Time For Another Upgrade!

"Please send a reply to Lord Garraway that I graciously accept his challenge and that I look forward to our battle. Express my regret that we could not face each other at our best and give him my sympathy regarding the recent losses to his Family, and assure him that his end will be both swift and as painless as possible.," Aaron stated confidently before standing.

Aaron was preparing to depart for his run. With all the craziness lately and now a challenge out of the blue after more than two years, Aaron needed to clear his head now more than ever but just as he was turning and getting ready to leave Knowhere Gog suddenly spoke up., "Before you leave Father I have something for you that should help you if you're attacked again like last night."

Aaron turned back toward his computer not sure what Gog had in mind but certainly very curious. Aaron watched as the swivel chair in front of his computer receded into the floor and in its place rose a strange-looking rectangular device that reminded Aaron of The Pillory he had seen in medieval studies and at the museum in The Dark Ages Exhibit except the opening for the head was missing leaving only the openings for the hands to be restrained.

Aaron's curiosity was growing by the second as he asked., "Gog, What is this for?," Then watched as the top half of the device parted.

"Please place your wrists in the grooves and we can begin.," Stated Gog in an unusually serious voice.

"Begin What?... What Is The Meaning of This?," Aaron demanded, No longer amused by Gog's mysterious attitude.

"Don't you trust me, Father?," Gog asked with a trace of hurt in her voice.

Aaron sighed in annoyance., "Of Course, I Trust You Gog!...," Assured Aaron who was offended by the very notion of the question., "... I Trust you with my life."

Aaron could hear the smile in Gog's voice as she said., "Then please place your hands in the apparatus and wait."

"Wait? Wait For What?," Aaron thought as he somewhat hesitantly placed his hands into the odd device and watched in surprise as the top half of said device slammed shut trapping his hands.

"Alright Gog Enough's Enough... Release Me!," Aaron demanded but the only thing that followed was silence. For several long seconds nothing happened but just when Aaron was about to scold the silent A.I. and demand again that she release him he felt something cold and hard encircle both of his wrists then nothing for about a minute then Aaron tensed, gritting his teeth as he felt something hot press against his skin and second by second it just kept getting hotter and hotter until Aaron's entire body writhed in agony. Aaron pulled and twisted his body but he could not free himself no matter how hard he tried.

Just as Aaron reached the point where he could no longer endure the searing pain from whatever it was that Gog was attempting to do Aaron pressed his foot against the strange device and heaved with all his strength as he pushed off. Aaron's ear twitched as a sharp clicking sound could be heard and the device opened and he tumbled backward and landed on his ass with a loud thud.

"OW!," Yelled Aaron, looking down at the metal bands fastened around each of his wrists., "WHAT THE HELL IS THIS?!"

"Please Father, Calm down before you injure yourself further.," Came Gog's worried voice from every direction.

"What Have You Done?!," Demanded Aaron in a less than friendly tone, The brief but intense pain having passed and was now replaced with a not so small amount of anger at a perceived attack on his person.

"Please Father, Calm down and just take a deep breath.," Urged Gog.

Realizing that there must be a good reason behind Gog's actions, Aaron sat up, closed hie eyes, and took a deep breath. When Aaron opened his eyes again his anger was all but gone and he had regained control of his faculties which the intense sensation of burning had momentarily taken away from him.

Aaron looked down at the metal bands hanging slightly loosely around his wrists and he began to understand. Aaron turned one of the bracelets again and again but no matter how hard he looked there was no seam at all. It was a single continuous piece of unbroken metal., "That Must Be Why The Heat Was So Intense... It Was Needed To Bond The Two Ends Together Into One Piece."

The odd metal bands were almost unnaturally light and they were smooth without any form of marking or ornamentation. There was something very strange about them because the more he looked at them the more tired his eyes got and the more blurry his vision became. It was difficult to even look at them because Aaron's eyes kept trying to look elsewhere., "What Is This?"

Forcing his eyes to focus, Aaron realized what it was he was looking at and why it was so uncomfortable to look at.

"Its Not The Bracelet At All.," Thought Aaron., "Gog, This Effect... Is This What I Think It Is?"

A second later, Gog's cheerful voice could be heard explaining., "I knew it wouldn't take you long to figure it out, Father. The metal those bands are made of is from one of the experimental permutations you theorized for the treatment of Adamantium... But the strange effect you're experiencing is exactly what you think it is."

"An Imperception Shield?," Aaron stated in wonder as he continued to stare at the metal bands around his wrists.

"Yes, Father!," Squeaked Gog happily., "I was able to miniaturize The perceptual Filtering Technology you created to hide your activities when you first began building Knowhere and many of your early inventions...," Gog paused for several seconds before continuing., "... Now that the circuit is complete even I can't sense those bands. I know they're there but I can neither see them nor pick them up with any of my sensors. Only Father's keen senses should be able to see through their cloaking effect while everyone else while subconsciously avoid even looking at them."

Aaron was in awe as he turned one of the bracelets again and again around his wrist., "I Shelved Those Formulas For More Immediate Concerns But Seeing This One The Potential Is Limit... Les..."

Aaron could almost feel Gog smiling through their link.

"No! It Can't Be!.," Aaron looked toward the large computer and sure enough, Gog's computer-generated face wore a satisfied smirk before winking at him mischievously.

Focusing his thoughts, Aaron reached out using The Link and what he found was even more than his considerable imagination could even begin to conceive.

