Collision of Worlds - Chapter 1

“Is it heavy?”

“Not particularly,” Jayson said, moving his arms to test the way the armor moved. It glided with his motions, feeling more like he was wearing a long-sleeved shirt than a few hundred pounds of body armor.

“It looks heavy.”

Jayson shrugged. “It’s actually quite comfortable.”

“You’ll need to put the helmet on before the environment seals are in place and climate controls click on,” Alexander Robertson explained, standing off to the side and watching.

He was an old man with a flowing white beard and wrinkles. He walked with a cane, but Jayson knew from experience that it was mostly for show and defense; he certainly knew how to use it, and he wasn’t the sort of man to be trifled with.

“Climate controls?” Jayson asked.

Alexander nodded. “The suit will protect you against most elements and is actually quite comfortable. It is nothing compared to the tech we used to put on the Fists, but bringing it down to your size meant we had to drop some of the bulkier items.”

He glanced over at the other person standing with them: Maven Ophidian, the woman who was in charge of the Academy. They had rarely seen her these past two years, and each time he did, he felt uneasy.

She wore a black robe that covered her entire body and dragged around an oxygen tank. A mask covered her face and made sucking noises as it pumped air into her lungs.

The only part of her he could see were her eyes, and they were cold and empty. She watched them and studied them but rarely spoke.

They were standing in a field outside of the Academy on one of the nicest days of the season. Winter was just around the corner, and they’d learned from experience just how devastatingly cold it could get.

“When do I get a suit?” Richard asked. He was a big and burly man with an infectious laugh. He shaved more often now, something Tricia demanded of him, but Jayson didn’t like seeing him without his beard. It made him look like his head was too small for his body.

“This is a prototype,” Alexander said. “We’re testing how well the components work in relation to each other. It won’t be ready for production for at least ten more years.”

“So…not anytime soon?” Richard asked.

“No,” Alexander said.

“Drat.”

“What else does it do?” Jayson asked, moving the rest of his body. He could hardly believe how smooth it felt, like the hydraulics were supporting him rather than the other way around.

“It keeps you alive. We are testing out a few targeting systems.”

“And the cloaking,” Maven chimed in, her voice raspy and deep.

An uncomfortable look flashed across Alexander’s face. “We…were forced to abandon the cloaking. It is included in this prototype, but the energy expenditure will be too much for the suit to handle. It only lasts for a few seconds before it needs to be recharged.”

She stared at him for a long moment, the only sound the tank helping her breathe. “Show me.”

Alexander nodded and turned to Jayson. “Put the helmet on. It won’t work unless you are sealed.”

Jayson did as he was told, sliding the helmet on over his head. As soon as it locked into place, he heard a whooshing sound as air was expelled.

A voice spoke up from inside the helmet. The voice was dry and boring, that of an old and tired-sounding man. “All systems are functional. Awaiting commands.”

“What was that?” he asked.

“That is your onboard intelligence system,” Alexander explained. “On your right palm, you’ll find an indentation. Flick your thumb across it.”

Jayson felt around, quickly finding the indentation. He pressed his thumb into it. Nothing happened.

“It is a practiced motion,” Alexander said. “You must do it quickly.”

Jayson swiped a few times, but still there was no response. Finally, he was able to flick it, and he heard a humming sound.

Otherwise, though, nothing seemed to happen. The humming lasted for a few seconds and then dissipated. “Did it work?” he asked.

When he glanced over at Richard, he saw a look of shock on his friend’s face. “It worked. You disappeared.”

“What do you mean?”

“I mean, there was an outline of you, sort of, but I could see right through you.”

“It uses light absorption and image distortion. There are limitations to how we see things, and this suit takes advantage of it. Works only minimally against technology but well against people.”

“That is freaking awesome,” Richard said. “I want one.”

“It drains the suit’s power rather quickly. We have a shutoff in place, and the cells recharge, but we can’t put a bigger capacitor in place or we run the risk of an errant shot causing the suit to explode.”

Maven studied Jayson for a moment and then nodded. “Very well. Continue looking into the technology, and we will revisit the issue. For now, you can leave it out of future prototypes. What about the armor itself? Is it sturdy?”

“We have tested it in contained environments and it is rated up to—”

Maven casually walked over to a nearby table and picked a pistol up. She eyed it for a second, turned, and fired at Jayson.

The shot was loud and he felt the bullet hit him squarely in the chest, staggering him back. It didn’t do any real damage, though, and the bullet absorbed most of the impact.

The disheartening part was what if it hadn’t?

“You shot me?” he asked, glancing down at the torn armor. He saw the armor shifting and molding where the bullet had impacted. “What the hell is that?”

“The armor is self-repairing,” Alexander explained, eyeing Maven warily. “It will continue trying to repair any damage to a certain point, though occasionally raw materials will be necessary to replace lost matter. As I was saying, the armor is bulletproof up to a certain rating, but we haven’t tested anything—”

Maven ignored him. She turned back to the table and picked up a rifle. Jayson felt his eyes go wide and started backing up, trying to get away. She turned, aimed, and pulled the trigger before he could take more than a few steps.

This time, the armor didn’t absorb all of the impact. He felt himself get thrown back a few meters. He landed hard on his back and felt a sharp impact on his chest, taking his breath away.

He lay there, looking up at the sky and trying to breathe for a few seconds. Richard appeared above him, shouting something with a concerned expression on his face, but all Jayson could see were little dots floating around his head.

After a few minutes, he felt his breathing pick back up, and the world started coming back into focus. Richard helped him sit up.

“You all right?”

He shook his head. “No,” he said, his voice wispy. His chest was in agony, and he felt like he was bleeding.

Richard reached down and plucked the shell out of his chest. “Didn’t really make it through,” he said, eyeing the wound. “Another centimeter, though…”

The shell was the size of Jayson’s fist and looked like it had been flattened.

They all turned and looked at Maven, who was still holding the rifle in her hands. She gently set the gun back on the table.

“It works,” she said, nodding at Alexander. “Let me know when we can make more.”

Then, she turned and strode off, heading back into the Academy.

2

“She’s crazy,” Richard said, shaking his head once she was gone.

“Maybe,” Alexander agreed, a weary expression on his face. “But, in my experience, most people with her power usually are. And, if they aren’t, then they become crazy somewhere along the way.”

“That hurt like hell,” Jayson said, trying to stand up. The other two men helped him, lifting him to his feet. “When you asked if I wanted to test out some new armor…”

“When she brought guns, I assumed they were for you to shoot to see the armor in action. I would have preferred that test to be on the empty suit.”

They spent the next few minutes stripping the armor back off of Jayson and checking over his chest. He had a huge welt at the bottom of his ribs, and he wouldn’t have been surprised if a couple of them had been cracked.

But, all in all, it wasn’t too terrible and he was fairly certain he would be just fine in a couple of weeks.

“Do I get to keep the armor?” he asked.

Alexander smiled sadly at him and shook his head. “No. Not yet at least. We will need to test it in the field soon, but there are still some kinks we need to work out with this suit before it is field ready.”

“Damn,” Jayson said. “Any word yet on when we’re being sent out?”

“Nothing,” Alexander replied. “But don’t worry, I’m sure Maven has something large in store for you.”

He nodded at them both and then headed back to the Academy.

Jayson glanced over at Richard and saw an equally worried expression on his face.

“Maven having something planned for us is what worries me.”