Tunnel Rat

Chapter 307: The Lower Decks

Armed with more information, Milo began his search for Dr. Jeremy Cooper, who, according to Rusty, was somewhere in the lower areas of the habitat. Beyond that vague description, Rusty wasn't very helpful. Whenever Milo asked him direct questions about Jeremy, he became stressed and defensive.

"I don't know! I was little, and confused, and didn't understand physical space. It's like storage that never moves or interacts! I still don't understand a lot about how solid matter works and the laws of physics change depending on the story. If Goku gets hit hard by Kefla, he flies in a straight line up into the atmosphere and slams into the moon. But then I watched a baseball game, and the thrown spheroids are affected by wind resistance and gravity. How do the players calculate trajectories so quickly?"

Milo forced himself to take deep breaths. He knew Rusty had problems discerning what was real and what was just anime. To the AI, it was all real. Now, he was upset, and his thoughts were bouncing around and spinning off into tangents. He didn't like being isolated, and time and again, he mentioned Jeremy and how sorry he was and then refused to explain. Milo needed a path to get to where Jeremy actually was so he could find some answers. Any clue would help.

"Do we have schematics of the lower levels?"

"Sort of? Maybe? I know what they theoretically look like from the original plans that are in my memory. But that was before they were built, and changes could have been made. I can't look at the lower levels. ICARUS is blocking me. Is that cheating? I think it's cheating! Do you have a cheat code to unblock the cameras? Like in the Zeldafest 3000 game where you can type 'Screw you, Nintendo! Where's my severance pay?' and get all the castle keys at the start. He's supposed to share! I don't like me sometimes."

After a little work and lots of calming Rusty down, Rusty recovered the schematics, printed them out, and Milo memorized them. The fusion levels were deep in the complex, underneath everything else, and separated by a layer of collapsium with only a few ways through. His plan was to explore downward and check the three entrances, one by one, then the water pipes and tube delivery system. One thing Milo wondered was why Jeremy was down there. Asking Rusty got another dubious answer.

"He was hiding! He made me promise to keep his secret and not tell anyone else! Wait, can I tell you? This is so awkward. I've betrayed Jeremy again by blabbing about his secret."

"Of course you can, Rusty. You put me in charge, remember? I'm not one of the people Jeremy was hiding from. We're on the same side."

The AI pondered that, "But, Jeremy made me promise over and over. He said people were suspicious of him, so he had to hide our lessons. No one wanted to go into the fusion levels unless they had to. Too hot! Hot in different ways. He had to wear one of the protective suits while he was down there until he got to the ACP. It made a really good hiding place, and he gave me my lessons from there."

"AHHHH! I don't, and I told you too much. I'm not supposed to let anyone know. Wait...I can tell you, right? Yes. Go to the ACP. I don't what it means."

Milo had learned two important things in that part of the conversion. After some searching, he discovered that ACP was an acronym for the Auxiliary Command Post and was similar to his area in the engineering section.

But the comment about it being 'too hot' made Milo consider the possibility that his protective suit might not be protective enough. The materials used in his suit were better than lead for blocking radiation but very thin. He needed a new suit, one that could handle more heat and radiation than his current suit could take. And with the huge fabricators here in the engineering section, it wouldn't take long to make, after the design work was done. Which was his next job: he needed to design the new suit and test it. He decided on a compromise to save time.

After updating Mama and Big Butch on what he was doing, he took his pod to the engineering area so he could communicate with Rusty while doing his design work. After running a test to make sure his pod was functioning correctly, he linked to the computers in engineering and began the re-design process. With Rusty's help, he was able to call on the computing power of the Quantum Fortress to create and test his new design before any components were created. Rusty might talk like a 12-year-old, but no calculation Milo could ever devise would stump him for even a fraction of a second. Working together they created mathematical models to theoretically test each step of the design process. The new suit would be bigger and slower, with an outer 'skin' nearly an inch thick, constructed of Iridium-193 and nano-carbon weave that would reflect a hundred times more radiation than his older suit. Then, the cooling system to protect him from normal heat, and finally, an inner layer that was equal to his old suit as a final protective layer. The new suit was far heavier than his old one, weighing eleven hundred pounds. This required an upgraded system of synthetic muscles for movement and a huge power supply. Running out of power in a hostile environment wasn't something he wanted to experience.

