It was only a matter of seconds before Dr. Reid obtained the cup of coffee she was after and sat back down at the table, taking a sip of the hot drink. Leona waited patiently for the doctor to finish the cup and had to resist the urge to get up and get a second cup. She did not want to be wired off of too much caffeine whenever the time came to test "Hercules."
"
The Hercules Project is a pet project of mine. You see, it's a special armor that enables the user to lift heavy objects that weigh many times their size. However, it's no ordinary armor that a person wears. Rather, the person controls its functions from within the armor itself." Dr. Reid finally began to explain the specifics of what she had been working on to the Wizard Saint. Leona was interested in this and found herself involuntarily leaning forward. She had never heard of an armor that someone could control from within. Until Dr. Reid had explained the details Leona thought that "Hercules" was just another form of armor that one wore like her Argent Gloves or her Adaptable Armor.
"
It's a project that I've been working on for quite awhile now and it's almost reached fruition. However, I haven't been able to find a good person to test Hercules until now." Dr. Reid explained a little bit more about her project, pausing to take another drink of Motor City Nitro. Leona was intrigued as to why she was chosen instead of someone else. The blonde doctor was quick to provide an explanation for her choice.
"
You see, I needed someone I could trust. Someone I could trust to keep quiet about it after testing until it's complete and ready to market. If the wrong people catch wind of what I'm doing here and steal the Hercules prototype then I'll be in deep trouble. What's worse, they could use it to wreak a lot of havoc before they're stopped." Dr. Reid explained why the Wizard Saint had been chosen.
"
OK." Leona said in response to what she had been told so far. Leona would need to see "Hercules" for herself before deciding whether it posed as much of a threat as its creator claimed it could be. Dr. Reid stood up, got a seventh cup of the high-caffeine coffee, and motioned to Leona to follow her.
"
C'mon Leona. I can sit here and talk all day about it, but you won't fully understand what I'm saying until you see it for yourself. Follow me and I'll show you my greatest project to date." Dr. Reid encouraged the blonde mage. Getting her cup and failing to resist the urge to get a second cup of Motor City Nitro, Leona filled her coffee mug and followed quickly behind the scientist out of a door that led out of the mini-kitchen and opened onto a large warehouse.
-Inside the warehouse-
Leona followed Dr. Reid into a warehouse that was mostly empty except for a rectangular wooden table to the left and three large metal crates dotting the expanse. Dr. Reid motioned for Leona to go through and the Wizard Saint obeyed, then shut the door behind her. Leona looked around and spotted what looked like a red barrel with arms and legs sitting about twenty-five meters to the right of them. Dr. Reid drank from her mug and gestured towards it.
"
See that? That's Hercules." Dr. Reid said to the blonde, who was drinking from her coffee mug when she lowered it to get a glimpse at the vaunted "Hercules" project. Leona was not very impressed and could not hide it. The scientist was quick to pick up on that and quicker to comment.
"
Oh, it looks a lot more impressive once it's powered up and standing upright. You'll get the honor of doing just that." Dr. Reid said to Leona. The Wizard Saint blinked.
"
Walk over to it and climb in, then take a seat. I'll tell you what to do to power it up." Dr. Reid instructed Leona. Leona set down her half-finished mug of coffee and walked over to the red barrel, then put her hands on its back and pulled herself inside the armor. She sat down and got comfortable the best she could, putting her legs inside the spacious armor until they came to rest on pedals, one on each side where a leg was. Dr Reid sauntered over to the armor a minute after Leona had gotten inside and had gotten as comfortable as she could get in an unfamiliar machine.
"
OK, do you see the red button in the center of the chest?" Dr. Reid asked Leona. The Wizard Saint looked down at a strip with a glass cover that looked like a series of gauges. She spotted a button in the center just below what she took to be the gauges and nodded.
"
I see it." Leona answered.
"
Push it and prepare to be amazed. You might want to grip the control handles before the armor goes upright. I haven't worked on the shock absorbers yet, but that's the first thing on my list after your test" Dr. Reid cautioned the test pilot. Leona quickly tapped the button with her right index finger and quickly grabbed the control handles located a short distance from her chest. Leona shrieked as the armor whirred to life and stood upright.
"
So, what do you think of Project Hercules now?" Dr. Reid asked calmly.
"
I'm impressed." Leona commented with sincerity. Since she did not know what to do and was afraid of wrecking the suit or destroying Dr. Reid's warehouse/testing facility, she remained absolutely still. The seat was fairly comfortable but did not take into account someone with Leona's backside sitting inside of it. Leona had a firm grip of the control handles and they were comfortable to hold onto for extended periods of time.
"
If you'll wait a minute, I'll go get wireless headsets so that we can remain in communication during the testing of Project Hercules." Dr. Reid requested. Leona took her right hand off of the control handle and flashed a thumbs-up. The blonde scientist set her mug on the table beside Leona's and disappeared into the mini-kitchen, leaving the Wizard Saint in command of the armor. Leona was impressed with the doctor's work, but she was also apprehensive about the potential power at her command. The suit felt heavy and somewhat imbalanced, but that could just be the blonde mage's overly caffeinated nerves getting to her.
In a matter of roughly three minutes Dr. Reid returned clutching a black wireless headset that she threw to Leona, who caught it in both hands without trouble. She put it on and flicked the switch behind the right earpiece. There was a loud beep and the headset came on.
"
Leona, can you hear me?" Dr. Reid asked Leona.
"
I can hear you." Leona reported calmly as she waited for further instructions.
- Hercules Project Armor:
[Post Word Count: 1,168]
[Total Word Count: 2,322/5,000]