Atlas Revived

Job Details:

Job Sign-Up: Page 32, Post Number 791

-Motor City, outside Dr. Reid's Laboratory, 9:00 A.M.-

Clad in her green, gold, and white outfit with black bike shorts on underneath the skirt plus Argent Gloves on her hands, Ses Revanche in her right boot, and backpack of supplies on her back, Leona stood outside Dr. Reid's Laboratory in the company of Ancient Knight. Leona had come here at Dr. Reid's insistence. The doctor had sent her a message that arrived at 4:00 A.M. this morning that insisted the Wizard Saint get to Motor City as quickly as possible because the doctor had very important news about the Atlas Project.

"What do you think this news from the doctor is about?" Ancient Knight asked Leona as the latter took off her backpack, unzipped it, and began to rummage through it for the message that contained the passphrase.

"It's about something the two of us have been working on for quite some time." Leona said cryptically while they were out in public. She found the message and read the password, which was "Titan." She put the message back into her backpack, zipped it up, and slung it onto her back again.

"Whatever it is, I hope it's important enough to wake you up so early." Ancient Knight commented about the time the message had arrived at Silver Wolf Guild Hall. Leona laughed a little at his comment.

"I hope so too. It wasn't easy to get up at 4:05 A.M. and get a shower, then get dressed and grab the gear I needed." Leona commented as she walked over to the intercom grille and pressed the button. Within seconds a female voice sounded on the other end.

"Password?" The voice asked.

"Titan." Leona answered.

"Hold on and I'll let you in." Dr. Reid replied. Leona quickly pressed the button again.

"Just so that you know, Ancient Knight's with me." Leona informed Dr. Reid before the latter opened the door and came face-to-face with the tall knight like she had last time.

"It's no problem. I'll let you both in." Dr. Reid amended her earlier statement before the intercom went silent. Roughly a minute later the door opened and Dr. Reid stood in the doorway. The doctor was wearing a pink tank top and khaki cargo shorts with slightly dirty brown work boots and her long blonde hair was hanging freely. She looked like she had not slept in a few days and was living off coffee.

"Are you OK, doctor?" Leona asked the blonde.

"I'm fine. Just fine. If you count not sleeping for two days straight and downing cup after cup of Motor City Nitro like my life depended on it. Which it kinda did because of a lack of sleep." Dr. Reid remarked dryly before laughing a little. She then stepped aside.

"Why don't you two come in so that I can tell you the news?" Dr. Reid suggested to Leona and her companion.

"OK." Leona replied and walked through the doorway. Ancient Knight ducked down and slowly walked through the doorway, being careful not to hit his head on the top of the doorway as he entered. Once both Leona and Ancient Knight were inside the doctor shut the door behind them.

-Inside the mini-kitchen-

The trio now stood in the mini-kitchen, where Dr. Reid had just poured another cup of coffee for herself. She began to sip from it while Leona and Ancient Knight watched. Leona wondered how much coffee the doctor had consumed over the past two days but knew better than to ask such a question. After nearly a minute of awkward silence the doctor lowered the cup of coffee and spoke to them.

"Sorry about that, guys. I'm just a little tired. Well, more than a little tired. I'm really tired." She apologized for the awkward pause to drink coffee. She then put on a big smile.

"So... wanna hear the news that I called you here to tell you about?" Dr. Reid asked Leona. The Wizard Saint nodded.

"I'm interested." Leona replied laconically. The Wizard Saint could use a cup or two of Motor City Nitro herself, but she would wait until later to ask for some. Besides, she was keenly interested in hearing about the status of the Atlas Project. She wondered if Dr. Reid had managed to complete the generator that the late Dr. Howard Abel had left blueprints for.

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"All right then. I'll spare you the technical talk and get right to the point." Dr. Reid told Leona and Ancient Knight. Leona had a feeling that she knew what the doctor was talking about, but the tall knight was completely lost.

"I made the generator according to Dr. Abel's blueprints and I believe that it's gonna work." Dr. Reid informed the pair. Leona felt a glimmer of hope while her knight companion remained completely lost.

"But I'll give you the honor of powering on the Atlas and trying it out, Leona. You deserve that much for you sticking with me through the tough times and all the menial chores I had you do." Dr. Reid gave Leona the honor of climbing into the Atlas and powering it on. The Wizard Saint was pleased to hear that. She took off her backpack and set it on the small kitchen table, which was not being used by anyone.

