Check 20 - Memory is the diary we all carry with us.
When Katou returned with two ice packs, he did not expect to see Hiro back over by Daisuke's bed, slumped over like he'd passed out there. The teen had, of course, had more than enough time to get back over there, since Katou had needed to find one of the staff to help him with his errand, but it was still not something he'd thought he'd come back to. Hiro asleep on his futon, sure, but draped over the bed, no.
"What's going on?" he asked as he entered the room, noting nothing else had changed in his absence. All the same, he took the time to make sure the door was locked from the inside before hesitantly heading over.
The few times he'd seen something like this had meant something bizarre was going on, usually the teen and whoever he was touching acting like they were either running a marathon or being jolted by electricity. But this looked like Hiro was just sleeping and his one hand had just happened to fling up to touch his cousin's. What he couldn't understand is why.
Wincing from his own injuries, Katou made his way over, debating what he should do. Cass was still asleep on her futon. Baymax was stationed in observation mode. And HEUSC had not reported any cause for alarm.
Baymax seemed to contemplate him for a moment. "It should be safe to place the cold pack on Daisuke's injury," he observed.
"Safe?" That didn't make Katou feel any better as he eyed the two unconscious males.
Vinyl squeaked a bit as Baymax moved a little, possibly repositioning to take in the scene a bit better. "Yes," he confirmed. "I do not detect any abnormal energy radiating from Hiro or Daisuke."
Well that was reassuring, Katou thought as he hesitated. From all outward appearances, he'd agree with the robot. But, having seen what he'd seen in the past few days, he couldn't help but wonder. With almost the same care he'd use approaching a bomb he had to disarm, he extended one hand to place the ice pack, having to lean against the mattress for balance. In the meantime, he accidentally brushed against Hiro, pausing as he held his breath.
Nothing happened. Maybe the kid really had just fallen asleep. If that were the case, shouldn't he carry him back to his futon? Having placed the ice pack, Katou made as if to shift Hiro but stopped as Baymax spoke again.
"Please do not move Hiro," the robot instructed.
Katou straightened, now looking at the robot full on. "Why not?"
The robot seemed to contemplate this question for a moment. "Hiro has requested he not be disturbed. I also request you do not disturb him."
"Uh, okay." Katou took a step back, remembering the second ice pack, which he placed near his hurting ribs. "That's not ominous." Maybe Hiro just wanted to connect with his cousin. Yeah, that had to be it. There was nothing odd going on at all.
Choosing to believe that, Haru made his way back to the chair he'd used earlier, having to walk around Hiro's legs, which were extending away from the bed just a bit. If he hadn't seen them, he'd probably have tripped over them. He sat with a sigh. Only a few more hours until morning and Suzue would rejoin them. Surely he could keep an eye on things, and not succumb to the exhaustion that suddenly teased behind his eyes once more. Yeah, he could do that. Probably.
….
This is the weirdest dream ever, Daisuke told himself as he seemed to float in the ether. There was no other explanation for what was going on at the moment. At least not any that made any semblance of sense. Part of his mind told him he had to have been drugged. Why else would he have this feeling of detachment? It was unmistakable.
Gone was the cargo ship deck and Franz Weinski. Gone was the Eastern dragon trying to choke the life out of him. Instead, he stood in what looked like some kind of lab space. Comparatively, it wasn't as big as some he'd seen. There was a desk and a wall of shelves and drawers, with a 3D computer. A large, rounded window opened up on the far side of the room, with more shelves on either side, with a lab table in the mix. But, no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't see what went beyond the window. It was if there was nothing out there but reflected light.
He turned, feeling the intensity of someone's gaze on his back, now facing a wall of glass windows with a door. And standing in front of that door was Hiro. Well, this was unusual. What was his cousin doing there?
The teen gave a hesitant wave, looking more than a little nervous as he swallowed hard. Unlike in the waking world, there didn't seem to be anything wrong with him other than a need for a haircut. "I wasn't sure if this was going to work," he confessed.
