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CHAPTER 7
🕑 Added 2025-06-17 15:37:37 +0000 UTCAidan—or rather, his current persona, Ward—found himself drawn to Gogo Tomago’s workbench. The bicycle’s wheels, humming with contained power, floated inches above their mounts. They were a beautiful, impossible fusion of engineering and elegance.
“How are you managing the reverse current induction?” Ward asked, his voice filled with genuine curiosity. “The feedback loop on a system this small must be a nightmare.”
Gogo glanced up from her welding, pushing her goggles onto her forehead. She popped a bubble of gum, her expression a mix of boredom and appraisal. “Wrote a program to constantly flip the magnetic polarity based on load resistance. It’s not elegant, but it works.”
“It’s more than not easy; it’s brilliant,” Ward said sincerely. To control that kind of magnetic flux on an untethered, mobile object was a monumental achievement in miniature, a perfect solution for shock absorption. “The way it would use the inverse-square law to re-center the wheel after hitting a bump… incredible.”
“Thanks,” she said, a flicker of a smile touching her lips before she pulled her goggles back down, the compliment accepted and filed away.
Tadashi grinned and led Ward to the next station, a pristine, almost sterile workspace where a boy with meticulously styled hair and an air of intense focus was making microscopic adjustments to a device on the bench. A blade of pure, blue-ish white light, thin as paper, emanated from it, carving impossibly precise patterns into a titanium block.
“Pulse laser, plasma ionization, magnetic confinement,” Ward stated, rattling off the core concepts.
The boy looked up, surprised and impressed. “Whoa, you got it. Most people just call it a 'laser knife'." He beamed with pride. "The trick is using laser-induced plasma, but the real secret is the magnetic confinement. It lets me achieve ultra-high precision.” This was Wasabi, a perfectionist to his core.
“I’ve only read the theory,” Ward admitted, shaking his head in admiration. “Controlling the energy bleed-off has always been the biggest hurdle. To see it constrained so perfectly…”
“I developed a proprietary system for it,” Wasabi said, puffing out his chest slightly. “It’s all about the precision.”
“Amazing,” Ward praised, and he meant it.
Next, Tadashi brought him to a tall, bubbly girl with honey-blonde hair and square-framed glasses. Her workbench was a vibrant, chaotic explosion of chemistry, with beakers bubbling with colorful concoctions and tubes crisscrossing in a beautiful mess. She was carefully heating a test tube, a look of intense concentration on her face. Tadashi looked at Ward expectantly.
Ward held up his hands with a helpless smile. "Okay, you got me. Chemistry is not my strong suit."
Tadashi laughed. "Ha, I thought you knew everything! This is Honey Lemon. She's our resident chemistry genius. Prefers what she calls 'the new alchemy'."
"A witch, then?" Ward mused aloud.
The girl’s head snapped up, her experiment finished. A huge, radiant smile spread across her face. "Ooh, I like that title!" she chirped, bouncing over to them.
"I was thinking more along the lines of 'magician'," Ward shrugged.
"Magic? Not bad," Honey Lemon considered seriously. "I'm Honey Lemon! It's super-maga-fantastically great to meet you!"
Soon, Ward had met everyone, and the days that followed settled into a productive rhythm. The lab became a crucible of shared genius. He would watch Gogo test her mag-lev tech and offer a suggestion for a more efficient energy distribution matrix. He would help Wasabi calibrate his confinement field. In return, their expertise flowed into him. With his "Affinity" talent, he absorbed it all at an incredible rate, the complex principles of their life's work settling into his mind as if they had always belonged there. But it was Tadashi's research into intelligent machines and compassionate AI that proved the most fruitful.
One afternoon, under Ward's watchful eye, it finally happened.
"Okay, Baymax," Tadashi said, his voice trembling with anticipation. "Activate."
With a soft, vinyl sigh, the large, white figure in the charging station began to inflate. It unfolded itself, growing into a gentle giant that looked like a marshmallow golem. It blinked its simple, black-dot eyes. "Hello," it said, its voice calm and soothing. "I am Baymax, your personal healthcare companion."
"It works… it works!" Tadashi screamed, jumping up and down with pure, unadulterated joy. He grabbed Ward in a crushing bear hug. "He really works!"
