Chapter 8
There was a pop out holster for my gun on my right leg, so I slipped my new weapon into place and then scaled the ladder back to the surface. I hardly needed any energy at all to do it, and I was out of the hatch and back in the woods in a matter of seconds.
“This suit is unbelievable,” I said to the AI as I took a few steps away from the hatch and admired the black and gray material in the sunlight.
It looked almost woven together, and yet it had a sort of sheen to it as though it was a composite of plastic and metal. But it also moved with my body in a way that even the most high-tech materials on Earth could not. Pro athletes would probably kill for the suit, and I heard myself laugh as I imagined myself playing football and hockey while wearing my new duds.
I noticed that it was late enough that the sun poured through the gaps between the branches of the trees, and I reached out toward one of its rays. Where I would have normally felt the heat on my skin, however, the suit blocked out that sense of warmth, and I felt just as cool as I had down inside the bunker.
“Let’s see what it can do,” I said as I took off running through the trees.
The closest analogy I could come up with to describe it was a car, where I was the engine, and the suit was the wheels. It carried me along as I ran, and I was propelled along faster than I had ever run before. I watched the world rush past me as I sprinted through the trees, and I enjoyed the feeling of power that the suit and the nanobots gave me.
Every bit of my body felt electrified, though whether that was from the suit or my excitement, I wasn’t sure. I bounded over large roots and logs as though it was nothing and jumped over a small ditch I used to have to walk around. At one point, I even leapt up, grabbed a branch, and swung through the air like I was Tarzan. When I landed, it was as though I had stepped onto a cloud, instead of the usual jolt of pain.
It was as though I was surrounded in a protective layer that also gave me an extra boost when I needed it, and I had no doubt that I would be safe whenever I wore it. Although, I wasn’t sure I wanted to test that theory out with any actual bullets.
I came to a halt when I realized I had somehow already done a circuit of the wooded area and made it back to the hatch. I reached up to my neck, placed my hand to take off the section of the suit that was over my head, and then watched as the dark gray material crawled down off my face. Then, I looked down to admire the suit again and let out a joyful laugh.
“How are you enjoying the suit?” the AI asked, though I could tell from its smug tone of voice that it knew what I was going to say.
“It’s incredible, Francine,” I replied, and I realized I was hardly out of breath at all. “It’s like I’m riding a bike, but there’s someone behind me pushing me the whole time.”
“I am glad you approve,” it said. “Are there any alterations you would like me to make? Are any parts of it uncomfortable?”
“It’s perfect,” I replied as I shook my head. “I just can’t believe that I get to wear it.”
“You are going to be the man who saves the galaxy,” the AI said. “You need proper armor.”
“Don’t remind me,” I replied as I felt that pressure return, so I distracted myself by running a hand over the suit. “This is pretty comfortable for armor. It fits like a glove. What’s this thing even capable of?”
“The suit will protect you from almost everything,” Francine replied. “It is bulletproof, resistant to intense temperatures, and if you were to be hit or punched anywhere with it on, you would hardly feel it at all. Basically, it will protect your body from most forms of attack. However, I would not recommend trying it out in front of a high vector oscillating plasma cannon.”
“You mentioned that before,” I chuckled. “Those sound nasty.”
“They are, trust me,” it said.
“I’ve gotta say, this is very flattering,” I said.
“Why not look good while saving the planet?” Francine replied.
“I guess,” I laughed as I reached down to the gun and pulled it out of its holster to examine it in the daylight.
It was just as impressive in daylight as it had looked down in the bunker, and like any kid with a new toy, I knew I had to test it out. I held it in my hands as though I was going to fire it, and to no surprise, it fit perfectly in my palms. It felt like an extension of my arm, rather than something I had in my hands, and I marveled at the ingenuity that had gone into the creation of the weapon. I brought it closer to me and started to look at the various dials and buttons, but I wasn’t sure what each one did. There were various symbols on it, but I had no idea what they stood for.
“Shall I talk you through the instructions for using the gun, Will?” the AI suggested.
“Yes, please,” I chuckled. “I have no idea what these dials and knobs are for, honestly. The guns I’m used to are a bit more basic. Chamber a round and pull the trigger.”
“I will go one by one,” the AI said. “Do you see the button on the right side of the gun, just above the trigger?”
