San Fransokyo
Katie stares at the wall in silence, “Hey sweetie,” Aunt Cass says walking into her room.
“Hey Aunt Cass,” Katie replies numbly.
“Mrs. Matsuda’s in the café,” Aunt Cass says smiling, “She’s wearing something super inappropriate for and 80-year-old. That always cracks you up. You should come down.” She notices the full plate of food that she dropped off last night and sighs.
“Maybe later,” Katie mutters.
“Oh. The university called again,” Aunt Cass says opening the blinds, “It’s, uh, been a few weeks since classes started. But they said it’s not too late to register.”
“Ok. Thanks. I’ll think about it,” Katie replies knowing she’s not. Aunt Cass walks back downstairs, and Katie closes the blinds before sitting down at her computer to check for bot fights. There’s a new message icon, so she clicks it.
A video of Lance, Keith, Hunk, and Allura pop up. “Hi Katie. We just wanted to check in and see how you’re doing,” Allura says.
“Wish you were here, buddy,” Hunk says.
“Katie, if I could have only one superpower right now,” Lance says, “It would be the ability to crawl through this camera and give you a big hug…” Katie turns off the screen and sighs. She grabs the SFIT letter and throws it in the trash. She grabs her robot and it falls apart landing on her foot.
“Ow! Agh!” Katie exclaims hopping onto her bed. She then spots Baymax on Matt’s side of the room who must have inflated. He very slowly makes his way over to her, “Hello. I am Baymax, your personal healthcare companion.”
“Uh, hey, Baymax,” Katie says, “I didn’t know you were still active.”
“I heard a sound of distress,” Baymax states, “What seems to be the trouble?”
“Oh, I just stubbed my toe a little,” Katie replies, “I’m fine.”
“On a scale of 1 to 10, how would you rate your pain?” Baymax asks displaying a scale on his chest.
“A zero,” Katie says, “I’m okay, really. Thanks, you can shrink now.”
“Does it hurt when I touch it?” Baymax asks going to touch Katie’s foot.
“That’s okay. No touching,” Katie says quickly, “I’m fine…Ah!” Katie trips and falls into the crack between her bed and the dresser.
“You have fallen,” Baymax states.
“You think?” Katie says sarcastically. She reaches to pull herself up, but the shelf falls and all of her actions figures fall on her.
“On a scale of 1 to 10, how would you rate your pain?” Baymax asks.
“Zero,” Katie retorts back.
“It is all right to cry,” Baymax says, “Crying is a natural response to pain.”
“I’m not crying,” Katie insists.
“I will scan you for injuries.”
“Don’t scan me.”
“Scan complete.”
“Unbelievable,” Katie mutters.
“You have sustained no injuries. However, your hormone and neurotransmitter levels indicate that you are experiencing mood swings common in adolescence,” Baymax explains, “Diagnosis, puberty.”
“Whoa, what!” Katie exclaims, “Okay. Time to shrink now.” She struggles to get Baymax into his charging box as he lists effects of puberty.
“I cannot deactivate until you say you are satisfied with your care,” Baymax reminds her.
“Fine,” Katie mutters, “I’m satisfied with my…Whoa!” she slips off Baymax and lands next to her bed. Katie looks up and sees something unusual under her bed, a square of plastic. She pulls it out and examines it closely. On it is what appears to be Matt’s handwriting and it says, “The Truth”. “What is this?” Katie asks looking at Baymax.
“That is a floppy disk,” Baymax replies.
“Huh, I’ve never seem one of these before,” Katie replies. She didn’t have anything to play it with here, so she decided to call Allura for help.
“Hey, does the university have a floppy disk player?” Katie asks pulling on socks and shoes.
“Weirdly enough, I think Matt and Shiro had one in their lab, why?” Allura asks confused.
“I need it,” Katie says quickly before hanging up. She grabs her hoodie and runs downstairs and straight into Aunt Cass.
“Katie?” she says.
“Hey, Aunt Cass!” Katie exclaims shoving the disk into her pocket.
Aunt Cass looks at her, “Wow! You’re up and…”
“Yeah!” Katie exclaims, “I figured it was time.”
“Are you registering for school?” Aunt Cass asks excitedly.
“Uh, yes!” Katie says walking around her aunt, “I thought about what you said. Really inspired me.”
“Oh honey, that’s so great!” Aunt Cass exclaims giving Katie a hug, “Okay, special dinner tonight. I’ll whip up some chicken wings. You know with the hot sauce that makes our faces numb.”
“Okay, sounds good,” Katie nods.
“Great! Last hug,” Aunt Cass says giving Katie one more hug before she runs out the door.
Katie arrives at the robotics lab and grabs the door handle, she pulls on the door, and it doesn’t budge. “Need help?” Katie turns around and sees Lance, Allura, Hunk, and Keith walking towards the building.
“No, I’m fine,” Katie replies turning back towards the door, “Just trying to get in.” Allura swipes her card and the door swings open.
“You need an ID card to get in,” Keith says following Katie inside, “Why did you bring Baymax?"
“Huh?” Katie looks behind her and realizes Baymax must have followed her here, “Best to travel in pairs, am I right?” Katie says forcing a smile.
Allura sighs, “We just wanted to make sure you’re okay.”
“Well, I’m fine,” Katie says quickly, “Just gotta grab that floppy disk player, and I’ll…”
“Why don’t we come with you,” Hunk says, “You need an ID card to access the elevator and enter the labs.”
Katie looks around at the group and sighs, she didn’t even know how to get there anyways, “Fine.”
YOU ARE READING
Alternate Lives
FanfictionIt wasn't until his brother crash landed in an alien space ship that Hiro Hamada realized something about his life was really wrong. When her brother died in an explosion at school, Katie Holt knew, despite what everyone said, that it was not suppos...
