Astro was a robot, so he didn't really need sleep. However, he liked to shut down his systems and recharge at night so he would be fully charged in the morning. In a sense, it was a way for him to emulate sleep, though he didn't actually need to recharge every single night. As long as he wasn't in any big fights or other crises, he could go on for weeks without recharging. Which is why no one would be any the wiser that Astro had barely been shut down that night.

Astro had let his sensors stay turned on as he had shut down his other programs, only to soon have it react, and the rest of him turned on as a result. The human sleeping in the bedroom opposite his, Tenma… His breathing was irregular, his pulse heightened, and his heartbeat abnormally fast.

Turning on the scanners in his eyes, Astro took a peek and confirmed that Tenma was in bed as he was supposed to, and he was asleep. Apparently Tenma had entered REM sleep, and so the abnormal bodily behavior suggested he was having a nightmare.

Astro remained quiet; he wasn't really sure how to react. Since he was a robot, he didn't have dreams himself. Sometimes old memories played for him while he was partially shut down, sometimes even Tobio's memories that had been implanted in him. But apparently human dreams were much more abstract than that. Human dreams were supposedly like the book Alice in Wonderland. An experience where everything just became very, very odd.

Astro had read Alice in Wonderland many times trying to understand this dream concept, but he had honestly failed to figure out what a white rabbit with a clock and a Mad Hatter trapped by time – so it would always be one minute to tea time – had to do with each other.

Then suddenly Tenma, in the other room, sat up straight. With his scanners, Astro could see the man sitting up in bed, gasping for air. He could even hear how he was gasping. And he could sense the warmth resulting from a heightened pulse. Then Tenma left his bed, and headed out to the kitchen. Astro kept following him with his scanners as Tenma walked to the window and opened it. Tenma stood there for a while, six minutes and 32 seconds to be exact, before he headed to the kitchen sink and grabbed a glass of water. He drank a mouthful of it, then headed to the window and closed it, before going back towards his bedroom with the remaining water.

But before he reached it, he stopped and turned the other way; towards Astro's room where Astro was still sitting.

Quietly, Astro lay back down and turned off his scanners so it looked like he was completely turned off just as the door opened. Now Astro couldn't see, but he could hear. Tenma stood in the doorway. He could hear his slow breathing and footsteps.

Tenma walked inside the room and soon after Astro felt a blanket being gently draped around him as he was tucked in. Then Tenma quietly left the room again, gently closing the door. Astro could hear him opening the door to his own bedroom and going back to bed.

Though as Astro turned his sensors back on, he could sense that Tenma's body wasn't relaxed at all; it was tense and uneasy. Not like when other humans slept.

When Ochanomizu slept his breathing was always slow and heavy, and often he would even snore. His heart beat as well would be slow and his body relaxed. Tenma was the complete opposite of that: his breathing sharp and quick, his body tense, his heartbeat heightened. Astro had to wonder if that was in any way healthy for humans.

He would have to look that up the next day.

Astro kept an eye on Tenma for the rest of the night, but never did he observe Tenma's body relax. Tenma would wake several times, but he didn't get out of bed again, not before six o'clock in the morning, when he rose to walk to the kitchen and make coffee.

So… Tenma had obviously given up on sleep for the night. According to Astro's database, humans needed between six and eight hours of sleep to stay functional. Tenma had gotten the grand total of two hours, twenty minutes and forty-five seconds. That probably wasn't a very good sign.

Astro, though, decided to stay still in his bed for another half hour until he had originally set his programs to start up again, and finally at 6:30 AM, he walked to the living room to meet his father, who was quietly sitting with a cup of coffee and a newspaper.

In a way this was really strange, the way Tenma looked so much like the way he did in many of Tobio's memories. In those he would also quite often sit like that with coffee and a newspaper in the morning while Tobio played around on the floor.

Tenma lowered the paper as he regarded Astro. "Good morning, Astro."

Astro blinked as his head fell askew. Tenma had dark circles under his eyes, and his skin looked rather pale. But now that he thought about it, he had also looked like that the day before. He always looked like that. Did he ever sleep properly?

"Did you sleep okay?" Astro asked, as if he didn't know already.

"Yes, it's a very comfortable bed you've gotten me. Certainly better than those prison brinks," Tenma nodded. "How about you, Astro?"

"My batteries are fully charged; my recharge was flawless," Astro replied. It wasn't really a lie – he had been charging all night. "Professor Ochanomizu and Uran will be arriving in half an hour for breakfast. Of course Uran can't eat, but I think Professor Ochanomizu will be expecting something."

"Of course," Tenma said as he stood up. "I saw there were bread and spreads in the fridge. That should be fine. Will you help me set the table Astro?".

Astro smiled. "Sure father!"