“Yep,” I replied as I ran my thumb softly over the button.
“That is your safety button,” it replied. “The gun should not fire without your finger on the trigger anyway, but it is an extra safety precaution that I built in just in case.”
“That’s easy enough,” I said. “Got it.”
“On the underside of the handle, there is a flap,” the AI continued. “Can you see it?”
“Yes,” I replied as I turned the gun over.
“If you lift that up and press the button below it, the gun will dismantle itself into multiple smaller pieces,” the AI said. “I took the liberty of adding this feature to make traveling with the gun easier. When separated, the individual pieces will appear to be standard items that anyone might carry with them. It will not be obvious that the pieces fit together to form a weapon.”
“Good idea,” I replied. “But won’t all of this show up on those scanners they use at airports, including you?”
“Neither I, nor the suit, nor the gun are made exclusively of metallic materials,” the AI said. “The suit should not show up on an X-ray machine at all. The gun pieces might, but when the gun is disassembled, it will not draw any attention.”
“I see,” I replied. “You really thought of everything.”
“This is a very basic suit and weapon,” it said humbly. “It can always be upgraded over time.”
“Okay, but I can’t see how that’s possible,” I replied. “It’s already pretty amazing.”
“Let’s continue with the gun,” it said. “Now, do you see the dial on top of the gun?”
“Yes,” I replied.
“Currently, there are four modes, but I can change that to include other modes once I’m fully restored,” it said. “Can you see there are symbols on the dial as you spin it?”
“Yeah,” I replied as I rotated the dial left and right with my thumb to reveal the different symbols.
“The symbol that is just a straight line is for the laser,” it said.
“Laser?” I asked.
“Yes,” it replied.
“Awesome,” I replied as I set the gun to that mode.
I pointed the gun at a tree, aimed, and fired without thinking twice. A blinding beam of light shot out from the end of the gun and burned a hole straight through the trunk of the tree like a blowtorch through a single sheet of old newspaper.
“Wow!” I took my finger off the trigger and gawked at the smoking hole that it had left behind.
“Yes, I would not want to be in the firing line of that one,” the AI quipped.
I walked over to the tree and looked at the hole the laser had made. Then, I peered through the hole and saw that it had also reached the tree right behind the one I had shot at. The second tree had a smoking, black burn in its bark, and I saw that the laser had gone halfway through the trunk. The AI was right, I didn’t want to be the person who got shot by that.
“The next mode has an ‘S’ on it,” it said.
“Right,” I replied as I spun the dial to the S. “What’s this one?”
“Stun,” it said. “If you do not wish to injure someone lethally, then I would recommend you use this mode. It will leave someone unconscious for a few hours but will not kill them. It will hurt, admittedly, but not as much as a real bullet.”
“Sounds about right,” I replied. “I’ve heard something about real bullets hurting.”
“I detect sarcasm,” the AI said.
“You’re getting the hang of it,” I chuckled.
“The next mode is labeled ‘E’,” it said.
“Yeah, I can see it,” I replied as I moved the dial.
“That stands for Electro-Launch,” it explained. “It is similar to a bullet, but it is charged with electricity. When it hits a person, it emits an electrical pulse that will stop a heart or short out an electrical system.”
“Jesus,” I said. “I’d better not get that and stun mixed up.”
“It is very effective,” the AI said. “It means that you can aim anywhere on the body and still kill a person, so it is far more efficient than a normal bullet.”
“Noted,” I replied.
“The final mode is for actual bullets, because I thought that using real bullets will attract less attention than the laser or the Electro-Launch, at least while we are still on Earth,” it said. “I can provide the bullets, and I have put two in there for you to test.”
“Obviously,” I chuckled as I raised the gun at a different tree.
I paused, exhaled, and squeezed the trigger. There was a very quiet, high-pitched hiss as the bullet shot out of the gun like a silencer from a movie, rather than the loud bang that I had expected, and then there was a cloud of splinters as it tore into the tree and embedded itself in it. I shot again, and the second bullet went in exactly the same place and lodged itself into the first one.
“You are a good shot, Will,” the AI marveled. “Well done. That is encouraging.”
“Well, I’m not a total novice,” I replied modestly. “But I don’t plan on using the lethal modes unless I absolutely have to. I don’t want to cause any unnecessary deaths. That doesn’t sit right with me.”
