When I came to this 'verse, one of the things I brought with me was my wristwatch- a cheap Casio I'd gotten after my (much nicer) last one bit the dust. I bought it because it was the only digital watch I could find that had a metal band, and wasn't horribly gaudy. At that moment, I resolved to toss it in the nearest trash compactor and hit the button, since I'd never need it again.
The watch inside that case was everything I'd been looking for back on Earth, a few months ago. Made primarily of some sort of black metal I couldn't identify, it gave off the impression of being a solid, rugged piece of equipment, despite being thinner and lighter than my previous one. Every bit of it, from the face (featureless, save for a minimalist set of lines and dots around the edges and the three monochromatic hands in the center) to the band (seemingly a single, solid piece, but actually more articulated than the old one) managed that sort of elegant simplicity that a middle-class boy like me generally doesn't get to see, much less own.
Almost without being aware of it, my hands reached out, lifting the watch reverently from its foam resting place, before settling it on my left wrist. I fumbled with it for a bit, the Doctor apparently not all that impressed with the concept of a clasp, before the ends of the watch band came together with a snap. I could hear it for a second or two after that- tiny mechanisms in the watch band, magnetic links and physical latches both, connecting the ends of the band together better than any clasp.
"I-it's perfect. Thank you." I said nothing more, too busy examining the remarkable piece of engineering from every angle. I can't even feel that I'm wearing it! They don't come any better than this!
The sound of a throat being cleared snapped me back to reality... only to see Doctor Scaglietti, the very picture of impatience. "Well, don't just stand there and look at it! Activate it!"
But how do I... oh, wait. 'First-Time Activation of an Intelligent Device'. Now I remember."...Doctor? Remember how I wanted my Device to have a few... unusual features to it?" When he nodded, unsure of where I was going with this, I smiled. "Let me show you why I wanted one of them.
Mal? Go."
And with an oscillating tone- an A in C minor, to be precise- there was light. Blue light, of my own personal color, surrounding me, obscuring me from the world. I already had a firm idea of what I wanted this barrier jacket to look like, so I was able to turn my attention to... abridging... the usual transformation sequence.
It wasn't a total success, probably since I was fiddling with a set transformation, and not replacing it entirely. I managed to avoid making any silly poses, though, and when my clothes exploded into energy, it immediately recoalesced into the form I'd chosen.
First came the bodysuit- a slimmed-down version of what the Numbers wore. I'd dropped the gauntlets, ankle blocks, thigh plates, and shoulder pads, but kept the rest of the design. With a thought, the colors shifted- the periwinkle inner portion, from chest to thigh, became the same navy blue as the rest of the suit... which then gradually darkened to black. The neckpiece, the one piece of 'armor' I'd kept, became a slightly darker shade of grey. There the process paused for half a subjective second- waiting for one detail that hadn't been programmed in- before moving on.
Over the top of the bodysuit, blue light coalesced, going from light to energy to near-solidity. Seconds passed, the collected mana gaining definition, shimmering as it transmuted into the same brushed-black metal my Device was made of. First came the boots, armored plates forming around the functional- if thin- shoes built into the suit. Then came armor on the calves, thighs, and biceps, each location becoming enveloped in a single, solid block of magical metal.
The cuirass of the armor- a single piece of solid metal down to my abs- rezzed into existence next, linking up with the neck armor on the bodysuit. Simple, rounded shoulderpads sizzled into place, starting where the neck and chest armor met, and extending out nearly to my bicep armor. From the base of the cuirass came a set of interlocking plates, covering everything up to my thighs.
My wrists were left for last, and for a very good reason. The watch I was wearing, the inctive form of my Device, flew slowly off my wrist, disassembling itself as it moved. In the end, all there was was a flat cloud of parts- tiny gears and springs, the plates of its armored chassis, three hands, and all the other kibble- orbiting an improbably-large blue gem. The cloud of parts shrank inward, speeding up as its orbit tightened, enveloping the core. In a flash of light, both disappeared, and I felt the combination, now a back plate designed to link into my armor, settle into place.
With the Device gone, twin clouds of blue mana settled around my wrists, shifting into the form of a pair of metal vambraces. Unlike all the other armor bits, these pieces weren't rounded all the way around; each one had a flat edge, extending from the plates on the back of my hands, all the way back over my elbows.
