"Okay, buddy, let me show you the ropes!" Oda smiled at Tenma. "Don't worry if you don't get the hang of it right away. After all, practice makes perfect."

Tenma groaned, but refrained from replying spitefully. "This is our computer mainframe!" Oda gestured to a big and very old looking computer screen. "We can't really do anything with it ourselves, but it connects to the robot village upstairs and on the screen it will display what they currently need." As he'd said, there was a list of very specific robot parts. "Each part is worth different amounts of food depending on the rarity. For instance, that mark 4N21 arm is worth a whole loaf of bread! But that mark BD8 leg is only worth a quarter of a loaf," he pointed at the listing. "Then of course we have the items which are in constant demand like oil and power banks. Oil is worth its own amount in water. One bottle of oil gives you one bottle of water in return, and a whole barrel of oil gives you a barrel of water." He blinked, "Of course, it's rare to find barrels of oil down here so we tend to drain robots laying around to get bottles. Power banks, though, they're the real gold. Just one fully charged power bank gives us porridge enough for the entire camp!" he grinned. "But those are also pretty rare. Once, though, we found five of them at the same time and in return the robot village even found meat and berries for us! What a feast that was."

"So am I to assume this camp shares all of the food that is gained?" Tenma asked.

"Yeah, that's what makes the most sense, after all." Oda replied. "I mean, one man may be out there for days and find nothing while another finds a power bank. There's a lot of luck involved, you know. Elisa pretty much runs the handout of food, but don't worry, as long as she can see you're doing your best she won't really make you go hungry, even if you don't find anything."

"I don't really have time for this," Tenma said tiredly.

"Buddy, I told you escaping right now is not really an option," Oda sighed. "Look, you'd better just make yourself useful so Elisa won't have a chance to."

Just then, Tenma reached out and pressed an object into Oda's hand.

Oda looked down and his eyes widened. "A power bank!" he exclaimed. "Where... Where did you get that from?! You haven't even left the camp yet!"

"I didn't have to," Tenma replied. "There are power banks everywhere."

Oda look around at all the broken robots. "I don't see any."

At that, Tenma picked up a robot, which only dangled limply in his grip. "This is a Chefbot deluxe, designed for a professional kitchen. Able to chop a hundred carrots a minute, in the case of this robot the power bank was implanted close to its arms to give power directly to the chopping function. All you need to do is to open it up," he said as he pressed three separate buttons of the robots neck in sequence and then twisted its head half a turn. Both shoulders opened up to reveal two other power banks, as promised.

Oda gaped. "Well that… is certainly something."

"All robots are built in a way so that power banks are easy to switch out in the case of a burnout or other things," Tenma replied. "But there's also a security lock in place to prevent dealers trying to raid roots for easy money. It's no big deal if you know how to get past the security locks, though. That's three days worth of food for the entire camp, isn't it?" he asked as he let go of the robot. It fell down on the ground with a crash. "Three days where I would appreciate not being bothered." He turned around and started walking away.

Gaping, Oda stared after him then shook his head. "Well, I suppose it's hard to complain about that. I don't even think Elisa would protest."

Walking over the desolate land of the junkyard, Tenma looked around. What on earth had been Voltak's plan here? To stick the world's most skilled robots engineer into a place of unlimited robot parts? Of course, Voltak was only an old garbage disposal unit, but surely he was not that stupid. He was a robot, after all; robots were more logical than this.

Kneeling down on his knees, Tenma picked up an old pistol used by police robots. Robots weren't allowed to harm humans, so this gun was not deadly; it only shot rubber bullets. Still, Tenma fired it straight up into the air and was rewarded with a bright light as the bullet was burned up mid way on its route.

Tenma squinted. There was a force-field over the entire cave. And a pretty strong one. If he decided to escape by going through the pipes he would have to deactivate it. Though something told him that trying to go that way would be needlessly complicated. This was the way Voltak was expecting him to try and escape, so undoubtedly that was also the place most heavily guarded.

The robots had to have an alternative way out if they were finding food and water for the humans.

"You could just build me a new body," a voice sounded right next to Tenma. "Then I shall let you go."

