Chapter 3: Meet Me at Sundown
"You have..." Hiro growled in annoyance as Gogo raced past him again, thoroughly enjoying her new set of blades. "You have to crouch lower before releasing the plasma shield! It'll eliminate anymore drag over the shield! You'll be able to go-"
"That's my name don't wear it out," Gogo smirked as she raced across the building sight to a small cement ramp that had been erected just for practice instances.
"Whoa, Hiro," Wasabi bounced around excitedly releasing plasma darts from his new set of wrist bands. "This is amazing, look how fast they release! How did you get them so accurate? And how are they not burning through the metal band?"
Hiro turned to his friend brushing a hand through his hair, "The plasma isn't created until the chemical compo—No Fred! Don't do that yet!" His hands reached out in an attempt to stop his friend from launching himself down the side of the building. Luckly, Hiro had thought to build a remote to active the enthusiast's anti-gravity boots allowing him to stand on the side of the building like it was flat ground.
"Relax Hiro," Honey smiled softly placing a thin hand on the young man's shoulder. "Let him figure it out. It's trial and error, and they need to work their new gadgets as hard as they would in a fight. Otherwise, what's the use of all this? We have to make sure they can withstand right?"
Hiro sighed heavily and nodded, "Right. Well I'm going to go and see how Baymax is adjusting to his new scanner. Make sure that all the coding is correct." He walked away before rubbing his head.
"Ah, but Hiro!" Honey caught up to the young asian easily with her long strides. "What about your suit? What updates have you done to yours?" Hiro looked furrowing his brows before simply waving her off. He had Baymax, and the group to worry about. He didn't have time to update his suit as well. And besides, if he ever needed help taking things down, he could always count on the white marshmallow.
"It's fine Honey," He smiled heavily as he activated the white robot.
The young asian flew over the city of San Fransokyo cautiously, looking down on the citizens that scurried about as if they were ants in a hill, trying to please their queen, and still get their tasks done in a timely order. It interested him highly, as he watched the world continue on below him, as if he was never even a part of it. He wondered if this was what Tadashi saw if he were an angel.
"Hiro, my scanners are indicating that your seretonin levels are rising. Are you currently feeling emotions of sadness?" Baymax looked up momentarily at the young boy who had become his friend over the years. The robot himself had developed quite a bit of emotion; with Hiro performing emotional updates for the bot's personality every few weeks or so.
"I'm fine Baymax," Hiro smiled softly before a soft beeping in his helmet alerted him to an alarm he had set the day before. "C'mon buddy, time to go meet Brady, to catch up the major details about everything." Baymax buzzed softly before he stood and waited for Hiro to attach himself.
"Where are we meeting Officer Brady, Hiro?" Baymax hummed before diving back down to the streets of their home city. Hiro inhaled the smells of the city; oil on the street, coffee mist wafting off the curve, french pastries baking just up the street. They all mingled and swelled in his mind reminding him of the walks he would take with his brother; or the clouds of smells that Tadashi would drive him through when he was running away from a bot fight.
"Just a little further up the street." Hiro hunkered down further trying to hide himself inside of Baymax. He was slightly glad the citizens had quickly become accustomed to the duo flying through the streets. However, some had taken to giving him the finger as he flew by, nearly blowing them over.
The two had stopped in front of an antique coffee shop; one Hiro had never heard of before, but one Brady had highly complimented at his Aunt's cafe. It was a small shop, clad with the lovely furniture of the eighteenth century. Victorian Sillouhette's covered the cracking brick and mortar walls. It was quaint and cozy, but still maintained a sophisticated aire. Hiro felt as if he should have worn a top hat adorned suit.
"First things first bud," Hiro chuckled softly looking at his white marshmallow. "We've got to change our clothes." Hiro lead baymax into a back alley before removing the heavier harder parts of his suit and putting them in his backpack. It would be a bit harder to show Baymax's, but Hiro had found a way. It wasn't the first time he had come across the problem, and it wouldn't have been the last. It was a simple trick, really. He had attached strong hinges to some of the creases in Baymax's outfit. This would allow him to collapse it, and fold it as needed. This made it much easier for him to hide their identity in a rush. He could always act like a little boy just putting things away with his robot. Baymax quickly shed his own suit, having quickly become accustomed to the rushed fashion and stored it away himself inside of a storage unit that Hiro had built into his abdomen. Hiro moved a it slower, a far more sloppier. Usually he was quick and precise about it, but the lack of sleep over the last few weeks was certainly starting to wear him down.
"Your neurotransmitters, located within your hypothalamus, are reacting erratically. Diagnosis: Sleep deprivation. That is extremely unhealthy for someone of your age Hiro. Solution, you should sleep when we get back home." Bayax stated calmly as Hiro shoved the last of his suit into his backpack.
