Jace Irons: The Shard of Chaos

Chapter Ten: I Decide to Take a Small Field Trip

I went to sleep that night totally dream-free. I slept long and sound because I was very proud of my exosuit design, and I couldn't wait to start building it. I ate breakfast with my cabin mates and then geared up for combat training. I couldn't wait to tell David what I'd been designing. I jogged down to the arena and wasted no time in telling him all about my dream and the designing of my exosuit.

"...it's how I'm gonna protect the camp," I said excitedly. "If there really is a war coming, I've got to do everything I can to make sure I'm up to the task."

"Dang, dude. That sounds sweet!" he said cheerfully when I finished telling him about it. "You'd be able to wreck any monster you come across."

"I hope so, man." I said. "This camp needs every bit of fighting power it can get."

"Damn straight," he agreed. "So what powers the thing?"

"Yeah..." I said somewhat dejectedly. "...that's the only problem so far. There's no suitable power source yet, but don't worry, it shouldn't be too hard to rig something up.

"Hm, well good luck with that dude, now get your guard up." he said jokingly.

We just talked and cracked jokes for the rest of practice and then went on to our other activities. Much like yesterday, today was a blur. The only thing on my mind was fixing the issue of finding a suitable power source for my exosuit. That was its only limitation. After dinner, I quickly rushed back to the Hephaestus Cabin to improve upon my designs and start building. I submitted an order for some of the more expensive or specialized parts I would need to start the exosuit, like a couple different hydraulic fluids and circuit boards and whatnot. They were promptly delivered to Cabin Nine two hours later. Hermes, the messenger, and by definition, mailman, of the gods had his own "no-day-shipping" deal for Olympus run by wind spirits, and they were fast. I assembled all of the big pieces of the exosuit, as in the moving parts.

I smelted about 40 small hexagonal pieces of Celestial Bronze attached to a celestial Bronze mesh to around the spine of the exosuit. The hexagonal pieces provided structure and protection, while the mesh held all the pieces together. The mesh was rolled up to form the actual spine of the suit. The mesh would be able to fit the exact curvature of my back, providing strength and flexibility in combat. Through the tube formed by the mesh, I hooked up the main wiring from the would-be power supply to go down my back and power the legs of the suit. I crafted the arm pieces, which were made of single, flat bars of celestial bronze about an inch and a half wide and a half-inch thick. I made circular joints fully capable of bending and twisting to go on the back of my shoulders, on my hips, shoulders, knees, and elbows. I attached hydraulic pistons and presses to the arms and legs, which would be exactly what would give me super strength with the suit on. They fit beautifully.

Next was the tricky bit. I had to attach all of the bits, bytes, wires, sensors, and processors to the arms and legs of the suit. All of the electronics fit wonderfully in the limbs of the exosuit, just as designed. All of the wires and sensors led to the part of the suit that would go on my back. The part of the suit that would strap to my back was quite literally the backbone of my suit. All the electronic components met there. It would be a rectangular box of sorts about a half inch thick that would sit right between my shoulderblades. All of the wires and sensors lay where they were supposed to, but the suit couldn't move yet. I still lacked a power source.

* * *

"...Try bypassing signals from the brachial sensors to the central plate!" yelled a frustrated Jake Mason over the roar of the generator.

He and I had been trying to solve the problem of the nonexistent power source for the suit for the past several hours with no luck.

"No, I can't do that because the plate will slow the signal! It has to move with me, there can't be any input lag!" I yelled back. I rubbed my eyes because the generator's dirty black smoke had floated into my eyes.