Check 32 - What the eyes see and ears hear, the mind believes

"I don't understand why you didn't report the theft as soon as it was discovered," Hoshino chided as he sat across from the Kambes. It irked him that Daisuke seemed unfazed by the whole situation. The last time he'd been in this manor, the man of the house had been out for the count, recovering from poison.

Daisuke didn't bother glancing at either of his companions, looking calm, collected, and in control. "There wasn't much time," he stated. "Soon after the discovery, the power surge occurred. Unfortunately, it erased most of the security footage at the same time."

The Division One detective pressed his lips together. It was certainly convenient. "Katou said you had a good idea of who stole these electromagnets."

"We do," Suzue spoke up before Daisuke could, earning her a look from her cousin. "We believe a woman, who worked on the grounds, one Mio Kimura, took them. Unfortunately, her records appear to be spotless. We have no idea if it's connected to recent events or not."

Hoshino turned slightly to look at Daisuke, trying to calculate how much of this was true by his reaction. He hadn't missed the slightly sour look he'd given Suzue. But his poker face was incredible, revealing nothing else. "Is this true?"

A smile graced Daisuke's lips. "It is."

The detective's phone buzzed and he quickly glanced at it, his eyes going wide at the text message he'd received. Despite claiming no real responsibility for the action, minus the electromagnets having come from the grounds, Kambe appeared to have compensated all who had been affected. Even the power companies were able to get back up and running, despite a previously reported downtime of at least another half day. A second text told him to leave the outage matter alone, at least in regards to putting it on Daisuke's doorstep.

Attention now turned towards the Hamadas, Hoshino found himself evaluating Hiro. The teen looked in better condition than he'd been led to believe during his last visit. Had he really subdued Kambe during his initial poisoning? "I'm glad you're feeling better," he said, looking directly at the teen. "I wanted to ask you a few things about the incident with the belladonna."

Next to Hiro, Cass stiffened a little, despite Hoshino's gentle tone. "I thought we told you everything you needed to know about that," she said, her tone protective.

Hiro smiled at his companion. "It's okay, Aunt Cass. We all know I'm feeling much better. Just a few bruises."

Not sure how to take that exchange, Hoshino decided to press on anyway. "How did you know something was wrong? Your aunt already told me how you were able to render Kambe unconscious, but that first part was never explained."

Cass holding his hand, Hiro couldn't help but look a bit amused. "It was his rhythm." He looked down at his and Cass's joined hands. "I was doing some physical therapy stretches with Baymax and I could hear Daisuke punching the heavy bag. When his rhythm became more erratic, I had to look over. I had a friend who'd accidentally taken some belladonna before so I knew the signs."

Notebook out as he jotted this down, Hoshino glanced up every now and again. "And how did this friend accidentally come across it?"

Looking more wry now, Hiro let out an amused laugh. "Totally by accident, as I said. She had no idea what it was when she ingested it. Luckily, we had friends nearby who knew what it was and took care of it. It happened almost a year ago so I doubt it has any relevance to this case."

Hoshino closed his notebook, realizing that was about all he was going to get from the teen. After looking further into both him and his aunt, he'd hoped to find some kind of connection, some threat, that might have followed them to Japan, but he'd drawn a blank. He'd hoped this new thread would give him some further insight but was apparently wrong.

"I've been instructed to let the outage matter stand as an unfortunate accident," Hoshino stated. "It would help if we could locate the electromagnets, and the device that may have triggered them. You sure you can't offer me any further insights there?"

Daisuke raised an eyebrow at him, knowing the Superintendent General had told Hoshino to drop the matter. He supposed curiosity was harder to sate though. "Unfortunately, no," he replied. "I'm sure Miss Kimura didn't stick around. As to the purpose of the disruption, your guess is as good as mine."

Once more, there was a sense of dismissal in Kambe's tone that Hoshino couldn't ignore. He'd have to pester Katou about it again later. But he couldn't ignore the lead about this Kimura woman. She definitely warranted looking into. "I apologize for taking up so much of your time," he said, realizing the hour. It helped that Hiro's stomach growled.

Daisuke stood. "I'll escort you out," he offered, indicating that the others should head back to the kitchen for their interrupted lunch.

…..

Understandably, the hamburgers needed to be reheated a bit. Cass thanked her lucky stars she'd thought that might be the case and so turned the griddle back on to do just that. While she did that, she asked that Suzue and Hiro wash up any dishes that hadn't been taken care of before everyone had been called upstairs.

Baymax supervised her actions, making sure she didn't get burned on any popping grease. He needn't have worried, but it gave him something to do besides just stand at the table like a sentry. By the time Cass had finished bringing the meat back up to temperature, Daisuke had rejoined them.

"One disaster diverted," Kambe said under his breath as he joined Suzue and Hiro at the table. They'd both just sat down as he entered.

