“Oh, here, take this. I threw this together for you.” He’s suddenly handing me something wrapped in brown paper. It’s soft and squishy and folded into a square. I stare down at the lumpy package questionably. “Open it later. My number is inside if you need to adjust... well, you’ll see. Anyway, thank you.”
He nods shyly at Alex and just as quickly as he approached us, he’s wandering away, attempting to avoid his own impending paparazzi.
Later, as I enter a delirious food coma in the back of Gino’s Pizzeria, I remember the package sitting at my feet beneath our booth. While Shia and Casey argue about the construction of a perfect pizza, I bend down and grab the package.
“What do you think it is?” I ask Alex who slips her arm around my shoulders.
“Let’s find out.” She says.
I pull at the paper until it rips away and sitting in my lap is a brand-new Van Houten Industries-styled Metalia suit. There’s a card on top with a loosely-scrawled list of features.
“Energy conversion... kinetic blasts... A.I organizational system... cloaking tech...” My jaw drops open and I unfold the suit in my hands. It’s black, solid, and all mine.
“Holy guacamole, what in the name of polycarbonate is that...?” Shia, taking notice of the suit looks more serious than I’ve ever seen her.
I laugh and fold the thing back up in its paper. “Just work stuff.” I tell her. “Right now, I’m on break.”
Hero Least Likely Series (Book 2): Van Houten Rising Page 11