Tracey West

by Astro Boy (source)

  “NO!” Sparx protested. “We are absolutely terrifying revolutionaries.”

  “Who are unable to do any actual terrifying,” Astro pointed out.

  Sparx thought for a moment. “Yes!”

  Bang!

  The door to the hideout busted open. Cora stood there, holding a wrench, with the three kids behind her.

  “Aargh! How did you find our secret hideout?” Sparx asked.

  Cora pointed overhead. A giant neon sign read: RRF SECRET HIDEOUT. Colorful helium balloons were tied to the roof as well.

  “You morons need to work on your camouflage skills,” she said. She took a step toward them, tapping the wrench in her palm. “Hand over the kid or we’ll rewire you and turn you into useful household appliances.”

  Sparx looked at Astro in amazement.

  “Kid? What are you talking about? He’s a—”

  Astro grabbed Sparx and got into his face. “You want a piece of me, tin man?” he asked. Under his breath, he whispered, “Be cool. I’m an undercover robot from Metro City.”

  “I knew it,” Sparx hissed back. “Viva la Robot-olution.”

  Astro turned back to Cora. “These guys aren’t doing any harm. Let’s just leave them.”

  Cora shrugged. “Whatever you say.”

  Sparx whispered in Astro’s ear. “Thank you, brother. The RRF is forever in your debt.”

  Astro followed Cora and the others outside.

  “So what is your name?” Cora asked.

  “Um, Toby, but that’s not who I really am,” Astro said. “You see—”

  “Dude, it’s a simple question,” Cora said impatiently.

  “My name’s ... Astro,” he replied. Those robots were goofy, but they had managed to come up with a pretty good name. “Call me Astro.”

  CHAPTER 11

  Back in Metro City, Orrin answered the door to Dr. Tenma’s apartment. Armed soldiers pushed him out of the way. President Stone and General Heckler marched in. They looked angry.

  “Good afternoon,” Orrin said politely. “How—”

  “Search the apartment!” General Heckler barked. “Leave no stone unturned!”

  Dr. Elefun stepped into the hallway, confused.

  “Arrest this man!” President Stone ordered.

  “Yes, sir!” General Heckler replied. He nodded, and two soldiers grabbed Elefun by the arms. They attached handcuffs to his wrists.

  “What are you doing? Stop!” Dr. Elefun cried.

  “Where is Dr. Tenma’s robot son?” President Stone asked.

  “He isn’t here!” Dr. Elefun said.

  Dr. Tenma burst in. He looked tired and worried. “What’s the meaning of this?”

  “You put your core for my Peacekeeper into your robot,” President Stone said angrily. “I’m running for reelection, in case you hadn’t noticed, and we’re in an arms race with the Surface!”

  “An arms race,” Dr. Elefun muttered. “What nonsense.”

  “It was my stupid mistake,” Dr. Tenma said. “When I lost my son, I thought I’d be able to ... I thought ...” “

  “I hate losing, too,” President Stone said. “Ask any of my wives. But we’ve got to get over all of this personal stuff. You’re head of the Ministry of Science, Tenma. It’s time to move on. Get the core back. Get it into the Peacekeeper. Let some good come from all this mess.”

  Dr. Tenma glanced at Dr. Elefun, still in handcuffs. His friend shouldn’t have to be punished for this. He nodded in agreement.

  “When you find the robot I’ll deactivate it and give you the core,” Tenma promised.

  “Good man,” President Stone said. He nodded to the soldiers. “Let him go.”

  The soldiers freed Dr. Elefun. He shook his head and looked out the window, at the world beyond Metro City.

  “I hope you never find him,” he said softly.

  Down on the Surface, Astro followed his new friends across a rickety bridge. Rope scraps connected the wood planks and pieces of metal together. It swayed as they walked. Trashcan walked behind them.

  Astro looked down at the makeshift huts below. Everything was made out of old robot parts and other garbage thrown down from Metro City.

  “So there are actually people living in these ruins?” he asked.

  His remark made Cora angry. “Ruins? Hey, it might not look like much to a Metro City kid, but this place is home to us.”

  Cora stopped in front of the opening of a long, twisting tube. It looked like something from a water park ride.

