by Greig Beck
“We’ll take some spare clips. We might go duck hunting on the way home.” Sam held out his hand and Alex handed him the gun. Sam hefted it.
“The weight you feel is from the ammunition pack, but also in the lead casing for the radioisotope thermoelectric chip. It powers up the twin parallel conductor rails.” Grey leaned closer to point along the gun’s body. “Along here we have a sliding armature that would be accelerated by the electromagnetic effects of a current flowing along the rails, and—”
“Hey, aren’t electromagnetics susceptible to EMP weapon attack?” Alex knew the Russians were working on several devices to knock out battlefield electronics. “Be a pain in the ass to be caught in a firefight with a dead box in my hands.”
“Of course it would. You were paying attention when I mentioned the lead casing for the radioisotope, weren’t you? It has a nuclear power source, and is impervious to electromagnetic pulse. It only charges the rails for .003 seconds before firing. Even if the pulse wave knocks out that charge, it’s ready to fire again in under a second.”
Sam pointed to one of the target dummies. “Well?”
“Go ahead,” Grey said. “It’s currently set to single shot, but it can be ramped up to full metal storm if needed.”
“What about the heat?” Alex asked. “A thousand rounds, and using it on rapid fire, should generate enough friction heat to melt the casing.”
“Very good.” Grey waggled a finger again. “And it did with the earliest versions. But …” He grinned. “… that’s why we now use ceramics in the conductor rails.”
Alex nodded, satisfied.
“Only one thing left to do then.” Sam pointed and fired, only holding the weapon in one hand. He kept his finger down on the trigger. There was barely anything above a whisper. Alex detected the dummy moving fractionally, so he knew there’d been a strike.
“Did I hit it? What happened?” Sam looked at the gun. “I felt a little recoil, but …”
“Let’s see.” Grey went to a panel and pressed a few buttons, causing a small screen to lift. “I’m going to rewind.” He hummed for a moment. “Okay, now watch.”
Sam and Alex looked over his shoulder. The target dummy filled the screen, and just when Alex was losing patience he saw a tiny hole appear in the center of the head – even in slow motion the projectile was moving too fast to capture. All that was revealed was a small puncture in the dummy’s face, and then another indicating where the projectile had exited out the back.
“Oh yeah, in and out, I hit it good.” Sam nodded. “But you’re right, these pinpricks will have low stopping power. Some big badass might think he’s only been stung by a bee.”
“Hold that thought.” Grey grabbed the gun from Sam’s hands and moved the dial up to half way. “Now try.”
Sam walked back into position, raised the RG3 and fired. Almost magically a golf ball sized section of the impact gel vanished from the center of the head, splattering down to the end of the room.
“Whoa.” Sam grinned.
“Still think they’ll feel like they’ve been stung by a bee?” Grey cocked an eyebrow.
“Maybe a giant one.” Sam went to fire again, but Alex took the gun from him.
“My turn.” He set the dial to its highest setting, aimed and fired. The entire head of the dummy disappeared in an explosion of gel.
Grey folded his arms. “You can thread a needle, or put a hole the size of a softball through anything you aim at.”
Alex fired again, blowing away another section of the dummy. He looked at the weapon. “Oh yeah, this’ll do.” He smiled grimly. “And don’t forget our spare mags.”
“Really?” Grey looked unimpressed. “Just make sure you take it off maximum setting before hitting any ducks, won’t you?”
“Hey, I hear they’re pretty big ducks up there.” Sam took the RG3 back from Alex, and fired again at the remains of the dummy, obliterating the bottom half completely. Boom, he mouthed through his smile.
“I’ll have your weapons, spare ammunition and armor ready for you.” Grey scowled at Sam and took the weapon from him. “Now, I understand this will more than likely be an adversarial engagement, yes?”
“We hope to avoid it,” Alex said. “But they send HAWCs for a reason.”
“I know, expected confrontation,” Grey agreed. “So, now, something for defense I think you’ll both like.” He pressed a small stud in the wall and a drawer slid out. In it was what looked like gauntlets that fit over the lower arm. Grey took one out and slid it up his forearm.
