Plan of Attack
"Hiro-sifu, are you all right?" Shang Li cried out in worry when Hiro accidentally zapped himself for the third time with electricity.
Hiro nodded brusquely. "I'm fine, Shang," he said, even though his demeanor proved otherwise. His hands slightly shook as he tried to connect his projectors. His usually scruffy hair was slick from sweat, and he kept mixing up the right cables for each outlet.
"Damn."
He was surprised at himself: he was the lead expert on electrical engineering in his school, and here he was, cursing and struggling to plug some cable together. Oh, that's right, he was too nervous to see what he was doing with his hands.
"Here, let me help. Hiro rest for presentation," said Shang Li.
"Oh, no, no, no..."
"I insist!" Shang Li reached for the provisions in Hiro's hands.
"Oh well..." Hiro surrendered the tangled cords to Shang Li and picked himself up from the floor to walk around, take a breather, and to just pull himself together. He and Baymax occupied a small space in the corner of the crowded SFIT Summer Expo, taking place in what is now the Tadashi Hamada Hall. All the better for Hiro, who had enough solitude to mentally prepare for his upcoming presentation, rather than mingle among the bustle of nerds and tech gurus, scientists and college students alike this evening.
Hiro half-heartedly waved back at some passing admirers who recognized him(He really was a more prominent figure than he himself knew!). Pacing around in circles, he was just toying with the temptation to activate Baymax and bury his head into the plush robot's belly and pour his soul out, but suddenly, a medley of voices emanated from Hiro's wrist watch cell phone, followed by the occasional spurts of the sound of static electricity.
"Hiro!" from Honey Lemon.
"You feelin' alive, little man?" from Wasabi.
"Good luck, Hiro!" Fred cheered. "Your presentation will be a blast – just like that microbot one from two years ago!"
"Don't die," said Gogo shortly.
"Th-thanks Freddie...b-but I dunno how good..." Hiro trailed off nervously.
"Re-lax, Hiro, it'll be fun!" Honey Lemon said as comfortingly as she could. "The entire newscasting crew will be here to record you live this evening! Think about it!"
Hiro tried very hard not to procure the mental image of his limp body, completely passed out into Baymax's plushy hands, on TV.
Deep breaths, Hiro, deep breaths. Tadashi would-
No. No. It was too painful to think about right now. So instead, he turned away from the crowd mass, reduced the volume of the speaker and spoke into the watch in a hushed voice. "Well, you read my mind," he replied, laughing shakily. "But really, the presentation isn't the only thing I'm worried about right now..."
"You mean...?" began Wasabi.
"U-huh."
"Well, nothing like a good back-up plan should anything happen this evening!" said Honey Lemon optimistically.
"Exactly," said Hiro. "Listen, let's run over our plan one more time, 'kay? Everybody at their own stations?"
"U-huh!". The "stations", as the nerd herd called them, were booths that each team member showcased for their Expo projects.
Honey Lemon showcased a barista station purely comprised of chemicals and, as a bonus, transformed any edible chemicals and simple kitchen ingredients into yummy snack samples in petite disposable cups to share with the public.
Gogo showcased her longtime project – a electro-mag suspension bike. The display, called the Velocepede Revolution, included a mini-runway for the bike and an interactive display screen behind the stage where Gogo would demonstrate her project in greater depth.
Wasabi, neat-freak that he was, showcased some useful "clean" household supplies like disinfectant gloves, a model of a self-sterilization door handle, and pollution-cleaning potted plants.
Fred, since he wasn't officially a student of SFIT, stood by the doors in his kaiju mascot costume and twirled a promotional SFIT billboard. On top of that, everyone had to keep their supersuits hidden nearby them, except for Gogo, who integrated parts of her suit into the bike.
"Good. Now remember, keep a lookout for anything, or anyone, suspicious."
"And how are we gonna do that when we're stuck on showcase duty?" Gogo asked irritably.