  “Here we are,” she said.

  Cora jumped in, and they all followed her, sliding down the tube. Astro bumped into Trashcan.

  “Sorry,” he said.

  They landed in front of what looked like a big junkyard surrounded by a tall fence. The door to the gate was closed. Cora gave it a kick and lights turned on, illuminating a pattern of shapes.

  A panel on the top of the door slid open and a boy poked his head out.

  “What’s the password?”

  “Don’t make me hurt you,” Cora said.

  “Er ... close enough,” said the boy. “Enter.”

  The door opened and they pushed their way in. Astro followed cautiously. He had never seen a place like this before.

  At first glance, it looked like some kind of robot repair shop, with worktables, tools, and robot parts scattered everywhere. But the place was crawling with kids, and they all looked out of control. Some of them were playing video games on busted television screens. One small boy was starting a chainsaw. A girl was juggling three sharp knives. Two boys were dueling with golf clubs. The sound of popping firecrackers filled the air.

  A baseball whizzed past Astro’s head. Nearby, he saw a boy shoot an apple off a kid’s head with a bow and arrow.

  “We’re out of apples. We’re on to grapes,” the boy announced.

  A little girl wearing patched-up clothes walked up to Cora, holding a plunger.

  “Hey, Cora, did you bring me back something?” she asked.

  “The perfect gift for a sweet little girl,” Cora said. She reached into her bag and pulled out a chainsaw. The little girl jumped for joy.

  Cora smiled. “Enjoy.”

  The little girl revved the chainsaw and ran off. Soon there were screams from the other side of the junkyard.

  Cora ducked as a tire swung over her head. It hit Astro, knocking him to the ground.

  “Ouch,” Astro said, getting to his feet.

  “You need ten sets of eyes around here,” Cora advised.

  She headed up a ladder to the second level of the junkyard. A stout man was bent over a worktable, welding something. Astro hung back.

  “Hey, Hamegg,” Cora called out.

  The man spun around. The blue light from the welder illuminated his face, and, for a moment, Astro thought he looked frightening. But at the sight of the kids, he smiled warmly. It changed him completely. Now he looked like a chubby, friendly man.

  “Aha! Back so soon? You kids find anything good for me today?” Hamegg asked.

  Astro recognized his face from the image projected on Robotsky’s chest. Hamegg wore a grease-stained mechanic’s jumpsuit. Astro watched him carefully. According to Sparx and the others, Hamegg was a bad guy.

  Cora and the others emptied their bags on the worktable. Hamegg rifled through the items.

  “I don’t know, kids,” he said. “A lot of dead batteries. A lot of elbows here. The knee joint of a toilet cleaning robot? I told you I need heads.”

  “We could have got a lot better stuff, but—” Cora began.

  “Whoa!” Astro cried, interrupting her. He had been tinkering around with a broken robot in the corner. The pieces clattered to the floor.

  Hamegg raised a bushy, black eyebrow. “Well, well, who do we have here?”

  “His name’s Astro,” Zane said. “He saved us from the Scorpion Brothers.”

  Hamegg looked impressed. “You escaped from the Scorpion Brothers? Wow.”

  “Actually, I’m f
rom Metro City,” Astro told him.

  “Double wow,” Hamegg said. “I used to work there once upon a time.”

  “Really?” Astro asked.

  “Why am I running a crummy body repair shop down here when I could be creating state-of-the-art robots in Metro City?” Hamegg asked.

  Astro felt bad. He hadn’t meant to hurt Hamegg’s feelings. “Well, no, not exactly—”

  “Relax, son. We’re family here,” Hamegg said, smiling again. “We’re allowed to ask questions. The answer is: I love robots, especially the discarded ones. The more banged-up they are, the more abused, the more I like getting them back on their feet.”

  He plucked a tiny robot from a shelf. It flew around him with wings, like a metal mosquito.

  “Oh wow!” Astro said. It was a pretty cool robot.

  “It’s almost a religious thing with me—kinda the way saints feel about the poor, or women feel about shoes, or fat people feel about donuts,” Hamegg said dramatically. “Well, I’ll stop with fat people and donuts.”

  Astro considered this. Hamegg seemed very sincere. And those members of the Robot Revolution Front were definitely strange. They were probably making up wild stories.