“Um …” The scientist opened another drawer and selected a 9 mm pistol. He handed it to Alex. “Take this.”
Alex took it – a SIG Sauer SP2022 – he drew the slide back, but already knew it was fully loaded from the weight in his hand. He paused.
Grey adjusted something on the gauntlet, walked twenty feet down the shooting range and turned to face the two men. “Fire at will.”
Alex looked briefly at Sam, shrugged, and pointed the gun. Grey brought his forearm up and a faint whirring sound began. In front of him a three-foot disc shaped area began to become less distinct.
Alex fired twice directly at the man, and the bullets were pushed away – not ricocheted, but more like they hit something that absorbed their energy and then discarded them. Alex fired three more times – same result.
“Hold fire,” Grey yelled from behind the disc.
“Impressive.” Alex lowered his gun arm. “What the hell is it?”
Grey dropped his arm, the whirring stopped and the air in front of him cleared. He lifted his chin. “Personal combat shield – it’s basically ionized air trapped in a circling compression wave.” He grinned. “We accelerate the molecules in the air to near speed of light, and actually create an artificial gravity field using the centripetal force to keep it in a confined area.” He looked down at the gauntlet and patted it. “So far, we can only do it on a small scale, but we hope one day to be able to use it as a city-wide missile shield. Just think of that.” His eyes lit up.
“What can it stop?” Alex asked.
“The personal shield can stop multiple caliber projectiles from 9 mm up to a 7.62 mm battle rifle rounds.”
“Hoooly shit.” Sam clapped. “Let me see that.” He held his hands out.
Grey removed the gauntlet and adjusted it to fit on the much larger man’s forearm. He gave Sam a few seconds of instruction and then stepped back.
Sam switched it on and moved it about. “No weight.”
Grey shrugged. “Why would there be? It’s just using the surrounding air, but reorganizing the molecules into a rotating lattice formation.”
Sam backed up several steps. “Okay, boss, let me have it.” Alex aimed and fired off three quick rounds. Every single one struck and dropped away.
“Nothing – didn’t even feel the impacts.” Sam lowered his arm. “It’s a shield, but near see-through.”
Alex stepped forward and reached out a hand toward the circle of compressed air. He felt solid matter beneath his fingers. Even though the circle of air was slightly oily in appearance, like swirling water, his mind still told him that he should have been able to reach through it. However, his hand told a different story.
Sam turned it off and handed him the gauntlet. Alex slid it on, and repeated what Sam had done, and initiated the shield. Alex also backed up a few steps.
“Okay, big guy; charge.”
Sam grinned and lowered his brow. He was a large man, at 250 pounds easy. He was also assisted by the internal MECH suit technology that gave him the power of a battering ram. He dropped his shoulder and sprinted at Alex.
Alex raised the shield and widened his stance. Though Alex was stronger than Sam, mass and velocity were on the bigger HAWC’s side. Sam crashed into Alex and the shield, and Alex skidded backwards from the massive impact. But it was Sam that was flung aside.
Sam sprang to his feet. “That shit is tough – combination shield and battering ram.”
Alex nodded to the scientist. “Well done; add them to my shopping cart.”
“Good. Been wanting them to get a run in the field – and no one tests out our stuff like you guys. I want a full report on all the new tech when you get back.” Grey waved them on and then led them out through a different set of vault-like rooms.
Alex felt the presence as soon as he entered one of the darkened chambers. He pulled up hard, his head turning.
“What the hell is that?”
Grey looked sheepish. “Yes, I wanted you to see her.”
“Her?” Alex frowned. He could sense he was being watched even more strongly now that he was inside – or a better description might have been that he was being scanned.
“Lights up,” Grey said. “Spot.” Immediately more lighting came on and a single stronger beam came down directly over a lone, seated figure.
Alex couldn’t help his mouth dropping open. “You have got to be kidding me.” He crossed to the figure. “It’s a robot.” He bent to look into the blank face.
