The gentle hum of engines can be heard reverberating through the street, as numerous cars, trucks and other vehicles make their way to their respective destinations. It is a peaceful yet bustling scene, a reminder of the hustle and bustle of everyday life. It's a never-ending stream.
Not just the road, but the sidewalk is also filled with people. Some people are chatting, some are passing by, and perhaps some are healing in the middle of town. Because it cannot be denied, Kota Hilir is indeed a beautiful town.
Boboiboy sighed as he looked around his hometown, not much had changed, but he felt isolated. He couldn't help but feel a sense of loneliness in his chest. Maybe because he was used to being accompanied by his friends when he was on Pulau Rintis and now he was alone.
Amato went out early this morning too, and when he asked, he always said, "Nothing to worry about." and then apologised for not being able to accompany him today.
He sighed again, "Dad is dad... no matter what age he is..." he muttered under his breath. It's not that he doesn't understand, Boboiboy knows Amato is busy because of the incident in the forest before.
But he is really curious about it and desperately wants to know. Who's the enemy? What's he planning? Even if it has nothing to do with him, he wants to know. Being a superhero makes him worried and curious about every accident that happens around him. But Amato didn't want to tell him, and he felt annoyed about it.
Boboiboy then headed to one of the benches facing Sungai Hilir after he left the busy town centre. He put a plastic bag in his hand next to him as he sat down. He was on his way home after buying some stuff for his robot idea. For money, he borrowed it from Amato.
"I should go see Pian... how is he..." Boboiboy said to no one. He was worried about him, but he couldn't find himself to do that as he always has the thought that he might bother him.
Boboiboy's mind drifted to old memories, he doesn't remember much about Uncle Pian since he was still a kid and rarely saw him. However, he does have some memories of him, even Uncle Pian rarely visits them, but sometimes his dad would take him along when he went to Uncle Pian's place. What he remembers the most about Uncle Pian is his warm, smiling face when he looked at him. He loves to tell him a story too, maybe his reaction is enjoyable to them, ha? He thought.
"I think... I don't remember much what he looks like..." Boboiboy admitted, it was a vague memory to him, but he thinks that, he would probably recognise him if they met.
It's quite funny, isn't it? He remembers Uncle Pian's face when he was young more than his adult face, maybe because he always saw pictures of them when they were young more, as it hung on the wall of his old house.
"Dad has good friends." He monologues, and so does he, "What's everyone doing..." he muttered as he thought about his friends.
Boboiboy's gaze slowly faded and became empty as he stared at the flowing river. He was too comfortable being here and he doesn't want to end it yet.
"Ochobot..." he called and lowered his head. He needs to be slapped with Ochobot's words for him to come back to his senses. Because right now, his desire to be here is greater than his desire to return home.
Here, he can feel what it's like to have a complete family, he can eat mother's cooking every day and every time, a dinner that will never be lonely again. Tok Aba is healthy, always energetic and always smiling with an endless joke. A warm home to return to.
Shouldn't he feel jealous of his dad for having them? It's not fair. His dad had everything he didn't have and wasn't his dad the one who took that everything from him? If only he wasn't busy...
He wants to feel a mother's worry too. He wants to feel a father's support too. He wants to feel like family too...
Boboiboy then cupped his face with both hands and chuckled sadly at his thoughts. He inhaled and exhaled several times until his mind was clear.
"Fang was right... I'm weak..." he uttered in very low voice as he stood up again. Weak with unnecessary emotions and thoughts. He smiled bitterly, how can he be as strong as Fang? His story was far worse than his, yet he didn't allow such thoughts to ruin him. How can he be like him?
Boboiboy closed his eyes and took a deep breath before resuming his way to Amato's house.
.
.
.
When he got home, someone was standing in front of the house, looking like he was waiting for someone. Boboiboy stopped his steps when he was only a few feet away from the man.
"Em... hello?" He asked.
"Boboiboy." He said it with a smile.
Boboiboy stared at the person, not recognising him. He had a gentle smile, but his gaze was sharp, as if he was studying him in silence.
