It was hard to see many positives in this situation. Tenma was now trapped inside the same old lab, and he was being monitored constantly. It was even worse than the apartment, with small droids floating around him, scanning his every little movement.

He was being forced to do the one thing he absolutely did not want to do. But if he as much as suggested a refusal, he was promptly reminded why he had no choice, as Timmy would scream out in pain from an electrical shock.

Sure, some would say there were certain advantages now. Voltak would always serve him meals preciously on time, and not just that boring porridge; there would be actual meat, rice and vegetables, with the explanation that for Tenma to be as efficient as possible his diet had to be diverse. Voltak had even gotten him hot coffee, as it had been proven that many humans would be around 5-15 percent more awake and efficient if they had consumed coffee.

And there were still set sleeping times where the lab would shut down automatically indicating that Tenma should sleep. The good thing about Voltak being a robot was that he was logical and knew what Tenma needed to be any good at his work.

It had been years since Tenma had been in a proper robotics lab, and just as long since he had last built a real robot. Yet, somehow, it didn't feel like any time had passed at all. As his finger glided over the wires and piece of metal, his mind didn't see them as such, but as parts connecting the larger body, each piece essential, each piece having its own life.

Tenma had to catch himself as he nearly got lost in the mere process of building something, and he had to remind himself that he did not enjoy this. He couldn't enjoy it. That would ruin it… But he did enjoy it. There was no greater feeling than to connect all the small pieces to create something that was much more than its parts.

Even if he didn't know yet what it was, Voltak had not given him the full schematics; only parts of it as he had finished parts. Though, as the skeleton of the surprisingly small robot came into being, an eerie feeling came over Tenma. It couldn't be… He couldn't be building… that.

Timmy was being good and rather obedient. It probably helped quite a bit that he too was very aware of the severity of the situation and did not want to disturb Tenma. Even if he clearly was very bored and had even started to build a collection of towers in the corner using the screws Tenma wasn't using.

"You are doing well, creator," Voltak praised. "You are indeed remarkable; other humans would not be able to build as fast or precisely as you. You are nearly as efficient as a robot."

Tenma smirked, grimly amused. "I'll take that as quite the compliment."

"The level of endorphins in your bloodstream has risen. You enjoy this procedure," Voltak remarked.

Tenma huffed in annoyance.

"Why did you stop building robots?" Voltak asked.

"You know that already."

"Yes, you expressed you no longer had control over the robots you had build," Voltak replied. "Why did you start building robots in the first place?"

"No idea," Tenma shrugged. "Aren't you asking an awful lot of unnecessary questions?"

"According to the database, you created your first robot when you were nine years old, and your first AI when you were eleven," Voltak continued. "The AI had the form of a teddy bear, which could understand human langue and learn, then respond to the need of the human which had spoken to it. This AI's learning ability is the foundation of the modern AI."

"You're talking like I don't know," Tenma rolled his eyes. "Even though it's me you're talking about."

"What happened to that teddy?"

"I threw it out; it was a failure," Tenma replied. "It had no mind of its own, only responded with what the owner wished to hear."

"I see, you discarded it when you grew tired of it. Like you discarded many others," Voltak replied. "It does indeed fit with your MO."

Tenma shrugged but didn't respond.

"You do not remember creating me, so I assume you do not remember why you created me either."

"Well, you are quite an old model so you must be from the beginning of my career," Tenma reasoned. "I imagine I built you as a test subject to further robotic technology."

"I am… an experiment?"

"You're a garbage disposal unit," Tenma corrected him. "Your function is to clean, isn't it?"

"Not for much longer," Voltak then reminded him. "You will make me into something else. I want to be something else."

"You want?" Tenma echoed. "Want is a very human thing, you know."

Voltak was silent for a while. "Do you like to sing creator?" he asked.

Tenma lifted an eyebrow. "Can't say I do."

"I wish I could sing," Voltak said. "Singing is beautiful. You like music, do you not, creator? I wish I could produce beautiful sounds like that. I can see the world through my droids, but the droids are not actually me. I wonder what it would feel like to fly myself. If I could fly, I would like to fly very high and follow the wind."

Tenma looked at the droid oddly.

"Creator?" Voltak asked.

"You really must be broken," Tenma commented.

"I suppose that must be correct," Voltak replied. "You will fix me creator."

"Not like I have any choice," Tenma muttered.

Tenma continued his work, and slowly a skeleton took form, something that was the seize of a human child. The longer Tenma worked, the harder was to deny it… But it was. And Tenma hissed as finally he lost control and threw the table aside. "NO!" he shouted.

"Mister!" Timmy exclaimed, frightened.

"Any other kind of body I will make you, Voltak! But not that one!" Tenma seethed, gesturing to the skeleton now lying on the floor.

"That is the body I desire," Voltak said. "You will build it for me!"

