The backyard was expansive with plenty of room to maneuver. The weather was tame, and security wasn’t here since Kajo was out, so Avery and Tim had the backyard all to themselves.

  Tim stepped onto the grass wearing the armor. “Okay,” he said, twisting his arms awkwardly, “How do people even move in this thing?”

  Avery stood tall with a smirk tugging at his lips. “It’s not a winter coat, Tim. The suit calibrates to the user. Just give it a second.”

  Tim raised a hand, and the HUD flickered to life inside the helmet. Faint blue grids and text lines light up across his visor. “Whoa,” he muttered. “It’s like… I can see everything. Heart rate, temperature, external pressure, there’s even a map overlay.”

  “That’s the interface,” Avery said. “Galactic tier defense system. The sensors sync to your vitals and environment. Don’t mess with the neural commands, though, unless you want to blast through the wall.”

  “Wait, blast?”

  “The weapon systems are disabled. Probably.”

  Tim froze mid-motion. “Probably?”

  Avery laughed. “I’m kidding… hopefully.”

  Tim rolled his eyes and looked down at the arm controls. A light hum vibrated through the armor as he flexed his fingers. Blue circuits raced along the gauntlet seams. “This thing is insane…” he muttered. “Hey, I think I can make it fly.”

  “Don’t—”

  Tim crouched and activated the propulsion module. The thrusters sputtered once, twice, then came to life.

  Tim shot up a few feet, flailing. “Hey—!” He spun in the air, half-controlled. “I can’t—turn it—off!”

  “Calm down!” Avery shouted, trying not to laugh. “Ease your palms and use the stabilizers!”

  “I’m trying!” Tim yelled, wobbling in midair like a newborn bird. He tipped sideways and hovered for a second before landing with a heavy thud on the grass.

  The armor hissed and vented steam.

  Avery couldn’t hold it in anymore. He burst out laughing. “You look like a malfunctioning droid.”

  Tim groaned from the ground. “Hey, I almost died!”

  “Not even close.” Avery helped him up, still chuckling.

  Tim stood, brushing dirt from the armor. “You’re laughing now, but once I figure this out, I’m flying over the city.”

  Avery shook his head with a small, genuine smile. “If SCAR doesn’t shoot you down first.”

  Tim grinned inside the visor, the faint glow hiding his face but not his tone. “Worth it.” Tim was still amazed by the suit, taking a moment to check the HUD. “You weren’t kidding when you said SCAR’s tech is next level.”

  Avery stood tall, adjusting the small holo-interface on his wrist. “This is used for containment and riot response.”

  “Riot response?” Tim grinned. “Looks like it could handle a war.”

  “It probably can.”

  Tim exited the suit via Avery’s command. The suit hissed as steam vented out, while the middle separated cleanly enough for Tim to step into the fresh air without issue.

  “Stand in front of it. I forgot to do this.”

  Avery tapped his watch once, and the armor floated free. The pieces clicked together midair before splitting apart again, orbiting Tim like a planet.

  Tim froze. “Uh—Avery?”

  “It’s calibrating. Vitals, muscle alignment, neural rhythm. Just don’t move.”

  “It’s scanning me entirely.”

  Seconds later, each piece snapped into place around him. Boots first, then chest, arms, and helmet. The last piece sealed as the visor powered up, flooding his view with a HUD.

  “Whoa.”

  SCAR GUARDIAN ONLINE. PILOT: TIM.

  “It knows me?”

  “I added you as the primary pilot,” Avery said, tapping his watch. “Check this out.”

  A faint blue shield rippled outward, enclosing him in a protective bubble.

  “Whoa, what is this?”

  “Shield bubble,” Avery replied. “Absorbs kinetic shock. You could jump off a building and walk away.”

  Tim grinned. “So… I can test that?”

  This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it.

  “No,” Avery said flatly. “Alright,” he said, flicking through his watch.

  “Hey, Avery?”

  “Yeah?”

  “You’re controlling this from your watch, right?”

  “Yeah. 2A… the watch… is already calibrated with the suit. I can control everything here for you. But, of course, you can turn off calibration and enable full self-control if you want. For learning purposes, keep the calibration on.” Avery cleared his throat. “We’ll start simple. Stabilizers only. No flight, no shields, no projectiles.”

  Tim flexed his fingers, the gauntlets responding as if they were extensions of his skin. “Got it.”

  "Yeah."

  Before Avery could lock the command, Tim triggered the wrist sequence.

  PROPULSION STABILIZERS ONLINE.

  A flash of blue fire roared from his boots, launching him a few feet into the air.

  “Tim!”

  “I’m fine—whoa!” He spun sideways, arms flailing as the HUD screamed MANUAL FLIGHT MODE ENGAGED.

  Avery flicked his wrist. “Autopilot override.”

  The suit straightened midair, thrusters balancing out as Tim floated smoothly above the grass. The HUD updated: AUTOPILOT ASSIST ENABLED.

  “Whoa,” Tim said, laughing. “Okay, that’s… that’s insane!”

