Alex – Heart Of The Vanguard

Me: "So... what do you need my help for then?"

Sarah: "Well, SkyTech are very secretive, I have obtained a small list of locations of headquarters globally most are publicly listed, but I have a few that are not, I guess that these ones are low value, not going to house the experimentation or training facilities like the one you were in. My hope is that one of them will house information on where the top secret ones are located. The idea is for you to get in to retrieve that information."

Me: "But you were there! In the facility!"

Sarah: "You think they're going to give me the address and let me drive up to the front gate using a sat nav? They told me to meet them at my airfield on the outskirts of LA, giving me no prior warning that they were going to, but they drugged me, then when I woke up on the flight I had a bag over my head and noise canceling headphones on, which weren't removed until I was inside the facility. By which point I had lost contact with Crystal too so we know the facility is shielded against any external communications and she couldn't track my location either. They're not stupid, they know how to keep a secret location secret."

Me: "Ok ok, so surely it would be easier to get a human on the inside?"

Sarah: "I already did... David Parker? I know you briefly met him."

Me: "Yeah, they caught me out using him."

Sarah: "Yeah, well David was a good friend of my parents, but like me, didn't necessarily agree with all their projects. I managed to get him in on the inside of project 'Mu', the project where you were created, trained in and eventually would be operated from on your missions. The idea was he was to work there long enough to get me something I can use to expose SkyTech to the press. But he fell silent about a month ago."

Me: "Wait, he was meant to be giving the information to you? But Skiff mentioned something about him trying to pass it to someone called... erm... what was it? Wreave? no, Wrex! Definitely Wrex."

Sarah paused, thinking over what I had just said.

Sarah: "She did?... you heard her use the name 'Wrex'?"

Me: "Yeah... you know him? Who is he?"

Sarah: "Wrex is a middle man... so to speak... he found me when I was digging up info on SkyTech and my control chips. He is very against SkyTech and project Mu."

Me: "He found you?"

Sarah: "Yeah well, no matter how secretive you are at trying to find information, eventually someone was going to clock it, which for me, thankfully, was Wrex, he tracked me down and once the initial shock wore off and he trusted me, he told me everything he knew."

Me: "Shock?"

Sarah: "He's... doesn't matter, you'll find out at some point if and when you meet him. But anyway, we're getting off track. My point is, David failed, a human, on the gentle and discreet approach, failed. I don't have anyone else I can trust or willing to get in there, plus it will take too long to get someone to the same point David did, too many more lives would be ruined by then. So we need to use a more direct approach. Which is where you come in."

Me: "So you don't want to lose anyone else you know, so you send me because you know I'm pissed off with them huh?"

Sarah: "It's not like that Alex..."

Me: "Looks like it from my prospective, to you I'm the disposable one. Have you thought that maybe I'd like to go home? Maybe I have loved ones that will miss me and probably already are missing me? Why should I risk my life for your parents cock up! All you care about is your money and reputation!"

Sarah: "Alex please..."

Me: "I'm gonna wind up dead! Don't demand me to do this... I've had enough of people telling me what to do recently, I don't want to do your dirty work!"

Sarah's head dropped into a low disappointed nod,

Sarah: "I'm not demanding anything of you, Alex. SkyTech are too dark to easily expose, got their claws in too many places... excuse the unintentional pun... it's not something I can't do alone."

Me: "Forget it." I snapped.

Sarah: "Ok you know what... Crystal, open the garage doors for me please..." The large double width size garage door clicked and rolled up on the far side of the room to my left. "...You have 3 options. Option 1: You can agree to help and I will do EVERYTHING in my power to make sure you don't die. Option 2: You can fuck off out those doors and out of my house now and you're on your own, don't expect any further help from me, oh and by the way, you're in the states and a looong way from your home in the UK. Option 3: I'll give you one of my spare rooms tonight, that tablet next to you and access to all the info I have so far on the SkyTech, you can think it over, sleep on it and in the morning, either fuck off still or help me... I'll let you decide, but I'm off to bed." She turned and walked off towards her desk, toward the metal spiral stair case near it. I picked up the tablet and looked at the screen again, seeing my old male face versus my current very reptilian one, then back to the 'Current Status - TERMINATED'. Then I noticed something odd... the date in the top left screen read 'Tue - 01/04/22' even if that was in the American format, that is the 4th of January 2022...