"I REFUSE!" Tenma shouted only for Timmy to scream in pain. "STOP IT!" Tenma grabbed one of the droids shocking Timmy, only to be electrocuted himself by the touch. He fell to the floor.

"MISTER!" Timmy yelled.

Tenma hissed. "Voltak, I can't say I understand your tactics here. That body is in the image of my son. Do you understand that?"

"Yes. I understand," Voltak replied.

"There will never be another one like it!" Tenma spat as he pushed himself up. "No matter how much you pester me, shock me and even shock Timmy. You're asking me something I cannot do!"

"You did it once before," Voltak pointed out.

"That time was special. It will never happen again!" Tenma exclaimed. "THIS IS MADNESS!" His black hair stood up, his eyes wide as he gasped "YOU WILL NEVER BE HIM!"

Voltak was quiet. "You are quite familiar with madness, are you not, creator?" he asked. "You know what happens now."

Slowly, Tenma turned his head. One of the flying droids hovered right next to Timmy, powering up.

Timmy swallowed. "M-Mister," he stammered as he backed away. "Help… HELP ME!"

Tenma didn't even think. He simply reacted, launching himself forward and grabbing the droid out of the air, then threw it at a console just as it released an electrical shock that overheated the console itself. Tenma covered Timmy with his own body as the console exploded.

"Creator," Voltak's voice sounded. "What have you done?"

Tenma huffed. "You're dealing with a madman. You knew that already." He stood, grabbing Timmy's hand. "Timmy, stand up."

Wide eyed, Timmy did as he was told.

"Time to put that leg to the test. RUN!" he instructed as he bolted to the now-short-circuited door and pulled it open, dragging Timmy with him. On the way out, he snatched up one item he had worked on earlier: something that looked almost like a backpack.

"Mister!" Timmy cried as he ran with Tenma. "Where are we going?!"

"Keep quiet, save your strength, and keep up!" Tenma demanded.

"You will not escape," Voltak called after them, his voice echoing from all sides. "You are vastly outnumbered."

Tenma hissed as he took a sharp turn. He caught sight of a power station and ran to it, pulling a lever and making sparks fly everywhere. Several robots began to walk in circles.

Timmy gaped.

"It won't last very long; I only jammed their directional sense for a bit, they'll all restart in a minute," Tenma stated as he pulled Timmy with him through the robot village itself, where confused robots were walking left and right. Tenma dragged Timmy into a corner and then took the backpack-like item and placed it on Timmy, starting to buckle it up

"What are you doing?" Timmy asked.

"I'm getting you out of here," Tenma replied. "See that," he asked, pointing up. Timmy followed the gesture to see an opening in the ceiling. "This is where Voltak sends his droids to collect things from outside. The tunnel is too small for an adult, but you should be able to just fit through."

Wide eyed, Timmy stared at Tenma. "What are you saying?"

"I'm getting you out of here," Tenma repeated, strapping him in tightly.

"But what about the others? What about you?"

"Don't think about us for now, just think about yourself. Get yourself away!"

Timmy gaped. "But, mister! I don't want to."

"Listen to me!" Tenma demanded. "You probably won't make it all the way out before robots start pursuing you. You must do your best to get outside of the area! There is a disruptive field around this whole area that jams any signals. However, the moment you get outside of that field, there'll be someone coming to help you! Just do everything in your power to get away from your pursuers!"

Timmy swallowed nervously. "How will the help know how to find me?"

Tenma smirked lightly. "They'll know, trust me," he assured. "Now go!" he exclaimed as he pressed a button on the backpack. The bag, a jetpack, lifted Timmy off the ground at an incredible speed, sending him hurtling upwards.

"MISTER!" Timmy screamed.

"GET HELP!" Tenma shouted back. "I'll try to buy you time! JUST GO!" He wasted no time, turning away and taking off in a sprint. Immediately, he was pursued by a number of robots.

"MISTEEEER!" Timmy called again as he disappeared into the darkness of the promised pipe. Wide eyed, Timmy looked up as the wind pressed towards his face. There was nothing but darkness as he was carried upwards and onwards.

Then, from below, came the droids. "You will not escape! Surrender now!"

"NO!" Timmy cried, trying to kick them away. "I'm going to get help!" He looked up as, suddenly, a small light neared him. Timmy's eyes widened further as the light grew bigger and bigger, the round hole coming closer and closer. And then, at an impossible speed, Timmy shot through into the world beyond.

For a moment, it was like the world stood still. The air felt like a blessing from the heavens, the sun was sharp and though it hurt his eyes a little bit, it was nothing in comparison to the wonder of the warmth. The sight, the smell, the feeling itself, it was beyond words; it was amazing.

