Grieve Me

Night Glitches

'Cold' Hiro thought, looking around at the blackness. He hadn't a clue where he was and why the blackness around him didn't dim, despite staring at it for a couple minutes. His eyes should have adjusted to the darkness but where he was, light didn't penetrate, and the coldness didn't make it any more bearable.

He thought back to the last memory he had; the one before this weird abyss took over. He was home, he pictured it, playing with his toy robot.

'That can't be right.' He thought, 'I don't have a toy robot. Why would I, if I make real ones?' But as the thought flashed by, the darkness vanished, leaving the young teen in the middle of a living room. "Whoa."

The place was nothing like Aunt Cass home; it was spacious and a bit luxurious with leather couches and a flat screen tv. There was a huge bookshelf off to the side, its books looking like its been put to good use. The walls were an earthy green with white sides, giving the room a studious yet soft vibe to be in. Hiro enjoyed the place. If he wasn't concerned with the situation before him, Hiro would have sat on the couch and cozied up with the book of robotics he eyed laying on the table.

"Sophisticated." He whistled to himself. "Wonder where I am?"

"I told you not to touch it!" Rearing his head to that yell, Hero jaw dropped in disbelief. "I could have figured it out myself." A kid Tadashi stood, shaking in raw fury at a younger Hiro.

Hiro watched, bewildered by the genuine frown Tadashi wore. Maybe it was a dream, but it was still a shock to see his brother show anything other than a cheerful smile.

'But why is he so angry at the kid..uh...me?' Now it was starting to feel like the twilight zone.

His younger self held onto a little robot that the older Hiro guessed was what all the fuss was about. Little Hiro had tears in his eyes as he tried to apologize to his niisan. "you twuggle so hard...I wanted to help." A painful hiccup shook his tiny body. "I'm sowwy."

"Stop trying to help me!" The older vented, snatching the toy out the other's hand. "You know how much pressure is on me because of you?! You don't have teachers expecting me to do better because you "help" me with my homework and you don't have to deal with mom and dad's looks because I'm not as smart as you! You have no clue what burden I have to carry, hiro, so just go away!"

It was silent except for the cries of the younger Hiro.

Those words stabbed the older Hiro, hearing such harsh things from his brother but it was nothing compared to the last murmur to escape Tadashi's lips. "I hate you."

Next the twelve yer old knew was the floor breaking beneath him and Hiro found himself slipping into nothingness.
That's when he woke up, jolting out of that nightmare.

Dazed, the genius slipped over his own feet and fell to the ground. "What?" It took him a moment to realize he was awake, looking around to find that room again. His disappointment morphed into confusion as the boy found himself sprawled on cemented ground, in front of an abandoned building.

Everything stood dead silent as Hiro's mind attempted to make sense of things. How did he get there and why at this building? Hiro's been around this street before, during one of his secret bot fights, but he never slept walk here before. It worried Hiro because this wasn't the first he caught himself in a place he wasn't supposed to be.

It started a month after the fire.

Tadashi had to spend two weeks in the hospital, being watched and taken care of any injuries he sustained. This left Hiro alone with their aunt Cass in their café/apartment. A day after, Hiro would go to sleep and then jolt awake in various rooms of the house. It began with awakening outside his room door, then it was the living room, the kitchen, the café, then the café entrance; It was almost like Hiro's body wanted to go somewhere...like it had a mind of its own.

But Hiro thought that was ridiculous.
Sleepwalkers didn't walk with purpose...they just wondered around.

So why couldn't he shake the feeling that there was a purpose for all this sleepwalking? Staring up at the building, the boy pondered these things, before getting up to leave. He intended to go to the main road and walk home, but his body went the opposite way, opting to get into the building.

He wanted to stop, he really did, but his body wouldn't listen. It marched to the metals doors and his arms lifted themselves to push them open, but the doors were locked. 'Come on!' Hiro screamed internally, frightened by the lack of control he had.

His arms pushed the door harder, before finally pulling their owner back and then slamming themselves full force into the door. Hiro struggled to comprehend what was happening as he watched his arms break through the pure metal and rip every chain off like it was simply string. At this point, he couldn't say anything as his body broke into the place and walked him inside.

Normally, Hiro wouldn't fear a place like this, since he's been in worse looking buildings, but given the circumstances, yeah, he was a bit terrified. 'Stop!' he commanded his body, afraid to speak aloud in case someone was hiding in the shadows. It felt like his legs was dragging him on forever but then they stopped along with whatever it was that pulled his body against his will.

Being back in control, Hiro just wanted to run out that place, but now it was him that glued himself in place. In front of him was stands with white curtains and machines behind them, working on something. It reminded the kid a bit of ET; the scene where the scientists were examining the alien and the little boy. Except, as this young boy walked closer, he realized what those machines were working on.

To his horror, Hiro watched billions of his microbots be mass produced. Looking around, he found that this wasn't the first batch either; buckets were filled with his invention.

"Who would...how?" The bots were destroyed in the fire – Hiro remembered – everything was destroyed. "They found them burnt and in ruins."

A man watched him from the shadows, observing the curious boy that interrupted his work. He's been expecting the child for weeks, but the virus worked slower than he thought. Even now, the professor saw that Hiro still had majority of control over his body. It made the grown man impatient and he debated on his plan to wait for the virus to take its course.

But why wait?

'The kid is right here, alone and unarmed.' It was a perfect moment to do anything and no one would hear or witness what the professor planned to do. With that in mind, Callaghan dived for the opportunity. Silently placing on a mask, the elder man crept up behind the boy while summoning some of the microbots as well.

At first, Hiro thought that it started raining outside, hearing thousands of pitter-patter but a chill ran down his spine as the sound got closer. Listening to his gut, he spun around to see the menacing figure in black coming at him.

The masked man stopped for a second, caught by Hiro's widening eyes. Part of him questioned his plans, but he reminded himself that Hiro wasn't human. He was a robot, a tool he needed...his own mind won't stand in the way of that.

Hiro managed to dodge the bots, the man threw his way. He felt the microbots grab at him but he didn't stay around to question that. He just ran, dodging the attacks along the way. He didn't know how he got out and onto the street, but It was a miracle he did. The running didn't stop there though.

Hiro ran, not caring to look back or stop until he made it to the main roads. It was morning by then and people were starting to come out their houses. That meant safety and when Hiro did look back, the masked man was gone.

Breathing a sigh of relief, Hiro tackled his next issue: telling someone about the night. He couldn't go to the police; they wouldn't believe his story and with the arrests he's had, they'll most likely call his aunt. That's not something he wanted. The best choice was Tadashi.

Tadashi knew him better than anyone, so the young brother felt safe going to him about what he's been through. With one last sigh, the boy made his way home