  “So you’re not into, er, enslaving robots?” Astro asked.

  “What?” Hamegg looked genuinely surprised.

  “He ran into the RRF,” Cora explained.

  Hamegg laughed. “I don’t enslave robots, I love robots! Never forget, robots make life more abundant. They’re our friends and we rely on them for our daily bread. Speaking of which, are any of you misfits hungry?”

  CHAPTER 15

  All of the kids in the junkyard gathered around a long table cobbled together from scraps of metal. Hamegg sat at the head.

  “Let me guess—take-out pizza again?” Zane asked.

  Hamegg produced some battered-looking pizza boxes.

  “More like taken out of the trash again!” Sludge complained.

  “Picky, picky,” Hamegg said cheerfully. “It’s only a couple of days old. Look, this one still has toppings!”

  Hamegg doled out a slice to every kid at the table. Before they could dig in, he held up his hand.

  “Hey! Haven’t you forgotten something?” he asked.

  The kids paused.

  He looked at Astro. “What have they forgotten, son?”

  “Um ... grace?” Astro guessed.

  “Exactly,” Hamegg said. “Grace!”

  The little girl whom Cora had given the chainsaw to looked up. She wore a baseball cap with the name “Grace” on it.

  “What?” Grace asked.

  “Turn on the TV, sweetheart, would you please?” Hamegg asked. “That’s a dear.”

  Grace got up and turned on several television sets arranged all around the table. Each TV blared a different, loud show, a mix of professional wrestling, game shows, and car races.

  “Well, Bon Appeteetee!” Hamegg said.

  Everyone started eating, staring at the TV sets. Astro didn’t touch his pizza. For one thing, as a robot, he didn’t need to eat. But Astro wasn’t sure if he would eat it if he were human. It looked pretty gross.

  A scruffy kid next to him eyed his pizza slice hungrily. “Yo, new guy! You gonna eat that?” he asked.

  “You can have it if you want it,” Astro said, sliding his plate over.

  “Thanks. I’m Sam,” the kid told him.

  “Don’t be so nice. You’re gonna starve to death,” Cora warned Astro. She bit into her pizza and winced. “Or be the only survivor.”

  The kids laughed.

  “So tell me, Astro, do your folks know where you are?” Hamegg asked.

  “I don’t have any parents,” Astro replied.

  “How very sad,” Hamegg said. “Did you lose them? Or even sadder, did they lose you?”

  Hamegg’s words were too close to the truth. Astro decided he might as well be honest.

  “I never really had parents,” he began.

  “No, the truth is I’m actually a ... I’m a ... ” Astro was still too afraid to tell the truth.

  “A what?” Cora asked impatiently.

  Trashcan started jumping up and down behind Astro. He knew what Astro really was.

  Astro looked at Cora. He wanted to tell her the truth. But what if she rejected him, just like Dr. Tenma had? He was just starting to feel comfortable here. Where else could he go?

  “I’m a ... ” He just couldn’t say it.

  “Don’t worry, son. We’re all orphans down here,” Hamegg interjected. “Nothing to be ashamed about.”

  Astro sighed with relief. “So none of you have parents?”

  “Parents?” Sludge asked. “Are you kidding me?”

  “This whole place is a parent-free zone,” Cora explained.

  Zane stuffed another slice of pizza into his mouth. “I was born in the scrap heap. I was raised by wild dogs,” he bragged, with his mouth full of food.

  “Really? Are you sure it wasn’t wild pigs?” Cora teased.

  Everyone laughed, including Zane. Astro joined in.

  Maybe, just maybe, this was where he belonged.

  It was really late. After dinner, the other kids got ready for bed. Astro cobbled together a cot from some old robot springs and fabric scraps. Hamegg made the rounds of the junkyard, checking on all of his charges. He stopped by Astro.

  “Feeling homesick for Metro City, Astro?” Hamegg asked.

  “No,” Astro answered, although he wasn’t sure if that was true.

  Hamegg sat down on an old oil drum. “Me neither,” he said. “I was head of advanced robotics at the Ministry of Science. Oh yeah, right up there with Tenma and the other muckety-mucks.”