Sam joined him. “Pretty ugly.”
Grey went and stood beside it, placing a hand on its slim shoulder. “Oh, it’s more than a robot. She’s part of our Synthetic Warrior Program.” He glared at Sam. “And she’s a thing of beauty, as well as being the ultimate in autonomous mobile computing and communication packages.” He smiled. “And much more.”
The slim human shaped figure sat wired into a chair-type capsule. It shone dull silver as if made of pewter or brushed steel. Except for a slight slimness to the frame, it looked in proportion to someone approximately five feet nine or ten.
Grey then jogged to a console in the far corner and spoke over his shoulder. “Go ahead, touch it; it’s not powered up just yet. Just give me a minute here.”
Alex placed his hand against the cheek. The smooth silver skin of the face was featureless with just some bumps and depressions giving a hint to facial features. The synthetic skin was smooth and just below body temperature, but still warm. Alex dropped his hand to the shoulder and squeezed. The material gave slightly and he could feel a definite hardness beneath, like scaffolding or bones.
“It feels like skin, and it’s warm.” He laid a hand flat against the chest. “And by the way it’s already on; I can feel it.”
“No, not yet; maybe just some residual energy release or heat diffusion from the power plant,” said Grey. “It’s experimental HiPER fusion – High Power Energy Release through fusion reaction – stable, clean, and allows miniaturization without energy sacrifice or even degradation.”
“Nuclear powered.” Alex felt the chest again, sensing the slight buzz of enormous energy residing just under the synthetic skin.
“Oh, yes.” Grey worked at the console for a moment before looking back at Alex. “The power plant fuses the lighter nuclei together and releases enormous amounts of energy. Thanks to a little help from our Canadian cousins we were able to package it in a reactor the size of a human heart – the only real difference is the human heart outputs about five watts of power, but Sophia’s here will give her nearly a megawatt of energy and beat for a thousand years … or for as long as the casing stays intact, anyway.”
“Sophia, huh?” Alex ran his hand over the arm. “I can’t feel any seals; no joins on the surface at all.”
“There are seals, but they’re internal folds and can only be opened on command.”
“Yours or hers?” Sam asked.
“Both.” Grey shot back. “What you’re seeing is the result of ten years work, and many billions of dollars in investment.”
Alex lifted one of the arms, turning it over to look at the hand and palm. “Feels like steel, but soft; I’m assuming some sort of synthetic woven alloy.”
“Correct,” Grey responded. “Twenty times tougher than Kevlar and more akin to spider silk for its pound-for-pound tensile strength. In effect, it’s molecular chainmail covering advanced technology and hydraulics, and don’t be misled by the slim design. Due to the advancements in microtechnology, size does not mean strength. Sophia is probably stronger and faster than both of you combined.”
The scientist fiddled behind a console and immediately two glowing, almond-shaped orbs appeared where eyes should be on the almost blank face. The figure turned to Alex, and he could feel an examination taking place. And more, he felt a tingling in the center of his head.
“She’s scanning me.” Alex returned the analysis, and detected a level of complexity that was astounding before he was suddenly cut off, like a steel door slamming shut to block him. “I can feel her in my head.”
“She undoubtedly finds you interesting. She can link and target, uh, I mean, find anyone we designate.” Grey smiled as he fiddled at the console. “Vocalize please, Sophia.”
“Good morning, Captain Alexander Hunter and Lieutenant Samuel Reid; nice to meet both of you.”
“It knows us?” Sam asked.
“Sophia has access to our military personnel database, so knows your basic details from there. That’s all.”
There was a slight tingling in Alex’s head before the figure spoke again.
“Captain Hunter, I detect you have a different neural architecture, possibly resulting from the penetration by a small caliber bullet fragment lodged within the core of your cerebellum at the mid-point between the hypothalamus and thalamus.” Sophia’s head titled as though to examine him further. “Your brain has compensated for the trauma by developing a benign internal mass, but … there is also some foreign material still there – that is unidentifiable. You are now different.”