“That is admirable,” the AI said.
“It’s humane,” I said.
“Fair point,” it replied.
“That hardly made a sound,” I said.
“I thought it best to make the weapon as silent as possible, for your convenience,” Francine replied. “It seemed foolish for the shots to be loud as any opposition would know where you were.”
“Yeah, this is ideal,” I said. “Where do I get more bullets? Or lasers… Or however that works?”
“The gun takes normal nine millimeter ammunition,” Francine explained. “The laser technically has unlimited use, so long as you charge it every hundred shots for ten hours. The ammunition for the Electro-Launch, which look like small, silver balls, are actually created by the waste product from the laser, so as long as you shoot a roughly equal amount of shots as you do with the laser, then you will never run out of ammunition.”
“Damn,” I said. “You really thought all of this through.”
“Of course,” Francine replied. “It is in everyone’s best interests that you have the best weapon that I could create for you. Once I am operating at full capacity, I will be able to improve it further. But for now, I take it you are happy with the gun and the suit?”
“I don’t know how anyone wouldn’t be,” I said. “Yeah, they’re both perfect. Thank you, Francine, really.”
“You are welcome,” it replied.
“Let’s just hope that the TSA isn’t having a slow day tomorrow,” I said.
I spent the rest of the day practicing with the gun and the suit, so I was used to moving in them and could use them to my advantage. The suit just improved whatever I did physically, so that was easy enough, but the gun took some time to get used to. I was fine with the normal bullets, as I had shown Francine, but the other three gave a different kick as I pulled the trigger, and they required different techniques when it came to aiming and firing. The laser had zero recoil, and the other two had different intensities of kickback. However, none of them, including the normal bullet mode, had an especially noticeable recoil. It was as though the AI had dulled it to make the gun even easier to use.
The Electro-Launch took me the longest to get used to. The gun took a moment to charge, and then there was a quick, quiet bang as a small silver ball flew out of the barrel. It flew through the air, but as soon as it hit the tree trunk I had aimed it at, it lodged into the wood and sparks flew into the air. The tree seemed to shudder for a moment, and I shook my head at the thought of actually using it on someone. I knew that sometimes there was no other choice, but I still vowed that I would only ever use that mode as a last resort.
“Well,” I sighed happily when I’d done another lap through the woods. “So, I was thinking I should bring you back to the house tonight. It’ll make it easier to pack everything up in the morning, and I don’t think agent Miranda will be back before we leave.”
“That would be acceptable,” the AI agreed.
I bounded down the ladder, collected the basketball-sized AI and my clothing, and then returned to the house. After trying Francine in a few different locations, I finally left her on my bedside table, which seemed to make the AI happy.
That evening, I made myself an enormous rib-eye steak after the long day of training, agents, and guns that I had just had. I wolfed the food down without tasting it and then enjoyed a bit of relaxation time in front of the television. I appreciated the peacefulness and serenity of the moment while it lasted, because I knew for a fact that I wouldn’t be getting many of those in the months to come. However, even as I sat on my comfortable sofa and stared out of the window at the moonlight that poured into my living room, I couldn’t help but feel the nervousness and excitement that came with the weighty task I had been handed.
When the local news ended and the late-night shows began, I took myself upstairs, had a shower, and turned in. I was exhausted thanks to the physical day I had had, and despite the eighteen-plus hours of sleep I’d had the previous night, I had a feeling that I was going to sleep like a log that night, too.
I was right. I didn’t dream again that night, and when I woke up, I felt even more recharged. It was like I was a toddler again, and I needed to run around just to burn off some of the excess energy I had woken up with. I sprang from my bed and hustled to the bathroom for another look in the mirror.
I saw that my six-pack was now very pronounced, and my other muscles seemed more defined. My wrinkles had nearly faded, but other than that, the physical changes seemed to have slowed down. Anything else that the nanobots were working on was probably internal, but I was still blown away by my appearance. I smiled at my reflection happily and then proceeded to wash, use the toilet, and brush my teeth while I still had my privacy.
Once I was out of the bathroom, I decided that I would pack my bag for my trip before I did anything else, mainly because I was so excited to go to Vegas that I felt like packing would make the flight feel like it was coming sooner than it actually was.
