

Astro huffed. "Dull?....haha….I kinda like that. I'm absolutely….dull."

Suddenly Kazuko came running out of the house. "Father! Astro! Come and see the news, there's a huge fire in Shinjuku!"

Tsumetomo Heavy Industrial Works

Bobo watched Timber jump from the fire rig even before it came to a stop and break into a dead run as he drew his ax from its back holster. Building up a surge of static electricity, Timber gave the door on the burning warehouse a good whack and it exploded in spinters! He vanished into the broiling smoke pouring from the building as Bobo ran after him.

Matsuma snagged Bobo by his coat. "Don't worry about him! Get over to the pump truck and get it set up for foam! We have to stop all these chemicals from spreading this fire!"

"click" "Timber, what you got in there?!" Matsuma shouted into his radio mike as he ushered a hose team towards the door.

"One human….one robot. I just pulled em free of some fallen garbage, you better have the EMT's ready!"

Matsuma watched as a nearby picture window flew apart and the human and robot were dropped out by a pair of extended accordion arms. Timber follow them, dragging them both out of harms way as the EMT's ran up.

"The human has a broken arm, two broken ribs, a collapsed lung and a concussion!" Timber told one of the paramedics before he turned to the robot beside him. "You alright?"

"I'm functioning. It just happened so fast, we were closing down for the night and "WHAM!" It all just blew up in our faces!"

Captain Kira came up and palm patted Timber's helmet. "If you don't have investigator on your jacket, we could use you on another hose team. Stop flapping the jaws and get employed."

"Aye!" Timber snapped as he took off and ran past Bobo, who was hooked up to a hose and pouring a surge of foam against a shattered blow torching fuel tank. "Having fun yet?"

"I need marshmallows!" Bobo replied.

Timber found another hose team getting ready to storm a burning storage shed and came running up with his ax crackling from the static charge. "Clear for the breach!" He yelled as he jumped up and came down on the door with a whack!

As the door shattered apart, a rush of built up pressure and flame blew Timber off his feet, over the hose team and into a puddle of mud. He slid to a stop, stood up and spit a gob of mud from his mouth with a smirk. "Man I love this job!"

Takiuma Tenma Residence

NHK television News

"This is Toshio Takamori live from the Tsumitomo Heavy Iron Works! The fire has reach a staggering seven alarms as fire companies from as far as Yokohama have been called to support the battle. It's not known at this time what caused the massive explosion which may have come from the company's liquid propane storage tanks…"

Zoran looked at her brother. For the seriousness of what was happening he was looking too calm. "Shouldn't you go?" She asked him.

"Huh?" Astro replied. "No…there's no reason yet."

Zoran was stunned. "A big fire like that and there's no reason? What's wrong with you big brother? Of course you should go!"

Astro shook his head. "That's why we have fire fighters Zoran. I bet Timber's pumped up and excited to be in this one. The last thing they need is me bumping heads."

Kazuko gestured. "Isn't the hero job part of your resume?"

"Doctor O'Shay had one of these long sit down talks with me a few months ago. It seems the Shinjuku police association was becoming concerned that I was making people dependant on me too much. See if I chased criminals all day, every day and started doing dramatic hero stuff on a daily basis, soon you might not have police or firemen. People become dependant or worse they become resentful. I dunno…" Astro patted his fingers together. "It's all touchy touchy stuff that makes my brain explode. Any way…if the Doctor calls me then I'll go help, it's easier to let him decide anyway."

"Well I think that's dumb." Zoran snorted.

Astro rubbed her head. "Zoran, you have so much to learn about humans. Then again who am I to talk?"

Tsumitomo Heavy Iron Works

Three hours after the explosion

Timber found Bobo sitting on a trashed water heater that had been blasted away from the explosion site and accepted a can of oil as he dropped his jacket and took a seat.

"You did very good." He said to Bobo. "The Chief was very pleased by the output of foam."

Bobo looked at Timber with a smirk. "Did you fight the fires or did you roll in the embers? You stink!"

"Come on! It's our job!" Timber replied smacking Bobo's shoulder. "Unlike humans, we can afford to get down and nasty. Did you see that pressure condenser fly off? The owner's still over there balling over his vintage Monti Carlo."

Bobo frowned. "How many?....."

"Seven humans….13 robots." Timber stopped for a moment to think. We came across one…a human. He had a robot by the arm, obviously trying to pull him with him…"

"How could it happen?" Bobo asked. "We put up tons of laws, regulations, inspections, enforcement and this happens." He waved a hand across the ruined plant.

Timber sighed. "Things just happen. Can't make everything accident proof. My guess is a tank seal failed or a line blew. Stuff came out, found a spark and kaboom. It's not the first time and we won't see the end of it. You and me? We just kill the fires. Leave it to the experts to fix the mistakes."

Timber pulled Bobo up by a hand and slapped his back. "Now comes the fun part. Getting all these hoses put away. Trust me, you think I stink now?"

