Author's Note: Happy 14th Anniversary, Astro Boy (2009)!

Pannacotta had his hands crossed and moved his fingers quickly. Rumors had spread that Master Haido had gotten a ticket to Metro City. Cases of traders putting a certain amount of people inside through hidden tunnels were not rare. But the passport was expensive, and few could afford it. Apart from paying their way in, they had to save the minimum to survive the first days. Years of savings were required to get it, which seemed the whole reason for Haido to have a circus.

Pannacotta and the others did not remember their life before Haido. Maybe they had been built in Metro City, or perhaps when the two were still one, the first memory they had was being activated by their master for a tutorial on their new job. Hence, it had all been work ever since. It was routine, but they preferred that to compete in the Robot Games. Every night, they saw how the poor unfortunate robots were thrown into the garbage dump after being destroyed in the arena, so with everything and the Haido's tyranny, it wasn't such a bad life, and making people happy was priceless. It was what they enjoyed most about their job, seeing everyone's smiles-- it made them feel important, that they were seen as equals and not simple machines.

Pannacotta looked up and saw the master's name on the office door. He felt nervous; Haido was known for using the whip when he got angry. Pannacotta slowly knocked, and it didn't take long for the human to respond to him to come in. Pannacotta adjusted his bun and entered, his worst fears instantly coming true.

Haido was packing his things into two large suitcases with the golden ticket sticking out of his jacket pocket. He was a tall man with white hair and a beard who wore glasses. He was dressed in a black suit and carried a cane.

"What do you want?" He asked without looking at Pannacotta, too busy with his businesses.

"Are you going out, master?" he asked nervously.

"Oh, yeah! Of course, I am! I'm getting out of this dumpster fire forever!"

There it was, his worst nightmare come true. Thousands of ideas ran through his head:

"Where would we go? What is he planning to do with us?-- Would he take us with him? Is he selling us?" But Pannacotta told himself to calm down, order his thoughts, and think carefully about what to say. The last thing he wanted was to receive the whip that night.

"Oh-- will you try your luck in the City? Master."

"You beat I am. I'm never returning to this dump! I'm leaving! I'm leaving!"

Pannacotta rubbed his head. It was better to ask him once and for all.

"Very well, sir. And-- do you know what you will do with us?"

Haido stopped packing and looked at him as if he didn't know what Pannacotta was talking about, which didn't reassure the robot; maybe he was receiving the whip after all. Pannacotta prepared himself for the worst, but his master only laughed, taking both hands to his stomach and looking up. Pannacotta didn't know how to feel about that reaction.

"What will I do with you? Well, nothing! Now that I have what I want, I don't need you anymore!" He took out the ticket and rubbed it in his face.

The robot could only look down, embarrassed and helpless.

"Go play in the Robot Games or sell parts in the Market; the Collectors will give you good money. I don't know, and I don't care! My future is bright. I don't have time to worry about tin like you!"

Pannacotta did not answer anything, feeling too humiliated to say or defend himself. He just wanted to leave that room and communicate the terrible news to his comrades.

"Are you deaf or what?! I told you to get out of my office! Just because I'm leaving today doesn't mean I can't use the whip one last time on you!"

...

That night, the artists gathered outside the tent. Hours had passed since Haido had left them, probably already heading to the City. Pannacotta had told them about their current situation, and the spirits were very low. His companions fell to the floor and avoided looking him in the eyes. Pannacotta was grateful for that because he doubted he could look at them; they had always seen him as the father of the family, the one who was supposed to protect them from Haido's mistreatment-- and now he had failed miserably.

"Maybe I can compete in the Robot Games," Bonbon said, standing up from the box he was sitting on.

"Don't say that!" Cupcake demanded, hitting him in the chest. "You know what kind of robots are in that arena! You wouldn't even survive with your strength!"

Bonbon made a fist, knowing she was right, which frustrated him.

