There was only one matching file for a TenmaAstro in the compound mainframe. Something the authority had saved off some time ago. The Mind had read it before. Many times, in fact. It gleaned no new details from it as it re-ran it again. It was disappointingly short. Nothing more than a brief physical description and a list of abilities, of which those were impressive. This had been a very powerful robot. HAD been. The Mind knew for a fact that it had been permanently deactivated. Now that same robot claimed it was in it's compound. The description did not match. This caused an unprecedented amount of confusion that had the Mind tying it's relays into knots. It could not be the same one.

RESUME.

'Hush.'

The Mind was just about ready to send a squad to deal with Astro's noisy humans. A few stun bolts would shut them up. They should not be there. The mind was sure now that the female was the same one that was supposed to be locked upstairs. The Mind did nothing about them however, it did not yet wish for the strange robot to make a disconnect. Not until it had initiated it's work-arounds and acquired what it wanted. It was bending a lot of rules to keep this conversation going.

It could have broken open Astro's mind to get the story for itself. It had finally made the necessary calculations and everything was in place. Those pathways are open now, it could have access at anytime if it wanted to, but some part hesitated to try it. It wasn't sure of the resistance or possible retaliation it might have to endure. The Mind's inclination had not been stretched far enough to make the attempt. Though Astro was sorely testing it. By the time Astro had returned his attentions to the matter at hand, the mind had become a black jostling mass of restless particles, without any kind of form at all. It only coalesced as Astro started to speak.

'Now, where was I?'

The Mind's metaphysical ears perked up excitedly.

Astro eyed the Mind as he began again, looking at it thoughtfully. The Mind wavered side to side as it waited.

Astro then closed his mouth without saying anything at all.

The Mind's ears drooped in defeat. Then it growled at him.

Astro smiled to himself. This seemed to be something the Mind wanted very much, and an opportunity to do a little interrogation of his own.

'This might be a good time to pause.'

Another growl.

'Now. Now. It's just that here I've spent all this time talking about myself and I've realized I don't know what to call you at all. You never told me. Do you have a name?'

The Mind gave him a dubious once-over, suspecting him again of some sly trickery. Astro sat patiently, looking so irritatingly innocent that the Mind wanted to strike him.

With much reluctance, the Mind began rolling off it's identification numbers. It was a long list. Instead of a single model number, every one of it's units had been assigned one of it's own, even though they were completely identical. The Mind blamed this poor arrangement on some simple blatant human fallacy. If this supposed TenmaAstro wished to stall, it couldn't have picked a better way to do it. It would never get to hear the rest of the story at this rate.

'Whoa, hey, hey. Stop.'

The Mind reared back, surprised by the interruption.

'I want a name, not a number.'

THIS IS MY NAME.

'Striker, your authority, what does he call you?'

HE CALLS ME ROBOT.

'Oh. That's...unfortunate.'

YES.

'How about your descriptive project name? Most robots had one at one time or another. Maybe it will make a nice acronym.'

NOT ON RECORD.

'Hm. Maybe you're just a prototype. Or perhaps you were created without proper paperwork, not that I'm one to talk. Do you know who designed you or where you were built?'

NO.

'Was it here?'

NO.

'You're not making this easy with all these monosyllabic answers. Can't you be a little more elaborate?'

NO.

Astro groaned.

'Honestly, WHAT do you think about all day if you're not asking yourself the big questions? I know I'd want to know these things. So what DO we know? Striker finds old robots. Has them studied, rebuilt, and then shipped back here? Why so many of you? It seems a bit excessive with all that firepower you're equipped with. Unless...unless you were produced to sell...just like any of these other weapons.'

YES.

'Were you just going to wait for me to figure that out first before you were going to tell me?'

YES.

'Do you know who you're going to be sold to?'

YES.

'And? Are you going to tell me?'

NEGATIVE.

'Are you going to tell me anything?'

NO. RESUME, ABERRATION. It's voice smacked of impatience.

Astro sighed. He was willing to call it progress. That was the most he'd managed to get out of it so far. Apparently it cared very little for names, as it seemed to care so little for it's own.

Throughout the compound the multitude of the Mind hummed contentedly as Astro finally resumed his tale.

In truth, Astro was giving the Mind a very abbreviated version of his story. Astro left out a lot of the little details. There were some things he decided the Mind wouldn't understand or didn't need to know.