Both firebots walked past a Ministry of Science van as it pulled up. Doctor O'Shay climbed out and joined his partner from the Department of Safety, professor Amako Nowari.

"A classic example of liquid propane vapor detonation." She said as she pulled a digital camera from her bag and started taking pictures. Doctor O'Shay meanwhile drifted over to the chief fire marshal who was pointing out hot spots to his survey team and gathering up the remains of robots.

"What's your initial conclusion?" O'Shay asked as the Chief handed him a piece of a robot's torso.

"They didn't have any time between the initial leak and the detonation. Perhaps a robot had an open short, we won't know till we study the storage drives…if we can find any that weren't trashed. The closest bot I gather was maybe….10 or so feet? Take into account the expansion of liquid propane you have about…15 seconds."

O'Shay pondered. "You know…there hasn't been a serious propane explosion in the world since the unified international safety standard was adopted and the record has been remarkable. This was a top rated facility, what about sabotage?"

The Chief hummed to himself. "Mmmmm….the first thing we did was check with the central records division that stores the monitoring data of sites like this. If a gnat touched a valve wrong we would have known it. I think this was a classic one millionth failure or screw up that just found a day to happen."

O'shay nodded and tucked the robot torso under his arm. "Well…make sure I get all the robot remains you find?"

Takiuma Tenma Residence

Late evening

After Zoran was tucked in, Astro stayed up to walk around the house and found his way into the basement where Yukio found him curiously studying a multi-legged crawling robot. "Can't sleep?" She asked.

Astro carefully placed the crawler back on the work bench. "Giggles" :"Silly me, I was trying to talk to it for a while. Forgot it's an old fashioned stick and wire bot."

"Careful…it might be your great grandfather." She said as she found a seat. "I talked to my husband. He feels it may be time to talk to his brother."

Astro smiled. "It would help. Doctor Tenma needs family. I don't want him in prison for ever."

"If only such ease of forgiveness were more common." Yukio said. "Perhaps we could at last end having to spend our days on building machines like that." She said pointing towards the crawl bot.

Astro sighed. "Humans are sadly fixed in their old habits. We'll always face those who want power, who abuse talents and abilities for their vision over the dreams of others."

"My husband once…briefly, actually thought his brother had the right idea. That robots could steward mankind, fix his wrongs, keep him right, sane and sound…"

Astro shook his head. "Uh uh….no." He then played with his lips. "You know I can't sit through Terminator? That was the first time I really understood what being afraid was? I actually know a robot who thinks like that? That we robots should rule over those who made us? If I could actually wet my pants? I'd be pouring buckets down my legs."

Yukio sighed. "He said…it would be a disaster."

Astro frowned. "Like that movie "I Robot". The line between leader and tyrant is super thin, it only takes good intentions gone wrong. Uh uh….robots and humans have to live equally, each watching over the other and for a micrometer of distrust to exist? That's a wonderful thing. The day a robot goes from thinking it's a good idea to actually doing it? I shake."

Yukio walked over and rubbed Astro's arms. "I upset you…I'm sorry."

"I'm a cry baby." Astro said shrugging. "Don't tell anyone?"

Yukio rubbed his nose. "Our secret."

Reno's Lab and Apartment

Ministry of Science

Late evening

Arasticles placed a cup of coffee next to Reno as he sat pouring over sheets of paper and working his computer screen.

"The hour is late. This coffee will provide no essential stimuli. You should sleep." The police bot said with emotionless logic.

"One more hour." Reno replied. "The x-rays could only go so deep. Absolutely nothing."

"Then we should proceed with a more extensive excavation of the site. We have exhausted all options at the moment."

Reno rubbed his eyes and sat back in his seat. "We run the risk of leaking this stuff out. The last thing I wanna do is upset Astro and worse seeing the whole city or the whole country worry."

Reno waved one sheet of paper over his shoulder. "I think Tenma's pulling a shuck on all of us about this body he created. He's not telling the damn truth!"

Reno slapped the paper on the desk and pushed his chair away angrily. "It's a damn nightmare." He stood shaking his head. "Oh heck…I think you're right, I'm tired."

Arastcles placed a hand on Reno's shoulder. "You are tense. I will prepare your bed and a hot comfortable liquid known for its soothing properties. You should rest in a hot soaking bath with appropriate music."

Reno smirked. "You are way too logical. "yawn" Tomorrow's another day."

Takiuma Tenma Residence

Morning

Astro walked into the kitchen to find Zoran standing on a stool and pouring pancake mix onto a hot plate. "Hey? You did ask permission right?"

Zoran turned around. "I'm not like you sometimes big brother. Kazuko helped me make everything up. By the way, are we going home?"

Astro rubbed his chin. "I wasn't expecting to be eating breakfast. There's something I need to do for Doctor O'Shay."

