“What can it stop?” Alex asked.
“The personal shield can stop multiple caliber projectiles from 9 mm up to a 7.62 mm battle rifle rounds.”
“Hoooly shit.” Sam clapped. “Let me see that.” He held his hands out.
Grey removed the gauntlet and adjusted it to fit on the much larger man’s forearm. He gave Sam a few seconds of instruction and then stepped back.
Sam switched it on and moved it about. “No weight.”
Grey shrugged. “Why would there be? It’s just using the surrounding air, but reorganizing the molecules into a rotating lattice formation.”
Sam backed up several steps. “Okay, boss, let me have it.” Alex aimed and fired off three quick rounds. Every single one struck and dropped away.
“Nothing — didn’t even feel the impacts.” Sam lowered his arm. “It’s a shield, but near see-through.”
Alex stepped forward and reached out a hand toward the circle of compressed air. He felt solid matter beneath his fingers. Even though the circle of air was slightly oily in appearance, like swirling water, his mind still told him that he should have been able to reach through it. However, his hand told a different story.
Sam turned it off and handed him the gauntlet. Alex slid it on, and repeated what Sam had done, and initiated the shield. Alex also backed up a few steps.
“Okay, big guy; charge.”
Sam grinned and lowered his brow. He was a large man, at 250 pounds easy. He was also assisted by the internal MECH suit technology that gave him the power of a battering ram. He dropped his shoulder and sprinted at Alex.
Alex raised the shield and widened his stance. Though Alex was stronger than Sam, mass and velocity were on the bigger HAWC’s side. Sam crashed into Alex and the shield, and Alex skidded backwards from the massive impact. But it was Sam that was flung aside.
Sam sprang to his feet. “That shit is tough — combination shield and battering ram.”
Alex nodded to the scientist. “Well done; add them to my shopping cart.”
“Good. Been wanting them to get a run in the field — and no one tests out our stuff like you guys. I want a full report on all the new tech when you get back.” Grey waved them on and then led them out through a different set of vault-like rooms.
Alex felt the presence as soon as he entered one of the darkened chambers. He pulled up hard, his head turning.
“What the hell is that?”
Grey looked sheepish. “Yes, I wanted you to see her.”
“Her?” Alex frowned. He could sense he was being watched even more strongly now that he was inside — or a better description might have been that he was being scanned.
“Lights up,” Grey said. “Spot.” Immediately more lighting came on and a single stronger beam came down directly over a lone, seated figure.
Alex couldn’t help his mouth dropping open. “You have got to be kidding me.” He crossed to the figure. “It’s a robot.” He bent to look into the blank face.
Sam joined him. “Pretty ugly.”
Grey went and stood beside it, placing a hand on its slim shoulder. “Oh, it’s more than a robot. She’s part of our Synthetic Warrior Program.” He glared at Sam. “And she’s a thing of beauty, as well as being the ultimate in autonomous mobile computing and communication packages.” He smiled. “And much more.”
The slim human shaped figure sat wired into a chair-type capsule. It shone dull silver as if made of pewter or brushed steel. Except for a slight slimness to the frame, it looked in proportion to someone approximately five feet nine or ten.
Grey then jogged to a console in the far corner and spoke over his shoulder. “Go ahead, touch it; it’s not powered up just yet. Just give me a minute here.”
Alex placed his hand against the cheek. The smooth silver skin of the face was featureless with just some bumps and depressions giving a hint to facial features. The synthetic skin was smooth and just below body temperature, but still warm. Alex dropped his hand to the shoulder and squeezed. The material gave slightly and he could feel a definite hardness beneath, like scaffolding or bones.
“It feels like skin, and it’s warm.” He laid a hand flat against the chest. “And by the way it’s already on; I can feel it.”
“No, not yet; maybe just some residual energy release or heat diffusion from the power plant,” said Grey. “It’s experimental HiPER fusion — High Power Energy Release through fusion reaction — stable, clean, and allows miniaturization without energy sacrifice or even degradation.”
“Nuclear powered.” Alex felt the chest again, sensing the slight buzz of enormous energy residing just under the synthetic skin.
“Oh, yes.” Grey worked at the console for a moment before looking back at Alex. “The power plant fuses the lighter nuclei together and releases enormous amounts of energy. Thanks to a little help from our Canadian cousins we were able to package it in a reactor the size of a human heart — the only real difference is the human heart outputs about five watts of power, but Sophia’s here will give her nearly a megawatt of energy and beat for a thousand years… or for as long as the casing stays intact, anyway.”
“Sophia, huh?” Alex ran his hand over the arm. “I can’t feel any seals; no joins on the surface at all.”
“There are seals, but they’re internal folds and can only be opened on command.”
“Yours or hers?” Sam asked.
“Both.” Grey shot back. “What you’re seeing is the result of ten years work, and many billions of dollars in investment.”
Alex lifted one of the arms, turning it over to look at the hand and palm. “Feels like steel, but soft; I’m assuming some sort of synthetic woven alloy.”
“Correct,” Grey responded. “Twenty times tougher than Kevlar and more akin to spider silk for its pound-for-pound tensile strength. In effect, it’s molecular chainmail covering advanced technology and hydraulics, and don’t be misled by the slim design. Due to the advancements in microtechnology, size does not mean strength. Sophia is probably stronger and faster than both of you combined.”
The scientist fiddled behind a console and immediately two glowing, almond-shaped orbs appeared where eyes should be on the almost blank face. The figure turned to Alex, and he could feel an examination taking place. And more, he felt a tingling in the center of his head.
“She’s scanning me.” Alex returned the analysis, and detected a level of complexity that was astounding before he was suddenly cut off, like a steel door slamming shut to block him. “I can feel her in my head.”
“She undoubtedly finds you interesting. She can link and target, uh, I mean, find anyone we designate.” Grey smiled as he fiddled at the console. “Vocalize please, Sophia.”
“Good morning, Captain Alexander Hunter and Lieutenant Samuel Reid; nice to meet both of you.”
“It knows us?” Sam asked.
“Sophia has access to our military personnel database, so knows your basic details from there. That’s all.”
There was a slight tingling in Alex’s head before the figure spoke again.
“Captain Hunter, I detect you have a different neural architecture, possibly resulting from the penetration by a small caliber bullet fragment lodged within the core of your cerebellum at the mid-point between the hypothalamus and thalamus.” Sophia’s head titled as though to examine him further. “Your brain has compensated for the trauma by developing a benign internal mass, but… there is also some foreign material still there — that is unidentifiable. You are now different.”