Starring:
Guest Starring: Kaito Nakamura, Primatech Security
Summary: Hiro is helped out of custody in a most unexpected manner.
Date It Happened: March 13, 2007
Log Title Acceptable Losses
Kirby Plaza and Yamagato Industries
It's inhumane to leave a person strapped to a chair for extended periods of time. So Nakamura's surroundings have been upgraded to a standard high security cell. (He's a rather important 'guest' of the Company after all.) The Japanese man has been placed in a bed and is hooked to an IV of fluids. Which have steadily been pumping medication through his body. Hiro's stay in the Company facility is top secret, on a need to know basis, and his flow of visitors is quite restricted.
"Room service!" can be heard as a young Filipina woman steps on into the room with a tray of chocolate chip cookies. Since she isnt on active agent duty anymore, and has been asked to just concentrate on training and serving as the 'PR girl', she's had a LOT of time on her hand, so she's been baking like crazy, much to the delight of the various patients in Company custody.
"Hello, Mr. Nakamura! How are you feeling today?" Claudine chirps while letting down the plastic plate with cookies on a side table next to him. "Anything I can do to make you more comfortable? Grab a couple of books at the library perhaps? Or maybe bring in a DVD player and some DVDs?"
Hiro Nakamura has been in and out of consciousness. His sword has been confiscated. His phone has been taken from him. He's trapped in bed. And under the highest security, because the slightest breach in security might result in his escape to somewhere and somewhen. He's awake right now, though, and he's already stubbornly wrestling to get his IV out. He's tied down, so he's not having much luck. He strains and tries to contort his body as well as he can to convince the needle to pop out. And every minute or so, his eyes clench and his cheeks wobble like goldfish. He's trying to escape. Every minute. Of every hour. Of the day.
He finally quits when Claudine enters, and only sits sullenly in his bed, staring at her. He doesn't have his glasses, so he just sort of squints at the blur of her. How old is this girl? She's gotta be younger than even Hiro is. "Let me out. You must release me. The world depends on it."
"Riiiiight. Um..I think you've read too many comic books or something Mr. Nakamura. Either that or your ego is like woah.." Claudine says with a warm smile, even though there's a bit of snarkyness in her tone. She's definitely younger than Hiro is, and since she's Asian, she probably looks like she's twelve or something. Who knows. "I'm all about the whole one man can changethe world, but come on..seriously.."
"But, since you're all helpless and adorable right now, I'll still leave the cookies I baked here. You really should have one. It'll make you feel better.." she offers as she brings the plate to be within his reach.
Hiro doesn't even look at the cookies. He stares at the Claudine-shaped blob. "Please!" he says, his accent thick. "You must listen to me. The Company is evil. It was created by good people but it has become something else. It is illegal to do this," he says, but doesn't think that'll get across to her. He doesn't seem like he's trying to get in her head so much as he's trying to… no, he's pleading. Genuinely pleading. It's the only option left to him. Not all of these people can be men like Rainer.
"New York City is going to be destroyed. The Company does not want to stop it. They want it to happen! Please. One man cannot change the world," Hiro says, looking at her. "But two can. I need your help."
"Good and evil is all a matter of perspective, Mr. Nakamura. For example, when you and your friends camein to try to free Mr. Petrelli, you guys used ya know..real bullet. We had tranq darts..that's kinda shady, dont you think?" Claudine says while running her fingers through her hair before setting the plate back down on the side table, just in case he wants cookies for later. For now,he just seems like a little Asian nerdling lost in a fantasy world and she just sighs,but she's genuinely listening.
"New York City is going to be destroyed, because Mr. Petrelli escaped. That was something we were trying to prevent, Mr. Nakamura, especially since he came in willingly.." At least that's what she was told anyway. "If it's anyone's fault, it's you and your friends..who have been quite naughty, if I do say so myself.."
"Point-zero-seven percent," Hiro says, finally, his eyes seeming to give up in despair. What the heck does he mean by that? He slumps back in his bed, looking at the ceiling. Listening to her.
Ont he wall, the clock ticks. 7:36 PM. Hiro's eyes clench in focus and concentration. He remains precisely where he is, flat on his back in the bed. Tick, tick, tick. 7:36 and three seconds. Tick, tick. Fifty-five seconds and counting.
What did he mean by that number, anyways?
"Point what now?" Now Claudine just looks confused as she pulls up a chair and looks towards him. She of course, still thinks he's nutters, but people dont go babbling out numbers with some reason. "What is that the percentage of?" she asks curiously, trying to keep herself from adding something snarky to it in the end.
