The showcase hall was buzzing as students waited for the judges' results. Hiro, Tadashi, and the gang were anxiously waiting, too, when a large, imposing¹ figure approached them. It was Alistair Krei.

 

"That was an impressive display," Krei said, gesturing to Hiro's microbot. "May I?" He took the microbot from Hiro and turned it in his fingers. "With some development, these could be revolutionary. That's why I want them at Krei Tech."

 

"Shut up!" Hiro exclaimed in disbelief.

 

Krei smiled. "You're about to become a very wealthy kid."

 

"Shut up!" Hiro repeated.

 

But Hiro and his friends weren't the only ones who heard Krei's offer. Professor Callaghan did, too. "Hiro," he said, "Mr. Krei is right. Your microbots are an inspired piece of tech. You can continue to develop them. Or you can sell them to a man who is only guided by his own self-interest."

 

Krei held up a hand. "Robert, I know how you feel about me, but it shouldn't affect this young man's opportunity to—"

 

Professor Callaghan cut him off. "This is your decision, Hiro. But you should know, Mr. Krei has cut corners and ignored sound science to get where he is."

 

"That's just not true," Krei argued.

 

"I wouldn't trust Krei Tech with your microbots," Callaghan said, staring straight at Krei. "Or anything else."

 

Everyone was surprised by the professor's statement. They looked at Hiro, waiting for an answer.

 

"Hiro, I'm offering you more money than a fourteen-year-old could imagine," Krei said.

 

Hiro looked at Tadashi, but his brother smiled at him, knowing he would make the right decision. "I appreciate the offer, Mr. Krei. But they're not for sale."

 

Krei seemed surprised and a bit insulted. It wasn't often that he heard the word "no," and he didn't like it. "I thought you were smarter than that," Krei said to Hiro. But Hiro's face was unchanged.

 

Once Krei realized there wasn't going to be a sale, he spun² on his heel. "Robert," he said, addressing Callaghan as he started to leave.

 

But Tadashi stopped him. "Mr. Krei?" he said, tapping him on the shoulder.

 

Krei turned and Tadashi pointed³ to the large man's hand. "That's my brother's."

 

Krei opened his hand and seemed surprised that he'd somehow walked off with Hiro's microbot. "Oh, that's right," he said with a chuckle⁴. But Tadashi knew better. Krei tossed the microbot to Hiro, who stuffed it back in his pocket.

 

"You made the right choice," Callaghan said, and handed Hiro an envelope with the SFIT crest⁵ on it. "I look forward to seeing you in class." Hiro beamed. He did it. He had won admittance to SFIT!

 

Hiro and the gang burst from the showcase hall. Aunt Cass pulled them into a group hug. "All right, geniuses, let's feed those hungry brains," she said. "Back to the café! Dinner is on me!"

 

Fred was the most excited. "Yes!" he shouted. "Nothing is better than free food!"

 

Tadashi smiled. It had been a perfect day. "Aunt Cass? We'll catch up, okay?"

 

"Sure. I'm so proud of you. I'm proud of you both," she replied, hugging Tadashi and Hiro again.

 

"Hey, where are you going?" Hiro asked Tadashi as Aunt Cass and their friends headed for the Lucky Cat. Hiro thought maybe Tadashi wanted to help him gather up his microbots in the showcase hall. But Tadashi threw his arm around his brother and the two walked onto the campus.

 

Minutes later, Hiro and Tadashi were staring at the gleaming steel-and-glass robotics building in the distance.

 

"I know what you're going to say," Hiro said. "I should be proud of myself because I'm using my ‘gift' for something important."

 

"No," Tadashi replied. "I was just gonna tell you your fly was down through the whole showcase."

 

Hiro looked panicked as Tadashi laughed. Then Hiro slugged him in the arm for making him look. "Ha-ha. Hilarious," Hiro said.

 

But Hiro became serious. "Hey. I wouldn't be here if it wasn't for you. So ... thanks."

 

"You don't have to say that. I mean, it's true, but you don't have to say it," Tadashi said. The two brothers threw fake punches and began to wrestle⁶ as they laughed.

 

When they turned back to go collect Hiro's microbots, they were surprised to see black smoke billowing from the showcase hall. It seemed impossible, but the hall was on fire!

 

As Hiro and Tadashi ran toward the burning building, they saw people running out, gasping⁷ and coughing. The entrance was nearly engulfed⁸ in flames.

 

Tadashi stopped and grabbed a student. "Are you okay?" he asked.

 

"Yeah, I'm fine. Callaghan's still in there!"

 

Tadashi began to run toward the entrance.

 

Hiro knew his brother was going to try to save the professor.

 

"Tadashi, no!" Hiro said, grabbing his shirt.

 

"Callaghan is still in there," Tadashi said. "Someone has to help!"

 

Hiro reluctantly let go of his brother and watched helplessly as Tadashi ran into the showcase hall.

 

Inside was an inferno⁹. But through the heat and smoke, Tadashi saw Professor Callaghan. Before Tadashi could reach him, he heard a large beam crack above his head.

 

Outside, Hiro heard a deafening¹⁰ boom and was knocked to the ground as the hall exploded.

 

"Tadashi!" Hiro yelled. He saw Tadashi's baseball cap lying on the ground nearby. He picked it up and cried, "Tadashi! Tadashi!"