Just go with it, Daisuke, he told himself. "Wasn't sure what would work?" This had to be a dream, a drug-induced one to be sure, but still just a dream. Forget that he'd never seen this lab outside of some security footage he'd browsed when looking up one Hiro Hamada. Forget that it seemed like Hiro was somehow in control, even if he didn't look like he felt it. Call that one a gut instinct.
Hiro gave a slight, incredulous laugh. "The last time I invited someone into my memories, it got complicated really fast. Well, it wasn't so much as inviting as it was allowing it to happen."
"Stop beating around the bush," Daisuke heard himself say, a tone of impatience coloring his words. "What is this place?"
Again came that sense of incredulous, almost hysterical sense of relief. It wasn't too far from an adrenaline high. "We're in my lab. Well, my mental lab, I guess. A visual representation of my mental filing system."
Well, there were stranger things, Daisuke supposed. He'd had a few odd dreams the few times he'd experimented with things he probably shouldn't have. Anything to numb the pain back then, but this was also somehow different. "I see. I take it there's something you want to show me then."
Using the typical flexibility of someone his age, Hiro kind of shrugged in an almost wave of motion. "Well, yeah. But I get the feeling I kinda have to be more careful. You see, I'm still trying to learn how to control this and the last person who got a peek into my head was a lot more prepared for it than you are." The shrug turned into an almost "what do you do" kind of gesture.
The notion was intriguing and Daisuke's natural-born sense of curiosity couldn't help but wonder. He wasn't entirely sure how to take the teen's words, though. How did one prepare to look at another's memories, if that was what was going on now? If what he'd observed of Hiro's seeing another's memories was anything to go off of, he wasn't sure this was the wisest idea. While Cass had indeed recovered from the incident, Hiro had taken the brunt of whatever force had been behind it. Would that happen again? Or would it transfer to Daisuke?
"I'm sure you've got a lot of questions," Hiro continued. "And I wish I had time to show you, but there are a few things I do think you should know. You see, I'm not exactly human anymore."
That went without saying, Daisuke thought to himself. Technically. Maybe? It was true that the teen had somehow gained abilities that went above and beyond the typical. But surely he didn't mean what he thought he did. "Explain."
Hiro gave that nervous laugh again. "Well, it's hard to explain. You see, I've been changed." He walked over to one of the drawers, a smaller one, opening it to pull out a card, which he held flat in his palm.
Not unlike a holographic projection, an image materialized above the card, showing Hiro in some kind of expanse of space, wearing what looked like an astronaut's suit. In front of him floated what had to be a replica of his healthcare bot. It looked worse for wear, missing an arm, some of the vinyl floating free from the inner skeletal frame, inactive.
Just when Daisuke was about to ask what was going on, the miniature version of Hiro bowed, his back arching backwards, as if electrocuted. Energy crackled around him in a wild display that shot into the replica of Baymax, activating it. Almost like a vacuum sucking in electricity, the energy flowed into the robot, leaving Hiro limp.
"They called themselves the Makt," the teen commented as he flipped the card over and put it back in the drawer. "An alien entity entirely made up of energy that was living in the asteroid shot down over San Fransokyo a year and a half or so ago. Thanks to my first mission as a super hero, my molecular structure had changed enough I could temporarily host it while it found a new home in the Void."
If what he'd just seen was true, it explained a few things, Daisuke mused. Of course, this could all still just be a drug-induced hallucination. "Void?"
Hiro gave a careless shrug. "I managed to get a glimpse of your memories before attempting this," he admitted. "I realized you'd looked up who and what I do when I'm not being a regular teen. You know about the others so I see no reason to keep it from you. During our first mission as Big Hero 6, I went into a portal to rescue my professor's daughter, an innocent in everything. I didn't realize it at the time, but she was stuck in the place between time and space, the Void. And being there had an effect on my body, mostly because I wasn't wearing the right kind of protective gear. But it made it possible for me to take the Makt back there later."
"Which further changed your DNA," Daisuke reasoned, intrigued. It made sense. Energy could change the molecular structure of atoms around it. Why not change a human to no longer be quite human? That left, of course, the question: what exactly was Hiro now?
The teen nodded. "Pretty much." He closed the drawer. "I figured you were going to keep digging until you found something anyway, so might as well tell you."
