A Complicated Web

Chapter Thirty-One: Catatonic

The mush they fed him was more than lacking, Hiro thought in a groggy sort of way. It was a nondescript grey color and tasted like paste, and not the good kind either. He only hoped it had some kind of nutritional content or he'd really feel ill. The taste alone was enough to make him want to hurl, but he knew he needed to keep his strength up so he ate it, gagging the whole time. It helped that he was only half awake, because if he'd really been awake, he'd have just dumped it on the floor.

He hadn't even seen who'd brought in the revolting food, which was probably just as well. He'd still been asleep when it happened. It wasn't until after he'd finished that he discovered his cell wasn't as plain as he'd thought it was. There was a doorway off to one side with a small bathroom large enough to house a sink, toilet and an open shower. There was no curtain to cordon off the shower. The stream of water it let out wasn't all that impressive anyway. But it was better than nothing. He just hoped they didn't have a camera trained on that area. That would be more than embarrassing.

Then, when he went back to the main area, he'd discovered a fresh change of clothes. It was something more like a jumpsuit he'd imagine a prison inmate would wear, except it wasn't the typical color. It was green, and a little large on him, if he was being honest. He had to roll up sleeves and pant legs a bit. Part of him couldn't help but wonder if Kally was being treated to the same kind of ordeal, the food and the clothes, or if they were being nicer to her because she was only recently incapacitated due to medical issues. He kind of hoped that was the case. He didn't like the idea of them treating her like a criminal.

But even those thoughts were muddy as he tried to get his mind to focus. He thought he'd dreamed, but wasn't sure. Or was this the dream? Was he even awake? Everything felt so surreal to the point he couldn't be sure. Did they really want him to build a robot similar to Baymax? Or was that just a figment of his imagination? The notion just didn't want to stick.

Nothing made sense and he couldn't help but feel a strange sense of déjà vu overpowering him. Had he been here before? Was he stuck in that time loop again? Or was this something different? He wasn't sure and the thought made him dizzy. Or maybe it was the food they'd given him, if it could be called food. If nothing else, his bran felt like it was stuck in a never ending loop.

Now that he thought about it, the walls seemed a little closer and he felt his breathing accelerate accordingly. What was going on? The last time he'd been confined like this was when he'd reverted to a toddler. He couldn't remember much of that time, just the suffocating feeling of fabric covering his entire body so that he couldn't breathe. He'd been out of it for most of the experience, which was probably just as well. But he remembered the fear that had bubbled up, which was more than enough to make his heart hammer at the recollection.

"Calm down. Calm down," he told himself, feeling the walls closing in a little more. But his heart wouldn't stop racing as the room around him changed to a dilapidated storage room in an abandoned warehouse, with a tangle of dirty quilts reaching out to snare him. He suddenly felt much smaller than he really was.

Without thinking, Hiro huddled into the corner furthest from the door, knees drawn to his chest to make the smallest ball possible. He hadn't thought this kind of space could affect him like this. Being stuck in a broom closet hadn't caused this kind of reaction. So why was he acting this way now? He had no idea and that scared him even more, his brain calling up those twisted memories.

The door to his cell opened by the time he'd reached full on hyperventilation. His eyes refused to focus on the intruder and he flinched away from the presence there, not seeing Ms. Kendrick but the psycho man, James, who'd kidnapped him only a few months before.