So, I went over to my wardrobe and opened it to reveal the suit that the AI had given me, which I had hung up the night before. It was just as magnificent as I’d remembered, and as I got it down, I felt a surge of excitement that seemed to always be paired with it. I folded it up carefully and placed it at the bottom of the bag. I wondered briefly what the TSA would think if they searched my bag for some reason, but on the other hand, it was a flight to Vegas, and I had to think they’d seen plenty of stranger things than a superhero suit.
That just left whatever regular clothes I wanted to bring, and I had to be honest, I had no idea what people wore at casinos. I was sure the average tourist probably stuck with the usual shorts and t-shirt combos, but I felt like I needed to look more… well, maybe not James Bondish, but certainly not average Joe, either. So I packed my favorite suit, a well-ironed shirt, and then all of the essentials like underwear and shoes. I also brought a spare outfit for the next morning, when I would hopefully be coming back a far richer man than when I’d left.
Finally, I had to work out what to do with the gun. It was in a drawer in my side table, so I reached over and took it out. I examined it for a moment, and then turned it so I could see the underside of the handle. I pulled the flap open and pressed the button underneath it, and the gun fell apart in my hands, just as Francine had told me it would.
“Speaking of…” I said as I turned to the alien piece of technology. “Morning, Francine.”
“Good morning, Will.” The now familiar voice spoke inside my head, and I could have sworn the little light on top was just a bit brighter now that I’d acknowledged the AI.
“How do you know when I speak to you if the connection is turned off?” I asked.
“If one of us reaches out to the other, then the connection returns,” it explained. “It is easier for me to reach out to you, though that will change as you become more used to the technology.”
“I’m already feeling a lot more comfortable with it,” I replied.
“So I see,” Francine said. “You have disassembled the gun.”
“Yeah,” I replied as I glanced at the various pieces.
“I would spread the pieces around in your luggage,” it said. “Maybe put part of it in your toiletries bag, another part in a jacket pocket, and so on. The pieces are small enough and are not made of any known earth metals or sharp plastics, so they should pass through without drawing any attention.”
“And I’ll wrap you up in the suit,” I said. “And, just to be sure, they won’t pick you up on the X-Ray, either?”
“They might, but they will not believe me to be a dangerous item,” it said.
“Let’s cross our fingers about that, or else I’ve got a long evening of questioning ahead of me,” I said. “And between being questioned by the TSA for hours or having fun at the casinos in Vegas, I know which one I’d choose.”
“As do I,” the AI said. “But there is no need for concern. Things will run smoothly.”
“Knock on wood,” I replied.
“A phrase said after a confident or positive statement to express hope for one’s luck to continue,” it said as it read the dictionary definition out loud. “I did not take you to be the superstitious type, Will.”
“I’m not really,” I replied. “It’s just more of a phrase. Although, I feel like I could use an extra bit of luck today.”
“Luck will not be necessary,” Francine assured me.
That turned out to be true. The Kansas City Airport was busy when I arrived, but I swept through the ticketing area after a brief stop to collect my boarding pass at the kiosk. I smiled at a group of pretty young women as they bounced over to the line for the security checkpoint, one of whom wore a t-shirt that said ‘Bride to Be’. I guessed they were on the same flight to Vegas and gave them a flirty smile, something I hadn’t done in a long time.
The women all giggled, and I noticed that they kept looking my way as the line inched forward. I felt so good and was having such a nice time that I didn’t even realize I’d reached the front of the line until the TSA agent manning the bins cleared his throat.
“Shoes, belt, and electronics in the bin,” he said in a bored voice.
I did as instructed, then plopped my carry-on bag onto the conveyor belt behind my bin. I was waved into the body scanner, and once the green light flashed, I walked out and stood at the end of the X-ray machine to wait for my bag.
The bin popped out quickly, and I started to put my shoes and belt back on while I waited for my bag. But the conveyor belt had stopped moving, and when I looked at the TSA agent watching the monitor, I saw her frown as she stared at something on the screen with a confused expression on her face. I tried to stay calm, but I wondered if she had seen the pieces of the gun and was now worried that I was carrying some sort of explosive? Or maybe she had noticed Francine and had realized that there was something strange in my luggage.
She whispered something to one of the other agents, but a moment later, she clicked a button and the bag rolled through to the other side. I went to pick it up, even though I was certain that someone was about to tell me to step to the side and open my bag.