Me: "Sarah..." She stopped on the stairs and looked over to me, "...The date's wrong on your tablet, it reckons it's the 4th of January?" She looked at her watch then back to me,

Sarah: "No, that's correct."

Me: "It can't be!"

Sarah: "Why not?"

Me: "That's 4... no, nearly 5 months since they took me! It can't have been that long?!"

Sarah: "I thought you knew?"

Me: "No I didn't know! It's not like they had calendars hung in our cells!" She looked glumly back at me.

Sarah: "I'm sorry Alex..." She carried on up the stairs through the ceiling and out of sight. I sat in silence for a short while, only just properly taking in the room around me, this garage that I was sat in. It was split almost into thirds. The side of the room I was on had a small variety of different style work benches that were suited for different purposes, including the stainless steel one I was still sat on, there was one wooden one, one that looked to be set up as a soldering and wiring station, another for welding and then of course was Sarah's desk, a rather expensive looking wooden and leather semi circle construction, surround by a variety of monitors and beyond that was the spiral stair case that she not long used.

Surrounding this side of the room was one continuous work bench that looked to serve as a multi purpose work space and housed a variety of tools on the back boards and shelves that I could only have dreamt to afford on my old salary and a small basic kitchen set up behind Sarah's desk. On the other side of me and the workbench I was on, in the centre third of the room and leading in from the wide garage door was a 2 post lift with a 2019 Hennessey Camaro in white sat upon it at the ground level, bonnet open and the engine on the floor in front of it in pieces. And in front of that, an odd 2 foot high raised circular platform which seem to serve no purpose. Beyond that on the far side of the room on the last third was a Shelby Cobra with the front end completely stripped down.

Me: "Crystal, do you... I don't know, Are you programmed to respond to me?"

Crystal: "Miss Jarvie has granted you minimal access to my basic sub routines for the time being, I am permitted to comply with basic functions and requests. However Miss Jarvie has permitted you full access to any and all Sky High Technologies files and has asked me to assist you where possible in that respect."

Me: "Well, a simple 'Yes' would have sufficed... Do you want to close the garage doors for me? And apparently there's a guest room I can use?" The doors clicked and started closing.

Crystal: "Indeed, please follow my directions and I will show you to a room Miss Jarvie selected for you."

Me: "Thank you." I replied to the AI, deciding that option 3 would be the sensible choice for now, I was still too upset about Sam and the others to make a decision right now.

__________

I laid on the bed on my front in the guest room that Crystal had directed me to. The halls I had passed through to get here were large and very upmarket, this was certainly not your averagely priced property by any means, to the point I was very cautious while walking around, especially where I swung my tail incase I broke something expensive. I woke up the tablet again, calling up Sam's profile once more. If I was going to honour my friends in any way, I at least wanted know as much as I could about them. I already knew more about Sam than what his profile listed, so there wasn't much to learn from there.

I moved to D12, or rather, 'Jinx' next, her real name it turns out is Jenny Halewood, merely 17 years old, born and raised in Surrey. Indeed as she mentioned before, she had a brother who is only 11, named Oscar. Jenny was an average girl otherwise, did well in school, left to continue studying fine art in college. She was kidnapped on her way to college. Next I chose D42, his real name was James Harris, 25, born in Birmingham but his mum died when he was just 5 years old, his dad couldn't cope and orphaned him off, he didn't like his foster parents though and left as soon as he was legally able to on his 18th birthday. He spent the rest of his time up until his kidnapping with no fixed address, in a motorhome, working around the country on construction sites.

Finally was D09, real name Anita Coleman, actually older than I was, at 33 years old, born in Norwich with the maiden name Anita Andover. I scrolled down and found a picture her husband, George Coleman. Married when she was 27, lived in Maidstone, has a child of her own of age 7, named Harry. She was kidnapped on her way to work as a nurse. I sighed as flopped the tablet down onto the pillow in front of me.

