"That is satisfactory." Alex laid out the suit in front of "himself", kneeling down on the floor in a crossed legged sitting position. "He" looked expectantly at Kris.
"K then... welp, I guess I should tell you first off this isn't your normal shiny, skin tight jumpsuit you see in spy movies... You HAVE seen those types of movies haven't you? You know... Jar Jar Bonds, Golden Gungan?" Kris squinted at Alex.
"Well... um... what are those?" Alex turned "his" head to the side, eyebrow raised.
Kris couldn't help but chuckle a bit before speaking again, "Haha... Jen really messed up on that part of your "introduction" to good ol' real life." Kris regained his serious expression after a moment, "Look... it's not important right now..."
"But..."
"NO, I am not explaining modern media and entertainment to you right now Alex... especially not spy movies. This is serious stuff we are talking about here." Kris had to cover his face with his left hand to stop himself from laughing at Alex again.
"I... I understand. Please continue." Alex shook off "his" curiosity on the matter. Focused again, "he" stayed quiet.
"As I was saying, this suit is made of overlapping fibers of synthetic material focused on maximum mobility for the wearer. It should practically feel like you're in ya birthday suit... eh you better know what that means. Anyway, the main function of this bad boy is that you will be practically invisible to any detection devices that don't use color vision. The suit itself conceals your body heat, hides you from X-rays, goes through lasers as a non-moving object, and even hides any electrical devices or... implants you might have on. You don't have any implants do you Alex?"
"I don't think so... I'm not entirely sur-"
Kris, realizing Alex might start breaking off the subject again to ask another question, interrupted swiftly, "That's great Alex! I'll keep going. The last of the finer details of the suit's passive responses are as follows. Despite it's thin structure, it does offer some decent protection. While I wouldn't try to get shot by bullets... that won't end well by the way... if you do happen to get shot, the suit itself should be able to reduce the impact of the projectile by a bit. To add to that, the innermost layers of the suit's supporting structure will tighten around areas it detects you are bleeding in order to minimize blood loss. If it gets ripped up to much though... actually by then you'll be dead... so... happy thoughts yeah?"
Alex continued to stare blankly at Kris as he finished speaking the last statement.
Kris was somewhat surprised at how Alex wasn't responding to his admittingly poorly placed joke, "O... -K then. As for the helmet, it used to have some scanning capabilities of it's own... but the chip that had all those functions was lost. I'm afraid that's the end of it."
Alex listened carefully to all Kris had to say, but was still bothered by one thing, "I have a question... how does the suit move on it's own with such a thin layering?" "He" laid his hand on the cloth-like synthetic body of the suit, tracing it down it's structure in an effort to get a feel for it.
"Oh... it's quite simple really... Nanomachines, son. They harden in response to physical trauma..." (I'm sorry... I had to. Too perfect to pass up the opportunity. :rolleyes: )
"Interesting..." Alex nodded slowly, actually fascinated by the idea that such cloth could somehow house such tech without it being noticeable on the outside.
"You know I'm kidding... right?" Kris's lips curved to a grin.
Alex's blank stare almost wavered into a frown in response. Deep down, the childish side of "himself" was the slightest bit disappointed.
"Honestly I'm pretty sure the suit just automatically controls it from the helmet. The main cords holding the fibers together seemed to all lead back to the back of the head. So try not to bash your skull too hard into things... otherwise that nice "medical assistance" you could be getting won't work for very long. You got all that?"
Alex nodded again.
"Good. Go ahead and try it on now... I'll be in the kitchen to grab something to eat." Kris got off the couch and turned, moving next to the refrigerator.
Looking back at the suit, Alex reached to grab it again. Fortunately, the eerie feeling "he" had before was gone. The suit no longer bothered "him" in that way. Changing out of "his" current clothing, "he" reverted back to "his" normal appearance, pulling down "it's" ponytail from where "it" had wrapped it together.