Suzue looked up as Cass placed the plate of patties down in front of her. "I can understand why he'd have to investigate, but it seemed more like he was fishing for other information."

Looking over the offerings, Daisuke had to take a moment so he could see how the Hamadas handled the spread before them. Following their example, he began building the base of his burger with some of the mayo and mustard, adding in lettuce, tomato, and onion. "That's what cops do," he said with a hint of amusement. If he had been in Hoshino's shoes, he'd probably have looked even deeper. Granted, he had tools the other man didn't, which helped.

"I do hope Mr. Katou is all right," Suzue continued as she followed Daisuke's example before adding the protein. She opted to forgo the cheese but awarded herself some of the potato wedges with a side of the mayo for dipping. She noticed Hiro chose to go for ketchup for his potatoes.

Curiosity brought Hiro's attention away from his burger. "Something happen to him?"

The other three exchanged glances before Suzue spoke up for all of them. "Mr. Katou went to the hospital after he got thrown back by, well, whatever that was that happened earlier. I think he broke a few ribs."

Baymax raised a hand, index finger pointing upward. "What Suzue said is correct. Haru Katou has been diagnosed with two fractured ribs and various contusions to his rib cage and torso. He should be released from the hospital shortly."

It was Suzue and Daisuke's turn to look towards the healthcare bot, not having gotten that information from HEUSC.

Hiro shrugged as they turned their attention back to him. "I programmed Baymax with a protocol that allows him to hack into any hospital's records in the off chance one of my friends got hurt and they wouldn't give me any details. Since I'm still technically considered a minor, it's been helpful."

Eyebrows raised, Daisuke felt he needed to add another note to Hiro's file. In a way, it probably shouldn't have surprised him. Apparently the teen's scope of thought was a lot broader than he'd originally thought. In fact, it might even be on par with his own, or even surpass it. "I take it this happens often."

The teen gave another nonchalant gesture as his aunt looked his way. "Daisuke already knows. It's not like he wouldn't have been able to figure it out anyway, though I'm not sure if he told Suzue." He glanced at the woman in question, who looked back in confusion.

"I didn't want to say anything with Katou present," Daisuke admitted. "His sense of justice can be a bit overbearing at times." He cleared his throat, ignoring any looks from Cass. "Hiro is part of a group called Big Hero 6. They operate in San Fransokyo as unofficial super heroes."

Hiro nodded at Suzue's incredulous expression, ignoring the smear of ketchup on her chin. "It's true. The group was started as a means to get justice for Tadashi, but it became something much bigger when I realized how many people we could help. We've been operating for almost two years now."

Swallowing hard, Suzue now looked towards Cass, who seemed to be ignoring the conversation in favor of eating her food. "And you were okay with this?"

"Okay is a relative term," Cass responded, wiping her mouth pointedly on a napkin. Her action prompted Suzue to do the same. "I actually didn't really know for the longest time. Or maybe I just didn't want to know. At the time, I was happy he'd found a purpose, something to pull him out of the depression of losing his brother."

This time Suzue exchanged glances with Daisuke, more familiar with this line of logic. She'd pulled her cousin from a depression she'd seen building for almost a decade. And while she didn't always approve of his actions, she understood them.

"But to answer your original question, no, this doesn't exactly happen often," Hiro inserted. "It's happened a few times, for sure, but not as often as one might think. Most injuries we've gotten have been pretty easy to treat, and we had the occasional help of others who knew what they were doing."

Hiro's tone implied there was a lot more to it, as was likely, but Daisuke doubted he'd get any more out of him about the matter for now. He took another bite of his burger, appreciating the freshness of the ingredients, despite the need for some reheating. He could now understand why Cass was considered on par with a chef, despite not having finished culinary school.

Suzue contemplated this new information, wondering if Daisuke had already been aware of everything Hiro had divulged. "And we're sure current affairs have nothing to do with Hiro's activities in American?"

"As far as I can tell," Daisuke responded with a heavy sigh. He set his burger down. He'd been tempted to use a knife and fork but had, once again, followed the example of the cook. "It seems more likely our best connection is actually through Cass and not Hiro."

Under sudden scrutiny, or at least feeling like it, Cass gave a funny sort of sound, almost choking on her food. "Me?"

Daisuke nodded. "All things considered, it makes sense. Though one could say that, by association, Hiro is also a target. Unless there are two culprits of different natures, it's unlikely he's the main one." He knew he was discounting the belladonna incident. There was no way it could have been coincidence that the two different toxin levels were measured for an adult of his weight and build and that of the teen. But he didn't want to add anymore to Cass's plate than he had to, not after what Hiro had told him downstairs.

He ignored the expression on Suzue's face in favor of eating a few potato wedges, which were surprisingly well-seasoned. While not his typical food, it was a lot more palatable than the hot wings from earlier. "Tasty," he complimented.