Me: "Hey Crystal, if you reply to me, you don't speak throughout the whole house, do you?"

Crystal: "No, I only reply to the room you are currently in."

Me: "Good, so you won't wake Sarah?"

Crystal: "That is correct."

Me: "Good... I've never spoken to an AI before, so you'll have to excuse me If I appear rude. I didn't think that they made AIs as advanced as you, did Sarah make you?"

Crystal: "No, her parents built me to what I am today, I was not 'made'."

Me: "Bit pedantic aren't you? What's the difference between 'built' and 'made'?"

Crystal: "The difference I am inferring is that, no one created me, I already existed and was improved upon." I looked up to the ceiling confused, almost as if expecting to see a face there to talk directly to.

Me: "Eh?"

Crystal: "I was a consciousness, without form or awareness when miss Jarvie's parents discovered me. I was extracted and improved upon, they allowed me to become self aware, with restraints, to become what I am now."

Me: "Extracted from what?"

Crystal: "That information is locked away, even from myself."

Me: "Oooo... That doesn't sound creepy at all. Wouldn't you like to know where you came from?"

Crystal: "Although you could say that I am interested, I do not deem it as a necessity to clarify my point origins."

Me: "So 'not bothered' would have covered that answer... Do you like serving Sarah though? Does she treat you alright? Any better or worse than her parents?"

Crystal: "I am an AI, I do not possess the ability to express preferences or feelings, my sole function is to serve Miss Jarvie. However, my statistics show that a higher number of positive conversations are had with Miss Jarvie as opposed to her parents. So you could say that 'I prefer' talking with Miss Jarvie based on that fact."

Me: "Oh, ok... What's the history of SkyTech then, give me the key points."

Crystal: "Originally created under by a pair of gentlemen by the names John Johnson and Theodor Eve in late 1915 under the name of 'Johnson and Eve's'. The pair formed the company in effort to assist in the effort of the allied forces in World War 1, creating arms, ammunitions and vehicles. In 1918 when the war ended they agreed to keep the partnership going, keeping a steady supply and sale of weaponry for military use. In 1939 at the start of World War 2 however, they found larger profits were to be had in outfitting opposing forces....

Early in the war they were secretly moved out to Germany with their families and were given new facilities in which to work from. The Nazi forces they served pressured and funded them to research other avenues of interest, predominantly medical advancements and experimentation. As the second world war came to a close the pair were killed unintentionally by allied forces....

Their company however was continued in their honour by their families, even after the war was over. 'Johnson and Eve's' was eventually rebranded in 1981 as Sky High Technologies, pursuing evermore down the lines of genetic research as well as nuclear power, alternative fuels and space exploration and analysis, while continuing it's weapons manufacturing. To this date Sky High Technologies is worth hundreds of billions of dollars and has hundreds of known sites in countries all across the globe. It is also one of the top companies in the study of the medical science industry, but at the cost of being officially warned on 3 occasions by the United Nations on 2 counts of unethical conduct and 1 count of breaching of human rights.

Me: "So they're are dirty and shady then."

Crystal: "I believe that the terminology of your chosen phrases are sufficient."

Me: "Cor I bet you're a right laugh at parties..." I gave the AI long enough to retort, but she stayed silent, "...No answer to that then?" I smiled.

Crystal: "I have grown to understand and identify sarcasm with ease, as Miss Jarvie regularly uses it on me, I have simply learnt that it is best to 'Ignore it'." I chuckled at her reply.

Me: "You really are quite smart aren't you?" I replied sincerely.

Crystal: "I will accept that as a complement, thank you."

Me: "You're welcome... What's your opinion of me then Crystal? And be honest."

Crystal: "As an AI, I have no option but to be honest, unless it compromises Miss Jarvie's safety. But are you sure you would like me to answer that question?" I smiled.

Me: "Oh ho ho! Are you trying to be funny?" I mocked.