"Let me explain. My first plan is to trace any bombs that may be hiding here. I reviewed from nuclear physics last semester all the types of detectors that can come in handy, since we don't know how technologically advanced these bombs can be. Take, for instance, the Elitzur-Vaidman hypothetical bomb tester. The plasmon laser sensor. Or even trace-detection portal machines, like the ones they use at airports. But I needed one powerful enough yet with a small enough database to fit into Baymax's access port, so I invented one that can...oh," Hiro ended with a sigh. Because the more he talked, the louder Fred's messy beat-boxing burst through his speaker. No wonder: Hiro's perpetual nerdy lectures were becoming mind-numbingly boring to anyone without scientific genius – in this case, Fred.
"Cut to the chase already," Gogo intervened sharply.
"Oops. Right," Hiro said, slightly blushing."Anyways, you guys stay at your stations and do what you should normally do. Meanwhile, I will activate Baymax. I've installed a bomb detector into his database, so he can scan detect any radiation emitted off any types of hidden bombs within the perimeters of the building. So when I identify them, I will defuse them, or I'll get Shang Li to do this if we don't have enough time. Fred did say that this super-villain organization has a knack for gadgets like those, right, Fred?"
"Yup. Dad theorized that these dudes have a rep for being one of the most merciless – and sneakiest – terrorists out there. I mean, yea, scary when you think about it, but how cool?" Fred's voice drawled through the watch.
"And is that going to be enough to catch them, genius?" Gogo asked skeptically.
"No," Hiro replied. "Which is why I also upgraded Baymax with an infrared camera together with the bomb detector. If the person is carrying those said explosives or any other nuclear weapons with him, all the easier for us to identify him."
"Ooh, now tell 'em about my theory!" Honey Lemon chimed in.
"Right. You know how those spies, or whatever they are, were seen in those silvery-suits?"
"Yes – yes!" Honey Lemon continued for him. "Well, I re-watched some of the footage with them in it. And Hiro, their suits! I hypothesized that they are made of steel alloy armor."
"Yes. So bonus if our infrared cameras can identify them in those suits."
"Um, they probably won't?" Gogo said sharply. "They're not that stupid to go masquerading around as the bad guys."
"But remember the TV news, when the guy said that they blended into their surroundings. Anyways, I'm not just saying they can be inside the building. I upgraded Baymax so that he can scan any place within a five-mile range."
"Ohh..."
"The infrared camera can't sense such metal very well, so when it passes through those poorly-scanned points, I'll go check out this place of interest and snoop around, maybe. When, and if, I see someone weird, I'll send you a signal and tell you where the target is located. Fred, tell us what you'll do next."
"I'll alert the SWAT to arrest the guy, and the army corps to scale every inch of this building! And the FBI can investigate the rest of the case," Fred replied.
"SWAT? Army? You hired them?" Gogo said disbelievingly. "Talk about all hell breaking loose."
"They're surveying the building as we speak," Fred said calmly. "But to them we're just a bunch of nerds who predicted the next raid, so don't worry about them finding out our identity."
"Good. And then, what next?" Hiro continued.
"Use our amazing powers to capture the maniacs and turn them over to the officials! Then people will see us for who we are and love us!" Honey squealed optimistically
Wasabi sighed longingly over the blissful notion of ending this sticky job at last. "Whoops, I got a presentation starting here, Hiro. Wasabi, out."
"Same, because I technically look very stupid talking to myself here," Gogo said heatedly as onlookers saw her supposedly murmuring to herself from up the stage. "Gogo, out."
Shang Li shuffled towards Hiro by the time the boy genius had also switched off. "Hiro, I fix your projectors, they ready now."
Hiro, staring fixedly at the ground, dumbly nodded. Shang Li understood.