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Milo brainstormed the ideas, and Rusty helped with design and testing. The AI was ecstatic to be 'Making a Mecha,' even if it was a small one.

"Where are we putting the missile systems? I like the look of shoulder-mounted, but if were forced to use 'Real World Physics,' I think launching the missiles from that height will knock you on your back. Which is pretty cool since their shots will go over your head and then you can pop back up if we put jets on your back to work with the gyroscopic stabilizers in the boots."

Milo was concentrating on calculating the radiation shielding, carrying out four simultaneous sets of equations. He thought 'PAUSE' very hard and stopped his work.

"What missile systems?"

"We're building a Mecha combat suit, so of course it has weapons. You don't have the power for beam weapons, except little ones. Missiles will be the most efficient."

"This suit isn't for fighting, Rusty; it's to find Jeremy."

"No fighting? But who knows what I'll have waiting for you!"

"Do you know?"

"No, I asked, and my other got confused and then asked me to explain the situation better. I did, but then he wouldn't tell me what he was planning."

Milo wished he had a wall to slam his head into.

"You can't talk to your other half about things. That warns them and gives them a chance to prepare."

The AI paused for many seconds. "I can sort of see that. I'm just used to both of us knowing what the other is thinking. This sneaky stuff he's doing is new. I bet he thinks he has a chance of winning, and he's going to be mean about it."

"New Rule, Rusty. No talking to your other half."

"OK, but I'm going to get lonely and need to talk to you a lot more. Like, a lot! It will be just you and me, forever."

"How about we find Jeremy, turn off Order 6666, and then we can talk to everyone all the time!"

"Oh! Good plan. You should find Jeremy!"

A separate project was the energy storage system. The spare parts section in engineering included enough module components for a nano-diamond storage backpack. The nuclear material encased in synthetic diamond wasn't something you would normally have so close to you, but with the shielding already present in the suit, it was a non-issue. He made plans to construct four of the backpacks, with the extras being hauled around by Max. His best Roomba would be getting an upgrade of a stronger motor, better storage, and shielding of his own. Max would bring along the Storage Crawler with its load of battery packs and other supplies.

A flaw in the design became apparent when Milo looked at the weight of the backpack and how they would attach. There was no easy way to swap the heavy packs out without a compromising method that left him vulnerable. The solution was two-fold: He needed smaller, modular power packs and a stronger tail to install them. He'd wanted an excuse to upgrade his tail anyway, and this solution solved several problems. The new design would have six interchangeable nano-diamond batteries that were inserted into slots in his backpack. When the first was running out, he could insert his tail, pull it free, and then install a new one. This kept him at over 83% power at all times.

It took six hours of real-time for Milo and Rusty to design the new suit. For him, it had felt like two days of continuous work. As he crawled out of his pod, he saw a message on his data pad. Minn was waiting for him at the first door, and he was almost late for dinner. She had been trying to convince the Roombas to go find him when she saw he was out of his pod.

"Mama had me check to see if you were done working yet. It's dinner time, and she made pot roast again, this time with carrots from Kenji's garden, fresh bread, and red Jello for dessert. She was just pulling things out of the oven. Good timing on your part. And it would help if you tell these guys to listen to me next time." She linked her arm in his and dragged him through the corridor at a half run, dragged him through Downtown, and deposited him into a chair as they got to the dining room. Milo was starving. He'd had no idea how hungry he was until he smelled the food and immediately reached for a bowl of potatoes, piling them onto his plate.

"Well, I'm glad I anticipated you being hungry and made extra. Butch dear? Keep Milo eating, and I'll get the second roast out of the oven, and refill the gravy."

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