Chapter Nine

-Lies-

As it turned out, however, things were not working out in Tadashi's favour.

Where is it?! His eyebrows furrowed anxiously.

He had spent the last quarter rummaging through a muddle of paper and equipment on the professor's desk, only to find nothing like a floorplan and have his confidence eroded away by a fruitless search.

Think, Tadashi, think! The student urged his mind. He then stepped back to survey the compact room he was in and traced its few pieces of furniture closely for a hint of that piece of paper. He would gradually shift his sight towards the desk to find a vaguely familiar silhouette of a series of drawers.

Oh God, you're such an idiot! Tadashi slapped his forehead in embarrassment before wasting no time, he immediately rushed over to pull the topmost drawer open to examine its contents.

He would, however, find none of the floorplan he had badly hoped to see. After which, in a conscious effort to conceal his actions, he proceeded to place the contents back carefully and moved on to the next. He would then repeat the same routine feverishly for the subsequent drawers until he finally paused upon reaching the last one.

This is it.

Tadashi gazed hopefully at the little wooden knob of the drawer. Despite his morale-crushing failures, the tired lad had somehow managed to keep his hopes alive though barely, and he knew that if he still could not find anything in that bulky container, he would have to give up everything he had come for, including his only possible chance to see Hiro.

Tadashi clicked his tongue in irritation. He hated to be in a situation where it is either for all or for nothing. His fingers soon curled around the little knob in a tight grasp before hesitating no further, he pulled it out and peered hopefully into the space.

There was nothing. Nothing as in no paper, roll, or one of those fancy maps one usually sees in movies, but just a small framed photograph of a young woman lying delicately in its midst.

Abigail…Tadashi stared at her face for a moment until he abruptly broke the tense silence with a round of laughter.

Of course, it's Abigail! It's her photograph! He grinned to himself silly as he slumped against a ledge behind. Why did I think it was just my imagination when there really was nothing but her photograph here?

The young man continued to choke out a few more laughs before he gradually cried.

Why am I being so hopeful when there wasn't even hope?

Tadashi proceeded to hug his knees for solace. He could feel his will breaking already, and he felt utterly helpless to do anything to change his fate.

This really sucks, he cursed himself crudely. It sucked that this time, he could not work his usual way through with his determination and optimism for he had nearly lost them both. And he also realised, at this moment, that he had been living a lie.

A lie he had believed, since ten years ago, that he was strong enough to stand up against whatever life has to throw at him after his parents' death when all along, he could barely even endure the ordeal he had been facing since the fire.

He had been lying to himself all this time, having forced his broken spirit to hide beneath a fabric of hope, kindness, and warmth for the sake of being the best brother and man he could be for his family.

Which was his own fault too, Tadashi managed a weak smile. Funny that an honest man isn't honest with himself, isn't it?

Stifling a sob, Tadashi soon held up the photograph to his eyes to gaze at Abigail's cheery face. He knew she would be saddened to see him in such a sorry state and by the situation she had caused if she were to be alive.

Heck, it's her death that caused it, he corrected his thoughts when it suddenly hit him. But why did she suddenly pass on? And why was Alistair involved with her death?

Tadashi rose from his position in thought. He had known Abigail since he was introduced to her by Callaghan in his first year of college, and he knew that no one would hate such an affable and brilliant person to death.

Alistair must have done something that led to her demise, and whatever he did, it was bad enough to change the usually composed Callaghan into a revenge-hungry criminal, he figured. Tadashi then lifted his gaze towards the desk.

The answers must be there.

Following which, he slowly pushed himself away from the ledge to stand and walked over to the desk where he would begin to study the papers from the muddle curiously. His eyebrows then creased in confusion, which culminated in disbelief, as Tadashi tried hard to swallow the contents he had read in his trembling hands.

Teleportation…existed? Tadashi gasped. Teleportation was at best a theoretical possibility, to his knowledge, but for him to discover that it actually existed, and moreover the fact that Abigail "died" because she disappeared into a teleportation portal created by Alistair and never returned back…

It was simply unbelievable, the young man grasped his hair while he leaned against the ledge. First, it was Krei and then this...

Everything now seemed so surreal that for a moment, he wondered if he was alive or actually in a coma before he suddenly felt terrified and sick of living in this strange world he had unwittingly gone into.

"What are you doing here?"

