Sorry this chapter is much shorter than the others. I had problems getting enough sleep this week so its not as long as the others.
After one last checkup, Hiro was allowed to return to the physical therapy center. As happy as he was to be back, Hiro also was a bit depressed. During his latest checkup, they had taken X-rays of his broken leg.
The results weren't what he or his doctor wanted. At first, the leg bone had been healing at a steady, slightly accelerated pace. Now it had slowed down considerably. It was almost at a standstill.
Tadashi and Baymax believed it was because of the hardware removal surgery. The nanites had been drawn away from the bone to help heal his chest and muscles in the surrounding tissue to help Hiro get back to physical therapy sooner.
Because the skin had been traumatized once more, the nanites were also tending to the epidermis layers of the skin, mainly focused on reducing the new scars.
Because the healing process on the leg had slowed down, the break was at risk of becoming nonunion. A nonunion happened when the broken bones don't heal together.
Nonunion bones occur when a patient didn't get enough blood flow to the bones, an infection set in, or the process is interrupted. Age, medication, smoking, along with genetics, also affected the rate of healing.
For now, all the doctors could do was put on a new cast and monitor the situation. If the bones stopped healing then surgical intervention would be needed. Everyone hoped this wouldn't be the case.
Dr. Pipton was currently using the ultrasound machine on Hiro's scared chest and abdomen. "How do you feel Hiro?" he asked as he gently moved the wand towards the older scars.
"I'm still in pain. The older scars have become as painful as the new ones," the boy remarked. He let out a whimper of pain as the wand was pushed firmer onto his chest. "I've been moisturizing the tissue and it doesn't seem to be working."
Dr. Pipton nodded. "That usually happens with patients who have had back to back surgeries. Keep moisturizing the scars. Eventually, the tightness of the skin and the pain will go down."
Hiro blinked acknowledging Dr. Pipton. Ten minutes later the ultrasound therapy was done. "Let's move on. Have you been doing you're at home exercises?"
"I'm trying to sir. I can use the bath towel for stretching out. Lifting soup cans is a little harder and my grip still slips when using the silly putty."
It was depressing how weak he had become in a short amount of time. "I've tried staying on the diet you recommended. Aunt Cass does her best, but she doesn't always have time to cook or buy the foods you suggested."
Dr. Pipton hummed before asking some questions. "Do you or your brother know how to cook?"
Hiro shook his head. He was then asked how many meals did he have that were on the diet. "I eat at least one, sometimes even two a day."
"How have you been sleeping?"
"Okay, I guess. There are few times I wake up during the night because of nightmares and it takes about half an hour to go back to sleep."
"On a scale of one to ten, how high is your pain level?"
"At least seven, sometimes eight."
"How often are you doing your home exercises?"
"Two times a day for forty-five minutes."
"How has your mood been?"
Hiro hesitated with this question. "Honestly, Dr. Pipton, I don't know exactly how I feel. I argued with my brother recently because I was angry with how little time he's been spending with me.
I'm worried about my Aunt Cass. She's stressing eating more often and seems frazzled. I am…slightly depressed by my situation."
Dr. Pipton didn't say anything. He jotted down what Hiro said and put his notes away for now. "Let's do some stretching and flexibility exercises for now and then we will work on improving your range of motion. Can you handle that?"
Hiro nodded happily. He was going to ignore the annoying little voice in the back of his head saying what was unspoken. That he was suffering from an acute setback.
At SFIT the gang was working on their project for Professor Granville. The project looked like a black and silver metallic trunk on a flying skateboard. The trunk was divided into three parts and had a Baymax's face with robotic arms attached to the front of the device.
So far they had managed to figure out how the device could move and the sensory system to identify garbage from recyclable material.
"Alright, the maglev system is working properly now. Since we don't have a rail for it to ride on, I designed the system to repel against Earth's magnetic field wherever it goes," Go-Go stated as she checked the system one more time.