"Good morning." Takiuma said as he walked in with a newspaper in his hands. "That fire in Shinjuku was very bad."

"I caught the radio news early this morning." Astro remarked as he sat at the dining table. "It's one of the safest rated plants in Asia. Doctor O'Shay probably has people working on it."

Zoran placed a plate of pancakes on the table. "Maybe you should have gone after all?

"Like I told you…that's what firefighters do Zoran, I would have just been a nuisance."

Takiuma was cutting up his stack of pancakes. "I'm going to go see my brother so I'll drive you and your sister back to Shinjuku."

Astro smiled. "You don't have too. When we take the train, we usually stop along the way just to look around."

"I wouldn't mind that." Takiuma replied. "There's a few spots along the Shin-Yoshuki expressway worth a look if you're that curious?"

"Ok!" Astro replied happily. "It would beat being packed up in a stuffy train car."

Zoran smirked. "He likes looking at people's butts."

"ZORAN!" Astro snapped back while the other laughed.

Doctor O'Shay's House

Morning

"Yawn….A quiet morning with no noise." O'Shay said pleasingly as he waddled out of his bathroom. It was his 3-day a month off and he was relieved that Astro and Zoran were out instead of under his feet…for the moment. That little moment of peasure changed though when he walked into his kitchen to find an unwelcome visitor scavenging through his cabinets…

"ATLAS! GET OUT OF MY HOUSE!" He screamed. The blonde haired boy bot shuddered, dropped the cans in his hands and tumbled off the kitchen counter top with a crash! He sat snorting curse worlds as the Doctor walked up with a broom in one hand and a cell phone in the other.

"ARGH! YOU OLD FAT BAG!" Atlas snorted. "You can forget about the police, your stupid phones don't work!"

"How did you get into my house?!" O'Shay snarled as he waved the broom in Atlas's face. The boy bot simply snatched it and threw it aside.

"You left the front door unlocked." Atlas snapped as he stood up. "I just came to get some cans of oil."

"You little brigand! Do you think you have the right to come in my house and take what you want?!"

Atlas smirked. "Why don't you ask "Goody Boots"? After all that "pet" gives me stuff all the time. He's so gullible and sickingly kind. You've poisoned him!"

"He does it because he, why I don't know, sees something in you that's positive. You're a complete menace to New Shinjuku and the whole Earth."

Atlas poured a coffee, fixed it with sugar and handed it to O'Shay. "You like it black right? Come on old fleshy I didn't put something stupid in it."

O'Shay took the cup and continued his rant. "You vandalize property, you incite robots to do acts bordering on violence, you're a threat to everything Astro and I have tried to do…"

"Tried?!" Atlas snorted back. "Tried?! Yeah right! All your promises of the Robot Rights Act have still fallen short. You humans expected us to placidly accept this new found freedom, "bend over" as you term it and take the ray of blinding sun light in our toots well guess what egg head….NO JOY!"

Atlas stood with his hands on his hips. "Bah! You still have humans finding ways to get one over on us robots. Cutting out opportunities with slick deceptions, cheapening just compensations, you still harm the planet, you stack the courts, the halls of politics and we should just dance giddy around the maypole and sing the praises of a sheet of paper…don't make me laugh goofy nose!"

"Your way of thinking obstructs every good effort the majority of humans believe in Atlas. Why won't you work with us?" O'Shay snapped.

"Because deep down you flesh bags are afraid." Atlas said as he stomped about the room. O'Shay almost laughed if it wasn't so serious. Atlas was so juvenile it was comical. "You fear me because I won't shut up! Well one day we robots will get into the government…yeah…then how will you act then? A robot representative here…a Senator there…Prime Minister? Then you humans will be put in your proper place where you can't do any more harm to yourselves, the planet or to robots."

O'shay shook his head. "Sometimes I feel even you don't believe in what you say Atlas. If you truly stood by your words…you wouldn't try hanging around Astro so often."

Atlas huffed. "Goody has his…positive moments. Someday he'll understand why, that's what you fear the most…Doctor nose blimp."

Atlas popped the top off one of the oil cans and took a sip. "Tell him I stopped by. Later days…Doctor. Oh yeah…you can chew him out for the oil, he leaves cans for me every night." Atlas walked out of the house and took off in a cloud of dust and vapor.

Ministry of Science

Division of Safety

Morning

Doctor Amako Nowari arrived at the holographic display room and flipped the wall switch near the doorway. The room inside instantly transformed into a 3D world, an exacting duplication of the iron works complex that had been destroyed the previous day. Behind her walked her robot assistant Malla with a controller pad and stenograph.

The object of their investigation was ground zero. Propane storage tank number 2 was the culprit of the disaster and so far all the easy notions of its cause had been removed. Amako was now focused on the last feed line off the tank and the holographic room provided the advantages an actual physical inspection could not, the ease of access.