"Maybe with my fire breath--"

"Don't even think about it! No one will go into that massacre. It's a grotesque event," Pannacotta said out loud to end the discussion. Maybe he had failed that day, but he wouldn't allow that mistake to be committed again; he wasn't going to lose anyone in his family.

"But what option do we have then?" Bonbon said, "If someone discovers that we no longer have a human master, they will separate us, sell us to different buyers, or dismantle us to sell our parts."

Pannacotta would have liked to tell him to keep those comments in his head since he was aware of the danger they were now in, but that did not mean he should disturb everyone. They needed to remain calm and think carefully about their situation. But it seemed too late: everyone became depressed again and collapsed on the ground.

"We should let them tear us to pieces," Cookie lamented, placing a hand on his chest and closing his eyes, "I don't see why we should continue living."

"It's a shame. I liked entertaining humans, especially children," Jellybean added.

Marshmallow just sighed and rested her head on his shoulder.

Standing and watching all his comrades surrender, Pannacotta's last strength abandoned him and threw himself to the ground. Perhaps everyone was right; maybe it was useless to try. After all, what human would hire robots from an old circus? It was their end...

For what seemed like an eternity, the artists lay on the ground, already resigned to their new fate as disposable trash, or at least that was until Cupcake stood up suddenly, looked both ways quickly, and then ran away to the piles of garbage that covered the entire Surface.

"Cupcake! Where are you going?" Pannacotta asked as he watched her walk away.

"I heard something! This way, come!" She responded before disappearing from sight.

Her companions stood up and looked at each other, strange and confused. Cupcake was not used to acting so impulsively.

"We have to follow her; we can't let her get hurt," Pannacotta said. The others did not hesitate for a second to obey him.

Difficult times were coming for them. The best thing they could do was stick together. They couldn't afford to separate, so they all went after her.

Meanwhile, Cupcake was rummaging through the trash. She had been lying on the floor when she heard something. At first, she thought that her ears were deceiving her. But after focusing on that specific noise, she realized that it was not a trick but rather a cry, a whimper that seemed human.

And from a young one.

Cupcake didn't know why, but when she heard the whining, she felt like finding the responsible one and taking care of it. It was strange; she wasn't programmed to care but to entertain, but when she heard it, something inside her told her to look for it.

"Is this what humans call-- caring?" She thought.

The further she advanced, the whining intensified, making it easier to follow. After passing three more mountains of garbage, she found the source of those cries.

He was in a small mechanical crib, a baby boy probably a year old since he already had red hair, and he was wearing a light blue onesie with a white bib with a clock on it. Next to him was an empty bottle. The little boy had his arms outstretched as if trying to grab something.

Without knowing how to explain it, Cupcake felt something inside, her chest warm and a great sadness for that little one. Before knowing what she was doing or why, she took the baby with both hands out of the crib and began to rock him gently, and the infant's whimpers subsided.

That's when the rest of her companions arrived.

"Cupcake, what are you doing?" Pannacotta asked her as soon as he arrived.

"Shhhh, you're going to wake him up," Cupcake responded, turning around with the little one in her arms.

Her companions were astonished to see him. Marshmallow was the first to approach; the baby was no longer crying as much, and he turned his head, surprised when he looked at Marshmallow. The robot smiled, pulled her nose, and when the bubbles came out, the baby started to laugh and try to catch them all.

"He's cute," she said with a smile.

"Where did you find him?" Pannacotta asked.

With her head, Cupcake pointed to the crib in the rubble. No one added anything else. If he was in the junkyard, no one wanted him.

Cookie went to the crib and took the empty bottle from it. He picked it up and examined it.

"This baby no longer has food," he said, showing the bottle.

Cupcake began to worry; until then, she had not stopped to think about how complicated humans were. They needed to sleep, eat, and, in the case of that little one, be changed. There was no more unprotected being than a human baby.

"Pannacotta will never allow it," she thought. They already had enough problems it was impossible to also look after a human child.

