Chapter Thirty-Seven: Preparing for the Invasion Pt. II
Forerunner Facility within Harvest's Core
When Harry Potter woke up from his intentional one-week coma, his first instinct was to look down. He had been augmented twice before and had gained physical changes each time. So while his eyes widened at the changes he saw, Harry wasn't surprised. He had grown inside the augmentation, and while he had once stood at 5' 11", Harry now stood at 6' 9". His arms, torso, and legs were covered in very faint scars that outlined the surgeries had gone through while within the chamber. Just a few more scars added to the handful he had all over his body. But there were more differences too. Harry's muscles were more defined than before, pressing tightly against his skin. And he had less hair on his body, something he assumed was done to help him fit inside the suit easier.
He felt stronger too. When he clenched his fists he felt the pressure. Harry also felt a lot of other things. It was easier to breathe now. It felt easier to move his fingers and limbs. His eyesight had improved as well. But the most noticeable change was the device that had been implanted in the base of his skull. It didn't weigh anything and he wouldn't notice it normally, but its presence was somewhat distracting. Besides those changes, Harry couldn't feel or see any differences in his body. He would have to wait until he was out of the pod to test things to be sure. Harry was only awake for a minute before Athena's voice spoke in his ear. "Good morning, Harry. How are you feeling?"
"Different," He answered honestly.
Harry could almost feel her smile. "Great. That's the idea," she said. "You've been out of it for two hundred and twenty-seven hours, thirty-four minutes, and twenty-nine seconds. But that's not important. I've still got to run my final tests to make sure the augmentations worked," A large display appeared on the glass of the pod, revealing several lines of random words that Harry was asked to read. Quickly. Once quietly to himself and the second out loud. Once he was done reading, Athena ran him through a dozen other tests. He had to follow circles across the glass to test his reflexes and eyesight. And once he was done, Athena appeared on the glass, her smile radiant. "You're surprisingly healthy for your age despite all of the viruses in your body,"
"They make me healthy,"
"Made," Athena said. Harry raised an eyebrow. She'd removed the viruses in his blood? He hadn't managed to do that when recreating his philotic structure. The viruses were a part of him. The artificial intelligence gave him a small shrug, her smile widening. "While the standard Spartan-IV series' of augmentations are numbered at nine - with yours consisting of seven - I took the liberty of introducing several more augmentations that will prove useful,"
"What kind of augmentations?"
"Well, as I said, I removed the viruses present within your bloodstream, rendering you completely healthy. I injected you with several Spartan-II muscular enhancement injections, activated the Spartan-II Carbide Ceramic Ossification procedure - enhancing your bone density -, and I added a special Spartan-II procedure. The superconducting fibrification of your neural dendrites, enhancing your muscular and skeletal movement while increasing your total reaction time to 450%. And with your bloodstream completely free of viruses, I took the liberty of injecting several trillion nanites into your blood," Athena explained.
"Wait...in my blood? What will that do?"
"Well, the nanites were Forerunner based, so they'll do a lot of things. They increase your physiology, grant you telekinesis and telepathy, and you'll be able to manipulate very minor forms of energy and technology,"
"I'm growing to grow more?" Harry asked. He was already too tall.
"Only your muscles, which I must say look nice," Athena replied, brushing a small strand of hair behind her ear. Harry wasn't sure whether to feel flattered or uncomfortable being flirted on by an A.I. Flattered? She was sentient after all. But could she feel anything? That was the age-old question with artificial intelligence. Something that gave Harry pause whenever the thought came up. Harry smiled something that she emulated before speaking. "You can't feel it now with your muscles asleep, but you're going to have to relearn how to walk and move. It shouldn't take too long for you to recover thanks to the nanites, but it will be a very new experience, I'm sure,"
"Well. There's no better time than now to see, right?"
