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“Hold on, I almost got you!”
Astro tossed aside another piece of scrap metal. It had been a long day. He didn’t think it could get any worse than almost getting squashed at Hamegg’s games but getting deactivated, reactivated, and then pummeled by a giant robot were all strong contenders.
Now he was looking through the wreckage of Metro City for anyone stuck in the rubble. Or at least he had been. Astro had finished doing his last lap of the day and Dad had been driving him home when Astro saw a heat signature underneath the remains of the Peace Maker. Now here he was, digging though more rubble while Dad waited for him in the car. Hopefully this would be the last person who needed help. If he hadn’t mentioned it, it had been a long day.
Tearing away a sheet of metal, Astro heaved the last piece of rubble aside. Before Astro, lay a kid, who could not have been any older than he was. His back was turned to Astro but he could still see tufts of dark hair sticking up all over the place. As he got closer he saw that the boy looked unscathed—which was good—but that he was unmoving—not so good. Astro scanned him. He was just unconscious. Astro breathed out a sigh of relief.
Stepping over the last piece of debris, Astro knelt by his side. “Hey, are you alright?”
No response.
Hm, unfortunate but unsurprising. Astro scanned the boy again, this time looking for any injuries. The boy seemed like he was in perfect health other than being unconscious.
Gently, Astro tapped his shoulder, pausing for a moment before a groan sounded from the boy.
Well that was good, Astro had no idea what to do with someone unconscious, with the boy awake he should be able to ask him. But as the kid started to roll over and the two met eyes, Astro realized he wouldn’t need to ask any questions. He knew exactly who this boy was.
“Toby,” Astro breathed out an unnecessary breath, before turning to yell.
“Dad!”
***
The car ride home had been quiet.
When he first called out, Dad had run over frantically, but when he reached the two boys he had fell deathly silent, only moving to crouch down beside them. Astro doubted that Toby even saw his father. He had fallen back unconscious only moments later, leaving Dr. Tenma to carry him to the car.
Once they arrived at home, Dr. Tenma had rushed Toby upstairs, breezing by Astro without a second look. The two probably sat in his—no—in Toby’s bedroom.
Astro did not follow them. That had been three hours ago.
In the short time that he had been alive, Astro had a lot of experience with handling things he had no experience with. From getting kicked out, to being wanted by the government, to living on the surface, Astro had gotten very good at adapting to whatever the situation demanded. But no amount of adaptability could prepare him for this. He doubted any amount of experience would help either. Then again, how much experience could someone have with your Dad’s dead son being a lot less dead than previously thought?
And what would that mean for him? Astro had just gotten Dad’s approval but now with Toby back, he had no idea where he stood with Dad. Would Dr. Tenma want to shut him off again? Would he kick him out?
Dad hadn’t stopped Astro from coming home with him. And that was a good sign, wasn’t it? He hoped it was.
Astro shivered as a cold breeze hit him, suddenly aware of the fact that he was still practically naked after the fight with the Peacekeeper. Looking around, Astro realized he was sitting on a couch in the main foyer. Broken glass lined the floor of the relatively intact room. It was in much better shape than the rest of Metro City.
He let out a breath he didn’t know he had been holding. Had he been sitting here this whole time?
With a sigh, Astro stood up. If nothing else, he could at least get some clothes.
With Dad and Toby still in the bedroom, he was out of luck for getting anything out of the closet, but if remembered right Toby had always kept a spare set of clothes in his backpack after one of his experiments had blown up all over him.
Astro groaned, he had no idea where the backpack might be. This day was only getting longer.
***
After searching half the rooms, Astro was starting to think he might have been too optimistic about ever finding the backpack.
It seemed more and more likely that the bag had been thrown out or packed away. But who was he kidding? The bag probably was shoved away in some corner in Toby’s room. Waiting to be taken back to school by a not-so-dead boy. But Astro didn’t want to go anywhere near Toby’s room.
Maybe that was a little childish of him. He knew that he was going to have to face the facts sooner or later but the longer he put off seeing Dad, the longer he could pretend. To keep imagining that everything was going to go back to normal. Maybe ‘normal’ was the wrong word to use. Astro hadn’t really ever experienced normal—with spending most of his short life on the surface, Astro didn’t really know what normal would entail. But even if Astro hadn’t experienced it, he didn’t have to leave it up to imagination. In Toby’s memories, things hadn’t always been perfect and Toby hadn’t always been happy, but it was something.
