Gaping, Astro listened to Timmy's entire story. He learned about the underground robot junkyard and the people trapped there, about the robot village and the robots that had been thrown away, about Voltak and his desire for a new body, how he had kidnapped Tenma to get what he wanted, and how it had come to light that Tenma was the one who had build Voltak in the first place.
With Astro's speed it didn't take long to reach Metro City, and he entered the police station with Timmy.
"Detective, I know where my father is!" Astro immediately told the police officers. "There are other people there too; they have all been kidnapped. I will put the coordinates into your computer." He opened his chest and pulled out a cable to put into the computer for a transfer.
Gumshoe nodded. "I'll imagine you're going to rescue your father right away. We'll follow as quickly as we can."
"Thank you!" Astro beamed. "Take good care of Timmy; he was taken two years ago, his parents must be really worried!"
"Oh god, you poor dear!" a police woman said. "Timmy was it? Please come with me, I'll find your parents right away! Can I get you something? How do you like hot chocolate?"
"Hot chocolate?!" Timmy gaped. "I don't remember the last time I had anything like that!"
The police woman melted on the spot. "I'll go get you some right away."
"Thank you, Miss!" Timmy beamed.
Satisfied, Astro nodded. "I'm going. I'll see you later, detective!" And without further adieu, he ran out the door and turned on his jets to fly back as fast as he could.
It felt like it had been forever since his father had been taken. Astro had done his best to look, he had kept scanning areas and the police as well had done their bit, but for months there had been no sign of Tenma. And then, suddenly, his father had sent a message for him!
"Don't worry, father!" Astro said. "I'm coming!"
There Tenma was, standing in front of the enormous and very broken body of Voltak.
"You will not resist me anymore?" Voltak asked.
"No," Tenma replied. "I will build you the body you want. You want a body like Astro's."
"Yes," Voltak said. "I observed you, I've seen how you always looked over him, how he was such a big part of your life. If I am like him, then maybe you will remember me."
"You poor thing," Tenma looked at Voltak with genuinely pained eyes. "You poor child. Yet another son I've neglected. I really must be the most horrible parent who ever lived."
"Creator," Voltak spoke. "When you have built me a new body, will you care for me at all? Will I be special? Like him?"
"Yes," Tenma said gently, stepping towards him. "You will be special. How does that make you feel?"
"It makes me feel..." Voltak hesitated, "happy."
Astro burst through the ceiling to the junkyard and gaped at the humans staring up at him. Quickly, he flew down and landed in front of them.
"Is Dr Tenma here?" he asked. "Please! I need to find him."
They stared at him with wide eyes.
"I'm sorry, sweetheart, but Dr Tenma just disappeared one night," Elisa replied.
"WHAT?!"
"There aren't many places he could have gone, though. He's probably up there in the robot village," Elisa pointed up towards the platform.
Astro nodded. "Thank you. Listen, the police will be here very soon and pick you all up. If you have any belongings, get them together. They'll be here any minute." He took to the sky again, ignoring the shock he had induced. "Hold on, father. I'm coming."
Gently Tenma pried open the lid on the back of Voltak's head, revealing a number of wires and circuits, as well as a signature on his electronic brain. Tenma's signature. Tenma touched it lightly.
"You still do not remember?" Voltak asked.
"I'm sorry," Tenma replied. "Back then I was much more ignorant."
"You say you have changed?"
"Yes," Tenma nodded. "And so have you, Voltak. You see, hearts are not a constant; they develop over time as we learn and grow. Your heart, as well, slowly developed over time, through your experiences. You developed your own wants and needs as your heart grew."
"A heart?" Voltak asked. "I have a heart."
"Yes, you do," Tenma nodded. "It is quite remarkable indeed. I am very impressed with you."
"You are?"
"Yes," Tenma said gently. "You have far exceeded your original programming. I am proud of you."
Voltak was silent. Yet the silence itself seemed to be filled with emotions. Very strong emotions, especially considering it came from a robot.
"Do you know where my father is?" Astro asked the robots in the village. "Dr Tenma?"
