FuturAstrorama

IV.

Planet Express, New New York City

A few hours later, Cobalt and Uran rubbed their eyes and looked around.
"Don't be scared" Astro reassured his siblings. "We've been asleep nearly 1000 years. Professor Farnsworth and Bender have reactivated us here in New New York City."

"I still have enough deuterium left to power up the little one." Farnsworth said. I was saving him for last."

"That was a good idea." Astro said. "I think maybe Uran and I had better handle him, if you don't mind. If he wakes up scared, it could be a little dangerous."

"How dangerous could that little bot be?" Bender laughed.

"Just imagine the sound of 10,000 sirens going off in an enclosed space." Uran said. "You don't want to hear my little brother cry!"

"Guess I better break out the earplugs." the professor said.

"They won't help much when the walls start to melt." Cobalt told him.

"Oh my, he's really THAT loud?" Farnsworth gasped. "Well in that case, Bender you and I will go next door and finish unloading the ship!"

Astro carefully inserted the fueling hose into the socket in Chi-tan's posterior. He then opened the little bot's chest panel, as well as his own. Astro unrolled a power cable from inside of himself and plugged the free end into a socket inside of his baby brother.
"I'll use some of my electrical power to charge him." Astro told his siblings.

Cobalt make funny faces while Chi-tan awakened from his long slumber. The little bot, rubbed his eyes and yawned. He smiled at Cobalt, and stuck his tongue out at him,

"TTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTBBBBBBBBBBBBBBB!"

"What was that!" Bender said, as he walked into the room. "Sounded like an atomic raspberry!"

Chi-tan saw Bender and started to laugh. The bending robot walked up to the little bot and smiled at him. "So you think I'm funny do you?"

Chi-tan extended his arms and begged to be picked up, which Bender happily obliged. Chi-tan grabbed at Bender's antenna and tied it into a knot.

"Hey, you're a strong one aren't you?" Bender laughed.

Professor Farnsworth walked back into the lab. "Now we have to figure out where you're going to stay."

"You can move in with me at the Robot Arms apartments." Bender said.

"I don't think that would be such a good idea." Farnsworth said. "Not with the wild parties that you keep throwing."

"Has Fry been blabbing about me?" Bender asked. "Yeah well on second thought, it might get a bit crowded, and maybe not exactly suitable for the little one."

"Actually, I have an extra room here." the professor said. "It will need to be cleaned up a bit, and you'll have to settle for some old surplus army cots, but it should do."

"That will be fine, sir." Cobalt said.

Bender and Astro got busy sweeping up the floor in the professor's extra room, which was a good sized storage room in the Planet Express basement that had been empty for years. Bender carried in four cots with lumpy mattresses that had come from the Army and Navy store. He also brought in a curtain room divider which he put in the middle of the room.

"The young lady might want her privacy." he said looking at Uran.

"Thank you, Bender." Uran said. "That was very thoughtful of you.. You can put Chi-tan's bed next to mine."

"Very well." Bender said as he unfolded the cots and set them up.

"Well, it's getting late." Professor Farnsworth said. "Have a good night, and I'll see you in the morning."

"Ditto" Bender said. "I've got to get going home myself."

After being asleep for nearly 1000 years, Astro and his siblings didn't really feel tired enough to go to sleep, but with the building now dark and quiet the feeling of drowsiness slowly came over Cobalt and Uran. Even Chi-tan eventually nodded off. Astro, lay in his cot and stared at the ceiling, but his mind wouldn't power down. He got up and walked out of the room and started to explore the building.

Astro climbed the stairs that led to the control tower next to the main hangar. He found himself out on the ledge that circled the top of the round tower, which had a good view out over the river and the rest of NNYC. The urge to explore his new surroundings overcame him and Astro tried out his jets. He took off and flew over the landscape, looking down at the strange city unfolding below him. He landed in Madison Square and found himself in front of the Madison Cube Garden.

A large limousine driven by a robot pulled up and stopped next to where Astro was standing. The dark rear window rolled down revealing the face of a well dressed rotund robot smoking a large fragrant cigar. "Come here, I want to talk to you" the Don of the robot Mafia said to Astro.

"Who me?" Astro asked.

"I don't see anyone else around." The Don said. "You're new around here, aren't you? "

"Yes, I guess I am." Astro said. "I've sorta been asleep for about 1000 years in Japan. I was just re-activated a few hours ago."

"Well in that case, let me welcome you to the thirty-first century and the city of New New York" the robot Don said, handing Astro a computer punch card. "Here's my card, you should look me up after you get settled in. I might have a business proposition for a nice robot such as yourself."

Astro took the card, opened his chest panel, and placed the card in a pocket inside. "Thank you, I'll keep that in mind.."

"You do that." The Don said, "I'll make it worth your while. Be seeing you."

The dark window of the limousine rolled back up and the car speed off into the night. Astro looked a bit puzzled. His computer brain could easily tell if a person was good or bad, but he was drawing a blank trying to decode the AI of the robot he'd just met.