penelope goes home

After getting home from RyTech, Penelope fed her DOG (Digital Organic Gaurd, a robotic pet that served as her home security system and companion). Not only did DOG have security report (there was a rabbit roaming the perimeter), but he also had the latest stocks and news about RyTech.

She quickly changed into her testing cloths and went outside. The prototype was a device that connected at the wrist and shot particle energy packets that would melt steel. The DOD had commissioned the weapon, but while Penelope had been able to get it to work for short range bursts up to about 30 yards, she wanted a 100 yard range on it before she could place the seal of approval on it. The latest tweak should fix it.

She started with a few short range shots at the target range she had set up to make sure she hadn't made a mistake that would set her back. After hitting the targets perfectly she decided to take her jacket off. Last time she had attempted a long range shot the device had backfired and set her shirt sleeve ablaze. She had long ago learned that tight leather pants and combat style boots were essential so that if she dropped the device for whatever reason she would not burn herself, but the last few runs had prompted her to opt for a tank top instead of her normal denim jacket.

Her long, chocolate colored hair was pulled back in a ponytail, but her bangs kept sliding into her face. Pushing them back, she braced herself for a long range shot and fired at the 6 in. steel plate 50 yards ahead of her. Success, the plate had a fist sized hole melted clean through.

The next shot was a 12 in. plate at 100 yards. If this test were successful she would be able to pass the prototype to the DOD and be done with it.

The device bucked unexpectedly, causing the shot to go wide... too wide. A loud BOOM and a CRASH and Penelope hopped on her four-wheeler and headed to her neighbours house where the shot seemed to have landed. Her neighbours where quite a ways away from her house, and seemed to be people who liked solitude as much as she did. She had only met them a few times and had gotten a sense of impatience from them that made her avoid any socialisation when possible. From the sounds of it, she was going to have to write a fat check to fix the damages caused by her failure.

The house was a split level with a basement level below ground. The shot had cause the house to crash in on itself and Penelope leapt from the four-wheeler and ran to the house to try to help anyone inside.