A wearable ally

When the lights turned on, the first thing you saw was an Angel. Specifically, Angel Five armor was standing upright, fully assembled! On instinct, you grabbed a breaker bar from your tool wall and pointed it at the Angel armor before holding it back like a baseball bat. "Arms up, now! Whoever you are, remove your helmet and get those hands up!"

Of course, your yells only caused Angel Five to wince, using a calmer voice incongruently with the body language you showed. "Alright pal, no more fashion show, take off the armor, and we'll let you off with a warning." Was it one of the other Angels who came to borrow it for some reason because their gear was busted? That seemed unlikely without someone calling you first. But the Angel cowlings were stretched into the air, which shouldn't be possible if a regular person was wearing the armor, the hydraulics still needed power. In fact, the way the suit magnetically sealed to the users as well to itself, multiple pieces shouldn't even stay put on a normal person!

"Oh, it's quite alright Unit Five, but I appreciate the warning all the same." A voice that sounded clearly feminine as you'd expect from an Angel in that armor resonated from the helmet, but it sounded different than the typical voices spoken over the microphone. For one, you didn't recognize this rather formal speaker as anyone within the Spiral City PD ranks. Maybe a Yabusa employee? The voice sounded like it still was run through some sort of auto-tune filter, which didn't seem like a good way to mask an identity to you.

"Well, just take off the armor, it'll be alright when we can see the face behind the helmet."

The Angel unit in the back, the black-and-white armor of Angel Five, seemed to hesitate for a moment, the cowling pulling in closer to the body. "I'm afraid that I can't take off the armor. It would be impossible for me to show my face."

You shook your head as you took a step closer. "No, it's very easy, buddy. Just take off the helmet and show us who's inside."

"I mean it's a literal impossibility for me to show you who is under the helmet," the mystery voice said as the armored hands rest on the helmet's sides, lifting upward to reveal--nobody.

Nobody was in the suit.

"It's impossible because I am the suit at the moment, or contained within it in a way that humans couldn't manage at least." The helmet re-affixed itself to the rest of its empty shell, though the armor made no approach toward you, even as you took a few steps back at the sight of the Angel armor acting on its own! "...intriguing, my scans indicate that the signature of both Rider Five's and Angel Five's vitals are coming from the same location in space. Is Rider Five currently substituting for an Endo?"

"This isn't about us. ...I mean, me," Angel Five said, as you still held a defensive posture, but you'd since relaxed. This being, whatever she was, didn't seem to be hostile. At least, she showed no aggression at the moment. "If you want details about me, then fair's fair, right? Who, or what, are you?"

"I agree, Angel Five. Fair is fair. If you relax from your current stance, I shall explain, and then may we talk?" After a few moments of hesitation, you nodded, setting the breaker bar down--but not too far away--and crossed your arms. The armor nodded in return. "Thank you. I find your situation intriguing and perhaps it is partly why I was drawn to this location, although the fact that you are working on the nanite case is my primary reason to contact you. I am a phase-gel construct created by Gordon Grisham at Yabusa Robotics. In fact, I am based on matter that converted his son into a similar substance using Hideki biopolymer research conducted by--"

You held up a hand. "That's a little more info than we need right now," Angel Five said. You were glad you and your Angel were on the same page about this, wanting to get to the point. "Do you have a name, and should we consider you dangerous?"

"You may call me Tex. It is the best description of my matter when I hold a semisolid form, as it is similar to latex extracted from Havea brasiliensis to be processed into a rubbery substance. I could be considered dangerous in as many contexts as any person or object might be, but I certainly intend no harm, officers. Rather, given the recent issues the SCPD currently is facing with other Angel units, I think my assistance will be vital to your nanite case."

Angel Five furrowed her brow, as you tilted her head instinctively while a few details stuck out to both of you. "You've mentioned you know about the nanomachines, how do you know that info and about what's happened at SCPD today?"

