While Hamegg was plotting, Astro could practically hear the air singing 'Dun Dun Dun' just as he sneezed. "Looks like someone's talking about me."

Shuichi just blinked at him. "What is the purpose of that?"

"What?" Astro asked.

"Pretending to sneeze," the robot clarified. He had agreed to give them a tour of the city, while Olive and Victor analyzed the data they collected. That shouldn't take too long, and they could meet up later.

"I wasn't pretending," Astro blushed. "Something tickled my nose."

The robot stared at him curiously.

The Doctor explained, "Astro is designed to be very human in his mannerisms."

"And you thought sneezing helped with that?"

"Don't look at me! I didn't build him," The Doctor blushed. "From the information I've gathered, he has extremely sensitive sensors all throughout his body. Allowing him to feel, smell, taste, and whatnot as humans do. Well maybe a few thousand times more accurately. Sneezing is just a controlled side effect of his nasal sensors becoming over powered by stimuli. A way of resetting the sensors, while mimicking a human response."

"Or," Astro put in. "A pretty girl was just talking about me."

"Always a possibility," The Doctor agreed. "Maybe it was that Cora girl."

Astro's face turned beet red, and Shuichi wondered how he could mimic blushing so well.

"Why would she talk about me!?"

"Funny you didn't deny she was pretty," The Doctor continued to tease.

"Doctor!" The little robot wailed.

"Well if you don't like the idea of the pretty girl talking about you, maybe it was Zane " The Doctor smiled.

"Zane?" Astro blinked.

"He was staring at you very intently when I met him."

"Oh," Astro sighed, being able to guess why. Especially after Zane asked him that horrible question.

The Doctor looked on with concern, wondering how he ruined the moment. "Is something wrong?"

"No sir," the polite boy answered automatically.

"Sir!?" The Doctor yelped clutching his hearts. "How could you call me 'Sir'? How little robot? Such a horrible title!"

Astro smiled. "You can't swat someone and not expect to be called 'Sir'." At that The Doctor started flailing about randomly. "Doctor quit it, people are staring!"

"People are always staring at me," The Doctor suddenly stopped moving around like a madman. "I'm too pretty not to look at."

"More like their shocked by that weird face," Astro snorted. "Your chin is too big to be found on a human."

"Yes yes have your laugh little robot." The Doctor huffed.

Shuichi just stared at them. Maybe it was because Astro looked so human that the organic could act so... paternal around him. Making a fool of himself just to get the kid to crack a smile. Astro did appear very childlike in his programming.

Out of his own curiosity, Shuichi did a scan of the boy, and it took every circuit in his body not to visibly flip out. The kid was a tank, an armory, a goddamn fleet with more energy then a thousand nuclear reactors rolled into one!

His body was covered in various weapons. Add that to the fact the kid wasn't installed with the laws of robotics, or a morality program, led to the rational conclusion this little robot was a war machine.

It made sense that the robot was designed in the image of a child, with a child's personality. He could be some kind of stealth weapon, and more then likely didn't understand killing was wrong. He probably thought it just a game.

The way he reacted to a swat was undoubtedly how his creators intended to control him, the benefits of a child's mindset. His powerful sensors, allowing him to feel pain when no actual damage was done to his systems, led to more disturbing thoughts on how the humans thought to control him.

Shuichi's eyes looked at the Doctor with concern. What could a man like that want with a weapon of mass destruction? Did he not realize how dangerous Astro was? Dear god what would Sparx do when he discovered this? Whatever else might happen they couldn't let this droid leave the city.

Shuichi would have to try to convince the boy to stay here of his own accord, and if that didn't work the newest model of bodies could keep him here by force. He'd just have to hope Astro's military programming didn't kick in, if a threat was perceived. He, of course, meant no harm to the child, but they couldn't let a robot as dangerous and innocent as this walk around on its own.

Astro marveled at the city. It was truly amazing, everything they could ever need was here with thousands of shops set up. Shuichi directed them into one. Then pointed to a nearby glass case filled with watches "This" he explained. "Is for older models, like myself. It generates a holographic computer, and holds about a Yottabyte of information. The built in computers, on the newer model, can hold a few hundred, but I don't really see the point in something so extreme."

"Find anything interesting?" asked another NS-5. Who was walking over from behind the case.

"The little one would like a watch," Shuichi smiled.