Alex rubbed the small scar above his eye, and Grey chortled. “No secrets from Sophia, I’m afraid.” He came around from behind the console. “Well, shake her hand, captain.”
The silver figure silently rose from its seated position in front of Alex, and offered him its slim hand. The being stood shorter than he and its slight body made it look significantly less powerful than his broad frame as he loomed over it. Alex reached out, took hold of the hand and squeezed slightly. The android squeezed back with equal pressure.
“Don’t be shy, you can’t hurt her; go on, squeeze harder.” Grey watched them both closely.
“Take it to school, boss. And don’t hold back.” Sam grinned and looked at Grey. “Hey, how much do those hands cost? Hope you got spares.”
“I’ll try not to break it – like I nearly did with you.” Alex grinned at Sam, and then looked briefly at the science officer. “Remember, this was your idea.”
The slim hand compressed slightly like normal flesh and bone, but didn’t buckle.
The head titled again. “Three hundred psi – you are an extraordinarily powerful human being, Captain Hunter.” With that, Sophia squeezed his hand back, harder.
Alex applied all the force he could bring to bear. Enough to pulverize bones, and even compress steel tubing if he so wished. It was impossible to tell what the effects were as Sophia didn’t flinch and there were no facial features to gauge an expression of pain or even irritation.
Alex then felt the bones in his own hand start to bend and the veins in his arm stood out like thick chords. He ground his teeth together. Shit. Pain began to flare in his hand. Immediately the pressure stopped. Alex’s hand now throbbed mercilessly.
“Phew.” Alex nodded at Grey. “Thanks, that was getting nasty.”
Grey shrugged. “Don’t thank me; it was Sophia that decided to desist. She has a lot more hydraulic power than your enhanced physical strength. She read that you were at the limit of your physical capabilities. She could sense your physical pain and she shut it off.”
Sophia still held Alex’s hand, her blank face turned toward him. “You are different.”
“He sure is,” Sam said. “Careful, boss, Aimee better not find out you’re down here flirting with the new weapon tech.”
Sophia released Alex’s hand. “Aimee?” She turned to Sam.
Grey went back to the console, worked for a moment, and then Sophia sat back down. The so
ft glow in her face dimmed, as though the eyes had gently shut.
“The power I felt there; unbelievable.” Alex continued to rub his hand and then turned to Sam. “Looks like we’re out of a job, big guy.”
Sam just scowled down at Sophia.
Grey laughed softly. “Not quite; physical power is nothing; anyone can build a bigger battering ram. Our first prototypes were as powerful as all hell, but couldn’t tell the difference between friend and foe, and the dozens of distinctions in between.” Grey pointed at the android. “Sophia’s conscious decision to release you rather than do you harm is where the bulk of our investment went. The hyper-tough chassis was easy. But what we wanted was something that could be auto-dependent, could make life or death decisions in differing environments, and could learn and adapt. In effect it needed a brain, with human-like deterministic logic. We wanted it to make the right decisions.”
Alex stared at it. “I’m still feeling redundant.”
“Not quite yet.” Grey smiled down at Sophia like a proud parent. “The original problem was no matter how many human psychological applications we tried, it continued to make flawed decisions based on a save thyself first self-preservation model. Also, in battle situations, it sometimes wanted to compete. But, it wouldn’t stop competing. Sometimes it seemed to get …”
Alex scoffed and looked at Grey from under lowered brows. “She got angry, didn’t she?”
“Maybe some would call it that.” He smiled flatly. “Then we had a stroke of luck when we came across the brilliant work by the German scientist called Frans Knopper on ‘machine learning and the female brain’ – groundbreaking, and just what we were looking for. She wrote a paper on neurological gender differences, and how females have more white matter dedicated to communication, problem-solving and connecting information, which gave them an inbuilt species cooperation trait.”
He placed his hand on the android’s shoulder. “We just needed an appropriate logic model. And we found one. It’s called ALP – Applied Logic Patterning. But one that could handle stress, and women can do that five times better than men.”