Tenma hesitated as he turned to Astro. "You do realize you don't have to call me father, don't you?" he asked. "It was very kind of you to do so in prison, but now we are here."

Astro blinked, confused. "I don't understand. Isn't that what you want?".

"It is," Tenma said. "You don't call Ochanomizu father, though, and he is more of a father to you than I ever was. I don't wish to be called father out of pity," he muttered now sounding annoyed. He had almost spat out that last word, 'pity'.

"If it wasn't for you, I wouldn't be alive," Astro blinked. "You made me; I know your all went into every little line in the original drawings for me, and every little detail on my body. So you're my father. It is not an incorrect statement."

Tenma frowned. "Even so, you didn't call me it before," he said. "Only after I was send to prison."

"I didn't think you loved me back then," Astro replied, a little abashed as he glanced down. Tenma blinked. "It's okay though, we grow and evolve," he said. "Both you and me. Things just change sometimes. And usually that's a good thing."

For a moment Tenma looked at Astro, his body became tense, and for a moment Astro was afraid he had said something wrong, that Tenma would have an outburst, but then he exhaled deeply and his body seemed to relax.

"You sure have evolved, Astro," he said.

"You too, father." Astro smiled.

"Have I?" Tenma glanced away.

"Yes, I believe so," Astro nodded. "You just don't know it yet." He headed towards the cupboards and found plates for the dining table.

Together, Astro and Tenma managed to set the table. It didn't take long before it was a nice and inviting looking breakfast table. Astro even flew down from the balcony to pick up some flowers from the park, and as he returned Tenma was already standing ready with a little vase, which Astro happily put the flowers into.

"Uran loves flowers on the table!" he smiled.

"I see," Tenma nodded. "Does she have a favorite flower?"

"Yes! She loves sunflowers!" Astro said. "And lilies and roses and erhm…"

Tenma lifted an eyebrow. "You can't tell what her favorite is?"

"They are all her favorite," Astro shrugged, looking up.

Tenma frowned in annoyance. "If they are all her favorite that negates the purpose of a favorite."

"Does it?"

"Yes!" Tenma hissed.

"Oh," Astro blinked. "Well, I'll ask her what her real favorite is then. Though I think she'll probably have changed her mind again as soon as she sees another flower."

Tenma exhaled deeply. "For a robot, Uran is quite aloof isn't she?"

"Yeah, kind of," Astro smiled. "But that's also what makes Uran Uran!"

"Hmm," Tenma glanced away.

Astro blinked. "Father, are you okay?" he asked. "Did I upset you?"

"No," Tenma said. "Forgive me, Astro, I just have a hard time truly understanding what makes a robot heart. It frustrates me."

"How so?"

"Imagine you build a clock," Tenma tried to explain. "Every little cog and wheel is there for a reason; it is to make the clock run, and it does indeed run perfectly. But then suddenly one day the clock starts to speak to you. Even though it has no audio output, it shouldn't be able to speak, it has none of the components it logically needed to speak, it wasn't designed to speak. Every little wheel and cog so carefully put together to make it show the time but nothing else; a perfect instrument for its assigned purpose. It makes sense, and yet it speaks! Which makes no sense; everything was logical to that point! So what happened?"

"Maybe it was possessed by a ghost?" Astro suggested.

Tenma blinked, astounded, then he couldn't help but smirk before he chuckled, and then outright laughed.

Astro was first confused and a little concerned, but then he smiled.

"Ghost… Perhaps," Tenma composed himself. "It's a good an explanation as any, I suppose."

The doorbell rang and Astro beamed.

"That must be professor Ochanomizu and Uran!" he cheered as he ran to the door and soon a yell sounded. "PROFESSOR! URAN!"

"BIG BROTHER!" Uran shouted.

Tenma walked to the entrance to peek outside and saw Uran hugging Astro tightly.

"Are you okay?" she asked, grabbing Astro's face. "Did he mess with your systems? You still know who we are, right?"

"Of course I do," Astro reassured her. "I told you, those things won't happen."

"Hmph!" Uran huffed. "Let me be the judge of that!" She walked around Astro and he nearly twirled to follow her with his eyes. "A-huh, a-huh," Uran murmured as she looked up and down as if she were some kind of expert. She poked at the spikes that made Astro's hair, glared into his eyes, making Astro blink, and knocked on his chest, before finally she exhaled deeply and stood back. "Well, seems like you're clear. For now."

Astro smiled in amusement. "Thanks Uran."

"Not yet! I need a second opinion. Professor!" Uran exclaimed and Ochanomizu shook his head in amusement.

"Astro looks fine to me," he assured. "And I trust your assessment, Uran."

"You'd better!"

"Seriously, Uran," Astro smiled. "Father hasn't even touched me. You don't have to worry. It's okay."

Uran exhaled deeply.