"All right then, doctor. I'll climb into it whenever you're ready." Leona readily accepted the honor. Dr. Reid motioned towards the door that led to the garage.

"I'm ready whenever you are, Leona." The doctor said. Leona took the hint and walked through the doorway while Ancient Knight followed close behind. Dr. Reid brought up the rear and followed behind the Wizard Saint and her companion.

-In the garage-

Leona walked into the garage and noticed the wooden table to her left with the two headsets sitting on it. Leona looked for the Atlas and saw it sitting in the center of the garage. The chest panel had been reinstalled and the area around the suit cleaned up.

"OK, Leona. Grab a headset and we'll get this show on the road." Dr. Reid said to the Wizard Saint. Leona wordlessly obeyed and walked over to the table, picking up a headset and powering it on. She put it on her head before walking over to the Atlas, grabbing the bar on the right shoulder, and hauling herself up onto the suit before turning around and lowering herself into a sitting position at the controls.

"Can you hear me, Leona?" Dr. Reid asked through the headset. Ancient Knight stood at the doctor's side, his red eyes fixed on the Wizard Saint.

"Yes, Doctor. I can hear you." Leona replied as she looked down at the control panel. She took a moment to recall what the gauges meant and what the buttons did, but that did not take long since the Atlas 2.0 retained the simplicity of its predecessor. Within moments Leona located the power button and raised her right index finger but did not press it just yet.

"Good. Press the power button to activate the Atlas whenever you're ready to do so." Dr. Reid gave Leona permission to power on the Atlas whenever she was ready. The Wizard Saint looked at the power button and took a deep breath. She then pressed the button and the suit stood upright.

"IT WORKS! IT REALLY WORKS!" Dr. Reid shouted in jubilation as Ancient Knight looked at the activated suit with his mouth hanging open. Leona's hands gripped the control sticks for the arms and her feet touched the pedals for the feet. She sat motionless and awaited Dr. Reid's commands, but while she waited she looked at the temperature and power gauges. Both gauges were in the green and showed no signs of moving.

From her elevated position Leona saw the joy on Dr. Reid's face and the astonishment on Ancient Knight's. The Wizard Saint was feeling pretty good herself despite only pushing a button. However, the real triumph belonged to the doctor.

Dr. Reid's many months of hard work finally seemed to be bearing fruit. All the time invested in the Atlas Project, all the money she had sunk into parts, and all the sleepless nights she had endured to repair and modify the Atlas, all of it had finally paid off. Leona was sure that right now the doctor was experiencing a rush stronger than anything excessive coffee consumption could produce.

"What do you want me to do now, Doctor?" Leona asked the doctor. The Wizard Saint did not get a response right away, so she waited in silence. She did not want to ruin Dr. Reid's moment of triumph, so Leona opted to wait as long as necessary to receive further instructions.

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Job Details:

Job Sign-Up: Page 32, Post Number 795

Leona waited silently at the controls of the Atlas while Dr. Reid celebrated her success. The doctor was obviously excited about finally making the Atlas Project work after so many setbacks and was doubtlessly beside herself with joy. She had put so much into the project and now it was working without a hitch.

"Doctor, what do you want me to do?" Leona asked Dr. Reid for instructions on what to do next now that the Atlas was up and running. Dr. Reid did not hear Leona because she was too busy celebrating her success to pay attention to the Wizard Saint. Ancient Knight calmly walked over to Leona and stopped a short distance away from her. He looked to be wary of the Atlas, but he also had a look of curiosity.

"I've never seen anything like that before. Not even the wise men of my time could create anything like this. It's amazing!" Ancient Knight stated to Leona with astonishment. Leona smiled.

"Dr. Reid's the one who designed and created it. I'm just the test pilot." Leona informed Ancient Knight who the credit for the Atlas' creation belonged to. Ancient Knight turned to look at Dr. Reid, who had recovered from her reverie and was now standing beside the knight. She turned to face him.

"This is the Atlas, a special project I made for construction workers. It allows the pilot to lift heavy loads and carry them across terrain where forklifts and trucks might not be able to go without a lot of difficulty." Dr. Reid explained the Atlas' purpose to the knight. He looked completely lost.

"I'm not sure if he knows what forklifts or trucks are, Doctor." Leona politely informed the doctor that Ancient Knight might not know what she was talking about. He was alive in a time long before modern forms of transportation were ever conceived, let alone created. The taller knight looked down at Dr. Reid.

