by Alex Fall
I scoffed. “Right. As if I had so many plans made now that both of my legs are scorched.”
Tetsuro landed just outside the building, a very stupid and risky move in my opinion, but with Wyatt's help and the drone now keeping watch, he helped me aboard my home. Not much later and the two of them dragged the broken down drone on board too. Wyatt decided to leave the functional drone here to keep watch over the building and have access to its charging station, but he embedded it with recognition protocols for us. Basically, it will keep doing its job until we come back. In the meantime, we moved as quickly as we could and left. I don't know if the Greaters discovered us, but even if they did my ship moved fast enough to stay out of trouble.
Once we made it back on board the Little One, the hunk of drone was moved to a lab where Lori and some helping hands could work on it. Wyatt also moved in with them to run diagnostics and hopefully revive it in our behalf. For my part, I stayed in my home and decided to reserve the next couple of days for healing. I had to treat my two legs differently since the cause of the burns were different sources. The plasma wound would take longer to heal. And after all that, according to Wyatt, the active drone took no discernable integral or internal damage. It made me mad that I wasted such a big burn only to knock it over for some seconds, but on the other hand a certain excitability was growing within me. Is this armor what I need? Can it really withstand my power? Is this armor everything I was hoping for? Was it worth the trouble?
Three days later the first hints of an answer came through. As I was hobbling around with a crutch for aid Lori came into the ship, tired and distracted.
“Any progress?” I asked.
She sighed as she dug through the refrigerator. “Yeah, it's just...I don't know. That stuff is so stubborn and hard to handle. It's pain pulling it off.”
“But that means it's tough?”
Lori ran her hand through her hair to get it out of her face. “Oh yes. We can't cut it off, we can't torch it off, and it was very designed not to come apart. Besides everything, your grenade shredded some of the insides, making it even harder to take apart.”
“Do you know what it is? Is it heavy?”
“No I don't know what this alloy is.”
“Is it heavy?” I repeated after she finished her drink.
“The white paneling isn't bad, but the under paneling is pretty dense.”
“What does that mean for body armor?”
Lori glanced up at me and took another drink. “This stuff is a pain in the butt to work with. I don't think you understand.”
“Hi miss Lori,” Sharon greeted cheerily.
“Hey baby,” she replied.
“But would it work?” I egged on.
“If there's a way to shape it, yes this stuff would be great. Rig it up with a strength augment and you would be as tough as the drone is.”
“I can't run an augment,” I said with a slight grimace.
“What?” Lori asked. Sharon watched from her room entrance, detecting that she had nothing to add to the conversation.
“If the main function of the armor is to withstand my burns, then anything that isn't made of that armor is just going to fail.”
Lori scratched her head again. “You told me you wouldn't be killing anyone, that was part of the deal,” she said rather pointedly.
“She told me that too,” Sharon chimed.
I exhaled an annoyed breath from my nose. “I'm not! But the cure is linked to a form of adrenaline. I suspect there's going to be a lot of people that want to resist me and the cure is just going to make it worse. Plus not all of my burns are for killing!”
Lori crossed her arms. “Since when?”
“How about when I saved Wyatt's sorry *cuss* when I blew the active drone over?”
“Thanks a lot. Well if that's all I am, I guess you don't need me to work anymore,” Wyatt announced as he entered the ship.
“No! You keep working.”
“Yeah, that's what I thought,” he mumbled.
“I just want some *cuss* armor that works!”
“And that means more work for us,” Wyatt mumbled again.
“We're working on it,” Lori said, covering Wyatt's comment. “Gar, I have to eat. I'm going to talk to Nicolette's people and see if we can scrounge something up.”
“I'm going with you,” he perked up.
I shifted on my crutch. Man this thing is uncomfortable. And my leg hurts. And my burns itch. “I have food on the ship.”
“It's fine, we want some new scenery,” Wyatt said with a sigh. He was tired too.
I groaned slightly. I bet they are just trying to avoid me. “You better come back with some lemons!” After the two of them left, I noticed Sharon still watching. “What?”
“You still cuss a lot.” I bit my lip and turned away from her. Stupid kid, what does she know? “Keegan said you were supposed to stop,” she added.