“Sir,” a TSA agent said as she stepped up to me.
“Shit,” I sighed and then smiled at the woman who had stepped in front of me.
“If you’d step over here, sir,” she added.
I noticed that she had bright blue eyes, and she didn’t try to hide the scrutinizing look she gave me as I picked up the bag and followed her to a set of folding tables set up near the wall where they were out of the flow of traffic. She pointed to one of the tables, and I plopped my bag on top, but when I went to open it, she shook her head and waved me away.
“I have to be the one to open it,” she said politely.
“Oh, sure,” I replied and gave her one of the flirty smiles that had worked so well on the bachelorette party.
But she wasn’t looking at me anymore, and her partner at the search tables was a taciturn man who looked like he’d been working at the airport since it first opened. He stared at me with a look that was both bored and aggressive at the same time, and he never once looked at his partner as she unzipped my bag and started to go through my clothes.
“Don’t worry, sir,” the woman said. “Most of the time these things go off for no reason.”
“That’s alright,” I replied. “I’m not in a rush.” I watched as she continued to root through my bag, until I saw her eyebrows raise as her hands closed around something.
“This is an… interesting suit,” she said.
“Oh, it’s, um, spelunking gear,” I replied. “There are some great caves near… um… the state park…”
I wasn’t sure why spelunking was the first thing that had come to mind because I’d certainly never explored any caves before, but the TSA agent seemed to buy it. I gave her another smile, but she ignored it and started to dig deeper into my bag. I actually thought I’d make it through, until she took the alien orb out of my bag and held it up so that she could see it properly.
She frowned as she looked at the smooth surface and then spun it around in her hands. It was an alarming sight to see someone else holding Francine, especially since she had no idea how important the thing in her hands really was to the survival of the planet. It was a struggle not to snatch the AI from her hands as she practically juggled with it, but I buried my hands in my pockets and looked at the agent like everyone carried a mystery orb in their bags. However, I needed to get her to put it down before something got broken.
“What about this?” she asked.
“That’s, uh… a sex toy,” I replied. “Sorry…”
“Oh!” she gasped as she quickly put it down on the counter as though she’d touched something radioactive.
“Yup,” I replied awkwardly with a nod. “It’s a, um, gift for my girlfriend..”
“Right…” she said as she looked down at it. “I’ve never seen one like this before.”
“It’s… new,” I replied with a smile.
“What does it do?” she whispered as she leaned in close to me.
“Oh, uh, lots of things,” I replied as I felt my cheeks heat up. “I haven’t tried it yet, though… obviously, but… she’s supposed to straddle it, if you know what I’m talking about.”
“Wooow,” the agent said as she looked me up and down. “Well, your girlfriend’s a lucky girl.”
“Try telling her that,” I chuckled, which made her laugh.
“Well, you should’ve taken that out with your other electronics,” she said.
“Sorry,” I said. “I just didn’t really want it on display, you know?”
“Just be careful with it,” she said as she gently zipped the bag up again. “You don’t want that breaking before your girlfriend gets it, or else that could start an argument.”
“Right,” I replied with a smile as I read her name tag. “Thanks, Ellie.”
“Have a nice flight,” she said and winked.
“Thanks,” I replied as I picked up my bag.
I actually waved to Ellie and her partner, and Ellie waved back. Her partner might have blinked, but I wasn’t sure, so I hurried into the terminal before someone else could stop me. I allowed myself to breathe once I was seated in the waiting area of my gate, and I ran a hand through my hair while the other grabbed the handle of my bag tightly.
“That was a close call,” Francine said from inside my case.
“We seem to be having a lot of those lately,” I sighed.
The rest of my journey to Vegas went pretty smoothly. I got on the flight fine, had a beer on the plane, and landed in Vegas a couple of hours later. It was hot and warm, and the sun had just dipped below the city skyline as I stepped out of the airport and looked over at the glittering lights of the Strip. It was a big difference from where I lived in Kansas, but I had lived in a city my whole life when I wasn’t out on a run in the trucks, so I felt sort of at home being back in one.
I caught a cab to my hotel, which was right next to the casino that I was thinking of going to that night, and stared like a yokel at the enormous complex as I paid the driver and got out of the car. It had more floors than I could count and was covered in darkened glass from top to bottom. It was modern but relatively undramatic compared to some of its neighbors. I could see the fountains in front of the Bellagio and the Eiffel Tower across the street from me, and somewhere, someone was playing very loud disco music. The Strip was still bustling, and I could feel the energy from the crowds.