"Leona is right. I've never heard of those things before." Ancient Knight told the doctor that his companion's statement was accurate. Dr. Reid did not stop smiling as she looked at him.

"It's OK if you don't know what I'm talking about. I made the Atlas to help people carry heavy loads of construction materials to places they wouldn't be able to otherwise go." Dr. Reid told him in a way that did not insult his intelligence. Ancient Knight looked at her with a neutral facial expression.

"OK. I think I understand what you're telling me now." Ancient Knight told her. The doctor continued to smile at him, most likely because her project was finally working without any difficulties.

"I made it easy to use for people who aren't familiar with technology. I also made it robust to withstand the wear and tear that equipment typically suffers on a construction site." Dr. Reid explained a little more about the features of the Atlas to Ancient Knight. Leona stood by patiently while listening to the doctor talk to the knight. Something about his wonder at the Atlas Project made Leona feel that all the menial chores she had run for the doctor to get to this point had been worth it. His wonder made Leona feel slightly less bad about not fully understanding modern technology.

"How does this Atlas work?" Ancient Knight asked Dr. Reid.

"I could explain how it all works, but there's a whole lot of technical jargon that you might not understand... no offense. Instead I'll have Leona show you the Atlas in action." Dr. Reid diplomatically told him. The knight did not seem to take offense to the statement and turned to face Leona. Leona took that as her cue to get ready to move, but she waited for the doctor's command before actually moving.

"You know what to do, Leona. Take the Atlas for a walk around the garage at normal walking speed." Dr. Reid gave Leona her first command.

"Understood." Leona replied. Moving both sticks right to turn the Atlas right, Leona pressed the foot control pedals down to the halfway position to move the suit slowly until it completed the turn. Once it had completed the turn Leona put the control sticks in the neutral position and then pressed the pedals all the way down to get the suit moving at normal walking speed.

"How's the Atlas working?" Dr. Reid asked Leona. Leona glanced down at the temperature and energy gauges and both were still in the green.

"Everything's working perfectly, doctor. Both the temperature and energy gauges are in the green." Leona reported as she continued to walk towards the far wall of the garage.

"Great. Let's hope that we don't have any more malfunctions." The doctor expressed her hope that the numerous malfunctions that had delayed the completion of the project were a thing of the past. Leona reached the far wall of the garage and turned the suit right, then began walking forward at normal walking speed to officially begin the lap around the garage.

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Leona had completed the lap around the garage without any issue. The Atlas had functioned perfectly and both energy and temperature gauges remained well within safe operating parameters. Now she faced Dr. Reid and Ancient Knight again and waited for instructions from the doctor.

"I saw that you completed the lap around the garage. How's everything holding up?" Dr. Reid asked Leona. Leona looked down at the two gauges and saw that they were both in the green.

"Everything's working perfectly, Doctor. There were no increases in temperature and no decreases in energy." Leona reported. Leona heard Dr. Reid sigh with relief.

"Great! Now that we've established that the suit can move just fine at a normal walking pace, I'd like for you to test the dash function!" Dr. Reid gave her next set of instructions. Leona recalled the last few times she had tested that function and knew exactly what to do. She was to turn the suit around, walk all the way to the end of the garage, then turn the suit around and slam both feet down on the foot control pedals.

"Understood." Leona replied. She worked the control sticks to turn the suit to face the garage wall, then pushed both foot pedals all the way down. The suit moved at a normal walking pace until she was almost to the garage wall, then eased up on the pedals to make the suit move at half-speed. Once she was close to the garage wall she stopped, then turned to face the doctor and Ancient Knight.

"I see you've made it all the way to the end of the garage. Good. You may activate the dash whenever you're ready." Dr. Reid instructed Leona. Leona knew what was about to happen next. She was going to go very far very quickly.

"Understood." Leona replied. She gripped the control sticks tightly, then slammed both feet down on the pedals simultaneously. The Atlas rocketed forward and threw Leona back into the seat of the Atlas while the blonde clutched the control sticks for dear life. Within five seconds of activating the dash she arrived at her destination a bit disoriented by the sudden stop but none the worse for wear thanks to the superb shock absorbers. Leona was close enough to speak to both Dr. Reid and Ancient Knight without having to use the headset.

