tushanshu_logs | [OPEN] Have you seen this child?

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[OPEN] Have you seen this child?

Characters: Hiro Hamada & YOU
Date: March 16-18ish? Depending on player actions (how fast can you reunite a couple of dumb Hamadas?)
Location: 'round the city in general, starting out, moving to the Midnight Hotel(?) & miscellaneous locations afterwards, particularly the Metal District.
Situation: Hiro is a small sad hobo child for his first few days in Keeliai. Also, he has no idea Tadashi's here and probably looking for him. Refer to this ooc post for more information & if you want to plot details before threading. For chronological ordering of Hiro sightings, specify a general date, time & location please.
Warnings/Rating: Warning for general depression stuff + possible discussion of a major canonical character death.

a.) City

Hiro can't believe he's scribbling in the dirt like a caveman.

Well, almost like a caveman. He couldn't find a stick, so he's using the screwdriver that came with him to carve notes into the mud, trying to gather his thoughts and formulate some kind of a plan of action.

It's not really going well. He's been to the Welcome Center and had a few things explained to him, and after that he sort of wandered around for a while trying to get over the shell-shock (ha, he'd thought faintly, when the thought crossed his mind). Maybe he asked a few questions, and some of the Kedan were forthcoming. Others ignored him or outright told him to buzz off.

It's cold. He's hungry, circumstances as they are making him more aware of his body rebelling against the fact he didn't touch his breakfast or dinner the night before. He's trying to kick his brain into gear and figure out what to do - trying to remember the tactics he's seen homeless people in San Fransokyo use to weather through the winter, trying to remember how to make that one face that might earn him some sympathy and maybe some local currency to go with it - but it's sluggish to respond after the mind-numbing haze he's lived through the last few weeks.

So here he is sitting in the dirt in a corner of some street market, tongue sticking out of his mouth in concentration, grimacing as he cuts his thoughts into the dirt to try and organize them, so maybe he can figure out what to do next. He keeps smudging things out with his hands and starting over; right now it kind of looks like this:

At some point he probably gives up and throws his screwdriver down. It sticks in the dirt blunt end up, impaled right through the center of his disorganized note-taking.

b.) The Midnight Hotel

Hiro's been tasked with working on the garage door in exchange for his room, and he throws himself into it because if nothing else, it gives him a distraction; something to think about besides oh god, what is he gonna do and...everything else. It gives him access to tools and facilities he doesn't otherwise have here in Keeliai, too; he can be found in the garage most hours of the day and sometimes the night, he's in there maybe more than he should be, pouring over blueprints and working to understand this whole...inter-dimensional thing, that the hotel's got going on, that has to be worked into the functions of the door itself. That or he's drawing out copper wire and soldering bits and pieces onto a circuitboard to make the normal, physical aspects of the thing work, and with remote control at that.

Or he's just passed out asleep on the floor because sometime his metabolism bottoms out and it sorta happens all at once.

- or -

Anyone living on the second floor may note that whoever lives in room six isn't seen coming and going very much, and that's because either:

a) Hiro isn't there, or

b) He's being very sneaky about his leaving and returning. When you're small and don't have all that much to say, you tend to keep a low profile.

On occasion, though - in the very, very wee hours of the morning, residents may be awakened by the pitter patter of sock feet scurrying around doing who knows what, or the thunk of something large and heavy hitting the floor, hopefully accidentally.

- or -

When he's not up to his eyeballs in the project in the garage or locked in his room doing who knows what, occasionally Hiro will sneak to the balcony to take advantage of the hotel's never-ending coffee supply. Which is weird. Broken Laws of Conservation of Mass weird, and sometimes he eyeballs the coffee grounds suspiciously because coffee grounds don't just appear out of nothing - there has to be some kind of exchange of energy and matter, some logic or reason to it, but there's not. Like a lot of things in this place, it doesn't make sense.

But he's getting used to that. He's even starting to accept it. He'll at least accept that ever-replenishing coffee grounds makes about as much sense as the decision to guzzle three cups of hard, black coffee in one go, which he does, frequently and without thought. He may get the jitters and crash hard later, but half the time he does that anyway so...no great loss.

c.) Choose your own adventure!