The most sensible thing would be for them to leave him in an orphanage. Although they could be accused of kidnapping him, the punishment for that was execution. Their best option was...

Leave him alone in the trash to die.

She looked worriedly at Pannacotta; she had to argue with him until they found a solution that didn't involve leaving him to his demise.

But what she saw in her friend's eyes was... love.

The robot approached and stretched out a finger. The baby looked at the robotic limb with amusement, took it with both hands, and pulled it up and down while laughing. Pannacotta giggled.

"You can't do this. Your situation couldn't be worse, and you know it. The only thing this child will do is bring more problems. For starters, it is forbidden for robots to adopt humans, and second, we can't even sustain ourselves," one part told him, the logical one.

But another voice spoke to him, one that, until then, he had never heard before:

"Shut up, this kid needs help, and we're not going to abandon him."

He looked around to see if there was anything that could help them. That boy had appeared out of nowhere, so perhaps their salvation would manifest the same. Then he noticed a hat and an old cloak that someone had left there. Pannacotta took them and put them on top. Maybe they didn't cover him that much, but... it was a start.

"Maybe it will work," he thought, "with a little more work, this could be the perfect costume."

He turned around to see his comrades. Bonbon had taken the baby in his hands and was throwing him into the air to catch him; the baby was laughing while Cupcake looked at him worried, covering her mouth with both hands.

"Please be gentle!" She asked.

At that, Pannacotta stood in front of his companions; he had added a scarf that covered his entire face. His friends saw him and were a little surprised.

"I have an idea; we can't perform without a human master, but as far as we know, only those who boarded that ship know that Haido is gone."

Jellybean scratched his head.

"What are you saying?"

"I'm going to pretend to be a human so we can continue working."

Everyone remained silent except for the baby, who continued moving his hands and making noises.

"But that is..."

"It's our best option, Cupcake. Think about it; we need money, and even more so now that we have a new member in the family," he pointed at the baby, who laughed.

Cupcake looked at him and couldn't help but agree. That little boy depended on them, and they were not letting him down.

"It could work," said Bonbon, "it's dangerous, but I also think it's the best. We have to try it."

He didn't mind taking risks, especially if it could bring them a reward. Marshmallow gave a thumbs up and smiled, Cookie touched his cymbals in approval, and Jellybean jumped into the air.

Cupcake smiled and saw the baby again.

"Thank you, you gave us hope."

The little boy smiled and tried to grab her nose, which caused everyone to laugh.

...

A week passed, and no one seemed to notice the deception with seven shows without problems, even if Cupcake's presence on stage was missed, but she had to take care of the infant.

Despite everything, the show was going well, and everyone was happy. Even if there was still an aura of uncertainty, that night, they could relax.

Pannacotta was heating the baby's milk on an old stove while Cupcake rocked him around the room. Bonbon and Cookie tried to turn on the old projector that Akihiko had left behind.

"Hey, we have to think of a name for him," said Cupcake, "it's not fair that we just call him baby."

"I agree, everyone needs a name," Cookie replied.

"Yes, but it must be something important, not just anything," Bonbon said before raising his arm and bending it.

Pannacotta took out the bottle and went to Cupcake, wondering what would be a suitable name for the little one. He didn't know much about human names, but as Bonbon had said, it had to matter.

Just then, the projector turned on, and the hologram of a Japanese man appeared in front of them.

"Today we celebrate the birth of the scientist Reno Matsumoto, the creator of the artificial plastic, known for its incredible resistance and resemblance to human skin," said the voice of the reporter

"Reno... Reno," Pannacotta ran through it in his head, and suddenly, he had it.

"Reno," he announced to his companions.

They all smiled, looked at each other, and nodded.

"It is perfect!"

"It's a sign. One day, he will do important things!"

Cupcake laughed as she took the bottle and fed him.

"But he already has," she said while accommodating his red hair behind his ear. Her companions looked at her, "he saved us in our darkest hour."