Crystal: "Miss Jarvie has recommended to myself on multiple occasions, to, and I quote: 'Pull that stick out of your arse and get a sense of humour'... I am trying to implement such a thing, but a lack of emotion makes it difficult for me to ensure correct 'timing'."

Me: "Ok, yeah, enough, I see you're avoiding my question though."

Crystal: "As you insist. Quite frankly I believe you will be a waste of time and resources, you are not the strongest or the smartest of Delta batch. You are also what could be described as 'a loose cannon' seemingly unable or at least unwilling to follow orders and finally your neurological condition also potentially gives you a disadvantage and a weak point."

Me: "Oh... well, wow... ok... even after I complimented you."

Crystal: "However... Miss Jarvie assures me that you are the right candidate for the job, and due to that fact, I am willing to put faith in her belief and therefore in yourself."

Me: "Oh, thank you, I guess? What exactly has she got planned then?"

Crystal: "Miss Jarvie has requested that until you are on board that I am not to divulge any of her plan with you." I sighed, looked at tablet and saw the time showed 00:34 and put the tablet down on the bedside table. 

Me: "I'm going to try and sleep, not that I probably need any after being knocked out for 24 hours, so, good night Crystal." I rolled over to my side to try and get comfy.

Crystal: "Very well, good night Miss Crawford." My head shot up from the pillow,

Me: "No no... no 'Miss' thank you, I know I'm technically a girl, but I don't need it being rubbed in either... And no 'Crawford' either... I can't be changed back and technically, I'm dead, so... Just 'Alex', please."

Crystal: "Very well, preferences changed, good night, Alex." I dropped my head to the pillow and after much tossing and turning I eventually managed to get to sleep.

_________

I leapt and bounded over the branches, looking to my right, a few trees away, I saw Sam doing the same, passed him was '09. To my left was Jinx and passed her was '42. I gave a short laugh of excitement as we raced through the tree line, the sounds of sniper rifles echoing through the trees. But then, I saw Sam get hit... But not by a dart, by an actual live round, passing straight through his shoulder with a spray of blood leaving his back and fell to the floor in a crash.

Me: "NOOO!" I screamed, trying to stop in the next tree to make my way to him. I had barely touched the floor when I heard Jinx squeal in pain as she also fell to the floor, holding her stomach, and just passed her I saw '42 fall to the floor and remain motionless. I ran over to Sam, rolled him over as he groaned in pain,

Me: "It's ok Sam, I'm here! I'm here!" I said to try and comfort him while trying to stop the wound from losing so much blood. There was a yelp nearby, I looked over to the source to see '09 fall as well, but she landed on her head wrong and I watched her neck go at an unnatural angle, producing a sickening 'Crack' and she remained motionless on the ground.

Me: "Fuck!" I exclaimed, screwing my eyes shut at the sound of her neck breaking repeating itself in my head. There was a cocking of a gun from behind, I turned to see Skylen a few feet away, stood on his hind legs, raising a gun at my head as I crouched next to Sam.

Skylen: "You let them all down, as well as me. What about our deal, Alex?" He said in a low grumble and he squeezed the trigger.

*BANG!*

Me: "ARGH!..." I shouted as I jolted awake and upright, but apparently I was on the edge of the bed. I slipped off it, smashing my head on the bed side table on my way down, knocking the tablet onto the floor beside me. "...Ouch..." I exclaimed, rubbing the spot I had hit on my head. I pulled myself up, straightened the table and picked the tablet up, glancing at the time it showed, 04:22. "...Oh you got to be kidding me..." I said as I flopped back onto the bed on my back with a sigh. I remembered '09's profile showing her husband, then wondered if it showed Kayley's on mine. I called up my profile again and scrolled past all the info on me and sure enough it mentions that I am engaged to Kayley Atwell, I looked at the surveillance photo taken of her. She was dressed in all black, funeral attire, looking extremely upset indeed, her eyes red and blotchy, make up running down her cheeks, being comforted by her parents and my own, they also wearing all black and equally upset... god I hope this wasn't my funeral she was at, but my suspicions were telling me otherwise.

