Astro Boy: The Movie (4 page)

Astro’s lessons began right away. Dr. Tenma and Astro set themselves up in Astro’s bedroom. Astro sat at his holo-desk. Dr. Tenma hit a switch, and one whole wall of the room turned into a giant, glowing computer screen.

“Let’s start you out with something familiar,” Dr. Tenma suggested.

The screen began to fill with line after line of mathematical calculations. Astro gave his father a puzzled look.

“Four-dimensional calculus. It’s your favorite,” Dr. Tenma said eagerly.

The memory of calculus started to form in Astro’s brain. “I
guess
it is,” he said. He sat there, staring at the screen. It didn’t look like fun at all.

Orrin poked his head in the room. “If sir wishes, uh, perhaps I could help Master Toby with—”

Dr. Tenma shot him an annoyed look.

“I’ll just get on and do the ... dusting,” Orrin said quickly. Then he rolled away.

Astro nodded to his father. “Okay ... watch.”

Astro quickly touched the screen, and the numbers and symbols began to move around. Dr. Tenma watched, pleased. Astro solved every problem correctly.

“Bravo, wonderful, excellent, Toby!” he praised. “First rate, son, first rate.”

“You ain’t seen nothing yet,” Astro replied, grinning. He tapped a few more keys.

The symbols on the screen became three-dimensional, twisting and floating. The numbers and figures turned into an animated cowboy riding on a horse. The cowboy swung his lasso and yodeled an old cowboy song. Astro laughed with delight.

Dr. Tenma frowned and switched off the computer screen.

“Let’s get back to basics.”

Dr. Tenma led Astro to his library, which was filled with rows and rows of books kept in glass-fronted bookcases. He unlocked one and took out an armful of thick, dusty volumes. He plunked the books on Astro’s desk.

“Remember this one?” he asked, tapping the top book. “Kant’s
Critique of Pure Reason.
I used to read it to you in bed when you were little.”

Astro coughed from the dust. “To put me to sleep?”

“Yes
^!
” Dr. Tenma said. “You asked for it every night.”

Astro frowned. “That’s not quite what I—”

“Just try rereading these,” his father suggested. “Get the old brain humming again.
Whirrrrr!”

He gave Astro a thumbs-up and then left him alone in the library. Astro stared at the pile of books. He opened one to see more pages of mathematic equations.

“Hmm ... next,” Astro said. He might have liked this stuff once, but for some reason he wanted something a little more ... fun.

Astro didn’t realize it, but the Blue Core had infused him with positive energy. Toby had never taken the time to really enjoy life, or even to care about others. But thanks to the Blue Core, Astro was different.

The next book he opened showed pages of Leonardo da Vinci’s drawings. Now this was more like it. The great artist and inventor had sketched plans for all kinds of flying machines years before the first airplane took flight. Astro’s brain did start humming—but not in the way his father wanted.

A few hours later, the library was filled with paper flying machines Astro had created using the pages from the book. With Orrin’s help, he had recreated them all—and they worked! Some looked like strange birds; others looked like helicopters with spinning propellers. Astro watched, smiling, as Orrin happily chased them around the room.

“Ah, beautiful, I got it! I got it!” the robot cried, reaching for one. He just missed catching it. “So close!”

“Way to go, Orrin. You’re the man!” Astro cheered. He put his baseball cap on Orrin’s head.

If Orrin weren’t made of metal, he would have blushed. “Yes, I am ... I am the man,” he said awkwardly.

Astro had stacked a bunch of books on the desk to create the perfect launching point. He climbed on top of them.

“Check this out.”

He let a complex paper airplane fly. It joined the other aircrafts, gracefully swooping and diving between them.

“I’m impressed,” Orrin said. “Not knocked out, but impressed.”

“That’s nothing. Watch this!” Astro said.

The plane divided into three smaller planes. They zipped around the library.

“Oh, now that is impressive, Master Toby!” he praised.

“Just Toby is fine, Orrin,” Astro said.

The little planes quickly spun out of control. One of them knocked over a glass vase. The other slammed into a picture on the wall, bumping it off the nail.

Dr. Tenma stepped into the library. “Toby—”

Whack!
One of the paper planes hit him in the side of the head.

“What are you doing?” Dr. Tenma asked. “I told you to read these books, not destroy them.”

“I ... I just wanted to test Da Vinci’s theories,” Astro explained.

“I perhaps encouraged Master Toby, sir,” Orrin said, coming to Astro’s defense.

Dr. Tenma noticed the hat on Orrin’s head.

“You should not be wearing that hat,” he snapped. “A robot should not be wearing my son’s ... Toby’s hat.”

Orrin took off the hat and gave it to Dr. Tenma. He rolled out of the library, sadly hanging his head.

“Dad, it’s fine,” Astro said. “I don’t even like that hat.”

“I think you should go to your room,” Dr. Tenma said sternly.

“But, Dad—” Astro protested.

“Do as you’re told.”

Astro left the room, dejected. Dr. Tenma paced back and forth, gripping Toby’s hat in his hands. He pressed a button on a device on the desk. A second later, a holograph of Dr. Elefun appeared in the room.

“Tenma? What’s wrong?” Dr. Elefun asked.

“I think I’ve made a terrible mistake,” Dr. Tenma said. “I thought he would be like Toby, but he’s not. He’s ... strange. He’s very strange.”

“Strange how
^?
” his friend asked.

“He’s brilliant, as Toby was, but different.” Dr. Tenma paused. “He makes jokes. I don’t like it.”

