Tadashi came home the next day and stapled¹ an SFIT poster over one of Hiro's bot-fighting posters. It announced SFIT's annual Tech Showcase—those entrants with the best tech would win admission to the school.

 

Hiro read it and looked at Tadashi in disbelief.

 

"You come up with something that blows Callaghan away and you're in," Tadashi said. "But it's gotta be great."

 

Hiro stared at the poster, smiling. "Trust me, it will be," he said, knowing this was his big chance. He rolled his chair to his desk and confidently set about designing the most awesome² tech project SFIT had ever seen.

 

Hours later, all he had to show for his time were crumpled³ pieces of paper scattered⁴ all over the room. "Nothing. No ideas. Useless, empty brain," Hiro said as he banged his head against the top of his desk.

 

Tadashi looked over from where he was sitting on his bed. "Wow. Washed up at fourteen. So sad."

 

"I got nothing," Hiro complained. "I'm done. Dead end. I'm never getting in."

 

Tadashi went over and picked Hiro up, flipped⁵ him over, and held him upside down by his ankles. Hiro screamed.

 

"Shake things up!" Tadashi said. "Use that big brain of yours to think your way out."

 

"What?"

 

"There are no dead ends, Hiro," Tadashi told him. Hanging upside down, Hiro noticed his battle bot on the floor. Suddenly, what he needed to do became crystal clear. He reached over and grabbed his bot, and when Tadashi let him down, he bolted out to the garage.

 

In the past, Hiro had used the garage as a lab for building his battle bots. It had everything he needed to create his new vision: multiple computer terminals, 3-D printers, the works. Hiro sat down, cracked his knuckles⁶, and got to work.

 

Months passed. Hiro worked day and night. Aunt Cass checked on him and made sure he was fed. Even Tadashi's friends from SFIT peeked⁷ in to see what this obsessed⁸ kid was doing. But Tadashi knew that whatever his brother was inventing would be great! Finally, the day of the showcase arrived.

 

The showcase hall at SFIT was jammed with judges, presenters¹⁰, and several tech-industry representatives searching for new talent. All around the hall, kids held unrecognizable glass, steel, and plastic objects. They fidgeted with their projects and made last-minute adjustments.

 

"How you feeling?" Tadashi asked Hiro.

 

"Hey, you're talking to an ex-bot-fighter," Hiro said, jabbing at the air with his fist. "Takes a lot more than this to rattle¹¹ me."

 

"Yup, he's nervous," Go Go said decisively.

 

Wasabi nodded. "What do you need, Hiro? Deodorant¹²? Breath mint? Fresh pair of underpants? I come prepared."

 

"Guys, really. I'm chill," Hiro said.

 

Honey gave him a warm smile. "Relax," she said. "Your tech is amazing. Tell him, Go Go."

 

Go Go looked at Hiro. "Stop whining¹³. Woman up."

 

Fred laughed and pointed¹⁴ to his chest. "Worry not, little fellow. Freddie wore his lucky Megazon shirt! Worn by the creator of Megazon himself."

 

Wasabi frowned. "Smells terrible."

 

"I know, right?" said Fred. "The creator died in this shirt ... Adds to the value."

 

Wasabi nearly gagged at the thought.

 

A spotlight¹⁵ hit the stage. The announcer said, "Next presenter⁹, Hiro Hamada."

 

"Oh, you're on! Everybody say ‘Hiro!' " Honey said as she took another selfie with Hiro and the gang.

 

"Do good science!" Fred cheered as he walked off with the rest of their friends. They wanted spots in the front row of the audience for Hiro's presentation.

 

Alone with his brother, Tadashi noticed that Hiro's confidence seemed to have vanished. "Hey, what's going on, huh? What happened to Mr. Battle Bot?"

 

Hiro had a worried look in his eyes. "I really want to go here."

 

"Just take a breath—you got this," Tadashi said with a squeeze of Hiro's shoulder.

 

Hiro followed his brother's advice, smiled, and walked onto the stage.

