The next morning came much too early, and Max was not at all prepared for the horrendous noise that his alarm made in the quiet apartment. The sound was familiar, it had woken him for dozens of shifts and patrols in the past, but inside a building, without the sound of war all around him, instead of a mecha cockpit, it just seemed out of place and overly aggressive.
He had set it to go off a full hour before he needed to be at work, giving him time to shower, dress and eat, but he soon realized that he had overlooked one important factor. He had arrived yesterday and unpacked all his gear, but this was not Stalwart. There was no stash of Ration packs, there was no Unit kitchen mere meters away, and he hadn’t gone grocery shopping.
His first thought was to ping Nico and see what the plan was, but then it dawned on him that it didn’t matter to her, she didn’t need to eat. She had completely filled her nutrition storage with high-quality supplements at the resort, so she wouldn’t actually need to eat anything for months.
This self-sufficient individual thing was going to take him a while to get used to.
Nico hadn’t abandoned her best friend though, and before Max could make up his mind, the doorbell rang, bringing up a view of Nico holding a brown paper bag outside his door on the security screen.
“Just the person I needed to see.” Max greeted her with a smile, welcoming Nico into his small and minimalist suite. Hers should be exactly the same at this point since neither had much in the way of belongings, so there was no need for a grand tour.
“I knew we forgot to go grocery shopping, and the security cameras showed a huge lineup at the fast food places between here and work, so I went ahead and grabbed you something to eat from the next floor down.” She explained, handing him the bag.
The smell of grease and spice met his nose the moment he opened the bag, and Max wondered just what she had gotten him to eat. Most of the selections here were fairly bland foods, but whatever this was had definitely been spiced within inches of lethality.
“I didn’t get a chance to sample them, but there’s a breakfast burrito and a collection of their specialty samosas in the bag,” Nico explained, turning to leave so they would get to work on time.
With hoverboards, the trip was an easy one. They were on the same floor as the entrance to the Testing Lab, so they only had to fly toward the center of the hab dome over the top of the buildings. With most of the traffic being at ground level, it was under five minutes before they were in line to have their identification checked and enter the Labs.
. “Pilots really are a whole different breed. Aren’t you afraid of something happening and falling from the board flying that high?” One of the researchers behind them in line asked as they waited their turn.
“At my level, it’s not a big deal. Unless I was doing acrobatics or something, I would just land on my feet. Both the fifty percent and one hundred percent total bonus reformations increased my physical durability.” Max explained.
The researcher nodded, and then turned toward Nico, before realizing she was a cyborg and shrugging off his concerns. Even if she fell from the top of the level at a hoverboard’s maximum speed, the worst she would do was make herself dizzy and ruin her clothes.
“First day is it? Report to the Colonel’s office, fourth door on your left after entry. You will get your kit after the meeting.” The security guard informed both Max and Nico in the same intrigued tone.
They didn’t get a lot of new people here, and never visitors, so new members of the testing team were the highlight of his day. Even though he knew almost all the people who would be entering on this shift by name, he still had to check their identification and verify it against their biometric data before they could enter the lab. The whole facility was secure, but the lab took it to a whole new level, double-checking everything, with every single entry.
The Colonel turned out to be a strict-faced and very short woman with hair turned to half gray by the rigors of decades in the Military. She was in full dress uniform, and the collection of certification and service badges showed that she used to be, or possibly still was, an intelligence officer with Central Command. Not a field agent, but highly skilled in data analysis and pattern recognition.
“Welcome to the Comor Research and Development Lab Majors. I am Colonel Noor and I will be your direct supervisor here in the Testing Lab. Your assigned locker numbers are available on your wrist devices, and contain everything you will need. Although the lab coats are fashionable, you will not be needing them, there are Pilot Suits assigned to you. They are also a test product, so they should be worn any time that you are inside a Mecha, for data collection purposes.
Today, we have the prototypes of the Exoskeleton suits that were introduced yesterday up for their first round of tests. I hear that you two suggested them, so you will be the first to test them. Bay 29 will be expecting your arrival in thirty minutes.
If there are no other questions, you are dismissed.”
Both Nico and Max saluted politely and left the Colonel’s office to go get their gear from the lockers. The locker room for the testing staff was much more impressive than Max had expected, having not only Rainfall showers with Ultrasonic scrubbers but also an automated medical bay and android staffed Massage stations. That was a lot of luxury for somewhere to put your work clothes on inside a Lab.
The room was currently filled with staff getting into their uniforms for the day, as every set of clothing was provided, and according to the directions on the inside of the lockers, no outside items were to be brought further into the lab.
Max quickly switched to the Pilot Suit, noting that it was much more form-fitting than the old one, which was loose until it inflated to add pressure, preventing blood pooling during rapid maneuvering.
“Now this is a Pilot Suit. My ass looks fantastic.” Nico laughed, zipping up the neoprene suit and strapping on the outer harness which held the armor plates and pockets for necessary equipment.
“No lie detected, Major. Though I do wish the individual cut could be a bit more flattering to the package. Do you think we could suggest a bit of built-in armor pad it out a little?” One of the Male test Pilots laughed, flexing in front of the mirror in his own suit.
The dubious looks that many were giving the suits let Max know that these were a new design, but they were extremely comfortable once they were on. Much like the high-tech base layer to the standard uniform, they controlled temperature and humidity perfectly, with the only downside being that the form-fitting suits did leave you feeling a bit naked like you were piloting in your underwear.
“What bay did you get today? They randomize it through everything you’re qualified on so that the data isn’t biased by the testers.” The pilot who was complaining about the lack of Package emphasis asked Max as he finished deciphering the webbing harness and getting dressed.
“Bay 29, the Exoskeleton testing,” Max answered, making sure his suit was on correctly.
“Lucky bugger. I got the Fusion Eradicator again. I swear if that thing blows up one more time I will go to the General and beg to have the design scrapped.” The Pilot replied with a rueful laugh, before waving and heading out.
The bays were accessed through a network of overhead catwalks, so that the observers could look down into the bays at the experiments, from the outside of the protective shielding of course, while keeping the foot traffic elevated and out of the way of the heavy equipment that brought the designs to the bays to be tested.
Bay 29 ended up being off in a far corner of the Lab, and Max had to jog to make it there on time after changing, but he wasn’t alone. Half the staff had to run to make their duty station on time and get checked in before they were marked as late. Max wasn’t sure how particular they were about time schedules here, but going by what he saw in the mind of the Colonel, it was best to be not even a second behind schedule during check-in.