Chapter 9: Hiro
Today's the day! The day where I'm finally going to get into SFIT. Ever since Tadashi dragged me to his nerd school, I've been completely obsessed with working on my project for the showcase tonight. The gang came to visit me often, so they had the chance to meet Kiki and Alexa. I basically made our garage my cave for the entire week, and I only left when I was forced by Aunt Cass to eat something.
I've noticed that Tadashi's been acting really weird since yesterday, but I don't know why. He's just gone crazy or something. Like, when he reads his book at night, he just threw it aside and walked down the stairs while I pretended to be asleep-yes, I do that, but I'm not ashamed of the things I find out. I must have actually fallen asleep though, because the next thing I know, Tadashi's shaking me awake for dinner.
Anyway, we got to SFIT, and I noticed that the three of them were being very quiet, in fact, they were almost silent. They said a few things to each other every couple of minutes, and a few things to everyone else-myself included-but other than that, they were just lost in thought. We dragged all of the trash cans I brought next to the stage, and everyone wished me luck before walking into the crowd of people.
Alexa and Kiki gave Tadashi a look I didn't really understand before following the gang and Aunt Cass into the crowd. But I was also much too nervous to be focusing on that. What if I don't get in? I've worked so hard, but what if it was all for nothing?
"Hey. What's going on?" Tadashi asked. This is all I managed to hear out of the rest of what he said. He stood in front of me with a concerned look on face. I didn't look at him though, my mouth was sort of on auto-pilot, and I stared off into space.
"I really…want to go here…" I trailed off, and looked Tadashi in the eyes.
"Hey, don't worry. You've got this." Tadashi said reassuringly. I smiled at him softly and walked on the stage, and he joined his friends in the crowd.
I stood on the stage, and began my presentation. "Uh… hi. My name is Hiro Hamada. I've been working on something that I think is pretty cool. I hope you all like it."
I put my neurocranial transmitter on my head and turned it on. Then I pulled out a microbot from my pocket. "This is a microbot…" I paused, my anxiety trying to get the best of me. I looked over to Tadashi, who was mouthing for me to breathe. Kiki and Alexa were giving me reassuring looks and thumbs ups too. I took a deep breath, and continued my presentation. "It doesn't look like much… but when it connects with its other friends, things start to get interesting."
A rumbling was heard by the entrance of the building, and a swarm of black microbots climbed up onto the stage. The microbots formed a box on the stage and the crowd exclaimed, many people walked toward the stage, to see what I was presenting.
"The bots are controlled with this neural transmitter." I explained, gesturing to the neurocranial transmitter on my head. I pulled the band off, turning the box of bots into a pile. They put the bands back on, and the pile turned back into a box.
"I think what I want them to do… and they do it." I continued and made a hand from the microbots, and made it wave. I heard the crowd gasp in awe, and that seemed to motivate me to continue.
"The applications for this technology are limitless. Like construction…" I stated, and the materials on the stage were built into a tower. I ran behind the bots and appeared on the top of the stand. The crowd gasped in awe again.
"What used to take teams of people working by hand for months and even years, can now be accomplished by one person." I explained. "And that's…just the beginning."
I walked off the structure, causing the crowd to gasp in fear. Then I was caught by the microbots, which introduced the next topic. "What about transportation?" I added. "Microbots can move anything, anywhere, with ease."
The microbots me around the room, and I hung upside down from the ceiling! I made the microbots slide on a beam, and high-fived Tadashi while I was upside down. Then I continued to move around the building.
"If you can think it, the microbots can do it." I stated. The bots took me back to the stage, and created an escalator for me to slide down on. "The only limit is your imagination."
Finally, I ran to the center of the stage and created a large microbot out of the small microbots. "Microbots!"
After my presentation, I ran off the stage, tossing my neurocranial transmitter to the side, and the entire group congratulated me on my presentation, telling me how amazing it was. No one would stop complimenting me on how amazing it was.
Then Alistair Krei and Professor Callaghan walked over to me. Krei wanted to buy my microbots, but I refused. Then Professor Callaghan gave my acceptance letter to SFIT!
I KNEW IT! I KNEW I WAS GOING TO GET IN!
THIS IS THE BEST DAY EVER!
I was just so happy, we all had a group hug, and then we all walked outside the building. Aunt Cass and the others went back to the café, and Tadashi and I went to the bridge. I saw Tadashi looking back at Kiki and Alexa, where Kiki was pointing at the exhibition hall, and Alexa was trying to get Kiki to walk to the parking lot with a worried look on her face. I didn't know what any of that meant, but apparently he did. I just ignored it, and he led me to the bridge.
"I know what you're going to say. You're going to say that 'I should be proud of myself because I'm finally using my gift for something important." I said and imitated Tadashi at the same time. But he just smiled smugly, but I found the smallest hint of sadness in his smile.
"Nope, I was just going to tell you that your zipper was down for the entire show." Tadashi said.
"Ha-ha-hilarious." I laughed sarcastically and looked down. My zipper was down. I gasped and zipped it up. Zippp. "Dude!" I shouted and punched Tadashi's shoulder.
"Welcome to nerd school, nerd." Tadashi said.
"I wouldn't be here if it wasn't for you so… you know…tanks for not giving up on me." I told him. Tadashi smiled.
Then we both heard an alarm, so Tadashi and I ran over to where the alarm was coming from. It was coming from the exhibition hall. Tadashi ran up to a woman coming out of the building. "Are you ok?" he asked her.
"Yeah… b-but Professor Callaghan's still in there." she said and ran away from the building.
Tadashi looked at the building, and then at me. He made the choice to run to the building, and leave me behind. I knew that if he went into that building, he would die. He tried to run up the stairs, but I grabbed his arm tightly.
"Tadashi no!" I screamed.
"Callaghan's in there. Someone has to help." Tadashi said heroically.
I reluctantly loosened my grip on his arm, and he ran up the steps, his hat falling off as he did so. I grabbed his hat, I needed to save him! The building was going to explode! I took one step towards the building, and it exploded.
All I saw was yellow and orange, and then all I saw was white. The entire time, all I felt was the heat. I hit the ground really hard, and just before I blacked out, I saw Kiki hit the ground next to me from the blast. I heard screaming, but then I heard nothing. And as I closed my eyes, I had a sudden realization…
Tadashi was gone.
Hee Hee... I'm sorry for this AND... I'm sorry I'm not updating regularly like I say I will... I've made the decision to update twice every time I update, and I promise I WILL be finishing this series. I won't quit. I'm making myself finish this.
Again, sorry for the wait, and I'll see you next time.
Follow and Review! See you in the next chapter!
~Kiki