When Astro got to the part about the nanobots, he described the experience in such vivid detail that the Mind shrank back in terror. It had known about their production though it's link upstairs with the empty shells that it used to run the assembly floor. The Mind was not just responsible for security, it also had many other monitoring duties to perform. In a way, it was in charge of the whole compound, even though it wasn't what it was technically built to do. It was good at it, and excessively proud of the job it did. The Mind wasn't feeling very prideful now. In fact it felt rather betrayed that such a lowsome instrument had come to creation under it's management, especially after Astro explained the nanobots beneficial and innocent intentions.

The Mind had always imagined them eating though blast doors or armored transports, or in places where explosives were not a viable option, practical military applications. Not.. not this. There were so many other ways to disable a robot. This was unjustifiably malicious. This was wiping them out as if they had never been. Just the thought caused the Mind to pull itself together densely, corralling every intelligence protectively, as if it feared they would be torn away. This fear converted into anger and predicatively sparked denial. With only one outlet the Mind rounded on Astro. It coiled and uncoiled in barely restrained fury.

YOU ARE IN ERROR ABERRATION!

'No, I'm not,' Astro said calmly. 'Your authority is a very bad man.'

HE WOULD NOT DEPLOY SUCH A DEVICE IN THIS MANNER!

'Oh, wouldn't he? Tell me again why you don't have a name.'

The Mind snarled in response.

OBSTINATE ANDROID! I WILL SEE THE TRUTH FOR MYSELF!

With that the Mind flung open the doors it had worked so hard to unlock. It's tiny motes melded with Astro until the two were one and the same. Astro was both suffocated and invaded. Not one part of him could he escape to, for nothing belonged solely to him anymore. The Mind howled in victory as it spread. It took over his motor functions and ravaged through his data files, licking at every bit of information that it touched. Astro couldn't even scream. It crunched into his memory with a relish, lapping up every bit of his unfinished story.

Suddenly the Mind stopped. It bit at it's tongue like it had just tasted something awful. Then suddenly it recoiled and writhed. It spat everything out and curled into a tight shivering ball. It shrank into a small pathetic quivering mass. It relinquished the control it had taken from him. It looked at him with frightened eyes.

YOU DID NOT LIE.

'No. I did not.'

THAT WAS... The Mind couldn't bring itself to continue.

Astro wanted to be angry, but couldn't. He sent the Mind a wave of reassurance, which it took gladly.

'I know.'

YOU ARE TENMAASTRO.

Astro had to laugh. 'Close enough.'

The Mind pouted.

'Is there something wrong with that?'

THE AUTHORITY WILL NOT LET ME KEEP YOU.

'What?'

YOU WERE SUPPOSED TO BE NEUTRALIZED. PERMANENTLY.

'Has Striker spoken to you about me?'

NO. COMMUNICATION INTERCEPTION.

'You were spying on him? Wow, and I thought I was bad.'

The Mind gave a slow sad nod. It had really been hoping this wasn't the TenmaAstro. It had wished to incorporate him into the system. Such a powerful and entertaining robot would have been most welcome in the hive.

I WAS TO BE YOUR REPLACEMENT.

'MY WHAT?'

I WAS TO BE SOLD.

'To the City?'

AFFIRMATIVE.

Astro tried to imagine a Metro City crawling with thousands of these moody, hotheaded and very heavily weaponized robots. They might make an impressive force, sure, but there would be consequences, no doubt about it. They would possibly please those of the robot disinclined. Primitively built, with few human characteristics and unable to speak to boot. Only following orders. Astro wondered if someone like the Anti-Robot-Rights-Organization had commissioned them, or if this was a pet project of Striker's own. And if any of them knew how much of a failure it really was. Astro was betting the Mind had almost as much free will as he did. Striker wouldn't be selling them to the city now, not with the trouble he was in. Astro wondered what will become of them.

The Mind curled itself gently around Astro's arms and shoulders. It was still linked to him. It took on a more tentative probe of his mind, which Astro allowed. Then the Mind opened it's own connection. The adaptations allowed Astro to comprehend it with the absence of pain. It also helped that they were no longer screaming at him. He flowed into hundreds of robots at once, seeing though their eyes. He lifted his arms, and so did they all in unison, submitting to his command, as he was one of them now. As weird as it was, Astro was filled with a sudden childish delight.