You may find him wandering the city just about anywhere, maybe picking a fight with a random Kedan (oops) or just kind of skulking around observing. You may, in particular, find him inadvisably hanging around the Metal District investigating what kind of technology they have available, since this seems to be the most advanced general area of the city.

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Hiro doesn't know where the microbot went. He took it out to look at it and it promptly zipped off across the room, leading him to charge after it without much regard for the unholy noise he's making at way too early in the morning. He trips over a toolbox he borrowed from the garage and hits the floor; a second later he's leaping across the unused twin bed onto the one he's supposed to be sleeping in, snatching at the tiny bot that ends up slipping through his fingers anyway.

And then someone knocks. And Hiro winces, caught between ignoring it and looking for the microbot (it's vanished) and maybe, possibly apologizing because he's not stupid and he knows or at least realizes now that he's...probably making a lot of noise.

Sheepish, he slides off the bed and scurries to the door, leaving the microbot to its own devices. He undoes the bolt and cracks it slowly, just enough so that Krei only gets a glimpse of half his face peeking out, one eye growing wide and one eyebrow shooting up.

Because Alistair Krei - as in, the Alistair Krei - is standing outside his door. In shorts and a tee, with bags under his eyes and normally-immaculate hair sticking in every direction, but even so he'd know that face anywhere because the guy's all over the tv and Forbes and he's got one hell of a nose -

Hiro chokes on whatever apology he was going to offer and instead fumbles, "You -"

He cracks the door a little wider, and at that moment his stray microbot chooses to shoot out. Hiro doesn't think. He just reaches out and grabs it, inches from colliding with Krei's face.

"Mr. Krei?"

If he wasn't awake before, he is now. The door opening to the sight of Hiro Hamada is surprising enough--Callaghan hadn't mentioned anyone else from San Fransokyo being here in Keeliai, although that might easily be chalked up to Callaghan being an asshole--but almost getting plugged in the face by... is that a microbot?

Krei is, predictably, not as enthusiastic about microbots as he once was.

He stares at Hiro for a moment, or more precisely the hand holding the tiny robot, his eyes wide. But it's only one. A quick glance around what little he can see of the room behind Hiro doesn't reveal any more of the things, no teeming mass of them rising up the way they sometimes do in his nightmares, and he finds himself relaxing when he hadn't even realized he'd tensed up in the first place.

"Hiro. I... didn't know you were here." Suddenly self-conscious, now that he's awake enough to care, he reaches a hand up to attempt to smooth his hair back into shape. "Callaghan failed to mention that part, I suppose."

Hiro isn't sure what he did to earn that kind of terror at first sight; sure the microbot but it's only one, and sure they didn't exactly part on the best of terms, but...that's a lot of scared for one little microbot and a failed business deal.

(Though Hiro wonders, sometimes, if he'd taken the money, if things would've gone differently - if maybe they wouldn't have stuck around long enough for it all to go horribly, horribly wrong.)

"Uh, sorry." He shoots Krei a confused look, but hastily withdraws the microbot and tucks it close, returning to the table in the corner so he can put it back in the petri dish. He leaves the door open, though - a wordless invitation. If Krei wants to come in, he can. Not much to see - just rumpled sheets on one unmade bed and a few miscellaneous items and tools strewn haphazardly across the table. "Stupid thing's been acting up. Probably broken."

At least with his back turned to the door, Krei can't see the look on his face. "I haven't seen anybody from home, least of all Callaghan. I know you didn't like him, but you at least read the papers, right? He's dead. Died in the fire at the Institute."

It's a blunt and oddly emotionless statement - and if Krei read the papers, he'll note the obvious omission that Hiro's avoiding talking about.

Krei still doesn't know Hiro well enough to presume to enter the room very far, but he acknowledges the unspoken invitation by at least stepping into the doorway and leaning against the frame. Sure the boy saved his life not long ago, but that's a far cry from being actual friends--nevermind the twenty-something year age gap between them.