Maybe it was wrong to want to go back to a period of time that wasn’t even his. But Astro couldn’t help but hope that he could experience it all for himself one day. But if Dad kicked him out again, that would never happen.
So he would put off confronting Dad or Toby, for as long as he could. So he kept looking.
And it wasn’t like he had anything else to do other than search for a bag. Orrin had been told to take the day off, Cora was probably reuniting with her family, and here he was: sitting, digging through the piles of junk, waiting for something—anything—to happen.
A loud ‘bang’ sounded from somewhere in the house. Astro shot to his feet. Had that come from the kitchen?
Well, at least it was something.
***
After he extracted himself from the pile of junk, Astro headed over to the kitchen, sensors kept at full alert, he was ready for anything.
Despite his precautions, Astro seriously doubted it was anything too bad. The absolute worst-case scenario was that the Peacekeeper was back, but more likely Orrin had come home earlier. Either way, it was a distraction and that was something Astro sorely needed.
The faint sound of murmuring voices radiated out from the kitchen.
Astro felt a drop of dread oscillate through his system. That wasn’t the Peacekeeper.
Pressing his ear to the door, he could hear the faint sounds of rustling from the kitchen. The churning of a microwave, the squeak of a chair.
“Son.”
It was Dad speaking, he sounded worn out. Astro could imagine him sitting there, fingers pinching the bridge of his nose.
“Dad.”
This voice was a higher pitch, and it was scratchy and drained. The voice sounded strange to Astro’s ears. Strange in the way that the sound of your own voice coming from a place that was not you always sounded strange. It was Toby.
Oh. This was the exact conversation he had been trying to avoid. Maybe it was stupid to think that avoiding Toby’s room would stop the other shoe from dropping but Astro was desperate for anything that would keep him from getting confirmation that things were about to change. And they were going to change, he knew that. With Toby back, nothing was going to stop that.
Astro backed away from the door. He shouldn’t be listening to this. He didn’t want to listen. Yet it was taking everything in his power to step away from the door.
It’s not like he wants to eavesdrop. He doesn’t even want to hear what is going to be said on the other side of that door. But, at the same time, he can’t help the thought that maybe, just maybe, it would make everything easier. This way he wouldn’t have to look Dad in the eye as he told him the verdict. This way he could be ready for whatever it was that Dad was going to tell him. He would be prepared if he just listened in.
Astro clenched his fists until he could hear the metal warp. He really didn’t want to but…
Astro pressed his ear against the door.
“Son, I—”
Dr. Tenma didn’t get very far before a loud shriek sounded as a chair slid across the floor and two feet stomped down.
“What are you going to tell me now?!” Toby yelled.
“Toby, I—”
“You said I was dead but not actually dead just absorbed into that robot and that it’s been, what? Months?!” Toby stormed across the floor. “Did you even miss me? Did you even care?”
“I missed you more than you could imagine!” Dr. Tenma snapped, voice surging to a yell.
Astro nearly flinched. He already knew that. After all, that was the reason for his creation, but it was hard to hear, even through a door. Maybe this wasn’t such a good idea after all.
Astro heard someone take a small step back. It must have been Toby.
Dr. Tenma paused for a moment, taking a calming breath. “Toby I…” he hesitated before changing tactics, “What do you remember from earlier today?”
Oh. That wasn’t good.
“Earlier today?” Toby repeated. He sounded taken aback.
“When you woke up for the first time.” Dr. Tenma continued.
Toby hesitated for a moment. “I remember…” he trailed off. If that was him, Astro would be wringing his wrists. He wondered if that is something Toby might do too. “I remember someone telling me it was going to be alright and then…” Toby trailed off.
“And then what, Toby?” Dr. Tenma prodded softy.
“Well, I think this might sound a little crazy but I saw their face and they—they looked just like me!”
Dr. Tenma sighed. “Yes, about that…”
Astro flattened himself against the door, both dreading and desperate to hear the next words. What was Dad going to say? ‘Oh don’t worry about that, it won’t be around for much longer.’ Or ‘Yes Toby, while you were gone I got bored and made a little robot version of you. Ha, isn’t that funny?’ He couldn’t imagine a good option here. Astro pressed closer to the door, before hearing an audible ‘click’. What was once a tightly latched door quickly became an opening one. Without the door supporting his weight, Astro tumbled to the floor. A loud ‘clank’ echoed throughout the room as two pairs of eyes locked on to Astro.
Oops.
The silence lasted for another ten seconds before all hell broke loose.
“You replaced me with a robot?!”
