IC INBOX; MoM

[pushtheboundaries]

"You've reached Robert Callaghan, Headmaster to the Heropa Organization for imPort Education. Please leave a message with your name, your phone number, and I'll get back to you as soon as I can. As a reminder, my office hours are..."

Comments

[maglevflash]

I just want my professor back.

[pushtheboundaries]

[oh, Gogo.

you're breaking his heart.]




Sometimes things get broken.

Sometimes you don't notice it for years, because they can limp along like nothing's wrong; it's only when there's a catastrophic failure that you realize this is something that's been building up over time. You can perform regular checks, you can perform as much maintenance as you'd like, but sometimes it's just not enough.

In those cases, it's all you can do to try and pick up the pieces. Even if you're not sure how to put them back together anymore. Sometimes you can put them back, even knowing that it'll never be the same- you can still get things in working order, again, and continue on.

But sometimes it's better to just throw it all away and start over, because you'll just be frustrating yourself while you're trying to fix something that can't be fixed, and because while you're hanging back the world is moving on around you - past you.

It's not always clear when a thing is one or the other. But you have to weigh it all against each other, and ask yourself if it's really worth all that effort, or if it's best to move past.

[maglevflash]

[That's cheating, speaking their language like that.]

The people who throw away a project and start over still have the intent, the heart. They will still put that into their work, even if it seems unrecognizable at first.

My whole life has been in building and repairing and upgrading machines. And every single one of them had a life. Even after they were done.

I remember every bike I've ever built. And what I've learned from each of them has only made what came after all the stronger for it. And most importantly?

People aren't machines. And the one thing we know how to do above all else if fight for the things that matter.

What really matters to you? This anger? The pain? The past? Having revenge? Or making a difference? A real one.

[pushtheboundaries]

[that kind of thing is his first language, before English; projects and production. creation, repairs, tinkering- and destruction. this is what he speaks at heart, in his very soul.]

You need more than heart. If they've got the brain, they'll focus their efforts on what can actually be accomplished. If not by them, then by setting the seeds for those who follow after them to accomplish it, and do what they couldn't.

That's what matters to me. Making it so that if I can't do something, then at least someone else can.

[maglevflash]

[She....she honestly doesn't know how to respond to that. People aren't machines. Unfortunately she speaks to machines better than people.]

...Hiro told me what happened. With the dragon.

[She can't help but give him chances, it seems. She should still be angry but she just...she can't. Not right now. Not when her family has fallen apart around her while she wasn't looking.]

[pushtheboundaries]

[subject change, huh? he'll accept it, though he's not sure what she's getting at]

Remind me to look in to better equipment next time something crazy like that happens. His armor designs are impressive, but could use some peer review.

[eg from someone like you, miss engineer.]

[maglevflash]

Already been working with him on mine.

[A pause between texts.]

Did you know what you were going to take, before you did it?

[pushtheboundaries]

[oh. that's what this is about.]

I had no idea. It was my first time using that ability, and that was because he'd been knocked out by debris. If there hadn't been people trapped, I might have been more concerned about getting him out of there, but as it was, I didn't have much time to think.

[maglevflash]

Okay.

[Hearing the other side of the story makes it all make more sense in her head and she can understand where Hiro was coming from if he'd been unconscious.

Unfortunately...that left her with nothing else to say.]

[pushtheboundaries]

['okay'. why does that fill him with dread?]

I promised him it wouldn't happen again.

Is he worried?

[maglevflash]

[There's another long pause. Jeez, how does she navigate this?]

You remember what Krei was like after the dreamers woke up?

[pushtheboundaries]

At least he has people like you with him.

[there's a pause, while he looks at his comm. should he...should he not...

...no. he should.]

Please don't let him do anything drastic. While I've gotten plenty of threats to stay in line, there's also been a few implications that if something did happen, more parties would get involved.

I don't want him to get in over his head again. We've made enough of a mess already.

[maglevflash]

I think I've talked him down. He's really worried about what he said about Tadashi. But.

It feels like the same thing. Professor, back home, when I last saw him? He'd gotten past this. He accepted he'd been wrong and wanted to be better. And he told me we succeeded. Your own presence here is proof that you didn't die, right?

This feels like Krei did. Out of left field. But he can be reasoned with, and no one else is still infected from that whole mess. I don't know what's going on.

[pushtheboundaries]

I thought I was going to, for a moment, and then he had Baymax remove and destroy the mask instead. They caught me while I fell, and then Fred made sure I stayed put when they went in to the portal. [as if he needed to, at that point.] Then the police arrived and I was taken in to custody, and then, here.

For a while I thought we were getting along. He was angry when I confessed I'd hidden all of my abilities from him, but no more than I'd expect. We even managed to be civil at the end of the conversation. I thought things were getting better.

But if I am affecting him, I don't know what can be done.

[maglevflash]

Have you tried a power limiter? It works for Tadashi's technopathy.

[pushtheboundaries]

Hiro's the only one I know who makes them.

While I'm sure he'd appreciate the gesture on some level, I'm still trying to give him some space. If you want to ask on my behalf, I won't stop you. Both are more trouble than they're worth.

Honestly? If it'd make him feel better, I'd be fine with a tracking device. So he can be certain I'm staying out of trouble.

[maglevflash]

I'll ask after we get home and get a chance to rest. I'm trying to remind him that Tadashi can't possibly be angry at him forever.

Just...don't give up, okay? You're not broken.

[pushtheboundaries]

I won't.

[but he'll leave the broken comment where it is.]