I closed my eyes as my emotions punished me. I'm still failing him. Have I forgotten my promises I made? Did I come back to Lenburg for him or...for myself? I don't want to let him down. Even if he doesn't know, even though he's pretty much dead, I owe him my life. Or at least, what's left of the pitiful shell of a life I have remaining. Yet, here is Sharon reminding me I'm failing him. “Shut up!” I blurted.
I didn't see her expression, but after a second of silence, she turned into her room and shut the door. The lock engaged too. She was shutting me out. I grimaced again when she shut the door. It means I failed Keegan again.
Keegan...I'm sorry. I'm losing my grip…
I hobbled to Sharon's door and knocked. It took a ton of willpower to force any words out. “Sharon...I'm sorry for yelling. Open up.”
No response.
“If you don't unlock the door, I'll have to and that's going to make things estranged.”
Seconds later and the LED light changed. I opened the door and leaned on the door post for balance. “Look, I know I have a lot to work on. It's been a long time since I heard him talk to me so I get…”
I just let the sentence fade. Sharon wasn't looking at me. She wasn't interested in my excuses. How do I fix this? Must I fail at everything?
“I shouldn't have yelled at you,” I restated. “And it's probably a good thing you remind me of stuff like that. I need you to keep up with that.”
“...why?”
I slipped into the room and lowered myself until I was sitting on the floor next to her bed. The room didn't smell like Vick anymore. It smelled like Sharon, but it also had the faintest tinge of Keegan. It tugged on my emotions again.
“Keegan made me promise some things to him. One of them was to treat you right, and another was to be a better person. And...I want to do everything Keegan asks because he knows what's best for me. So if I act up, you're right to correct me.”
Sharon looked up at me slightly. “I won't get in trouble?”
“No. I'll try my best not to yell.”
Sharon didn't say much else. I struggled to stand up. “I'm going to practice my cello. Try not to let anyone disturb me.”
* * *
I found myself rummaging through my lab. I couldn't find any batches of the cure that I had synthesized. Where in the world did I leave it? A knock on the door distracted me from my search. Keegan entered the room and all of my stress melted away, and to add to it, he was holding a syringe of the cure. He found it!
“Thank you, Keegan,” I said with the lightest smile. I stood to take it from him, but he pulled his hand back as I did. What? Why wouldn't he give it to me? He wants something from me?
“Promise,” he reminded me.
I closed my lips in understanding and nodded slowly, gravely. He offered the syringe back, which I took solemnly. “I promise.”
My eyes cracked open slightly. Daytime. Seven twenty in the morning. My legs itch but feel fine. The air felt more damp and cold than yesterday. My insides felt off once again. But more than anything, I missed Keegan. Sitting up lifted the fog fro
m my mind. It's been days since they took my measurements for armor fitting. Surely there must be some progress by now.
After snagging some food, I moved through the massive cruiser until I ended up by one of the makeshift engineering bays. I heard muffled mechanical buzzing emanating from within the bay room, but as soon as I entered the room, I nearly crashed into someone that was leaving.
“Whoa! Sorry, sorry,” one of Marcus’ friendly crewmen sputtered.
“Oh. I came to get an update, what's going on?” I asked after the startle. I brushed away my hair to dispel my nerves.
“I'm not exactly sure. I'm just here to monitor the draw of power from the power core.”
“Power core?” I asked with surprise. “Like the Little One's power core?”
“Yes ma'am.”
“What in the world do they need with that much power?” I questioned, pushing the crewman out of the way to examine the process further. Lori was resting in a chair with several drinks around her. Two other engineers were messing with one of the white plates, and Wyatt and another man were examining a monitor. Lori glanced up to see me.
“We're almost done. Checking on us every day won't make it go faster.”
“What do you need that requires the cruiser’s power core?” I demanded.
“Have you seen the property scores of this stuff?” another engineer asked. “This is a largely metalloid alloy that does not like being shaped, bent, or manipulated. Plus it's so heat resistant, the only way we alter it is by drawing on the core for singular orthogonal arc destabilization pleating.”
