The next morning shortly after PT, it was time to don our armor for the first time. My team and I made our way to the armory unsure of what to expect. We had all worn our helmets previously, but had never been able to don the full suit until now. Upon reaching the armory, we found Dr. Kagamine along with the girls making final adjustments on our armor. "Good morning WARRIORS!" Kagamine greeted us. "Today you'll be donning your full suit of armor for the first time. Please make your way over to your assistants, and we will begin shortly. I walked over to where Rin was standing; next to a full powered suit of armor. It was menacing in appearance, and was trimmed in the same shade of yellow as Rin's hair and the the trimmings on her skirt and boots. I also noticed the number "02" emblazoned in red on the left shoulder pauldron and the team's grim reaper emblem on the right. I was truly impressed by the armor's appearance, but what could I do once inside of it? I greeted Rin with a hug and kiss like usual. "What do you think of the armor?" she asked. "Impressive!" I said. "You wouldn't have anything to do with those yellow trimmings on it though would you?" I asked flirtatiously. "Ummm….maybe…" she replied smiling mischieviously. "I hope you don't mind." She said. "Not at all." I responded. "It reminds me of you." I smiled. She returned my smile, and began to show me a little more about the armor. "You already know about the helmet systems, but the rest of this suit is pretty neat too. While wearing it, you should be able to run at speeds reaching well over 50 mph, lift at least 100 times your own weight, and the entire suit is completely bulletproof, radiation resistant, and is vacuum sealed. You'll literally be a walking tank once inside of this thing." She said proudly. "You'll be perfectly safe inside of it too." She added with affection. "Sounds good. But I feel better knowing that you'll be back here away from the fight too." I said returning her affection. "Oh yeah, and you'll need to put this on before you get into the armor." Rin said handing me a black body suit. "What is it?" I asked. "It's the part of the suit that'll make it sealed, and basically your new uniform." She said. We were all then instructed to put on the black body suits, and prepare to don the armor. I felt somewhat strange taking off my shirt and pants in front of Rin. She blushed slightly when I removed my shirt, but I caught her staring more than a few times. I laughed and said, "What are you lookin' at?" playfully. "Well you of course!" she said giggling. "You've gotten big!" she said in admiration. "Augmentations'll do that to ya!" I joked. She giggled again and said, "Yeah I bet!" "But I must be the luckiest android on base." She said suddenly. "Why's that?"I asked as I finished donning the body suit. "Because I've got a super-ripped, super-smart, WARRIOR soldier for a boyfriend!" she said catching me for a hug. "Then I guess that makes me the luckiest WARRIOR on base, cause' I got a super-beautiful, super-smart, android as a girlfriend!" I said in response. "Alright you two, break it up. We've still got to get John into his armor. You two can make out later." Kagamine scolded us. "Yes sir." We said in unision as we released each other flashing smiles of embarrassment. Rin then moved over to a control panel, and the armor was split into various sections. "Ok, go ahead and step onto the foot-prints over there." Rin instructed as I moved to a set of yellow footprints painted on the ground. "Ok, now I need you to hold both of your arms out, and stay still while the armor locks into place." "Roger that." I said. Rin pressed a button on the control panel, and the machine began locking, and snapping my armor into place. In seconds my whole body was encased in a bullet-proof outer shell save for my head. Immediately I could feel the armor's sheer power. Rin then walked over, and handed me my helmet. "Alright, go ahead and put on the helmet, and let's see how this thing works when it's all together." Obediently I donned my helmet, and immediately my HUD appeared again. The only difference was now I was in full armor. "Everything looks good so far." Rin said jotting down results. "Move around a little, and get a feel for it." She urged. I then walked a few steps, raised my arms and legs a few times, and even tried jumping a few times. Much to my surprise, the suit seemed like it was actually part of me. Every move I made was flawless, and felt as if I wasn't even wearing it at all! I discovered I could move much more quickly, jump even higher, and do many other things I never knew I could with the armor on. It also quickly became apparent that the armor had more gadgets than a swiss army knife. For starters, in addition the aforementioned tech, the helmet was also able to filter out chemicals like a gas mask, the whole armor was EMP resistant, and to even further boost our secrecy, every suit was equipped with a state of the art stealth system. With an activation from the wearer, a stealth field would completely cover the armor, making us nearly invisible. Furthermore, the black body suits also aided to this as well masking our thermal image, and regulating temperature inside of our armor. "What can't this thing do?" I asked Rin in awe. Rin giggled. "Well, I don't suppose it can cook or clean." She joked. "Nope, but