"Congratulations, Tadashi," Ward laughed, pushing the overjoyed inventor away. "He's perfect. Speaking of which… my own project is finished. Want to come see?"
"Really? So fast?"
"The core systems were already designed," Ward said. "And your work on Baymax gave me some ideas. I added a complete fire-and-rescue programming suite."
"Then what are we waiting for? Let's go!" Tadashi said, practically running towards Ward's studio.
Compared to Tadashi's clean, organized lab, Ward's was a den of controlled chaos, wires snaking across the floor like metallic vines. In the center of the room stood his creation. It was the same height as Adam but built for a different purpose. Its chassis was sprayed with a fire-engine-red, high-temperature resistant paint. Its hands were huge, pincer-like claws designed for gripping and clearing debris. Water cannons were visible at its joints, and a matte-black fireproof cloak hung from its shoulders. It had a powerful, punk-rock aesthetic.
"I call him Firebrand," Ward said, unplugging a power cable from the robot's back. "The exterior is a layered aluminum silicate fiber over a complete internal cooling system. He can walk into an inferno that would melt steel. The head contains a suite of life-form sensors, and the soles of his feet are packed with impact-absorbing polymers. He can survive a sixteen-story fall without issue." The robot's optical sensors lit up with a soft blue light as it stood up. "And if the primary AI fails, it can be switched to a VR manual piloting mode. Perfect for urban rescue."
Ward held out a fist, and Firebrand mirrored the gesture. "I named him Firebrand because his job is to pull people from the fire."
"Wow," Tadashi breathed, circling the machine. "I have to say, Ward, you are a true genius."
"He's nothing without the inspiration you gave me," Ward said honestly. He then led the way out of the lab. "Time for a field test."
They were halfway to the testing area when Tadashi's phone buzzed. He answered it, his expression shifting from excitement to anxiousness. "Yeah… what? Okay, okay, I'm on my way." He hung up, looking flustered. "Hey, Ward, I'm so sorry, something's come up. It's my little brother, Hiro. I gotta go, but I'll be back soon!" He then dashed off, leaving Ward standing with his giant red robot.
The timeline is accelerating, Aidan thought. The tech exhibition was in a few days. This was when Tadashi brought Hiro to the lab. Everything was falling into place. During his time here, he'd managed to speak with Professor Callaghan several times, but the man was maddeningly silent about his portal technology. It seemed that his backup plan—to acquire the data from Alistair Krei after the inevitable disaster—would be necessary after all.
He guided Firebrand to the outdoor testing area, attracting a crowd immediately.
"Woohoo! Ward, you did it!" Fred, wearing his ridiculous dinosaur mascot costume, yelled as he sprinted over.
"Just finished. Now for the tests," Ward said. Firebrand waved, perfectly mimicking his movement.
"So cool! Can I pilot him? Please, please, please?" Fred begged, his eyes sparkling from within the dinosaur head. His own costume suddenly seemed far less interesting.
The rest of the lab team crowded around, their voices a chorus of excited chatter. Honey Lemon gently stroked Firebrand’s armored leg, her expression one of pure wonder.
"Here," Ward said, handing the control bracelet to Fred. "Test his flexibility. Wasabi, I need you to check his reflexes. Honey Lemon, you can help me with the high-temp resistance test. I need to know what can be improved."
"Oh, Ward, I love you so much!" Fred shouted, taking the bracelet and eagerly piloting Firebrand toward an open space.
"He only has a two-hour power supply!" Ward called after him. "Don't run him dry!"
The others followed, eager to watch. Ward, however, saw Honey Lemon struggling to drag a massive oxygen cylinder and a heavy-duty flamethrower. "Here, let me get that," he said, easily lifting the tall cylinder himself.
"Wow, you're strong!" she exclaimed, her eyes wide.
"It's heavy," he grunted, a faint blush creeping up his neck. "Just grab the nozzle and follow me."
By the time they got outside, the control bracelet was in Wasabi's hands. He was making Firebrand execute a series of handsome, precise martial arts moves, the black cloak whipping through the air. He even managed a thrilling backflip that earned a cheer from the small crowd.
At that moment, Tadashi reappeared at the edge of the testing area. And beside him stood a shorter, dark-haired boy, his mouth hanging open, his eyes locked on the magnificent, fire-red robot in the field, shining with an incandescent awe that Aidan knew all too well.