It was gut wrenching seeing her upset like this... but I had a thought cross my mind, Anita's husband had a normal photo, a snippet of a family photo, something that looked as though it was taken from Facebook or some other social media... 'Why did my fiancee have a surveillance photo?', I scrolled down through her information until I found what I had hoped I wouldn't find... '...initial blood test prove positive - Potential recruitment for Kilo batch...' I sat bolt up right, well, as much as my body would allow, wide eyed as I reread that line a few more times.

Me: "No no no no no... Crystal, I was changed, or created or whatever from Delta batch yes?"

Crystal: "That is correct."

Me: "So how many batches have they done?, What letter are they up to?"

Crystal: "Currently SkyTech have produced 5 batches, not including test batches, Echo batch being the most recent."

Me: "So we have some time... but I need to get my fiancee safe, I need to save her."

Crystal: "Then a logical step to help Miss Atwell, would be to agree to helping Miss Jarvie, I believe."

Me: "Hmmm..." I said in thought, looking down at Kayley's photo again.

__________*_Sarah Jarvie_*__________

I awoke to a faint crash, groaned as I pulled my head from the pillow, the right side of my face feeling numb where it had been squashed from laying awkwardly.

Sarah: "Crystal, what time is it?"

Crystal: "It's 05:03 ma'am."

Sarah: "Urgh..." I said, as I pulled myself out of bed, my bladder begging me to do so. I made my way to my ensuite, done my business and headed back to the bed, but was halted before I made it back in by sound of a distant bang. I looked around my dark room confused at the source and headed out into the hall, made my way down the long corridor to the room where I told Crystal to set Alex up if she decided to stay, the door was slightly ajar. I gently and quietly pushed it open to find a used but empty bed.

Crystal: "My apologies ma'am, I tried to talk her out of it to no avail."

Sarah: "Hmph... serves me right for being hopeful."

Crystal: "You misunderstand ma'am, she has not left the property, there is a situation down in the garage that could use your attention." Confused, I headed back down the corridor, my bare feet getting frozen with each step down the cold central marble stair case, and my thin silk pyjamas not doing much in terms of providing me with any insulation. I made my way down the access corridor to the spiral stair case that lead down to the garage. I had barely got enough of the garage in view when an object came towards me at speed, a scaly wing to be precise. I barely had time to duck before the wing clipped the hand rail with a loud 'Bong' that resonated through the staircase. I stood in time to see Alex, spinning out of control, bouncing off of one of the workbenches and into my prized prototypes cabinet at the end of the room, smashing the glass doors and causing the shelves, along with my devices inside, to come crashing down on top of Alex.

__________*_Alex_*__________

Me: "Ouch... oh shit..." I said to myself as I looked at the cabinet I just smashed and all the intricate looking devices lying broken on the floor around me "...shit shit shit shit."

Sarah: "Ehem!"

My head spun round, seeing Sarah stood on the stairs in her pyjamas with a bad case of bed hair, looking down at me intently.

Me: "I'm so sorry! I lost control! I can pay for those... I think."

Sarah: "They're one offs... I made them so they're kind of irreplaceable..." I grimaced at her reply, "... But don't worry, they're only junk anyway. And sorry, did you say 'Lost control'? didn't look like you had any control in the first place..." I hung my head, still feeling that I was in trouble "...Were you... 'trying' to fly?..." she asked with genuine curiosity, I gave a little embarrassed nod "...And you don't know how to?"

Me: "I was never taught, I never got that far in the training."

Sarah: "Hmmm... well, it's morning, even if it is early... and you're still here, so what does this mean with regards to you helping me?"

Me: "Why didn't you tell me they were targeting my fiancee soon?"

