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of breath.
    “No, they didn‘t,” he said.
    Widget and Sludge cheered. They ran up to Astro and gave him a big hug.
    “So what happened to the Scorpion Brothers?” the older girl asked.
    Astro pointed behind him. The two Scorpion Brothers were dangling from the top of a trash heap, hanging by their claws.
    Astro shrugged. “I just turned off their magnets.”
    “Magnets?” She sounded like she didn’t believe him.
    The teenage boy held out his hand. “I’m Zane.”
    “I’m Widget,” said the little girl.
    “I’m Sludge,” said her brother. “I’m older than her.”
    “By ninety seconds,” Widget quickly added.
    “I’m Cora,” said the oldest girl. “What’s your name?”
    “Er, it’s ... ” Astro wasn’t sure what to answer. Toby was part of him, but Toby wasn’t him. He was somebody else. Somebody new.
    Before Astro could reply, three robots appeared, whisking him away.
    The robots’ cry echoed behind them. “Viva la Roboto-lution!”
    Cora shook her head. “What just happened?”

CHAPTER 10
    The three robots that carried off Astro were not exactly a scary-looking bunch. One was tall and thin, with skinny arms and legs. The other had a big, bulky body with a television set on his chest. The third was a walking mini refrigerator.
    “Did you see the human’s faces?” asked the skinny one, in a British accent. “They were quaking in their capitalist boots!”
    Astro gave his jets a quick blast, freeing himself. He landed in front of the three robots.
    “Okay. What’s this about?” he asked.
    “Don’t worry, brother. You’re safe,” assured the skinny bot.
    The big bot spoke in a Russian accent. “You have been rescued by ... ”
    All three saluted.
    “THE ROBOT REVOLUTIONARY FRONT!” they shouted together.
    “I’m Sparx, the brains,” said the skinny one.
    “And I’m Robotsky, the muscle,” said the big one.
    “And I’m Mike the Fridge,” said the third robot. “I’m the fridge.”
    Astro looked around. He appeared to be in some kind of clubhouse hidden among the scrap heaps.
    “You are now liberated!” Robotsky said. “Go ahead, comrade. Take your first step as a free robot.”
    Astro took a step forward—into a puddle of oil.
    “Feels different, doesn’t it?” Sparx asked.
    “It feels wetter,” Astro replied.
    Sparx eyed Astro up and down. “You look like a pretty advanced model if I might say so, brother.” He leaned in close, whispering, “Are you exempt from the laws of robotics?”
    “Remind me?” Astro asked.
    “A robot cannot harm a human, be the cause of any harm to a human, blah, blah, blah, boring, boring, boring,” Robotsky recited.
    “Well, I don’t really want to harm anybody,” Astro replied.
    Sparky frowned. “Lugnuts! The RRF is dedicated to freeing robot-kind from human slavery by any means necessary.”
    “And he means any means necessary,” added Mike the Fridge, sounding tough.
    “Ruthless, we are,” Sparx said, nodding.
    “Show him, comrade!” Robotsky urged.
    Sparx rifled through the messy hideout and produced a thick file of papers.
    “Dozens of angry letters to the editors of major newspapers,” Sparx said proudly. “We dared them to print them and they all refused. That’s how scared of us they are.”
    “Wow,” Astro said. That didn’t sound too impressive to him, but he didn’t want to hurt their feelings.
    “ ‘A revolution is impossible without a revolutionary situation,”’ Sparx quoted.
    “Is that Lenin?” Robotsky asked.
    “I thought it was McCartney,” Sparx replied.
    Robotsky shook his barrel-shaped head. “No. McCartney’s the ‘Give War a Chance’ guy.”
    Astro had no idea what these robots were talking about. The night was getting stranger and stranger.
    “Well, I guess I’ll be going,” he said casually.
    “What is your name, comrade?” Sparx asked.
    “Er, Toby,” Astro replied. He still thought of himself as Toby. Dr. Tenma’s human son.
    “That’s not much of a name,”