Hiro to the Rescue!

Copyright © 2014 Disney Enterprises, Inc. All rights reserved. Published by Disney Press, an imprint of Disney Book Group. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage or retrieval system, without written permission from the publisher. For information address Disney Press, 1101 Flower Street, Glendale, California 91201.

 

ISBN 978-1-4847-0846-0

 

For more Disney Press fun, visit www.disneybooks.com

A
large crowd stood in an alley in the city of San Fransokyo. They watched as two robots got ready to fight.

Fourteen-year-old Hiro Hamada waited. One of the robots was his, and it would be fighting Mr. Yama's robot. Mr. Yama's robot was the current champion.

“Two bots enter. One bot leaves,” the referee said, looking from one to the other. “Fighters ready? Fight!”

It was over in seconds. One robot was fast and broke the other robot into pieces. The crowd was silent. Hiro's robot had won!

Mr. Yama was angry. “No one can beat Little Yama!” he shouted. “You cheated, and I want to know how!”

Mr. Yama grew angrier. His men closed in on Hiro.

Just then, Hiro's eighteen-year-old brother, Tadashi, drove up on his motor scooter.

“Get on!” Tadashi shouted. Hiro jumped on the scooter, and they raced through the streets. Mr. Yama's men chased them. They drove until they were safe. Tadashi took them to the campus of San Fransokyo Institute of Technology, known as SFIT, where he was a student.

“What are we doing at your nerd school?” Hiro asked.

Tadashi used his ID to get into the robotics lab. “Relax, you big baby,” he said. “We'll be in and out. Anyway, you've never seen my lab.”

Hiro rolled his eyes as he followed his brother down the hallway. “Oh, great, I get to see your lab.”

“Heads up!” A blur on a bike zoomed past them in the hallway before stopping right in front of the two brothers.

Hiro's eyes widened when he saw the mag-lev wheels.

“Whoa!”

The bike rider removed her helmet and snapped her gum. “Who are you?”

“Um, I'm...Tadashi's brother...” Hiro stammered.

Tadashi smiled and introduced his kid brother to his friend. “Go Go, this is Hiro.”

Go Go Tomago was an industrial designer who loved to ride fast.

Tadashi led Hiro into the lab and introduced the rest of his friends.

Wasabi was a physics student who loved organization. He showed Hiro his invention—an optic laser system that could cut items into wafer-thin slices.

Honey Lemon was a chemistry genius and the happiest person on earth. “Oh my gosh, hi!” she said to Hiro. “Perfect timing. You are going to love this!”

After selecting a few chemicals, Honey whipped up a pink goo. She put the mixture on top of a metal sphere. When she touched the metal with one finger, the metal turned into dust.

Then there was Fred. He was the school mascot, even though he wasn't a student, and he didn't invent things. He just liked hanging out with the rest of the group.

Hiro saw that Tadashi had walked to the other side of the lab. He joined his brother. “So, what have you been working on?”

Tadashi put a piece of duct tape on Hiro's arm. Then he ripped it off. “Oww!” Hiro exclaimed.

From a suitcase at Tadashi's feet, a white robot emerged and instantly filled with air.

“Hello. I am Baymax, your personal health-care companion,” the friendly, huggable bot said.

“A nurse robot?” Hiro asked Tadashi.

“I programmed him with more than ten thousand medical procedures,” Tadashi explained. He showed Hiro a green chip in Baymax's chest. “This chip is home to the caregiving matrix that makes Baymax...Baymax!”

Baymax scanned Hiro's injury and sprayed it with medicine.

Tadashi said Baymax could also lift heavy weights. “He's going to help a lot of people.”

“I cannot deactivate until you say that you are satisfied with my care,” Baymax said.

“Well, then: I am satisfied with my care,” Hiro said. At Hiro's statement, Baymax deflated and folded himself back into his suitcase.

The brothers were surprised to hear another voice. Professor Robert Callaghan, who taught robotics, was standing behind them. Tadashi was excited to introduce him to Hiro.

The professor stared at the fighting bot in Hiro's hands. “May I?” he asked.

“Uh, sure,” Hiro said, reluctantly handing it to the professor.

Callaghan asked where Hiro had learned to make it.

“Taught myself,” Hiro said.

“Have you thought of applying here?” Callaghan asked.

