The Cloaking Suit
Hudson, Northopolis. Doug's Doughnuts. April 30, 2046.
Doug was a pretty nice guy, and whenever I was making my annual pilgremage to the Eau Claire headquarters of Toppers Pizza for their Pizzafest, I always stopped in. This year Spydr came along to partake in some Pizza and some other reason she wasn't being entirely upfront about. I was hoping for the best... Zona hadn't come along because of some big project at the Clinic which involved a large portion of money and the installation of the some hardware. So at least the odds weren't zero.
That left me alone in the car with Spydr after our little stop at Doug's which netted me a bag of Gut-Bombers. Sixteen ounce, deep fried, frosted, sugar coated, cinnamon buns of death. Ummm mmm good. I got one out of the bag and started eating it as I got back on 94 Eastbound. I'm sure it was making a mess because of my beard. In my peripheral vision I spotted Spydr starring at me with a mix of awe, disgust and what else I'm not sure. It probably looked gross, sloppy, and whatever else, but I didn't care; we were friends.
"Shark, you know how bad for those you are?" Spydr said in that strangely alluring and sexy voice she has.
"Yeah, but do you know you're talking to a guy that A.) doesn't give a fuck, and B.) has been shot, stabbed, blown up, and hurt more times than.. Uh.. Well alot. It sounded like a good comparison when I started." My response was somewhat unweildly, but I think I got the point across.
"Ok, but proceed at your own risk."
"High colesterol is the least of my worries."
"Sure," she purred. "Do you think you could do me a favor?"
"I always try," I said smiling with frosting all over my beard and chin. I did, she's hard to say no too.
"When we get to Baldwin, could you pull off. There's someplace I need to stop."
"Is this the same Baldwin where they have the A&W?" I asked with enthusiasm.
She giggled a little. Probably at the way I saw 'dubabya' "Yes, it is."
Visions of chili dogs danced in my head, and real Melk (I also pronounced the 'i' in Milk as and 'e'), oh what a treat. "Dinner's on me on the way back! HA HA!" She just shook her head.
Behind Acme Casket Works. Baldwin, Northopolis. April 30, 2046.
We'd driven another forty-five minutes down the road and pulled off at Baldwin like she requested. I'd spotted the A&W right away and was glad to see it hadn't burned down or been bombed, so dinner was locked in. Spydr gave directions in that oh so beautiful voice off of the highway, past the edge of the Corporate Zone and the barrier wall, and out into the Burbs. Much like MSP, Baldwin had been absorbed into the huge sprawl known as Northopolis. A continual string of buildings stretched over the land, towards the middle it was rich and affluent. As one progressed out from the Zone (i.e. the center) the surroundings degraded, until it was an urban squallor or filth and usually villany. It was into the latter section we were now headed.
I'd chambered rounds in my weapons, which Spydr pretty much ignored, she was used to it from me and kept driving. Five minuted down the road she said to pull off and drive up behind this Casket place. She said stop by the dumpster. I did. She got out. I followed.
I was on my toes, cuz things seemed weird. It was mid afternoon and it had been raining all morning. The humidity and mugginess, as well as the factory smells from the Plants in Baldwin told me it was going to keep raining, but for now there was a break. Spydr strode up to the back door and knocked twice. I was right behind her, and as paranoid as ever. Just because she felt safe didn't mean it was, that had happened before.
The door cracked open and a rough male voice from within said, "Who's the chrome?" in a thick southern accent. Inside it was dark and there were no lights under the loading dock overhang, so I couldn't make out a face.
She answered, "A friend. He's clean." I was, I'd cleaned my beard after the second Gut Bomber.
A few grumbles followed from within, but he shut the door, and I heard latches and chains being undone.
A medium height, young looking fellow that was prematurely gray greeted us. He had a twelve gauge pointed at me as I walked in so I kept my hands off to my side. "Easy there Earl," Spydr said, and he lowered the gun. "I told you he was cool," she continued. I was glad her voice had the same effect on him that it did on me. "Have you got what I came for?"
"Yeeah, Ido," he said and mosied off into a back room. The whole place seemed like a technological junk yard, and had gear, and junk, and gadgets, and wire hanging everywhere.
Once he was gone I adked, "Shit, where'd you find this guy?"
"Texas," she said with a smile. "He's a tech runner that deals in black market technologies. Good stuff."
"Wow, Texas. I thought they quarantined that place," I said with a bit of a grin and a hefty dose of sarcasm.
"That ain't funny buhy, I'dshutcher mouth if I was you," he said as he walked back in. He set an aluminum case at Spydr's feet and stood back up. "Yur welcome ta tryit out, but my stuff is always guud."
Spydr picked up the case and walked behind some old cardboard boxes that would serve as a changing area.
"So, Earl. Tell me about what you got there for Spydr." I asked in a friendly tone.
"You'll see," he said in a crazy tone. So I just stood there, I'm not big into gadgets, they do a job, or they're junk, and I didn't feel like talking about them. A good fifteen minutes passed with me and Earl just standing there in the middle of his shop's open area.
