“You want to do what?” Anne almost screamed.

“I want to challenge Agni,” I said. “Publicly. Force her to come to me at a time and place of my choosing.”

“That’s crazy. I thought we agreed that you’d set a trap!”

“This is a trap,” I said. “One-on-one, can Agni beat me? With my armor? My weapons?”

Anne growled. “You don’t have truly fireproof armor….”

“I can make mine fireproof.”

“.... how?”

“I unlocked a ton of new blueprints in London. Personal shield generator, repels energy attacks. Cryonic aura pack, freezes everything in the vicinity within ten feet. Mass driver rifle.”

“Which will kill Agni if you use it on her, and I thought you’re some distance away from making that.”

“I don’t need it for Agni, and we’re not even counting my new skill, Levitation.”

“What do you intend to do with it?”

“Levitate Agni’s lighter out of her reach.”

“She doesn’t need it for creating flame, you know.”

“True, but the point is - I can’t keep chasing Agni all the time. We can’t stop her escaping technologically. I have to stop her psychologically.” I took a deep breath. “Fortunately, she still thinks I’m an inventor - so that should give us an advantage.”

“How?”

“She won’t be prepared for a psionic attack.”

“And if she is?”

“I can still outfight her.”

“Your armor isn’t proof against the flaming shards,” Anne pointed out. “She could use that again. And you’re handicapped by not being able to kill her.”

“Actually, I’m not going to use the Boar armor,” I said.

Anne paused. “Surely you’re not going to show up in Nanofibre weave….”

“No. I have a different armor set in mind.”

Falcao picked up the video call within seconds of my dialing. “Belessar! I’ve been expecting you!”

“I’m back in Tanisport,” I told him. “It’s Nanocloud and me on the call right now.”

“Hi, Nanocloud! Belessar, the design you sent me is just - insane. I’ve never seen power density like that! Not in a portable reactor!”

“Yeah, yeah, I get it. Did your contact come through?”

“When you told me you’d share your portable power reactor design, I thought it would be run-of-the-mill. But this! This is a work of art!”

“So have you built it?”

“Absolutely. Built it personally. Three reactors for you, just as you asked, and three for me. Are you sure you don’t want to license this? There are folks who would pay millions for just one of these.”

I shook my head. “Not yet. And Falcao, I need your word that you won’t spread this tech. It’s really dangerous stuff.”

Falcao nodded. “Understood. A fusion reactor isn’t anything to mess with. Still, think about it. The three reactors you requested are being shipped to the address you asked for.”

“Thanks, Falcao. And the one hundred thousand dollars on delivery as you asked.”

“I’d waive the money for the right to sell some of these babies to ERSE. Portugal really needs more and cleaner power, you know.”

I laughed. “Maybe after I’m done with Agni, we’ll talk.”

Anne eyed me curiously as I hung up on the call. “What exactly do these reactors you’ve ordered do?”

“They’re called Type 1 Microfusion Reactors,” I said. “Back when I analyzed the reactor at the Grunter mansion, it unlocked something called a Small Fusion Reactor, which is the right size to be fitted on a vehicle. A large vehicle, at least. The aliens have better reactors, though, and I was able to figure out how to make one that can fit into powered armor.”

“I don’t think I heard that right,” said Anne slowly. “You’re planning to integrate a fusion reactor into the armor that you wear. In battle.”

“Yes.”

“.... If it breaks, the explosion will level you and a city block around you.”

“That’s not what happens, a reactor isn’t a bomb. If the containment field is breached, the chain fusion reaction just shuts down and the reactor becomes a big pile of inert metal. Plus the armor’s surrounded by six inches of fullersteel plate, with a shield system around it.”

“Andrew, your Boar armor doesn’t have space for six inches of plate….. Wait a minute. How big is this new armour of yours?”

I grinned. “Thought you’d never ask. It’s ten feet tall.”

“Ten feet…. Andrew, you won’t fit inside a room.”

“It’s actually meant for outdoor battles, not door-to-door combat. And I can still fit, if I crouch.”

“How heavy is it?”

“Two hundred and fifty kilos.”

“What! Andrew, that’s going to kill your range for Powerjump.”

I nodded. “Can’t be helped. It’s got 50% fire resistance and 100 damage reduction.”

“Oh.” Anne nodded. “Huh. I… guess that makes sense? How much fullersteel is that going to take you?”

“More than two hundred kilos, actually. Fortunately, that doesn’t take a lot of time to forge - a few hours, at most.”

GREYHOUND CLASS HELMET: 15 KG FULLERSTEEL + 1 HEAVY POWER PACK + 1 COMPUTER + 2 VIDEO CAMERAS + 2 GRAVITIC CONTROL ARRAYS + 4 FOCUSING CRYSTALS + 500 MP

STYLED IN THE IMAGE OF A HUNTING HOUND, THE GREYHOUND HELMET COMES WITH AN ADVANCED TRACKING SYSTEM ABLE TO LOCK ON TO A TARGET AND TRACK THEM FOR UP TO FOUR HOURS. ENABLES THE USE OF SEEKER MISSILES.

GREYHOUND CLASS BRACERS: 50 KG FULLERSTEEL + 1 HEAVY POWER PACK + 2 SMARTPHONES + 2 FOCUSING CRYSTALS + 1 METRE PLASMA CONDUIT + 100 M NANOFIBRE CORD + 500 MP

THESE BRACERS WERE DESIGNED WITH EQUIPPED PYLONS. CAN CARRY 1 ATTACHED SEEKER MISSILE ON EACH ARM AS EXTERNAL ORDNANCE, OR EQUIP A MASS DRIVER RIFLE AS AN ATTACHMENT. INTERNAL BRACING AND SHOCK TRANSMISSION SYSTEMS ALLOW RECOIL TO BE TRANSMITTED WITHOUT NEGATIVELY IMPACTING THE WEARER.