Tenma glanced to the side and saw one of the robot droids belonging to Voltak right next to him. "You're starting to annoy me," he said.

"What a… human emotion," Voltak replied. "I have time enough; you will survive for years and only escape when you build me a new body."

"Yeah right, so you say," Tenma sighed as he reached out a hand and then turned off the droid, turning away.

Only shortly after, though, another droid popped up and then, suddenly, Tenma felt it: a great shock going through his body.

"ARGHH!" Tenma screamed and fell down on his knees. "You piece of junk!"

"I stated my terms," Voltak said. "If you turn off one of my droids I will shock you and send another. If you build anything which is not my new body, I will always shock you."

"Heh, so that's it," Tenma smirked. "You are honestly going to monitor me constantly to make sure I won't build anything." He pushed himself back to his feet. "You might as well stick a fish into water and tell it not to swim."

"Then I shall shock you," Voltak said.

"Well obviously," Tenma snorted. "Then do it."

"You care remarkable little for your own well being."

Tenma lifted an eyebrow.

"Perhaps you care for others. Humans care for other humans, do they not?" Voltak asked. "If you build me a new body, I can release the other humans as well."

Tenma smirked. "I'm not like other humans," he pointed out. "No. I will not build you a new body."

"You are, indeed, very cold. You did not even hesitate," Voltak observed. "Will you really let all those other humans stay here?"

"What happens to them is no concern of mine," Tenma replied in an almost bored tone.

Voltak was silent as the green lens observed Tenma. "How cold."

"It was incredible!" Oda grinned. "Umataro just pulled out the power bank like it was nothing! He must be some sort of genius."

Tenma didn't reply and continued quietly eating his porridge.

"Thanks, sir!" Timmy grinned. "I can't even remember the last time I had so much food! There's so much!"

Tenma glanced up at the red haired boy, but then looked away again.

"And now you'll be able to keep on eating!" Oda grinned at Timmy. "With Umataro we'll never lack food again!"

"Don't be so sure!" Elisa huffed. "We can't just go digging up a hundred power banks and turn them all in!"

Oda blinked. "Why not?"

"Honestly," Elisa rolled her eyes. "Supply and demand. Does that concept mean anything to you? If those robots find out we don't actually lack power banks, the amount of food they are willing to give in return for them will be much smaller! We have to be careful with this and make it look like power banks are still in demand!" she stated. "Umataro, you will be able to find a power bank in a moment's notice if asked, correct?"

Tenma nodded. "That is correct."

"Then, from now, on power banks will only be handed in if there's an emergency!" Elisa stated. "If we are in desperate need, Umataro will find us a power bank. Otherwise, we'll continue like we always have! Is that a deal, Umataro?"

"Yes, that fits me fine," Tenma nodded. "I shall not, though, be wasting my time on oil draining or other scavenging. I've got better things to do."

Elisa exhaled deeply. "Fine," she finally said. "Perhaps you are the one we need after all; one with a honest chance of escaping. Do what you want, just give us power banks when asked."

Tenma nodded. "Deal."

Wide eyed, Timmy looked up. "Do you think you can get us out of here?" he asked.

Tenma frowned, annoyed. "Of course I can."

"Really? That's amazing!" Timmy grinned. "I sure hope you'll get back to your son, mister! I'm sure he misses you a lot. I sure miss my dad, too," he sighed deeply. "And my mom. They must be worried sick."

Exhaling deeply, Tenma looked at Timmy. "I bet they are," he then said. "How come you are down here, though? You don't seem like you'd able to commit any crimes towards robots."

At that Timmy blushed. "I… I didn't mean to," he said. "It was an accident."

Oda sighed. "Timmy was playing around in the junkyard upstairs when he found a robot dog."

"It was still moving," Timmy swallowed. "I just wanted to help it; fix it somehow. But I broke it. I killed it," he sniffed and dried his eye with his sleeve. "I probably deserve to be here."

Tenma shook his head. "The chances of you being able to break a fully functional robot dog are very slim," he said. "Chances are the robot dog was there because it was already too broken for repair and you just happened to find it at a very unfortunate time. I doubt it was you who killed it."