"You need help, you call me anytime – call me, eh?" He edged closer to Hiro. "Superhero duties, again, eh?" Shang Li politely inquired. He was one of the few outside of the team who knew about Big Hero 6. Why he refused to be actively involved in their plans was still a mystery. But trusting him with the secret wasn't a bad idea. It was he who came up with and invented an alarm system that wired the news and police station lines into the two main Big Hero 6 headquarters – Hiro's garage and Fred's mansion. And he was always there for moral support…
Shang Li was shorter than Hiro, so he looked up to him, gently gripped the boy's arms, gave it a little shake, and opened his mouth to say something. However-
BOOM. Electric sparks rose and scattered into the air.. The crowd shrieked and dispersed, and some technicians sprinted to the other side of the room. Muffled curses and shouts of a machine short circuiting filled the scene. Luckily, the damage didn't look too serious.
"Oh, no; gotta help!" Shang Li cried, picking up his rusty tool box and jumping into action. He turned to Hiro briefly. "But good luck on mission – and presentation! I out of here!"
Right, Hiro thought, furrowing his eyebrows with fresh determination when Shang Li disappeared around the corner. He swiftly activated Baymax before lifting away a plastic cover off his hidden supersuit cleverly tucked away behind Baymax's case and twisting on his left glove.
"You know what to do, Baymax," Hiro said as the plushy robot inflated into his balloon form.
"Radiation detector initiated. Infrared camera initiated. Biosensors initiated," said Baymax matter-of-factly before sweeping his superimposed scanners over the building.
Meanwhile, Hiro flipped open a cover on his left glove and checked a small computer screen. It was synced to Baymax, so the latter could transmit his findings into the computer interface. Very handy for locating Baymax and reading his data transmissions.
Okay… the grid of the building is forming…the vital readings of everyone else are the red specks… the green specks are meant to be bombs. No green specks now...ahah, I see one! Oh wait, I remember. Some of my nuclear physics classmates have put some model of a futuristic nuclear reactor display, so duh, of course they'll experiment with similar materials that bombs are made out of. Nothing to worry about... Such scattered thoughts ran subconsciously through Hiro's mind as he swiped his finger across the interface.
I don't see any red dots so far. I wonder if there's really anything to worry about tonight, after all?
A familiar voice jolted him into attention.
"Ah, if it isn't Hiro again."
The voice of the last person that Hiro wanted to see right now.
"Oh, hey, Mr. Krei," Hiro said in his best casual voice, to the tech guru and CEO of Krei Tech approaching him, flanked by two of his assistants. At the same time, Hiro slapped the computer flap shut, hid his glove-encased hand behind his back and twisted it off from there, praying that Krei didn't notice. Yes, it was true that Alistar Krei knew the team's identities, and he swore to keep their secret, but even then, Hiro didn't want anyone to intervene.
"Excellent robot you have there, Hiro. To think that such programming will have such a efficacious effect on the health and outlook so many. Think of how positively this piece of programming will affect humanity for who knows how long!" Krei continued, hungrily examining Baymax from head to toe. "Rumors are that you and that robot will be on multiple news channels by tomorrow – yes, yes, you're somewhat like a celebrity in the technological world…"
"Um, yea," Hiro murmured awkwardly, not sure what to make of the needless praise while Krei carried on. It wasn't as if Krei even cared so much for Hiro's fame. Krei, after all, was an entrepreneur who capitalized on any new brilliant invention for his own use. With Baymax as a potential to revolutionize the healthcare industry, Krei was apt to largely profit in this way.
Hiro politely nodded, but all the while thinking, Please, please stop telling me how smart I am! Don't you have something better to do like…inspect the thing that went kaput on the other side of the room?
"Just here to wish you good luck," Krei concluded. "You'll need it for the presentation."
Well, for such a rocky history between us, you sure sound pretty confident about yourself, Hiro thought dully.
"Mr. Krei!" A lady stumbled over to Krei. Petite and eccentric with her shock of radiant purple hair and horn-rimmed glasses, she clutched a cordless mic in one hand and a virtual notebook in the other.
"Yes?" asked Alistar Krei, mildly surprised.
