Chapter Text
Atom was sitting in one of the labs of the Ministry of Science, watching some techs make repairs on one of his rocket boots. He couldn’t quite move at the moment, considering half of his leg was currently across the room, so he contented himself with watching the repair process. He had damaged one of the thrusters when he accidentally slammed into a building while flying back to the Ministry. He assumed that Dr. Ochanomizu wouldn’t be happy about the incident, so Atom had decided to just leave the repairs to the other scientists so his adoptive father wouldn’t have to know about it.
As far as he knew, things had been going great in Metro City. When the order came that robots with AI were no longer servants to humans, many different robots- drivers, construction workers, traffic guards, housekeepers, all gathered in the street to celebrate. Many humans had joined in too. Atom and Uran had been there, alongside all of their friends. Even Dr. Emil had flown out with Denkou all the way from Switzerland that day to congratulate Dr. Ochanomizu for his work in robot equality.
Now, most of the partying was over, and Metro City was starting to settle back into its new normal. Robot workers were treated with more kindness than they had before. If they weren’t busy, some people stopped to chat with them for a bit, or just to say hello to them and thank them for their work. Goonon, the ocean exploration robot built by Reno, had organized a tour project of his own to take school children out into the ocean and teach them about marine wildlife once he had heard he could make his own choices. Atlas and Pluto had decided to rebuild their lives and live as normally as they could. Last he had heard from Pluto, he was working on environmental cleanup, removing toxic waste from the forests and lakes. Atlas was working on joining the space program so he could finally work in outer space.
He was happy for all his friends. Thanks to Atom’s efforts, everyone could live happier lives. He couldn’t ask for much more than that. He watched as the techs finished up the repairs on his leg. He was happy that Dr. Ochanomizu wouldn’t have to hear about his mistake. He had just been distracted for a moment, and clipped the side of the building. He wouldn’t do it again. The last thing he needed was for Dr. Ochanomizu to be even more worried about him.
A tech he didn’t know the name of brought his rocket boot back over to him, and reattached it to his upper leg. The joint clicked back into place, and he could move it. It felt as good as new. So far, he had only ever trusted Dr. Ochanomizu to do repairs on himself and Uran, but he figured that the Ministry of Science knew so much about him by now that repairs to his extremities would be easy enough. As for more internal components, he didn’t trust those to anyone but Dr. Ochanomizu. He knew how delicate they were, and how even a well-intentioned person could break him for good by messing with them.
“Thank you!”
He said to the tech, getting up from where he was sitting. The tech nodded to him and walked away, heading back into the lab to work on another project. The Ministry of Science was always a busy place, multiple things being done at once. In one lab, a robot capable of diving into a volcano was being developed. In another, plans were being laid out for a space station. He knew about everything that went on at the Ministry. Most of the scientists were happy to tell him about their projects when he asked about them, and the ones who weren’t were exactly the same way when talking to humans. Some people were just not a fan of visitors, and Atom knew to give them space to work alone.
Atom walked into the elevator, ending up standing next to Yuko and her robot Momo. She stepped to the side so he could select a floor to go to. He wanted to go to the roof, so he pressed the button for the roof access floor. There, he could see if his thrusters were working like they should. After all, that was the whole point of having rocket boots.
“Atom, how was school?” She asked.
Atom took a second to recall what he did. He had history class in the hologram room- about a war between many countries called World War One. He didn’t like that there was a “one” in that name. It implied there was a second World War, and he didn’t like that. Plus, there was writing class, where Atom had found that he wasn’t very good at writing made-up stories. His real life was strange enough, he didn’t know how he could make a fictional story any weirder than anything he had experienced himself.
“We had writing class today! I’m not very good at it, though.”
“Oh? But you’ve made some very impactful speeches just a few days ago, you have a way with words.”
“I just can’t make anything up that anybody likes. I’m no good at made-up stories.”
“Maybe they’ll like your autobiography, then. If all the things you’ve done weren’t on the news, everyone would believe it was made up.”
Yuko smiled at Atom, before the elevator door opened and she stepped out, presumably to go to Dr. Ochanomizu’s office. It wasn’t long before the elevator moved again and he was finally on the roof. He opened the rooftop access door, feeling the wind against his artificial skin. Now, time to test out the repairs.
