Copy, (An Astro Boy Story)

Chapter 27: One Night

Everything was dark. If he'd had coherent thought, he might have even believed it would stay that way.

But then, slowly, surely, light began to filter in.

His eyes opened, his vision pixelating slightly before everything eased into focus. He breathed in short gasps. He felt shaky, weak. He...he'd never felt that way before.

And he felt pain. Lots of pain. More pain than he had ever felt in his short life, he was sure of it. Every inch of him hurt...except for his left arm.

He didn't seem to be able to feel his left arm at all, it seemed. He really hoped it was still there.

Footsteps sounded, echoing on whatever floor they walked on. Astro tried to move his head to see who it was, but he found he couldn't. A rush of fear ran through him and settled in the pit of his stomach.

Where was he?

The footsteps grew louder, closer, before ceasing completely. Astro could sense a presence beside him and felt another wave of fear course through his damaged system.

"Astro," a familiar voice whispered, barely loud enough for him to hear.

Astro felt himself relax. "Dad?" he said. "Is that you?"

"Yes..." came the hesitant answer. "Yes, it's me. How do you feel?

Astro grunted, shutting his eyes. "Horrible," he admitted, clenching his teeth. "I...I can't feel my left arm..."

He heard his father take in a sharp breath, which was probably not a good sign. He opened his eyes again and tried to turn his head, even a little bit, but in vain.

"Okay," his Dad said slowly, and Astro heard the clinking of some objects being shifted around unseen. "I want you to tell me everything you do and do not feel. Tell me what hurts, tell me what feels normal, and what seems off. Okay?"

"O - okay," Astro managed weakly. He shut his eyes again, trying to relax himself. Big breath in. Big breath out.

"Okay," he said again, but this time much clearer. "I can't feel my left arm. At all."

"Where does your feeling start again?"

"My shoulder," Astro answered.

He heard the tiny taps of a holo-pad keyboard. "What else?"

"Um, well, my vision keeps pixelating," Astro reported, just as his sight hazed blue and back again. "And my right foot throbs. My chest and legs hurt all over too."

"Okay." More typing. "Anything else?"

Astro swallowed. For the first time, it felt hard to do that. "No, I...I just hurt all over."

Silence, minus some clicking of the keys. Astro fidgeted. "Dad?"

"What?"

"Where's...where's Cora?"

The typing stopped. No answer.

A clenching fear rushed Astro's body now, and this time, it didn't fade. Had something happened to her?

"Dad, is she okay?" Astro pressed, his voice growing panicked. "Did something happen to her? Did Stone hurt her? Please tell me!"

His voice cracked at the last word. He heard his father sigh.

"Don't...don't worry about her just now..." he said slowly. "You're in bad shape. I need to shut you down again so that I can fix - "

"NO!" Astro screeched, and he lashed out, which had been a bad plan. There was a popping sound and his damaged boot began smoking again. Astro hissed as another bout of pain shot up his body.