Hiro moaned softly tucking his knees up towards his chest. This morning was the absolute worst. His head hurt, his body ached and on top of all that because of the way the convention was set up he was currently stuck sitting watching every single entry from Sanfransokyo get judged. He was starting to feel a little lightheaded too. Hiro wondered if that was because he was having such a hard time breathing. Maybe he wasn't getting enough air.

"Thank you, Can we now get Tadashi Hamada to come to the stage?" One of the judges asked.

Hiro pulled his head off of his brother's shoulder with some reluctance and moved to lean up against Aunt Cass. Man did he feel like crap. As Tadashi passed by him he older boy patted his shoulder quickly. Even though the gesture was small Hiro appreciated that Tadashi was sympathetic to his pain.

The judges panel included Marie Devore the head of the Sanfransokyo robotics company TechRax, and an older professor from Sanfransokyo University named was Turner Wilcock. Hiro knew Turner from when his mother talked about him in the past. The memory was indistinct and Hiro wasn't sure why his mother knew the man. All that Hiro remembered of him was that he was nice and very smart.

"Mr. Hamada! I'm excited to see you back this year. What have you brought this time?" Professor Wilcock seemed genuinely eager to see Tadashi's work.

Tadashi smiled at the professor before taking the blanket off the top of his project. He'd put a lot of thought into what he'd made this time. Last year he got knocked several points for lack of marketability. He grinned wryly at Marie Devore. "This robot here I like to call Ueita (Yew-aye-tuh). This is only a prototype due to a lack of facilities however I consider it to be a nearly fully functional prototype."

Tadashi's robot came up to about his thigh and was humanoid in shape. The entire thing was white except for the face which was actually a screen. Currently the screen displayed a smiley face.

"Ueita is designed to be a restaurant waiter however by changing some of his programing he could be applicable to a number of other fields as well. Ueita's greatest asset is his strong AI. He learns very quickly." Tadashi looked at his robot and smiled. "May I place an order?"

Ueita's gave a nod and his screen changed to black. "Of course what would you like?"

Tadashi took out a notepad and wrote one thing before handing Ueita the note. The words fresh cod sushi flashed up on the screen. "Ueita can read handwritten words. This comes in handy should Ueita need to interact with a mute customer. Can I get a vanilla icecream too please?"

Ueita flashed that up onto the screen as instructed. "Of course is that everything?"

Tadashi nodded.

Ueita's screen returned to a smiley face. "Your order has been sent to the kitchen. Take a seat where ever you like and I will bring it to you when it's ready."

Professor Wilcock seemed to be impressed. Marie looked unsure. "Mr. Hamada. How dexterous are the robot's hands? How well would it operate with a serving tray?"

Tadashi smiled. "I'm really glad you asked that. Can I borrow that mug you have in front of you?"

Marie frowned slightly but nodded to the slightly strange request. Tadashi came down off the stage and took the mug. It was empty. Given this information Tadashi decided to show her some of Ueita's greatest dexterity."

"Ueita catch! Ueita's expression changed from happy to sad when Tadashi threw the mug into the air. The robot caught the mug preventing any harm to the object."

Marie smiled. "You have an excellent robot there Mr. Hamada."

Tadashi gave a small bow before taking his robot off the stage. "Thank you for your consideration."

Hiro lifted his head once he heard Tadashi's footsteps headed back towards his seat. He gave a small sigh. He was glad Tadashi was back. His shoulder was so much more comfortable than Aunt Cass's. Tadashi sat down and Hiro cuddled back up against his older brother. For a few moments he actually felt pretty ok. Then the judges spoke.

"Can we get Hiro Hamada to the stage please?" Hiro cringed slightly. Could they pick a worse time?

Tadashi looked down at Hiro who was currently curled up in his chair and frowned. With a small nudge to Hiro's shoulder Tadashi said "Come on, you have to go up."

Hiro looked up at Tadashi with a sad face before dragging himself out of the chair. He coughed into his sleeve, standing was making him feel lightheaded. Hiro braced himself against the chair in front of him until the feeling passed before he made his way up to the stage.

"Another Hamada!" Professor Wilcock smiled. "Let's see what you've brought today."

Hiroset his robot down on the stage and looked at the judges. Hiro's robot was pretty small. It was shaped for the most part like a cylinder. "This is atlas. Atlas is a robot designed to lift stuff essentially. It's automated and takes voice commands though."

Hiro pressed a button on a small microphone he was holding. "This allows me to communicate with Atlas." Hiro indicated to the microphone.

"Atlas can you lift and compress for me?" The body of Hiro's robot stretched and compressed to an impressive degree nearly reaching Hiro's height at it's peak.

Hiro glanced at the judges when his vision started to get dark towards the edges. He needed to hurry this up. "Atlas can lift objects of up to 500 pounds in tandem with replicate robots that maximum lift capability could potentially increase dramatically. I would have brought more robots to demonstrate but a lack of resources prevented this."

Hiro stepped on top of his machine. He swallowed when he realized how dizzy this part of the demonstration was making him. "Atlas, please stretch and compress slowly for me."

Hiro's robot followed orders. Unfortunately Hiro was right to be nervous when stepping up to do that part of the demonstration. Hiro's eyes fluttered. Something was definitely wrong. "Hiro?" The professor sounded a little scared. Was that because of him? Everything was moving so slow.

The audience gasped. Tadashi stood up from his seat and sprinted towards the stage. Hiro's vision faded to black. The enevitable became clear to everyone who was there. He was going to fall.

Hiro fell.