***
His hands moved swiftly across the keyboard at breakneck speed, typing out words and commands of programming language with precision as his eyes intensely focused on the monitor. He blinked behind his glasses as he flipped through the paper next to the keyboard. Read through it and resume his work.
The task seemed effortless for Aman, coding and decoding the robot's programmes, it was clear that he had a great deal of skill and expertise in this field.
Amato couldn't take his eyes off Aman and the monitor as he watched from behind. Although, he didn't really understand the programming languages and what Aman was doing, but the interest was reflected in his eyes.
What Aman did seemed very interesting to him. He hasn't really thought about what he wants to study after high school yet, but being a computer engineer sounds fun, right? The combination between software, hardware and electrical.
Mechabot, who was looked at him from the start questioning in lazy tone. "Since when you interested in programming robots, huh?"
"Since... now." Amato answered, not looking at him. "Isn't it great? I can reprogramme you to be in a polite mood all the time." Ha added.
"HUH?! WHA— uhhh!"
"Shhhh— don't shout." Amato glared at him as he covered Mechabot's mouth with his palm.
Mechabot brushed Amato's hand away and scoffed, "What do you think I am? Power spheres can't be reprogrammed easily!"
"Really?" Amato asked back, "But Uncle Aman just do it fine on you before?" He than looked at Mechabot for some explanation.
Mechabot facepalm before answering, "Haaaa, that bypassed my system! Not reprogramme me, you idiot!"
Amato glared at Mechabot for adding 'idiot' at the end of his words. Amato rolled his eyes with a sighs as he turned away, "How do I know it's different..." He said, defending himself from embarrassment.
Mechabot just crossed his arms, he didn't like the word 'reprogramme' one bit. Reprogramming and resetting are two features that are a nightmare for artificial intelligence robots like him, who 'grow' and develop through experience.
Reprogramming is the process of resetting the system by adding or removing code from the system, while resetting is the process of returning the system to its original state. Mechabot didn't like either of these processes, as they would cause him to lose all the memories he had gained.
Amato peeked at Mechabot because of the silentness, he was expecting Mechabot to make a snide comment or mock him, but Mechabot behaved differently.
"Why are you taking it so seriously. I'm just joking." He said.
"It's not something funny." Mechabot replied as he looked at Amato.
Amato sighed tiredly, "Why are you sulking so easily now?"
"I'm not!" He yelled and turned away.
Amato just looked tiredly at Mechabot, his behaviour is very noticeable. He then turned his attention back to Aman, but 'Click—Bip!' was interrupted by the sound of the electronic door opening, he turned his gaze towards the door instead.
A man, who always showed confidence and a serious expression, walked towards them. Dato' Andy, mayor of Kota Hilir. Amato couldn't look at him the same way again after getting to know him, he was 180 degrees different from what he saw on TV and in public.
He glanced at Amato from the corner of his eyes as he walk to Aman. But it wasn't just a quick glance, it was a piercing glare. Amato could feel the intensity radiating off of it, even though it's only for a short of time.
Amato quickly lowered his head, not wanting to make eye contact with Andy. But his gaze slowly moved towards them after Andy stood next to Aman and listened to their conversation.
"Is there any progress, Aman?" He asked as he picked up Aman's research paper about their current situation on the table and gave it a quick read.
"As of now, I'm still working on decoding the robot. Once it's done, we can reprogram it to return to its owner." Aman answered, not diverting his focus from his work.
Andy responded with a short hum as he flipped through the paper in his hand. After reading it, he gaze to monitor that was displaying CCTV footage from the drone that had been directed to record Amato's friends as a precaution to prevent another accident.
His eyes were fixed on one recording, Boboiboy. A boy, who suddenly appears in his city as a result of being chased by robots. A boy, who was the cause of the recent attack in the city centre and the cause of the current situation.
From the start, he was suspicious of this boy after finding out that he also had power sphera. Adding to his suspicions, when he found no information about the boy. Being a mayor, give him the authority to access people's personal data, even if they're from different states.