Tadashi was adjusting the sensors in the eyes. "Alright, I recalibrated the sensors. They should now be able to analyze the chemical makeup of the garbage and decide if it should go to a recycling center or can be used for creating energy."
Honey Lemon smiled happily. She was the one who had insisted on adding that feature to the device. "I'm still trying to figure out a chemical formula for breaking down the garbage safely.
There are so many variables to consider with what people consider trash. Leftover food items can easily become biodegradable. At the same time, what would be safe for foods, might have an adverse reaction, if it tried to degrade something made of metal."
Baymax blinked in agreement. "Many metals release toxic fumes during the degrading process. When metal starts to rust it can lead to infections and blood poisoning."
Wasabi spoke up just then. "The chemicals have to be safe to use. If the magnetic containers holding the plasma should become unstable the entire thing could blow up.
The process needs to safe and secure so the kinetic energy can be converted into plasma energy which can be used to power any electrical device."
"Maybe you could use a force field to keep the chemicals from interacting with the plasma containers?" Fred suggested.
"Force fields are not real Fred. You remember that fact right?" Go-Go said flippantly. The comic geek mimed her words and she just turned around in her chair so she didn't have to look at him.
"Speaking from an engineering standpoint we need to maximize the space we have for the device. Oh, has anyone come up with a name, for our project?"
Fred started jumping up and down while waving his hands above his head. Tadashi chuckled and asked him what he thought it should be called.
"Gar2energy Convertor. Because it turns garbage into energy and because not only does it do that, it also picks up recyclables."
Honey Lemon giggled. "That's a good name, Freddie. I like it. Can we keep it Dashi?" The young man told her, yes and she hugged him. To the rest of the group he held his hands up in, "what can I do?" gesture.
Go-Go brought the group back to the problem at hand. How to make maximum use of the space inside the Gar2energy Convertor. "The interior of the machine can only handle two pounds of garbage at a time. It takes ten pounds to produce enough kinetic energy to convert it into plasma energy.
Wasabi, have you figured out how we're using the plasma power?" She meant would they be using direct or alternate currents when they distributed the power.
"For our prototype, I'm leaning more towards using direct current. If we store the energy in batteries, we can do tests on one object at a time and not worry about blowing the electrical system."
He showed the group a sketch he had made for the batteries. They would be about the size of a small carrying case and could be safely stored somewhere while the Gar2energy went about its business.
"Since we're using the third section to house the plasma tubes we can place the battery on the back of the machine so it can be charged quickly. I would also like to suggest installing protective shields between the different sections."
"That is a good idea. Similar to the digestive system, having different sections can prevent something harmful from going too far down the track.
The first section is comparable to the mouth and esophagus. The second section is the stomach, and the last section is the small and large intestines."
"A gross, but accurate comparison Baymax," Wasabi replied looking a little green.
"What if Dashi, Baymax, and I work together to create sensors inside so they know which chemicals to use to break down the garbage? They can then be stored in capsules, like on my purse."
Happy that they had made progress, the group got back to work. Professor Granville, who was walking around checking on her students, smiled at the group. She was proud of their progress.
Later that day Aunt Cass picked up Hiro from physical therapy. "How was your session today?" she asked cheerfully.
"Not that great. I had a couple of setbacks. I have to start over," Hiro replied miserably.
Aunt Cass struggled to keep her cheerful expression. "Maybe that's a good thing. You already know what to do and can be back where you were in no time."
Hiro sighed and looked away. "Can we do something fun together? We haven't done something for just the two of us that wasn't related to my recovery for some time now."
Aunt Cass looked delighted at the idea. "What do you want to do?"
"We could go to the park for a walk? Dr. Pipton suggested I get some fresh air and natural sunlight to help me recover faster." He knew it was out of character for him to want to go to the park.
Still, he was getting tired of looking at the same walls of his room and a bit of fresh air did sound good.
"That does sound enjoyable. Why don't we go there now?" She turned the van and was heading to the park when her phone chimed. "Could you check my phone please?"
