Copy, (An Astro Boy Story)

Chapter 7: Changes

Toby's POV:

Toby awoke to the dimly lit interior of his room, blinking in the soft light that was filtering through his window. A light breeze ran through his sleep-tussled hair, surprising him.

Where was that coming from?

With a sleep-filled yawn, he forced himself into a sitting position, rubbing the sleep out of his eyes as he glanced at the window.

To his surprise, he found it open, the light breeze he had felt drifting lazily through the open space, chilling his exposed skin.

Toby frowned slightly. That's funny, he thought. I could have sworn it had been closed last night after Astro—

Astro.

In a rush the events of yesterday came flooding back to him. The Peacekeeper, him dying, his father, Astro—

Astro. Where was he?

"Astro?" Toby asked softly, swinging his legs around and gingerly brushing his bare feet against the soft fibers of the carpet.

There was no response.

With a small grunt Toby got out of bed and made his way toward the open window, placing both hands on the frame and sticking his face out into the cool morning air. He closed his eyes briefly, savoring the feeling of the wind through his hair, before opening them and scanning the slowly waking city before him.

"Astro?" he called again, louder this time. "Hey Astro, you out there?"

Again there was no response.

After a moment of waiting, Toby pulled himself away, gently closing the window as he did, ceasing the pleasant breeze from blowing.

He probably just went out for a while, he decided as he stretched his stiff muscles, letting out a stray yawn. Rubbing his eyes lightly he walked over to his dresser.

He laughed at his appearance. His hair was in disarray, strands of brown black hair falling out of his gelled hairdo and into his soft brown eyes. What was left of his two signature spikes were tussled and off-kilter from sleep and made him look more like a blood-sucking monster out of ancient mythology than a civilized modern citizen of Metro City.

Smiling slightly, Toby happily picked up his gel bottle and poured a large dollop onto his palm. Rubbing the substance onto both hands, he ran it expertly through his hair, destroying what was left of yesterday's spikes. Placing the gel bottle down gently he then picked up his comb and ran it through his gelled hair, evenly distributing the product.

Finally, he put the comb down next to the gel and attacked his hair with his hands, gleefully separating the hair into two handfuls and forming them into the two spikes that he would be able to form in his sleep.

When he was done he smiled at his reflection in the mirror, putting his hands on his hips and lifting his chin. "Not bad, if I do say so myself," he said regally, before letting his hands drop to his side.

Figuring it was about time he headed downstairs he quickly threw on a pair of fresh jeans and another t-shirt before zipping up his red sweatshirt over it. Heading towards the door he reached out to grab his hat—

Except his hat wasn't there.

Toby stared at the hook his Ministry of Science hat usually hung from in surprise. That was funny. It had always been there before.

He stared at the empty hook for a long moment, before shrugging and continuing his way out the door. Maybe he had just left it somewhere, or Orrin had picked it up and placed it somewhere. No use fretting over it.