"Asah is with him, we can try to trust him for now." Aman commented, as if he knew what Andy was thinking. He looked up at Andy as he leaned back to his wheelchair.
Andy clicked his tongue, "You two are too soft." He scoffed as he looked at Aman. "The unclear data of that kid is the biggest issue here. We couldn't find a single data of his existence." Andy said the truth.
"That boy doesn't exist." He added after a moment's pause.
Aman didn't comment anything on it because it was the truth. At Andy's suggestion, they do fingerprint identification to be able to access Boboiboy's personal information. But his fingerprints do not exist in the database, either his birth was never registered or he came from outer space.
Aman also wanted to know about the boy but they had more important things to focus on.
"What does it mean?" Amato spoke, making the two adults look at him. He was curious enough to interrupt the conversation.
Andy clicked his tongue again, unable to hide his irritation. Aman sighed and turned his wheelchair to face Amato, pushing his glasses up his nose as a habit before he speak.
"We do fingerprint recognition using the fingerprint on his power sphera. But, there is no information about him, he doesn't exist either on Pulau Rintis or anywhere in the database," Aman explained.
"Uncle... do that..?" Amato spoke in an uncertain voice, he felt it was wrong to do that but actually it wasn't because it was reasonable for them to do so.
But he felt a bit sad that Maskmana(s) found it's hard to trust Boboiboy. Boboiboy didn't do anything suspicious, other than he didn't want to talk about himself. Is that suspicious? It's privacy, right? He thought. He respects Boboiboy's choice if he doesn't want to talk about himself. That's why he never asked, not everyone wants to tell their stories to a new acquaintance.
"Amato." Aman's call made Amato's mind focus back on him. "It's okay for you to trust him to a certain degree. But it's dangerous to completely trust someone you just met." He added
"I know..." Amato uttered as he slightly lowered his gaze.
Andy sneered, "What does this boy know?" He said while giving Amato a sharp look, "He's at the age to be friends with everyone without a second thought!" He added in a grating tone.
Amato didn't take Andy's tone to heart, he was already used to the way Andy talked. "He must have his reasons... I'm sure he didn't mean it in a bad way..." Amato said, trying to reassure himself more than anything else.
Andy groaned in frustration, he really couldn't get along with teenagers, the different mindset annoyed him. To him, Amato is childish. At that age, what does he know about the real world? He relies too much on his feelings when making decisions. That's why he was against the idea of giving Amato the responsibility of protecting Kota Hilir.
Aman sighed, "I hope you're right about this, Amato." Aman said while looking at Amato who from yesterday was trying to convince them to trust Boboiboy. "But, we can't risk anything. After this is over, we need to know why he's hiding his identity." Aman added firmly.
Amato just nodded his head.
"If he didn't run." Andy scoffed, he then walked over to Amato. "Don't let the boy know about this situation, it's troublesome." He crossed his arms. He then glanced down at Amato's bandaged ankle, "And you don't need to interfere in this either. You'll only be slowing down my work." He added and walking to the door.
"But Dato'!" Amato turned to him in objection, Andy didn't stop or listen to him. "I'm the one that caused this problem! Let me fix it!" Amato shouted for Andy to hear as he stood up holding the chair.
"Dato'!" Amato called again as Andy walked out the door. He grabbed his crutch to chase after Andy, he didn't want to lose Andy's trust in him. But his step was stopped by Aman.
"Amato." Aman looked at him sternly from his place when Amato turned to him, "Sit down."
"But uncle.." said Amato hesitantly.
"You got what Andy said, right?" Aman asked as he moved to the right.
Amato slowly nodded his head.
"Good." He said and reached the keyboard to the monitor that connected to Ochobot. "What you didn't understand is, Andy doesn't want your injury to get worse." He added and looked at Amato.
"But... I'm fine..."
"You're really stubborn, Amato." Aman shakes his head, "Instead of you thinking about it, what about you help me fix your friend's power sphera?" Aman asked.