 

展览大厅喧闹沸腾着，所有学生都在等待评委的结果。小宏，泰迪，还有他们的同伴们也都紧张地等待着。就在这时，一位仪表堂堂的高个子人物走近了他们。这人正是阿里斯泰·格利。

 

格利说道：“刚刚真是场精彩的展示，”他指着小宏的微型机器人问道：“我能看看吗?”他从小宏手中接过一个微型机器人在手中翻来覆去地看着。“只要稍加改进，你的发明将会是革命性的。这也是我想让它们加入格利科技的原因。”

 

“不会吧?”小宏难以置信地呼喊道。

 

格利笑道：“你将成为一个非常富有的孩子。”

 

“不会吧?”小宏又喊道。

 

不仅小宏和他的朋友们听到了格利的邀请，卡拉汉教授也听到了。“小宏，”他说道，“格利先生是对的。你的微型机器人在科技界很有前途。你可以继续改进它们，或者把他们卖给那些唯利是图的商人。

 

格利举起一只手：“罗伯特，我知道你对我有看法，但是这不影响年轻人有机会去……”

 

卡拉汉教授打断了他：“小宏，你自己决定吧。但是你应该要知道，格利先生走了不少捷径，并忽视了科学的严谨性才得到他今天的地位。”

 

“那都是瞎说，”格利争辩道。

 

“我要是你的话，就不会让自己的微型机器人或者任何其他发明加入格利科技。”卡拉汉直直地盯着格利说道。

 

所有人对教授的说辞都感到很惊讶。他们看着小宏，等待着小宏的答案。

 

“小宏，我会给你很大一笔钱，十四岁的孩子难以想象到的一大笔钱。”格利说道。

 

小宏看向泰迪，可他哥哥只是对着他微笑，他知道小宏会做出正确的决定。“我很感激您的提议，格利先生。但它们是非卖品。”

 

格利感到很惊讶，有点受辱的感觉。“不”是一个他不常听到的字眼，他也不喜欢听到。“我还以为你是个聪明人。”格利对小宏说道。但小宏仍面不改色。

 

格利一看买卖做不成，便转过身去。在他准备离开时，他朝卡拉汉说道：“罗伯特。”

 

可泰迪拦住了他。“格利先生?”他说着，一只手拍了拍他的肩。

 

格利转过来，泰迪指着这个高个子男人的手说道：“那是我弟弟的。”

 

格利打开手掌，脸上看似很惊讶，好像不知道自己拿走了小宏的机器人一般。“哦，是啊。”他咯咯地笑着说道。可泰迪却清楚得很。格利把微型机器人抛给小宏，小宏把它塞回了口袋。

 

“你做了很正确的决定。”卡拉汉说完，递给小宏一个信封，上面印有旧金山理工大学的标识。“我很期待在课堂上遇到你。”小宏满脸笑容。他终于做到了。他赢得了旧金山理工大学的入场券。

 

小宏和他的伙伴们欢快地从展厅中鱼贯而出。卡斯阿姨和他们抱作一团。“好了，天才们，我们一起去填饱肚子吧，”她说道，“回咖啡馆，我请大家吃饭!”

 

最兴奋的要属弗雷德了。他大叫道：“好棒!没有比免费吃东西更让人开心的了。”

 

泰迪笑了。今天真是完美的一天。“卡斯阿姨，我们会很快追上来的，好吗?

 

“好啊，我真是太为你自豪了，我为你们两个骄傲。”她回应道，又抱了抱泰迪和小宏。

 

“嗨，你去哪?”小宏问泰迪道，卡斯阿姨和朋友们已经去了幸运猫。小宏以为泰迪或许是想去展厅帮他把微型机器人收起来。但泰迪搂住他弟弟，两个人往校园走去。

 

几分钟后，小宏和泰迪来到了一个地方，隔着一段距离凝视着闪着微光的由钢筋玻璃筑成的机器人大楼。

 

“我知道你要说什么，”小宏说，“我应该为自己感到骄傲，因为我终于把我的‘天赋’用到正途上了。”

 

“不，”泰迪回答道，“我只是想说，你的裤子拉链在整场展示中都一直开着。”

 

泰迪大笑起来，小宏看起来有些惊慌。随后小宏打了一下他的手臂，让他看着自己。“哈哈，真幽默，”小宏说。

 

但小宏突然变得很严肃：“嘿，要不是因为你的话，我不会在这儿。所以……谢谢。”

 

“你没必要这么说。我的意思是，虽然事实如此，但你没必要这么讲。”泰迪说道。兄弟俩假意拳头相向，开始嬉笑扭打起来。

 

他们往回走去收拾小宏的微型机器人时，惊讶地发现展厅里冒出了滚滚黑烟。看似不可思议，可展厅真的着火了。

 

小宏和泰迪朝着火的大楼跑去时，看见许多人在向外跑，他们气喘吁吁并咳嗽着。大楼的入口处几乎被火焰所吞没。

 

泰迪站住脚，拦下一名学生。“ 你还好吧?”他问道。

 

“嗯，我还好。但卡拉汉教授还在里面!”

 

泰迪朝着入口冲了过去。

 

小宏知道他的哥哥要去救卡拉汉教授。

 

“泰迪，别去!”小宏抓住他的衬衫说道。

 

“卡拉汉还在里面，”泰迪说道，“必须有人去救他!”

 

小宏不情愿地放开了他哥哥，无助地看着泰迪跑进了展厅。

 

里面简直就是地狱。可是透过热浪和浓烟，泰迪看到了卡拉汉教授。就在泰迪要接近他时，他听到头顶横梁发出一声巨响。

 

外面，一阵震耳欲聋的轰隆声后小宏被击倒在地，展厅爆炸了。

 

“泰迪!”小宏喊道。他只看见泰迪的棒球帽躺在不远处的地上。他捡起帽子哭喊道：“泰迪!泰迪!”

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