His forth birthday. Receiving that holographic atlas from his father. That promise of one day going to the moon together. His fifth birthday. Trying to talk to his father and show him the drawing he made of them. His father hanging up. Seven years later. His father throwing his painting into the fireplace and pushing him to the ground. Recently. Speeding down the highway with his gang, heading toward the shuttle. Hijacking it and taking off for the moon.
Daichi's entire life was playing out in his head at a fast pace. Every memory and every emotion tied to those memories cycled through his mind like a movie. A movie he was a part of.
He was only vaguely aware of the events playing out in his mind, like he was in a dream state and could only observe. He then became aware of something else as his memories reached the end. He could feel energy flowing through his body, tugging at his mind to wake up.
Daichi slowly opened his eyes. Everything was red for a moment, then his vision became normal. The first thing he became aware of was the glass mere inches from his face. He was in some kind of capsule and there wasn't much room to move. Daichi started to panic and tried pushing on the glass. It wouldn't move and he felt even more constricted.
Then Daichi realized something else: he couldn't breath. He tried to inhale but no air passed through his nostrils or mouth. He couldn't even feel his lungs try to take in a breath. Then he remembered. When he was on the shuttle, a piece of debris had breached the hull. The air had been sucked out and he foolishly held his breath. His lungs had exploded.
While that would certainly explain his lack of breathing now, it didn't explain how he was even alive. Sent into a full-blown panic now, Daichi began pounding on the glass and shouting.
"Let me out of here! Let me out of here!" he screamed.
A shadowy figure stepped closer to the capsule, into Daichi's view. Daichi began pounding on the glass harder. He didn't know who this stranger was but he had to be the one holding him captive.
"Let me out!" Daichi pleaded again. He wasn't claustrophobic but he didn't like being unable to move or being at someone's mercy. Daichi didn't understand what was going on, he just wanted out.
"Calm yourself, Daichi," the dark figure spoke. "You might hurt yourself." The tone of his voice frightened Daichi into staying still. There was just something eerie about it.
"H-how do you know my name?" Daichi asked.
"Oh I know all about you," the figure responded. Daichi felt a chill all throughout his body.
"Who are you?!" Daichi yelled, pushing on the glass again. "What do you want from me?"
"I am Doctor Tenma. What I want from you is nothing."
"Then why do you have me trapped?!" Daichi yelled, glaring at the man before him. His panic was turning into anger at being held against his will.
"You are not trapped. I am merely making sure you do not injure yourself before my client arrives," Tenma informed him.
"What did you do to me?!" Daichi demanded, pounding on the glass again. All fear was now replaced with rage.
"Relax and I will let you out," Tenma stated, ignoring the question, "but you have to stay in this room."
Daichi paused from beating on the glass and glared at Tenma. It would still be a prison, but it was less of a prison than what he was in now.
"Alright," he said between gritted teeth.
Tenma walked over to a console and began pressing buttons. The glass of the capsule began moving. It slid into the frame of the capsule and disappeared from sight.
Free to move, Daichi sat up. In doing so he was met with a surprise. His torso and pelvis were covered in a silvery metal. Daichi grabbed at his chest, feeling the ridges across it. His fingers brushed across a seam; he dug at it. Daichi pulled open a door on his chest, starting to panic again. He looked inside at a heart-shaped power core; he saw the wires and machinery.
Daichi looked up to see Tenma looking over him like he was some pet experiment the doctor was observing.
"What did you do to me?" Daichi asked again. When Tenma was silent, Daichi stood up and grabbed him by the collar and repeated, louder this time, "What did you do to me?!"
Tenma seemed all too calm. "I gave you a new body," he said.
"What… what am I?" Daichi asked.
"You're a robot. A kokoro android," Tenma explained.
"But," Daichi protested, releasing his grip on Tenma. "How can I be just a robot? A machine?" He didn't feel like a robot or, at least, what he thought a robot would feel like.
"You are not just a machine. You have a heart and a soul. You can think and feel for yourself," Tenma asserted. For his plans to work, this new robot had to be independent, which wouldn't be hard considering how independent Daichi was as a human. Tenma couldn't have asked for a better subject.
Daichi looked at himself again. The silvery metal was the most notable difference. Other than that, he had seams in his synthetic skin at all of his joints. He couldn't imagine why they were necessary. He had seen robots without said seams. One of these robots was in the news on a daily basis as of late. He hadn't paid much attention except noting that that robot had more freedom than him. Perhaps he could gain his freedom with this new body? Daichi had no idea how he would do that so he put that thought to the side of his mind.
"I died, didn't I?" Daichi asked. There was no way he could've survived in space long enough to be picked up.
"That's right. Your human body is deceased," Tenma replied.
"All of it?" he asked further. Tenma simply nodded. "Then how can I be alive at all? If my brain died, how am I even here?" For all of Daichi's temper, he was rather intelligent and quick to pick up on things. He knew humans couldn't just be brought back to life. If they could, people would be doing it every time someone died.
"I transfered all of your memories and emotions into an electronic brain," Tenma explained.
Daichi's eyes widened. Not even the brain he was squatting in was his. His entire mind had been placed into a computer like a data transfer.
"You should get dressed," Tenma suggested, indicating a pile of clothes setting on a console. "Tokugawa's men will be over any time to pick you up."
Daichi picked up the clothes and began putting them on. "I die and he can't even come to pick me up himself," he grumbled. "I guess nothing will make him care about me."
Daichi chuckled. "It's ironic, you know."
Tenma raised an eyebrow. "What is?"
"I've just now become a robot, but I've been treated like one all my life!" His laughter started to sound maniacal.
Daichi was interrupted by a knock at the door.
"That will be them," Dr. Tenma said, walking toward the door.
The doctor opened the door. Tokugawa's men were there.
"This him?" one asked.
"Yes. Do you have my fee?" Tenma asked.
One of them handed over an envelope. "Here it is."
"Time to go, Daichi-san," one of the men said. "Your father is waiting."
"He's home?" Daichi questioned.
"Yes. He told us to bring you back right away," the man said.
"Very well," Daichi said as he followed them out.
At the very least, Daichi's little stunt had gotten his father to come back from the moon. He also paid heavily to get him created as a robot. Still, he doubted this would change anything for the better. In any case, he would find out soon enough.