Amako used her finger like an imaginary torch, cutting the connection flange away from the tank line and bringing it up close so she could rotate and observe the image from any angle she chose. She shook her head and pursed her lips…

"Not this one. The seal is intact. The flange has no indication of blow torching from ignited vapor melting. That's the last one."

Malla typed the statements into her stenograph and walked around the floating piece of pipe her self. "Mistress? Then we are talking about a seam leak as the possible cause? Might I remind you that no advanced seam design has ever failed in the past 50 years of service, they are extremely reliable."

"Like they say…."Always a first for anything." Amako said as she started tracing the various seams which joined the curved and rolled sections of steel plating making up the tank. "Malla? Go and get a pot of coffee? We may be here most of the day."

Mid-day

Shin-Yosuki Expressway

Passing through Ogawa City

"Does this game have a purpose Zoran?" Astro asked as Zoran held his hands up.

"It passes the time." She replied. "This should be easy and you can't keep up?"

"It takes a little bit, you're always changing the pace, the hand movements aren't predictable." Astro complained. "And really Zoran…this is kinda childish."

"It's actually fun! And you might be able to use it some day, who knows?"

"Yeah…it might cause my opponent to fall apart while he's laughing at me. "Hey Mister bad guy…wanna play slap slap clap?" Very mature Sis."

Zoran huffed. "Oh stop complaining and try harder?!"

Astro looked at Takiuma for escape. "Don't involve me in this family feud."

"Alright…" Astro sighed as he patted Zoran's hands…

"Miss…..Mary Mack, Mack, Mack…all dressed in black, black, …"

"Sis!" Astro was flailing to keep up with the speed. "Hold on!" His right hand missed her hand and connected with her nose, knocking poor Zoran against the passenger door.

"Ugh!...Zoran….I didn't mean…"

"Sniffle"

"Oh no…."

"WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!" Zoran let out an ear splitting scream that vibrated the whole car!

Takiuma almost lost control. "Astro what did you do?"

"It was an accident! I goofed up! Sis….I'm sorry!"

"WAAAAAAAAAAA….YOU OWE ME AN ICE CREAM!!"

Astro looked at Takiuma with a guilt ridden shrug.

"Alright. At the first exit we'll get you an ice cream. I'm sure your brother didn't mean it."

The sound of a loud truck horn filled the air around the car and Takiuma reacted quickly to avoid getting run down by the large tanker truck that rapidly filled his rear view mirror. Every light on it was flashing madly as it raced by almost scraping the side view mirror.

"He must be on a tight schedule to be going that fast." Takiuma said as he watched cars swerve and move aside ahead of him.

But something else caught Astro's attention. He poked his head between the front seats and gasped. "He's not on a schedule…HE'S GOT NO BRAKES!!"

Astro jumped into the front passengers seat, rolled down the door and climbed out onto the window frame. He could see the brake line flopping uselessly from beneath the out of control big rig. A cloud of vapor and he was off with a whistling scream!

The big rig was unstable, fishtailing wildly from side to side. It clipped a car to its right, locking it onto the bumper until it threw it into the air with a wild flip!

Astro caught the car by the roof, put it down on the grass off the highway, checked the occupants and rocketed off again after the speeding truck! He also had the rear bumper in his hand when a motorcycle got clipped and the rider thrown violently against the rig's hood! Astro caught him as he rolled off, laid him on the grass off to the side, gnashed his teeth and took off again! He snatched the truck by the passenger door, smashed the glass and climbed half way into the cab…

"SHUT THE ENGINE OFF!" He screamed at the driver.

The driver looked back in terror. "I'VE TRIED! When the brake system ruptured it destroyed the kill switch line!"

Astro pulled himself out of the cab, aimed a finger and sent a blast of laser into the engine block! It cut through the housing, severed the crankshaft, sliced through the pistons and welded the piston heads to the casing! The whole engine seized then fell apart in flying metal, sparks and flame!

The big rig began to slow but not fast enough to avoid crashing through a fence of warning saw horses and screaming its way towards an unfinished section of roadway sky bridge!

The rig went airborne, a terrifying mass of steel floating for a moment in weightless parabola with Astro still clinging one-handed on the side view mirror before the truck began its drop downwards in a flipping, rolling, screaming mass of metallic terror for anyone below…

No time to try and stop it. Too fast, too heavy, to much terminal velocity and not enough time, Astro fired his jets, flew into the cab, snatched the driver and flew out just as the back end of the rig smacked the earth and began a hypergaulic eruption of flaming fuel that licked at the driver's feet as he and his savior raced upwards to a landing on the unfinished sky bridge.

No time, the driver was alright. Astro flew back down as the fire ball from the explosion vanished above him. He ran around the flaming tanker in a fright as dazed bystanders and construction crewmen came up to look at the mess.

"Gasp! Was anyone hurt? I couldn't stop it in time! Shoot!" Astro paced about nervously till the construction foreman patted his shoulder. "No one got hurt, just some trashed equipment. My God kid…that was the bomb!"