He lifted into the air, doing a few loops. He didn’t feel anything amiss, so he quickly touched back to the ground. The repair work seemed stable to him. A quick self-scan confirmed it. He decided that he’d go to Dr. Ochanomizu’s office and stay there until it was time to go home. It was still an hour until they could leave, but Uran was sleeping over at her friend’s house and Atom didn’t like being home alone.
It wasn’t long until Atom was at Dr. Ochanomizu’s door. He opened it, to find a TV screen lowered from the ceiling. Dr. Ochanomizu was talking to someone. He wondered if he was allowed to listen in, but he decided to stay. He was curious, after all.
It was Inspector Tawashi on the other end, and he sounded like something had gone wrong. That was usually the case when Dr. Ochanomizu and Inspector Tawashi were talking about something, though. Atom supposed he would find himself involved in yet another case. He had been getting bored without any crime to fight, anyhow. He was quite alright with going to check something out if Inspector Tawashi needed him to.
“Doctor, we kept it quiet in order to not cause a panic, but it keeps happening! Nine people have been hurt so far, all in the same manner. The only reason nobody’s seriously hurt is that nobody tries to fight it!”
“What should we do? This could cause major unrest, and at a time when relations between robots and humans are still so fragile. This is about the worst time a robot could possibly pick to start attacking people.”
A robot was attacking people? Why would a robot do that? Robots were free now, their wish had been granted by the government of Japan. It didn’t make sense to Atom. Why would a robot ruin the peace now?
“You don’t think..”
“No, Inspector. If this was a protest against the mistreatment of robots, then they’re about a week too late. Either our culprit has personal motives for the attacks, or they’re being programmed to do it by someone else. The best thing to do now is try to find a link between all the victims. There has to be a connection. Robots don’t run on blind emotion, there has to be some sort of pattern we’re not seeing.”
“I agree with you, Doctor. See if you can get Atom up here. He’s about the best we’ve got at detecting hidden patterns. I’ll also have Delta and the rest of the ARRS patrol the streets tonight. Our suspect has been striking at night so far.”
Then, Dr. Ochanomizu noticed him.
“Oh, Atom! I was just about to call for you. We’ve got a bit of a problem on our hands.”
Atom agreed with the two men. There had to be a pattern. He knew his own thought processes, they were made of patterns. He did things a certain way because they made sense. Doing anything meant having his brain use the most logical method to do it. Whatever this robot criminal wanted to do, they would be doing it in the most efficient way possible. If it was to attack all humans, they would have done it already. There had to be a more refined reason than just revenge on humanity. If that was the case, they would have gone for the prominent anti-AI activists first, and as far as Atom knew, all of those people were unharmed.
“I heard some of it. Why would a robot attack anyone now? Why would anyone ruin what Dr. Ochanomizu and I did?”
“We don’t know yet. That’s why we want you on this case. I’ll send you the data we have now, as well as everything we know about the victims.”
Inspector Tawashi said, before reaching down to press something on his keyboard. Across from Atom, a computer terminal flashed to life, the files having been transferred to it. Having done this a million times before, Atom knew what to do. He opened his chest panel and plugged one of the cables into the port next to his heart. Now, he had access to the files from Inspector Tawashi.
He pulled up a map of Metro City and compared it to the locations of the crimes. Three days ago, an attack happened at the docks. Two days ago, another attack happened at the casino. Yesterday, another attack happened near the police station. All nine attacks happened in different sections of the city, in the dead of night. Three out of nine sections had been hit. The attacker was working their way down from the top right of the map, near the docks.
He pulled up a detailed view of the fourth section. It was mainly industrial, with most of the city’s factories being located there for easy access to the docks for shipping. If the attacker was indeed going from section to section each night, the fourth section would be tonight’s target.
“Inspector, I think I’ve found something important.”
“What did you find, Atom?”
“All the attacks have happened in different sections of the city. Three days ago it was four people in Section 1. Two days ago it was two people in Section 2. Yesterday it was three people in Section 3. If they keep up the pattern, Section 4 will be attacked tonight. We need to go to the industrial section, south of the docks. If my data is right, that’s where they’ll be next.”
“I’ll tell Delta to assemble the ARRS and patrol Section 4. Do you have any links between the people who were attacked?”
