Astro Boy: The Movie (2 page)

“I guessed as much,” Toby replied. He was disappointed, but he’d never show it.

“I’m sorry, Toby, but it’s unavoidable,” his father explained. “President Stone has brought forth the unveiling of the Peacekeeper.”

“The Peacekeeper? You’ve got to be kidding me!” Toby cried. He practically bounced in his seat. The Peacekeeper was the largest military robot ever created. He had heard his father talk about it, and he really wanted to see it up close.

“I never kid,” Dr. Tenma said seriously. “Good-bye, son.”

The hologram disappeared.

“The Peacekeeper, huh?” Toby mused. “Hey, Orrin, change of plan. Take me to the Ministry of Science.”

The robot shook his head. “I’m sorry, Master Toby, but your father gave me strict instructions to ... stop that! Wh-what are you doing back there? Hey! Hey!”

Toby leaned across the seat and quickly worked to rewire Orrin via the control panel on the robot’s back. Reprogramming Orrin’s orders was child’s play.

Orrin stopped protesting. He stepped on the gas.

“Next stop, Ministry of Science.”

The sound of marching boots echoed down the gleaming halls of the Ministry of Science. The boots belonged to dozens of soldiers in black uniforms who marched in perfect formation. President Stone, a tall, stern-looking man in black, led the group. He was flanked by Dr. Tenma and his Secretary of Defense, General Heckler.

“Ready to blow me away today, Tenma?” President Stone asked. “To make my hair stand up, to knock my socks off?”

“Er, yes, metaphorically speaking,” Dr. Tenma replied. He looked slightly uncomfortable. A man of science, Dr. Tenma preferred calculations and machines to actual people, and President Stone had enough personality for ten men.

“That’s the spirit!” Stone said, slapping Dr. Tenma on the back.

“Dr. Elefun is an esteemed colleague of mine, Mr. President,” Dr. Tenma began cautiously. “He may be resistant to having his discovery used for military purposes.”

“Leave Dr. Elefun to me,” President Stone replied darkly.

“Dad!”

Dr. Tenma turned to see Toby running toward them. Orrin followed him, but he was still confused from Toby’s rewiring job. The robot kept slamming into the wall.

“Hold that kid! Get him!” one of the soldiers yelled.

A soldier grabbed Toby by his ankle, leaving him dangling upside down. “What are you doing here?” Dr. Tenma said angrily. “I gave Orrin instructions to—”

Orrin slammed into the wall again. “Ow, ow, ow, ow ... ”

“I wanted to see the demonstration,” Toby said eagerly. “You’re always talking about the Peacekeeper.”

“Really, Toby,” Dr. Tenma said, annoyed.

President Stone nodded at Toby. “Your boy?” he asked.

“Yes, sir,” Dr. Tenma replied.

“Well, let him tag along,” President Stone said pleasantly. “It’ll be good for him. Educational.”

The soldier let go of Toby’s leg. “Releasing potential threat,” he said.

“So you’re interested in robots, son?” President Stone asked. “Robot weapons?”

“Absolutely,” Toby answered. “Although I’m sure you’ll agree, the latest D-Class Interceptor underlying deployment-to-target systems is quite old-fashioned.”

President Stone frowned. “Nobody likes a smarty- pants, kid.” He nodded to the soldier. “Take this boy to a safe place and keep him there.”

The soldier grabbed Toby again.

“But you said I could see the Peacekeeper!” Toby protested.

“You still can,” the president said. “On tonight’s news with everybody else.”

The soldier dragged Toby away. President Stone and the others marched down the hall and entered a large lecture hall. Rows of metal desks and seats filled with spectators surrounded a round platform. A small, round man in a white lab coat stood on the platform. He had a big, round nose in the center of his pleasant face. He was mostly bald, with a cloud of white hair ringing his head.

“Ladies and gentlemen, allow me to present Blue Core energy,” Dr. Elefun said.

A hologram appeared on the stage with him—a giant, glowing sphere of blue light. The crowd gasped in wonder. The light looked soothing and peaceful.

“Blue Core energy,” the scientist explained. He stepped closer to the audience. “A new self-sustaining power source much stronger than nuclear energy, and infinitely cleaner.”

The hologram changed. A 3-D image of a blue star appeared. The star exploded, breaking into pieces.

“The raw materials came from space,” Dr. Elefun went on. “A fragment of a star millions of light years away that no longer even exists. This is now all that’s left of it.”

The hologram faded, and a light shone on a pillar on the stage. A small, blue globe encased in a glass box sat on top of the pillar.

“Properly harnessed, this small sphere could transform not only Metro City, but life for those on the Surface as well,” Dr. Elefun said, smiling hopefully.

Then he caught sight of President Stone and the soldiers in the balcony. His smile faded.

“Imagine cleaning up the earth’s water,” Dr. Elefun continued. “Imagine bringing back the forests, imagine overcoming the effects of centuries of pollution ...”

Next to President Stone, Dr. Tenma watched his friend in admiration.

“I know he’s a bit of a dreamer, but he’s a brilliant scientist,” he assured the president.

