The armoured door opened, and Astro Boy stepped for the first time in the security station. He had dreamed of this place many times but never imagined he would one one day enter it.

 

A tall man in a grey uniform appeared before him. “Hello, Astro, I'm Colonel Misha, the security chief of the Ministry. Follow me.”

 

The colonel led the child robot through a maze of corridors. They arrived in a huge room, all round, the walls covered with TV screens from floor to ceiling. Astro recognized most of the places of the Ministry of Science – laboratories, the office door of Professor O'Shay, the roof of which he liked to jump from for his flight tests. Every nook and cranny was filmed constantly. Facing the screens, a dozen guards kept watch, ready to intervene or to sound the alarm in case of an incident.

 

“From here,” explained the colonel, “We can see everything, and it takes us a moment to securely close the centre.”

 

“It's very impressive,” said Astro. “We'll have no trouble finding the professor and Zoran.”

 

“That's our problem. For now, we have not yet identified them, which is already abnormal. But we have another way...come”

 

The security chief took Astro to a nearby, smaller and fairly dark room. On one wall was a drawn electronic layout of the building, floor by floor. Hundreds of red dots were moving on the screen.

 

“What is it?” asked Astro.

 

“Each individual, each robot in the Ministry has a badge which is tracked by the host computer. Each dot you see here is one of them. We can follow their every move in real time.”

 

“How do you know which dot is who?”

 

“We just have to enter the credential code of the person we are monitoring, and the computer will focus on them. You'll see.”

 

The colonel went to a console and, with the keyboard, entered codes for the professor and Zoran. Immediately, all the red dots disappeared from the giant plane.

 

“There are no signals,” observed the colonel, anxious. “Normally, we would have seen something...that means they are not in the Ministry. I'll consult the database to find out their last movements.” The man typed again.

 

“This morning at 7:12 am, the professor left the room. He went to the lab. He stayed there for half an hour and then he returned to his private bathroom, where he took a shower. He joined you and Zoran for breakfast, and then...”

 

Astro was suspended by the lips of the colonel. “Then what?”

 

“Well, all I know,” the man said, shaking his head, “He and your sister left the Ministry at 9:04 am.”

 

“That's all?”

 

“Our monitoring system is designed to protect the Ministry and all who are there. Our equipment does not cover the outside area. The professor and your sister may have gone for a walk...”

 

“The professor is never away like this without a good reason. And, in any case, never for that long. They should have returned.”

 

“I'll send a patrol to search in the park. We can use portable badge detectors.”

 

“May I help your patrol?”

 

“Of course!”

 

***

 

The security men patrolled all the paths in the park. Above them, Astro Boy flew over the area. Twice he thought he saw who he was looking for, but each time it was just a grandfather and a young child. For Astro, the professor and Zoran and certainly were not out for a walk, let alone without him...

 

The colonel's men inspected groves, play areas, and even the banks of the river, but without success. The professor and Zoran seemed to have vanished...

 

Suddenly, the portable detector badge held by one of the men on the ground beeped. With his ultra-sensitive hearing, Astro caught the sound, although it came from the other end of the park. He gave a boost, and its engines propelled him toward the discovery.

 

The guard who was holding the detector aimed it towards a large bush with dense foliage. The beeping started up again. Astro came to land right next to the man.

 

“Professor! Zoran!” he called. “Where are you?”

 

No reply.

 

The guard pushed aside the branches of the thicket and walked into the foliage. The detector now emitted a continuous screeching sound. Astro made a phenomenal leap over the great bush and fell on the other side. All sensors were on alert, but he did not detect anything, no presence...

 

Suddenly, he discovered what panicked the detector. On the ground, in the middle of the bush, the professor's white coat that he never went without and Zoran's vest were rolled into a bar. The young robot knelt and grabbed the coat.

 

“Tell the colonel the professor and Zoran didn't go for a walk,” he said to the guard. “They were kidnapped!”