"I heard it on the communication systems embedded in the Angel 800 cowling, there had been multiple calls today about problems with units. I fear this is a direct result of weaponizing the Yabusa nanites. I've been asked to help recover them for Yabusa, so I assumed my best chance of success would be to work with an Angel unit. However, I hadn't anticipated this outcome that you would be unable to use an Angel Endo. However, this is not a concern for me, as I can synthesize an 'Exo' that works suitably well with the internal Meteor armor power source instead, if that's sufficient. Among other necessary modifications for us to maximize success in this partnership."

A partnership you hadn't yet agreed to with Tex, but this strange being seemed to assume it was already a done deal!

The armor walked toward you, holding the same shape as Angel Five's body, down to the flared hips and everything. At the points where you would normally see riding gear on the Angel's body, slick orange latex could be seen instead, filling in enough of the gaps to create a tiger-like appearance with the apparently self-controlled armor. "I can see the uncertainty in Angel Five's eyes. I would be happy to demonstrate my abilities. As I am the precursor to the phase-binding machine, I can move material in and out of phase freely, both of mechanical or organic nature. I would not wish to disrupt your current configuration, only augment it as your exterior covering unless you consent otherwise. I would function as an alternative to typical Angel gear for you, as well as I could provide sufficient armor and apparel options for you to enable you to work more effectively at solving this case. I will show you, if you will allow me to demonstrate. I will keep things small, for now. May I have your hand"

Angel Five blinked, but this time you didn't back up. This being clearly wanted to help you, if it had malicious intent it would have already done something. Especially if it were the nanites in question, it would have made no sense to reveal itself to just you in this manner, it could have simply sabotaged you then and there. So, you decided to offer it some trust, holding out a hand. Angel Five inhaled sharply. "Remember whose hand you're offering up..!"

Tex, the strange rubbery being, held your hand like it was shaking it, before material flowed from between the joints of the armored hand to wrap around Angel Five's own. You pulled back out of the suddenness of the substance covering your hand, but that seemed to not bother Tex. "I've absorbed a variety of materials and objects in my existence, so I can synthesize and modify many things." Along your hand formed an orange glove, then a black fingerless glove that would be perfect for riding in warm weather, followed by a mitten, and then finally a replica of the Angel's hand armor. You flexed Angel Five's hand out and in, splaying fingers and then making a fist, before feeling a gentle push on your hand--Tex's material repeated that same movement, guiding your hand to flex and curl again until you fought against the control, at which point the glove went limp again. "I propose that I serve as an augment to your Angel and Rider abilities in this form, it will in fact be very efficient with both of your bodies in a singular armor. I can assist with the discovery and collection of the missing nanites."

"You've got a lot of tricks," Angel Five said, warily. "But how do you know that we need you at all?"

"Because if these nanites truly have been released from their containment, Angel Five, you and Rider could not touch them without your mechanical components suffering damage. I can neutralize them inside and outside of a body, but only if they have not yet taken root. If your companion units truly are infected by nanites, the only way to save them will be to locate the master chain of the nanomachines from which their current programming might be reversed, I cannot help them as they are. But I can still help you, and protect you, while also ensuring completion of the mission."

The glove made by Tex slid off your fingers, and splashed against the Angel armor again, reintegrating into the rubbery being within. You held up a finger to the walking armor, and stepped further away from it to have a side-chat with Angel Five.

"What do we do?" she asked. "Seems pretty harmless, but I don't really know what to make of this."

You nodded, crossing your arms again in thought. "It would have been nice for a heads-up from Yabusa if this was real. But I've seen that same sort of orange goo before, it's in the Phase Binder machine that stuck these electronics to us. I don't think this thing is lying, but I don't know what it can do. Maybe we need a better demonstration?"

"Maybe, but Tex really has to wow us if we're going to take a chance, we're already in the hot seat if Sarge finds out we lied earlier..." Angel Five sighed. "Your call. You're the one who has to move us, so if using Tex buys us anything, I'll leave it up to you, just tell me what I should relay to her for your terms."