"Right,"
And with that, Athena disappeared and the pod door slid open. Immediately, Harry felt a hand press against his chest. It was Eleven. When the smoke cleared he could see her face clearly. She looked worried. "She said you'd only be in there for a week. It's been nine days. I was beginning to worry something wrong had happened," she said. Then she finally noticed the changes in his appearance. El's hand retracted suddenly, and she took a step back to fully examine him. "Oh my," He heard her whisper. It wasn't until El noticed his visible struggle to step forward that she returned to his side, firmly grabbing hold of his bicep as Harry slowly stepped out of the pod. His footing was off and he was taking longer steps. Athena was right, this would take some getting used to. "You look...different. Bigger,"
"Oh? I didn't notice from up here," Harry jokingly replied, peering down at her. It had been such an easy thing to do before. They had only been separated by seven inches of height before, but now he was a whole seventeen inches taller than her. Over twice the old gap. It was so different that he felt like kneeling to get a good look at her. But he refrained from doing so, instead of focusing on maintaining his balance. "The others?"
"The Knights are all in stasis. Alyssa, Valentine, and I decided to stay out to wait for you to get finished. From what I can tell, Athena converted twelve of the stasis pods into augmentation chambers. Both Echo and Tango Squads have been inside for three days and should be out in four," El replied.
"I was hoping they would wait until I got out. None of us knew if it was safe,"
"I did," Athena spoke up, appearing on the terminal in the center of the room, holding up her hand.
"We here without access to the Forerunner computers weren't sure if it was safe," Harry corrected.
Eleven - who still hadn't taken her hands off of his bicep - frowned. "So why were you inside so long?"
Athena answered. "Harry here received a few more augmentations than the Knights will receive. They'll help him in the fight with Voldemort," This didn't seem to help Eleven, who asked for clarification on what new augmentations were given. "Harry was given five additional augmentations on top of the original seven. Enhanced improvements on his muscular and skeletal systems, a procedure to further increase his reaction time, the removal of all foreign viruses in his bloodstream, and the introduction of Forerunner nanites into his body,"
"Wait...she got rid of the viruses?" El asked. Harry smiled, nodding. "And nanites?"
"They will grant Harry many gifts once held only for the best and brightest of the Forerunners. Telekinesis, superhuman strength and speed, telepathy, and the ability to manipulate minor aspects of energy and technology,"
"Telekinesis. Like me,"
"Like you," Harry said with a grin.
"This is great! I'll finally get to teach you how to use your powers," El said joyously, her hands still wrapped around his bicep. Harry's gaze fell on her hands, his eyebrow raising in amusement. Eleven noticed the direction of the glance and pulled her hands away in embarrassment. "Sorry,"
"No, you're fine," Harry replied, shaking his arms slightly. He clenched his fists, his muscles twitching slightly beneath his skin before going still. Harry turned to Eleven. "Tell the others I'll meet them later. I need to let Athena run a few more tests to make sure I'm not going to die of some sort of muscular disease,"
"How long will that take?"
"All I need is ten hours of his time," Athena spoke. Then her smile turned into a devious grin. "Then he's all yours," El's cheeks took on a shade of pink as she turned away from them, embarrassment visible in her posture. She bid them goodbye and left, leaving Harry and Athena alone in the main chamber of the facility. Harry turned to the A.I, a questioning expression on his face. Athena smiled. "What? She's definitely into you. Her heartbeat increased by thirty-seven percent every time she looked at you. I'm pretty sure all but Ms. Truit are into you. They talk about you a lot,"
"Right. I already knew that," Harry still remembered their trip to Mt. Everest as kids. And the way she had been flirting with him in his lab while working on the first medallion. And he recalled the way Val had been watching him recently. It was odd how quickly she had attached herself to him.
"So? Go for it!"
"Not gonna happen. I've known El since we were kids. And I have two wives,"
"You're meant to have ten," Athena countered.