He took a moment to scan the files on each victim. Eight of them were very sparse, but they revealed they were travelers from the United States. Specifically, from cities on the West Coast, mostly Los Angeles, Seattle, and San Francisco. The ninth was detailed, a businessman from Metro City who was caught in the Section 2 attack. He had been grazed by a laser, with some minor burns. The injury made it look like he was caught in the crossfire rather than deliberately targeted. The others had more direct injuries like deeper burns and injuries from being directly hit or kicked. Each report said that the robot would stop chasing once the victim was far enough away.
“Only that most of the victims are American, from cities on the West Coast. Only one is from here, and his injuries look like he was caught up in another attack.”
“Why would anyone go after only Americans? Who would program a robot to specifically target foreigners?” Dr. Ochanomizu asked, clearly somewhat perplexed by the situation.
“Or, why would a robot choose to only attack foreigners?” Inspector Tawashi added.
“It’s confusing. I can’t seem to find a reason why. The American’s profiles don’t have enough data. But, we should start getting ready to go on patrol. The earliest attack was at 8:00 PM.” Atom replied.
It was 7:00 PM now. If Tawashi was to prepare human and robot teams to patrol Section 4, he would need that time. As for Atom, he would simply wait for them there.
“Delta will meet you at the Central Plaza. We’ll set up a command center nearby. We’ll catch this criminal tonight, and then we’ll have our answer.” Inspector Tawashi said before ending the call.
Atom took a moment to look at the data again. He couldn’t derive anything new from it at the moment. But, he knew they would have an answer very soon, if all went to plan. He hoped this robot would go quietly. He didn’t want to fight anyone, human or robot.
“Doctor, I’m going to go to the Plaza now and wait for everyone. You should go with Inspector Tawashi so he and Delta’s team can protect you.” Atom suggested.
“And what about you? What if they strike before we get there?”
“Then I’ll handle them myself. I’ve done it before!”
Atom said with a confident smile. He liked to think that he was quite strong now, after all he had gone through. It had been a long journey for Atom, but he had gained experience along the way. Surely he could take down this criminal.
“Be careful, Atom. We’ll meet you there.”
Atom would rather Dr. Ochanomizu not be in the line of fire at all. He didn’t want anyone to get hurt, especially someone who wasn’t fighting at all. Atom and Delta and his team could handle it, and they were much stronger than humans. But, he knew he couldn’t stop him from going. His only option was to keep the humans as safe as he could.
He quickly made his way to the roof, launching himself into the sky. His left rocket, the one that had been repaired, kicked back a little, but Atom wasn’t really concerned. He was flying just fine, and he couldn’t waste any more time in the repair lab. He watched the people down below as he flew, tiny from his place in the sky, moving on the streets like ants. All of them could be hurt if he didn’t stop this criminal.
He took his time flying to Section 4, watching the scenery change from apartments and shops to towering factories. Due to pollution laws, the only thing billowing out of the smokestacks was water vapor, but it made it hard to see nonetheless. He mostly relied on his scanners to bring him through the steam and into the Central Plaza. He touched down at 7:30, having spent thirty minutes in the sky.
He spotted Delta and the rest of the ARRS team, so he walked over to them.
“I just don’t understand why another robot would do this!” Atom commented.
“Whatever their reason, we will put a stop to them. We cannot allow crime to exist in this city.” Delta replied.
Atom agreed with that sentiment. He didn’t want anyone to get hurt. He wanted to save everyone no matter what- even people like Dr. Tenma deserved to live. He didn’t know these Americans who had been hurt, but they didn’t deserve to be attacked.
“It’s also weird that we don’t know anything about the victims besides where they came from. Why don’t they have files?”
“There is no data about them to add. We tried to search databases in the United States for information, but we found nothing.”
It all just didn’t make sense to Atom. A robot had attacked eight Americans, all with no data about them besides their names and cities of origin. They had to have some common link, but there was nothing he could find. They weren’t all from one city, and they weren’t all from one family either. They didn’t even have IDs on them, the police had only found their names from airport records. What person didn’t carry any sort of identification?
Atom and Delta spent the next 30 minutes discussing the case, and what they would do in their personal lives. Delta seemed happy to work with the police, he didn’t want anything more out of his life. Inspector Tawashi took more time to thank Delta for his work now, and Delta was quite alright with that. Atom was happy that Delta had found his place in life, just like some of the other robots he knew did.