Dr. Tenma frowned. “Toby I—”
“I don’t know what I expected, I could never be good enough for you!” Toby spat, before running to the door.
“Toby, get back here!” But the door was already slamming behind him.
Silence shrouded the room as Dr. Tenma stood, deathly still, back turned to him. Even if he could see it, Astro doubted he would be able to read his father’s expression.
Astro took a deep breath in, exhaling slowly, feeling as the air left his body. The air was cool in the kitchen, the room itself had suffered less damage than the rest of the house, the windows intact and the walls standing strong. Astro took it all in, the room, the walls, even the floor. Anything other than looking at Dad. Astro had just made everything worse. This whole plan of his had been a mess. Thinking that listening in would somehow make the upcoming conversation easier was stupid. If anything, it had made it much harder. But, he had put off this moment for too long. He couldn’t keep avoiding this.
“Da—” Astro cleared his throat, “Dr. Tenma, if you want me to leave I—”
Dr. Tenma turned around slowly, eyes widening with surprise. But Astro couldn’t bear to look up to his face. He didn’t want to see that look of disappointment or to face rejection again. Astro watched as the pair of shoes walked towards him. They were soon obstructed, as Dad kneeled down beside him. Astro heard him pull in a deep breath.
“Astro I… I’m sorry,” he paused for a moment as if he was still considering his next words. “I was so caught up with Toby that I neglected you.” Dr. Tenma placed a hand on his shoulder and gave a firm squeeze.
Astro squeezed his eyes shut. This was it. The moment he was so afraid to hear. He was finally going to hear Dad out.
“I want you to stay, you’re still my son, Astro, and no matter what happens you will always have a home here.”
The words slowly began to register in Astro. All that time on the surface he thought—no—he knew that Dad had regretted what he had done, that Dad regretted making him, yet here he was telling him that he should stay, that he was wanted. Astro lifted his head, finally meeting Tenma’s gaze. He saw nothing but love and worry. Tears welled up in his eyes and before he could stop himself, he burst forward, wrapping his arms around his father.
Dad stiffened at first but then relaxed into the hug, gently putting his arms around Astro.
“Let’s get you set up with a room, alright?”
***
Astro was standing outside another door. This time it was not the door to the kitchen or the door to his new room. No, this is the door leading to Toby’s room.
After the confrontation in the kitchen, Astro had completed his search for the backpack. Every nook and cranny from the living room, to the study, to the lab. The only place he hadn’t checked was the room standing in front of him. Toby’s room.
Astro didn’t want to wait any longer for clothes, but he would rather wait than run into Toby. But with any luck, he wouldn’t have to. Turning up his hearing sensitivity, Astro scanned the room in front of him.
Nothing.
With a sigh of relief, Astro pushed open the door and felt his world go sideways as he smacked the floor with a loud thump. Looking up Astro, found himself face to face with the backpack. He tripped on it. Figures.
Pulling himself to his feet, Astro glanced around. Memories raced through his head as he studied what had once been his room. He could remember sitting by the window, eyes tracing the city traffic. He remembered disassembling an alarm clock, and then convincing Orrin to help him hide parts when he couldn’t put it back together. He could remember disappointment after Dad missed another convention. But those weren’t any of his memories, not really.
His hand brushed along the bed. Astro thought of the first night he spent at home. He and Dad hadn’t spoken much before he had fallen asleep, but when he woke up the next day, Dad was still there. That wasn’t one of Toby’s, that memory was all his.
Astro shook away his thoughts. He came here for clothes, not to reminisce. Stepping over the backpack carefully, Astro headed towards the closet. As long as he was in here he might as well make use of the closet instead of whatever wrinkled clothes lay in Toby’s backpack. Opening a random drawer Astro began rummaging. Pulling out a pair of jeans he sta—
The door swung open. Astro whirled around, eyes darting up to meet—Toby—it was Toby.
Astro couldn’t help but stare. If it was strange to hear Toby through the kitchen door it was even weirder to see him here. He hadn’t had time to fully process seeing him in the kitchen but now that he was here, standing in front of him, it was hard to ignore their similarities. They would be mirror images if Astro wasn’t bent over, legs half tangled in a pair of jeans.
“What are you doing in here?” Toby glared him down.
“Uhh,” Astro looked down at the jeans and then back up to Toby. “Changing up my wardrobe?” He grinned weakly.
Toby did not look amused. He frowned before turning away, walking toward his desk.
“You should leave.”