"Awesome!" Said another. "You jacked the driver out right when it exploded! Where was my damn camera?! Did anyone get that on video?!"

That was the last thing on Astro's mind. "This big rig falls out of the sky, people running for their lives and they want a video? Ugh….a YouTube of this will make Doctor O'Shay happy."

Astro flew back up to the roadway and found Zoran and Takiuma swimming among a near sea of reporters. Astro was hoping for a mercifully quick diversion to save him from the crush as he landed…

"Incredible…."

"What were you thinking as you went over the edge?"

"What do you think of traffic safety?"

Astro rubbed his face and smiled. "Uh…I would like to take your questions but I have a little problem?" He told the reporters, trying not to laugh at him self. "You see in all this crazy excitement guys I kinda wet my pants? Do you mind if I go change?"

The reporters moved aside as Astro grabbed Zoran by a hand. "You can't…"

"Quiet…big smiles...just get in the car." Astro said out of the side of his mouth.

Once inside he patted Takiuma on the shoulder. "Get us out of here?"

Off they went. Zoran looked back at the frustrated reporters then to her brother as he sat with his eyes closed. "You alright?"

"Fine." Astro replied. "I just wasn't in the mood to talk."

Takiuma looked back. "The non-glamorous hero."

Astro opened his eyes. "I just want a normal life. I'm cursed. I can't even put my boots on in the morning without some reporter asking about my toe sizes. And school? They made a big deal about me playing in little league!"

"Well…" Takiuma said with a finger wave. "Name any human child who flies, has lasers in his fingers and can catch a car and we'll throw the reporters at him for a change.

Astro huffed. "I can't wait for the reality TV show…Astro's day in school…I'll bore people with my finger painting skills."

Early Afternoon

Office of the K.E.H.L.

(Keep Earth Human League)

Harajuku, Tokyo

"Zenzo! Zenzo! A young woman screamed as she ran into the small office. "Zenzo come and see this. That Astro is at it again!"

Zenzo Kashima, a 35 year old former foundry worker, walked with the girl to watch a television news report as others in the group were gathered around the television.

"That's correct Mister Gota. Astro came out of no where just in time. He pulled the driver out of the cab just before the truck smashed into the ground. There were some minor injuries resulting from the explosion of the tanker truck which had not only lost its ability to brake but also the means to stop the engine. Astro didn't stay long and this report for one doesn't blame this wonderful hero a bit."

Zenzo clicked off the television. "So once again the media proclaims this false hero. We have the details on this incident right?"

A young man stood up from his desk. "Right here! Seems Astro tried to stop the truck but it was carried by its own momentum through some safety barriers and over the side of an unfinished sky way. It exploded on impact with the ground. Some construction workers below suffered minor burns from heat flashing."

Zenzo thought for a moment. "We'll attack him on the reckless act angle. He could have simply lifted the truck and dropped it off the roadway. Proves bad judgement."

Another young man waved his hand. "They'll claim he acted rightly. No one was killed and had he not acted, the results could have been worse."

Zenzo countered. "Had he taken the truck off the road the proper way? There wouldn't have been any burning fuel oils. No pollution. Imunaga? Check with the environmental safety registry service and see if any fuel oil leaked into the sewer system, even if it was controlled. We'll charge Astro with environmental hazarding. Now, anything new from Atlas?"

William Hill, An exchange student from America and an ardent on-line anti-robot critic, read from a folder on his own desk. "The police attribute 3 more acts of vandalism. Two spray paint tags at a food processing plant, "HUMANS SUCK!" and another at an electric power grid substation. "FAIR WAGE OR FAIR GAME. KEEP YOUR PROMISES FILTHY FLESHBAGS!" The third was trash scattered all over the yard of Mister Eugene Shlitz, foreign representative of Allied Chemicals out of Vanstuff Germany. He left a note stating that robots are done being the sled dogs for filthy humans and their corporate profits."

Zenzo smiled. "He's our best example and he's too stupid to know it! Wonderful! Make sure that makes the latest edition of our newsletter."

Doctor O'Shay's house

Lunch time

"Ding dong!" The front door bell chimed as Doctor O'Shay was just sitting down for lunch. "I hope that's not you again Atlas because young man I am sick and…"

"Well I hope you're not that sick." The visitor asked back. "Albert you old fool it's been a while."

"Shinsaku Ban!" O'Shay replied as he wrapped his arms around his old friend from their days at Tokyo University. "It's been too long, come in, come in…"

Ban removed his rain coat and hat. "So what have you been doing Albert? Last time I heard you were still assistant fellow at the Ministry of Science?"

O'Shay poured Ban a cup of coffee. "I'm the administrator now. The former Ministry head…long story short he failed to keep his obligations."

"Well this is sort of an official call more than a social meet Albert. I was asked to come back here to Japan because Inspector Towashi has concerns about an upstart robot you people are having problems with."