"I know, I know." Hiro waved him off before brushing some sleep from his face and stepping out into the surrounding traffic. "I'll take a nap after we finish meeting up with Brady." Baymax nodded slightly pleased with the answer and followed the young asian boy around to the front of the shop and into it.
"Over here," The voice boomed almost instantly. Brady had seen the duo coming in from his window seat. "Hello Hiro," He nodded respectfully at both of the beings before him. "Baymax." Baymax buzzed softly in recognition as he waddled his way into the booth.
"Hiro needs rest," The white robot chirped softly; as if telling this man might convince him to let Hiro go so the young man could rest up properly.
"I'm sure he does, so I won't take long," Brady chuckled softly in assurance to the bot. "
Just a few quick notes, some more in depth information that I couldn't give him the other day at the Lucky Cat." If Baymax could, he would have sighed and given the man a pleading look. He didn't have the scanners that the bot had, so he had no clue just how jumbled his poor friend's brain was already.
"I am happy with my care," Hiro quipped sliding in beside the deflating robot. "Sorry buddy," He patted the arm softly before packing the bot away in his charging station. "What all did you need to tell me?" He leaned forward glancing over at the luke warm drink biting his lip. Brady chuckled softly before flagging down a waitress.
"How about we order some food first? No coffee for you. Your aunt told me some pretty bad horror stories about you on coffee." Hiro smirked softly before grabbing the menu and doing a quick once over.
"Fine, I want a hot chocolate and pancakes."
"Would you like a toy with that meal?" Brady chuckled ordering a sausage biscuit with grits. The waitress giggled and took down the notes as Hiro pouted and crossed his arms leaning back against the soft back of the seat.
"No, but some gummy bears would be nice." Hiro sighed heavily before leaning forward again as the waitress left. "Now seriously, what did you want to talk about?"
"Well, I don't think you got quite the drift with our earlier meeting. There were too many people around for me to properly tell you everything that was going on. It's not just this gang leader we're after. He's up to something big, and I think he's working for someone who's got some big time name to protect." Brady sighed heavily playing with a small packet of sugar; as if keeping his hands busy would make this case any less stressful. "I figured since you guys were able to take down Callaghan, you guys could take this guy down. The only issue is..."
"You don't know who he really is." Hiro frowned watching the man flinch but nod anxiously. "So not only do we have to take this guy down, but we've got to find out who he is?"
"We've got a few leads into who he is, but we've also heard of your...unsavory hobby before your brother's death. I figured, you might have a few people you know who could get you some information if we agree to some deals with them." Brady sighed heavily and thanked the waitress as she placed the food in front of the two men. "It'll be killing two birds with one stone."
"It'll be putting my life in double danger," Hiro sighed heavily as his stomached lurched at the idea of having interactions with some of the guys he used to fight. "Besides, most of the guys want me dead, or some other form of it." Hiro grabbed his knife and fork shaking the feeling off. "I didn't exactly leave anyone in my grace when I was fighting."
"But still, you have connections we don't have. I can ensure your safety in the underbelly, but we need to get this guy before he does something drastic." Brady bit into his sadnwhich and swallowed it down with his bitter coffee.
"That's just it though," Hiro glowered at the plate. Brady had been a little too secretive with the case itself. "What exactly is he doing other than causing some civil trouble? So far this sounds like the cops are just getting a little lazy," Hiro bit warily at his pancake. This was becoming more and more suspicious.
"It's the technology he works with," Brady sighed softly setting his biscuit down lightly. "There have been several reports of him working with something that could only come from students at SFIT, or someone who's got some real technological talent. Figured, since you're so advanced, you could figure it out."
Hir sucked his teeth heavily as he looked back up before shaking his head, "It just depends on what kind of tech is being used. Everything has a weak point. It's just a matter of finding it. But I'm going to need to see exactly what I'm up against here. I'm not just going to put my group in jeapordy because you can't take down a little microbot or something."
"It's not microbots," Brady leaned forward and sighed heavily into his hand. "If it were as simple as that we'd send a neurotransmitter errupter. The one you built for us works fantastically. That's the thing. He's using a root system under the city, and by root I mean it like the plant. Whoever it is, he's got some kind of tech that lets him plug into the earth." He rubbed his forehead as if still not believing it. But Hiro could understand. It was a technology fad lately; one that started with a simple video of someone using a microscopic radio wave that caused a flower to bloom in just seconds. It was deemed the "Earth Saver". Hiro had been unimpressed with the technology at the point; deeming it something simple and predictive. "They're using the roots to break into tech labs all over. Alistair Krei has already been hit, that's why this is suddenly so big. He's threatening to go public about it."