Chương 26: Chapter 27: Armour

Adam acquired a vehicle through not-so-legal means before heading back towards the forest. Spector was located as fast as possible. He rode the vehicle as far as he could into the woods before the landscape eventually forced him to abandon it, where he continued to run back to the cave.

As he reached the cave and walked inside, he saw that it looked just as empty as always, with nothing there; however, he knew it was all an illusion and walked towards the rear of the cave and pressed his hand up against it to feel the cool, hard stone, and after a moment, he heard Spector's voice through his neurolink. [Access Granted.] A second later, Adam's hand seemed to pass through the solid wall as he followed along after it to once again enter Spector.

"Please follow the wall markings indicating the direction." Spector's voice said through what appeared to be an internal intercom as the wall on Adam's right lit up before the following wall, and the next, until three sections of wall were lit up. The first returned to normal as he walked past it before the fourth lit up, and the process repeated itself. Adam followed the light indicators on the wall until he reached a door that slid open sideways to allow him entry with Spector android waiting inside the new room.

"These are Solarian anti-gravity armours." Spector Android said as she turned to indicate several plain, grey-looking suits situated along each side of the room they were in. They looked very similar to the exosuits you would see in some sci-fi games, movies or TV shows that were set in space. The only real difference is that they didn't seem to have a helmet and looked very plain.

"Unlike this world's space suits, the Solarian anti-gravity armours provide far greater protection to the vacuum of space and its harmful energies that exist out there, while also providing limited protection in combat. Also, since they operate via anti-gravity, they do not require propellant-based thrusters to achieve mobility in space." Adam stared at the plain grey suits with surprise before asking, "How exactly will these help me?

I mean, I gather they can fly since they are capable of anti-gravity; however, how am I supposed to use them to catch up with Viktor and his father?"

"Because they use anti-gravity technology for mobility instead of propellant-based thrust that this planet's flight-capable vehicles use, they are capable of far faster travel. While they are not capable of faster-than-light travel, they can travel at many times the speed of sound."

"Data indicates that since airliners that are capable of supersonic flight are not currently being produced and are currently not in use since the retirement of the aircraft known as Concorde, the standard cruising speed of commercial and privately owned aircraft is Mach zero point eight five or eighty-five per cent of the speed of sound."

"Solarian anti-gravity armours, however, are capable of greater than hypersonic flight, which is five times the speed of sound."

"Understood, but I have to ask, why do they look so plain. So far, everything of Solarian make I have seen has been more… appealing to the eyes. Why does this look so plain and dull?

"The Solarian anti-gravity armour is special in that each unit is unique to the individual who operates it, its form will change after the operator boards it, and the form it takes is affected partially by the pilot's personality and life experience but mainly by their imagination."

"You mean to say that no two armours look the same when they're in use?" Adam asked in wonder as he stared at the plain grey armour.

"That is correct, the physical appearance and colouring it takes is unique to that pilot."

"Ok, so how do I use it?" Adam asked.

"Initiating download of operating manual to your neurolink, standby." The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. Adam's body froze for a moment, and his eyes seemed to lose focus as the data was transmitted to his neurolink.

"Transfer Complete." After the transfer was complete, Adam stood motionless in silence for a short while as his mind processed the information he had received. The amount of data regarding the Solarian anti-gravity armours was far greater than the instructions on how to ride a motorcycle he received before, so it took longer for his mind to process the information. Finally, Adam's eyes focused again before he proceeded towards the back of the closest armour.

What wasn't originally viewable from where he previously stood was that the back of the armour was open, allowing for the operator to step into it. As he did so, he lined his torso, arms and legs up with the armour and when the armour detected that a user was inside of it, the open back part automatically closed up as the armour started to extend up his neck and a helmet was produced that covered his head before the armour started to shrink as it adjusted itself to his body size.

After the armour finished adjusting to his body size, what appeared to be the eye sockets of the helmet lit up with a red glow before the armour started to morph and change. The eye sockets on the headpiece expanded and joined together before turning into a dark visor which covered the majority of the headpiece front, while below it, where his mouth should be, was what looked like a small speaker that was flush with the mask.

There were circular objects that stuck out slightly where his ears would be, while the rest of the mask had grooves and contours to give it a futuristic look. The body, hands, legs and feet all had a similar design; it looked like it was made of dark military clothing, though most of it seemed to be covered by armour pieces. The armour pieces covered his chest, shoulders and back, while the arms looked like they had gauntlets on them, and the back of the gloves were covered in armour.

The legging armour covered his thighs and calves, while his feet seemed to be boots that were almost entirely covered in the armour. The entire thing had grooves and contours that gave it that futuristic appeal, while the whole armour was black with grey sections.

Two things stood out that did not seem to match with the rest of the aesthetic the armour had going; first, there were what appeared to be two tubes only a few centimetres long that ran down each side of his back, while the second thing was that the suit had a tail. It was long and thin with what appeared to be armour sections that were connected together, while at the end, the tail widened slightly into the shape of a half moon that looked incredibly sharp and thin.

What was even stranger about the tail was that instead of just staying motionless, it was actually moving and swaying slightly from side to side.

"Fascinating." Spector Android said as she studied the form that the Solarian anti-gravity armour had taken with Adam as its operator.

"What?" Adam asked as he began to move his arms and body around to check if there was any discomfort.

"You have a tail." Spector Android replied before generating a 3D holographic image of Adam right now that mimicked his actions. Adam stared in wonder at his appearance and had to admit that he thought he looked very cool; however, his attention was quickly grabbed by the swaying tail behind him. He turned around and so did the hologram, allowing him to look over his shoulder and see that the tail was connected to the section of armour that covered his rear.

As he walked around slightly, he saw that the tail swayed along with him.

"How did that happen?" Adam finally asked.

"Unclear, unfortunately, I do not have the ability to read a biological being's psyche to be able to come up with an answer." Spector Android replied before asking, "Are you able to control it?"

"Ermm," Adam said as he tried to think about making the tail move the way he wanted; however, nothing happened.

"It doesn't seem like it."

"Fascinating, this will require further experimentation in the future; however, for now, we will have to put it on hold since data suggests that the aircraft Francis and Viktor Morose are flying has altered course." Spector Android informed. Adam's attention left his tail and came back to the matter at hand before he asked, "Does the armour come equipped with any weapons?"

"Negative, the armour is purely designed for protection and anti-gravity mobility. We will need to equip you with weapons. As she finished speaking, Spector Android stepped over to one of the walls that didn't have an armour in front of it and pressed against the wall, a second letter, a compartment that previously fitted so seamlessly with the wall it was invisible, slid out from the wall containing multiple different weapons of different sizes.

Spector Android picked up a blaster before closing the compartment and handing it to Adam.