The reason for this quickly became apparent, as the vambrace on my left arm shifted. The flat edge of the 'brace reconfigured itself, growing an assortment of catches and ports for the part assembling itself above my elbow- a flattened rectangle, the outer face of it studded with backward-facing steam vents. The back end of it stretched out, narrowing down to a square face, out of which half of another blue gem protruded.
Once it was complete, the new part slammed into place on the vambrace. Out of its front face came a rounded rectangular tube, narrower and shorter than the back piece. As it approached my wrist, it bulged outward and upward, holding its new size for an inch or two, before sloping inward (incidentally creating a rather conveniently-placed diagonal plane) to meet up with the end of the tube. The whole assembly extended from an inch behind my elbow, to half an inch past my wrist, protruding about two or three inches from my arm.
As a last touch, a wide-brimmed, pointy tan hat popped out of thin air above my head. I reached up to grab it, pushing the cape that my shoulders had just sprouted out of the way, and placed it on my head. The area below the hat dimmed, leaving only a shadow... and a pair of bright blue flames, right over where my eyes really were.
Finally, the wall of blue around me faded, and my new boots settled back onto the ground with a clank of metal on metal, my body falling into a crouch. Note to self- add rubber soles. Clanking is bad.
Subjective consciousness time: forty-five seconds. Objective time elapsed: 1.2 seconds. I should know- I clocked it.
Looking up from my crouch, I reached up with my right hand, flicking the brim of my hat up a bit. Scaglietti's startled yellow eyes met my writhing blue flames, and I smiled.
"Doctor Jail Scaglietti, meet il numero immaginario- the phantom of the Numbers. Imma, for short. Oh, and this," I said, raising my left hand, palm facing me, "is Malleus Bellum."
The blue orb near my elbow lit up. "GUTEN TAG," it said, in a deep, robotic voice, someplace between Bardiche and ED-209 in character.
The 'good' doctor stared at the two of us for a few long seconds, before a smirk crept onto his face. The smirk became a grin, the grin a smile, and soon enough, he was laughing the laugh of the truly insane.
"...wonderful... ABSOLUTELY WONDERFUL! I ACCEPT YOUR PROPOSAL!"
Uno's reaction was a bit more restrained, as I'd come to expect. "Welcome to the family... little brother."
My Unitarian Jihad Name is: Brother Atom Bomb of Courteous Debate. Get yours.
I've been writing a bit.
The watch inside that case was everything I'd been looking for back on Earth, a few months ago. Made primarily of some sort of black metal I couldn't identify, it gave off the impression of being a solid, rugged piece of equipment, despite being thinner and lighter than my previous one. Every bit of it, from the face (featureless, save for a minimalist set of lines and dots around the edges and the three monochromatic hands in the center) to the band (seemingly a single, solid piece, but actually more articulated than the old one) managed that sort of elegant simplicity that a middle-class boy like me generally doesn't get to see, much less own.
Almost without being aware of it, my hands reached out, lifting the watch reverently from its foam resting place, before settling it on my left wrist. I fumbled with it for a bit, the Doctor apparently not all that impressed with the concept of a clasp, before the ends of the watch band came together with a snap. I could hear it for a second or two after that- tiny mechanisms in the watch band, magnetic links and physical latches both, connecting the ends of the band together better than any clasp.
"I-it's perfect. Thank you." I said nothing more, too busy examining the remarkable piece of engineering from every angle. I can't even feel that I'm wearing it! They don't come any better than this!
The sound of a throat being cleared snapped me back to reality... only to see Doctor Scaglietti, the very picture of impatience. "Well, don't just stand there and look at it! Activate it!"
But how do I... oh, wait. 'First-Time Activation of an Intelligent Device'. Now I remember."...Doctor? Remember how I wanted my Device to have a few... unusual features to it?" When he nodded, unsure of where I was going with this, I smiled. "Let me show you why I wanted one of them.
Mal? Go."
And with an oscillating tone- an A in C minor, to be precise- there was light. Blue light, of my own personal color, surrounding me, obscuring me from the world. I already had a firm idea of what I wanted this barrier jacket to look like, so I was able to turn my attention to... abridging... the usual transformation sequence.
It wasn't a total success, probably since I was fiddling with a set transformation, and not replacing it entirely. I managed to avoid making any silly poses, though, and when my clothes exploded into energy, it immediately recoalesced into the form I'd chosen.
