Chapter Text
Hiro wouldn’t say he’d been snooping. There were a lot of reasons he was in the SFIT vents. It was good to be familiar with them, given how many times he’d found himself crawling through them for one reason or another. They were covered in decades of dust, sure, but they were a good way to get around unseen- and he’d had to do that plenty of times for many reasons. Mostly for his own benefit, but nobody needed to talk about that. Summer was close at hand, so he’d need to sneak more often.
So, he found himself crawling on hands and knees, saturating his pants in dust, though that was hardly the worst thing those pants had been through. He was above the robotics lab, quite near his own lab actually. He’d not been in this section before, and judging by the dust, it could’ve been twenty years since anyone at all had been there.
So, it was a surprise when his hand touched something other than the vent floor. Just by feel… he could tell it was a laptop. Shining his light on it confirmed his findings. An ancient laptop, covered in dust, it had to be at least twenty years old. The sheer shock of finding it sent the gears of his head whirring. He had to boot it up, find a way in, and see what was on it.
It wasn’t long before Hiro had the strange laptop on his desk. It was black, with several stickers on it that were so faded that Hiro couldn’t tell what they were anymore. No name anywhere on it, nothing. Hands trembling, he opened it up. To his shock.. it turned on.
At the sign-in screen, the username read as 化け物 [Bakemono]. Hiro couldn’t tell what those characters were besides け being the hiragana for “ke”, so all he could do was hope the rest of the laptop wasn’t set to Japanese. All things said… getting into it would take a while.
Getting in had, in fact, taken several weeks. Whoever had owned this laptop, they were both very smart and very neurotic, apparently. Or, there was some incredibly good data in this laptop. But, Hiro had gotten in, and to his relief, the rest of it was in English. First things first, though, the files.
The last one ever saved was dated 12/10/2012. So, his guess of the laptop being twenty years old was, in fact, correct. It was a video, in a whole series of ten files. He decided to go to the top one, dated about a month and a half earlier. It was simply titled “Log #1”, which was vague enough to pique his interest. He opened it.
He couldn’t see much. It was just a desk, with a few blueprints he couldn’t see clearly enough, words on them written in an unholy mix of English, what looked like Russian, and Japanese that he could have sworn was written for no one to be able to understand besides the writer. He was about to click off when he could hear a voice.
“Hello.. this is my first tape of my series. Our final projects require accompanying test logs. Mine is still in the computer modeling phase though, so you’ll have to put up with just my voice. I’m sorry it takes so long, there are many calculations to slog through. More will come soon, I just want to show my blueprints so far.”
The somewhat high voice said, though it was less like a woman and more like someone young whose voice had not quite dropped yet. A hand, delicate and pale with black painted nails, came into view, picking up a blueprint to show the camera, mostly filled with formulas even he couldn’t comprehend.
“I’m halfway done with them. My theory is looking more and more plausible.. I’m excited. But that’s all for now.“
The tape cut out there. Eagerly, Hiro clicked on the next one. Corrupted. It had probably degraded over time, the links didn’t work. He tried with the third, which thankfully worked. The same delicate hand was in view again, putting down a finished blueprint. But the camera was blurry, and his drawing was messy. Hiro could only make out a few components. He could tell whoever this was, they were trying to keep the mystique of the project alive.
“Log #3 here. Finally, I’m done with calculations! Now, it’s time to test my theory. My blueprints are done, now it’s ready to build and edit. Only then, we’ll know if I’m right. Then, we’ll know if I’m good for anything, hah. Change the world or bust, am I right?”
The voice was probably male. Bright, excited, maybe on the verge of something great. Why hadn’t he heard of someone like this?
Numbers four and five were corrupted too. They simply wouldn’t open. He was a bit bummed that he couldn’t hear them now, but at least the sixth opened. Still, it was blurry and wouldn’t quite load all the way, so he couldn’t see the prototype that those hands were clearly gesturing to as he spoke.