  “It’s doing all the work for you.”

  Tim twisted his wrist, and the armor responded instantly, pivoting him with accuracy. “What else can it do?”

  Avery scrolled through a few menus on his watch.

  “It would be cool if this thing had a crash pad or something.”

  “Tim—”

  Too late.

  CRASH PADS DEPLOYED.

  The suit ejected Tim out. He dove downward. The ground almost met with him, but right before impact, four glowing hexagonal panels ejected beneath him, absorbing the fall. He bounced once, laughing like a kid.

  “You saw that?!”

  Avery just stared. “You’re lucky I didn’t activate combat lockout.”

  “Combat what?”

  “Don’t worry about it.” Avery’s expression softened. “You know,” he said quietly, “SCAR designed that armor to protect their own. But the people they protected… weren’t always the right ones.”

  “You mean your mother.”

  Avery didn’t answer. He just looked at the suit that made its way down.

  Tim’s grin faded. “Then let’s use it for something better.”

  Avery exhaled, the tension breaking just a little. “Just keep it safe.”

  “You’re seriously giving this to me?”

  Avery nodded slowly. “You’d make it mean something. When the time comes, use it for good.”

  “And what time would that be?”

  Avery shrugged. “We’ll see.”

  2A spoke in a robotic tone. “Message from Ridley: Need you at Ertz’s office. Now.”

  “That’s weird,” he said.

  “What is it?”

  “Ridley wants me to meet him at Ertz’s office.” He projected the message as a small hologram and reread it. “No reason or context. Just ‘now.’”

  “Could it be routine?”

  Avery gave a quiet, humorless laugh. “He doesn’t do routine, especially if he’s asking me to come to Ertz’s office.”

  “Hey, wait, who’s Ertz?”

  “Head of Security of SCAR.”

  Tim thought hard about this. What could the Head of Security want from Avery? Mainly when Ridley was looped in.

  There was only one thing that popped into his mind.

  “Could it be about Roger?”

  “Yeah, but what? Why would Ertz be looped in? To anyone, Roger is a low–tier criminal. Ertz wouldn’t be involved.”

  “You said Roger gave wrong answers. Could that be why?”

  Avery shook his head, minimizing the message. “Nerves. People give wrong answers due to nerves. This is one of those times. It’s definitely not enough for Ridley and Ertz to want to meet me.”

  Tim rubbed the back of his head with his mind racing. His input was minimal since he didn’t fully understand how SCAR operated. He thought about it in a business–ish perspective.

  If someone were in trouble, how would that person be caught?

  Camera footage. ID checks. Internal records. Stuff like that.

  “That’s right,” Tim said.

  “What?”

  Tim put his palms against his face like an oxygen mask. “You…” he pointed at Avery. “You met Roger in the cell alone. It’s a prison. There have to be ID checks for anyone who enters and speaks to an inmate. It’s all under the internal record. On top of that… cameras. They know you were there to speak with him.”

  Avery groaned and slapped his forehead, mouth open. “Shit! Shit! I didn’t think about that. I met with Roger alone before meeting him with Ridley. They know I was there. They know through internal records and traces. They know that I know Roger. Shit!”

  Avery paced. “I thought I was careful. I was careful.”

  “You can’t hide digital traces,” Tim said.

  “Yeah, I realize that now. Ugh! This is serious. I’m in so much trouble. Roger’s in so much trouble. I don’t know what to expect.”

  “There has to be something,” Tim said in urgency.

  Avery snapped his fingers. “There is. It’s a long shot, but I think I have an idea of how it’s going to come down.”

  Since they probably knew about Avery meeting Roger alone, they must have been digging into Roger. Since Roger was an outsider with a fake ID, there is a chance of inconsistencies or errors within a deep background check. Fake IDs were meant for surface-level use. Once SCAR investigates someone with a fake ID, it could pick up bits and clues and piece them together. It’s obvious that Roger isn’t Roger. This wasn’t any low–tier crime. This was a false persona. A false name. A ghost, or someone who wasn’t supposed to be here. Knowing Ridley, he would jump to the conclusion that Roger was a villager before an outsider. Either way, it’s a bad thing. Roger wouldn’t spill the information voluntarily. That was a given. Giving away that he was an outsider or not an Ionian would mean death. Roger wouldn’t do so. That left one other way for Roger to spill the information.

  Torture, which was banned within the walls.

  There was an isolated area within the woods where Ridley went to torture information out of inmates or people. That area is unknown to Avery.

  “Ok, ok,” Tim said. “Are you sure that Ridley will bring Roger there?”

  “Positive.”

  Tim looked around anxiously and exhaled. “Hey, I may have a plan.”

  Avery nodded his head. “Wh—What?”

  Tim glanced at Avery's watch. “How much can the watch do?”

  “It can do a lot, why?”

  “A replica. We need a replica.”

  Avery looked down at his wrist, breath shaky. “A replica? Yeah, I can create a replica.”

  Tim nodded. “Hear me out.”