"Not anytime soon,"
"Are you sure you don't want to know who they'll be? You might want to start wooing them now before another man gets their hands on them,"
"Then I won't stop them," Harry said with a shrug. "I don't control Eleven or Valentine,"
"Hmm...you're a very strange man, Harry Potter. If I were you I would have scooped up Ms. Ives when you were kids. As for Ms. Wiggin? If she were interested in me I would take her down into the bed chambers to -"
Harry held up his hands, closing his eyes in annoyance. "Ok, Athena. That's enough. None of that is happening," He told her. His hand reached down to the terminal, pulling out the 'UNSC' chip before pressing it against the implant on the base of his skull. The blue circle became transparent, and Harry heard Athena. In his head. "Your head is...breathtaking. How do you think in here?"
"I'm a wizard, remember? Occlumency,"
"Right. This is just...wow. Give me a few minutes to get used to this," Harry smiled. His mind-scape was still quite large, having the surface area of a hundred Earth's all put together with trillions of humans, Formics, and creatures occupying every surface. All doing different tasks. But the tasks weren't just tasks. The tasks were information. He had spread his mind so far out that if anyone looked anywhere, they would find something, but never anything important. All of that was stored elsewhere. So if Athena would be residing there for as long as she might be, then Harry decided he would at least lower his shields enough to let her in, and give her free reign to get acquainted. With the time he had, Harry made his way into the main facility.
His feet carried him down four levels, where he found a large gym waiting for him. It was filled with weights, treadmills, exercise bikes, elliptical trainers, steppers, and other human equipment. Harry decided he would start with the weights, seeing as he still didn't feel comfortable on his feet. Lying down on the bench, Harry heard Athena's voice in his mind once more. "Spartan-II's were capable of lifting 860 pounds unarmored, while the Spartan-IV's could lift 600 pounds. With the added augmentations, I've calculated that you should be able to lift anywhere from 1500 to 2000 pounds without the armor. But for the sake of safety, I'll be starting you off at 600 pounds. Baby steps,"
"Baby steps. Right," Harry replied, watching as the bar above him suddenly changed, with weights appearing from thin air on either side. He assumed it was Athena constructing them through nanotechnology, but he didn't ask. As long as they didn't crumble to pieces when he lifted the bar, he didn't mind. Harry lifted the bar with ease, pumping out three dozen reps before lowering the bar. "Pretty easy, right? We're going to double it to 1200lbs. Got it?" Harry gave her a nod in answer, unsure if Athena could see or feel his movements. It seemed like she did, seeing as the bar was suddenly weighed down with twice the weight. But it still wasn't anything to Harry. He did three dozen reps before letting the bar down.
"Hmm. 1200lbs and you haven't even broken a sweat. Impressive. I'm going to 1600lbs," The bar was weighed down even more by the added weight, and Harry grabbed onto it with determination. He raised the bar and pumped out another three dozen. Though now he had begun to sweat. Not much, but it was there. "Ok, so your point of exertion is 1600lbs. But let's see if you can go to 2000," Athena said, and more weight was added to the bar. Harry steeled himself for some more weight and grabbed hold of the bar. He was able to get through the three dozen repetitions without much trouble, but Harry was willing to admit he wouldn't be able to go further than that. So Athena spoke. "That's still very impressive. You doubled the weight that could be carried by non-armored Spartan-II's,"
"What's next?"
"We test your speed. Head to the treadmill," Harry did so, climbing off of the weight bench as he slowly made his way to the treadmill. He was still worried he would trip over his now oversized feet. Stepping on the treadmill, Harry waited for Athena's instructions. "I'm going to start you off slowly so that you can have time to get used to running on your feet. But after you're done, I'm going to be starting you off at a 30KpH sprint. From there I'll increase the speed by ten. Spartan-II's could hold a speed of 55KpH. Any faster than that and they risked injury. And the Spartan-IVs could only do 50KpH. I suspect you'll be able to reach both without a problem. Perhaps you'll reach sixty or seventy,"
"I could get to 40KpH before the augmentations," Harry supplied.