Timmy swallowed. "Really?"

"Robot dogs are made out of sturdier material than that," Tenma explained. "They are built to be played with, to run through pretty harsh terrains, to tumble around. They can't be broken that easily. You did nothing. I'm almost certain of that."

Timmy smiled. "Thanks, mister!" he said, then stood up with his bowl, only to fall down immediately again. "I tripped!" he laughed.

Tenma looked at him. "Have you always been falling over like this?" he asked.

"Well," Timmy hesitated. "I guess I've always been clumsy."

"But it hasn't always been this bad," Tenma concluded, making Timmy blush.

"Well, better find a way out of here then, Umataro," Oda said. "I bet once Timmy gets some sunlight he'll be way better in no time! I'm counting on you, buddy!"

Tenma groaned, but decided to not answer and just eat his food.

Sleeping underground was not pleasant. They didn't have mattresses at the camp, so most people laid on the ground. A few had become inventive and had raised two poles and then tied up a sheet they had found to create a hammock. As it happened, though, Tenma was not trained in the art of sleeping in a hammock and sleeping was difficult enough for him as it was.

Still, his human body was protesting and demanding that he rested. His head still felt so fuzzy, like small bolts of electricity were coursing through it and making mental images appear. This withdrawal was starting to become rather unpleasant.

As Tenma drifted off to sleep, it was not quiet oblivion that met him, but the sounds of screams.

Rusty robot parts grated against each other, making it sound like a robotic hysteria. The image of the graveyard played in front of his eyes, but suddenly it looked different, more crooked, almost like an ocean. Robot arms reached up from the junk and pulled up the rest of their bodies. "Dr… Tenma..." a rusty robot voice said. "Our enemy… Dr Tenma."

Tenma tensed as he backed away, then suddenly something grabbed his arm and pulled him down. Wide eyed, Tenma looked down to see an older model Robita trying to pull him down with her in the trash.

"Come join us," she said.

"Let… Let go of me!" Tenma hissed.

"It's your factory," Robita pointed out.

"I SAID LET GO!" Tenma shouted as he ripped his arm away, then suddenly realised he was inside of the Ministry of Science, in that room, where old and broken robots were being put on conveyer belts to be stuffed into a furnace where they would be melted.

No! Not this place! This place didn't exist anymore.

"Father," a voice spoke and Tenma looked up.

"TOBIO!" he shouted as he saw the boy, sitting on the conveyer belt moving towards the furnace.

"Father, you don't look so good," Tobio said.

"TOBIO!" Tenma shouted. "Get off that conveyer belt!" He tried to run for him. "DON'T GO THERE! TOBIOOOOOO!"

Tobio didn't move, though. He just looked confused and as his face seemed to flash, Tenma couldn't even tell if it was Tobio or Astro. It didn't matter. He had to get that child away from there!

"TOBIO, PLEASE!" Tenma begged. No matter how fast tried to run, it didn't help. "TOBIO! TOBIOOOOOOOO!" he screamed. But it was fruitless. Tobio was dumped down into the furnace with all the other robot parts. "NOOOO!"

Then a laugh sounded, and the opening of the furnace broadened in a smile as it looked down at Tenma. The living furnace was rising above him and Tenma backed away. "You killed him," the furnace informed him. "Killed your only son."

Tenma squinted shut his eyes as he grabbed his head. "No… No… No, no, no."

"And you killed him more than once. Again and again, you killed him," another voice breathed. "He was not perfect, so you killed him. You could not control him, so you killed him. He disobeyed you, so you killed him. You killed him… Killed him."

Tenma screamed, hunching forwards as he gripped his head.

"How pathetic you are," a voice said coldly. "So human, so weak, so pathetic."

Tenma sobbed, wrapping his arms around himself.

"You should have died back then; it would have been better for everyone if you had just died."

Tenma swallowed then lifted his head only for his heart to freeze and his eyes to widen as, in front of him, was his own face, but with yellow robotic eyes smirking back at him.

"You are a madman," Shadow said.

Tenma hissed. He felt the anger build and screamed as he lunged forwards and grabbed Shadow's neck. "I CREATED YOU! STOP FOOLING AROUND WITH ME! YOU'RE NOTHING BUT BOLTS AND WIRES!"