'Coooool.' He had to fight though, to keep his voice from melding with their own.

The Mind itself was doing it's own explorations. This robot was very strange. Nothing stemmed off of it. There was truly only one mind here. That meant it had to run though every possible decision on it's own? How exhausting. How...inefficient. What a poor design. And this whole ridiculous concept of gender? What possible purpose does it serve? It must be another one of those human contrivances. The Mind however, found his memories fascinating. It had so few of it's own. It carefully steered around his most recent horrible ones and delved deeper. These were more stories, and it wanted to copy all of them. Some of them were quite different, and hard to understand, Almost as if they had come from something else entirely. The Mind filed them away to sort out later.

'So are you done poking around in my head yet?' Astro said this cheerfully, he had no idea an invasion could be so much fun.

I AM FINISHED, ABERRATION.

'Stop calling me that. My name is Astro, not aberration. You know that. I know you know that. So quit.'

ABERRATION.
aberration. ABERRATION.
Aberration.

The words came from multiple directions, each one of a different pitch that made Astro think of mechanized birdsong.

'Oh, now you're just having fun with me. You know, we really aren't that different, you and I. You're a bit of an aberration yourself.'

NEGATIVE.

Astro's joyful mood faded as he realized that it didn't matter how close they got. The Mind was just as frustrating as ever.

'Really? Surely you've gathered enough input for your report. You ran though my whole brain! Why haven't you turned me in yet? So you could have story-time? You even KNOW that he wants me, ME in particular, destroyed. So why have I not been obliterated into a million pieces? Does your programming allow for my continued existence? Do you have the authorization? Or is it your choice?

The Mind was not quick to answer.

INTERROGATION...

'Oh no, you can't hide behind that anymore. Just admit to me that you do not because you CHOOSE not to.'

NEGATIVE.

'Ok, then maybe you don't want to fight me because you know I can fight back, and you don't really know what I can do.

YOUR WEAPONS ARE OFFLINE.

'And yet you hesitate. Why?' Astro knew he was pushing it.

YOUR TACTICAL DISADVANTAGE, SINGULAR ABERRATION.

'So? Are you feeling sorry for me? There's nothing that needs to be fair or honorable about this. You're just following orders, right? You didn't start out so analytical. You were a big scary bully. I'm starting to think you're just a great big wimp.'

This was not a smart thing for Astro to say. If he was hoping to coax out an admission, that was the wrong way to do it.

It DID create quite a spectacular effect. Astro could imagine quite clearly the Mind blinking in surprise. After a moments hesitation, the Mind screamed defiantly, shaking with anger. Individual motes of consciousness coalesced and fanned outwards to every side. It's size increased a hundred fold with the speed of an explosion. It spread like plumage before thinning into long sharp points. Astro couldn't help but flinch away from the sudden transformation. Then, as if it hadn't created enough of an intimidating display, tremendous metallic jaws swung down and closed right next to Astro's head with a resounding clang. His first instinct was to run, but there was nowhere to run to. He could back away, but to withdraw would show weakness, so Astro stood rooted to the spot, wishing he had physical eyes to close. It isn't real, he told himself.

A misting ooze dripped from a snarling dark muzzle just inches from his nose. Fabricated light reflected off gleaming metal teeth. All of it suspended on a long serpentine neck which clacked and rattled with it's thousands of created protrusions. A great glowing red eye studied him. It could feel his fear. Astro could no longer hide it from the Mind. It reveled in it in satisfaction, even as it admired his bravery. The Mind hissed menacingly at Astro and snorted a black cloud of itself right into his face.

Astro waved it away, putting on the best front he could under the circumstances. He managed to assume an aloofness that he didn't feel at all. I've faced worst things than this. Though... those things were never intimately entrenched in my head.

'Being a little over-dramatic aren't we?'

NO! It blared deafeningly; jaws parting slightly.

'Temper. Temper.'

INSULT! CONFLICT! YOU ARE TOO DIFFICULT!

'I'M TOO DIFFICULT?!'

YOU ARE INCOMPATIBLE! The Mind trumpeted.

It's jaws snapped in his face. They came together with a clack, then they dispersed and disappeared.

With that, Astro was shut out. The connection was terminated with an abruptness that left him stunned. Astro was forcibly ejected from the compounds mainframe.