"Really? That's fantastic! Then you might even get to eighty or ninety!" Athena exclaimed enthusiastically. Harry couldn't help but smile, but that soon fell when the treadmill kicked on. His concentration focused solely on staying on his feet, something he found quite difficult. His large feet moved in longer strides, sometimes catching the front of the treadmill causing him to trip. It would take him half an hour to get comfortable at the speed Athena had started him off at, and then she raised it to 30KpH. His legs went into overdrive, rushing forward to keep up with the treadmill. Harry was even forced to grab hold of the bars on either side to keep himself steady. This was going to be a long ten hours.
When Athena's ten hours were up, Harry found he wasn't at all exhausted. He was tired, yes, but he wasn't ready to sleep or rest. He was still energized enough to take a long shower and then head down to the mess hall where Eleven, Alyssa, and Valentine were said to be having dinner. While taking his shower, Athena told him everything she had gathered in their ten hours of training. "Well, I'll say that the augmentations were a complete success. Your initial benching limit was 400lbs and was quadrupled to 1600lbs. Your running speed was once 40KpH and was doubled to 80KpH. Your reaction time went from thirty-three milliseconds to five milliseconds. And your mental processes went from 0.8 milliseconds to 0.19 milliseconds. All without the use of your MJOLNIR armor,"
"That's quite the jump," Harry acknowledged. Quadrupling his lifting limit, doubling his running speed, sextupling his reaction time, and quadrupling his mental processes. It was an impressive change done by Athena and 'Dr. Halsey'. Harry stepped out of the shower, his entire body being heated within the small pod separating the shower from the rest of the bathroom. Once he was dried, Harry conjured some clothes for himself. As he made his way down to the mess hall, he spoke to Athena. "After I rest for the night we can test the suit tomorrow morning. Sound good?"
"That sounds excellent," she said. Harry smiled, entering the mess hall to find El, Alyssa, and Val sitting in the corner of the room. They were talking amongst themselves about something. But he didn't listen in. He decided he would just approach them normally. When he stepped up to the table, Harry was met with three different reactions. Eleven sat silently at the table, her smile directed towards him. She had already said what she wished to say when he stepped out of the augmentation pod. Alyssa quickly got to her feet, standing at attention with a relieved smile across her face. But he couldn't tell her 'at ease' due to the blonde-haired missile that slammed into his chest, pulling him into a hug.
It was then that Harry realized just how tall he was now. Before, he only stood ten inches above Valentine - who stood at 5' 1" - but now Harry stood so tall that the top of her head didn't reach his shoulders. Alyssa was the same. She was 5' 3", making Harry eighteen inches taller than her. He felt very odd standing next to them, and once more he got the feeling he should kneel to reach their height. But Athena spoke into his head, reassuring him. "It doesn't matter how tall you are. You're still the same person. And don't forget, you won't be alone. They will all receive the same augmentations. They'll grow - not as tall as you - but they will grow," Right. That made Harry feel a bit better in his current situation.
"At ease," He told Alyssa, whose smile grew brighter as she stepped forward.
"Are you ok?" She asked.
"Of course. I feel better than ever," Harry replied. "Are you the ok?"
"We've been waiting for you to get out," Valentine answered. "We were worried something had gone wrong, but Eleven told us about your extra augmentations. She told us that you were injected with nanites,"
"They've granted Harry several added abilities that should help him on the battlefield," Athena spoke, this time from the terminal near the mess hall counters. "The members of Echo Squad and Tango Squad will be finished with their augmentations in the next four days. As for the three of you, I've recently completed a second augmentation chamber. That makes two available," Alyssa and Valentine exchanged a look, and Eleven appeared conflicted. "Which one of you would like to stay behind for a bit longer?"
"You two can go," Eleven told Alyssa and Valentine.
Valentine seemed worried. "Are you sure?" Eleven gave the younger woman a smile and a nod, something that seemed to ease Valentine's worries. Alyssa and Val bid their goodbyes to Harry and Eleven and left for the augmentation pods. Alyssa took a left, heading for the pod that Harry had been in, while Val took the hallway to the right towards the other augmentation pods. Harry turned to Eleven, who was watching him carefully. "Want to tell me what that was about?"
