The suit was getting hot; really, REALLY hot. It became painful for Metcalf to move as movement forced more contact with the scalding suit. It took a great deal of concentration for Metcalf not to cry out or turn the suit off right then and there. She still needed its protection to stay relatively invisible and safe from the training-bots.
Enduring the searing pains, Metcalf managed to get into the alley’s shadow. She immediately disabled the suit’s light bending technology. Though she was no longer invisible, she was still hidden enough. The neutral colors of the suit blended well enough to hide her from the flying patrols. Crouched near a dumpster, she was safe enough from the wandering patrols.
Though the suit’s visual protection was deactivated, the thermal guard was still active. The heat from the mechanism was still trapped in the suit, it would not cool by itself. Metcalf was still cooking and the discomfort pressured her steady mind. She had to do something, anything immediately before she could rest comfortably.
After a few frantic seconds, an idea came to mind. Though Metcalf was not a Thermal Master, she could use her Motion Mastery to cool her suit almost immediately and be on her way again. The bots may get a clue of where she is, but hopefully, she’d be gone by the time they’d solve the puzzle.
The dumpster had a disgusting rusted hole in the bottom corner. Gross, but it would have to do. Metcalf barely opened her sleeves exposing just a little heat to the air. Sticking one hand into the hole, she reached out with the other hand and prepared for the chill.
With the next gust of wind, Metcalf pushed the air out of her suit replacing it with the air from the outside wind. The hot air went into the dumpster while the cool air filled her suit. Of course, her body needed time to stop sweating and the chilled air and what sweat she had suddenly felt the chill.
Now she was freezing again.
——
As Master Fu drove across town in the van, she took in the scenery. The sight of this simple city in the morning was a welcome contrast to the life she knew in the capital. Closed stores and large gaps between building gave testament to the lower population and the simple income of the locals.
Insula also thought of her student’s progress. Metcalf was doing quite well up until now. There were a few rookie mistakes here and there, but that was expected on her first test mission. Metcalf had shown vast improvements in just a few months, evidence that she was taking the training very seriously.
There was a good chance that Metcalf could have already been a wonderful agent under different circumstances. Unfortunately, she had found herself stuck and this particular goal was still far from achievable. Metcalf had been at Sword Mint Academy for so long that the grading curve placed on her would be nearly impossible to overcome. She would have to become better, train harder.
Insula had been keeping close tabs on the test everything in this test especially the training-bots used for the mission. Some of them were controlled by the peasant Commoners to give an added element of realism. According to what she had noted, none of the bots or the guards had noticed any kind of disturbance. Her student was hiding well so far. However, Metcalf still needed to get to the van in time for a smooth extraction.
In the road ahead, the robotic guards had made a road block. Insula didn’t know if her automated bots did this or the bots that were controlled. Either way, Insula couldn’t help but smile to herself.
This is going to be fun.