He's about to make some offhand remark about Hiro getting a room to himself (he might have to have a word with Anton about that) when Hiro starts speaking again, and afterward he's even more confused.

"Dead? What are you talking about? We just... he...."

But the boy hadn't said that Callaghan had died after the incident at Krei Tech, after being taken into custody by the police, which might have led Krei to assume that Hiro remembered more about the timeline in San Fransokyo than he did. He'd said died in the fire at the Institute. Which means--

"Hiro, what's the last thing you remember, before you arrived here?"

At that, Hiro looks up sharply, eyes narrowed and mouth moving in a quiet what? Because what kind of a question is that? You're asking weird questions, Krei, and he doesn't know how to answer them.

"...Home?" It's all he remembers for a solid few weeks - home, in his room, with the blinds drawn shut, curled up in bed most of the time and curled up in some other corner of the room the rest of it, doing a whole lot of not anything except pouring over the events at the Institute again and again and wondering if something could've gone differently.

He frowns, mouth tightening into a thin line; there has to be a better answer than that. Details. What was he doing? "I was, I - microbot. Found it under the bed. And then I was here." He holds up the petri dish, rattling the tiny robot inside. "Only one left and it's broken. Might as well give it to you, now. Not doing anybody much good."

Edited 2015-03-24 04:34 (UTC)

Well that's... really not much to go off of. Thanks Hiro. No matter, Krei's pretty sure he's managed to piece this together on his own. Akito had seemed to think San Fransokyo was still called San Francisco. People have been pulled here from other worlds, worlds with magic, so why not other times? Krei pushes off the doorframe where he's been leaning, awake enough now that he's starting to use his hands to articulate. "What I meant was--"

And then he stops. If he tells Hiro that Callaghan isn't dead, that he'd survived the fire at SFIT, what then?

Then Hiro continues to fit the pieces together, because he's not stupid.

Then Hiro realizes who set the fire.

Then, worst case scenario, Hiro confronts Callaghan--and Callaghan comes back at him.

Krei shoots another worried glance at the microbot in the petri dish before continuing, demeanor somewhat deflated compared to only moments previous. "What I meant was... never mind. The point is, I don't think we're all being brought here to Keeliai from the same time. Callaghan is here."

There's a moment where Hiro doesn't say anything, biting his lip and looking around the room and clearly trying to process all this. He's heard rumors from a few people about stuff like this happening; about dead people showing up, or people from alternate points on the same timeline. He just hasn't seen it happen yet to confirm if it's true or just rumors. He hasn't seen Callaghan. But he didn't know Krei was here, either, until the man came knocking on his door.

"Callaghan..." Hiro glances at the microbot on the table, the lone survivor of the fire.

Callaghan died. But if he's here...Hiro's not missing the implications or the possibilities, much as he doesn't dare hope.

He doesn't have any reason to trust Alistair Krei, and a couple of reasons to be concerned, but a little vain hope entices him to continue carefully, "Assuming you're for real...just Callaghan? Is...anybody else here from the same universe? Maybe?"

It's obvious what Hiro's asking. Again, Alistair doesn't really know the boy, but he remembers the fire and he remembers who the two "victims" of said fire were.

"I... couldn't tell you, to be honest. I had the somewhat dubious fortune to run into Callaghan--" (quite literally) "--shortly after arriving in the city, and he brought me here to the Hotel. I haven't been out much since then, but Robert didn't mention anyone else from San Fransokyo being here."

It's disappointing, to say the least. Not only is Hiro new to Keeliai (possibly newer than himself?) but the boy doesn't remember the encounter with Callaghan at Krei Tech. Probably doesn't remember anything about his little team. The one person he might have relied upon to stand solidly in his corner, should it come down to that....

But that isn't Hiro's fault. Krei smiles sympathetically. "It's possible, though. Like I said, I haven't been out much. I have a pretty terrible record of getting mugged thus far."

Hiro barely lets himself experience the disappointment, much less show it outwardly; just nods in acknowledgement and slumps into the chair by the desk. This is exactly why it's better not to get his hopes up. Ever.

