Grieve Me

An Order

Callaghan busied himself adjusting the rings he fished from the bay. After scaring off the students, he and Hiro went to the abandoned facility where the rings were first invented. It was also the place where not only the teleportation device failed but also stole his beloved daughter from him.

That day, he vowed revenge.
Allistair took what he loved most and Callaghan was just supposed to let it go?

Where was the justice in that?!
Where was the fairness in that?

If it was just money Allistair took or even the time that was demanded from the professor, then he could forgive, but his only daughter was what that mad man took. Money is spent all the time and time will always fly away, but a person's life was different. Life can't be replaced or substituted. Alistair did not understand that Callaghan scoffed, recalling the load of money the brat tried giving him. The professor didn't need money.

He wanted blood.

"Gale." He called out, knowing the life-like bot would come. He programmed the boy to obey his every bidding. After rewiring Hiro, he changed the name to a more suited one - a tribute to his late Abigale.

True, Callaghan technically didn't need Hiro anymore - he got what he wanted - but with Hiro, Callaghan's plan worked far superior than he dreamed. The boy's invention was superior and made a great bodyguard. With the two at his side, nothing could stand in the professor's way.

"Bring me the blueprints we worked on and the tools I need." Part of the teacher knew that wasn't the only reason he kidnapped the boy for. Even though he believed Hiro was just a replica of the real kid, the bot showed so much personality. Fear, love, pain, and sass - Callaghan couldn't help but see his daughter in it.

Hiro wasn't so fond of the professor but he was forbidden to backtalk the man or scream out for help. The sad part was, Hiro had no clue what the elder man did to him. Hiro no longer had free will. He found his body obeying Callaghan without his consent.

He worried for his brother and their friends. He tried stopping himself from throwing the crate and taking his brother out of the car but he couldn't. Whatever the professor did, it was too strong to fight on his own.

It was like having an out-of-body experience where all he could do was watch the events unfold from both a third and first-person point of view. He was caged...that was the right word, Hiro mused, as he brought what the man wanted.

Caged and toyed with, wired up, programmed, just like the robots he so loved to invent. Now, he wondered if this is how they felt having their strings pulled.

He watched the professor work, rerouting wires and welding parts that needed it. He kept each half of the device apart in order for it to not start up and annihilate them. Teleportation was just a theory but Hiro knew that was what the device was for. The minor exception to the machine was that it was faulty and Callaghan kept it that way.

Callaghan was crazy, the humanoid decided and he wished he had never trusted the professor in the first place.

Callaghan heard him, loud and clear. With the transmitter, he and the bots were neurologically synched. The older man chuckled at the younger's thoughts. "Tadashi truly did an astounding job with you. Even your thoughts are that of a human - I wonder if the real Hiro would sound like you?" Still working on the wires, Callaghan decided it was time for the bot to know the truth.

To know its place.

"I'm not a bad man. I may have lured you into trusting me, but aside from that, I never pretended to be someone else like your older brother."

'My brother is nothing like you.' Hiro felt some boldness come back, learning his thoughts could be heard by the other.

At that, Callaghan paused the work. "Oh my dear "boy"," it was a mocking term. "You are right about that." He patted the child's head, unoffended by the scornful thoughts directed at him. "Tadashi isn't like me. People like him and Allistair live by spinning lies. It makes them feel good, knowing the lives they destroyed can easily be replaced by money or metal. Allistair took the life of my daughter just like Tadashi took the life of Hiro. My enemy tried to pay me off and Mr. Hamada replaced Hiro with you: A robot."

Hiro didn't want to believe the professor but deep down, he fought the facts pointed out to him. 'I'm hiro.' He stated, feeling a bit childish with how it came out. He had the sudden urge to stomp like a child too if Callaghan allowed him.

"How do you know?" Callaghan could hear the panicked child scanning its memories for proof. He brought up his time in school - the bruises he got from kids, his graduation. The many times he got sick and Dashi took care of him. "How do you know those things truly happened?" From his trench pocket, he pulled out his holographic tablet and found the article he saved. "Do you remember the crash?"

What little boldness Hiro felt inside dwindled as he roamed the article, taking in every detail. He didn't remember a crash - no one ever told him about one.

Callaghan knew he got to him. "Hiro Hamada was sent to Christ Hospital at the age of four due to severe crash injuries. The parents died on sight however, this is the only article that talks about the Hamadas. There's no other information - I can find at least." With a shrug, he absently teased, "It's like someone took great lengths to hide this interesting piece of history. Any idea who could do that?"

He went on, "Think about it. What past do you really recall? Did you really get sick and bullied? Can you really feel love, sadness, or anger? If you did then why are you easily under my control? The night glitches, the ability to run into dire and come out unscratched - explain those things. Try making sense of it. If you still think I am wrong, well you can connect to the internet - search it."

It was an order.