"Look, Mr. Nakamura. You sincerely believe that New York City is going to be destroyed, and that you can stop it. And that you need someone's help. Short of letting you go, what can I do to help?" she says in the end, deciding to listen and actually have a slightly open mind about things.
"It is the percentage of the human population that the Company believes must die in a disaster in order to unite the rest of the world behind them. For the greater good. It is what the Company believes is an acceptable loss," Hiro says. Where ever did Mr. Nakamura learn such a thing? "My father founded the Company, and the guilt of the sins he committed have haunted him all his life. Please. Help me."
Twenty seconds. Twenty-four.
Upon hearing that, Claudine just stares at him. She doesnt want to believe it. She cant believe it. "No..they..they wouldnt do something like that.." she says firmly and resolutely, more for herself than actually trying to convince him otherwise. "They're good people..they helped me control my powers, they help others control their powers. They're trying to protect people like us, Mr. Nakamura. Also to protect us from ourselves..they're needed so that people wont panic if they ever find out about people with our abilities.."
"My name…" he says, exhausted, mentally, from his constant attempts to go nowhere. Hiro takes a few deep breaths. Thirty-five seconds and counting. Maybe this time. Different from the other hundred times. It's gotta be. "My name is Hiro Nakamura. I am a time traveler. I have seen the future the Company tried to create. People with powers are thrown into prison! But the future is not set in stone. The future can be changed. We stopped the bomb."
She sighs and runs her fingers through her hair and chews on her bottom lip some. He's just so cute and innocent, it's hard to really flat out say no. "I..fine. I'llhelp you, if you think that the Company is evil, only to prove to you that it isnt. The future isnt set in stone like you said, so that doesnt mean that the Company will try to create a future like that. So..other than letting you go, what can I do to make sure that the city isnt going to be destroyed, and .07% of the population doesnt need to be killed.."
"If you protest to them, they will kill you," Hiro says. His vocabulary is a little limited. He looks at Claudine, and then at the clock, and then back. "Or erase your memories. All you have to do is pull out my IV. I can't — I have been trying — I cannot get it out myself. Then I can teleport away. They will think that I managed to pull it loose," he says. Which is the same as letting him go, really, without the extreme step. Hiro looks away. "It is possible that the plans have been stopped. Mr. Linderman is supposed to be dead. If you believe the Company to be…" Tick. Tick. Tick.
7:37 PM.
Hiro Nakamura disappears, leaving a Hiro-shaped impression in the bed. His IV flops, spurting medicine, and his heartrate monitor very abruptly begins to squeal. BEEEEEEEEEEEEP—
Claudine blinks. Dear God.There better be a damn camera in the room, cause she didnt pull out the IV. Nope. Not at all. She even said that she wouldnt free him over and over again. And once he's gone, she just runs out trying to get some guards attention. "Hiro Nakamura has escaped! Hiro Nakamura has escaped!!!!"
Given that Hiro was being closely monitored, the alarm that raises causes a storm of feet of higher ranking agents to rush onto the room. Finding no Hiro, but there was a Claudine in the room.. One conclusion is reached. She helped Nakamura. "Agent Salonga, put your hands above your head and face the wall!" is barked by one frightening appearing Agent, intent on detaining the newbie. The security team all share the same look amongst each other and that's 'We're so f***ed.' Hiro wasn't supposed to escape!
"I..I didnt do anything!" Claudine cries out, definitely scared as she raises her hands over head head and doesnt do anything. She's being rather cooperative, just to show that she didnt do anything and she curses under her breath. Fuck Hiro Nakamura. Fuck him and all his friends. She might've gone good before, but now, with the possibility of being boned…she just wants to see them all fry.
The agents aren't hearing any of Claudine's pleas and protests as the girl gets escorted to a cell of her own for detention. She'll be questioned soon enough, and none too gently. This is where the scene fades on Claudine's plight, and a new one plays out on the screen…
A different point on the spacetime continuum.
Hiro Nakamura, bleeding a little out the the arm, without his glasses, and dressed in a blue hospital gown lands, flat on his butt, on the floor at Yamagato Industries. The employees of Yamagato Industries are used to seeing Hiro appear, being very odd. He is the boss's eccentric son, after all, and Kaito Nakamura's tolerance of his son's antics are a shame to the organization.
He sits, for a few seconds, slowly climbing to his feet. "<Why do I always appear in places without any pants?>" he says, in Japanese, complaining bitterly. And then he realizes what he's done, and throws his hands up in the air. "YATTA!" he calls, and immediately looks around. He can't see a damn thing, but that's fine. Let's see. Time change, 7 PM in New York… morning-ish in Tokyo. "<Father! Ando-kun! It is me, Hiro! I need a phone right away!>
Standing there, as if waiting for this to happen, is one Kaito Nakamura. Hands clasped at the small of his back, he gazes at his only son with nothing but undisguised displeasure. "Hiro." His son's name is called, and in not a very fatherly show of concern. If anything, the man is radiating disappointment. Several steps are taken in Hiro's direction as the man speaks in Japanese, "You have led a fool's charge. You disappointment me."