El frowned. "What do you mean?"
"If you don't want to be augmented, you don't have to do it. The Knights and I are only doing it to help us in battle. And I can't decide what Alyssa or Val do. Just like I can't control what you do," Harry explained.
"I...I want to do it. But I'm scared," El confessed. "What if something wrong happens? What if my powers don't mix well with the augmentations? Or what if -'
"Hey, hey," Harry grabbed El's hands in his, squeezing them with a little too much force. He was still adjusting to his new strength. After apologizing and loosening his grip to the strength he would use while holding a puppy, Harry spoke. "Nothing bad will happen. Athena assured me that all of us are ready for augmentation. But if you don't want to do it, I won't stop you,"
Eleven examined him carefully, before letting out a long, deep sigh. Her hands rose to rub her forehead for a moment, a long breath exhaling from her lips. "If you think it's safe, then I'll do it,"
"Great!" Athena exclaimed, appearing once more. "Because I just converted the second to last stasis pod into an augmentation chamber. It's ready for you, Ms. Ives,"
"Well...that was fast," El commented.
"Yes. It was," Harry agreed.
"I should get going,"
"If you're sure,"
Eleven gave him a determined and firm nod, and left Harry alone in the mess hall, heading right towards the rest of the augmentation chambers. Harry sighed. He was all alone for the next four days. He could go into stasis and wait it out until Echo and Tango Squads got out, but he had promised Athena that he would test the MJOLNIR armor the next day. So Harry would remain awake until El, Val, and Alyssa got out of their augmentation pods. Harry stepped up to the mess hall counter, examining the datapad built into the counter as he looked for something to eat. He found something and watched as the food was fabricated in front of him. Harry then took the food to a nearby table and began to eat.
Four Days Later
Harry Potter had gone through another ten-hour examination administered to him by Athena, doing the same exercises he had done before only within his new MJOLNIR Mk. VII armor. Harry's benching limit with the armor on was 7000lbs, his running speed was 92KpH, his reaction time was increased to two milliseconds, and his mental processes were increased to 0.15 milliseconds. All massive improvements to what had already occurred to his body. And Harry was very impressed with the MJOLNIR armor. It was sleek, effective, and well-designed for a suit of armor. It forced him to admit that while the Knights' armor was among the most advanced things ever created by Marauder Enterprises, Harry could have done more to upgrade it. After all, the armor housed the protectors of the human race. He should have done more.
So Harry decided he would do more. He spent the next three days after his armor training doing his best to improve on the armor that would be given to everyone in the facility. He started with Echo Squad, using the customizations used on each member's Knight armor and carrying it over to their new MJOLNIR armor. For Reyes, his armor was painted a metallic red color, with a black secondary coloring. His visor was turned from bright gold to dark red, and the equipment on his original armor - equipment pouches, a knife sheath on the chest, and a comms link on the helmet - were all placed on the man's new armor. Once it was done, Harry was surprised when Athena printed the numbers '002' on the armor's left breast. And then she proceeded to label the back 'Edward-002'.
When asked what it was for, Athena smiled. "The Spartans were identified by their numbers. John-117. Samuel-034. Kelly-087. All identified by their serial number. But it was John that had the most important number. 117. As the first Spartans of your time, it's only right that we start from 1, which is you," she explained. Harry supposed that made sense. And with every armor set that Harry completed, Athena added 1 to the end. Knight Ashley Morgan 'Ashley-002', Knight Austin Waters 'Austin-003', Knight Aman Ortega 'Aman-004', Knight Vikki Kaiser 'Vikki-005', and Knight Rian Proctor 'Rian-006'. When he was done with Echo Squad's armors, Harry moved on to Tango Squads. They received the numbers '007' to '013'. Harry decided not to mess with Alyssa, Val, and El's armors, unsure how they would want to customize them. But Athena still marked them. Alyssa Truit 'Alyssa-014', Valentine Wiggin 'Valentine-015', and Jane Ives 'Jane-016'.
