“This is not good,” Anne remarked when I told her.

“She never fought the aliens after Rawalpindi,” I remarked. “Not once. Not even when they attacked her home country again.”

“Well, they did kick her out,” Anne replied, “plus I doubt any other ultras would have been willing to fight by her side.”

“I have to figure out a way to spot her. And then pin her. Otherwise, she’ll just keep jumping away.”

“Any of your abilities block or stop an enemy?” asked Anne.

“Mindstrike, Stunning Blow, and Stun grenades,” I muttered, “but I can’t use the last two without knowing where she is, and I can’t simply keep throwing Mindstrikes at her.”

“Why not?”

“.... that actually is a good point. I don’t know how much HP she has, though, and Mindstrike only does 20 damage per hit. If she’s at something like 2000 HP then I won’t be able to keep it up long enough.”

“You said Mindstrike can also generate secondary effects.”

“Yeah…. But not guaranteed. I’d like something better than a maybe when facing off against one of the most dangerous villains on the planet.”

“Like what?”

“It’s time to armour up.”

My Power Pack Integrator looked like a mid-sized refrigerator.

Unlike most of my previous devices, this one had cost a lot of money. Specifically, I’d needed eight advanced computing systems - high-end mainframes with massive crunching capacity - to form the network core. Each had cost $35,000.

I had blown through $280,000 to get the Power Pack Integrator working, and our electricity bill had tripled.. No wonder people said inventors always needed money.

Forty small packs to make a single medium pack, plus one kilo of fullersteel and 600 MP. Achievable only with a double shot of hypercaffeine, which left me with a deficit of CHA and ATT for an hour afterwards.

And that was just one pack.

Twenty such packs to make a single Heavy Power Pack…. Plus a plasmium core.

Fortunately, I’d been stocking up on whatever I could over the months since I’d first learnt to make Small Power Packs. Lithium was cheap - comparatively - and I’d had enough money to get quite a lot.

“I see some of those cupboards are being emptied,” Paul remarked from the chair in the corner. He’d come down to see what I’d made of his basement, and stayed quiet - mostly.

“I didn’t have anywhere else to store the Small Power Packs,” I replied defensively. “Besides, they don’t take up that much space. Each is the size of a wallet.”

“And how many do you have?”

I sighed. “About thirteen hundred.”

“I see,” replied Paul. “Any reason for those many?”

“They’re useful for a lot of things. Power system for laser rifles, mostly. Each is good for about a hundred and eighty shots.”

“So you made enough to provide 234,000 rounds.”

“Well…. It wasn’t just for me. Needed some for the rifles we used to ambush Gravitic, some for producing other stuff….”

“That’s still enough to equip an army.”

“Apparently not. I thought it might be enough for a platoon, though…. Lieutenant Doyle was kind enough to educate me about why that wouldn't work."

"Is that why they're lying in the cupboard now instead of on a military base?"

"So I made too many of them by then. At least they’re useful now."

"Because you can make them into the Medium packs?"

"Yes." I activated the Integrator and forced 600 MP into it. Blue light spilled out of my hands and flowed into the door, which began to hum.

Three seconds later, with a ding, the door swung open and I pulled out my newest Medium Power Pack.

"You do realise that's not how manufacturing works," muttered Paul.

"I know. I have no idea what goes into actually manufacturing one of these…. My power basically does all the work."

“No offence, Andrew, but your power seems to make very little sense.”

“I think most powers have that in common.” I rapidly filled the Integrator’s shelves with more Small Power Packs. “Another eight Medium Packs, and I can try for the Heavy.”

“Why do you need a Heavy Power Pack anyway?”

“Powered combat armor is exceptionally energy-intensive,” I explained. “Boar Class armor needs around 40 to 50 kilowatts of power to operate the suit under normal circumstances, and as much as 200 KW at peak. The battery needed for that is around 1200 MJ, which gives me four to eight hours of endurance.”

“I know a bit about batteries. Our Spinmaker has a capacity of 200 KWh - that’s almost half of what you need.”

“The car’s battery weighs too much. The armor’s total weight is sixty kilos; most of that goes into the armor plating, leaving about twenty kilos for electronics, armament, ammunition and the power pack. The Heavy Power Pack only weighs two kilos.”

“Does a Power Pack generate its own energy?”

“No, I need to charge it after it’s drained. So far, though, I can charge packs from the car’s battery charger.”

“How’s that impact my electricity bill?”

I winced. “It’s been a bit high. Still less than what it would take to fully charge a car for a week’s drive.”

Paul smiled. “I think we can afford the electricity. Don’t worry about it. Just… you’re sure these are safe, right? They won’t catch fire or anything?”

“Power packs are designed to be fireproof - it’s more or less a requirement for combat. They don’t crack even if you hit them with a sledgehammer.”

“Well, if you ever want to make them into a commercial product, there’s probably a huge market out there for these.”

“If I can ever figure out how to make these without using MP, I probably will.”

It took me most of the day to get to the eighty Medium Power Packs I wanted.

A Heavy Power Pack would have cost me 2000 MP if I tried to create one the normal way, not to mention a half kilo of Plasmium - an incredibly explosive substance, and one which I had little chance of storing safely. Fortunately, the Power Pack Integrator reduced the cost to combining Medium Power Packs and 650 MP - an amount which I could - barely - channel, assuming I took a triple dose of Hypercaffeine. And suffered the side effects for the hour afterwards.

“I don’t know how, but that stuff actually makes you look worse,” commented Anne. “Your hair gets all frizzy and, um…. You kind of smell funny.”