Hiro stops, and squints. "… Forgive me, father. I was careless. People put their faith in me to lead them, and I let them down." Despite his lack of pants, he stands stock-straight and evens out his spine. His relationship with his father has changed, but, well, not entirely. "I trusted too quickly, and I did not think quickly enough." He bows, out of reflex, before he begins to think. He changes his tone abruptly: "But it is not your forgiveness I must seek. I have to go back. My friends could still be trapped there."
Immaculate as always, Kaito provides a strong contrast for his son's appearance. Through no fault of Hiro's of course. The man's grim and sour expression deepens further. "Yamette," he commands sharply at Hiro. "These.. friends of yours. They are fine. They no longer require your help." Having addressed that concern, he returns to the verbal reprimanding of his son. "You were more than careless. You lost sight of being a hero. You sought to free those held for a reason." Kaito's voice becomes more heated as he maintains his volume, "You did not think at all. Now more people will pay the price for your foolishness." The elder Nakamura is clearly furious, "Did you think of what would happen if you were caught? No. Did you think of the position you would put me in?" Greater men than Hiro have quaked under the gaze Kaito is piercing his son with.
That may not be strictly true. Time will tell, however, as far as that goes.
"Peter Petrelli was held so that the evil could use him for evil whenever they wished!" he says. He's protesting? Verbally? His father? He truly isn't the same man. Hiro tries to steel his will against Kaito. A hero does not abandon the innocent. To do so would do more than cut his heart out! It would cut out his soul!"
"Your behavior has been disgraceful," Kaito intones, reiterating his point. "Peter Petrelli was there of his own free will!" The surprise at Hiro talking back is well buried and perhaps Kaito might even be a little pleased by this. "He was there to control his abilities! /He/ knew this was /his/ responsibility. You did not think to ask of this." Still radiating fury, Kaito's gaze is steely. "The others you sought to release, what of their lack of control? What would that have brought onto the world? As it is, your /friends/," the word is spat out, "came in, with weapons, guns. They could have killed others." Eyes narrowed, it seems as if he's either run out of steam or is satisfied at having made his point. The barest of nods is made to an assistant who comes over, bowing in respect to both Kaito and Hiro. "You are to go home. I cannot protect you forever." His tone softens, just barely, but it's there if Hiro knows how to listen for it. "You are to rest. The drugs you were on, they are not completely out of your system."
He didn't know about the guns. He convinced Bennett that there wasn't going to be any killing, but, well, everyone knows how that went out. Hiro looks away, off to his feet, before raising to meet his father's gaze again. The guns are his responsibility. Hiro's learned to shoulder it. Or, at least, he'll try. "Father, forgive me. I failed as a leader," he says, sadly. "But my mission was just. The Company must be stopped. Can you…" He trails off. He was going to ask if Kaito could change them from the inside. But it's silly to ask. If Kaito could, Kaito would. Hiro takes a gamble: He's going to talk about things he doesn't fully understand and has only heard about secondhand. He's going to use names that he can only hope he's earned the right to mention. "Mr. Linderman believed that a little bit of evil could justify a great good. I cannot accept that!"
Kaito gives Hiro a brief nod of his head. Perhaps that's a sign of forgiveness, or the possibility of such. The elder Nakamura falls silent. He's either listening intently to Hiro, or choosing his words carefully. "Remember what you were named for, Hiro. This conversation is over." Another nod of his head is made to his assistant. Instructions were given earlier that Hiro should be seen home. For however brief his stay should be. "You have cost me greatly these past few days," Kaito decides to add as he turns to walk away.
The invocation of his namesake breaks down Hiro's defiance like a wrecking ball. He looks straight down at his feet, balling his hands into fists at his sides; there it is. There's the same. Still, this is likely a new record for young Nakamura. As Kaito walks away, Hiro bows; while he's down, he speaks: "On the day I stopped Sylar, Peter Petrelli asked me to kill him to stop the bomb," he says. "I did not get the chance to answer him then."
Hiro rises, looking like a kicked puppy.
"I would have."
He says this, bows again, and leaves with the assistant.
Back at Kirby Plaza, it doesn't take long to realize that Agent Salonga had nothing to do with Hiro's escape. She was detained for an hour, a possibly frightening hour and questioned. It was determined that she was merely in the wrong place at the wrong time and let off with a verbal reprimand.