And when Tango Squads' armor was finished and the rest were labeled, Harry went on to upgrade his own. He kept the traditional dark green and black look of the armor, as well as the gold visor, and instead spent most of his time upgrading the armors features. Harry started by adding a pinch fusion core to the power supply, enhancing the armor's energy output. He then added a gravity-well device to the right forearm, which when deployed would attract enemies or objects to the epicenter. Silencing spells were then placed on the boots of the armor to ensure the one-ton mass of metal couldn't be heard from a mile away. Then he proceeded to add several weapons and gadgets not present in the suit. Collapsable energy blades on each forearm, a medical suture spray device on the left wrist, a nano-cannon on the right wrist capable of repairing small to large holes inside ships, deployable tracers for tracking, throwable smoke pellets, a medical scanner implemented into the suits TACPAD, and a 'Grappleshot'. A thin line of an unbreakable core that could pull the Spartan towards an object or vise versa.
Harry also took the liberty of upgrading the suit's TACPAD, upgrading it to allow for holo-projecting technology, allowing it to project its display off of the device's screen. Once that was done, Harry finished with a few adjustments to the HUD before giving it to Athena. She labeled it 'Harry-001'. His work done, Harry made his way down to the augmentation chambers, where he waited for Echo and Tango Squads to finish their own sets of procedures. The members of Tango Squad finished first, with each member exiting their pods in five-minute intervals. All six men on the squad stood between 6' 7" and 6' 9" with weights ranging from 270-295lbs. Each one now stood made of pure muscle and invulnerable bones. The perfect soldiers. Each one reported to the bed-chambers, where they would find food and more clothing waiting for them.
After an hour of waiting, the first member of Echo Squad exited their pod. Master Chief Petty Officer Edward Reyes. When he slumped out of the pod, he was met by Harry, who easily caught him. Reyes too was now made of pure muscle, and stood to meet Harry at 6' 9". The man was breathing heavily, no doubt getting used to his new lungs. Harry wondered if he had breathed so heavily when he had stepped out of the pod. "Lord Potter. Good to see you alive," Reyes spoke, stumbling on his feet slightly. When he finally managed to somewhat find his footing, he let out a laugh. "It's been forty-eight years since I've had to learn how to walk. This is going to be a bitch,"
A grin passed over his face, and Harry allowed himself to laugh too. "Yeah, it was. But don't worry, after Athena's tests in the gym, you'll be good as new,"
"Glad to hear it. What's everyone else's status?" Reyes asked, peering down at himself. He was taking in the advancements to his physiology, as well as the faint scars that Harry too had on his skin. Harry turned to the monitor, pulling up the vital signs connected to the neural interfaces implanted on the members of Tango and Echo Squads. "Tango Squad are all awake and in phenomenal health. As for the members of the Echo? They're all done with their augmentations and like Tango Squad will be exiting in five-minute intervals. Everyone's alive and healthy,"
"Good...I'm just glad it worked," Reyes told him, balling his hands into fists. "I feel...different. Not quite stronger, but I can feel the difference,"
"That's because this is your new normal. The new nerves, new or improved organs, and the bodily regulations make it so that the old way is lost on you. You will walk in long strides, run at superhuman speeds, lift nearly a ton of steel, and all kinds of other things," Harry explained. "But I'm living proof that it's a quick adjustment. Just finish all of Athena's tests and you'll be good as new,"
"You got it, sir," Reyes replied, grabbing hold of the handrail as he made his way towards the bed-chambers. All those that followed next seemed to be by rank, so Chief Petty Officer Ashley Morgan stepped out of her pod. While she still held the slim-waist figure that she had once had, her entire body had morphed. She was now 6' 8 and 269lbs, which was quite tall for most female Spartans. Chief Petty Officer Austin Waters stepped out next. He stood at 6' 8" and 283lbs, which was standard for most Spartans. After that was Petty Officer First Class Aman Ortega standing at 6' 7" and 257lbs, a weight that appeared much lower than other Spartans his size. But the augmentations reacted differently to everyone, according to Athena. Next was Petty Officer Second Class Vikki Kaiser, who was the smallest of the squad. She was 6' 5" out of armor, weighing roughly 241lbs. But it didn't seem to affect her. After all, she had been the shortest of the group before the augmentations. And the last to exit was the rookie. Knight Recruit Rian Proctor. He stood at 6' 9" as well, weighing 286lbs.