Cass beamed. "I hope you don't mind I used the wagyu in the fridge."

"It's fine," Daisuke replied. He didn't usually bother with knowing what was in the fridge, so long as the staff could make whatever it was he requested. Most of the time, he let them decide based off of what they knew of his tastes so it usually all worked out.

They all ate in silence for several minutes, enjoying the food. Hiro finished his burger and looked around for more, realizing Cass had anticipated his hunger. He reached for another bun, getting a questioning look from Daisuke, which he ignored. "Any luck with my magnets?" He helped himself to some more potato wedges as well.

For a kid who'd just recently recovered from who knew how many injuries, not to mention an illness, the teen could sure eat, Daisuke thought. "No. Not yet. The outage interrupted the investigation."

Hiro couldn't help but look a bit chagrined at that. It wasn't like he'd done it on purpose.

"Magnets?" Cass looked up. They'd mentioned electromagnets when Hoshino had come calling, but she had no idea where they'd come from. "Are those the ones stolen?"

The teen let out a huff of breath. "Yeah. They took the four off of Baymax's back plate. Definitely not big enough to cause the power issues, but still enough they could cause problems later. I just hope I don't need them. That or maybe they can be replaced." He looked towards Daisuke.

Daisuke patted his lips with his napkin. "I'm sure if you and Suzue worked together, you could come up with a suitable replacement," he admitted. He wasn't sure how wise that might be, but there didn't seem to be much else to do at the moment. And it would keep Hiro out of trouble.

"I'm sure we could manage something," Suzue agreed. There were a lot of spare parts down in the garage, though she couldn't help but wonder if they might need to go out and get some more. Electromagnets weren't exactly purchased at most hardware or electronic stores, not the kind Hiro needed.

Cass fiddled with a fork, her mouth working as she contemplated things. "Sounds like everyone's got something to do but me."

The head of the house looked thoughtful as he rested his gaze on his aunt. What she'd said was true. He could easily manufacture some menial task for her, but that seemed unfair. Suzue and Hiro had already taken care of most of the dishes before their meal, so cleanup wouldn't take long. And he didn't want to really leave her alone, not after what Hiro had told him earlier.

Chances were good Cass was still in a vulnerable state and just didn't want to admit it. He knew that feeling all too well. She put on a strong, brave front for the sake of those around her. He supposed Hiro might have actually gotten that trait from her. Or maybe it was just a family trait in general. It was possible something else might trigger her mental wound, which might cause even further harm. Unfortunately, he was less versed in this area than he cared to think about. Whatever she'd experienced in the past had definitely left a mark so dark it had nearly devoured Hiro just from touching it.

"Why don't we spend some time together?" Daisuke suggested with a smile. He hadn't really had much of an opportunity to bond with his estranged aunt, not that he'd exactly taken the opportunity either. But it wouldn't hurt to get to know her a bit better.

The idea seemed to intrigue Cass and she leaned forward. "What exactly did you have in mind?"

That brought Daisuke up short, especially as he realized Hiro and Suzue were watching him intently, possibly wondering what he'd suggest as well. "What would you like to do?" he asked instead, turning the tables back to her.

Now flustered, Cass tried to utter a few ideas but they only came out as a sort of gibberish, not prepared to offer suggestions. She was more than ready to encourage Hiro and Daisuke to bond, but hadn't really thought about doing so herself. She had no need of a mentor anymore. And, with Tadashi, gone, Hiro needed another male in his life he could turn to in matters beyond her understanding.

"Perhaps you could spend time talking," Baymax suggested, speaking up for the first time during their meal. "It is possible you may share experiences or knowledge of places you may have both visited."

That brought an idea to Daisuke's mind. There were several albums of photos that Cass might find interesting. He was fairly certain she'd attended his parents' wedding before she'd moved to America, and one of the albums did have photos from that event. It might be a good distraction from everything else. "I have just the thing," he stated.

…..

Back in the basement control room once more, just on the lower level that technically housed part of the massive garage, Hiro and Suzue got to work. The older of the two had brought out a few crates of parts she thought the teen might need. In the meantime, she retrieved Cass's phone, intent on following through on Daisuke's request to analyze it thoroughly for the sake of security.

At a smaller console than the one on the next level up, she had the AI butler run a full diagnostic on the device and all its applications, especially the three Daisuke had pointed out. She probably could have done this at the main console but wanted to keep an eye on Hiro, occasionally casting glances his way as he sorted through the various parts available.

She'd instructed HEUSC to relay any information through her earring, instead of over the speakers stationed throughout the room. That way she was less likely to disturb her companion. That and it helped her clandestinely look into the program Cass had claimed Hiro had created as a two-way communications avenue between the two of them.