if it did, then I'd marry it!" I said flirtatiously. Rin raised an eye-brow and put her hand on her hip expectatantly. "I'm just kidding! No powered suit of armor could ever replace you." I said. Rin smiled. "How's the armor so far Corporal?" Kagamine asked as he approached Rin and I. "Great sir!" I replied. "Excellent! Rin, how about that analysis?" he asked turning to Rin. "Everything checks out. The armor is working perfectly!" she said pleased. "That's great news!" the doctor responded. "Alright, Corporal move over with the rest of the team to the zapper." Kagamine said. "What's the zapper sir?" I asked in confusion. "You'll see." Kagamine laughed. I stepped beside my team on the "zapper" and waited for something to happen. The next thing I knew, machine guns opened fire on us. We all instinctively hit the dirt, but we all knew we had been hit at least once. Ironically though, our armor had done its job marvelously. Not a single scratch on the armor itself, and none of us had even felt the round impact. "Excellent WARRIORS! That should give you a little more confidence in your armor now!" the doctor said with a mischievious grin. "Yes sir." We all said begrudgingly as we rose to our feet muttering curses. I looked over to the control board to see Rin uncovering her eyes and breathing a sigh of relief. "Doctor, if it's not too much to ask, would you mind not shooting my boyfriend please?" Rin asked worried. "Same here!" Teto and Miku agreed. "Alright, girls you have my word, I won't shoot at your boyfriends anymore. I just needed to test their armor….and strike a little fear into them hehehe!" Kagamine laughed jokingly. We then ran through a series of more tests that tested our newfound strength, agility, and reflexes in our armor. We also ran through another urban operations course Kagamine had invented recently with special hologram projections for opfor. Between the armor systems, and the aid from our assistants, we scored better on the course than we ever could have hoped to on our best days. Finally we tested the stealth systems infiltrating the course undetected and stealing an enemy document. It was truly remarkable what we were now able to do. Finally, the training was over for the day. I made my way back over to Rin to remove the armor. "I'm impressed!" she said as I removed my helmet. "Same here!" I replied. "Never in my wildest dreams would I have imagined myself doing the stuff I just did!" I said pleased. "So are we still on to hang out tonight?" Rin asked as she began removing the armor. "You bet!" I said smiling. "Wish I could take you out on a real date rather than just hanging out around the base though." I said at last. "Oh, don't worry about that." She said in response. "As long as I'm with you, I don't care where we are." She smiled. I couldn't help but feel warm inside. Here was a girl who truly wanted to be with me for who I was, and I with her for the same reason. I smiled back and said, "I know, but I still wanna do something special for you. One of these days, I'm gonna get us a real date, and that's a promise!" "Ok! I'll hold you to that." Rin said in response. Kagamine then walked by and asked how the armor had performed once again. I gave him the same answer I had as before, telling him how superb it was. "Excellent news Corporal! Simply outstanding!" It was then that he was joined by a young Japanese boy no older than twenty. "Oh yes, I nearly forgot to introduce you both to Cho. He just came over from Japan to aid me in the final stages of the project. Cho, this is Corporal Adams, and his assistant Rin." Cho bowed low to us both. While Rin smiled and greeted him with her usual friendly demeanor, I wans't so quick with pleasantries. Something about him just didn't add up. I fixed him with a stern gaze, known by many as the "thousand yard stare," and nodded. Kagamine and Cho then departed leaving Rin and I alone. Rin must have noticed my apprehensiveness, because she asked, "You ok?" "Yeah….but that Cho feller….there's just somethin' about him that just don't add up…" I said. Rin giggled slightly. "What's so funny?" I asked wondering what could possibly be funny about that. "Your accent." She said flirtatiously referring to my thick southern drawl. "You're cute when you talk!" she said prodding me in the ribs. I smiled slightly. "If you say so." I said in response. We walked hand in hand to our ususal hang out spot while I still pondered about this new "assistant" Kagamine had obtained. Though I tried my best to have a good time, Rin still noticed how uptight I was. "Hey, you alright?" she finally asked. "I don't know." I replied. "It just seems kinda odd the Doc would have a new lab assistant come in this late in the project." "I'm sure the doctor has a good explanation for it, but yeah I agree, it is a little odd…" Rin said in agreement. We spent the rest of the day pondering this new strange turn of events, and trying to figure out what might be the reason behind it. I was also haunted once again by what the doctor had told me earlier, about the organization that sought to use Rin against him. The biggest fear that I now had was that Cho might be an agent working for that organization. All I could do was simply stay vigilant, alert, and mindful. Rin was my whole world, and I was determined to keep her safe, even if it meant my life to save hers….