I narrowed my eyes slightly to show I don't understand. The other woman engineer spoke up. “Don't listen to him, he's a nerd. Basically, we have to use a lot of electricity to weaken a very small part of the panel enough to bend it. The second it's in place, we zap a different way and the shape is locked in again. It's very time consuming.”
“So the toughness of the armor is compromised?” I asked.
“Only during the shaping process. Afterward it's restored to normal.”
Lori cleared her throat. “I would be shocked and amazed if you did something to break this stuff.”
The male engineer spoke up again. “That's the thing also. If ever you manage to reach a point where the load is too much for this alloy, keep in mind this stuff doesn't bend. It snaps. And so will whatever it's protecting.”
“But that probably won't happen based off our numbers here,” the girl engineer picked up as if cued. “For body armor purposes you're going to have to watch out for trauma. For sure a bullet or especially a fist isn't going to pierce or break this alloy, but the drone was equipped with an under layer of armor that protected it's innards against momentum transfer and intense vibration.”
“So...like any armor, it will stop a bullet but still hurt?”
The male poked out his bottom lip and bobbed his head. “Mm...something like that.”
I looked over to Wyatt and his companion, who were now just listening to our conversation. “What are you two doing?”
Wyatt scratched his ear and chuckled nervously. “Heh, yeah. Just so you're aware, we don't know how to recreate the alloy, and it really doesn't like to bend, so we are having to get creative with turning it into armor. Basically we're printing off a modified version of the fireproof cloth that your...your...underwear,” he coughed to cover the word up, “is made of, that way we can use that material to set the plates into and also fill in around your joints and bendy parts.”
My mouth fell open in shock and I glared hard at him. Lori choked a little on her drink. Wyatt closed his lips shut in guilt. “Do tell. Where did you find the pattern for the material in my...underwear?”
Wyatt distracted himself with the screen. Lori took an unusually large gulp of juice and avoided eye contact, and the rest of the project team broke eye contact and continued working.
“You stole my underwear?!” I demanded.
Two more days. I gave them two more days to assemble my armor, or else there would be martial punishment. How dare they violate my privacy in such a casual way! I immediately left from there and reorganized my clothing locations to prevent repeat events, but there's no telling if it would help. I don't even know if they returned the stolen article or not. The audacity!
Nonetheless, in two days my armor was completed. The white panels had been cut down and shaped to fit me and cover everything vital or that doesn't bend. The space in between and underneath was padded out with a familiar white cloth, woven in such a way that it would also stop bullets and the ordinary knife stab. It was built to be soft inside and fit like a dream. It was unexpectedly light weight and all of the major panels had pinholes to allow it to “breath.” Though no one said it out loud, I understood the function of these holes to allow my fire to flow out while being too small to allow bullet in. It was very straightforward, no gadgets or tech installed, but with Wyatt's input was still designed to have items clipped or attached to me as needed, and the arm panels and glove could be removed to make room for a Templar unit. The armor was designed in as few pieces as possible, comprising of leggings, boots, torso, arms, and a helmet. Some of the panels had to equipped and strapped down after an article of the armor was already put on. Overall it wasn't the fastest armor to put on and throw off. The helmet though was the simplest piece of all. It was made of one well shaped panel and cut to size. I only needed to slip it on and it covered everything from the base of my skull around to just under my nose, with two pieces coming down to cover from my cheeks close to my jaw. There were two eyeholes, fitted with a pressure plastic that was see through and would stop a projectile, but if it cracked or melted from a burn, could be popped out by pushing on it from the inside. Overall the armor looked like a matte white, exaggerated female motorcycle armor, and the helmet had a sort of fanged skull look. As for the heat resistance, I would have to find out later.
Though the design aesthetic didn't impress me too much, the comfort and functionality level was desirable. Besides everything, with the full set of armor on, the blue of my eyes jumped out so much, even I was captivated by myself for a moment when I finally looked in the mirror. The armor was made for me; Sapphire eyes.
And now, for its first trial run I finally discerned a target.
* * *
My ship leaned to the left, shifting everything inside that wasn't stowed away. I caught a salt shaker before it spilled on the ground. Why wasn't this put up?