"Yes, he's with Voltak," an old maid robot informed him. "He finally agreed to build Voltak the body he wanted."
"What?"
"He's been here for months for that purpose," the robot continued. "Finally, he seems to have come around. I am happy for Voltak."
Astro gaped. "There's no way my father gave in at this moment! He had just managed to send a message to me! He knew I would be coming. All he had to do was to sit tight for a little bit longer! Why is he...?" His eyes widened. "Oh no… Please don't."
Confused, the robots looked at him. "What is it?"
"I… I have to stop him!" Astro exclaimed. "He can't. NO! FATHER! DON'T, FATHER!" he shouted as he took off through the village. "DON'T DO IT! DON'T TO IT, FATHER!" He burst through the heavy doors and then came to a hasty stop at the sight that greeted him.
There, in front of him, was a massive robot sitting up against the wall, limp as a rag doll. In front of the big robot sat a much smaller figure, crouched holding his legs in his arms as his hair obscuring his face.
Wide eyed, Astro looked at the big robot behind him. There were no energy readings coming from it. It was stone cold.
"You…. You killed him," Astro gasped.
Tenma didn't respond. It was impossible to say what expression he wore, as it was hidden in shadow. Though that was when Astro saw the drops of water falling from Tenma's chin and down to the floor. A stream of tears.
"Father," Astro breathed, stepping closer, but then didn't know what to say.
Tenma swallowed, then wiped his eyes with his sleeve, though that didn't stop them from coming. "Do you know something, Astro?"
Astro quietly shook his head.
"The first time I held Tobio, he was so small. So tiny," Tenma said. "He was small, wrinkly, pink, rather ugly and utterly defenseless. If I didn't take care of him, if I didn't make sure he stayed warm and fed him his bottles, he would die. I realized then that Tobio was my responsibility. I was the one who had put him into this world, I was the reason he would have to go through life and witness all its cruelty. He was my responsibility."
Astro swallowed and took a step towards Tenma but halted as Tenma folded into himself.
"How many do you think there are, Astro?" he asked.
"I... I don't understand."
"Tobio tried to tell me, but I didn't listen," Tenma said. "Robots, they are not just machines, they are alive. How many robots do you think I put into this world without even thinking about it? How many lives of misery have I created? They are my responsibility, aren't they, Astro? How many sons and daughters have I failed?"
Astro closed his eyes, and walked over to Tenma, finally sitting down beside him. He looked up at him and saw the tears quietly rolling from his eyes.
"I'm sorry, father," Astro said. "I know you did what you had to do."
Tenma looked down. "He's not dead," he finally said.
"What?" Astro's gaze shot up to him. "But..."
"That body of his was old and broken, his mind, however, entirely intact. All I did was a simple transfer. It's right here." He held up a little chip and Astro gaped. "All of his memories, his personality, his dreams and even his heart. It is just sleeping. It's right here."
Astro stared at it with wide eyes for a moment before turning his attention to Tenma. "What do you intend to do with that?"
Tenma was quiet for a while. "I don't know," he admitted.
"I see," he sighed. "I'm sorry, father."
"For what?" Tenma blinked.
"I… I let them take you," Astro said sadly. "I should have known better. I'm the world's best robot but they took you when I wasn't looking. I was so worried!" he exclaimed, turning to Tenma. "I… I'm so glad you're okay!" He sniffed, grabbing onto Tenma's coat. "I missed you so much!"
Tenma blinked then he smiled lightly, putting a hand on Astro's back. "I missed you too, Astro," he assured. "I'm sorry for leaving you in suspense like that. If I had figured out a way to contact you sooner, I would have."
"It's okay," Astro smiled. "I'm glad I found you in the end. Let's get out of here."
Tenma nodded, putting an arm around Astro's shoulder and standing up. "I would appreciate it."
Astro nodded as he turned on his thrusters, and, together with Tenma, rose up into the air. Soon, for the first time in what felt like forever, Tenma took in the sunlight and fresh air.
It didn't take long for Astro to find the police cars that had arrived and were in the process of retrieving the people from underground, all of whom had to squint their eyes when they emerged but were beaming happily.