As Aaron calmly reviewed the truly massive virtual inventory in front of him his eyes widened. To say that there was something for every situation might have been an exaggeration but only just. As Aaron probed the contents of the bracelets with his mind he found that the contents themselves were divided into a series of lists and sub-lists, and as he moved from one list to the next they multiplied like rabbits. One list became two, two became four, four became eight, on and on. The Storage Space was easily 10,000 times that of his watch and it was immediately evident to Aaron that they held a whole lot more than just medicine and bandages.

Aaron kept shifting between the various inventories of both bracelets and he found that they were identical... There was a Hospital's worth of Medicine and Medical Supplies, a huge Wardrobe of clothes, Emergency Supplies for just about any survival situation that might possibly come up, a Lab's Worth of Chemicals and Equipment, Computers of varying sizes and designs, an almost endless quantity of spare parts with which to build practically whatever his imagination could come up with, and a vast arsenal of weapons of just about every type from guns and knives to rockets, missiles, and explosives. Aaron scrolled down through the various lists appearing in his head and he came across something in the arsenal that Gog had prepared that made him pause., "Are Those Volatalisers?"

Aaron brought up the information on the item in question and it was exactly what he thought they were. Each bracelet contained fifty Volatalisers... A small, hand-held device based on N² Technology with a 15 Megaton Yield capable of destroying an area up to a mile in circumference. They were banned for good reason due to the combination of their destructive potential and incredibly portable, easy to conceal size.

"A Hundred Volatalisers... Just What Are You Thinking Gog?!," Aaron asked.

"As your plans progress in the future Father we don't know what kind of threats you will face. I hope you never have to use them but I thought I should include something that packs a punch just in case."

Aaron was amazed by the level of technology and the sheer number of items and materials Gog had managed to pack into these rather unassuming and innocuous looking metal bands. Once he got over the shock of finding the Volatalisers Aaron continued to peruse the expansive inventory and in the list of medical supplies and equipment Aaron was surprised to find one of his conceptual prototypes.

Aaron had a fascination with extinct animal and plant life and the prototype in question was modeled after a type of beetle. Aaron focused on the Beetle-like apparatus which he had conceived as a completely autonomous medkit and surgical drone, and he watched as the insectoid device moved, gracefully walking around in a circle before fluttering its wings tentatively.

Aaron was in complete awe as he watched the device move and act as though it were a living. breathing thing. Aaron had designed every system and sub-system down to the smallest detail, he wrote the various programs that governed every behavior and function, and he had run tens of thousands of computer simulations to test its feasibility but to see his creation before his very eyes was something else entirely. It was magnificent... Every detail was just as he had planned and envisioned it. He focused in on its fluttering wings to the pulsating technorganic membranes underlying them to the various medical supplies and provisions concealed underneath... Despite its small size the drone's dimensional storage ability allowed it to hold pretty much anything Aaron might need in an emergency medical situation. Next, Aaron zoomed in on the front legs which Aaron had created to be versatile Swiss Army Knives with tools and implements for virtually every occasion while the eyes contained every sensor known to Man and the mouth and mandibles sported a variety of equipment and instruments dedicated to analyzing every substance and phenomena known to science.

"I also have this for you Father.,"Gog's chipper voice pulled Aaron away from the myriad windows popping up in his head and he watched as the strange Pillory-like apparatus was lowered back into the floor and a pedestal rose up to take its place. Aaron didn't see anything at first but then he noticed that setting in the center of the pedestal was a watch. It was nearly identical to the one Aaron was already wearing. He held up his arm and looked back and forth, comparing the two watches.

"Its as you suspect Father... Its design is similar to the one you are currently wearing. It even has all of the same functions but I included an expanded storage space as well as a High-Performance Light Shield of my own design since the ones you borrowed from Omen proved instrumental in ensuring your safety during the attack."

"That's good thinking Gog. I was going to suggest such an upgrade myself."

Without even looking up from the watch his was holding, Aaron could hear the corners of Gog's lips curling up into a smile through their shared link., "I also built a Light Shield into each of the bands around your wrists."

Aaron had just finished replacing his old watch with the new one Gog had presented him when he looked up in surprise. Aaron again connected to the bracelets and reached out through the link only for a series of circuit pathways and diagrams to appear in his head. Aaron found a highlighted pathway and he followed it to its end and The Light Shield in each of the bracelets hummed to life, and Aaron was presented with a list of functions for each of the upgraded Light Shields as well as a virtual schematic which he could use to rewire or expand on the provided functions without having to physically alter the Shields himself like he did fighting for his life in the apartment building.

"I also took the liberty of adding a refinement of my own to the enhancements you had me make to your suits..."

Aaron was intensely curious about what Gog was going to surprise him with now since she had already outdone herself already.

"I linked each of your suits to the dimensional storage space of your watch and bracelets so that you can avoid tipping your hand to your enemies regarding your hidden inventory."

Impressed Aaron said with genuine appreciation., "That's Really Good Thinking Gog. I Know I Can Always Count On You To Surpass My Expectations."

The beautiful computer-generated Female face projected on the huge computer screen in front of Aaron blushed bright red which Aaron found oddly cute.

"This will do for the moment but we should discuss making further preparations later but for now if I'm targeted again I will be able to defend myself.," Stated Aaron in a pleased manner as he watched his old watch disappear in a swarm of golden lights, no doubt headed off to storage.

Satisfied, Aaron turned and was about to leave when a whirring sound from behind him made him pause. Aaron turned back around and hovering a few centimeters above the pedestal was something that took Aaron's breath away the moment he saw it., "How Is This Possible? It Can't Be!"