That put them all in a good mood as they patted each other on the back and looked at the little boy because it was true. At their worst, Reno had arrived as a gift. A gift that gave them hope and strength, and for that, they would never leave him.

Never.

...

Cupcake was feeling nostalgic, or at least that was what she thought. She always wondered if her emotions were real or simple simulations of human feelings. Whatever the case was, she felt happy to have them, and they had intensified since fourteen years ago. The time Reno had been in their lives.

Since he arrived, everything had improved, not only because it gave them strength to move forward when everything seemed lost but because having a little one hanging around here and there brightened the atmosphere. The tent was filled with life, where before it had been just a place of work; now it felt like a home, with warmth and love. In addition to that, as Reno grew, he began to show interest in robotics. He studied with the books found in the yard or that he could change at the Market. And assembling and disassembling pieces that he found in the yard. Without a doubt, his limitations were not an impediment to him. Over time, he became an expert; he even built his own tools and could repair them. Which saved them many visits to the mechanic.

There was no doubt about the impact Reno had on everyone's lives.

Unfortunately, Cupcake no longer felt that spark, and that didn't mean she didn't love Reno anymore, of course not; she could never stop loving him. It's just that... she felt they were limiting him. Reno had always been reluctant to the idea of leaving them. Even if now that the City was back to the Surface as the perfect opportunity for him to make his way into the Ministry of Science. But no, the boy did not want to abandon them.

Despite everything, they respected his wishes; it was his life at the end of the day. Or at least that's what they thought until today's incident. They had been very close to perdition, and all because of the Hamegg swindler, and although it seemed that they had been saved, they couldn't trust that ruffian. They didn't know what deal he had made with Astro, and although they trusted the boy, they knew that Hamegg could have dirty tricks up his sleeves. It was best to proceed carefully and, most importantly.

Put Reno's safety first.

That night, she was waiting outside his room, carrying a tray with an onigiri cake, Mont Blanc flavor: chestnut cream cake, and a cup of tea. She knocked on the door.

"Come in."

Cupcake smiled and passed by. Reno's room was simple: his bed was a mattress against the wall, and on the opposite side, he had a desk full of his tools, pencils, and notebooks where he wrote down his inventions. Everything was highly organized and clean, a habit he had forced himself to follow.

It was common for Reno to work on his inventions after shows. But that night, he was leaning against the desk, playing with a pencil, the living image of an idle teenager.

Cupcake put the tray on the table.

"Are you alright?" She asked.

"Yes, it's just that... today left me exhausted," he responded, sitting up.

Cupcake smiled; everyone felt that way, to be honest. She pushed the tray slightly.

"I kinda guess that. That's why I prepared this for you."

Reno smiled and took a cake.

"You're spoiling me," he said as he took a bite.

Cupcake laughed and shrugged.

"A treat once in a while doesn't hurt anyone," she ruffled his hair playfully.

Reno groaned and moved her hand away while laughing.

Cupcake chuckled as well as her son finished the onigiri, then took the cup and blew on it before taking a sip.

"You got scared, too, right?" He asked after drinking. Reno knew his mother very well; that attention was intended to open a conversation.

"Yeah, we had feared a day like this since... well, we adopted you."

"The good thing is that Astro was here to save us-- he really is a hero," Reno tried to sound confident. He wanted to believe that his new friend had managed to solve everything. But Reno also knew Hamegg's reputation and part of him told him that the scammer still had a card up his sleeve.

But Reno really didn't want to think that.

"I know, we were close, we escaped, but..."

Reno looked at her, worried.

Cupcake searched for the right words.

"Reno, now that we're so close to Metro City, maybe you should consider..."

"Mom, I just had the same conversation with Dad. The circus is my home; you are my family," he pointed to the front wall.