“The Hypercaffeine produces metabolic waste products that get into my sweat,” I explained. “You’re right - it does make me smell weird. The -3 to charisma and attractiveness isn’t just a number - it has real side effects.”

“I still find it hard to understand how a bunch of numbers can change who you are,” frowned Paul. “Human beings do not work that way.”

“Dad, give him a break,” said Anne. “Andrew can’t control how his powers work.”

“The numbers are themselves probably only reflections of underlying processes,” I pointed out. “What’s really happening is probably too complicated to explain - so my power simplifies it into a bunch of figures that’s easy to understand. Probably.”

“And you get messages telling you how things have changed? Seems a bit computer-like to me.”

“Maybe. I still don’t know how or why I got this power.”

“Ultrahumans don’t know the origin of their powers,” Anne piped in, “so you’re in good company. How soon can your armor be ready?”

“The Heavy Power Packs are done. Forty kilos of fullersteel - also done. Computing capacity, two IBM XM-3 computers, ready. Four video cameras and eight smartphones, also ready.”

“How much did all that cost you?” asked Paul.

“The computers, video cameras and smartphones came to about $11,000 in total. The rest of it… mostly effort.”

“So when do we get to see the armor?”

I sighed. “Tomorrow. I need to recover from too much hypercaffeine, and I want to be at peak when I do this.”

BOAR CLASS POWERED COMBAT ARMOR: COMPONENTS

BOAR CLASS HELMET: 2 KG FULLERSTEEL + 1 MEDIUM POWER PACK + 1 COMPUTER + 2 VIDEO CAMERAS + 2 SMARTPHONES + 450 MP

BOAR CLASS BODYPLATE: 20 KG FULLERSTEEL + 1 COMPUTER + 1 VIDEO CAMERA + 2 SMARTPHONES + 1 HEAVY POWER PACK + 500 MP

BOAR CLASS GREAVES: 6 KG FULLERSTEEL + 1 SMARTPHONE + 1 MEDIUM POWER PACK + 1 SMARTPHONE + 300 MP

BOAR CLASS BOOTS: 4 KG FULLERSTEEL + 1 MEDIUM POWER PACK + 1 SMARTPHONE + 300 MP

BOAR CLASS BRACERS: 4 KG FULLERSTEEL + 1 MEDIUM POWER PACK + 1 SMARTPHONE + 300 MP

BOAR CLASS GAUNTLETS: 2 KG FULLERSTEEL + 1 VIDEO CAMERA + 1 SMARTPHONE + 400 MP

“Why does each of the armor pieces need a smartphone?” asked Anne as I worked.

“Each of the pieces needs computing capacity and a communication link with the rest of the armor. Smartphones have Bluetooth capability - my power basically takes that capability, scrambles the frequency, and links the various devices in a restricted network where each device can only talk to the others in the same armor set. A smartphone also has a bunch of sensors - location, proximity, thermal, radio, audio and infrared - which get repurposed into sensors for the armor component.”

“That’s both neat and nonsensical. You can’t use smartphone sensors that way.”

“My power rarely makes sense. It seems to regard all sensors - and all computers - as fundamentally the same type of raw materials, it takes them in and converts them into sensors and computers of the type it needs.”

“If you say so. Anyway, I came down to tell you that you got an email from DURABLE. They sent a bunch of data about Agni and her powers, and they’re going to share details from the city’s surveillance feed. Oh, and Lady Lumina wants a meeting with you.”

I frowned. “What for?”

“DURABLE called for a joint response plan to Agni. There’s a meeting of all ultras in Tanisport - non-villainous ones, at least - the day after tomorrow. Lumina’s sent you an e-mail invite.”

"Huh. Maybe they have some ideas about how to fight Agni."

"Let's hope. Nobody's ever really beaten her. She's been in a few fights but usually retreats before the heroes can get her down."

"Where's the meeting?"

"DURABLE headquarters, eleven a.m. tomorrow."

"How are you going to get there?" Paul asked.

I shrugged. "I thought I'd take the car to town and walk from halfway."

"You'll take the Spinmaker to town… in armor."

"No, I'll stash the Armor in Inventory, step into a corner and dress, and then set the car for a remote return. On the way back, I'll take the train."

"You've been doing this…. all this time. Taking a recognisable, license plate equipped car with GPS into town." Paul spoke carefully. "Have you considered someone might follow you home?"

"Of course. It's why I duck into an alley and change."

"Alleys that might be monitored by video cameras."

"That's why I use the Jammer Beacon."

"So, you leave a trail of mysterious power and signal outages that last for exactly one hour in specific locations, and every time that happens you show up afterwards somewhere nearby?"

"Uhh…."

"And in every such case, the video feed shortly beforehand shows the same Tesla Spinmaker entering the area."

".... I hadn't thought of it quite that way…."

Paul rolled his eyes. "How on earth have you not been caught yet? Can't you have a separate vehicle for your Belessar persona?"

"... I can. Sure I can. But I'd still have to buy it, right? Which means going into a showroom, showing my identity…."

"You can walk in as Belessar and ask. Ultrahumans can get vehicles registered under their ultra names."

"Oh…. but what about the GPS? I’d need to disable it…. and the nav computer would be just as traceable….”

“Andrew, I may not know how to make a Power Pack Integrator, but I do know how to remove the GPS and electronics from a car. Also, you can get cars without the electronics. Older types, certainly. You’d just have to drive it yourself.”

“Do you have the Driving skill?” inquired Anne.

“If you don’t,” growled Paul, “then I will personally teach you. You’re eighteen now, you need to know how to drive.”

“How about me, Dad?”

“Might as well.”