Chapter Thirty Seven: Trying to reboot

"Okay, big guy," Tadashi said as he pushed himself and the swivel chair away from the computer in the garage. "What do you think?"

Baymax shuffled forward, now free of the cords that had previously connected him to the computer. "I am a robot. I do not believe I am qualified to make a fair assessment of my programming's condition."

Tadashi let out a sigh at that. It wasn't an unexpected answer. "That's not exactly what I meant," he admonished. "Do you feel you are back to operational capacity?"

The robot swiveled his head from one side to the other. "I appear to be fully functional. Have you determined why my memory appears to be faulty?"

Shaking his head, Tadashi ran a hand through his hair. "I still have to go through all the data, but it looks like there was some kind of energy surge during those periods. I'm not sure what caused it though."

Baymax blinked at that statement. "Is it possible the energy surge was low enough that most scans would not detect it if they were not properly calibrated?"

Tadashi couldn't help but straighten up at that question. "It's possible," he said hesitantly. "Baymax, do you know something I don't?"

Seeming to look around, Baymax observed Honey Lemon was still upstairs with Hiro. That was a good thing. "Before I answer your question, I request you answer one of my own."

Almost too tired to realize this was an unexpected response for a robot, albeit one with an artificial intelligence, especially since he'd not been operational long enough to really develop a personality of his own, Tadashi just went with it. "Shoot." He would sort it out later when he was more awake.

"Last night you attached a small device to my skeletal structure. You said it was some kind of inhibitor. Where did you acquire it?"

Tadashi debated. Baymax had decidedly advanced far more than he'd ever thought possible already. He was thinking independently, and he wasn't sure if that was a good thing or not, though it was something he'd hoped would happen in the long run. He also knew the robot would know if he was telling the truth or not. "I met a man last night back at the lab," he answered. "He called himself the Doctor."

Baymax tilted his head to one side and blinked. "Did he travel with a female companion?"

Thinking about it, Tadashi had to nod. "Rose Tyler," he replied. Then the implications settled in as he straightened in his chair. "Baymax, do you know them?" He waited on what felt like tenterhooks as the robot seemed to debate on how to best answer that, much as he'd debated on how to answer the previous question.

"Yes."

Tadashi couldn't help but go to his feet, all but grabbing the robot by the shoulders. "Tell me, Baymax. This could be important. It might be part of why Hiro went downhill so fast."

"How is Hiro?"

At that question, Tadashi ran a hand through his hair before replacing his cap. "Honestly, I'm not sure. But I promise I'll take you upstairs to check after you answer my questions."

Baymax seemed to nod at that. "If you have met the Doctor, you should be aware that Hiro has been reliving the same segment of time over and over in a loop. Is this correct?"

The inventor nodded. "Yes. He said this was the third or fourth time. And that it's burning Hiro up from the inside out. He can't take too many more repeats before his mind and body basically shut down for good." The worry in his voice was so evident it made him look even more tired than he was.

The robot accepted this. "In the original timeline, Hiro encountered an alien race comprised of energy. They requested his help."

As the robot continued with his tale, Tadashi settled back onto the swivel chair, listening in awe.

Honey Lemon faced the stairs as she heard two sets of footsteps coming up them. She breathed a sigh of relief when she realized it was Tadashi with Baymax in tow. She wasn't sure how she'd answer if it had been Cass. The last time she'd seen the shop owner had been the night before when she'd told her about the night terror Hiro had suffered.

"How is he?" Tadashi asked before she could say anything.

Honey pushed up her glasses. "Still sleeping," she answered as she glanced over at the bed. At least Hiro seemed to be resting more peacefully this time. "I can't help but wonder, though, just how long he's going to sleep."

Baymax waddled forward to contemplate the boy. "I will scan Hiro now," he announced as he began the procedure. "Scan complete. Hiro's vital signs have stabilized since my last scan. Neurotransmitter and hormonal levels have also stabilized. However, he still has an elevated temperature of 37.7 degrees Celsius."

"That's an improvement," Tadashi commented. "Any idea on when he'll wake up?"

The robot seemed to consider his patient for a moment. "I detect brain activity that suggests the possibility of a re-calibration of neural synapses."

Honey blinked at that. "What does that mean?"

"It means Hiro's brain is trying to reboot," Tadashi answered before the robot could. "It's also probably trying to repair any damage inflicted by the recent fever. Best thing to do is let him sleep it out. Baymax, why don't you stay here and keep an eye on him?"

Baymax gave a tilt of his head. "Of course. Hiro is my primary patient."

Tadashi couldn't help but smile at that as he patted him on one vinyl arm. "Thanks." He glanced at the clock and groaned.

"What is it?" Honey asked, looking at her friend with concern.