Hiro reached for another drawer, this one larger. "This one is from last year." He pulled out something that looked more like a crystal, which he threw into the air. It expanded out to show a larger lab, a few technicians working at one end. But on the main table lay a skeletal frame that reminded him of the one he'd seen from the other memory. And there was the teen, looking malnourished and ready to pass out.
"This happened after I was kidnapped in New York. Well, technically outside of New York," Hiro amended. "I was taken by a secret organization called Hydra. And, as I told you, they wanted me to build a robot."
Daisuke walked around, and in some cases, through the image. "Along with a fellow student," he recalled. "Kally, wasn't it?"
Nodding, Hiro manipulated the memory with a swipe of his hand so that it sped up, showing him passing out and slamming his head into the table before it switched to a medical suite. "After I gave myself a nasty concussion, they found out about my mutated DNA and decided to play around with it."
Hydra was a name associated with an old World War II organization that was supposedly dismantled. Hearing Hiro talk about it as if they were still active was a bit disconcerting. But playing with someone's mutated DNA sounded like something they'd do. After all, the West had created that super human serum that had created Captain America. Why wouldn't the enemy want to do the same? From a scientific standpoint, there was a lot to be gained on their end, even if it meant using someone else for nefarious means.
"It took them a while to figure out my DNA was different," Hiro continued. "Meanwhile, I was healed up and sent back to the lab under strict observation due to my condition. Unfortunately, during one work cycle, I had some kind of mental breakdown, a response to a traumatic event I'd had earlier, and I slipped into the memory of that trauma, further injuring myself."
Daisuke watched as the events of Hiro's memory played out for him in real time, the teen pin balling through the obstacle course that was the lab's storage area, probably sustaining all the injuries he'd later had to go to rehab to correct. The image changed back to the medical suite, where the teen lay, practically covered in tubes and wires.
"By the time they'd figured out my DNA was different, I was out of commission again and couldn't work on their project, so I became the project," Hiro continued. "Kally, figuring out what was going on, manufactured a way to get put in the med lab with me and we formed a plan to escape with some inside help."
There was only a momentary glimpse of this insider, but Daisuke thought he looked vaguely familiar. He'd seen the man somewhere before, but couldn't think of where. But then the image shifted to a control room not unlike the one that housed HEUSC, just with a lot more computers and equipment. And the central cylinder was surrounded by a shaft that dropped into a depth he couldn't see the bottom of.
Once more, Hiro was there with the girl named Kally. He was in a wheel chair, though, legs and arm in braces. He just wished he could hear what was going on but there was no sound. He did see Kally slip into the ducts after they'd sealed the chamber to keep everyone else out. And then the man who had helped them deposited Hiro next to the glowing cylinder over the shaft.
"What's going on here?" Daisuke asked, not sure he understood the significance of the event.
Hiro enlarged the area in question. "That cylinder is what was powering their entire base, also creating a sort of pocket dimension out of sync with the rest of reality. We were in there for potentially months before Stark and my friends found us."
Daisuke contemplated the cylinder, noting that Hiro looked just as distressed in the previous memory when the energy entity, the Makt, had left his body. And then his body slumped forward, only kept from falling due to the protrusion he was touching.
"That was the first time I somehow disconnected with my body," Hiro admitted. "I'm still not honestly sure how I did it either. If it hadn't been for Baymax coming with the rescue squad, I might not have made my way back to my body."
The image shifted to show several Avengers in the room, Baymax in the armor he'd seen him in the other night, only in red. There were a few other Big Hero members there, as well as Kally, so this had to have been later in the sequence of events. Daisuke supposed he owed the self-proclaimed billionaire, playboy, philanthropist a word of thanks. If this weren't all a creation of his mind.
Hiro reached up and grasped something from the air, everything condensing back into the crystal he'd pulled from the drawer. "And there you have it, why I can do all those weird things."
Once more, Daisuke got the sense that there was a lot more to the story. He definitely wouldn't mind learning more, but would have to bide his time. For the time being, it was plenty. He could feel the walls around him starting to fade a bit, not sure the reason behind that.
The teen looked around and released a heavy sigh. "Looks like our time's up." The next thing Daisuke knew, everything evaporated into cloudy white.