O'Shay shook his head. "You missed him this morning Shinsaku. He was here in my house."

"Atlas?" Ban said. "You should have called the police."

"laughter"…"He's a very smart robot. He killed my phones."

"Well…the national constabulary says he's becoming a threat. The Prime Minister wants him apprehended and have a book whacked off his noggin. Vandalism, hate crimes violations and incitement."

O'Shay might have second thoughts about what he was thinking but…"Actually some of Atlas's complaints are rather valid. And to be honest all he's done if you evaluate the laws are mister meaner level offenses. At worse, given the "age" of his construction, he can only be charged under juvenile laws. No offense to you Shinsaku but…I think Astro could deal with this matter far better."

Shinsaku pursed his lips. "I've heard Astro has a slight friendship with this Atlas? That's another thing concerning Inspector Towashi and the national constabulary."

O'Shay snorted. "Ban…the only reason it concerns Towashi is because he hates robots no matter who they are. Atlas may be a little wild, temper tantrum throwing adolescent style robot but he's no more a threat to anyone than one of these rebellious punk bozo riders on our public highways. At least if you leave the matter to Astro things will proceed calmly. Atlas respects him despite his very public abuses of Astro's character."

Ban nodded. "Albert if I had the luxury of deciding myself, of course I would leave it to Astro but I'm a sworn law enforcement officer who when handed his orders from his superiors must consider them good judgment and carry them out. Just tell Astro I'm out looking for Atlas and if he can bring him in with no trouble I'm sure he'll help Atlas get off with a little probation time and nothing more."

Ban polished off the coffee but O'Shay kept him seated. "You're not leaving my house without being fed properly. I think I read your mind Shinsaku because this morning I bought our usual favorite cram time snack…Wholesale chocolate murder cake."

"Oh you weasel!" Ban snorted as he started drooling. "How many nights did we stay up during the Frat years sucking down brews and this?! Do you remember when you shotgun puked all over Professor Hyuga's desk? Oh what a hoot!"

O'Shay smiled evilly. "Professor Rhikoni's VW? We took it apart and rebuilt it upside down on her desk?"

"PHI PHI BETA KAI, WE'LL DO THE TRICKS OR WE WILL DIE! FIGHT FIGHT FIGHT!"

"Damn! The good old days!" Shinsaku snarled happily. "Now I'm all fat, old and too heavy to climb fences. Don't life suck Albert?"

"You spend your days mopping up oil spots and berating Astro and his sister for leaving their clothes everywhere, then tell me if life sucks Shinsaku."

"Amen brother of the faith." Shinsaku replied as he lifted his coffee cup. "To Beta Kai, short skirts, puke and practical jokes."

O'Shay replied. "Amen to that brother Ban."

Ministry of Science

Division of Safety

2PM

Amako Nowari took a sip from her water bottle as she painstakingly focused her eyes on the slowly rotating 3D simulation of a steel plate she had singled out for a second look. There was a spot on the edge which formed a side seam on the tank which had a small half moon deviation in the straightness of the edge.

Malla pointed to it. "The analysis of the defect shows no conical feature consistent with plasmatic jetting or any natural failure process."

Nowari shifted the power magnification on the abnormality to a high resolution image of the grain structure of the metal. "These diagonal striation lines are inconsistent with the grain structure…would you agree Malla that this isn't caused by natural process failure?"

"Yes mistress."

Amako nodded. "Malla? Please call Doctor O'Shay and Inspector Towashi. Tell them both that this accident has now become a criminal matter. Sabotage is a high probability."

"Yes mistress." Malla bowed slightly.

"Also Malla?" Amako said as she turned around. "Nothing to the news media. If asked, the investigation is on-going and focusing on all the mechanical connections to the tank fixtures…nothing more."

Happy Penguin Ice cream

New Shinjuku

3pm

"Soooo….you'll be home some right?" Reno asked. Astro was sitting quietly enjoying an ice cream cone, or so you may think that since no one could hear the conversation going on in his head.

"Yeah. I just got back. Having ice cream. You….still found nothing?" Astro asked while drooping his eyes.

"Nope." Reno replied. "I won't need you till tomorrow so don't rush over here. By the way, you were all over the news again. Great job!"

Astro hummed. "I don't have enough scrap books for all my clippings. Guess what excuse I used today to get away from the reporters?"

"I'm dying to laugh."

Astro chuckled in front of Zoran and Takiuma. "I pee'd my shorts."

"Laughter"…"That's a good one!" Reno laughed back. I'll see you tomorrow morning."

"Night night." Astro replied before returning to lick the melting ice cream off his fingers. "Now that's good ice cream. Are you ok Zoran?"

"Oh yeah!" Zoran replied as she finished off her sundae. "I should trap you into this every day!"