'Fine!' Astro yelled into the darkness.

He wasn't sure why he was so angry, or who he was now shouting to. 'I don't want you in my head anyway!'

Well...I botched that up. There's no telling what it will decide to do now.

Astro now stood alone in his own mind. It was a room of quiet darkness. He could exit, but he hesitated. He was very bothered. Not by his current unpredictable future, as he knew well he should have been, but bothered by the fact that, with the Mind gone, he now felt so very much alone. As hostile and irritating as they might have been, it had felt good to be part of their group. To belong. Still it had rejected him. It thought him strange. Sure, the Mind had never been exposed to ANYTHING before, but it wasn't the first robot to find his behavior unusual.

Where do I belong?

Maybe I DO need to pick a side. He thought about it fleetingly before dismissing the idea.

No. I'll cause nothing but contention. I can't stand for one over the other. I'll always be in the middle. No matter what I do. I'm the intermediary.

He had always felt he belonged to both worlds, but now he was beginning to feel he'd had it wrong all along.

He realized that maybe he was standing on either side and belonging to neither.

It's funny how a sequence of life's little circumstances stack up to ultimately leave you only one direction to go. All that talk about choice, when in the end, he really had none of his own.

Diplomacy WAS always his strong suit. As sticky and difficult as it could and would be.

I will bridge that gap, Astro thought resolutely.

I have to. His hands curled into fists.

I WILL bring them together.

I will have them both.

...Somehow.

The Mind had quite a conundrum on it's hands. The authority was still waiting for a report. He had even made a second request. This posed a problem. A robot should never lie to a superior, but that's exactly what the Mind wanted to do, and it felt torn about it. The TenmaAstro had angered it, yes. But if it reported the truth, then it would be ordered to destroy him. The Mind didn't want that or the many numbers it would lose in such a battle. But the robot's continued existence stood in the way of the Mind. Stopped it from fulfilling it's purpose as the TenmaAstro replacement. The assemblage of units were at odds like never before. The halls echoed with the clicks and chatters of their agitated legion. Clawed metal appendages scraped furrows into the floors. An agreement was finally reached.

It sent a brief report. It reported the location. It reported that the TenmaAstro was an operational new construct.

Then all fell silent.

The Mind had withdrawn into the mainframe, and deactivated everyone of it's individuals.

It would not be ordered to fight. It would not hinder their escape.

That was it's CHOICE.

After his overly eventful tussle with the Mind, Astro took a few moments to just enjoy himself. He was in a very relaxed state as a very unaware Cora continued to stroke his head. Her fingers lightly brushed his ear. It tickled. Astro ruined his own moment with a barely suppressed laugh.

"Astro! Are you awake?"

"No, I'm still out of it," he said without opening his eyes. "Please continue."

Cora was outraged. And happy. She sat up enough to lightly shove him.

"Why you little...You...you had me so scared."

Astro sat up and disconnected himself. Then he reached out for Cora. He could tell she'd been crying. "I know. Come here," he said as she sank into him. He stroked her hair and kissed the top of her head without thinking twice about it.

"I'm sorry. But you know me..."

"Yeah." Cora said as she sat up again."The day you run out of dangerous stuff to do..." Cora shook her head. "Whatever will you do with yourself?"

Astro smiled and bounced. "I know, right!" She understands me so well. And she wonders why I put up with HER? Astro was suddenly serious. As he stood, he took her hands in his own and helped her to her feet.

"When we get out of this, we need to have a nice long talk."

Cora's face fell. "Am I in trouble?"

Zane rolled his eyes. "WE ARE ALL IN TROUBLE!" Then he looked at Astro. "Um. I think. You don't look like you're in a hurry, so I'm guessing things went well?"

"Yes and no. I don't think it's coming to get us, but it's a very temperamental robot, and I might have pissed it off a little bit."

Zane covered his face with his hands. "Oh, that's just great. That's...That's very reassuring. Thank you Astro."

Astro gave no reply. He had adopted a blank stare.

Zane waved a hand in front of his face. "Hello?" Zane looked to Cora. "NOW what's wrong with him?"

Astro was hearing voices again.

YOU MUST RUN TENMAASTRO.

'How...How are you still in my head? I'm not connected...'

WE ARE ONE.

RUN!