"Not surprised. I heard there's not that many Foreigners here at all; three of us from home is already a lot." He looks up, offering what he hopes is a sincere smile, even if he's not really feeling it. "Thanks anyway, though. Who knows? I haven't been out much either, but it's not because I'm scared of getting mugged. You ever walk down the street for five minutes at night back home? You learn some stuff."

...Then again, not likely. Krei probably has a limo to take him wherever he wants to go, back home. Another reason to wonder if he should've just taken the money and ditched the school ambitions.

"...You really don't like Professor Callaghan, do you? I mean, it's obvious he doesn't like you, but you don't like him either, under all that fake politeness."

"I can't say that I have recently, no." Walking around the street at night is something interns do. The really dedicated ones, anyway.

And then he's silently cursing himself for saying anything about Callaghan at all, for leading Hiro to this question. Shudder and the rules of the Hotel might be protecting him for now, but it's still too dangerous to let the truth about Callaghan slip--at least until he knows for sure whether a certain mask and small army of robots happen to be in Keeliai as well.

Robert alone, he might be able to handle. (Perhaps with some small amount of assistance.) Callaghan with the microbots?

Krei leans back against the doorframe again. "I...am not particularly fond of him these days, I admit. It wasn't always like that, but recent events... well. Let's just say there's a good reason for it." He'd respected the hell out of the man and his scientific achievements, once, but it's difficult to continue to respect someone who tries to ruin your life's work and then murder you.

He frowns slightly, grasping for some way to change the subject. "Anyway, what were you doing up at this hour? Even geniuses need to sleep occasionally."

Hiro frowns. "And...you're not gonna tell me that reason." It's not a question; he knows how this goes. He doesn't get to be in on these kinds of secrets. It feels not so different than the night of the expo, trapped on the outside of a conflict he doesn't understand between two people he thinks are pretty cool, and all he really wanted was to accomplish something with himself. Maybe make his brother proud for once.

He went with Callaghan's offer for exactly that reason, but he still isn't sure who to side with, even now.

He shrugs. "Couldn't sleep, that's all. I was gonna try and take that microbot apart to see what was up, but then it got out and - you know the rest." He hesitates, and then adds, "Sorry about the noise. Didn't mean to wake anybody else up."

Insomnia's a hell of a thing, even for geniuses. Hiro's just always taken his to the garage at home to sort out - or had Tadashi, who was more than tolerant of his late nights.

He misses his brother.

Edited 2015-04-04 03:19 (UTC)

"I... hadn't planned on it." His tone is apologetic, but it doesn't change the answer. He's tempted to say it's personal but really it's only a personal matter to Callaghan. To Krei everything that happened is more or less public record, and more than that, Hiro himself had been directly involved in the incident at the new campus.

But this Hiro doesn't remember, and that's probably the way it should stay for now.

He shakes his head, shrugging slightly. "Don't worry about it, I think I'll survive. It isn't exactly as if I have to be at work in the morning, is it?" He's still working on that whole "work" thing. Even if it rankles to know that he's going to have to take some low level, low respect job. Better that and have a place to stay than the alternative.

At that, Hiro snrks a little. Sorry for laughing at you, dude. It's just funny and a little ironic that a few weeks ago Krei was offering him millions for his tech and now they're both broke and bumming off hotel charity.

"From Fortune 500 CEO to cross-dimensional hobo. Harsh. Guess we're all in the same boat now, huh?" He shrugs, and after a moment's thought opens a drawer and stuffs the microbot and a few other tools into it.

"Still, though. I'll try and keep the noise down for you."

Edited 2015-04-10 03:09 (UTC)

"'Cross-dimensional hobo.' I suppose I can check that one off the bucket list now."

He even joins in on the laughter, just a little. It's easier to see the amusing side of the situation considering that they're not in San Fransokyo, and it's not exactly the downfall of his company that's led to him slumming in the Hotel on charity. They really are all in the same boat, more or less.

"Well... thank you. And on that note I'll leave you to your work."

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[OPEN] Have you seen this child?

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