Hiro managed to reach into her purse and pulled out her phone. He took a look at the screen and his face fell. "It's a reminder that you have the health inspector coming over in an hour."
Aunt Cass wanted to slap her forehead. "I knew I was forgetting something. I've been so stressed with everything it slipped my mind. I'm sorry Hiro. We'll go to the park another time."
"It's okay Aunt Cass. I understand." When she wasn't looking Hiro expression soured. He understood why they couldn't go. It didn't change the fact he was upset about it.
Arriving at the café, Aunt Cass was on a cleaning spree. She quickly wiped down the tables and chairs, polished the cash register, and was now making sure to sanitize the counter.
"Can I help Aunt Cass? Maybe I could sweep or clean the coffee maker?" Hiro suggested as he maneuvered closer to the counter. "I could clean the windows."
Aunt Cass shook her head frantically as she started wiping down the coffee maker. "Hiro, I know you want to help, but you can't even get out of your wheelchair to stand. Go upstairs and play with Mochi. I'll join you when I can."
She didn't notice the hurt in her nephew's eyes. Instead of going upstairs, he took the ramp to the garage. Mochi followed eagerly to see what the boy was up to.
Once in the garage, Hiro let out a scream of frustration. Couldn't he get a break for once? "Why is this happening to me?"
Mochi meowed and patted his paws against Hiro's unbroken leg. Hiro picked him up and put him in his lap. "You feel heavier than I remember Mochi. What has Aunt Cass been feeding you?"
Mochi just purred and rubbed his head against Hiro's chest. The teenager giggled and stroked the cat's head. "I guess I'm not the only one who needs to exercise. I wish I could get you one of those plastic toys you have to play with if you want some treats."
He could picture it in his mind. It would be blue, shaped like a dreidel, and have openings to put the treats on the sides. His transmitter heated up and cooled down quickly.
He heard the sound of the 3D printer turning on and looked over in surprise. The machine was displaying the image he just had in his head and now it was printing it.
When it was finished, the chamber popped open. Careful not to disturb Mochi, he reached up and took the cat toy. He held it in one hand in disbelief. It looked exactly like he had imagined.
He set the toy and Mochi down on the ground and Mochi play with his new toy.
"How did that happen? Why is it happening?" Hiro asked out loud. There had to be something about this on the Internet. He just needed to look it up.
Again his transmitter heated up and the computer was on, connected to the Internet, open to a web page from a scientific journal, about doctors surgically inserting computer chips in patients, brains to help them use a computer to speak.
He barely had time to be shocked as his wheelchair started moving erratically while his transmitter heated up.
STOP! Hiro thought loudly in his head. The wheelchair came to a stop instantly. "Okay, what do you know Hiro?"
One, his transmitter heated up right before something electrical turned on. Two, what he thought or wanted to be had happened right after the transmitter heated up. Three, the neural transmitter had been designed to use brainwaves to control microbots, which didn't exist anymore.
"Oh my word, my transmitter has given me technopathy!" Hiro exclaimed to himself. With the transmitter fused with his brain, it was always active. He was always putting out a signal which was connecting to the devices around him.
He started imagining all the possibilities for his new ability. He could use it to control the crosswalk which would give him enough time to cross. He could download games he wanted to play but wasn't allowed to because of his age. Truly, this was a gift.
That's when he smelled the electrical burning. Startled, he looked at the computer and the 3D printer, which were starting to smoke. The garage door was going up and down. It was only then that he noticed the transmitter had heated up.
"Oh boy, think of something else, think of something else," he shouted to himself. He saw Mochi playing with his new toy, oblivious to the danger near him.
Think about Mochi. How he's a rare male calico. Think of how fat he is and how strange he is. Think about the time Baymax called him a hairy baby. How silly he can be.
The machines stopped smoking and shut down. The garage door remained closed. The transmitter cooled off. "Thank goodness. Now seems like a good time to mention this to Tadashi."
