Chapter Text
“Come on, Hiro. When are you going to stop going to those dumb bot fights?” Tadashi asked, stunned as I was about to run off into yet another one, despite him just rescuing me from the previous one.
“And do what exactly? What could your nerd school possibly teach me?” I asked arrogantly. I didn’t see any point in attending school since I had practically blitzed through high school. And had the, in hindsight, wrong expectation that college would be mostly the same.
“Do you really think you have a future in illegal bot fighting?” Tadashi challenged. I frowned in response, letting my actions speak for themselves. My brother was displeased, though he didn’t say that.
“Okay, I’ll take you there,” my brother said suddenly. At the time, I didn’t realize his true intentions.
“Let’s go then,” I said and hopped down the stairs. Tadashi shook his head and walked after me.
Instead of the bot fight, he took me to his nerd school. I was absolutely amazed by the things going on in there, and I completely forgot about the bot fight by the end. Like, his balloon nurse, it had been quite intriguing, albeit not as cool as Wasabi’s plasma slicer.
“I have to get in here, or I’ll go crazy,” I said to my brother when we got out. Tadashi just laughed and said that he’d tell me how.
Once home, Tadashi told me about the showcase, and I set out to invent something new. But as with all things, the idea never comes when searching for it. It wasn’t until Tadashi made me look at things from a new angle, quite literally, that I came up with a killer idea. Little did I know that said idea would end up almost killing people.
A few weeks had passed, and I had been busy making the components of my invention. I couldn’t have done it without Tadashi and his friends. After all, making thousands upon thousands, no, millions of tiny robots took a fair share of time.
Another matter was the neurotransmitter which was the brain of the operation. It allowed me to control my invention using my thoughts. I was thrilled by how the whole concept had turned out. I had a few ideas for what my creation could be used for, but naively I failed to consider what someone with malicious intent would do with it.
The showcase was only a few days away, and I had to admit it, I was a bit stressed. I really hoped that the Microbots would be my ticket into SFIT. Tadashi said that my invention was guaranteed success. I tried to believe him but feared I’d somehow mess it up.
It was the night of the showcase, and my friends and I were pushing the bins full of Microbots into place at the sides of the exhibition hall.
“Are you nervous, Hiro?” Honey Lemon asked me. She probably figured so from my quietness.
“Me? Nervous? Nah, I’m good,” I brushed it off, but they didn’t buy it.
“Yep, totally stressed,” GoGo nodded.
Wasabi offered some last-minute items, like deodorant and new underwear. I politely declined.
Then came the announcement that it was my turn to present my invention to the public. We made our way over to the stage, but I hesitated.
“Hey, what’s wrong?” Tadashi asked and took my hand into his.
I shook my head and said, “It’s just… What if I mess up?”
“You will make it. I have faith in you,” Tadashi said and gave me a reassuring hug.
I then got onto the stage.
“Hi, I’m Hiro Hamada, and I have invented something cool, at least in my opinion.”
I hesitantly took the neurotransmitter from the folds of my hoodie and put it on my head.
“This is a Microbot,” I said as I took one of them from my pocket and held it out for people to see.
I got a bit nervous when I saw some people walk off. Tadashi whispered for me to breathe. I heeded his advice.
“On its own, it’s not much use, but when it gets some friends, things get interesting,” that was my cue to recall all of the Microbots hiding in the bins onto the stage.
I showcased how Microbots would be helpful in construction and transportation. More and more people gathered around the stage as my presentation went on. When it ended, everyone clapped; apparently, my invention had made an impression.
I was conversing with my friends when I noticed someone in a fancy suit making his way to where we were. Once he got closer, I recognized him as Elon Musk, the man intending to colonize Mars.
My friends decided to leave us some breathing room, and they went to look at what else was at the showcase. This left Tadashi and me standing next to the stage.
“You must be Hiro Hamada,” the man said and offered a hand.
“I am. It’s a pleasure to meet you, Mr. Musk,” I greeted, and we shook hands.
“Quite the invention you have there,” he said, nodding toward the stage where the Microbots were.
“Thanks. I also think they’re kinda cool,” I agreed while trying to figure out what his game was.
“I have to say that your Microbots would be very useful in constructing the future mars colony,” he said.
“Yeah, I can imagine,” I replied.
“To the point that I’d be interested in buying them for, let’s say, ten million dollars,” he revealed.
“That’s a lot of money,” Tadashi whistled.
I didn’t quite know how to reply to this. Luckily, Professor Callaghan arrived just at that moment.
“Ahh, Mr. Musk,” he noted.
“And Hiro. Either you can choose to sell your invention or keep it and improve on it. But if I were you, I wouldn’t trust Mr. Musk with Microbots or anything else,” he said. I wasn’t aware at the time just what the weight of his words was.
I looked between the tree around me, all of them expecting me to make a decision one way or the other.
“Thank you for the offer, Mr. Musk, but the Microbots aren’t for sale,” I replied and gave him an apologetic smile.
He was shocked for a moment. I assume he hadn’t expected me to decline.
“But you’d be rich,” he argued.
“I’m not in this for the money,” I said as I shook my head.
Realizing that I wasn’t going to budge, he left. After he was gone, Professor Callaghan took an envelope from his pocket and gave it to me.
“I hope to see you in SFIT,” he said and walked away.
I stared at the envelope for probably thirty seconds before promptly turning around and hugging Tadashi.
We regrouped with our friends and made our way out. Tadashi excused us for a moment, and we made our way to a bridge overlooking the building which housed the robotics lab.