Astro Boy Day of the Living Dead

Taku and Frank

Taku Fujimoto considered himself the luckiest boy in the world.

Why?

Because he had the best robot caretaker ever: Frank, a new model launched last week. The machine was three meters tall, with big arms joined by a metal alloy that made them quite resistant.

Looking at him was like watching a cartoon. His chest was round like a pot, his arms protruded from his shoulders, and both had the shape and size of a tube; his hands could easily carry three small children. His stomach was a cylinder connected to his hips, another large piece of metal, with his feet was the same case was repeated as with his arms.

But without a doubt, the most outstanding feature of Frank was his head. Although his neck was made up of the cables that joined it to the rest of his body, the skull had a shape that was impossible not to associate with Frankenstein's monster. Since it had a rectangular shape, and for ears, he had two headphones that looked like screws, his name was not surprising.

In short, his appearance was terrifying, but Frank was programmed to be harmless unless his owner was threatened. As for Taku, he was eight years old, with green pickle hair, the same color as his eyes, and a student in the prestigious Metro City Elementary School. As with many children in the metropolis, parents were too busy working or having fun to look after their children, so robots did the job.

While many kids were depressed, Taku didn't care because he loved going everywhere with Frank. Although the time they shared was short, the two became great friends. Frank took him to school, prepared his food, and played with him. The best thing was that he was programmed to keep playing until the boy got tired since his battery lasted 48 hours before his next charge. And if the power source was powerful, it would be as good as new in less than an hour.

So that's why Taku considered himself the luckiest boy in the world. That day was just another example of that. Frank had just picked him up from school, and they were heading home, passing over one of the many motor-suspended bridges in the city.

Taku happily hummed a song while Frank stopped at a red light.

"Casey Junior's comin' down the track, comin' down the track, with a smoky stack," Taku hummed as he waved a finger, and then, he pointed at Frank.

"Hear him puffin', comin' round the hill, Casey's here to thrill, every Jack and Jill," Frank continued, drawing invisible circles in the air.

They both laughed, and Taku placed a hand on Frank's arm; he was happy to have a friend like him. Frank smiled back. Everybody said that robots did not love their owners and were just machines programmed to pretend.

But Frank disagreed; he loved Taku not because some silly program in his head forced him to but because Taku was funny, kind, and-- innocent. He couldn't imagine being with anyone other than his boy.

The light changed, and Frank returned his attention to the front, taking his foot off the brake when the earth shook. He held onto the steering wheel so hard that he broke it. While Taku jumped out of his seat. Luckily, he had his safety belt on.

"Frank! What happened?!" the scared boy asked.

"I dunno, Taku," he admitted, "but don't worry, it mustn't be anything serious, just engine failure or--"

He didn't have time to finish because of an explosion in the city; a great cloud of smoke stretched close to the Ministry of Science. Taku yelled as he saw debris flying in his direction. Frank's fatherly instinct kicked in. He grabbed him with both hands and yanked the boy off the seat, taking the belt.