Amato looked at Aman questioningly but he slowly approached him. "But... what can I help you, uncle? I don't know anything..." Amato replied.
"That's why you need to learn. What if Mechabot has a malfunction and damage, how are you going to fix him?" Aman then returns his attention to Ochobot
Amato immediately looked at Mechabot, who staring at him weirdly. His brow furrowed at the memory when Mechabot falling down due to lack of energy, he was very worried at that moment and he didn't want to imagine the worst case scenario.
Damage, since Mechabot is always vulnerable to attack during a fight, it's not impossible to happen.
Amato then looked at Aman, "What can I do, uncle?" He asked determinedly.
***
Boboiboy stared at the figure in front of him, who introduced himself as Amato's silat master. They were now walking along the sidewalk with Asah in front.
'He's... Tok Sah..?' Boboiboy asked in silence, he was quite surprised when Asah introduced himself earlier because he didn't recognise him at all. Guess, he also wouldn't be able to recognise Tok Aba if he never saw his photo when he was young.
'Atok looks so cool.' He admired him in his head as much as it reflected in his eyes. The smile never left his face as he remembered his other Atok.
"Have you been to Kota Hilir before, Boboiboy?" Asah asked, breaking the silence but his gaze never left the path in front of him.
"Huh?" Boboiboy muttered unconsciously from his reverie.
"Oh... um... yea," he stammered, his voice not quite cooperating with his head. He couldn't bring himself to lie, so he just nodded instead "Yea... I've been here... before..." he answered.
Asah looked at him with a little surprise, "Is that so? For vacation?" He asked again, curiosity in his voice
"Uh–um... y–yea... with my parents." Boboiboy internally sighed as he looks away.
Asah noticed the hesitation in Boboiboy's voice, he glanced at him before looking around the neighbourhood.
"Kota Hilir is a nice place to visit, isn't it?" He asked.
"It's... my dad likes it very much." He answered.
Asah hummed in response, "What about you?" He asked, looking at Boboiboy to see his expression.
Boboiboy smiled a line as he returned the look, "I don't like it." He answered. "Because my father likes it very much, so I don't like it." He spoke again before Asah could ask why.
He doesn't really have any friends here because people's expectations of him are too high. His father was well known to the locals, making him feel uncomfortable being compared. But he also experienced the same thing on Pulau Rintis when he got his powers, trying his best to live up to people's expectations. It's tiring, but he was not alone there, he has friends and people there didn't know who his father was. It's much better.
Asah's eyebrows rose a little at that answer, he hummed in wonder as he looked at Boboiboy.
Boboiboy let out a dry laugh while scratching his cheek awkwardly, "It's just my personal thoughts... but it's fun to come back here sometimes."
"Do not let your thoughts be influenced by others." Asah said while patting Boboiboy's shoulder gently.
Boboiboy turned to him and gave a small nod. Looking at Asah for a few moments before speaking again, "Um... but why Tok want to see me?"
"I'm just curious about you, Boboiboy" Asah answered honestly.
"Curious...?" Boboiboy muttered back, confusion evident on his face, but slowly turning into nervousness.
But Asah just nodded casually, "Amato really trusts you." He said, making Boboiboy's step stop instantly.
"Don't break his trust." He said again while giving Boboiboy a look in the eye.
Boboiboy nodded, "I won't." He uttered and received another gentle pat on the shoulder.
Asah smiled at him, "It's nice talking to you, Boboiboy." He said while glancing to the side, signalling for Boboiboy to see.
Boboiboy looked towards it and saw someone from afar, walking while waving his hand to be seen.
"Boboiboy! Tok sah!" He shouted energetically.
Boboiboy just blinked at the energy emanating from Amato, very energetic.
"Next time we chat again, Boboiboy." Asah said before leaving.
| TO BE CONTINUED |
Do you think Amato will pursue a study in mechanical engineering cuz he likes to create things? But shouldn't he study politics and follow Andy's step, since he's an ambassador? Hm?