Tadashi didn't come home that night. He called to let Aunt Cass know he was staying overnight at Fred's mansion to study for classes and work on their individual projects.
Currently, Fred was working on his homework for his online college class. He had to send in a sample of technical writing explaining the process of how something worked. So he decided to write about how the Gar2energy device was supposed to work.
Wasabi was currently finishing an essay for his Modern Atomic Physics class. He was having some difficulty with summarizing the advancement of atomic physics in the last twenty years.
Go-Go was working on the graphic design for her Graphic Civil Engineering class. Art was not her strong suit and creating graphics was a tricky business.
Honey Lemon was studying for her Geochemistry class. She had a habit of mixing up the chemical formulas of minerals and she needed a good grade in this class.
Tadashi was researching nanites for his Nanotechnology class. Granville had to pull some strings to get him in the class despite it being full. Tadashi was very grateful as he needed to better understand the subject for monitoring his brother's nanites.
Baymax had his assignment. To review all the data they had gathered on Hiro's nanites so far and start writing medical reports about the data. To ensure total accuracy, Baymax was reviewing his memories.
So focused on their work they all jumped out of their skins when Heathcliff spoke up, not realizing he had entered the room. "Master Fredrick, you asked me to inform you if something unusual happened at places you frequented."
"What happened Heathcliff? Please tell me nothing was destroyed!"
"Nothing has been destroyed, but the Noodle-Burger Boy mascot is missing."
Fred let out a high pitched squeak and fainted to the ground. His friends looked at him in shock. "Is he okay Baymax?" Tadashi asked
"According to my scans, Fred is simply overwhelmed and will return to normal in about three seconds.
Three seconds later Fred was up and moaning about how awful the situation was. "Noodle-Burger Boy means as much as Baymax means to you Tadashi. Besides predicting my favorite meal he's an AI!
You have no idea how much information he can gather about people just by serving them meals. We have to do something!"
The others all looked at Tadashi As their leader he decided if BH6 would be helping out or not. "Fred, I'm sure Noodle-Burger Boy is fine. I bet it's a prank by a couple of kids and the police will find him in a matter of days. It's not something to worry about."
Honey Lemon tugged on Tadashi's jacket. "They might find him today. Take a look!"
The TV had been producing white noise during their studying and now an emergency broadcast was showing. "This is Bluff Dunder and I'm coming to you live from the skies of downtown.
Earlier today, San Fransokyo's beloved restaurant chain Noodle-Burger, was the victim of theft, when their friendly, old-timey, mascot robot, Noodle-Burger Boy had been stolen overnight.
The police investigating this crime have come under siege as you can see below."
The camera panned across the scene. The police vehicles were covered in condiments. Guns lay abandon on the ground their barrels stuffed with lettuce and pickles.
Worse, the police had somehow gotten trapped inside a giant noodle-burger and could only watch helplessly as Noodle-Burger Boy skipped around the streets firing lasers from his eyes. "This swell boy, but I need some real customers to have fun with."
"Now, can we go after him?" Fred asked pleadingly.
Tadashi nodded. "We do it my way though. Fred, you mentioned he can predict people's food choices based on a simple scan right?"
Fred nodded and Tadashi smiled. "Then we need to be the surprise in the box. Here's what we're going to do."
Obake watched through his hidden cameras as Noodle-Burger Boy continued to go on a frolicking rampage as he took down the police. "The police are down and no one can defeat him with his unique algorithm. Big Hero 6 should be coming to the rescue any second now."
"How can you be so sure, Father? They haven't always shown up when bad things are happening," Trina asked from behind him.
"Because I too can predict people's actions. Ah here they are now," Obake replied as the heroes surrounded the robot. "Clever, they've switched suits, but it won't be enough to win"
Indeed, everyone had switched with someone else. Honey Lemon with Go-Go. Wasabi and Baymax. Fred and Tadashi.