When everyone was on their way to the bed-chambers, Harry took a look at Eleven, Alyssa, and Val's readings. They were progressing well and were three days from exiting their respective pods. They had finished installing the neural implants, had finished their muscular and skeletal augmentations, were done with their neurological series of procedures, and were now on the organ replacements/augmentations. The measurements had been taken already, and Harry was not surprised. Both El and Alyssa stood at 6' 7", weighing 255 and 257lbs respectively. Val was only an inch shorter at 6' 6", weighing 243lbs. It would be interesting to see what they looked like after the augmentations were complete.
Three Days Later
Three days had passed since Echo and Tango Squads were released from their augmentation chambers. Since then, they had undergone the same rigorous non-armored and armored tests given by Athena. After two days of non-stop exercise, the Knights decided to continue upgrading their sets of armor. Most were happy with the changes made by Harry, but many were interested in seeing what these new suits had to offer in terms of alternate helmets, suit designs, and armor coating. A lot of the Knights stayed with the dark green and black color scheme but chose to change their suit and helmet designs. Harry kept the standard Mk. VII design, seeing as he quite liked the overall look and feel.
When the time came for Eleven, Alyssa, and Valentine to exit their pods, Harry was there waiting for them. Eleven's pod opened first, having been moved into the stasis room alongside the others. Like everyone else, Eleven took a long step out of the pod and promptly fell into Harry's extended arms. There, Harry was able to examine her. She was still 6' 7" and 255lbs. The augmentations had made her nothing but muscle, flesh, and bones. Her abs were exposed and she was sweating. One of the most noticeable differences was her face. Not much had been altered, except for her jaw, cheeks, and her hair. Eleven's jaw was sharper than before, her cheekbones more exposed, and her hair was much longer than before, reaching down to her lower back while previously stopping at her shoulders. But the biggest change was her physique. Eleven had been a very good-looking woman before, but now she was...well...even more good-looking.
Her hourglass figure had deepened in a slim waist, and her breasts and lower assets had enlarged beneath her bra and underwear. Harry was quick to avert his gaze, unsure if he could avoid making it obvious that he was looking. But Eleven - in her slightly dazed state - didn't seem to notice, and instead clung to him tighter until she regained her footing. "You're ok. Your footing will come back to you soon," Harry told her, guiding her away from the augmentation chamber as it slid shut. "Athena's test indicates you're healthy, and obviously the augmentations were complete. You look great by the way," He complimented.
"Thanks," El replied, smiling brightly as she examined herself. "This is...very weird,"
"Yes. It is,"
Before either of them could say anything, the pod to their right slid open. With Eleven now somewhat steady on her feet, Harry let go of her and stepped up to the pod just in time to catch Alyssa. She too hadn't grown any since he had checked and was 6' 7" and 257lbs. Helping her regain her lost footing, Harry guided her to where Eleven stood near the guard rails. Alyssa quickly grabbed hold of the rail and took in a deep breath, clearly unnerved at seeing Eleven. "This is freaky," she said, peering between herself and El. "This is very weird,"
"It's weirder than weird," El replied with a grin. "But I don't regret it. I feel great,"
"Same. But I can't stand," Alyssa commented.
Harry smiled, watching as she slowly stood straighter. "It'll come back to you. It just takes a bit of time and a lot of running,"
"And when is that?"