Releasing his held breath, Tadashi let out an expression that was almost a pout, but not quite. There was too much exhaustion in it. "I promised Callaghan I'd help clean up after the showcase. He'll be expecting me in less than an hour."

Honey walked over and put a reassuring hand on his shoulder. "Why don't I go with you?"

Tadashi gave her a grateful smile, knowing she was probably just as tired, if not more so, as he was. "I'd like that." He turned to Baymax. "Let me know if anything changes, okay?"

"I will contact you immediately," Baymax agreed.

Blue and red flashing lights met Tadashi and Honey Lemon as they drove up to the auditorium housing the showcase. Tadashi parked the moped, his expression one of confusion as he took off his helmet. "What in the world is going on here?"

Honey wasn't far behind him as she moved towards the building. "Looks like something must have happened."

Police tape cordoned off the area, keeping the idle curious from getting too close. Police officers seemed to be everywhere, though there were really only a handful actually present. But there were also several professors in the area, including Callaghan. And they all had the same expression on their faces.

"Professor!" Tadashi called out as he waved to get the man's attention. "Professor Callaghan! What's going on?"

By the time Callaghan turned around, he had an expression of pure exhaustion and defeat. "Mr. Hamada," he greeted without any real enthusiasm. "What are you doing here?"

Tadashi stepped up to the police tape separating him from his teacher. "I came to help clean up as requested. Thought it looks like that might have to wait. What happened?"

Callaghan glanced back at one of the officers for permission before lifting the tape to let both Tadashi and Honey Lemon inside. "Late last night, someone broke into the showcase and stole some projects."

Honey registered shock as she followed the two men towards the main doors, wondering if she knew any of the affected students.

Something heavy dropped into Tadashi's stomach. "Whose projects?" Even though Hiro had been unable to present, his microbots had been stored inside, along with the neurotransmitter that controlled them.

Callaghan let out his breath. "I was actually just about to call your brother. His was among the five whose projects went missing."

Tadashi stopped in his tracks halfway up the front stairs, his expression mirroring shock and confusion. "Oh no." He shook his head, wanting to deny it. Something in the back of his mind begged for attention.

I have to stop Callaghan! Hiro had protested only last night when Tadashi had told him he was staying home. He's going to steal my microbots and set the showcase building on fire!

But it couldn't be true. Callaghan wouldn't be there if he'd stolen the projects. And there hadn't been a fire, at least not that Tadashi could see. It had to be coincidence. It had to be. His brother was mistaken. Callaghan wouldn't, couldn't do something like that.

Honey almost bumped into Tadashi as he paused, though she immediately stopped as soon as she realized he had. "Poor Hiro," she said, her thoughts instantly going to the sleeping boy. He really was having a rough go.

"I was hoping to let him know before the police did," Callaghan continued, starting to move forward once more. His shoulders sagged, like he was carrying a heavy weight.

Taking the hint, Tadashi followed. "Hiro's still not feeling well," he admitted. "He was asleep when I left this morning."

Now inside the building, Tadashi headed directly towards the area where they'd stowed the twelve bins full of microbots. They were all gone. He hadn't wanted to believe it, but now couldn't deny it. He covered his face in his hands. "What am I going to tell Hiro?"

Honey put a comforting hand on Tadashi's shoulder. She knew Hiro would be devastated. It wasn't hard to see how much he'd invested in his project by how he'd thrown himself into it, especially the last few weeks.

"Who else?" Tadashi asked as he put his hands down. "Who else had their projects stolen?" There had to be proof, any proof, that his professor wasn't the one who'd taken the tiny robots.

The professor listed off the names, none of whom Tadashi was acquainted with. "And no two experiments were the same," Callaghan added. "The police aren't sure if there's any real connection between them or if they were picked at random."

One of the cops came over just then, asking who they were. When he learned the situation, he had Tadashi fill out a statement since Hiro wasn't there to do it, that and Hiro was still a minor. Once that was taken care of, he asked Tadashi to leave his contact information, then escorted them out of the building.

Honey watched Tadashi as he stared back at the auditorium. She wasn't sure how to read the expression on his face, but felt it wasn't a good one. "What do you plan on doing? Hiro will have to be told sometime."

Tadashi took off his hat and ran a hand through his hair. "I know," he said heavily. "I just don't know what it'll to do him though. I mean he's still recovering from whatever happened yesterday. I just don't know how to break it to him without causing more problems." One thing he didn't plan on doing was giving fuel to the theory that Callaghan was behind the theft. It just wasn't possible. He could only hope that Hiro had forgotten that bit of mad rambling.

"Yeah," Honey sighed. But she followed his example and put on her borrowed helmet. The drive back to the café would be a long one.