"Ordering something new off the menu? Well, that's not fair!" Noodle-Burger Boy complained before jumping high into the air and started shooting lasers again.
The team got out of the way. Noodle-Burger fired his lasers again, but Tadashi jumped out of the way with Freddy's suit. He let loose a fire blast that the robot mascot dodged.
Wasabi activated Baymax's rocket fist and it struck Noodle-Burger Boy in the back of his head. Twisting his body around the robot fired rounds of ketchup and mustard at his attacker.
While Wasabi screamed, Go-Go moved in and threw two chemballs not exactly sure what was in them. One ball created a serious of crystals that formed a wall in front of her friend.
The other ball hit the ground and exploded into fireworks that started shooting everywhere.
"Oh dear," Baymax said. He increased his speed and did his best to block the fireworks from hitting people, using his body to contain the explosions.
Fred and Honey Lemon were doing their best to take down Noodle-Burger Boy. Out of Tadashi's tool belt, Fred plucked out two small flybots and placed them on Go-Go discs so Honey Lemon could through them.
They bounced harmlessly off Noodle Burger Boy's chest. "You'll have to do better than that!" Then the robot reached up with his pudgy hands and caught the flybots. "Bugs should be kept away from the food," he remarked as he squished the robots between his hands.
Having seen enough, Obake informed the robot to retreat. They had what they needed.
Noodle-Burger Boy shot noodles into the air and escaped as they rained down on the group of heroes.
Using the traffic cameras around the location he watched as the six heroes started to help free the police and retrieve their weapons for them. "That was very informative."
"Informative yes, helpful no! Noodle-Burger Boy can only predict now, what they can do when their armors are switched. How does that help us achieve greatness?" Trina asked in confusion.
Obake's face glowed brightly as he lectured his daughter. "The data collected is helpful because it shows how much trouble they have when not using their armor.
By comparing the data to well-known footage, we can extrapolate their strengths and weakness. We then program that into our new friend and Big Hero 6 won't be able to stop us."
Trina rubbed her hands together and said, "Which means we can identify who they really are and use it to our advantage! You are truly a genius father."
"Indeed and now it's your turn. You need to convince Hiro to meet in real life so you can cement your friendship with him."
Trina hurried to her room only stumbling a few times with her awkward gait. She sat down and turned her computer on. She did some finger exercises and stretched her arms before she entered the chat room.
She could see a conversation already going on in her chat group and read the last few posts to get caught up.
Brittlebones: My OI is acting up again. Had to schedule another trip to the dentist. I hate going to the dentist, but what are you going to do? It's part of having OI.
Newlungs: My new CTFR medications are really powerful. I've had to stay home for the next few weeks until I have adjusted to the medication. It's tough, but I'm glad that these drugs will help keep me alive.
CPS: I had a. Botox treatment today. My pain level hasn't been. This low in months. I love being able to use my limbs. For long periods.
HeroP7: I have something I want to share with everyone. It's cool!
That's when Trina jumped into the conversation hoping to steer the conversation in the direction she wanted it to go.
Cyborg-Girl: What so cool? Are you doing a new therapy? No, let me guess. You're going to be out of your wheelchair soon right?
HeroP7: I wish I was getting out of my wheelchair. I wanted to let everyone know I'm back in physical therapy. More importantly, a project of mine I was working on has shown some promising results.
Newlungs: I sometimes forget that you're a science nerd HeroP7. What's the project about?
HeroP7: I'm helping my brother with his science project. He's trying to figure out how to make progress with medical nanite research. I've been running some scenarios on the computer and I think I found one that might help him with his project.
Brittlebones: Astonishing!
CPS: You are a genius!
Cyborg-Girl: If you found the solution then you must be smarter than your brother. Did he come up with the project thesis or did you?
HeroP7: I might have suggested it as a possibility to use as his science project in his class. He was the one who decided to use it."
Cyborg-Girl: Don't be so modest. You helped your college brother out. There's no shame in admitting in this one instance you were smarter.