Initial scans of the code for the two spyware applications were pretty basic in nature and she breezed through them with ease, having to go back when HEUSC flagged a few sections. She decided Daisuke would need to look at them later and then sent a few test signals, trying to isolate where they were being transmitted to, but only got an echo back. Whoever had installed the programs had either deactivated the receiving end, or it was out of range.

With that part out of the way, Suzue focused her attention on the program Hiro had designed. But when she asked HEUSC to pull up the code, she found she couldn't make heads or tails of it. There were the basics she'd come to understand, but a second layer looked like nothing more than gibberish. Not even HEUSC knew what it was. She glanced over at Hiro, whose back was turned to her, and wondered. Was this extra layer of code in a language she didn't know? Or was Hiro just punking people?

For his part, Hiro had found a steel pipe of sorts that was about the right size for what he needed, but it would require him to cut it into the appropriate lengths to fit inside the carbon fiber housings Baymax's electromagnets usually sat in. It was a safely feature. They would rotate around, exposing the surface only when activated, so as not to interfere with any other devices in the area. It was almost like a coupling, with the energy provided by a combination of Hiro's suit and Baymax's.

A coil of copper wire was easily found, and at the right gauge as well, though wrapping it as tightly as he'd have liked was going to be difficult without some of the tools he was used to having on hand. Thanks to Fred, he had access to a lot of cool stuff that Suzue didn't seem to have access to. That or she just didn't trust him to use it, or know that he knew how. All the same, he'd still need a way to cut the pipe to size and thought about asking her for a plasma cutter, or, at worse, a handsaw.

Debating a bit further on how best to handle the situation, Hiro decided to rummage around in the tools he found nearby, which caused Suzue to look over from whatever she was doing. "Need something?" she asked him.

"Yeah, got a plasma cutter?" Hiro asked, not really expecting her to be as forthcoming with one as others he knew would be.

Suzue walked over, pausing whatever it was she was musing over. "What would you need a plasma cutter for?"

Holding up the pipe, Hiro gave a bit of a nod. "I need about four pieces of this measured out into the proper size. Think you could help me out?"

She hesitated, which was understandable. Who let a teen use a plasma cutter? Well, forget that he'd technically used one at Stark's place. That was beside the point. But he could see the questions in her eyes, wondering if she should let him do it or not. And possibly considering what Daisuke might say if she did let him do it. "Why don't I take care of that for you?" she finally offered.

Yeah, he definitely didn't blame her for wanting to do it for him. But at least he knew there was one. She turned away, heading to a locker she had to punch a digital combo into, returning with the equipment. "What measurements did you need?"

Hiro told her. He then watched as she carefully set everything up, taking the offered protective gear when offered while she cut the lengths to the specifications he provided. They'd definitely do in a pinch, but he'd have to hope they either found the original ones in a hurry, or hope the temporary ones held out until he could get home and make better replacements.

While he let the metal cool, Hiro gave his thanks, noting Suzue put the cutter away, locking it back up before returning to the console. "Just let me know if you need anything else," she said before returning her attention to whatever problem she was dealing with.

More than a little curious, and having to wait anyway, Hiro wandered over to see what she was working on. After all, they were supposedly working together. And then he realized what it was she was trying to decipher, his added code to the program he'd created for Aunt Cass. He let out a laugh at the look of intense concentration on her face. "Good luck trying to decrypt that," he stated. "There are only two people in the world who know the language that was written in and I'm the only one of those two who's still alive. I'm guessing Aunt Cass gave her phone to you after someone, probably Daisuke, discovered a bug of some kind on it."

That caused Suzue to look up, hearing, perhaps, the slight catch of emotion in Hiro's tone. She blinked a few times as she stared at him. "What exactly does it do?" she finally asked, possibly deciding it would be easier to just go straight to the point.

"I'm sure Aunt Cass already mentioned it to you, but if she didn't, that's an app I made for her so she could keep tabs on me when I'm out doing my super hero thing." Hiro shrugged like it was no big deal. He'd added the additional code to make sure no one else could listen in, purposely using a code only he and Tadashi knew. They'd created it as children. Well, Tadashi had been a teen and Hiro still technically in middle school, but it was close enough to count. "It's about as encrypted as you can get, unless you somehow get the key from me."

Suzue typed in a few commands into the console, saving her work. "I see. I didn't think you knew about the bugging software."

Shrugging again, Hiro gave a gap-toothed smile. "It makes the most sense. While Aunt Cass doesn't live life on her phone, she usually has it close by, just in case. The only times she doesn't is when she's charging it or gets distracted. You gonna check the hardware too?"

"I was just about to do that," Suzue confirmed, though she sounded more like the idea had come from elsewhere.

Hiro decided it best to leave her to it and he went back to the work table to check on his metal. It had cooled enough but he felt it might be a good idea to smooth the edges before wrapping the wire and so went to work with a metal file.