“The first test was a bust. I couldn’t generate nearly enough power to prove my theory. But.. I guess I should count myself lucky I had any output at all. I think I have a few things I need to edit… the shielding must be impeding the arc connection. Either that or my focusing coils aren’t aligned enough. Whatever it is, I can fix it. I will do this. I don’t have another choice.”
The tape cut there. Hiro was no stranger to failure on the first try. Science was defined by it. But still.. it always sucked. He felt for the owner of those hands whose manicure was chipping off.
The seventh tape, thankfully, loaded. This time, Hiro could see more. Those hands, the manicure barely clinging on for its life. But.. there were other things too. Marks on them now, blisters from what looked like a minor burn, a few band-aids. His arms looked thin, a bandage peeked from under his black jacket sleeve. The work was taking its toll. Hiro could understand it. His hands were never pristine after a long day of fabrication.
“Log number seven here. No luck with the shielding. And I had a minor explosion for my trouble. My eyebrows took the brunt even though I had goggles. There’s still lights in my eyes from it. But, I don’t care. I don’t have another project. I have to prove this theory or else I’ve wasted my first semester. I need to be worth everyone’s time. So.. I’ll keep going. Focusing coils next. We’ll see if that increases the output. I need a hundredfold increase to prove this. Two hundred to be worth presenting. I’ve got this brain, might as well put it to use.”
The voice was shakier now. Hiro had the feeling things were going far from whatever this person wanted. This couldn’t be good. He clicked onto the eighth. Corrupted. He sighed in frustration, he needed to know if this person’s project succeeded! He needed to know who this guy was! He needed to see his face! Hiro had so many questions, and these files were his only source of answers. Thankfully, the ninth opened.
The sight was shocking. The once-clean desk was filthy now, covered in wires and tools and empty energy drink cans. And those hands.. those hands. The manicure was completely gone, and the nails themselves were chipped and bleeding in places. There were scabs on those hands now, and more bandages, more blisters, more burns.
“I did it.” He whispered.
“It’s real. I proved it. I got the increase I wanted, it worked, finally! Hundredfold increase, it lit my lab up using just a double-A battery, it’s real! But.. it’s not good enough to show yet. This won’t make for a good presentation. I need it to blow them away. So.. I’ll try for two hundred. I’ve got a week left until the presentation. If I don’t work myself into my coffin.. I’ll have something for them. For the world.”
That voice was so quiet now, but there was real happiness in it. But yet.. Hiro couldn’t help but notice that he was taking a risk. A similar risk he’d took in all his projects. He wanted to scream at those beat-up broken hands to stop while he was still ahead, present it as it was, he didn’t have to go further. But that was the thing about geniuses. They didn’t stop. Not for anything.
Thank goodness, the tenth opened. The final one.
Those poor hands. Hiro could see the outlines of the bones, the thin skin marred with scars and scabs and some seriously scary-looking burns. His arms were covered by those jacket sleeves, the same jacket, but the cuffs were singed now. His voice was barely audible now, shaky as anything. Terrified, by the sound of it.
“I’ve made the final alterations. I.. I’m testing them tonight. I just.. either this goes really well.. or.. I don’t wanna say it. I’m putting this laptop in a safe place until the testing is over. I’ll make more tapes when it’s done. But.. I can’t lie. I’m scared. If it goes right… I’ll have a real amplifier. A three hundred fold power amplification. If it doesn’t.. well.. I guess I won’t be here to care about it if it doesn’t.”
Finally, FINALLY, he stepped into frame. He was about as tall as Hiro, black jacket hanging off of his spindly frame. His face lacked any residual baby fat, overgrown black hair hanging over one of his eyes. And those eyes.. he knew them anywhere. Electric blue, looking through him rather than at him. It was HIM. Now.. he knew how this would end. But yet.. he stuck around, like how someone watched a car wreck. That ghost on the screen let out a nervous laugh.
“Death or glory, am I right?”