Timmy didn't have much time to enjoy it. Though, as the robots came spawning out of the pipe after him. "I need to get out of here. I… HOW DO I CONTROL THIS THING?!" he squirmed. As if on cue, he change direction and shot forward. "WUAARGHHHH!"

"You will not escape!" the droids all shouted as they came flying after him, like a big swarm of bees.

More and more came, and they were gaining on him. "NO!" Timmy shouted. "STAY AWAY FROM ME! I DON'T WANT TO GO BACK!"

"You will be returned."

"PLEASE HELP!" Timmy cried as he zoomed forward, but the swarm was gaining on him. "He promised help would come! HEEEEELP!"

Just as suddenly, something zooming at the speed of light came flying towards him. It was too quick for Timmy to see, so he shut his eyes in terror. Then, before he could even process the change, he was being grabbed and pulled away, away from the chasing robots.

"Are you okay?" a concerned voice asked.

Timmy blinked open his eyes, and turned his head to see who it was that had grabbed him. "ASTRO!" he gaped. "You… YOU'RE ASTRO!"

The robot holding him smiled warmly. "Yup, I am!" he said. "Hold on, I'm getting you away from here!" Astro picked up speed, leaving all the other robots behind.

"Whoa!" Timmy gasped as he saw the area of the junkyard and all the robots disappear behind them.

"Brace yourself, we are going to land," Astro warned him as he slowed down, then finally descended and put Timmy down on the top of a hill before landing beside him. "Sorry about that; it's just that whatever is placed on your leg really hurts my ear."

"What?" Timmy asked.

"There's some kind of high-pitched frequency coming from your leg. Only advanced robots like myself would be able to pick it up," Astro said. "Urhm, is it okay if I have a look?"

Timmy nodded. "Sure."

"Thanks," Astro smiled as he sat down on his knee and rolled up the pant leg to reveal the prosthetic. "A prosthetic? That's cool!" he beamed then reached down. "There it is!" he grinned as he pulled out a little hidden sphere, then turned it around and pressed a button. "That's much better," he exhaled, relieved though then he halted, holding up the sphere. "Where did you get this?"

"Honestly, I didn't even know I had it."

Astro frowned slightly. "Do you have any idea who put it there?"

"I guess it must have been Mr Tenma," Timmy supposed. "He's the last one who had his hands on my leg. He fixed it for me."

Astro gaped. "Did... Did you just say Tenma?"

"Uhuh," Timmy nodded. "His name is Dr Umataro Tenma. Do you know him?"

"Of course I do he… Do you know where he is?" he asked. "Timmy, please? Do you know if he's okay?"

Timmy glanced down. "I'm not sure," he admitted. "He helped me escape; he put this backpack on me." He pulled the jetpack off. "Told me to get out of there, that help would arrive once I left the disruptive field. He bought me time to get out. That's the last I saw of him. Astro!" he exclaimed, looking up. "You have to save him!" he said. "And the others, too! They're all trapped underground!"

"Of course I'll save them!" Astro exclaimed. "Although, first, I'd better get you somewhere safe." He picked up Timmy. "Maybe you can tell me everything that happened while we fly to the city?"

Timmy nodded. "Of course… You'll really save them?" he asked. "You promise?"

"Of course! That's what I do," Astro promised. "And my father is there. I have to save him."

"Your father?" Timmy asked then his eyes widened. "Wait a minute, Mr Tenma!" he exclaimed. "You're that son he spoke about, aren't you? He's your father isn't he?"

"He sure is," Astro smiled.

Timmy's eyes were nearly falling out of his skull. "That is so cool," he breathed. "That makes me so happy! Now I know you'll rescue him for sure!"

"You bet I will!" Astro said. "Just tell me everything you know."

"Okay, here goes," he started on his long story, about how he had been thrown down into the junkyard with the other humans, how they had scavenged robot parts to exchange for food, how Tenma had appeared with them and what had happened afterwards.

Astro never interrupted, listening intensely as he carried Timmy, deep in thought.

Meanwhile, Tenma had been caught. Though that wasn't too surprising given that he had nowhere to run. He was brought to his knees by the droids and gasped for air.

"Your struggle is pointless. This will change nothing," Voltak said.

Tenma smirked and was promptly beaten over the head by a droid.

"The child will be retrieved. If not that child, I'll simply find another."

"Yes, you're right," Tenma sighed deeply and looked up. His hair fell over his eyes. "I give up."

"You… give up?" Voltak echoed. "Explain."

"I'm going to build you the body you want," Tenma elaborated. "However, this time I'm going to do it right. I need to make a circuit compatible with the one you've got. I will need to examine your real body."

Voltak was quiet for a moment before, "Understood. Follow my droids; they will lead you to my true body."

Tenma nodded. "Good good, wouldn't want more unnecessary distractions would we?"

This chapter has been beta read by MugetsuFoxPipe