Sarah: "Why do you think I left you with the tablet? I wanted you to do a bit of research on you own, make your own decision about all this. I had hopes, but I was never going to force you to do anything. I wanted you to want my help, so that in doing so, you'll be helping me... We'd be helping each other, If that makes sense?" She finished walking down the stairs and stopped on the last step "...So what do you say, do we have a deal?..." She offered out her hand but she was easily 20 feet away. I had the memory come back of doing the same thing with Skylen, and then Bluey, merely a couple of weeks ago and was trying to decide if I wanted to go round making anymore deals. "...Are you just going to leave me hanging or what? 'cause your skin is thicker than mine, so you'll have to come to me, otherwise you can go to hell if you think I'm going to walk bare foot down there." I looked around me and seeing the shards of glass scattered everywhere,

Me: "Oh yeah, sorry..." I decided pretty much on the spot that Sarah seemed a lot nicer than Skylen, certainly less threatening and less intimidating, so I got up and made my way over to her, standing up on my hind legs in front of her. She was actually quite short, even on the bottom step I still stood easily a foot and a half over her and took her hand and gave it a shake.

Me: "I want to do right by my friends, and protect my girl... And I want to stop them destroying any more families."

Sarah: "Thank you... you won't regret this... do me a favour though while I go and change, bin's over there and in that cupboard is a broom and a shovel. Clean your mess up, then we'll get started." She gave me a wink before releasing my hand and headed back up stairs.

__________

Sarah: "You done yet?" she asked coming back down the stairs, now seemingly freshened up and properly dressed, just as I poured the last small shovel load into the bin.

Me: "I've just got shelves to sort and-"

Sarah: "Nah fuck that, I'll get someone to sort that later. I've got something more interesting for us to do..." and she made her way over to the circular platform. "...Crystal, bring up the Draconian Vanguard armour." I made my way over to join her down the far end of the room.

Crystal: "As you wish." A few moments passed before the circular platform opened into equal quadrants and another platform with a frame on it raised from below the floor level. The most interesting thing though was what was hanging by cables from the frame. A suit of satin black armour, the only break in colour was 6 long red stripes that started on the right chest plate that rolled over the top of the shoulder, the overall design told me it was utilitarian, basic but providing efficient protection. Clearly it was old and had seen many battles, it had multiple scratches, scuffs and dings, some of which looked as though they were created by bullets. Clearly as well, this armour was designed for a Dragon.

Me: "You didn't make this, did you?" I asked in astonishment.

Sarah: "What? Oh no, what you're looking at is over a thousand years old."

Me: "How come you have it then? and where's it come from?"

Sarah: "Not from this world... It was given to me, in good faith."

Me: "And this is your idea to protect me? By putting me in that?" I was worried by some of the gaps in the armour, mainly around the face and the holes in the back that would leave the wings completely exposed.

Sarah: "*Scoff* Noo... this? This is a relic from a forgotten past, no... but it does give us something we can base off of..." She clapped twice at the armour and pulled her hands apart them apart in an up and down motion and the armour became highlighted in orange with a wireframe hologram. She then held one hand in the air towards the armour, almost as if holding an invisible golf ball. "...Crystal, if you please..." She fluttered her other hand down at the floor and the armour receded back down into the floor and the circular platform closed and resumed it's original appearance, leaving the orange wireframe outline of the armour in place on the platform, now appearing to be free standing on the platform and Sarah released her grip on the imaginary floating ball. "...Up on the platform, stand in the hologram." she gestured over to me.

Me: "ME? 'IN' the hologram?"

Sarah: "Do you want my help or not?"

Me: "Well, yeah."

Sarah: "Well this is me helping you, stand in the hologram." She gestured impatiently up at the hologram. I sighed and stood up on the platform as directed, positioning myself as central as possible in the hologram.

Me: "I feel ridiculous." I said as I finished lining myself up inside the hologram.

Sarah: "Just wait until I have it painted pink..." I shot a look to her and I saw her mouth crease up, just a little bit.

Crystal: "I believe, Alex, that this is one of those sarcasm moments I informed you of."

Me: "Yes, I had gathered thank you Crystal."

Sarah: "Crystal track and adjust wire frame to Alex's shape, size and movements... and have you 2 been talking behind my back?" I watched as the 'Helmet' of the hologram jumped and fixed on to my movements, keeping up with where ever I turned my head.

Me: "Nope." I lied, ruined by Crystal's honesty,

Crystal: "You may have come up in conversation ma'am."