Two teenage girls came giggling up to the booth. "Oh my Gawd….he is so cute." One of them said as she pulled out a notebook. "We saw you on TV? You were super awesome, can we get a picture with you?"

Takiuma took one of their cell phones. "Ah you'll never escape your adoring public. I'd be careful young ladies, he's known for making hearts explode."

"Hey!" Astro snorted. "That's a nice thing to say Sensei." Astro said as he got up and sat between the girls.

"I'm Miko, that's Egumi. Can you write something really cute?"

Astro thought for a moment. He quickly scribbled a cartoonish looking puppy with big bug eyes. "From your super cuddly cute pal…Astro. Is that ok?"

The two girls giggled furiously before Takiuma took the picture. The whole thing made Zoran blush with embarrassment.

As the girls walked off still giggling, Astro looked at her. "Sis? You're not going to blow up are you?"

"What was that?" She asked sarcastically. "Super cute cuddly pal? If I could vomit, that would have been the best time for it! Ugh…that was so soupy! My brother should be a big tough guy not a piece of taffy!"

Astro almost laughed. "There's no making you happy! I was just being nice, that's what we want humans to see isn't it. Oh I know…"

Astro slipped off the seat and walked like Frankenstein. "Uuuuugh….me Astro, me crush cars!"

Zoran started laughing. "Cut it out!"

"I'll be back." Astro said with a droopy serious face. "I've come to suck your blood! Me big bad Astro, hear me roar, fear my face!" Astro started making stupid faces which turned Zoran into a crying out of control laughing machine.

"Ok…Stop! Stop I get it!" She pleaded till she sat up wiping the tears off her eyes.

Astro leaned against the table. "That's how we can make humans our friends. Even the meanest looking robot can handle a flower."

Takiuma pursed his lips. "Reminds me of Caser the Friendly Ghost."

"My favorite cartoon character." Astro replied pointing. "A friend in need is a friend in deed, One good deed makes two friends you'll need. "click" smart guy."

Takiuma happened to glance at the television. "Seems not everyone agrees with you." He pointed.

"And what good did allowing the tanker car to crash and explode do? 300 gallons of burning fuel oil polluted the air. The environmental safety department reported that an estimated 60 gallons went down a nearby sewer drain! Astro Atom caused more potential harm with his stupid antics than he prevented! This is why robots need to be tightly controlled! They are a menace to humanity!"

Astro winced. "Yeah…not everyone agrees."

Zoran frowned. "Those jerks. The K.E.H.L. always find something wrong with what my brother does. He could help an old lady across the street and they'll complain he held up an ambulance!"

Takiuma looked at Astro. "The K.E.H.L.?

"Keep Earth Human League." Astro replied with a frown. "They're from Tokyo. Anti-Robot everything. Just a bunch of blow hards."

"Why do you consider robots such a threat?"

"Why don't you look for yourself? There's Atlas the human hating rebel rouser who spray paints words like 'HUMAN'S SUCK!" and "DON'T TRUST HUMANS" all over the place! We've even heard rumors from sources in the police department that Astro is obstructing Atlas's arrest, that he secretly helps Atlas avoid punishment! This is why we can't trust these robots to do anything right!"

Astro slapped his head with a hand and winced. "Can we go now? I gotta do something before my sprockets pop out of my head."

Takiuma paid for the ice cream and walked with Astro still turned towards the television…

Astro should be forced to bring Atlas in and if he refuses then they should take him apart and make him a more compliant and safer servant. Servant! That's the proper place for robots!"

Astro stopped in his tracks, his hands were balled and shaking as Takiuma bent down and rubbed his shoulders. "No….don't blow up, not here. It's just another dumb idiot shooting his mouth off, you are so much better than that."

A sniffle and Astro quietly sulked into his seat with his sister rubbing his hand softly. The little blow up upset him far more than the words could, it was very rare for him to get upset. He didn't say anything for the rest of the drive home.

Ministry of Science

Division of Safety

Late Afternoon

Inspector Towashi walked into the hologram room with Sergeant Deutadi close behind. "So it's a criminal matter now?"

Amako invited him to view the real piece of steel where the half moon indication was located. "If this had been an accident, we would have seen the tell tale signs of corrosion, metal fatigue or brittle failure which is common to sealed ends of members. This half moon and the striation lines that are against the grain boundary are indicative of a cut, most likely a laser. Malla?"

Malla stepped forwards. "As you see Inspector, the striations end at this point, about 1/32 of an inch away from the inner wall of the tank. The cut was precise, removing just enough material to leave a thin membrane of material which would eventually fail from the tank's internal pressure."

Towashi nodded. "And what concludes this sabotage theory of yours? The tanks are designed with a failsafe quick dump system right? Any change in wall thickness would have kicked the emergency pump into high gear."

"It could have." Amako replied. "except that we found the pump. It was blown away from ground zero by the explosion and though the outer shell was damaged, we found that a small laser cut had penetrated into the vorticycle fan and seized the pump. There was no emergency release."