"Ahh!!" I grunted as something pinched my butt. I took a few steps forward and swung my arm behind me while turning around. There was nothing there. "Spydr?" I asked in a cautious tone, while Earl was laughing a mad laugh. Something on my left distorted in my peripheral vision and when I turned to look Spydr was pulling a mask off of a wetsuit like suit. One minute she wasn't there, the next she was as the suit shimmered, distorted and became a color that didn't match the background perfectly.
"Earl, the Stealth Suit works great. I can also see some big improvements over the last generation." She turned and looked at me, "What do you think?" she said with that usual smile, in the tone that disarmed me of every mean feeling I was having.
"Sure, yeah, it works just great," I said. "It hid you remakably well," but now that it was off it didn't hide that much on her. So sue me, I've got an eye for beauty. She walked over and had a seat on the case, the suit was a deep blue that seemed to have a texture to it. I was amazed, I'd heard of suits like this, but they have big drawbacks in Combat which is why they haven't been employed on a large scale. Some Corps have had them, but the contermeasures against them are pretty formidiable (laser and ultrasonic being the two main one) that have kept them to minor rolls against unprepared opponents. "Earl, could you tell me a little of how this thing works?" I asked, genuinely interested now.
"Ah yeah, sure buhy," he pulled up two crates, kicked one to me and then we sat down. The three of us making a small circle. "The suit is made up of twenty-six separate panels. The fabric in each panel is woven of light-reflective material synthesized from protiens contained in silk from the ampullate gland of araneid spiders. These panels are comprised of three layers, which makes the suit three times as thick as normal cotton garments.
"The topmost of the three layers is a loose weave. The silk's reflective properties at this layer act as receptors, which I'll explain in a minute. The remaining two layers are implanted with bio-engineered chromatophores, color cells that are based on the chemical processes of the Sargassum, a fish with sophisticated color adaptive characteristics. These cells change color and are what give the suit its chameleonlike capabilities."
"You left me back at the spider glands," I said. Earl repeated it for my benefit. Then he continued.
"The digital data globes are liquid microprocessors. This technology is actually a spin-off of bio-processors. They move molecules along microscopic ridges. This replaces electrons in a microchip when it is done small, fast, and inexpensively enough.These relay color information from one panel to another. These transparent stitching fibers are hollowed to 1/50th of an inch and are undetectable to an observer further than five inches away. Basically the environment around the suit is recorded by the outermost layer. That data is relayed by the hollow fibers to the second and third layer of the fabric on the opposite side of the suit. The color cells in these layers change and replicate the appropriate colors and textures. This is called SLD - strategic light dispersion. Without it an observer would see themselves in the suit, and that wud ruin the effectiveness ya know?"
"This allows the suit to continually change color based on the wearer's environment. The dealy in this generation is .03 seconds but it used to be ten times that in the early 2000's when the USG - United States Government first developed it. Standing still the wearer is completely invisible from every angle and perspective, even in bright daylight. Walking slowly, the wearer is virtually invisible in a twilight or darkened room situation. As Spydr just displayed." She smiled that million dollar smile. "The uniform also contains dampers which keep down the sound of the wearers resperation and heatbeat and the thick wetsuit appearance comes from thermal dampening. It also has pads in the fingertips for increased sensitivity when handling objects.
"Older generations had an oily surface because the molecules needed a liquid media to move, that attracted dust and water beaded up on the surface until it was shaken. Those were fixed in later generations like this one. Older suits also used to be terribly hot and unbearable, but these are a little better too."
Earl continued to talk on about the audio dampeners, which prevented others from listening in should be nearby when the suit radio was called, and blockd out noise in about a three foot radius. The Subvocal receptors, which picked up the smallest whisper and complemented cyber-ears. After another half hour of tech speak, Shark had had enough and so had Spydr.
"I hate to interrupt Earl," she said rising, "but this thing is really pretty hot and I'm soaked. I'm gonna switch out and towel down." Her smile disarmed him like a bandit and he just drawled out a 'shure, no problum ma'am.'
With Spydr off to change out of the suit, I was left there guarding my butt again. "Hey buhy," Earl said as he took my hand, "Bye now yuhear. Be good. She's a right fine woman." His grip was strong and his goofy insane southern smile warmed my heart, he also pressed something into my hand as he shook it. I kept the 3" laser disc in my hand on the walk out to the car and carried Spydr's duffle in the other. While she got in, I hid the duffle in with the spare tire, and stuffed the disc in my flesh pocket.
It wasn't until the following monday after our weekend at Pizzafest and the hangover wore off, that I got a chance to watch it. It was from a hidden camera that drunken Texan bastard had behind the wall Spydr used to change. It really showed just how little is worn under a Stealth Suit, something I'm sure Mo would appreciate. Maybe I'll trade it to him for something, or maybe I'll just destroy the disc. Hmmm...
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Last updated 000908
Copywight 1998. Elmer Fud Industwies. All wights weserved.
