Control Alt Delete (A BH6 crossover)

Chapter Thirty Three: No easy way

The trip back to the Ito Ishioka lab felt a lot longer than it had the last time he'd gone there earlier that morning. Maybe it was because Tadashi knew a lot more was at stake this time around. Things were getting more than a little confusing and he wanted answers.

Parking his moped, Tadashi raced up the stairs to his lab, forgoing the elevator. The thing had been acting up lately and he didn't want to risk getting stuck between floors.

He was a little out of breath by the time he slid the card key and opened the lab door, but it was worth it. He hadn't had a good run in a while and the endorphins from doing it helped clear his head just a little. After all, he had to keep a calm head if he was going to do things right.

A flick of a switch turned the lights on, sending inviting warmth into the room the darkness had seemed to take away. That also helped. For some odd reason, he felt darkness was cold, though he wasn't sure why. It had never bothered him before.

The program Tadashi wanted was stored on the holographic computer so he booted up the system. While waiting, he searched through his cabinets for an empty data chip, the one with the largest capacity he could find. He also located some cables he knew he'd need to hook Baymax up to the computer in the garage, once he'd installed the program there.

With the computer on, Tadashi inserted the data chip into the appropriate port and began copying the necessary programs. Since there was a lot of data, it would take a while so he settled down to wait. He tried to think of anything else he might need to fix the problem, then decided it would be wise to make a copy of the master program for Baymax's healthcare protocols, just in case he had to do a complete reinstall. It wasn't optimal, but a possibility.

While looking for another data chip, the strangest sound filled the air. Tadashi looked up from the drawer he'd been searching in, only to see blue light pulsating in the middle of the room. This was shortly followed by the appearance of a blue box that looked like an old-fashioned phone booth mixed with a large crate. And across the top was painted the words "Police Public Call Box".

Not sure what was going on, Tadashi closed the drawer by pushing against it with his back. It was always possible that whoever this box belonged to was the person messing with his robot, and, in turn, with Hiro. He grabbed the first thing that came to hand in case he needed to defend himself, which happened to be part of a failed frame for another project.

As soon as the noise subsided, and the light stopped flashing, the door to the blue box opened just a crack. Tadashi tensed, ready to use the length of metal as a club if necessary.

Two people exited through the door, entering the lab. One was male and had brown hair that was almost as messy as Hiro's, only nowhere near as long. The other was female, with long blond hair.

"Please tell me this is going to work this time," the blond said to her companion as she glanced at his face. "I don't know how many more times I can handle doing this."

The man nodded as he rubbed at his nose, pushing up a pair of glasses. "Hopefully this will be the last," he replied, probably trying to reassure her.

Tadashi decided he'd waited long enough. They obviously hadn't seen him or they'd have said something, though he couldn't be sure about that. They did seem rather intent on conversing with each other instead of looking around though. He took a step forward, metal rod at the ready. "I want to know who you are and what you're doing in my lab right now."

Almost absently, the man turned to face Tadashi, a mild look of surprise on his face as he noticed the improvised weapon in his hand. But then he smiled. "Well now, if that isn't handy!" he said, addressing his companion with a big smile. "Looks like we won't have to wait this time around."