Brittlebones: Cyborg-Girl is right. Be proud of your accomplishments
CPS: Keep up. The good work. I need to go rest now.
Newlungs: Same, these new meds are inflicting mayhem on my sleep cycle.
Brittlebones: I should turn in too. Maybe I can nap through the pain from my dental work.
Cyborg-Girl: You three take care. I think I'm going to stay on and get to know HeroP7 a bit more.
HeroP7: I would like that a lot. I could use a new best friend.
The two teenagers chatted for more than an hour. They found they had a lot in common. Building and participating in bot fighting. Both thought gummy bears were the best treat. They also didn't like being out in the woods.
Eventually, they shared their email address and promised to talk more soon.
Tadashi's classes were canceled the next day so he could stay home. Hiro was eager to tell him what happened yesterday. "Tadashi! You wouldn't believe what I can do."
Tadashi smiled and ruffled the peach fuzz on his brother's head. "What can you do?"
"Watch, I'll show you!" Hiro looked at the computer and focused. Turn on. Turn on. Please turn on. But the computer didn't turn on.
"Hiro, what am I supposed to see?"
"Hold on, let me try something else." He looked at his digital clock and willed it to change the numbers, but again there was nothing.
The teenager looked around frantically trying to find something to turn on or do something unusual. Nothing happened though. He gripped his knees and started to cry. "Why isn't working? It worked before!"
Tadashi moved swiftly over to his brother and got him to let go of his knees. He had some minor scratches. A few were bleeding. "Baymax, wake up. We need your help."
Baymax had been charging. Opening his eyes, he toddled over and started attending to the scratches. "Self-harm is not advisable Hiro."
"I wasn't trying to hurt myself on purpose. Tadashi, please listen. Yesterday, I managed to turn on the 3D printer and the computer in the garage without touching them!
I did it with my mind! I'm a technopath! Whenever my neural transmitter heats up it sending my brain signals out towards electrical devices creating a link. You have to believe me."
Tadashi looked at his brother kindly. "Hiro, I'm sure something unusual happened yesterday. I don't doubt that. However, I need some evidence to back up your claim."
Hiro's eyes widened in shock. "You think I would lie about something so incredible?"
The older boy shook his head. "I just need the data to support it okay? Why don't you try again and Baymax and I will see what's going on."
Hiro consented and laid down on his bed. Baymax scanned the boy and displayed his current vitals as well as the location of the nanites.
Tadashi put his smartphone in front of his younger brother and was ready to make observations.
"Whenever you're ready, Hiro."
Hiro nodded and locked his sight on the smartphone. He imagined the phone and scrolling through its contact list to call Honey Lemon. He saw himself pressing the call button and connecting with his friend.
Baymax rescanned his patient. His heart rate sped up just a little and his temperature rose briefly. Checking the nanite level they did seem more active than before.
Tadashi observed his brother's neural transmitter. A slight hum was coming from the device. He took a glance at his smartphone and saw nothing had changed.
Then the screen flickered for a few seconds before returning to normal. After a few more minutes he ended the experiment. "Okay, the neural transmitter hummed louder which indicated that you were thinking very hard.
As for the smartphone, as far as I could tell, no connection was made between you and the smartphone. Baymax, what did your test results reveal."
The health care companion addressed Hiro, but his eyes were on his creator. "Hiro, your heart and temperature did go up a little bit. It was nothing dangerous and didn't affect your health."
"What about my nanites?"
"They were a little more active than they usually are. None of them headed to the brain. Without further testing, we cannot answer the question of why this is happening."
Hiro was disappointed to hear this. "I don't believe this. There has to be something you missed. I'm not lying."
Again, Tadashi placated his brother saying he believed him, but without proof, he didn't know what Hiro wanted him to do.
"Listen we'll keep this up until we get some answers. I promise Hiro." The two brothers hugged tightly. They weren't going to give up yet.