…..
When Suzue entered the basement cell, she hadn't expected to find everyone asleep, including Katou, but she supposed it couldn't be helped. She wasn't sure why Hiro was asleep, practically hanging off the edge of the bed though.
A quick word from HEUSC had given her the general gist of when Daisuke had woken from the sedative, only to be knocked back out by Katou. As far as she could tell, he hadn't woken up since then. The ice pack someone had placed on Daisuke's face had slipped and was now lying next to him. She grimaced a bit. It looked painful.
"Hello, Suzue," Baymax greeting. He turned to face her.
The woman paused halfway across the room, looking around. "Good morning," she returned the greeting. "Everything all right?'
Before the robot could answer that, Hiro stirred, groaning a bit as he groggily sat up and rubbed his eyes. "Hey," he greeted, seeing her staring at him. "Is it morning?" He winced a bit, moving his legs so they were out in front of him instead of twisted off to one side. "Crap. Legs fell asleep."
Cass was the next to stir, possibly hearing Hiro's voice. She yawned. "Morning." She checked her phone, just to make sure of the time. "Did I miss anything important?'
"Daisuke woke around two forty seven," Baymax reported. "He was delirious and attacked Mr. Katou. After securing the patient, Mr. Katou rendered him unconscious."
That wasn't the word Suzue would have used, having taken the time to stop by the control room to quickly review footage before heading over. But it was one way of putting it. Given the circumstances, she couldn't blame him though. "At least we all made it to another day without issue," she offered.
Hiro chuckled a bit at that. "One way of putting it. I'm sure Katou and Daisuke might disagree there."
Out of the corner of her eye, Suzue saw the medic enter the main room beyond the holding cell. She quickly went to let him into the room, quickly giving him the update. She wrung her hands as he examined her cousin.
"Daisuke should wake soon," Baymax observed, and the medic concurred. "I am detecting a change in brain activity."
Almost as if on cue, Daisuke groaned, opening his eyes to slits. He quickly closed them, throwing one arm up to block out the light. "It's so bright," he complained in a groggy voice.
Realizing he might be sensitive to the light, Suzue asked HEUSC to dim the lights as she made her way over to the bed, taking the medic's place. She chose to sit on the edge, skirting around Hiro, who had dragged himself a bit towards Baymax. "How do you feel?" she asked, pushing hair from Daisuke's face.
"Thirsty," Daisuke responded. "Achy. My head hurts."
The medic smiled, having also taken the time to feel the swollen jaw of his patient before he'd regained consciousness. "You've had quite the night. But the headache should pass soon."
Katou woke suddenly almost falling out of his chair. "Wha?" He exclaimed, quickly getting to his feet, acting like he'd meant to do that. "Oh." He seemed to relax, seeing who all was there. He then seemed to jump again as he noticed Daisuke was awake. "Hey, welcome back to the land of the living."
Daisuke uncovered his eyes, the light not as intense now. "I feel like I got run over by a truck."
"Someone put a toxin in your drink in the gym," Suzue explained. "Actually, it was in both of your drinks." She turned to give Hiro a look. "HEUSC found varying amounts of the toxin in each bottle, almost like they were intended for two different people."
Wincing, Daisuke tried to sit up, having to accept Suzue's help. "Makes sense," he reasoned. "It means I wasn't the only target." He gave the teen an intense look that Suzue couldn't read before putting one hand to his head, eyes closed at the pain. "What kind of toxin?"
They told him.
"Makes sense." Daisuke moved to rub at his chin and stopped himself, unable to hide how tender his jaw was. "Why does it feel like someone hit me in the face with a hammer?"
The detective let out a nervous laugh. "About that, I had to punch you when you woke up and I may have overdone it a little." He winced as the motion made his ribs contract.
"You might want me to give you a look over, too," the medic stated, giving Katou a look. "From here, I can see you're nursing a few bruises. And maybe a cracked rib or two."
But Katou put out his hands in protest, almost tripping over the now thawed cold pack he'd used hours earlier. "I'm fine. Nothing time won't cure."
Suzue didn't look convinced but chose to take his word for it, returning her attention to Daisuke. "I'm just glad you're both okay."