“Destination sighted,” Tetsuro said quietly.
“I know I told you that they might be able to hear well, but you don't have to whisper when we're in a ship that's in the sky,” I assured him.
“I wasn't whispering…”
“So we're just looking for anyone?” Nicolette asked. “Cause as I've said before-”
“I know. You've tried. Just let me take care of it,” I stated. I fiddled with a cushion on the inside of my helmet then put it on. It took a little adjustment to get the comm underneath to fit right.
“You're like a little kid with a new toy,” Lori said. I shot her warning glare.
“You didn't answer. You're not listening to me!” Nicolette prodded.
“What?” Wow, I sound irritable. Could it be because I sense battle?
“We're just looking for anyone?”
“Yes, anyone with red bracelets.”
“You make it sound so easy,” Nicolette's guard chuckled.
“Touchdown in twelve,” Tetsuro said, then muttered, “this thing is so easy to fly.”
“Don't you let anything happen to my house!” I warned as I moved towards the airlock. Lori stood with me and Nicolette and her guys stood too. Wyatt won his off time after the drones. Besides, between all of us there were seven people and I felt like that was enough.
The ship leveled out and hovered nicely in time for the ramp to open up. The ship was putting off a lot of wind but the familiar quiet engines soothed my antsy body. I tapped the firearm at my side to remind myself it was there and do
uble checked the clip for my monocular. I scanned my party for an identifying mark on everyone in my group and checked again to make sure Lori had my back up medicine bag. I didn't want to be left without medicine ever again.
We all stepped out onto the ground and hustled towards cover. We were dropped off in a paved lot, with the nearest structure being an unmarked cubical building, tanned with age. It certainly appeared lifeless. I know I instructed Tetsuro to drop us off away from people but I hope he didn't drop us TOO far away…
Moving through the city was like a breath of fresh air. It was good to be back, and my combat senses tingled. As we moved down the streets and empty lots, I used my monocular to check for heat signatures inside buildings. Everything up to this point was empty, but soon we came upon a clinic. There were several life signs inside, and if it's in full operation, not everyone would be a Red.
As we all stopped to assess our surroundings from within the shadows, I quietly said into my comm, “We're only after the Reds. If someone gives you trouble otherwise, neutralize but don't injure.”
A round of confirmatory responses were passed and I nodded to Nicolette. She produced a weapon and moved in across the street. The rest of us followed closely. Most places that still functioned normally kept a man outside strictly for the purposes of preventing Dwellers from entering. This was so with the clinic. He looked up in time to notice our tactical team advancing, but someone darted him before he could react. One of Nicolette's people ran to his side as he dropped unconscious. He checked both wrists and shook his head “no”, confirming that he was not a Red. Nicolette gave a hand signal and I had Lori stick close.
Nicolette and one of hers entered the front doors and put the first person in sight at weapons point. “This building is now under lock-down!” she shouted. “Everyone on the ground, NOW!”
I slipped past inconspicuously looking for those that wouldn't comply. I almost guarantee there would be some. Movement. A greater stood and raised his hand. He's either a bolt, freeze, burn, or trickster. But more importantly, there was a Red bracelet on his wrist. With amazing reflexes, I dropped to one knee and shouted “Lori!” while I made a superficial burn to light up the hallway. My target turned his face away and used his arm to cover himself at the sight of fire. Lori darted the Red from behind me then ducked away to cover. Though the flames clung to his clothes, the real damage came when I ran and kicked him into the wall then planted a knee into his chest. He fell to the ground gasping for air, but the door immediately to my left opened up to reveal another Red. This one though had puffy eyes and a flushed face, indicating he was likely in here because his was actually sick. He raised a gun (how is it all of the Reds are armed?) but before he fired, I grabbed and redirected his gun to fire elsewhere. A signal went off in my mind and before the guy could do much else, he was struck twice, darted, and thrown onto a desk. Though he didn't seem to take significant damage, he just laid there and moaned. Lori darted two more people and Nicolette shouted orders to both her people and the people here. I passed my first target nonchalantly as I checked for more.