First came the bodysuit- a slimmed-down version of what the Numbers wore. I'd dropped the gauntlets, ankle blocks, thigh plates, and shoulder pads, but kept the rest of the design. With a thought, the colors shifted- the periwinkle inner portion, from chest to thigh, became the same navy blue as the rest of the suit... which then gradually darkened to black. The neckpiece, the one piece of 'armor' I'd kept, became a slightly darker shade of grey. There the process paused for half a subjective second- waiting for one detail that hadn't been programmed in- before moving on.
Over the top of the bodysuit, blue light coalesced, going from light to energy to near-solidity. Seconds passed, the collected mana gaining definition, shimmering as it transmuted into the same brushed-black metal my Device was made of. First came the boots, armored plates forming around the functional- if thin- shoes built into the suit. Then came armor on the calves, thighs, and biceps, each location becoming enveloped in a single, solid block of magical metal.
The cuirass of the armor- a single piece of solid metal down to my abs- rezzed into existence next, linking up with the neck armor on the bodysuit. Simple, rounded shoulderpads sizzled into place, starting where the neck and chest armor met, and extending out nearly to my bicep armor. From the base of the cuirass came a set of interlocking plates, covering everything up to my thighs.
My wrists were left for last, and for a very good reason. The watch I was wearing, the inctive form of my Device, flew slowly off my wrist, disassembling itself as it moved. In the end, all there was was a flat cloud of parts- tiny gears and springs, the plates of its armored chassis, three hands, and all the other kibble- orbiting an improbably-large blue gem. The cloud of parts shrank inward, speeding up as its orbit tightened, enveloping the core. In a flash of light, both disappeared, and I felt the combination, now a back plate designed to link into my armor, settle into place.
With the Device gone, twin clouds of blue mana settled around my wrists, shifting into the form of a pair of metal vambraces. Unlike all the other armor bits, these pieces weren't rounded all the way around; each one had a flat edge, extending from the plates on the back of my hands, all the way back over my elbows.
The reason for this quickly became apparent, as the vambrace on my left arm shifted. The flat edge of the 'brace reconfigured itself, growing an assortment of catches and ports for the part assembling itself above my elbow- a flattened rectangle, the outer face of it studded with backward-facing steam vents. The back end of it stretched out, narrowing down to a square face, out of which half of another blue gem protruded.
Once it was complete, the new part slammed into place on the vambrace. Out of its front face came a rounded rectangular tube, narrower and shorter than the back piece. As it approached my wrist, it bulged outward and upward, holding its new size for an inch or two, before sloping inward (incidentally creating a rather conveniently-placed diagonal plane) to meet up with the end of the tube. The whole assembly extended from an inch behind my elbow, to half an inch past my wrist, protruding about two or three inches from my arm.
As a last touch, a wide-brimmed, pointy tan hat popped out of thin air above my head. I reached up to grab it, pushing the cape that my shoulders had just sprouted out of the way, and placed it on my head. The area below the hat dimmed, leaving only a shadow... and a pair of bright blue flames, right over where my eyes really were.
Finally, the wall of blue around me faded, and my new boots settled back onto the ground with a clank of metal on metal, my body falling into a crouch. Note to self- add rubber soles. Clanking is bad.
Subjective consciousness time: forty-five seconds. Objective time elapsed: 1.2 seconds. I should know- I clocked it.
Looking up from my crouch, I reached up with my right hand, flicking the brim of my hat up a bit. Scaglietti's startled yellow eyes met my writhing blue flames, and I smiled.
"Doctor Jail Scaglietti, meet il numero immaginario- the phantom of the Numbers. Imma, for short. Oh, and this," I said, raising my left hand, palm facing me, "is Malleus Bellum."
The blue orb near my elbow lit up. "GUTEN TAG," it said, in a deep, robotic voice, someplace between Bardiche and ED-209 in character.
The 'good' doctor stared at the two of us for a few long seconds, before a smirk crept onto his face. The smirk became a grin, the grin a smile, and soon enough, he was laughing the laugh of the truly insane.
"...wonderful... ABSOLUTELY WONDERFUL! I ACCEPT YOUR PROPOSAL!"
Uno's reaction was a bit more restrained, as I'd come to expect. "Welcome to the family... little brother."
My Unitarian Jihad Name is: Brother Atom Bomb of Courteous Debate. Get yours.
I've been writing a bit.