Astro pulled the pants the rest of the way on. That was fine with him. But as he stepped towards the door, Astro stopped. He couldn’t keep doing this. First the tip-toeing around Dad and then again with Dad and Toby. Now here he was doing it again. Dad said he had a place here, but that was never going to happen until he could settle things with Toby. He couldn’t ignore this forever.
Astro turned to face Toby. “Maybe we should talk.”
Toby didn’t even look up. “No thanks.”
This wasn’t off to a good start. “Dad said—”
“He’s not your Dad.”
“Dad said,” Astro continued, maybe a touch too forceful, “that I’m going to stay here.”
He paused to let Toby take it in.
“That means we are going to live together,” he continued.
Astro looked at Toby expectantly. Toby didn’t meet his eyes.
Astro huffed, “So maybe we should, I don’t know, talk?” Toby didn’t turn to face him.
“You can’t have my room.”
“Uh okay,” Astro brow furrowing before coming to a realization, “Oh, I didn’t mean I’m staying here here as in this room here just in the house here but I—I don’t want your room.” It surprised Astro that it was true. He really didn’t want Toby’s room. Sure, he may have memories here, both good and bad, but he couldn’t live off of someone else's memories. It was time to make his own.
“I seriously only wanted some clothes.” Astro added and grabbed a random shirt, waving it around for emphasis.
Toby still didn’t look up from where he was sitting. Astro internally let out a sigh. This was proving to be harder than he expected. Not that he expected it to be easy, it's just—well—he didn’t think that Toby would shut him out like this. No, he thought there was going to be a little bit more talking involved, maybe even the slamming of a door. But here they were and Toby was just sitting there. Not even looking at him.
Astro straightened, maybe he should try a new tactic. “Look, I get that you are mad at me—”
“I’m not mad,” Toby muttered.
“Okay, but when you say that—”
“Why would I be mad at you, you’re just a machine.”
Ouch. Astro sighed, he knew he couldn’t let Toby get to him.
“Well, uh, you kinda seem mad.”
“I’m. Not.” Toby ground out. Astro could practically hear the punctuation, attempting to bring an end to this conversation.
“Wha—”
Toby whirled around, glaring. But for the first time in this conversation, Toby met Astro’s gaze. His eyes were wet, was he crying?
“What is your problem?” He demanded, “Can’t you just leave!”
Before he could respond, Astro sidestepped a pillow, flying at his face.
Toby screamed in frustration. “First you replace me and now you want to what? Be friends?”
“I—”
“Shut up!“ Toby glared.
Astro was seriously tired of getting cut off, “Stop interrupting me!”
“Why? Are you that desperate for someone to listen to you”
What was he even talking about? “No! I just want you to stop being so irrational!” Astro took a deep breath in, trying to force some calm into the situation. “Why are you trying to start a fight?”
“Are you kidding me? You think we should be getting along?”
Not really, but at least he was trying. “Why can’t we?” Astro asked. “I get it, you are mad at me right now but—”
“I’m not mad at you!” Toby yelled, face red with indignation.
Astro scowled, he couldn’t believe this kid. Who was he trying to convince here? “You’re being ridiculous!”
“Excuse me for not being some perfect robot!” Toby whirled around, throwing out his arms wildly.
“What are you even talking about?”
“I’m talking about how Dad went and replaced me with the perfect robot son!” Toby ended the sentence by stabbing his finger outward. “I bet you never disappointed him.”
“Perfect?” Astro repeated in disbelief, “He didn’t want me! All he ever wanted was you!” Astro could feel his voice rising to a yell, but he couldn’t bring himself to care.
“Yeah sure he did! He never cared! Even when I died he just turned around and went off to make a Toby 2.0.”
Astro scowled, “My name is Astro.”
Toby stalked forward. “You’ve been living my life for the last month, you literally replaced me and now you are saying you actually haven’t been pretending to be me?”
“I haven’t!”
“Don’t lie to me! You replac—”
“I am not you!” Astro screamed, “I never got to be you! I was so bad at being you, Dad threw me out before the end of the day!”
“Stop lying!”
“Dad kicked me out the day after he finished me, I’ve been in this room once! I never replaced you! How could I? I wasn’t you.”
He let out a breath. “Don’t you get it?” Astro has had enough. He was tired of fighting, “Dad only made me cause he missed you. I could never compete.”
No matter what he did, he was never going to be Toby. Dad had accepted him as his own person, so Astro shouldn’t feel like he had to compete. He didn’t need to be Toby to still be Dad’s son.
