"Do you ever give Astro a break? Does he get paid for everything he does? Don't you have anyone else that can do anything besides a kid? How'd you solve problems before him? Huh? 'Cause I'd really like to know."
Well Atlas, those are four very complicated, closely interlaced questions right there, guess I was going to have to answer these eventually, I’ll try tosimplify them as much as possible and while we’re at it I feel like I should explain some things:
for starters Yes of course he gets breaks, I make sure he gets time to be a kid and I would never let him to do something he doesn’t want to unless he absolutely has to (He doesn’t enjoy maintenance or check ups but I’m most definitely not letting him skip out on those)
When it comes to payment, I give him a weekly allowance plus he gets his cut of anything made from commission, sometimes we use his expertise on missions but not always, often he comes with me simply because I have to take our Nanny-bot Robotia’s needs into consideration and I don’t want to drop him off with her unexpectedly unless I really have to (he’s also been known to follow me even if he’s been explicitly told not to.)
I can’t do anything about payment if he decides to volunteer for something, it wouldn’t be fair to demand compensation if both him and another party made an agreement, (even if nobody ever consulted me first, I’d be lying If I said that I’m not a little hurt when nobody tells me these things…).
We have many other resources that can help, the scientific counsel, the police, etcetera, Before him we would use one of the aforementioned resources, usually the police, (I don’t really have a good frame of knowledge as there was a very small window of time between when I was made minister and Astro’s reactivation.)
Finally, while we’re at it I want to bring up something I don’t think that I’ve ever had to explain before:
I believe there is a misconception that I’m the one that sends him out when something happens, In truth I usually try to keep him out of conflict if possible, the problem is I’m usually stuck between a rock and a hard place, as his parent I want to keep him safe but I’m admittedly at loss at times, he has a tendency to throw himself into harms way even if I tell him not to, corporal punishment is NOT an option, I can’t ground him because he’d still sneak out and do the thing even if I told him not to, doing nothing but take his privileges and that frankly just wouldn’t be fair.
At heart he’s just a very powerful 9 year old, the best I can do is tell him not to do it again and we both know that he would very much do it again. I’ve tried explaining to him that it isn’t his place and sometimes he listens but often he doesn’t. As his parent it’s my responsibility to make sure he’s happy, taken care of, and learning how to one day take care of himself, as hard as it may be, sometimes I just have to step back and let him handle things on his own, I’ll always help him if he asks for it but I won’t get involved if my help isn’t needed and or wanted. I won’t be around forever, learning to take care of himself is an important part of growing up. Am I perfect? no, but as long as I’m around I promise I’ll do my best.
TLDR: Yes, Almost always, Yes, The Police
Thank you for caring about his wellbeing, you’re a good person Atlas.