Slipping into the suit wasn't a major issue, and soon Alex was covered from head-to-toe in black fiber layers save for "it's" face where "it" had still not put on the mask. In fact, "it" was able to tie up "it's" hair inside the upper body quite nicely without much discomfort. Reaching for the last piece of the suit, "it" suddenly felt a sharp pain of several thousand needles piercing into "it's" body from random locations on all of "it's" limbs. Buckling down to the floor on "it's" knees, Alex had to repress the urge to scream out in pain as the suit molded itself to fit "it's" specific body size.
Noticing Alex suddenly falling over, Kris rushed back to the side of the coach next to the kid's position, dropping his newly made sandwich on to the floor as he did so.
"Woah, you ok kid?" Kris immediately noticed how Alex had a different facial appearance. In fact... the "guy's" whole body type had changed. He immediately identified them as a teenager after a quick inspection.
So that was what Jen was talking about... well I'll be d@mned... Kris thought to himself. He knew Alex probably looked completely different from his disguise, but what really threw him off was the massive amount of hair branching off of the kid's head. He wasn't really sure what gender "it" was either, but he decided to continue to refer to the youngster as a guy as he had when they first met for the time being.
While Kris knew something was off about the suit, he had no idea it was advanced enough to actually latch onto the user. He frantically looked over Alex to see if there was anything he could do to help as the suit went through it's process.
Alex suddenly started to spasm on the floor, eye's rolled back into "it's" head. Not knowing what quite else to do, Kris laid a hand on the "boy's" chest and held "him" down until it was over.
After a few more minutes of violent spasms, the suit finally stopped adjusting itself, pain receding from the muscle areas where it had dug into Alex's skin. Kris took his hand off the kid's chest, confident the worst of it had passed.
Lurching forward, Alex gasped for air as "it's" vision cleared. In the next moment "it" was rushing over to the sink and throwing up everything it had consumed the day before. The blood in "it's" veins had turned a coarse black, becoming visible on "it's" face. To make it worse, the black veins were pulsing just under "it's" skin. Slowly, Alex's eyes turned a dark black as well.
"Holy crap Alex! I'm sorry about misinterpreting the suit. You need to take it off right now. We have no idea what the h#ll it's doing to you." Kris could only stare in shock as he blurted out the words.
Alex slowly turned towards Kris, a devilish grin on "it's" face, "No... I feel... I feel better than ever Kris. Actually... I feel... happy. Do you know what this means?! I can FEEL. Why would I ever give up this ecstatic feeling?!" Alex spoke with an unidentifiable metallic voice, it was if "it" was a completely different person, "It's like this coating on my body is sharing something with me. It's fantastic. Thank you for giving me this Kris..."
"Kid... listen to me. We have no idea what the suit really is doing. Something about you not being a normal human must have not fit with the settings of the suit. You could explode at any time for all we know! Take it off!"
"NO" Alex lashed out verbally at Kris, suddenly feeling... anger. It was amazing. "It" wanted more. Reaching down towards the mask again, "it" pulled it towards "it's" face.
"Alex! You have to sto-" Kris was cut off when Alex slid the mask on. A small amount of steam shot out of the edges of the mask as it sealed together with the other layers of the device.
"Don't worry old man... I'm better now. I'm thinking clearly... I assure you. I'm afraid I need to leave to find my friends now. I'll be back... Take care of my stuff will ya? Hahaha!" The voice was now completely unrecognizable, metallic overtone dominating all forms of speech. Now completely sealed in black, Alex grabbed the two sais off the counter. As "it" flipped them over in the air, several fibers of the suit expanded to form a double sheath on either side of "it's" hip level. Quickly sheathing the blades in one quick motion with "it's" arms, Alex then turned invisible as it walked toward the window in the apartment living room. Snatching up the micro uzi and several ammo clips as "it" went forward. The gun and ammunition were soon holstered on "it's" back in the same fashion as the blades. Now at the window, "it" pulled the glass frame up and stuck "it's" head down. Noticing the fire escape dragging all the way down just below, Alex smiled under the mask, confidence surging through "it's" mind.