The sky was getting darker now, and there were less and less people around. He could see Inspector Tawashi and Dr. Ochanomizu, as well as some other police officers, parked at one end of the plaza. There were some civilians around too, mostly factory workers. There were only a couple people in normal clothes, who were standing around looking at their phones or talking to each other. He wondered when the robot would strike.
It was only twenty minutes of waiting before Atom heard something. It was the sound of someone running down the road. He could hear a laser being fired behind the person, and they screamed. Looking over, he could see a man running for his life, pursued by a robot. That was their criminal.
The robot was wearing a blue flannel shirt, sleeves torn to expose the panels on his arms. He also wore a green shirt and dark blue jeans. One of the panels was open, and a blade was extended from it. The lasers had come from his pointer fingers, and he continued to fire the lasers at the fleeing man.
As the robot approached, Atom could make out more details. His face was frozen into a neutral expression, and he had bright blue eyes with slits for pupils. He immediately lifted off into the air, his repaired leg again kicking back and sending him off-balance for a moment. But, he recovered, and he flew straight toward the robot. Delta flew over as well. Atom managed to slam into the robot just in time to knock him away and make him miss the next laser shot.
The robot turned to him and Delta, but he didn’t say anything. Instead, he shot at Delta, hitting his arm. The robot continued to run after the man, shooting another laser blast. This one hit its mark, setting the man’s clothes on fire. The man dropped to the ground to put himself out, and the robot took the opportunity to catch up to him. However, before he could start a new assault, Delta managed to recover from the blast and fired a rocket at the robot.
He fell to the ground, and Atom took the opportunity to try and scan him. However, he couldn’t get past his external skin. There was the blade, and the lasers, but he couldn’t see anything else. There was some sort of device blocking his scan, making it impossible to see if he had any other weapons. It was clear, this robot was built for one purpose- damage.
Before Delta and Atom could catch up to the robot, he leapt to his feet. Firing another blast in their direction, landing another hit on Delta, he ran off again, following the man. It was as if the robot didn’t even want to attack anyone else but this man. The only reason he was firing at the two of them was to distract them so he could continue his pursuit. Atom wondered if he was actually an assassin, programmed to hunt down specific people and only those people.
Atom took to the air again, diving directly into the robot and bringing them both to the ground with a crash. He tried to swing at Atom with the blade on his arm, but Atom managed to dodge it.
“Please, stop this fight! You don’t have to hurt anyone!” Atom pleaded, just wanting the battle to be over before anyone got hurt.
The robot didn’t respond. Atom wondered if he even could respond. He looked very human except for the visible joints, but maybe he was truly programmed only to attack. While the robot was distracted, Delta managed to land another hit on him, knocking him down again. The man, who had been running for his life, managed to reach Inspector Tawashi. The man got into the car with another police officer and sped off. The robot didn’t seem to notice.
Atom decided to fly up a little more, hoping to see where the car was going. The robot was still on the ground, and Delta was catching up to them. However, he didn’t notice the robot raise his arm until it was too late. He heard the laser fire, hitting his repaired rocket booster. He felt the heat of it against the metal, and quickly jettisoned the fuel before it could explode. He tried to stay in the air with just his one working leg, but he could only manage it for a few seconds before falling. He was caught by Delta, and they lowered to the ground.
However, in the time it took to get to the ground, the robot criminal was gone. He couldn’t scan to find him, he couldn’t get a lock on him. He was gone.
“Go home, Atom. We’ll continue the search.”
Delta said to him, carrying him over to Inspector Tawashi and Dr. Ochanomizu.
“Atom! What happened?” Dr. Ochanomizu asked, panicked at his sudden fall from the sky.
“He hit my leg.. I think I’ll need repairs.”
That was all it took to convince Dr. Ochanomizu to leave. He nodded to Inspector Tawashi and Delta, who promised to continue looking for the criminal. Considering Atom couldn’t exactly fly at the moment, they got in Dr. Ochanomizu’s car and sped off to the Ministry of Science.
There were very few people here at this hour, even Yuko had gone home. Atom managed to limp to the nearest lab and get onto the scan table, hoping the damage wasn’t too extensive. The last thing he saw before being turned off for repair was the concerned face of his adoptive father.