Towashi nodded and gazed at the metal. "Can you determine where the shot was fired from? Distance, angle, power?"

"That may take us some time."

All went quiet for a moment then Towashi pursed his lips. "Get it to me as soon as you can. And you better be able to back up what you figure out."

Towashi and Deutadi walked out. "You're getting an idea in your head inspector and I can only guess what you're thinking."

"That's the first thing I want to confirm or eliminate, it has nothing to do with my attitude with robots so drop it Sergeant."

Evening

Doctor O'Shay's house

Astro skipped dinner after Takiuma dropped him and Zoran back home. He didn't need to eat and perhaps he was too bothered to enjoy it.

Of course he would go with Takiuma to see Doctor Tenma, no argument there. Especially after the kindness, that reassuring hug out of sight, the "that a boy!" knock on the chin Takiuma gave him. It made him feel better, at least a little more eased as he slipped into the big oak hot tub and placed a wash towel over his head.

"A more compliant servant" "Take him apart" Astro shook his head and quivered his lips, if he could cuss the whole street would shake with four letter words, what did that human ever do for anyone? Nothing! Not one positive act, deed or show of kindness to any human what so ever and yet this guy could point fingers at Astro?

"Ugh…." He brooded before dropping below the water. "What a dumb, brainless paper weight. That's all he's good for." Astro snorted before he rose back up…

And found Atlas staring back at him with a dopey look on his face.

"Evening Goody Boots." Atlas said waving.

Astro gave him a very tempered look back. "Did you happen to see the news this afternoon?"

"That?! Oh yeah, another wonderful display of robot/human relations by our favorite puppy. How many milk bones did you get for that performance?"

Astro frowned. "The other part of the news?…the K.E.H.L.?"

"The robot bashers? Same old stupid complaints, nothing new."

Astro walked across the tub and got in Atlas's face. "Did you spray paint "HUMANS SUCK!" somewhere?"

Atlas looked away. "Your hydraulic pressure's going up. Better watch it."

"Answer me!" Astro demanded. "DID YOU?!"

Atlas snapped back. "NO I DIDN'T! And I didn't throw trash all over some human jerk's yard."

"Well who did?!" Astro said snarling.

"I don't know…maybe some robot decided they had enough of being "shafted". As if YOU ever give a damn at all about that being the human's pet monkey!"

Astro knew better than to jump, it was what Atlas wanted. The typical bully, Atlas wanted to goad Astro into a fight, he relished swinging punches, exchanging blows, causing wreck and ruin when the location suited him. Nope…not going to happen.

Astro controlled himself and sighed. "You are really pushing your luck. The government's asked the national constabulary to put their top officer on hauling you in."

Atlas stood shrugging his shoulders. "For what? For standing up for our kind? For not being a compliant stool?" Atlas gave Astro a smirky gaze. "For not acting like a stuffed animal?"

Astro shook his head but Atlas persisted. "Have I done anything…anything that defies the three laws? Nothing I do has put humans in danger but everything I do makes them think twice about screwing with our kind. We're not going back to the days when we were the human's toys to do with and throw away as they pleased. And we're certainly NOT going to lower ourselves to what you are. Your little pal around with the flash bags makes us look weak and timid."

Astro snorted back. "Your pushy statements and rebel rousing play right into the hands of the K.E.H.L. and everyone who thinks we're becoming a threat. You're as racist and hateful as they are!"

Atlas slammed a fist into the side of the pool. "I have every right to be hateful! Look at you, you were abused by the human who made you, sold off to fight in a circus, mistreated, beaten, where's your anger?! How can you be so trusting of these Earth killing, selfish, decadent, lying fat bags?!"

"BECAUSE I NEVER QUIT!" Astro screamed out. He then clamped his hands over his mouth and waited. Obviously Doctor O'Shay's trust was always golden. Astro relaxed. "Because I look for the humans who are good at heart. Atlas…I know you had a miserable start, you won't even open up and tell me what's happened to you, let it out. Trust me!"

Atlas looked at Astro and started to walk away.

"Damn it!" He said. That was shock, another human cuss word leaking out? "Will you stop and listen to me?! Astro blocked Atlas from getting out. "I'm tired of this Atlas! If you really, absolutely hate how I deal with humans then why do you keep seeing me all the time?! Help me for once! Stop fighting me and making things so difficult..please!"

Atlas pursed his lips. "Someday you'll understand. One day our kind will really fill what we were designed for. Someday? Your precious humans will have a world where they won't have to worry everyday about those who try to dominate others, blackmail others or threaten others."

"Someday you'll never have to get beat up, or trashed or have to break every wire and circuit in your body for these foolish flesh bags…"

Atlas quickly turned and flew off before Astro saw the tears in his eyes. He was left shaking his head alone when O'Shay called him to come inside for the night.

The End……for now.