Finally, Ochanomizu glanced up and looked at Tenma. "Good morning, Dr Tenma. How was your first night?"

Tenma shrugged. "Uneventful."

"Father and I stayed up and played checkers last night," Astro added. "It was nice."

"Did you remember to turn off your analytical program?" Ochanomizu asked. "Remember when we talked about cheating."

"I did," Astro said, "and father kept winning. Then he asked me to turn it on."

"Then what happened?" Uran asked.

"I finally won, but just barely," Astro admitted, making Ochanomizu smile.

"May I offer you a cup of coffee, Professor Ochanomizu?" Tenma finally asked.

"Oh yes!" Ochanomizu smiled thankfully as he took off his hat. "You wouldn't happen to have a bit of bread as well? Uran really pulled me out as fast as possible and Yuko will be here in an hour to be on my case and make sure I make it to the board meeting."

Tenma nodded. "Astro thought you might wanted some breakfast, so we set the table." He gestured invitingly towards the living room.

Soon the adults were seated and the two robot children was chasing each other around on the floor, laughing and playing.

Tenma looked at the two robots. "Is this normal for these two?"

"Yes indeed," Ochanomizu nodded. "It is quite fortunate they are so fond of each other. I know it's not always the way siblings are. But they're good children who like to take care of each other."

"I see," Tenma nodded as he poured himself another cup of coffee. "Uran is based on my original blue prints for Astro, isn't she?"

"Yes, she is," Ochanomizu nodded. "She's not quite as advanced as Astro, but I think I managed the most important part."

"Oh? And that is?"

"She has a heart of her own," Ochanomizu smiled warmly. "Next to that, why does it matter if she has a less advanced body?"

Tenma frowned as looked at Ochanomizu, puzzled over his words. "Quite ironic isn't it?" he asked.

Ochanomizu blinked. "What is?"

"My robots," Tenma replied. "I don't really understand humans or human emotions, but yet my robots seem to run on nothing but human emotions. My robots understand people better than I do. In a way, they are better human beings than I am. Quite ironic isn't it?"

Stunned, Ochanomizu looked at Tenma. "Well…" he tried, but was lost for words. "Erhm… It's quite relative what a good human being is, isn't it?" He wished he could just bite his own tongue off. Even he could hear how absolutely pathetic that sentence sounded.

Tenma, though, smiled, quite amused. "I would dare say people deemed good human beings don't tend to blow up buildings or build robots with the intention of killing humans."

"Dr Tenma, why bring this up now?" Ochanomizu asked, sounding utterly defeated. "You're out of prison. Astro believes you can do better, why not try and figure out what good things you can do with your incredible gifts?"

"What? You think I should work further with the development of the AI?"

"Well, yes," Ochanomizu said. "Astro, he is still so unique. Try as I may, I can't replicate such a result. Uran was quite close, but without your original blueprints it would have been impossible to make her, and even so Astro exceeds her in so many ways. There is still so much to explore in the relation between humans and robots."

Tenma frowned. "Think of what you're saying, Ochanomizu. Do you really want me to re-enter the department of science?" he asked. "Work with the newest equipment and unlimited funds? Remember what I was able to do using only scraps I was able to pick up and purchase while being on the run, my only workshop being run down and in the middle of nowhere with equipment I had to modify myself for it to even function. Would you feel safe to let me go unsupervised in a lab once more?"

That made Ochanomizu halt and he swallowed. "Well," he admitted.

"Don't you think I noticed the cameras and sensors in the workshop Astro made for me? And a bug inside of the picture frame? I must admit, I find that to be a bit low, even for my own standards." Tenma stated a little coldly.

Ochanomizu sighed deeply. "I'm sorry. Astro didn't want those things in there but the police insisted that if you were to have access to robotics they wanted to be able to monitor you."

Tenma lifted an eyebrow, then held up his arm to showcase the bracelet with the tracker. He didn't have to say any more and Ochanomizu glanced away.

"It matters not, though," Tenma sighed. "There will never be another one like Astro. He is unique, even I would not be able to replicate him. And besides, I will not work further on AI." He picked up his coffee cup and took a sip. "Creating AIs, giving robots… hearts is what you call it isn't it? It makes things too unpredictable; it will always lead to disaster."

Ochanomizu sighed deeply. "I'm sad you see it that way," he said. "Especially considering you created the best AI in the entire world. And I know you love him too." He glanced at the laughing Astro sitting on the floor with Uran.

Tenma frowned. "I don't know how I did it," he said. "I have no logical answer, that's why I cannot replicate it. And Astro will always be unique."

"I see," Ochanomizu sighed. "Somehow, that does make sense. Astro always was… unique. There's something about him just can't be explained."

"Exactly," Tenma nodded.

AN; This Chapter has been beta read by MugetsuPipefox.