Malcolm snorted, then rolled his eyes.
“Alright. Since you don’t know shit, then I’d better call in some help,”Malcolm commented.
He dug in the bag, pulling out a vial of ‘beads’. He poured some out, talking softly to them, then gently dropped them on Hiro’s back.
“These are some of my nanobots. This particular type usually creates things, but can also repair. Try to stay still while they study you,”Malcolm bade.
He watched the nanobots thoughtfully, even as a few burrowed.
Hiro felt the things cralw " that feels weird," he said softly
Malcolm snorted.
“So, is it just your spine that’s metal? And what else do you know about yourself, primarily regarding the metal parts?”he asked.
" my bones. They are too.." he said and sighed
Malcolm hummed.
“A metal skeleton. Intriguing.”
He drifted into deep thought. Was his skeleton made of these ‘bots’? And were they specifically nanobots?
One of the nanobots returned, flashing. Malcolm nodded.
“Repair it, and bring me a piece to study,”he bade the nanobots. The one flashed again and went back to work.
(I’ve got an idea on how Hiro remembers Malcolm. So, we could still go with Hiro’s father stole Malcolm’s designs, but what if Malcolm had actually been helping Hiro’s dad build him. And it could be that Malcolm had thought they were just building a machine, and then Hiro’s dad turned around and used the designs and nanobots on Hiro. And… maybe the reason why Hiro remembers Malcolm is because he found out what the dad had done, and had gone to ‘talk’ with him. Malcolm then killed the dad, though Hiro doesn’t know, and later that same day, the world went to shit)
(Just an idea)
( sounds like a amazing idea. Let's do it!)
Hiro chuckled. “You sound like my old man..I was told he was killed .." he said softly
Malcolm rose an eyebrow.
“What the fuck do you mean by that? Pretty much everyone died,”he snorted.
“ I meant before the world ended. His assistant let me out from my lab. “
“Okay… so who’s the assistant?”Malcolm asked.
Why was he starting to get déjà vu? He didn’t know this kid at all, and yet, somewhere in the depths of his old mind, something vaguely familiar nagged at him.
" I.. I don't remember her name, it was along time ago.."
“Her? Do you remember what she looked like, or even what she acted like?”
Malcolm’s eyes narrowed in thought.
" she was motherly if anything. Brown hair, blue eyes." He said as he thought of her
That definitely rang a bell. But, how? How!
“And what about your dad?”
" I never knew his first name but his last was shimada. He was light skinned.. blondish hair..compleat dick."
Oh…
Malcolm was glad Hiro was still facing with his back turned to him, or the kid would have easily seen the shock and recognition on his face. He remembered the last name now, but he especially remembered the man.
He also remembered how he had shot that very man until his face was nothing more than a bloody pulp. The bastard had stolen his designs, had used his rare generosity against him, and built a kid out of Malcolm’s own machines. And now that same kid was right in front of him.
Malcolm gave a dismissive snort, not willing to share his revelation. Thankfully, if Hiro decided to question him, he wouldn’t get the opportunity. All of the nanobots returned, flashing that they were finished. One carried a scrap from what they had found.
Malcolm gathered the nanobots, then grabbed an empty vial for the scrap. He then picked up his magnifying glass, and his suspicions came true. He didn’t need to look at any of his current stock to recognize the nanobot corpse, because he recognized it immediately.
Damn it.
“Well, from what I gather. You had a build-up of dead nanobots. It’s cleared up, but this design is fucking notorious for build-ups like that. Fortunately for you, I am a nanotechnologist. I can upgrade you,”Malcolm explained.
Hiros blue eyes looked up at him " and in doing so?" He asked softly as he stood up
Malcolm shrugged, not getting up.
“No idea what it would do to you, besides make your mechanical parts more efficient. Though, I don’t work for free. Unfortunately, money lost its use the day the world blew up, but…”Malcolm trailed off, wondering what would be the best ‘payment’.
“I suppose you could help me around until I see fit to let you loose. That would also entail your cooperation if I decide to study you more,”he finally decided.
" sounds like an unfair deal on you part. But it's whatever. Go right on ahead." He said and shrugged, he sat down Infront of Malcolm " let's get this over with.."
Malcolm smirked at his comment, but didn’t reply. If the kid wasn’t going to fight it, then he wouldn’t bother changing the deal.
Malcolm then stood, moving over to the shelf with all the vial of ‘beads’. He compared the corpse to each vial, searching for the type descended from the old design.
He eventually found it, discovering that it was his spies. A faint smile came to him. He would likely be able to secretly link to Hiro with this upgrade. However, he need an intermediary to make sure the upgrade didn’t go wrong, and that meant more searching. When he finally found the version he needed stashed away, he returned to Hiro.
“Alright. So, I’m going to have to do this in two parts. First, I’ll upgrade your nanobots to a somewhat newer form, and then added my current edition. It won’t necessarily take long, though you’ll undoubtedly have the weird sensations like you did when the others were repairing you,”Malcolm explained.
He didn’t bother mention anything regarding how he had figured out what nanobot to use so quickly. And he didn’t want to tell the kid about the link at all.
Malcolm then poured a handful of the intermediary bots on Hiro’s back. Many attached to his spine, while many more burrowed.
Hiro shivered uncomfortably. Watching as little bumps no bigger then goose bumped raced throught his skin " the fuck??"
Malcolm snorted in amusement.
“I believe that’s normal. I don’t fuck around a lot with most organic things, so I’m not too sure.”
" Kay.. they've stoped moving so much. Now what?" He asked and looked back at Malcolm. It was kinda weird how Hiro had some of malcolms features. As if he'd been sculpted that way..
“Now to let them settle…”Malcolm said.
He noticed the similarities. He often looked in the mirror, mainly to tinker with the mask on his face, so he could tell. He had no idea why though. He wasn’t related to the kid, that he knew for certain, so his father must have done that somehow. But, why in the fuck would that man do that, especially after stealing Malcolm’s designs?
After a few minutes, Malcolm grabbed his current model of nanobots and poured some of them on Hiro. They did the same thing as the others.