"Sir!" the ditsy-looking lady replied. "I'm Alicia Roquefort, reporter from the San Fransokyian Times. Do you know where I can find a young man by the name of Hiro Hamada?"
At the sound of his name, Hiro wildly shook his head and waved his hands at Krei with a don't-involve-me-into-this look. Unfortunately, Krei, before he fully understood what Hiro's hand signals meant, he said at the same time with a chuckle, "Oh, Hiro? Why, yes, yes, he's right over here. I was just talking to him, and saying-"
"Hey!" Alicia sharply cut him off, snapping her fingers and beckoning a group lingering in the background. "Over here, y'all, I found 'im!"
Before Hiro could register what was truly happening to him, an entire fleet of news reporters, carried/dragged heavy television cameras, cables, mics, and more armada of high-tech TV gear, stampeded into view and surrounded him on both sides with mics. All of them shot questions at him from every side
"Is it true that your dead brother was the first to invent this robot?" one reporter shouted, shoving a microphone in his face.
"How do you think Baymax will affect the healthcare industry?"
"WHAT DEGREE ARE YOU PLANNING TO PURSUE WHEN YOU GRADUATE?"
"How old are you, really?"
"If your brother were here, how do you think he'd feel about your rising prominence?"
"Can you tell me more about robots?"
"I-I-um-uh," Hiro stuttered. In a nutshell, one of his worst nightmares was unraveling in front of him: the blindingly bright camera lights flashing at him, the clamor of a million news reporters striving to know every single little detail about him, and the knowledge that everything he said was being recorded right now! Oh, and that they treated his late brother like a fleeting legacy. Hiro spared a glance across over the throng to throw an exasperated look at Krei.
"Sorry!" Krei mouthed, smiled guiltily and put up his palms in sincere apology.
A machine that predicts short circuits…actually short circuited? Gogo thought, smirking in amusement as she watched security hosing down the fire with extinguishers. Talk about irony. And stupidity.
I wonder how Hiro's doing. From the stage, Gogo lifted her visor to look over to her friend. There he was, surrounded by news reporters ("Paparazzi, more like," thought Gogo), looking like he was about to have a conniption.
Gogo sighed. Looks like she'll have to cover for him.
Gogo jerked her head up. No one suspicious at the booth. Just a few passersby lazily admiring the piece of tech.
Wait a minute.
There – she saw it out of the corner of her eye: a hooded figure stood half-hidden behind a transparent interactive glass screen. The figure tapped on what looked like a glasses rim. A small flash, like a camera's, flashed in Gogo's directon; then, the figure glanced furtively around and lifted a glove-encased hand, as though to speak into an imaginary phone.
Now wait a minute, you stalker...
"Have you ever felt socially inferior to others your own age?"
"Were you bullied at a young age?"
"Are you still grieving over your older brother?"
"Baymax, how does it feel to be recorded on live TV? Nervous? Excited?" one reporter even asked Baymax.
"I cannot feel: excitement or nervousness. I am a robot," Baymax stated blankly. "However, according to Hiro, I have gained a: personality. It exists outside of my own programming."
"Would you describe yourself as the 'timid' type?"
Clearly the questions were only getting more provocative.
So Hiro decided to at least throw a little sass into their faces.
"Oh, yea, who says I'm timid?" he said assertively.
"Is it true that you are working on a doctorate degree in robotics?" One reporter immediately threw at him.
"Why, actually, yes," Hiro said smugly. He shot all-knowing look at the reporter. "Are you?"
Hiro would've loved to relish the reporter's reaction to that, but at that moment, his cell-watch beeped and the speaker crackled.
"You guys had better head over here now!" Gogo's voice crowed triumphantly through the watch. "I just captured a spy!"
WHAT. Has it really been four months since I last updated here? *Facepalm*
THANKS FOR READING, WHOEVER'S STILL READING THIS! THIS TIME, I GUARANTEE THAT MY NEXT UPDATE WILL BE WAY SOONER!