Ultimus chapter 8: Invalid

A Kaiju Roar blast through the house.

Andrew woke up in panic hearing it. Reuben’s head shot up and he started barking in panic and fear. The tv in his room was on and on full blast. He looked in his bed and found he slept on the remote. He grabbed it and looked at the tv. An enormous dragon was on the screen roaring into the air on a mountain. He shut off the television and got up. It was time to prepare for his journey to Sanctuary.

A little while later, he walked into the shed and began searching for anything he could use on his journey. He opened up several boxes and didn’t find much that could help him. He looked at a corner of the room and saw the two large containers with his parent’s names. He walked over to them and grabbed the door to the container with his dad’s name and opened it. Andrew’s eyes widened with awe as he saw first generation Tek gear and weapons. He saw a tek rifle, a railgun, a tek bow and a tek knife. But all of that didn’t interest him as much as the first generation Tek armor sitting on a mannequin.

“That would make my trip to Sanctuary a lot easier.” Andrew said to himself. He could just fly to Sanctuary!!

He immediately took off the helmet and noticed on the chest piece had a switch on it. Andrew with more effort then he thought he needed, he flipped it and the chest piece collapsed into a vest. He noticed that each of the other pieces connected to the chest piece also had these switches. He began flipping them all and they all collapsed into smaller pieces like a belt, fingerless gloves and even ankle bracelets. Once he did so, he began taking each off the mannequin and started putting them on. He stood them for a moment after putting them all on. He had never touched or used Tek gear in his life. He didn’t know how it would feel once he flipped all the switches. He looked at shed doorway where Reuben was sitting. He flipped the switches on the boots and gloves and they began to morph into their proper shape and adjusted to Andrew’s size. Andrew gasped in awe and Reuben panicked seeing what was happening and by the sound Andrew made and started jumping up onto Andrew.

“It’s okay Reuben. It’s okay, it just surprised me.” Andrew said while trying to calm down Reuben.

After a little bit of trying to calm down Reuben and successfully doing so. Andrew flipped the switch to the leggings and chest piece. Both pieces did the same as others did the other pieces. However, once they reached the other pieces, all of the pieces fused together and locked into one piece. Andrew found a mirror and looked at the armor, no seems whatsoever. He put on the helmet and it seemed to begin to do the same as the other pieces. But it partially connected before stopping.

“Retinal ID required.” An autonomous voice said, then a light flashed into Andrew’s eyes. Andrew wasn’t sure what it was, but didn’t dare close his eyes. Then a buzzer sounded and the Helmet detached from the rest of the suit.

“Invalid Retina ID. Limited access to the Tek Armor only.” The autonomous voice said, Andrew was confused by this.

“What does limited access allow me?” Andrew asked,

“Limited Access includes: armor wearability, armor protection, increased endurance and temperature control.” The autonomous voice said. Andrew took off the helmet and groaned.

‘So much for easier. Well, it’s still useable, might as well wear it for now.’ Andrew thought. He put the helmet back on the mannequin and noticed his dad’s name and nickname on the side of it.

Andrew walked outside and noticed that the sun was rising, he didn’t feel like he got up that early. Did he? He went inside the house and grabbed a rifle and a couple extra loaded clips. He went outside the front door and looked around the front of the house for an ATV or vehicle, nothing. He knew the park entrance always had a spare vehicle at the visitor center, but that was still a major distance away. Reuben walked up to Andrew and looked up at him. Andrew looked down and smiled.

“I think we got a long walk ahead of us.” Andrew said, and he and Reuben started running down the overgrown path that was once his parent’s driveway.