Looking up, Astro saw that Toby had stopped glaring. It must be too hard to glare with tears running down your face.
Silence blanketed the room, only interrupted by Toby’s sniffling. For once, Toby had nothing to say.
Astro hadn’t exactly had a plan going into this conversation but he hadn’t meant for it to go anything like this. He hadn’t meant to lose it like that and yell. As Toby let out a sob, Astro could do nothing but stand there.
He let out a breath of air, posture deflating as he went. Toby was back to avoiding looking at him, eyes anywhere but his robot counterpart. Toby’s sleeve wiped at his face, desperately trying to clear the steady flow of tears. Finally, with a last sniffle the boy slouched, a defeated look in his eyes.
“Well I guess neither of us are good enough for Dad.” Toby slumped on to his bed. The words were almost too quiet to hear but Astro heard them all the same.
That…wasn’t what Astro had expected. Toby wasn’t giving Astro more grief, he was extending a peace offering. Hesitantly, Astro sat down beside Toby, bed sinking under his weight. For a moment all Astro could do was shift uncomfortably before he finally responded. “Yeah, I guess so.”
The pair sat together in silence, as Toby mopped up the rest of his tears. Astro didn’t look at Toby but he felt him shifting beside him on the bed.
“Did Dad really kick you out?”
Astro hunched onto himself. “Yeah.” Getting kicked out had been pretty horrible but if he hadn’t been, he never would have met his friends or learned what the surface was really like. He just wished that his best memories hadn’t come about because of his worst.
“That sucks.”
Astro looked up in surprise. “Yeah, it did.”
Toby seemed like he was really trying here. The least he could do was to try the same. Astro cringed slightly as he recalled how much he had really messed this all up. “Sorry for yelling.”
“It’s fine.” Toby looked down and pulled his legs on the bed. He seems to wrestle with something for a moment before deciding to proceed.
“I…” Toby started unsurely, “I really am not actually mad at you,” before Astro could interject, Toby added, “and not just cause you are a robot or whatever.”
“Oh.”
“I…I’m just upset that Dad—and I just wish—I don’t know.” Toby gripped the bedspread with a desperate sort of energy. The sheets were going to be completely wrinkled, Astro thought distantly before shaking the thought away.
“Well thanks.”
“For what?”
“Not being mad at me.”
Toby looked over at him and laughed, the hiccuping kind of laugh that someone could only make after they had been crying. “That’s a stupid thing to thank someone for.“
Astro smiled back mischievously, “Huh, seems perfectly reasonable to me.”
Toby punched him in the arm. Astro laughed as Toby scowled and tried to discreetly shake off the hurt.
“Geez, what did Dad make you out of?” Toby grimaced.
Astro’s smile lessened at the question. He almost started to say something vague, maybe about being stronger than he looked, and then stopped. Astro had forgotten. He didn’t have to hide anymore, after the fight with the Peacekeeper in the city, Astro doubted anyone was going to mistake him for a human anymore. And even if that wasn’t the case, Toby of all people was always going to be intrinsically aware that he was something other than flesh and blood.
For a moment, Astro considered if Toby was just making fun of him, but looking at Toby—face blotchy but intrigued—he knew he hadn’t entirely been joking.
And why would it be? While they didn’t have the exact same interests—the boring books Toby apparently liked was proof enough—Astro knew that both of them had shared at least one.
“I’m mostly titanium, but a mix of other elements, like I’ve got palladium in my core.” Astro answered honestly.
Toby sat up. “Did Dad choose Titanium over carbon steel because of the higher strength to weight ratio?” Toby looked rather intent about knowing the answer.
Not expecting such an enthusiastic response, Astro stalled out for a moment. “Uh…I think Dad needed a non-reactive material, my core puts out a lot of energy.”
“Cool.”
Internally Astro smiled. The more he thought about it, the more he was sure. The connection they shared through their twin memories—even if Toby didn’t know about that yet—meant something. After all this, maybe they could be friends.
The pair sat together in silence, but this time, it was the more comfortable kind of silence. The kind where you don’t mind if it goes on a little bit longer.
In the end, Toby was the one to break the quiet. “It’s been a while since I’ve played any video games” he started, “I bet I can beat you at any game.”
Astro looked up. Toby’s eyes were still red from crying and he was asking him if he wanted to spend more time together?
Astro smiled. People can be pretty cool sometimes.
“You’re on.”
***
Sometime later, when Dr. Tenma went looking for his sons he would find two boys, fast asleep, video game controllers still in hand.