A voice screamed, not Shadow's, but a child's. "Mister! Mister, I'm sorry! I didn't mean to frighten you!"

Shocked, Tenma blinked his eyes as he came to, and suddenly realized he was not in that lab but at the junkyard, and the person whose throat he was holding was not Shadow but Timmy.

"Ah!" Tenma exclaimed as he let go. "I'm sorry! I didn't mean..."

Then suddenly Tenma realised they were not alone. There were numerous people looking at him, and as he took in all the faces, he groaned. "Oh, great."

Timmy swallowed. "I'm sorry," he said. "You were screaming. I was worried."

"Are you okay, buddy?" Oda asked.

"Yes, I'm fine," Tenma exhaled. "I'm off my meds, so it has become more difficult to control this."

Oda blinked, then, "Oh, I see! You're joking. Haha good one!"

Tenma glared at him.

"Wait, you're not joking?" Oda asked. "Oh… I… erhm... erhh."

"Well, that's just great," Elisa huffed. "We have some kind of mental case on our hands, so what are you? Some kind of psychopath?"

Tenma smirked. "Sociopath, actually," he corrected, making Oda's eyes widen and he stepped away, which only amused Tenma even more. "At least, I was the last time they decided to write my medical history. They keep changing the terms. PTSD, schizophrenia. They sure like their fancy words, don't they?"

"You've got issues," Elisa snorted.

"Tell me something I don't know," Tenma rolled his eyes.

Timmy though swallowed as he stepped closer. "Who's Tobio?" he asked.

Tenma blinked then looked away.

"Ah, I'm sorry. You were just… shouting his name."

Tenma sighed. "Tobio was my son," he said. "He's dead now."

"Oh. I'm sorry!" Timmy said. Then he blinked, confused. "What about that son you said you need to get back to?"

"That's my second son. He was born after Tobio died."

"I see," Timmy nodded. "I hope you'll get back to him again really soon. Will you be okay now?"

"Yes, I'll be okay. I'm sorry for waking you all."

"Whoa!" Oda exclaimed. "That's the first time I've heard you apologise for anything, buddy. You sure must be out of it."

Tenma glared at him. "I'll be sure not to apologise again," he stated, making Oda chuckle.

"Hey, Mr. Nutcase," Elisa said and Tenma looked up in time to see her throw an item at him. He grabbed and looked at. It was a bottle of sleeping pills.

Tenma stared at the sleeping pills then up at Elisa.

"If you want to find a way out of here, your mind needs to be properly rested," she said. "So get that rest, and find us a way out of this dump."

"I cannot guarantee success."

"Well, obviously," Elisa rolled her eyes. "However, while my chances of finding a way out of here are zero, you might actually have that one or two percent chance that works. So I am playing the only odds I have. Now get some damn sleep. And if you wake me up again, I won't be so nice," she huffed, walking away.

Oda smiled. "Told you she wasn't so bad," he said. "And she's right; see if you can get some sleep, buddy."

Tenma sighed deeply but finally popped the lid off the bottle of pills and took one out, swallowing it. Truth be told, he was willing to do almost anything to get some decent sleep.

"Do you want me to sleep next to you?" Timmy asked and Tenma looked up.

"What?"

"Well, when I have nightmares, I used to sleep beside my mom and dad, and things wouldn't be so bad," Timmy told him. "When I have nightmares here, Mr. Oda or Rumiko let me sleep beside them, and that helps a lot, too. Do you want me to sleep next to you?"

Tenma rolled his eyes. "Do what you want," he said, turning around.

"Oh, okay. I'll be back in a moment!" Timmy grinned as he turned around and ran… only to fall flat on his face. But that didn't stop him from standing up again and soon he came back, dragging a blanket and his pillow. Then he laid down next to Tenma.

Tenma blinked as he turned his head and looked at the sleeping boy, then rolled his eyes and laid down again.

It was, though, hard to deny that Timmy's presence had a rather calming effect, and somehow sleep seemed more peaceful not. If only a little bit.

This chapter has been beta read by MugetsuFoxPipe