Metcalf couldn’t take her eyes off of the factory. Training-bots kept piling out of the main building forming more and more search parties. From the small gap between two distant buildings, she focused on them with her monocle hoping to find something that she could use to get an edge.
This test, if it was a test, was far more intense than any she had ever taken. The training-bots were acting a lot like real people. The loud alarms were most likely interrupting real lives in the town but they were Commoners. Having little to no abilities and being of the lowest class, they were probably used to interruptions by now.
She didn’t know how well the training-bots were programmed to fight. She didn’t want to learn either. She did know that they were all hunting for her. Any sign of her presence would rally a constant stream of bots to her general area. Consequently, hostility or disturbances were out of the question.
Metcalf had no intention of making things more difficult for herself or Master Fu. She was still planning on a smooth extraction. Things were hard enough, no need to add a high speed chase. It was time to avoid capture but it was harder to do with her present surroundings.
The text book’s method to evade capture was simple. Haruna and the gang had drilled her quite a bit over the last few months. All she had to do was outrun her pursuers then blend in or hide within her surroundings. Over time, they would lose her trail and move on. If they didn’t put a tracking device on her she could disappear without a trace. Easy, not that pure knowledge would help her now.
In practice, it was quite difficult especially here. The training-bots were filing out into the streets and even more of them filled the skies. Granted, she had outrun them and they had no idea where she was. But she did spy heat sensing scopes on their blasters. Also the bots didn’t seem to be losing interest; at all.
She caught herself giving up before the chase even begun and shook herself out of that mindset. This was no time to be frozen in fear. She had to take control of herself, will herself away from the wall, and move on. She did not want to end up fitting inside a small bloody box like that one guy. She needed a plan to get out of the area.
Blending in was not at all reasonable. She was alone in the factory district at a crazy hour of the morning; the only warm body to track. She would be hard pressed to convince them that she was taking a morning jog while armed to the teeth and in a stealth suit.
A stealth suit!
Metcalf resisted face-palming. She wore a major part of the solution. The time she could have spent using her gear was wasted on worrying about her problem.
The indigo cloth suit she wore was state of the art technology. It could change to any color that she set with a simple command. On its highest setting, it could cloak her completely for short periods of time. It also could capture her heat to resist detection from heat seeing sensors. She would waste no more time. She had to get safely away from here.
Metcalf quickly changed the suit to the exact color of the concrete pavement a dull tan/grey mixture. The cloaking system only lasted a short while and drained the suit causing a shutdown and recharge period. The natural shadows should blend her in and keep her hidden from the flying patrols for now.
Activating the heat system was simple enough as well. Her gear came equipped with goggles and a breathing mask. The material became freezing cold as the system activated. Master Fu told her about that minor effect of the technology. She didn’t know exactly what she meant until now. Every part of the suit was cold.
Master Fu! She suddenly remembered that she was not in this exercise alone. Perhaps that was another major part of the test. Pressing her now almost invisible body to a wall, she made a quick call to Master Fu. The suit mimicked the color and patterns on the wall. Only her visor maintained a clear image of her eyes.
“Master,” she started, placing her finger to her ear, “We need a place to meet.”
“’bout time,” Insula muttered as she answered the call. “I just so happen to have a place set,” she said much louder, “A Wang’s Convenience store. I’ll patch the location to your visor. I’ll get some snacks and leave the side door unlocked. Good luck hide-and-sneaking.”
“Thanks… I think,” Metcalf finished. She ended the call and started for the street.