"How's the Atlas, Leona?" Dr. Reid asked Leona. The Wizard Saint could tell that the doctor was more worried about the Atlas than she was about its pilot, but Dr. Reid must have figured that the Wizard Saint was tough enough to handle anything. Besides, Leona had been through this before.

Leona looked down at the gauges and saw that they were both in the green.

"There's no rise in temperature and no loss in power." Leona reported the suit's condition. Dr. Reid gave a wide smile. Ancient Knight looked at the suit in astonishment.

"How can something so big move so quickly?" Ancient Knight asked anyone who would answer. Dr. Reid heard the question and turned to face the tall knight.

"I installed an acceleration system in the Atlas. The Atlas was meant for use on construction sites and sometimes heavy things fall from high places. As you can see, Leona has no head protection of any kind, so if something heavy falls on her head from a high place, it won't be pretty." Dr. Reid began her explanation, again being careful not to insult the knight's intelligence while giving her explanation. He looked at Leona, then looked back at the doctor.

"I see." He replied laconically.

"I installed the acceleration system with the intent of giving the pilot a chance to get clear of falling objects, but from observing Leona I learned that the acceleration system might not be the emergency measure the Atlas needs." Dr. Reid explained further.

"What do you mean by that?" The knight inquired. Leona kept her mouth shut and listened intently at what was going to be said next.

"I mean that the acceleration system won't do much good if the pilot's too slow to turn the suit around or to the side, then use the dash. By the time they can take evasive action it's usually too late for them to avoid the falling object." Dr. Reid said grimly. An awkward silence filled the air for a few moments as both Wizard Saint and knight thought about what they had been told quickly got the doctor's meaning.

"I see what you mean." He answered calmly.

"So do I." Leona chimed in.

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"And what do you propose to protect Leona from falling objects?" Ancient Knight broke the silence after he and Leona had had enough time to paint a mental picture of the most likely outcome should something heavy fall on Leona's unprotected head. Dr. Reid smiled at the tall knight.

"The best defense against falling objects..." Dr. Reid started off. Leona was eager to hear what protective measure the doctor had made to protect the Atlas pilot's exposed head from falling objects. She leaned a bit over the front of the Atlas to hear what was going to be said next.

"The best defense against falling objects... is to not get hit by them in the first place." Dr. Reid said in all seriousness. Ancient Knight's jaw dropped. Leona's jaw dropped as well. Then Leona picked her jaw up from the Atlas and tried to phrase her response in the most neutral way she could.

"That's... that's not exactly what I was hoping to hear, Doctor. Thanks for the advice... I guess." Leona replied with equal amounts of disbelief and disappointment. Dr. Reid had just said the sort of dumb thing that Leona tended to say. For once Leona was not the who had said something of questionable intelligence, so the Wizard Saint began to wonder if the doctor was all right.

"No problem! I thought you would have figured that out without me needing to point it out for you, but I'm glad to help!" Dr. Reid cheerfully replied before drinking more coffee from her mug. Ancient Knight and Leona looked at each other in disbelief, then they looked at Dr. Reid again. Leona saw that the doctor was too overly caffeinated to understand the point she was trying to make, so the Wizard Saint opted to move on before she pressed her point too hard and alienated the doctor.

"All right then. What do you want me to do next, Doctor?" Leona asked the doctor, putting the earlier discussion behind her for the sake of the current task. Dr. Reid took a sip of coffee, then lowered it and made eye contact with Leona.

"Raise the arms of the Atlas as high as you can, then move them up and down. After you've stepped away from us, of course." Dr. Reid gave her next command.

"Understood. Leona replied. She immediately moved the control sticks right and turned the suit around, then gently applied pressure to the foot pedals to move it forward at half speed. Once she was roughly two meters from the doctor and the knight she moved the control sticks left and turned the suit to face the doctor. who was watching while taking another sip of coffee.

Leona wordlessly moved the control sticks up as far as they would go and raised the arms. She raised them until its large metal hands were well above her head. She then lowered them, then repeated the process of raising the arms in the air and lowering them until the doctor gave her permission to stop that particular test.

"The arms work and have an acceptable range of motion. That's good. Now lower the arms and walk a meter forward, then stop when I tell you." Dr. Reid gave her next command. Leona wordlessly lowered the arms and got the suit going at half speed until she stood roughly a meter away from the doctor.