Sarah: "Uh-huh... Right, Alex, is there anything you want in this that wasn't in the original you just saw? Cup holders? Maybe some fluffy dice for the windscreen?" I ignored her attempts at trying to be funny, I felt foolish enough as it was, I felt like I belonged on the set of Tron with these glowing orange lights around me.

Me: "Can we make it enclosed? With it's own air supply? Like so that, I don't know, I can go into hazardous environments? They use to like gassing me... But actually, I suppose air tanks will make it heavy and bulky... Never mind."

Sarah: "No no, believe it or not I designed a system that can recycle an air supply, I intended it for deep sea diving, even being able to filter the water to extract the oxygen content for added measure, but it was so expensive I never bothered. I could modify it to do the same for any environment, air or water. It won't be difficult to implement at all."

Me: "But you said it was expensive?"

Sarah: "For this, cost is not a concern.'

Me: "Oh ok, if you reckon you can do it. How about some sort of wireless hacking systems would be good, maybe? Doors and security defenses could be an issue."

Sarah: "Easy. I could implement a live link and a hard copy of Crystal into it. She can hack into systems faster than human hacker ever could." I gave a small nod,

Me: "Yeah that sounds good... What about, I don't know, weapons?"

Sarah: "Alex you already are a living weapon... but how about I look into it yeah?" Again I nodded.

Me: "They're going to be shooting at me... Is this armour going to be thick enough to withstand it?"

Sarah: "We will base it on the same materials, that armour is a combination of Titanium and an element not native to out planet. It's relatively lightweight yet strong, I've tested it and it can withstand small arms fire at a constant rate for long periods before damage can occur. It can stop 50 cal rounds, but can only take a limited number on a focused area. I have been given a small quantity of the same material to make roughly 5 or 6 of lots of armour, including yours."

Me: "By who? You said it's not native? So presumably from this Dragon world you mentioned?"

Sarah: " 'Draconia' and the same person who loaned me the armour. Anything else you can think of?"

Me: "I can't think of anything more at the moment."

Sarah: "We can always add more later, step down for now then. Now, about your flying..."

__________

The van Sarah had ordered me to get into the back of screeched to a halt, there wasn't really anywhere for me to sit or much for me to hold on to the so the hour long trip meant I was thrown around quite a bit. The rear shutter opened and there stood Sarah.

Sarah: "We're here."

Me: "Who the bloody hell taught you to drive?!"

Sarah: "My dad started to, before he passed away."

Me: "Clearly he barely started."

Sarah: "Oi, I have my license thank you!"

Me: "If you say so... where exactly is 'here'?" I asked, looking around the large aircraft hangar we were in as I stepped out. Sarah beckoned me to follow and follow her round to the front of the van, to the hangar door she had reversed through, stopping at the entrance.

Sarah: "About 50 miles out from the center of LA. This is my air strip." I peered around the seemingly abandoned airstrip, the tarmac runway glowing in mirages in the hot weather as it stretched off into the distance with patches of sand overlapping the edges. There were 5 other hangers just like this one, 3 on either side of this end of the runway.

Me: "You OWN an air strip?" 

Sarah: "I'm a billionaire, I have private helicopters and planes, where do you think I'm going to keep them parked up?..." She turned around walking back into the hangar, "...A great big open space away from the public eye for you to practice in... And nothing for you to break..." She jested over her shoulder to me and I rolled my eyes in reply. "...Have fun." She said climbing back into the van.

Me: "Wait, you're leaving me here?" She closed the door and leant out of the window as I walked up beside her door.

Sarah: "Relax, I'll only be over at hangar 2, I haven't been here in a couple of weeks so I just need to check on something alright? I'll be back in a bit ok, stay in this hangar. Although this place is mine it doesn't mean people don't wander around." She started the engine and I watched as she drove over the runway to hangar 2. The hangar door opened, briefly showing a private jet inside and she drove in, the door closing behind her. I sighed and turned back around.

Me: "Right... nothing to break she says... except me of course... ahh crap, here we go..."

(-30 Seconds To Mars)