Tenma groaned. There were black spots in front of his eyes and suddenly exhaustion washed over him. He nearly fell, and probably would have if Astro hadn't grabbed him.
"Father, be careful!"
"I'm sorry," Tenma yawned, just as they were approached by a certain detective.
"So, Astro found you at last," Gumshoe stated.
Tenma nodded. "Indeed."
"Dr Tenma, I do regret to inform you this, but I will have to take you to the police station. You did break your parole," Gumshoe said.
"I understand," Tenma nodded. "It's okay."
"I'm sure it'll just be a formality given the circumstances," Gumshoe assured him. "Oh, and there's a call for you."
"Huh?" Tenma asked but accepted the phone passed to him. Three very familiar figures grinned up at him from the hologram: Ochanomizu, Uran, and Reno.
"It's true!" Uran beamed. "Astro found you! He really did!"
"Thank god!" Ochanomizu exhaled deeply. "Have you any idea how worried we've all been?"
Tenma smiled, a little amused. "I'm sorry," he said. "It was not my intention to be away for so long."
"Wow, Dr Tenma, you look awful!" Reno gaped. "Sir, you need to rest!"
Tenma nodded. "I think I could sleep for days," he admitted honestly.
"Well then, we won't keep you anymore," Ochanomizu smiled. "Although, there's someone else who wishes to talk to you."
Tenma groaned slightly. "Can you tell them to make it quick?" he asked. "I'm sorry, but I'm just… really tried."
"I understand," Ochanomizu said and then the image changed. This time it was a red haired woman that Tenma didn't know, as well as a brown haired man and, in between them, a certain red haired boy who grinned. The man and woman looked like they were nearly dissolving into tears.
"Mister! You're safe!" Timmy grinned at him. "Thank god. Look, it's my mom and dad! The police had their phone number and everything."
"THANK YOU SO MUCH!" the woman cried, tears falling everywhere. "I can't ever express what this means to us. I... I…" she burst into all-out sobbing.
The man as well was trying to dry his tears away with his sleeve, but it didn't help anything as the tears kept coming. "If there's anything we can ever do," the man said, sniffing. "We can never thank you enough. Thank you for bringing our son back! You'll never know what it means to us."
Tenma smiled lightly. "Actually, I think I have a pretty good idea what it means to you," he said. "You don't have to do anything for me, just take good care of Timmy. He's a good kid, and very bright. Give him all the good things he deserves."
"We will!" the woman cried loudly. "Thank you!"
Tenma gave them one last smile before pushing the button to turn off the device and heaving a sigh.
"Dr Tenma, if you want you can rest in the car," Gumshoe said gesturing to the police car behind him. "I'll be a bit before we can drive back to Metro City."
"Thank you, I appreciate it," Tenma yawned, then with Astro's help made his way to the police car and sat down in the back seat, groaning deeply as he leaned his head backwards.
Astro crawled into with him and for a moment sat beside him as Tenma took out the memory chip and stared at it.
"Is he really sleeping inside of that chip?" Astro asked. "In comparison to his body, it's so small."
"Robotics technology has come a long way since Voltak was made," Tenma replied. He pulled a handkerchief from his pocket and gently wrapped the memory chip in it so it wouldn't be damaged, then placed it in his pocket. "Astro, please excuse me. I'm afraid middle aged human bodies have their limits."
"You need to sleep. In understand," Astro assured. "Is it okay if I stay with you?"
Tenma nodded. "I would appreciate it."
Astro smiled lightly, then moved closer to Tenma and leaned on him, resting his head on Tenma's chest and allowing Tenma to wrap and arm around him.
Not long after, when Gumshoe checked on them, Tenma was asleep and Astro looked like he had put himself into resting mode.
Amused, Gumshoe shook his head. "Don't think this will make me go soft on you," he said, but closed the door very quietly so as not to disturb them. Not that it seemed to be needed.
Tenma didn't even wake up during the entire trip back to Metro City, and Astro didn't make a move either. Tenma, like that, looked very peaceful.
This chapter has been beta read by MugetsuFoxPipe