I walked into the hotel with my bag in my hand and made my way over to the reception desk. I checked in and took the elevator to the sixth floor, where my room was situated. I locked the door behind me and turned on the light.
“Damn,” I said as I marveled at the swanky room I had booked. “This is awesome.”
The room was enormous, with a king-sized bed in the middle of one wall and two side tables on either side of it. The covers on it were violet, and there was an array of pointless, pretty cushions on it as decorations. There was a light over the bed that cast a warm glow over the room, and the golden lampshade cast an interesting shadow on the wall. The walls were painted light gray, and there was a large flat-screen TV on the one opposite the bed. There was also a sofa and two chairs in one corner of the room, which all sat between the two windows that looked out over the street below. The view was stunning from my room, but I could have only imagined what it was like from the top floor.
I put my bag on the luxurious bed and took a peek in the bathroom. It was all marble and gold-plated faucets. There was a supply of travel-sized bottles that included shampoo, conditioner, mouthwash, and hand lotion. I washed my hands with some of the oatmeal honey soap, drank some of the water from one of the bottled waters, and then ventured back into the room. I took the AI out of my bag and set it on the bed.
“Not bad, right?” I said.
“This room is satisfactory for our needs,” it replied.
“Careful, Francine, you almost sounded too enthusiastic about the room,” I said.
“Sorry,” Francine chuckled. “I just do not appreciate aesthetics the same way as you. I can appreciate how big it is, though. Very spacious.”
“Very spacious,” I sighed. “Alright, I suppose that’s the best I’m gonna get from you.”
I unpacked the rest of my stuff, and then laid out my clothes for the evening on the bed. Before I changed, though, I took the suit that Francine had made me out of the bottom of my bag and pulled it on. I enjoyed the feeling as it slipped onto my body like silk, and that now familiar feeling of strength returned to my body once again. I pressed my chest panel to seal it up at the back, just as I had done yesterday.
“Feelin’ good,” I hummed as I pulled on the rest of my clothing.
Despite the fact that I now had two layers of clothing on, my old suit pants were still really loose around the waistband, though the shirt felt a bit stiff from not being worn. I pulled the blazer on and then walked over to the mirror to study myself in the mirror.
“You clean up well, Will,” Francine said. “Daniel Craig would be impressed.”
“Someone’s done their homework,” I laughed. “Thanks, Frankie.”
“However, you have forgotten something,” it said.
“What?” I asked, and I looked over at the metallic-looking orb just as a section, which had the golden light on it, popped out of the top of it.
“Me,” Francine replied.
“Whoa,” I said as I walked over and removed the thin sliver of shiny material out of the orb. “What is this?”
“Press the piece into the chest piece on your suit,” the AI said.
I unbuttoned my shirt and held the silver wire against my second skin. The silver piece seemed to melt into the fabric, and the only way I knew it was there was from the faint golden light it gave off.
“So… is that you?” I asked.
“It is my main core,” Francine confirmed. “Keep in mind that I have limited power and auxiliary abilities when removed from my shell. Still, I thought it best to find an inconspicuous way to travel with you tonight since you’ll be visiting other casinos. There is likely to be a great deal of interference with my signal, and the further away you move, the harder it will be to maintain.”
“Good thinking,” I said as I buttoned my shirt back up.
Once I was dressed, I picked up all of the pieces of my gun and started to try and work out how to reassemble them.
“You have to--” Francine began.
“I’ve got it,” I interjected.
I quickly picked up all of the tiny pieces and slotted them together until I had a whole weapon. As soon as I put the last piece on, there was a click, and it all settled into place.
“I am impressed, Will,” the AI said.
“I live alone,” I replied. “It leaves a lot of time for puzzles… Although I’d leave out that fun fact if I was on a date.”
“That is probably for the best,” it said.
“Okay,” I said as I took one last look in the mirror and slotted the gun into the attachment point built into the suit on the small of my back. “Are you ready to do some quick calculations for us?”
“Yes,” Francine replied. “Are you ready to win some bets?”
“Sure am,” I chuckled. “Okay. Let’s go win some money.”