"STOP!" Dr. Reid commanded. Leona took her feet off of the pedals and the Atlas came to a stop. She then waited for the next set of instructions to be given.

"Next I'd like you to open the hands for me. Start with the left hand. Hold out the arm for me while you open and close the hand. Keep working the hand until I tell you to stop." Dr. Reid directed Leona. Leona wordlessly held out the left arm and began to open and close the left hand until she was told to cease doing so. After roughly three minutes the command came.

"Stop!" Dr. Reid commanded. Leona stopped working the left hand and carefully brought the left arm back to the neutral position.

"Good, the left hand works. Now do the same with the right hand. Extend the right arm forward and open and close the right hand until I tell you to stop." Dr. Reid told Leona. Leona wordlessly extended the right arm outward, then began opening and closing the right hand until the doctor gave the command to stop.

"Stop!" Dr. Reid commanded after roughly three minutes. Leona immediately stopped working the right hand and carefully brought the right arm back to the neutral position, then waited for further instructions.

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After being ordered to stop the last test Leona sat and waited for further instructions. She had not seen any large metal crates lying around, so she wondered how Dr. Reid was going to have her perform the strength test. Leona kept her mouth shut and waited patiently for her next instructions.

"OK, I think we can call it a test. It looks like the Atlas Project is still worth working on." Dr. Reid said with satisfaction. Leona remained silent for a moment to make sure she was understanding what she had been told.

"Doctor, did you want to do a test of the Atlas' lifting capability?" Leona politely asked the doctor. Dr. Reid shook her head.

"That won't be necessary, Leona. Not today. I just wanted to see if the Atlas would run when I installed Dr. Abel's generator and we've accomplished that. There's plenty of time to do strength testing later." Dr. Reid informed Leona.

"Understood." Leona replied.

"You may deactivate the Atlas when ready." Dr. Reid informed Leona. Leona took her right hand off of the right control stick and located the power button, then pressed it with her right index finger. The suit immediately lowered itself to the ground and Leona climbed out of it, then jumped off of the suit and landed on her feet in front of it.

Leona walked over to Dr. Reid and Ancient Knight. Dr. Reid began walking towards the mini-kitchen without a word, leaving her headset on the table. Ancient Knight went ahead of Leona and the Wizard Saint took off and powered down her headset, leaving it on the wooden table and walking briskly to catch up with the others.

-In the mini-kitchen-

Dr. Reid sat at the small table with a full mug of coffee while Leona and Ancient Knight stood with their backs to the door that led into Dr. Reid's house. Dr. Reid seemed satisfied with today's results because nothing could erase the smile from her face. Leona was pleased that the doctor was pleased. After the long months of hard work with no guarantee of a payoff, after all the setbacks, and after all the money invested in the Atlas Project, it was finally up and running.

Perhaps sensing what Leona was thinking, the doctor set the mug of coffee down and faced Leona.

"Thank you for bearing with me all these months, Leona." Dr. Reid thanked the Wizard Saint for her efforts. Leona blinked. Dr. Reid was the one who had put in all the work to design the Atlas, give it physical form, and upgrade it. Why was the doctor thanking her?

"I know that I put you through a lot with all the constant calls for help. I also made you do a lot of menial chores that were way beneath your status. But I couldn't have gotten this far without your help. Your doing all of those chores for me allowed me to focus on keeping the Atlas Project afloat." Dr. Reid explained why she was thanking Leona despite the Wizard Saint's smaller contributions to the project.

"Most of all, your testing the Atlas for me was a big help. You were brave enough to test a new piece of technology that had the potential to go wrong in all sorts of ways and I can't thank you enough for that. I couldn't have trusted the job to anyone else." Dr. Reid finished her explanation. Leona was pleased to hear that some good had come out of her involvement.

"I'm glad I could help." Leona replied calmly. Dr. Reid picked up her mug and took a sip from it.

"Well, you two probably want to get going for home. I won't hold you two up. I've gotta examine the Atlas and make sure that nothing's malfunctioned." Dr. Reid told the pair. Since there was nothing more for them to do here they would take that opportunity to be on their way.

"OK, Dr. Reid. We'll be on our way then. We'll let ourselves out." Leona calmly replied. She walked towards the table and reclaimed her backpack, which had been moved to the seat on the right. She then turned around and walked towards the door that led into the doctor's house. Leona opened it and walked out followed by Ancient Knight. It was going to be a long walk to the guild hall and they had better get going.

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