 

泰迪回到家后的第二天，就把旧金山理工大学的海报钉在了小宏的机器人格斗海报上面。海报上是关于旧金山理工大学年度科技作品展会的信息——参加展会的人，只要能拿出最好的科技作品，就能够被旧金山理工大学录取。

 

小宏看了看海报，用怀疑的眼神看着泰迪。

 

“只要你带着能够让卡拉汉教授为之心动的作品参展，你就能被录取，”泰迪说道，“但是作品一定要够出色才行。”

 

小宏盯着海报看了一下，笑了起来。“相信我，我的作品肯定行。”他说道。他知道这是个好机遇。他将自己的椅子转向桌子，自信满满地开始着手设计旧金山理工大学里从未出现过的出色科技作品。

 

几个小时过去了，他却只造出了散落满地的一堆废纸团。“一片空白，没有创意。真没用，脑袋空空。”小宏一边说，一边用脑袋磕着桌面。

 

泰迪坐在床上看向小宏。“哇哦，十四岁就江郎才尽了。太可惜了。”

 

“我什么也想不出来，”小宏抱怨道，“我完了，死路一条，我永远也进不去了。”

 

泰迪走过去，扛起小宏，把他翻转过来，拽着他的脚踝让他头朝下。小宏尖叫起来。

 

“往外倒点好主意!”泰迪说道，“用你那聪明的脑袋瓜子想出些金点子。”

 

“什么?”

 

“没有什么是死路一条，小宏。”泰迪告诉他。小宏头朝下地挂着时，注意到了他那个放在地上的格斗机器人。突然，他要做的事在他头脑中变得十分清晰。他越过泰迪抓住了他的机器人。泰迪一把他放下来，他就冲向了车库。

 

在这之前，小宏把车库用作制造格斗机器人的实验室。里面有他制造新作品所需要的一切东西: 多端口的计算机、3D打印机、机械部件。小宏坐下来，松了松指关节，开始工作。

 

几个月过去了，小宏夜以继日地忙着。卡斯阿姨一直在照料他，给他送饭。甚至连泰迪旧金山理工大学的朋友们都过来偷偷关注这个痴迷忙碌的孩子在做什么。但是泰迪知道无论他弟弟在发明什么，都一定是最好的!终于，展会的日子到了。

 

旧金山理工大学的展会大厅挤满了评委、展示者和寻找新天才的科技行业的企业代表。在大厅里，孩子们展示着无法辨识的玻璃、钢铁和塑料制品。他们为自己的项目坐立不安，在做最后的调整。

 

“感觉怎么样?”泰迪问小宏道。

 

“嘿，你在对一个曾经参加过机器人格斗的人说话，”小宏边说边隔空猛打拳，“这点压力不会让我惊慌失措的。”

 

“嗯，他很紧张。”神行御姐果断地说道。

 

芥末无疆点点头：“小宏，你有什么需要的吗?除臭剂?薄荷糖?新内裤?我去准备。”

 

“大伙，真的，我很冷静。”小宏说道。

 

哈妮柠檬对他甜美一笑，说道：“放松!你的发明超棒。对吧，神行御姐?”

 

神行御姐看着小宏说道：“别唠唠叨叨了，成熟点。”

 

弗雷德笑着指着自己的胸膛说道：“别紧张，小家伙。弗雷德穿了《无限地带》的幸运衬衫!是《无限地带》的创造者本人穿过的。”

 

芥末无疆皱了皱眉头：“味道真难闻!”

 

“我知道，有味道是吧?”弗雷德说道，“那位创造者就是穿着这件衬衣过世的……给这件衬衫增添了很大的价值。”

 

一听到这儿，芥末无疆差点呕吐出来。

 

一束聚光灯打在台上，讲解员宣布：“下一个演示者，滨田宏。”

 

“哦，到你了!大家一起喊‘小宏’!”哈妮柠檬说着又给小宏和大家拍了张自拍照。

 

“做最好的设计!”弗雷德一边欢呼一边和其他朋友走开了。他们想站在最前排看小宏做展示。

 

只剩下哥俩的时候，泰迪注意到小宏的信心仿佛消失了。“嘿，怎么了?我们的机器人格斗士怎么了?”

 

小宏的眼中满是焦虑：“我真的想进这所学校。”

 

“深呼吸——你可以的。”泰迪说着捏了捏小宏的肩膀。

 

小宏听取了他哥哥的建议，微笑着走向了讲台。

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