GREYHOUND CLASS GREAVES: 50 KG FULLERSTEEL + 200 M. NANOFIBRE CORD + 1 GRAVITIC CONTROL ARRAY + 1 METRE PLASMA CONDUIT + 1 HEAVY POWER PACK + 1 FOCUSING CRYSTAL + 500 MP

GREYHOUND CLASS BOOTS: 5 KG FULLERSTEEL + 1 HEAVY POWER PACK + 1 SMARTPHONE + 1 GRAVITIC CONTROL ARRAY + 100 M NANOFIBRE CORD + 500 MP

THIS ADVANCED SYSTEM ALLOWS THE WEARER TO ABSORB AND TRANSMIT SHOCKS, SUCH AS RECOIL OR IMPACT SHOCKS, WITHOUT DAMAGING THE ARMOR OR INJURING THE WEARER. TRANSMITS RECOIL AND IMPACT EFFECTS SEAMLESSLY INTO THE GROUND.

GREYHOUND CLASS GAUNTLETS: 5 KG FULLERSTEEL + 1 VIDEO CAMERA + 1 SMARTPHONE + 1 GRAVITIC CONTROL ARRAY + 1 MEDIUM POWER PACK + 500 MP

THESE ADVANCED GAUNTLETS ALSO INCLUDE A LAUNCH ARRAY FOR LAUNCHING A LIMITED NUMBER OF MINIATURE TRACKING DRONES. CAPACITY: 5 DRONES.

GREYHOUND CLASS BODYPLATE: 80 KG FULLERSTEEL + 1 COMPUTER + 1 VIDEO CAMERA + 1 MICROFUSION REACTOR, TYPE 1 + 1 HEAVY POWER PACK + 1 GRAVITIC CONTROL ARRAY + 1 MAGNETIC CONTAINMENT CHAMBER + 700 MP

BUILT FOR ENDURANCE AND CONTAINMENT, THE GREYHOUND BODYPLATE INCLUDES AN IN-BUILT ONBOARD REACTOR TO PROVIDE POWER TO ITS EXTREMELY HUNGRY SYSTEMS.

As I activated the Greyhound Armor, Anne whistled. “I can see why you wanted this thing.”

“It looks wickedly cool, doesn’t it?” I grinned.

Anne nodded in agreement. “How many armor points in this thing?”

“Five thousand.”

“Five - Andrew, that’s amazing! Isn’t it, Dad?”

Paul shrugged. “I’m still unclear what the whole armor points thing means, but if it protects you for longer, that’s always good.”

“I like the new helmet,” Anne added. “A noble hound is a better look than an angry boar. Plus, your voice comes out better in this. More human.”

“It makes you sound like a drill sergeant instead of a drill,” agreed Paul. “Is the Greyhound armor basically an enhanced version of your earlier one?”

“It’s a completely different armor design,” I said. “Three things that make it much more suited for Agni, though. Fifty per cent resistance to fire damage, and one hundred damage reduction. A drone launcher - I can send tracking drones after Agni, and they’ll keep after her for up to four hours. And it allows me to equip Components, which are swappable modules that give me different functionalities.” I clicked on a system, and my armor was surrounded by a light blue haze. “For example, this is a Personal Shield module, which gives about 100 shield points.”

“How do those work?”

“Damage first hits shields, then once those fail it starts to hit armor. The nice thing, though, is that shields recharge without repair.”

“That’s impressive. How long do they take to recharge?”

“Um. At present, I need to reset the shield charge after each battle. Although I may get a skill to recharge shields in mid-battle later.”

“Well, it’s still a major improvement. Now what’s with the change to the plan for dealing with Agni?”

“Something the Army guys told me. Agni wants to face and fight me - not skulk around in the shadows. She’s generally very direct about her targets - find them, hit them and burn them alive.” I cycled through the different modes - neither the mass driver nor the Seeker missiles were ready yet, but I didn’t need them for the elemental. “She hasn’t hit the city while I was gone. So it’s pretty obvious that she wants to fight me - and me alone.”

“For whatever the Esperanzas have against you.”

“The reasons aren’t important. What matters is that I want to fight her, and she wants to fight me - but we’re both busy looking for each other, and both hiding from the other.” I clenched an armored fist, and it closed with a crunch. “So, we stop the hiding. I go on TV, on social media, on every channel imaginable, and I challenge her. To a showdown.”

“Where?”

“Brahampton stadium. Sunday morning. Get the place cleared out in advance. Fire department standing by on ready, in case things get out of control. And then we fight it out.”

“She could just retreat.”

“We make it so that if she does, she gives up the challenge for good.”

“She’ll never walk into a trap you’ve set.”

“Which is why it won’t be a trap. It’ll be a fair fight.”

Anne’s eyes widened. “That’s stupid, Andrew. You’re not going to beat Agni by fighting fair.”

I shrugged. “If we make it look like a trap, she’ll never show up. We need the news media there to cover the place live, make it clear to everyone - even Agni - that it’s meant to be a fair fight.”

“I could still coat the city in nanobots. Find her hideout.”

“And if she runs after showing, then you follow her. But we face her first.”

“She could just set the entire stadium on fire.”

“She won’t do that until she’s shown herself to the camera. And once she shows herself, I tag her with the tracking drone - and Anne follows her wherever she goes, even after she’s run. And then I hunt her.”

“When do you want to do this?” asked Paul.

“As soon as the BBC documentary’s over, I’m making the challenge.”