"No that's okay I... I don't have any money," Astro sighed, it be cool to own a holographic computer. Even if his brain was undoubtedly more advanced.

The shopkeeper looked at him strangely, "What would a robot need with money?"

"Surface droid," Shuichi shrugged and the shopkeeper nodded.

"If you don't get money why do you make watches?" Astro tilted his head.

"It is enough to know my work is appreciated," said the shopkeeper. "The quality of my items is more important then any material gain I might receive for them. Here we strive to make life, for all our residents, better. We work only in fields that give us pride."

Astro looked on in astonishment.

The Doctor just smiled at the boy. "They are hardly the first culture to evolve into such a mindset. There are other civilizations, even amongst organics, that believe as they do."

"Truly?" Shuichi blinked.

The Doctor nodded, "Mind you most are indeed synthetic lifeforms, but that is not actually inherent. Some synthetics use currency as well. With organics it's generally extremely primitive cultures, or the more advanced, that do not have currency."

"What about your people Doctor?" asked Astro.

"Although we held foreign currency, in order to interact with other species, we had little need of it. We had no native currency of our own. After we figured out how to mass produce resources of any kind, through dimensional engineering, there was no need for it.

"We were a class based society, that did jobs because they were assigned to the family. It was a matter of honor. The only respectable way you could get out of your assigned post was through marriage.

"You could choose to walk away from it, and do something else, as I did. But that is... it is considered extremely dishonorable and not often done." Not wanting to think long on that the Doctor moved on. "All undesired jobs were handed over to machines"

"So even your people used robots as slaves Doctor?" Astro sighed.

"Well not robots as you understand them," The Doctor explained. "We used VIs not AIs. A VI is just a computer not capable of independent thought. Where an AI has an actual personality. All robots of this world, even the earliest NS models, were accidental AIs, as they were intended to solve problems on their own.

"Even the most advanced VIs need someone to monitor the programming, and oversee their work, because if an unforseen problem popped up, even a simple one, they would not be able to adapt to it. Even so AIs, where rarely manufactured, because of the strick laws around them. They were registered as lifeforms, in our society and few wanted the responsibility of that."

The shopkeeper was giving Shuichi a strange look during this conversation. Until he got a stealthy text, from Shuichi's holographic watch, that the Doctor was an alien.

He didn't want to send the message through the relay as the Doctor and Astro would overhear it. He wasn't saying anything bad, but he didn't want to interrupt.

Astro was too caught up in another fascinating lecture to notice the other droids messing with their computer watches.

Turning off the hologram Shuichi smiled at the little droid. "There's a large selection here. Go ahead and pick out what you like," he encouraged.

"The kids watches are over here," The shopkeeper directed.

"Kids?" Astro blinked following him deeper into the shop.

"A fad that's popped up, mimicking human families. A couple gets a small droid, with a more childlike personality program, and slowly upgrade the parts and software until the droid is fully matured. It takes about two decades to slowly upgrade all the parts." The shopkeeper sighed scratching his head.

He continued, "They're even talking about opening a school. As we NS need time to integrate knowledge from downloads, and it was thought a formal school would allow Children to learn the practical application of their accumulated knowledge."

"There's a playground in the park where the kids like to hang out," Shuichi smiled. "We can go there next."

Astro nodded as they got to the watches. They were bright colors with the band being different cartoons that Astro didn't recognize. Must be robot only entertainment. They each had a digital clock in the middle, and the metal ring around it had small microscopic projectors.

"These ones come with special Apps that run children's programs: games, Shows, movies." He then looked at the Doctor. "It also comes with parental controls to restrict what the child can do, or how long he can play games. Being sure to save his progress, as it kicks him out."

"Useful," The Doctor smiled.

"Doctor!" The boy whined. "I'm old enough to decide that for myself."

"Oh really?" Astro shrunk as the Doctor stared at him knowingly.

The boy might have 13 years worth of memories... but in actuality he was barely 2 weeks old... which caused him to sometimes act like a much younger child... so, as much as he didn't want to admit it... maybe the Doctor would be in the right to set up some kind if parental lock... but still...

The boy went back to looking over the holographic computers. He picked up a red one, with pictures of a robot dog around the band. "I can just hack my way around the parental controls anyway."

The Doctor rolled his eyes well the watchmaker smiled, "I'd like to see you try."

Giving their farewells the group left for the park.