Malcolm rose an eyebrow, a bit confused by the yellow. He then chuckled.
“I appreciate the enthusiasm, but one step at a time, kid. First, we’ve got to figure out what to do with the skeleton, a basic idea at least. Then, I’ve still got to upgrade it, and make sure it doesn’t need repairs. It’s a project,”Malcolm stated calmly.
hiro nodded " then lets get started."
Malcolm snorted in amusement.
“First off, you haven’t yet answered my question. Would you like a sibling?”he asked.
" yes!"
Malcolm nodded,”Brother or sister?”
," definitely brother!"he was like a small kid now " I'm not alone anymore! " He whispered
Malcolm nodded, then snickered at Hiro’s enthusiasm.
“Alright. A brother. Age and build? About the same as you, or you want him a bit different?”he asked.
"a bit different, " he said
Malcolm nodded again.
“How so? I could list a bunch of ways he could be somewhat different.”
" mm i dont know, you pick."
Malcolm shrugged, then studied Hiro for a long moment. He pictured a shorter, slightly younger version of the kid, with… maybe, longer hair.
He then wondered how to explain the image to Hiro, given the many intricate details of the image in his head. After a moment, Malcolm sighed.
“Fuck it. You might as well know. I’m not sure if you’re exactly aware, but your ability to link with other bots… Bax, the AIs, and whatever else… is by design. The nanobots you are built with are my spies. And… I can link with them,”he mentioned.
Malcolm tapped his mechanical eye and it flashed green, linking him to Hiro. It took him a long moment to adjust, considering that he had never linked to anything bigger than a single nanobot at a time, but eventually Malcolm just shook his head in bewilderment.
“The reason I’m telling you now, is because I have an idea of what your brother would look like, and it might be much easier doing this… mind to mind, I guess. I don’t fucking know. Sound alright to you?”he asked.
hiro looked a bit stunned " yeah.." he said fairly faint. his eyes and back flashed the same color green and went back to the usual blue
Malcolm nodded. He knew Hiro was shocked, but he didn’t know any way to ease it, so, after giving Hiro a minute to process what Malcolm had just said, he just moved back to the original subject. He sent Hiro the image he had of the kid’s brother.
“How does he look? Anything you’d like to change? Add? Take away? He is your brother after all,”Malcolm asked.
"n..no it all looks fine," he said and blinked a few times. it was weird, seeing someone else's thoughts
Malcolm nodded, and tapped his eye again to disconnect the link. He shook his head and blinked several times to reorient himself.
“Fuck, that was weirder than I thought it would be. I’m used to linking with individual nanobots. Linking with another person is a whole other fucking story, and disorienting as fuck. But, anyway, I’ll see about getting your brother worked on,”he commented.
"thank you!" his chipped. eventually, he sat down from his excited mood and mentally called for bax
Malcolm nodded, snorting in amusement at Hiro’s happiness.
Bax, who had wandered off, quickly came back in response to Hiro’s call. The bot was pleased that Hiro was so happy.
hiro played around with bax with a built-in laser pointer
Bax chased the pointer, occasionally giggling as it chased the laser.
Malcolm watched in amusement. Midas, who was still next to him, moved down onto his thigh. Malcolm glanced down at the spider bot, his fingers softly petting it. Midas settled down on his leg, content.
hiro looked at the two bots " different, yet still the same.."
“What are you comparing? The bots to each other, or the bots to their keepers?”Malcolm wondered.
It wouldn’t surprise him either way. The comparison, in a way, fit both definitions. At least, that’s what Malcolm thought.
" the bots.." he said softly
Malcolm shrugged casually.
“I get that. They both like to perch. Both are curious and playful. Both are excellent little guardians,”he commented, chuckling in amusement.
"but bax is more playful and Midas and Midas is too strong for bax"
“True, to both. but don’t underestimate Bax. He’s still quite young, and learning. Give him time, and he’ll figure out that he doesn’t need eight legs to be just as strong as Midas. Then Midas will come out of his shell a bit,”Malcolm replied thoughtfully.
Midas flashed in agreement to Malcolm, still watching Bax.