A Year Later ....

[Tetsuwan Penguin]

A year later ….

Yuko put down the telephone receiver and entered Dr. O'Shay's office. “Astro's school just called,” she said. “They called to report that he was absent from class and Mr. Mustashcio wanted to know if Astro was here with us.”

“I haven't seen him today.” Dr. O'Shay told his assistant. “I last saw him at home getting ready for school, he had his backpack with him and was dressed in his usual school outfit. Maybe Reno knows what's going on, I'll stop by his work area and ask him.”

Dr. O'Shay made his way down to the lower level where Reno had his workshop. The doctor found the young man repairing a technician robot that had been over due for service. Reno looked up from where he had been sitting with his hands inside of the 'bot.

“You're probably going to ask me if I've seen Astro, aren't you, Hakase?” Reno asked.

“Yes, actually that is why I came down here.” O'Shay said. “Mustashcio called my office to complain that he'd been playing hooky from school.”

“Well he was in here briefly about a half an hour ago.” Reno answered. “He rummaged in the lower drawer of my filing cabinet for some of his stuff, and left with something.”

“I wonder what it was that Astro wanted?” O'Shay thought out loud.

“Well, let's take a look.” Reno replied, putting down his tools and walking over to the other side of the room. “Astro wanted a place to store some personal items, so I cleaned out that lower drawer for him.” Reno explained. “Remember about a year ago when we cleaned out the remains of Dr. Tenma's old house and found those old pictures and things that had belonged to Tobio?”

“Yes, come to think of it Astro had become attached to one or two of those old photographs. That was about the time that Hoshie had reappeared and then suffered her fatal stroke.” Dr. O'Shay muttered.

Reno opened the lower drawer of the cabinet and carefully looked though the contents.
“It does seem that one of the framed photographs is missing, I think it's the one of Hoshie in that pretty yellow dress.” he said. “Might be something else missing as well, I didn't keep any inventory of what Astro kept in there, and I've only looked inside a few times.”

Reno glanced up at the calendar on the wall. “You know, I think I know where he might have gone, I'll go check and see if he's OK.”

“I'll come with you.” Dr. O'Shay answered back.

“I don't think that would be a good idea.” Reno said walking over to a different drawer in the workshop and putting something into his pocket. “Your Acrophobia and Vertigo might cause you a problem.”

“Oh.” Dr. O'Shay said softly. “Well then take care of it yourself. The two of you get along rather well anyway.”

“Sure, don't worry about a thing.” Reno said.

He turned off the power supply on the robot he'd been repairing and changed his shoes. Then he headed out of the workshop toward the elevator with the doctor. Dr. O'Shay got off on the 20th floor, but Reno took the cab up to the top of the building. He headed towards the observation deck and opened a hidden stairway into a service corridor. A panel leading up to the roof was open, just as he'd expected. Reno climbed up a ladder and poked his head though the open hatch.

Astro was sitting on the far ledge of the roof with his feet dangling over the edge. Reno walked slowly towards him as a bunch of pigeons waddled past. “Astro and those birds are so nonchalant about heights” he thought. “It's so easy to be fearless on the top of a tall building when you can fly!” Reno wasn't very fearful of heights himself, he'd been a circus performer after all, and the magnetic soles on his shoes had a strong grip on the roof's metal surface.

Reno sat down next to Astro with his legs crossed, Indian style. He tapped his buddy on the shoulder to get his attention. “Whatcha doing up here Astro?” He asked.

Astro kept his eyes looking down into his lap. “Just thinking.” he said. “I like it up here because I can be alone with my thoughts.”

“Want me to leave you alone then?” Reno asked, starting to get up.

“No, you can stay.” Astro said turning his head. “It's also nice to have a friend to talk to.”

Reno looked down at what Astro was holding in his lap. Sure enough, he had the framed photograph of Hoshie in the yellow dress. He was also holding onto a stoppered glass vile that contained a large lock of brown hair.

“You still miss her, don't you?” Reno asked.

“I guess so.” Astro sobbed. “I actually thought I'd forgotten about her, but when I got up this morning to get ready for school I noticed what day it was on the calendar, and I suddenly felt real empty inside of me.”

“Yeah, that's what humans call grief.” Reno said. “I sorta figured out what was going on with you when I noticed today's date. It's been exactly a year since Hoshie died.”

“Is it this way with people?” Astro asked. “And why am I feeling so shitty? I'm a robot.”

“You had that connection with Tobio you know.” Reno said. “You joined minds with Hoshie and you shared common memories about Tobio, you even sorta became Tobio.”

“How do people handle their grief?” Astro asked. “Is there something special I should do?”

Reno reached into his pocket and pulled out a small glass cup containing a candle. “Do you remember David Kohen who worked at the institute a while back?” Reno asked. “He stayed with me for a while before he found a place of his own.”

“Yeah, he was a nice guy.” Astro nodded.

“Well while we roomed together it was the anniversary of his mom's passing. Being Jewish, he lit a Yahrzeit candle for her on that day. I guess the supermarket was selling those ceremonial candles in three packs 'cause he left two of them in my apartment. I moved some of the stuff he left behind into my workshop.” Reno handed Astro the candle. “Maybe lighting this might make you feel better.”

“You think so?” Astro said in a low voice.

“Come, let's get down off of this roof, it's drafty up here.” Reno said.

Astro pulled up his shirt and opened his chest panel. He carefully put the photograph, along with the glass vile and the candle inside and closed the panel. “Can we go back to your place?” Astro asked.

“Sure.” Reno said, grabbing hold of Astro around his neck. Astro flew off the roof and carried Reno back to his apartment. He hovered next to the living room window, and opened it, then lighted gently inside.

Astro set the candle down on the coffee table in the living room. Reno returned from the kitchen with a box of matches. “Here Astro,” he said.

Astro struck a match and lit the candle. “Am I supposed to say something?”

“If you want to.” Reno said. “I'm sure there is some kind of Jewish prayer or blessing that David said when he lit his candle, but it really doesn't matter. Just do whatever you heart tells you to do.”

Astro thought back to the memories he had read out of Hoshie's mind. He felt kinda warm inside, as if he was close to his mother. “She's still here.” Astro told Reno, pointing to where his electronic brain was inside of his chest.

“She'll always be there, Astro.” Reno said.

Astro gave Reno a big hug. “Thank's buddy!” he sobbed. “I know I can get through this now.”

“Anything else I can get you, Astro?” Reno asked.

“Yeah, how about a large pizza and a quart of oil?” Astro said. “Suddenly, I'm hungry!”



Remember the story I posted 'bout a year ago called DNR? Well my Mom's Yahzeit was today. It was just a year ago (according to the Jewish calendar) that she passed away. Guess Astro and I are sharing something in common today .....