Astro boy the movie (the novel)

CHAPTER 3

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.