“Jokes? Oh dear,” Dr. Elefun replied. “Well, you can’t expect him to be a carbon copy. Give him time, Tenma.”

“You don’t understand!” Dr. Tenma said. “He was meant to replace Toby, but every time I look at him, it just reminds me that Toby’s gone and he’s never coming back.”

Dr. Elefun didn’t like the tone of his friend’s voice. “Don’t do anything rash,” he advised. “I’m coming over. Maybe I can make some kind of adjustments to him.”

Under his breath, he added, “Or to you.”

Dr. Tenma lived on the top floor of one of the tallest skyscrapers in Metro City. The glass windows always sparkled in the sunlight. They were never streaked or dirty—thanks to robots, of course.

From a distance, the window-cleaning robots looked like flying birds. Up close, you could see they worked in teams. A robot that looked like a spray bottle would squirt window cleaner on the glass. Another robot equipped with a squeegee and a helicopter propeller wiped the glass clean.

A flock of robots were at work on Dr. Tenma’s windows when Astro was sent to his room. He flopped on his bed, sad. There was a photo on his night table of Toby and his dad. Toby was holding an astrophysics trophy, grinning. Dr. Tenma looked very proud.

“What’s different?” Astro wondered. “I haven’t seen Dad angry before.”

He sighed, quiet for a moment. Then he heard an electronic squawking behind him. He turned to see two robots outside, cleaning his window. They chattered away in the electronic babble that robots used to talk to one another.

“Check out the haircut on that one,” said the spray bottle, Mr. Squirt. “It looks like he’s got horns.”

“Ha-ha! Horns! Good one!” laughed Mr. Squeegee, his partner.

“What do you mean, horns? It’s gel!” Astro protested.

Astro gasped.

“Wait
^!
I can understand you!” he cried. But that should have been impossible. Humans couldn’t understand robot language.

“Whoa, that’s creepy,” said Mr. Squeegee.

“What is?” asked Mr. Squirt.

“It’s like he can understand us,” Mr. Squeegee replied.

“Don’t be stupid!” said Mr. Squirt.

“I can hear what you’re saying!” Astro told them.

Mr. Squeegee squirted the window with liquid. “It’s almost like he can hear what we’re saying,” he said, ignoring Astro.

“There’s no way. He’s a human,” said Mr. Squirt. “Come on. Let’s go leak oil on some statues.”

“Ha-ha!” laughed Mr. Squeegee. “Okay.”

He moved to wipe off the liquid on the glass when he screamed in fright. Astro had opened the window and was staring right at them.

“How can I understand what you’re saying?” he asked. “You’re robots!”

The two robots nervously backed up. “We don’t want any trouble,” said Mr. Squirt.

Astro grabbed him before he could fly off. “Wait up. I just want to know what’s going on. What’s happened to me?”

Mr. Squirt struggled to get away. “Hey, hey, calm down,” Astro said. “I’m not gonna hurt you. You’re safe, little fella.”

Astro glanced down and gasped. He was hanging out of the window, hundreds of stories above the ground.

“Okay, guys, let’s back up very carefully,” he said calmly.

But Mr. Squirt just wanted to get away. He sprayed Astro in the eyes.

“Aaaaaaaaaaargh!”
Astro screamed.

He tumbled out of the window, plummeting to the ground.

“Oh, that’s tragic, that is,” said Mr. Squirt.

“Yeah,” said Mr. Squeegee. “You still want to go leak oil on some statues?”

“Heck to the yeah!” agreed Mr. Squirt. “Come on, baby!”

The two robots flew away. Astro closed his eyes as the pavement rushed up to meet him. In a matter of seconds, it would all be over ...

Then something strange happened. Astro’s body flipped into an upright position, with his feet facing the ground. Jets fired from the soles of his shoes. He hovered safely, inches above the ground.

Astro opened his eyes, not sure if he was dreaming. He wasn’t. This was really happening.

Curious, Astro tried pushing up. He shot up quickly, losing his balance. But he was still hovering in the air. Astro tried again.

Slam!
He hit the wall of the building, but he wasn’t hurt. Laughing, he raised his arms above his head and took off into the sky.

Astro zipped past Mr. Squirt and Mr. Squeegee. The two robots squirted on themselves in shock.

Astro waved at the robots, but the motion sent him rocketing downward. An expressway tunnel loomed ahead, and Astro wasn’t sure how to steer around it. He covered his eyes, hoping not to hit anything.

He zipped straight into the tunnel. Opening his eyes, he found he could weave in and out of the cars and trucks. He was getting the hang of it.

Astro emerged from the tunnel and soared up into the clouds. He had never felt so free.

He could fly!

Astro practiced diving in and out of the clouds. It was beautiful up here in the blue sky, with Metro City glimmering below. The more he flew, the bolder he got. Soon he was doing flips and cartwheels from cloud to cloud.

Astro flew as high as he could, then dove down through the clouds, heading back home. Now he was going so fast, he couldn’t stop himself. Once again, he found himself plummeting toward the ground. Astro tried to turn upright again, but he couldn’t do it.

Astro braced himself for the impact. Once again, something amazing happened. He dove right through the dirt, almost like he was swimming through water. He tunneled through the ground and exploded up from the top of a snow-covered mountain.

“This is so cool!” Astro cried, as he hovered over Metro City. “I gotta show Dad.”

President Stone paced the floor of his Command Center. Radar screens on the walls reported on the traffic in the air space above and around Metro City. Video monitors helped him keep an eye on the comings and goings of his residents.