Who History Forgot (Astro Boy x Reader) UNDER EDITING

The Map

That night had been sweltering and when morning came, I was grateful for the early mist of rain. I could've punched myself for making us wait another day to finally leave though. Not only did I have to get Sam to point out where we were meant to go on my map, but then I'd have to determine how I would get enough provisions for the both of us. It was when I thought of this in particular that I inwardly groaned. I realized that I had no choice, I would have to stop in the nearest human settlement. 

I sat up in my nest of blankets, my hair twisted in a sweat matted mess. I felt absolutely disgusting, so I quickly left the bedroom and made my way into the kitchen. There in the pantry wall to wall were ten-gallon containers of water. After the rebellion there had been no water or power to many buildings since, so I had to make trips out to collect every ounce that I had to use. I grabbed one of these incredibly heavy bottles and lugged it to the bathroom. I came back out a while later, feeling much cleaner and more prepared to start planning. 

I stepped into the kitchen and was surprised to find Sam, already awake and looking at the map hanging on the wall. When I walked in he'd been tracing an area with his finger, and mumbling something to himself. 

"Hello Sam. Goodmorning." I greeted. 

The boy jumped, whirling around to face me. "I didn't see you there. Sorry, I woke up pretty early."

"Mm." I hummed. "No, that's okay. I should've been up earlier anyway; we would've made much more progress..."

I unpinned the map from the wall. With all the new settlements and no average businesses still standing I'd had to draw the map myself, with examples from both places I've been and places I'd only heard of from others. I'd wanted it to be as accurate as I could get it. After I'd pulled it down, I smoothed it over the dining room table. 

Silently, I looked over the yellowing paper and its sketches of landmarks. Here in my "neiborhood" was the museum obviously, what used to be the ministry of science but other than that there hadn't been many notable places still standing and accessible. And as I looked over these places, one caught my eye. A recent human settlement in the northwest called Auview. 

Auview was home to 70 humans, including two of my oldest friends who were still around to visit.  

"Sam, what direction are we headed in to meet Dr.O'Shay? Can you point out to me where you recognize passing on your way here?" The boy looked over the paper quite closely, then pushed his finger along a route following the broken highway north. Perfect. 

"So, Sam. Do you see this place here, just on the other side of Lake Tezuka?" As I said this my finger was pressed to that spot on the map, highlighting Auview. Sam blinked at the tiny sketch of a column decorated building just beneath the name. 

"Yeah. What about it?"

"This is where I need to take Astro. There's someone there who will be able to keep him safe while I'm gone." I explained. 

A confused looked came over his face. "Are you saying that you've not ever been away from this old city?" 

I laughed at this, yes, I'd traveled before, but I'd never planned on traveling this far from home. I was worried that while I was gone marauders might come back to the museum, and if they were given the chance there was no doubt in my mind that they would try to use Astro as either parts or sell him to whoever offered the most appealing price. 

"No no, I've left the boundaries of Metro City plenty of times. However, the route you've showed me is quite a long way, almost five days on foot.  I just don't feel right leaving him here, he should be somewhere I'll know he'll be safe until we can get him to Dr. O'Shay without trouble."

Sam slowly nodded in understanding. "Okay. How are we gonna get him there? He's too heavy for the both of us to carry all that way." I smiled at this question. 

"Well, actually, I wasn't planning on going on foot the whole way. If you catch my drift." I joked.

Sam crinkled his nose. "You sound really old when you say that. Really, I don't think I've heard anyone besides grandparents say things like that."

"Hey! I'm not that old! Geez."

"That's what an old person would say." 

"Sam! Come on!" I whined. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I grunted as I pulled the heavy machine from the garage, knocking old paint cans away with my feet as I did so. When I'd finally managed to yank the thing out from under a mountain of stuff Sam was shocked and surprised to see that I'd grabbed an old motor-powered hover bike from the pile. 

"This is how we're getting to Auview! This is so cool!" Sam bounced excitedly, looking over the bike in its entirety. "I've never even seen one of these!"

"Did you know that kids in Metro City used to ride these all the time for fun?" I asked. Sam looked amazed at what he'd just been told.

"Really?!" He asked in awe. 

"Yup, my friends and I used to have one that had seven seats. One for each kid in the group." I smiled at the memory of the seven of us riding around town on the bike, soaring above the ground and watching as the sun set. 

"But this one is a little different, unlike the one our friends had this one has a motor, so there's no need to pedal if you don't want to. It can also pull over ten tons. It was a work bike; not dissimilar to a motorcycle, most construction materials were moved by this kind of bike when they had to maneuver carefully in smaller spaces in the city. That's why this one is perfect for what we need."

Sam stayed quiet as I attached a miniature trailer hitch to the back of the bike, a kind of trailer box that wasn't very wide, but about ten feet long. The box had two round plate-like panels on the bottom that would allow it to hover with the bike as it was pulled. I opened the door to the box and set inside a spool of rope, and a large canvas sheet. 

"So, here's the plan. We are going back to the museum, and we are going to try to avoid any rogue robots at all costs. Once we manage to get this thing inside, I'll pack Astro into the back and you and I will be on our way to Auview." I explained this as I strapped a helmet onto my head and straddled the bike seat, starting the motor. "Hop on, we're going to want to do this quickly."

Sam jumped onto the bike, and I passed him back a helmet. As soon as he grabbed onto the seat, we were soaring past the ruins of Metro City. My old home whizzed by in a flash as we whipped through the wind, curving along corners of buildings and hovering high above home rooftops.

When the museum came into view some part of me was relieved, it was exactly the same as I'd left it (in shambles). But that wasn't a surprise. The most comforting part was knowing that I'd be able to get Astro to a safe place very soon, and maybe soon after that would get to talk with him again. I drove the bike all the way into the main room (as the doors were large and permanently blasted open), and up the stairs. I turned off the motor when we reached the second floor, and turned to Sam.

"Watch the room while I'm gone, okay?"

Sam put on a determined face and nodded. "Yes, ma'am."

I softly pushed open the door to the room at the end of the hall. The same room in which only two days before I'd met Sam. The same room that my closest friend called home, for now at least. I opened the glass case where Astro hung and pulled him up beneath his knees. It was always so strange to move him, thinking that any moment his eyes might open, and he would say hello.

Smiling sadly at the thought, I wrapped him up in the canvas sheet, and carried him out into the hall. When I'd made it to the trailer box my stomach felt heavy, some part of me felt wrong removing him from the museum. Sam helped me carefully shut Astro inside, tying down his form so that he wouldn't hit against the sides. A little part of me wasn't ready to leave Metro City. I'd been here since the day I was born and leaving didn't sit right. Yes, there was no one left, and it was lonely, but it would always be the home I knew best. 

With the motor to the bike powered and Sam sitting behind me, I drove through the sky away from my home and onward to Auview.