  Astro was curious. Hamegg had known Toby’s father. “What happened?” he asked.

  “What always happens to genius,” Hamegg said. “They were intimidated by my talent, so they threw me away like an old battery.”

  “I’m sorry,” Astro said. He knew what that felt like.

  “Not your problem,” Hamegg said. “You know, I’ve got a hunch about you, Astro. There’s always room for a good kid in this family. Now how about getting some shut-eye? Good night ... son.”

  He tucked Astro into his bed, bringing the scraps of junk up to his chin.

  “Good night, Hamegg,” Astro said.

  Hamegg left, and Astro noticed Trashcan staring at him, his eyes glowing in the darkness.

  “I’m going to tell them,” Astro said. “Just not yet, okay?”

  Trashcan gave Astro a look that clearly said, “You’ll be sorry.” Then he trotted away.

  Astro didn’t let it worry him. Everything would work out fine—it had to.

  Then he closed his eyes and drifted off into a peaceful sleep.

  CHAPTER 13

  The next morning, Astro lined up with the rest of the junkyard kids. Hamegg stood by the door, patting each head as the kids filed past.

  Astro stepped up with Trashcan by his side.

  Hamegg smiled at Astro. “Nice to have you on the team, son. Bring me home something special. Make me proud.”

  “I’ll try,” Astro promised.

  At his side, Trashcan began to beep, jumping up and down.

  Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep. He wouldn’t stop! Astro knew he was trying to tell Hamegg that he was a robot.

  “You might need to tighten a few of his bolts,” Astro suggested.

  Hamegg patted Trashcan’s head. “Do I have to tighten your bolts?”

  Astro hurried out, glad that Hamegg hadn’t caught on. The kids took off in all directions, but Cora, Zane, Widget, and Sludge stuck together. He followed them into an area he hadn’t seen before. They were in some kind of meadow. There were even a few trees here and there. Broken robot parts littered the ground like bones in the desert. Huge scrap heaps loomed in the distance.

  Trashcan continued to beep at Astro.

  “Hey, knock it off,” Astro hissed. “I’ll tell them—just not yet, okay?”

  Trashcan be
eped some more. Then he stopped, running ahead. He stopped near Cora and started frantically digging in the dirt. Astro shook his head and caught up to Cora and Zane.

  “What does Hamegg want parts for?” he asked them.

  “He’s a genius,” Cora said proudly. “He can make cool robots from pretty much any old scrap. And then he puts them into Hamegg’s Robot Games.”

  “Robot games?” Astro asked.

  “They’re a tradition down here,” Cora explained. “Once a year, Hamegg puts on a big show and he always needs new performers. It’s kind of a Roman thing.”

  “And pretty cool,” Zane added.

  Astro looked around the meadow. “You’re not going to find much here. It’s a graveyard.”

  Cora raised an eyebrow. “Mr. Metro City’s first day and already he’s an expert.”

  “You’d be surprised,” Astro replied. “I know a thing or two about robots.”

  Widget called out from up ahead. “I think we’ve got something!”

  “See?” Cora told Astro. She raised her voice. “Coming!”

  She walked right past Trashcan. The dog ran up to Astro and Zane and started beeping again, jumping up on Zane.

  “Hey! What’s the matter, boy?” Zane asked.

  Trashcan nodded to the patch of dirt he’d been digging. He’d carved out the words “HE’S A ROBOT” in huge letters, with an arrow pointing to Astro. Astro turned pale. His secret was out!

  “Whoa,” Zane said. He looked at Astro, then back at Trashcan, then at Astro again.

  He shrugged. “Makes me wish I could read.”

  He ran off after Cora. Trashcan hung his head, frustrated.

  “Nice try, rust-bucket,” Astro said.

  He started to catch up with the others, but something caught his eye. A huge, rusting robot covered with patches of grass and weeds was lying in the clearing nearby.

  “Cora, hey!” Astro called out. “I think I found something!”

  Cora and the kids ran over. When they saw what Astro was pointing at, they laughed.

  “Ha! That’s just an old construction robot,” Cora said. “It fell to the Surface a hundred years ago.”

  “Do you think Hamegg could use it?” Astro asked. Curious, he walked toward the big robot.