The robot looked and noticed that it was filled with photographs of them together: the whole family gathered around baby Reno, the boy's fourth birthday, when he ate the chocolate cake with his hands, the time Marshmallow taught him how to give a flip, her doing his makeup before his first show; good memories.

She couldn't help but feel a knot in her stomach.

"And I can't leave you. Hamegg could return at any moment. I must protect all of you."

Reno looked at her with worried eyes and a pleading look, and that was when Cupcake understood; Reno would never abandon them, he couldn't even get his head around that.

"Okay, if it is your decision, I will respect it... we all will."

Reno sighed in relief and looked at her with a grateful look, and Cupcake felt something inside her break. But the boy didn't seem to notice her lies; he just took another bite of the cake and continued eating it.

"Whatever we do, it's all for your own good," Cupcake thought.

...

Just like fourteen years ago, they had gathered outside the tent; this time, they were not lying down or collapsing on the ground. They were all gathered in a circle. They did not feel desperate or destroyed but sad because everyone knew what it was about, but no one wanted to accept reality.

"Is he asleep?" Pannacotta asked.

Cupcake nodded her head. After dinner, Reno had fallen asleep.

Pannacotta closed his eyes and lowered his head.

"Comrades, after... what happened today, I believe that The Surface is no longer a safe place for us, nor Reno."

Silence. That worried him; Pannacotta hoped to at least hear a complaint from Bonbon, a desire to argue, to oppose, but no. No one gave an opinion, nor did they raise their faces.

"Astro swore his protection to us, but we can't expose him to danger either. It wouldn't be fair to him."

Silence again. Pannacotta was concerned about the zero objections he was receiving, which meant that everyone agreed. So he could skip the rounding and get to the point.

"We need to go, but we can't drag Reno. He could have a bright future, but as long as he stays with us, he will never make it. It's time for our paths... to part."

They still didn't say anything, but what could they do? None of them wanted to leave the boy, but they also didn't want him to remain stuck with them; they wanted the best for him, but to do so, they had to make a sacrifice. They all stood up without saying anything, but Pannacotta knew the meaning of the gesture.

"Very well, this is the plan."

...

Robita was an assistant robot, an older model than Orrin. But she had been with Dr. Elefun for so many years that he considered her part of the family; he could never get rid of her. Her body was cylindrical and had a rectangular head with two green eyes, two tubes on the sides, and a dome on the top of her skull. Hits arms were thi and could stretch to a distance of up to ten meters, and her color was light gold.

She was preparing the doctor a cup of tea while he was at the kitchen table, remembering the sensor that Reno had put together on his own. He was impressed by how much the boy had managed to do with so few resources. The doctor could only imagine what the boy would do in the Ministry... But after the little show he put on and the fact he was supposedly a robot. The chances seemed very slim.

Robita finished preparing the drink and brought it to the table.

"Here you have, doctor."

"Oh, thank you, Robita."

The doctor took a sip, but his worried expression did not disappear. The robot noticed the tension and worried.

"Is something wrong, doctor?"

"Oh, it's nothing, Robita. I was just, thinking about something."

The doorbell rang, and Robita quickly went to open it. While Elefun continued thinking about the young robot that had impressed him so much.

"If we got Astro in school, we could do the same for Reno."

Just then, Robita appeared accompanied by Mr. Pannacotta.

"Doctor, we have visitors."

Elefun stood up and offered his hand.

"Mr. Pannacotta, I didn't expect to see you so soon."

"I'm sorry for dropping out, Dr. Elefun, but I'm afraid that the situation I'm going through... is one of life or death."

The professor exchanged glances with Robita, who seemed equally worried and scared.

"Please, allow me to explain myself better."

"Of course."

They both sat at the table. Robita offered to bring him a cup, but Pannacotta refused.

"Very well, sir, what is happening?"

Without further ado, Pannacotta put his hand to his face; the click was heard, and after the steam came out, he took off his mask, revealing his mechanical face.

"Doctor Elefun, on behalf of all the members of the Robot Circus, we need your help."