“Actually, sir, my brother's pretty serious about his career in bot-fighting,” Tadashi said, giving the professor a wink.

Callaghan stared at Hiro. “I can see why. With your bot, winning must come easy.”

“Yeah, I guess,” Hiro said.

“Well, if you like things easy, then my program isn't for you,” Callaghan said. “My students go on to shape the future.”

For once, Hiro didn't know how to respond.

Hiro and Tadashi said goodbye and then went outside. Hiro stared at his brother. He was no longer thinking about bot fighting. “If I don't go to this nerd school, I'm gonna lose my mind!”

S
FIT
sponsored an annual Tech Showcase. Anyone could enter, and the kids with the best tech won admission to the school!

“Come up with something that blows Callaghan away, you're in!” Tadashi told his brother.

Hiro got to work. In a makeshift lab in his aunt Cass's garage, he worked night and day. When it was time for the showcase, Hiro was ready.

Hiro, Tadashi, and their friends arrived at the showcase early. The building was packed. Hiro moved quickly through the crowd.

“I really want to go here,” Hiro told Tadashi. He didn't want to blow his chance to get into SFIT.

“Just take a deep breath,” Tadashi said. “You got this.”

When it was time, Hiro walked onto the stage. He began to speak, and the microphone squealed with feedback. He nervously put on an electronic headband. Then he opened one of his hands. In it was a small black piece of metal.

“This is a microbot,” Hiro said. But the crowd wasn't paying attention.

Offstage, Tadashi gave his brother a thumbs-up. He knew Hiro could blow the crowd away and win them over.

“It doesn't look like much,” Hiro said, “but when it links up with the rest of its pals...”

Suddenly, the whole room buzzed with microbots. They moved through the crowd like a swarm of insects and gathered onstage. Now people were paying attention!

“The microbots are controlled by this neural transmitter.” Hiro pointed to his headband. “I think what I want them to do, and they do it.”

The microbots joined together and formed the shape of a hand.

Hiro used his microbots to show that one person could move big objects. Eventually, people using the microbots would be able to save time and money. They could even save lives by sending bots into dangerous situations instead of humans.

The crowd roared with approval. They loved Hiro's bots!

One man, Alistair Krei, was particularly impressed. He was the owner of a large tech company, and he wanted to talk to Hiro.

When Hiro exited the stage, Krei took one of Hiro's microbots and held it in his hand. “With some development, these could be revolutionary,” he said. “You are about to become a very wealthy kid.”

Hiro was surprised.
Krei wants to buy my microbots?

Professor Callaghan walked over. “This is your decision, Hiro, but you should know that Mr. Krei has cut corners and ignored sound science to get where he is.”

Krei objected. “That's just not true—”

Callaghan cut him off. “I wouldn't trust him with your microbots...or anything else.”

Hiro was quiet as he looked from one man to the other.

“I appreciate the offer, Mr. Krei,” said Hiro. “But I'm sorry, they're not for sale.”

Krei turned to walk away.

“Mr. Krei,” Tadashi said, “that's my brother's.”

Krei looked at his hand, still gripping the tiny robot. “Oh, right,” he said, chuckling, and gave it back to Hiro.

When the showcase ended, the brothers got great news. Hiro's microbot had impressed the judges. He had won a spot at SFIT! They walked outside. They looked at the campus. Tadashi put his arm around Hiro.

“The Hamada brothers are going to do big things,” Tadashi said.

“We're gonna change the world, right?” Hiro added proudly.

Suddenly, the doors burst open and people ran from the showcase. Someone yelled, “Fire!”

“Hey, are you okay?” Tadashi asked a student running past.

“I'm fine. Callaghan's still in there!”

Tadashi moved toward the hall. Hiro grabbed his brother's shirt.

“Tadashi, no!” he shouted.

His brother looked at him. “Callaghan's in there. Someone has to help!”

Hiro let go. Then he watched Tadashi run inside the hall. There was a loud explosion.

“Tadashi!” Hiro screamed. But Tadashi didn't come back.

The next day, people began putting flowers on the steps leading to the robotics lab in honor of both Tadashi and Professor Callaghan.

Honey, Wasabi, Go Go, and Fred found Hiro. They hugged him. Nothing helped.

Tears ran down the boy's face. “Tadashi!” he cried.