More than a little thoughtful, Daisuke looked around the room. "Just how much of the toxin did I ingest before someone noticed?"
Hiro, at this point, managed to get to his feet, the circulation apparently returning. "I noticed probably about the same time you started seeing things that weren't there. But you'd drunk almost two full bottles before that happened."
Daisuke was a little more careful about taking his thoughtful pose this time, going for the point of his chin. "Based on the amount of fluids, and the apparent time I was unconscious, it would be safe to assume I consumed the bottles actually meant for Hiro. If I'd drunk those with a higher concentration, it's entirely possible I wouldn't have survived."
Looking more than a little horrified, Suzue had her hands to her mouth. "Oh no! Please don't tell me they were trying to actually kill you!"
He waved a hand to try and calm her, feeling the pull of muscles not quite wanting to respond. All things considered, he was a lot further along in recovery than he had any right to be. "If not to kill, perhaps to incapacitate quickly. Only Hiro didn't seem to have the same problem." He turned his gaze to the teen, who stared back.
The teen gave the now expected wide-eyed look when he'd been caught doing something he probably shouldn't have, or maybe for not doing something he should have. "Well, that's because…" He bit his lip, knowing Aunt Cass would likely get upset. "That's because I didn't drink any."
Cass gave him a disapproving look, following that up with one to Baymax for not mentioning it or doing anything about it. "Not that I wanted you to be poisoned or anything, but why not? Even your physical therapist told you to stay hydrated when working your muscles."
Hiro looked away, turning a hint of green. "I… couldn't make myself. Not after—"
Sensing this might head in a direction the teen didn't care to go into, and possibly realizing there might be some trauma involved in that reason, Daisuke decided to divert their attention. "It's fine. Regardless of the reason. Besides, if he had, chances are good no one would have been able to get me the help I needed in time."
They all had to acknowledge that as true, giving Daisuke a reason to smirk slightly in amusement. "Suzue." The woman jumped at his tone. "What about those bottles?"
Perhaps out of a sense of relief, the woman let out her held breath, settling herself. "Of course. I knew you'd want someone to follow up on things while you were out so I had HEUSC run the footage. One of the help brought in the bottles and the towels while you were changing. But, as far as I can tell, they weren't the ones who tampered with them."
Daisuke tried to adjust his jaw from the other side, pressing it until something must have clicked because he stretched his neck from either side. "Admirable. But are you sure?"
"Absolutely." Suzue gave a firm nod. "I checked all the footage. Someone else must have tampered with them when they were delivered two days ago."
But Daisuke didn't look wholly convinced. "I'll want to look at the footage myself."
It was so like him so Suzue only nodded again. "Of course, Master Daisuke."
The medic had, meanwhile removed the IV from Daisuke's arm, replacing it with a wad of gauze and tape, having Suzue scoot so he had room. "While the toxins have been flushed from your system, you really should take things easy," he advised. "I can provide an over the counter pain medication for your headache, but I strongly urge you to rest a bit longer."
Daisuke examined the tape and gauze now on his arm, possibly noting some light bruising on his skin as well from his bout with Hiro the day before. The teen's legs had got a few kicks in before wrapping around his torso. "I'll take that under advisement."
Shaking his head, the medic excused himself, waiting for Katou to let him out of the room, which had locked upon Suzue entering. The head of the house did his own thing, regardless of what anyone thought. The medic knew it. He'd done his duty.
"I really wish you'd listen to his advice," Suzue said quietly. She held one arm across her chest, looking down at the floor.
Cass supposed she could understand Suzue's frustration. Daisuke seemed just about as stubborn as Hiro was. She glanced at her phone again. "Maybe we could all figure out what comes next after some breakfast," she suggested. "You did say you were thirsty."
"I do not recommend ingesting too much food at the moment," Baymax spoke up. "It is possible your digestion may be upset after this encounter. I recommend starting with something small that will be gentle to your stomach."
Hiro nodded in agreement. "He's right. Better not push it."
Shoulders rising and falling with a heavy breath, Daisuke frowned. "Very well. I'll be careful."
It was probably the best they were going to get. "I'll go request something simple for breakfast," Suzue decided.