“He’s a dangerous idiot who happens to have a high IQ,” President Stone snapped.

Onstage, a panel opened up on the floor and another pillar rose up. This one held a glowing red globe in a glass box.

“Unfortunately, there’s no such thing as a free lunch,” Dr. Elefun said. “When we extracted the positive blue energy from the fragment, we were left with this highly unstable byproduct. Red energy.”

A larger hologram of the red ball of light was projected next to Dr. Elefun. While the blue energy looked peaceful, the red energy looked unstable and angry.

“I like that one,” President Stone remarked. “Women voters are very partial to the color red, you know.”

Down below, Dr. Elefun continued his presentation. “Until we discover how to safely dispose of it ... ”

Suddenly, soldiers stormed the stage. They grabbed Dr. Elefun and then picked up the cases holding the red and blue globes.

“What are you doing? Stop!” Dr. Elefun yelled. “Keep the cores apart or you’ll kill us all!”

President Stone stepped onto the stage. “Do as he says!” he warned his soldiers.

The soldiers stepped apart, keeping the cores separate.

Dr. Elefun’s face was red with anger. “This is outrageous! Unprecedented! What are you intending to do with them?”

“Ha. I’m going to give the people of this city a reason to reelect me,” President Stone said, smiling like a snake.

“How?” Dr. Elefun asked.

“The only way I can, Doctor. I’m gonna kick some butt!”

Toby struggled to escape the soldier’s grip, but his captor was too strong. The soldier stopped in front of a blank, white door. With one free hand, the soldier took a card key from his pocket and slid it into a card reader on the side of the door. The door slid open.

“This is so unfair!” Toby protested.

The soldier pushed Toby through the door into a small holding cell. It was bare except for a single white stool.

“Now cool off, hotshot,” the soldier warned.

Toby took a look around the tiny room. He launched himself onto the soldier, pleading.

“Please don’t leave me in here! I can’t stand small places. Anywhere but here!” Toby begged.

The soldier plucked Toby off of his chest. “Gee, kid, you’re like thirteen years old. It’s time you grew a backbone.“

He backed up, closing the door behind him.

Toby grinned. “And you‘re, like, twenty-two. It’s time you grew a brain.”

Toby held up the card key he had swiped from the soldier during his fake breakdown. He opened the door and peeked out. The soldier was goofing off down the hallway, trying to impress a girl. Perfect. Toby tiptoed down the corridor toward his father’s lab.

Inside the lab, Dr. Elefun, President Stone, and the soldiers were gathered around Dr. Tenma. A female scientist satbehind a U-shaped control center. Beyond the control panel was a testing lab full of strange equipment. The Blue Core and Red Core had been placed in two stasis chambers, which were hovering on each side of the room.

“How could you be a party to this, Tenma?” Dr. Elefun asked in a hurt voice.

“Oh, come on, Elefun,” Dr. Tenma replied. “You know as well as I do, without military funding, all of our research—including yours—would grind to a halt.”

He called out to a female scientist sitting at a control panel.

“Start it up.”

A panel behind the lab opened to reveal a cavernous testing area. A huge robot lowered down from the ceiling on wires. The terrifying robot looked like a gigantic war machine protected by heavy body armor. Its legs were as big as tanks, and its arms were just as massive. Its small head was tucked into a large upper body with wide shoulders like a linebacker. Two dead, expressionless eyes looked out of its face.

The wires released, and the Peacekeeper stood on its own.

“Load the Blue Core,” Dr. Tenma ordered.

The female scientist operated a remote and the robot’s chest opened like a sliding door. Lights blinked on inside.

As the scientist controlled it, the Peacekeeper turned and moved toward the waiting Blue Core.

“Hold on,” President Stone said.

The scientist stopped, and the Peacekeeper froze in position.

The president turned to Dr. Tenma and Dr. Elefun. “This Blue Core ... it’s all sweetness and light, right? I mean, save the dolphins, give peace a chance?”

Dr. Elefun nodded. “It’s pure positive energy.”

“Call me a dreamer, but I think we’ll get a bit more bang for our buck using the red one,” President Stone said cheerfully.

“Ha
^!
” Dr. Elefun laughed. Then he saw President Stone looked completely serious. “Oh, you’re not joking?”

“Sir, we’re not putting something that dangerous into ... something that dangerous,” Dr. Tenma added.

“Listen, Tenma, I’ve got an election to win,” President Stone snapped. “I need my robot to be a fighter, not a lover.”

He nodded to the scientist at the controls. “Load the red one.”

“I won‘t,” she said firmly.

“Then I’ll do it!” the president said. “Move over, sweetheart.”

He roughly nudged the scientist out of her seat and grabbed the controls.

“No!” Dr. Elefun cried.

He and Dr. Tenma jumped forward, but the soldiers held them back.

President Stone worked the controls. The Peacekeeper awkwardly stomped over to the Red Core.

“Ha! It’s like a stupid video game,” the president laughed.

A claw emerged from within the robot’s chest. It grasped the Red Core and brought it inside the compartment.