Chapter 93: Misdirection.
『"The closer you look, the less you see."』
"So, since we returned from Tokyo, it’s been bugging me." Hiro paced in tight circles at the center of the room. "I mean, why expose themselves? Why send a message that would trigger a full security sweep?"
He ran his hands through his hair, making it stick up in even wilder directions. "Anonymity is their whole deal, right? They don’t do calling cards. So why break pattern now?"
He spun to face them, pointing at a photo of the possessed researcher. "So they possess Michael... not Trevor Michael. Chen Michael. The researcher... obviously."
Everyone nodded.
"Okay," Hiro continued. "They possessed him, used the poor guy like a meat puppet to deliver that message to Amara. And boom—lockdown triggered."
Hiro’s gaze snapped to Ethan, pointing. "And if I remember correctly, you said once a lockdown hits, they pull security off sub-level seven of the archives to reinforce the perimeter. The only place that loses security during a lockdown."
Ethan gave a slow nod. "Yeah."
Hiro clapped his hands together. "Exactly! So... what if the whole thing was just one big, giant, elaborate ruse?"
Amara tilted her head. "Explain."
Hiro grinned. Not because he was happy. Because he’d been waiting for someone to ask. "Okay. Hear me out." He walked toward the board.
"What if the possession..." he pointed at Michael Chen. "...the message..." his finger moved to Amara’s photograph. "...the lockdown..." Then to the archive reports. "...all of it..."
His finger stopped and his voice dropped. "What if it was all a misdirection?"
The room fell silent as the group processed it.
After a moment, Raj grunted, scratching his newly grown beard. "You think they wanted something?"
Hiro spread his hands. "Exactly."
"Oof." Sophia rolled to her belly to get a good look at Amara. "So they basically used Amara’s parents as a distraction." It wasn’t a question. "That’s cold."
"That’s one way to put it," Hiro said.
Ethan leaned forward from where he rested his back against the wall. "And you think whatever they wanted was inside Sub-Level Seven."
"I’m willing to bet my limited edition limited-run graphic novels on it," Hiro said. "Hell, I’ll bet it all, that this was designed to create a window."
"A window?" Sophia asked.
"A gap in security."
"Right..."
Amara had gone quiet. She was still looking at the board, but her eyes had stopped moving.
"All of this," she said finally. "Threatening my family." She paused. "Just so they could steal something from an archive."
There was a moment of silence.
"Yeah," Hiro said quietly. "Something important enough to risk exposure." He stopped moving. "Something valuable enough that a little intimidation theater was worth it to cover their tracks."
Ethan straightened, eyes narrowing. "It’s a solid theory. But do you have any evidence to back it up?"
Hiro tapped on his lips thoughtfully. "Not yet..."
"Hiro—" Amara started, recognizing that look.
"I’m just going to do a little investigating," he said. "Nothing too crazy. Just gonna check on some things."
Ethan’s expression darkened. "Any digital information in that section can only be accessed with direct clearance codes from the Director. You know that, right?"
"This isn’t one of your usual ’I’ll wing it’ stunts." He stood up, walking toward the desk. He grabbed a pen from it and scribbled down something on a piece of paper.
Then he walked over to Hiro and handed it to him. "Be careful," he said before heading out the door.
"Yeah, yeah, I know." Hiro waved him off, his grip tightening against the paper Ethan gave him. Suddenly, there was something in his eyes that the others had learned to recognize and had equally learned to be nervous about.
"You’re definitely going to do something that will get you in a lot of trouble," Sophia said with a smirk before leaving his room.
Raj clapped Hiro on the shoulder hard enough to make him stumble. "In that case, good luck, buddy." He left the room as well.
That left Amara. She paused at the door and looked at him properly. "Get some sleep, Hiro. You look like you haven’t in days."
Hiro opened his mouth. Then he closed it. "Yeah," he said. "Sure."
She didn’t believe him. He could tell. But she let it go, and the door clicked shut behind her.
Hiro was left standing alone in the mess of his room, staring at the board. He scoffed, the sound echoing off the walls. "Sleep. Right. Like that’s happening."
He dropped onto the edge of his bed, his thoughts drifting back to that moment in the Medic Bay with an almost lobotomized Sophia.
To the moment he’d accidentally phased his fist through solid matter in anger and frustration.
At the time he’d barely understood what happened. Now he was starting to.
The question now was, could he control it? Could he do it on purpose?
Hiro looked at his wall for a long moment. "This is either going to be incredibly cool," he said to no one, "or I’m going to be stuck in a wall at two in the morning and that will be how I die."
He stood up anyway, taking a deep breath. Then he proceeded to vibrate, pushing his kinetic energy into a different frequency.
His body blurred, flickering at the edges like a bad hologram. Then stepped forward toward his wall.
His foot went through. "Holy shit," Hiro breathed, pulling back. He stood there staring at the wall for a full three seconds before he trusted himself to speak. "Holy shit, that actually worked."
He pressed his hand against the surface to confirm it was solid. Then he tried again, this time his whole arm.
It passed through the wall like the concrete wasn’t there. Although, he could feel a resistance—a thickness to the air, but nothing solid stopped him.
"Okay," Hiro said, adrenaline spiking. "Okay okay okay. This is either the best idea I’ve ever had or I’m about to get kicked out from the Institute for breaking and entering... or just entering."
Hours after practicing, he checked his watch, 2:47 AM. Middle of the night. Most personnel would be fast asleep. Security would be minimal. There would be just automated systems and maybe a few guards on patrol.
Perfect timing for incredibly stupid decisions made in service of solving mysteries.
Hiro took a breath, activated his boots, and vibrated himself into a frequency that made solid matter meaningless.
More excited than worried, he walked through his bedroom wall and into the hallway beyond, his body flickering like a ghost as he phased through.
Hiro grinned. "Duuuuuude..."
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HIRO JOSUKE | The Boots
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Spirit Weapon: Acceleron (Boots of Freedom)
Rank: Shaper (▮▮)
Ascendant Sigil: ▮▮ (2 Bars - Right Ankle)
Abilities Unlocked:
┣ Motion Energy Amplification
┣ Lightning Toss
┣Accelerated Healing / Metabolism
┣ Motion theft
┣ Phasing and Vibration
┣ ??? [LOCKED]
Status: Nervous, excited, curious