“Theoretically?” Mir had finally looked up from under her dark fringe. “Whoa, careful there. Don’t be too certain.”

“Thanks for the attitude. It’s really helping things,” Mitzi snapped back. “Look, Central’s run the calculations. They say it will work. Will it? I have no clue. All I have to do is get in there and do my job.”

“So that’s all?” Adam asked. “The ship will drop us off outside this reactor room or whatever, we throw the detonator in, and get out? No fighting the Cymics?”

“Don’t worry. You’ll have plenty of chances to fight. The reactor is kept well underground in a secure, locked area. We’ve got about a kilometre to travel by foot before we get there. And we’re supposed to look for surviving humans, too, and get them out if at all possible.” She glanced at her watch and swore. “Okay, we’re miles behind schedule. Follow me. It’s time to suit up.”

CHAPTER FORTY-THREE

Mitzi stood, kicking the folding chair to one side, and pushed the door open. Back in the lounge area, she stopped in front of one of the seven cloth-covered objects. “There’s one of these for each of us. They’re not quite custom-made, but Central at least tried to give you one close to your body proportions. Find the one with your name pinned to it and say hello to your new best friend.”

She swept her cloth off and stepped back to admire the object under it. She’d seen illustrations, but this was her first time inspecting the ADE in person. It was a full-body suit, painted a deep scarlet with silver highlights. The outside was composed of metal plates, and the inside held several layers of padding.

“This is ADE.” She patted the shining metal chest plates, hoping she didn’t look as inexperienced as she felt. “Armed Defensive Exoskeleton. It’s designed specifically to combat the Cymics. And congratulations. You’re not only on the first-ever offensive mission, but you’re the first to test ADE on the field!”

Mir, who had been admiring the plated hands on her suit, dropped them quickly. “Wait. These haven’t been tested before?”

“Ehh.” Mitzi tried to think of a way to make it sound better than it actually was, but she came up with nothing. “They’ve been sort of tested. In the laboratory. They all work. Technically. But, yeah, there might be a few kinks that need ironing out.”

“I’m not wearing that.” Mir crossed her arms and stepped away from her suit. “What if it suddenly decides to contract me into a pretzel?”

“I’m told it only does pretzel reshaping on Tuesdays,” Mitzi growled. “And if you want to have any chance of getting through this mission in one piece, you’ll wear the damn suit.”

Franc was looking his over carefully, feeling around the armoured legs and feet. “Could you explain how they’ll help us?”

“Oh, yeah, sure. Well, it’s plated with a titanium-lexic blend, which makes it very strong and very light. Theoretically, you should be able to survive being smacked across the room.”