Tadashi was jolted back to his senses as he cast his gaze towards the direction of the voice to find a tall black figure standing at the door.

Fuck, he swore at his luck.

"I repeat, what on earth are you doing here, Tadashi?!" Callaghan demanded as he strode towards Tadashi with an enraged face.

The latter stammered, "I-I was…"

Quick, idiot, think of a lie!

"I was trying to find out what is the special topic you want me to research on later," he began nervously. "Thought it might help in developing the microbots."

Callaghan paused upon hearing these words and stared at the panic-stricken student in search for a hint of dishonesty. The elder man knew that being an honest man to a fault, Tadashi was also a horrible liar, though now it was hard to determine whether he was lying or simply intimidated by his presence.

He then shifted his eyes towards the desk, where he found his daughter's photograph lying idly on it. In a moment of panic, he quickly rushed to check its state thoroughly before finding it undamaged, to which Callaghan heaved a sigh of relief.

"You found something else, didn't you?" He glanced sharply at Tadashi, who proceeded to give a rather unsure reply, "The teleportation…is that real?"

Callaghan fell silent as he gazed lovingly at the photograph before he deliberately placed it back into its rightful drawer. After which, he exhaled softly.

"It was a secret collaboration between the government and Krei Tech. They had wanted to explore a new way to transport people and goods between places, so as to better manage urban development, pollution, and many others."

He briefly swallowed while he recalled the accident, "Abigail was one of the research members who were behind the creation of the teleportation portals, and as you know how she usually was, she willingly volunteered to be a test subject for a presentation. I was initially hesitant, though I eventually gave my consent after being convinced by Alistair that he would do his absolute best to ensure her safety throughout the presentation."

The professor then bit on his lower lip bitterly, "I should have known not to trust him from the start, given how he had acted in the past."

"What happened?" Tadashi blurted curiously.

"The presentation was going well, but Alistair was soon warned that the portals were unstable and so needed to be deactivated immediately for repairs," Callaghan gripped the edge of the desk in anger. "He didn't take heed though. After all, the whole project was a technological breakthrough and the General was there too. Surely he must show how great Krei Tech can be."

Tadashi placed his hand upon his chest in an empathetic gesture.

Callaghan wasn't just angry because he felt betrayed, he thought, Abigail's death could have been avoided too. He deserved to be angry.

He began to think of a consoling reply for Callaghan before a chill struck him. Wait, couldn't my "death" be avoided too? And what about Hiro?! If he were to know that Callaghan had stolen his microbots for his own plans…

Tadashi's eyes widened again, this time in sheer dread, as he realised the implications he could have caused.

Oh no.

"Judging by your expression, I presume you knew the rest of the story from the papers, " Callaghan misinterpreted his look, to which a distracted Tadashi simply nodded in agreement.

The elder man then turned towards him with a confiding smile, "And since you knew about it, I might as well reveal to you my plan: I am going to have the remaining portal assembled and activated at Krei Tech's new headquarters' opening ceremony."

Tadashi raised an eyebrow in question, "Why?"

"Because if he took away everything I had, I'm going to take his as well, and that means his entire fortune and the company he had built from scratch," Callaghan declared. "Anyway, his life isn't worth much. I had rather not waste my efforts to claim his."

"And what will I do?" Tadashi felt his chest was going to burst from the built-up tension.

"You?" Callaghan smirked, "You have helped me with the microbots, so now you will commence with the second part of our deal."

He briefly fished through the muddle beside him before he found a laptop and placed it on Tadashi's hands.

"Inside are the procedures to activate and operate the teleportation portal. I need you to read up on them as you will be handling its operations while I'm busy assembling it," Callaghan instructed, his eyes boring into the latter's. "I trust you can do your job well and fast."

"Wait, what?" Tadashi blinked in confusion, "Isn't it risky to trust a captive to do this?"

"Oh Tadashi, you're simply too clever!" Callaghan laughed before he approached the stiffened man with a little glint of madness in his eyes, "That's why if you do anything funny, Mr Hamada, I will rip apart your soul, literally."

Tadashi gulped. He could feel his life hanging by a thin thread, but that wouldn't worry him.

What worried him the most now was Hiro.

-End of Chapter Nine-

Author's Notes: Again, great thanks to my beta-reader for his commentary and to all readers for your patience!