Transmat World: Chapter 18, Episode 2
Mexico, near Transmat headquarters, Thursday, November 18, 2145 A.D.
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“First, we’ll sync up the built-in hedset of the Exoguard to yours,” said Vince as he plugged a cable into the back of Julie’s hedset―no mean feat given the purple plastic fur he had to bypass. He then plugged it into the Exoguard, waited twenty seconds, unplugged the cable, and pushed a button. The cable rolled itself up, and he stashed it in a pocket.
“Here, get in,” said Vince as he moved a sliding panel and punched a hidden button.
The suit hinged in the back and split open just enough to allow a person to squeeze in on one side, then the other. Julie removed her hedset and pressed herself into the suit. Furboten had already hopped onto a shoulder of the armor. Upon Vince’s directions, she clinched both hands into closed fists and the suit closed and sealed. A pneumatic inner liner partially inflated as part of the shock reduction system. It protected occupants from short-term g-forces up to 100 g’s.
The surface sported a metallic, silver sheen with inlaid parallelograms of obsidian-looking material in dual “V” patterns down the torso back and front. Chevrons of the same material ran down the arms and horizontal stripes around the legs. A bubble of bulletproof super-polycarbonate covered the telescoping eye lenses. The neck, joints, hands, and feet were nested rings of the metal combined with the black, flexible material forming bellows arrangements to allow for movement. On the back, an inverted scoop hid Transmat thrusters for flight. There were also thrusters on the feet and wrists for maneuvering.
Julie did a little jig, letting out high-pitched, almost unintelligible squeals about the suit undressing her and then stood stock-still.
“Julie, I’m so sorry,” said Vince, “That would be the automatic, double catheterization equipment kicking in.”
“You could have given me a warning on that one,” said Julie.
“I forgot,” said Vince in lame exasperation.
“Does anyone have a permanent marker? I’m going to write ‘Julie’s’ on this suit,” said Maria.
“It’s a necessity,” Vince continued, “We could be in them for a long time. These suits fit so close after the pneumatic shock absorber inflates that even a fart might cause serious in-suit pollution problems — “
“Oh, shut your yap. And I prefer the term ‘colonic vapor.’ Okay, come on. I’ll take on any of you guys.” She made palms-up come-on signs with her exofingers, apparently recovered from the surprise intrusion.
“No, silly, you’re going to take on those guys,” said Vince as he pointed to the Transmat booth.
Julie turned to see four extras from a medieval war documentary exit the booth. She pirouetted one-eighty and ran as fast as she could. Watching Julie run, one could not have discerned the suit had arms or legs. It was an Exoguard torso and head being levitated across the Mexican landscape atop a blur. Catlike, Furboten landed on all four paws when the supporting shoulder abandoned him.
“Write if you find work,” said Furboten to the speck that was Julie disappearing over the gun range hill. She reappeared just as quick, arriving like a miniature dust devil to the spot she just left. In a display of caution, Furboten padded to the sidelines to join the spectators.
“Sorry. Reflexes. Wow, this suit is responsive. Okay, what do I do? You want me to fight those guys?”
“I told them to do their best and see what happens. They are professional fighters in protective armored suits, not augmented Exoguards. When you engage them just tell the suit ‘mode three’ and let it take over,” said Vince. The armored group was three yards from Julie. She turned to face them.
“Mode three,” said Julie.
Her suit went into a crouch. The heavies approached her in staggered positions, each arriving separately at slightly different angles. They leave Julie in the order they arrive, but at widely divergent angles, including those directions not parallel to the ground. Julie won in seconds with the help of “uber-karate” software and the augmented speed and strength of her military grade Exoguard.
“I … am … the champion,” sang Julie with her mighty fists high in the air.
They help the hired suits up as Vince announced to everyone that they were measured with lasers at the Kleopatra lab, and each would have an Exoguard ready before Thanksgiving.
“What is mode two?” asked Maria.
“That is the mode that doesn’t care if your assailant is injured or not. It is normal combat mode,” said Vince.
“Crap, this is the last one of these gigs I do,” grumbled one of the assailants as they trudged back toward the Transmat booth.
“Thanks, guys,” sayed Vince to the backs of their armor.
“What is mode one?” asked Enrique.
“We won’t be using mode one,” said Vince.
“Oh, come on Vince, tell us,” said Maria, pouting her lips and batting her eyes.
“Oh, all right. Mode one is what I call ‘berserker’ mode. It is an offensive mode that operates outside the physical safety parameters of what a human body can withstand. It can carry on even if the person inside is dead, obliterating any unregistered enemy entities.”
“I, for one, would like to register,” said Enrique.
“Mode one is for military use only. It is disabled in these suits,” said Vince.
“What if we come across something that’s not humanoid?” asked Ernesto. “How does the suit deal with the differences in anatomy and center of gravity?”
“These things were programmed for fighting with humans, but I have people working on a more generalized program. Unfortunately, there was not a lot of time for testing, so there may be a few bugs.”
“Then I hope we don’t run into bugs,” said Enrique.
“Bugs have an unwarranted bad rep,” said Rousseau.
Julie left the armored suit like a butterfly from a cocoon. She accepted her hedset from Maria, and Furboten hopped back on her shoulder.
“I’m ready to go,” said Julie.
“After Thanksgiving. The other suits have to be fabricated, and each of you will test your own suit. You will learn the flight capabilities through software similar to what Enrique used on his moon suit. It will be delivered to your respective abodes, and you should use it every spare second you have until the mission. If you haven’t already guessed, all of us are not going on the trip out — only Enrique.”
After a stunned silence, Ernesto spoke up. “That makes sense. Once Enrique is at the destination, we can Transmat to the See Lurchin’ without unnecessarily endangering our own lives.”
“Wusses,” said Enrique with a smile on his face.
Maria hit his arm just below the deltoid muscle with a raised knuckle.
“Ow!” exclaimed Enrique and rubbed the knot it raised.
“Mr. Lobo Solitario, braving the first manned interstellar space flight all by himself,” said Maria.
“What did she call me?” asked Enrique, pretending not to know. “Vince, you need to control your girlfriend,” and to Maria, “You’re just jealous.”
“A little,” said Maria.
Julie hit his other arm.
“Ow, what was that for?” asked Enrique.
“Nothing. It just looked like fun,” said Julie.
“You’re not in that suit anymore, Julie. Vince, can’t you even control your secretary?” asked Enrique.
“Executive assistant,” said Julie.
“No, I cannot,” said Vince in a tone of tranquil resignation. “Enough horseplay, let’s go home and get some rest.”
They all headed for the Transmat booth with quiet anticipation of historic events about to take place.
“Don’t worry, Enrique, you’ll have me for company on your historic flight out,” said Rousseau.
“Thanks buddy,” said Enrique ruefully.
“First hedbot in interstellar space,” pointed out Rousseau.
“Duly noted,” admitted Enrique.
“But I can’t hit you on the arm like they did.”
“That’s not a big plus,” said Enrique while knocking the dust off his boots before entering the Transmat.
“I think you liked it,” said Rousseau.
Enrique protested among giggles as they winked out of existence.