"As soon as you're showered and clothed, Athena wants you three down in the gym to test your unarmored strength. Once that's done, you'll go back to test your armored strength tomorrow. The Knights have already finished, and are working to upgrade their armor, equipment, and weapons," Harry explained. The two women nodded and left him in their journey to the bed-chambers. That left Val, whose chamber began to slowly slide open. Harry - like with the others - was there to greet her when she promptly fell from the pod. He swept her up in his arms, helping Val to her feet as she wrapped her arms around his neck, no doubt to keep her balance. After a moment, she stood straight enough to face him, their faces quite close.
Her blue eyes had brightened somewhat - which was odd given how dark the hallways were - and her blonde hair had also grown longer. Val was breathing heavily, something that he noticed given how she was pressed up against his chest. Harry didn't comment on the fact that her larger breasts were against his torso, but he did speak. "Are you ok? It's a bit of a new experience being on your feet after getting out,"
"I'm fine, I just need a minute," Val replied, her breathing growing steadier. It turned out she didn't need a minute. After only a few seconds, Val straightened her back and slowly stepped away from him, giving Harry some breathing room. She - like the others - hadn't grown and was still 6' 6 and 243lbs. But she looked great. Her abs were sweaty from the minor panic attack she had seemed to be having, but she seemed calm now. Val took a deep breath and turned to examine herself. She clenched her fists, her eyes on the scars trailing up her arms. "This is...different,"
"The scars will fade more with time. All scars do,"
"Right," Val whispered, turning over her arms while she examined her body. "Do you...have a lot of scars?"
"I used to have a few dozen. But the skin-repairing removed all of those," Harry replied, peeling up his shirt to reveal only a few scars left behind by his treatments. None of the scars he had received from The Shadow or anything after remained. Val's eyes were stuck on him for a few moments before she looked away embarrassed. Harry lowered his shirt. "Are you feeling any better now?"
"Yeah. The weird feeling is still there...but I feel great," she said.
"Eleven and Alyssa said the same thing,"
"Are they ok?"
"Of course. They're headed to their bed-chambers to prepare for Athena's strength tests. I would head down that way too," Harry told her.
"Right. Of course. I'll see you later?"
"Of course,"
Val smiled brightly and made her way out of the stasis room in the direction of the bed-chambers. With everyone out of stasis, Harry decided he would go down into the laboratory to work on some of the weapons provided to him by Athena. They were all from the UNSC era and were all very impressive for their time. The human weapons she proved him consisted of the; MA40 Assault Rifle, BR55HB Battle Rifle, M392 Marksman Rifle, M4D Pistol, M6D Magnum, MK50 Sidekick Pistol, SRS99-S5 AM Sniper Rifle, and an ARC-920 Railgun. All of them worked off of plasma technology, firing plasma shells and plasma rounds except for the railgun. He was also given Covenant and Forerunner weapons, though he focused most of his attention on the Forerunner weapons. They were more interesting, seeing as they worked off of hard-light technology.
Harry had been given a few weapons to play with, including the; Z-040 Pulse Grenade, Z-110 Boltshot (pistol), Z-130 Suppressor (assault rifle), Z-180 Scattershot (shotgun), Z-250 Lightrifle (marksmen rifle), Z-390 Incineration Cannon (projectile launcher), Z-750 Binary Rifle (sniper rifle), and a handheld Sentinel Beam. Every weapon worked off of hard-light energy and could incinerate an enemy if they were hit enough times. So after Harry gave the Knights, Eleven, Alyssa, and Val five days to prepare for their journey to kill Voldemort, he spent all of his time integrating Human, Covenant, and Forerunner technology into gadgets he and the others could use in a fight. If they were going to be handed several weapons, Harry figured he might as well put them to good use by protecting his people. And he would protect them. All while killing the son of a bitch who had taken everything from him. Someone who still couldn't seem to die. Harry would end it soon. He would.