Looking back for the last time at the speechless Kris, "it" almost mockingly waved goodbye as "it" turned with "it's" back facing the window opening. Letting "itself" fall backwards, Alex extended "it's" arms out to either side to form a cross-like position.
Kris suddenly came to his senses as he saw what Alex was doing, "Wait... What are y-" Alex could no longer hear him as "it" was now falling through the open air.
Alex sensed a surge of energy coursing through "it's" body... adrenaline. "It" was no stranger to this feeling, but "it" had never before been subject to the emotional pull it had. In a mixture of excitement and mad joy, "it" shoved "it's" hand out, grabbing the railing of the fire escape. Normally Alex would feel some sort of whiplash... this time the suit absorbed just enough of the impact to make it somewhat comfortable. Pulling off in a quick backflip, Alex committed to several needless acrobatic twirls through the air as "it" flung and curled down the rest of the metal walkway towards the streets below. Landing on the ground was an even more fantastic experience. Rolling onto the surface, "it" suddenly flipped upwards into a cartwheel, prancing across the empty street as if "it" was a child getting overexcited in gymnastics class.
Now flying into an alleyway, Alex was able to hear the nearby loud pacing of a large group of soldiers patrolling the street nearby. Gracefully landing next to a garbage can, "it" made no form of noise as "it" crept, still invisible, towards the swarming sounds of footsteps in the street ahead. "It" was suddenly witness to an entire patrol of 48 soldiers moving down the otherwise deserted area.
Alex was suddenly reminded of why "it" was in the streets in the first place. Shrugging off the gleeful urge to continue jumping about with a slight degree of difficulty, "it" walked straight into the group of soldiers, this would have to suffice. Dodging between several of them while crossing the street, "it" overheard some of their conversations.
Soldier 1: "You heard about the pings near the junkyard?"
Soldier 2: "Yeah... probably just some confused kids whose parents don't manage them or something."
Soldier 4: "I think it's the terrorists honestly... the command doesn't make that many mistakes anymore."
Soldier 2: "Hah... you call the last 6 months PERFECTION?! Lay off man, you have no idea what you're talking about."
Soldier 4: "More action isn't bad Flint... just more work."
Flint: "Yeah? How about the endless stream of fudge-ups of going to a location notified as a combat zone only to sit there for days without anything happening... just you and two... maybe three other guys... it's stupid!"
Soldier 1: "Hey, calm down. You should hope this is another "blunder" too with that attitude. I'd rather not risk my skin just for some petty government busine- ACK! What the h#ll!" Alex had suddenly just thrown a rock at the soldier from nowhere. The small piece of earth bounced harmlessly off the helmet of the man, but it was amusing to watch his reaction nonetheless.
Soldier 1: "Who did that?! Was that you Rich?"
Sergeant: "Did I hear something just now?!" A man in a suit with a small red star spray-painted on the back said from farther ahead in the line."
Soldier 1: "Yes sir! Sorry sir!"
Sergeant: "Will I hear it again?"
Soldier 1: "No sir!"
Alex suddenly burst out laughing, still invisible on the other side of the street. The harsh metallic cackle echoed across the entire block.
Soldier 3: "What the h#ll was that?!"
Flint: "I dunno... this is getting really creepy man..."
The entire patrol raised their weapons, scanning the surrounding area.
Lieutenant: "Alright! Split into your squads! Search the block! Carlson, ping the location!"
Cracking "it's" knuckles, Alex turned away from the group of now frantically moving soldiers. Waltzing through the next alleyway, "it" began to skip carelessly across the ground.
Must be time to get going... That was fun while it lasted.
Alex then started to jog towards Eve's apartment, feeling much more energized than before. Moving around with the suit on... plus invisibility... one was practically a ghost. This was the most fun "it" had since... just about ever. "It" was beginning to get addicted to wearing the equipment the more it ran around in it.
I wonder what the others have been doing...
