Doc code 1278803-4576b

-keypad initiated-

Entry 13-

Finally we arrived at our destination, and I disembarked the public transport, followed by Thaal, who was glancing around suspiciously, and Arno, who was carrying my bag for me. I started trudging away from the bus station, only to have Thaal chase after me. "Heeey," he complained, "where are we going?"

I glanced around, taking in the scenery and mentally referencing it with the graphs of the area that I'd memorized before leaving that morning. "The wilderness area is approximately eighteen point five miles distant," I told him, pointing in the general direction.

Thaal stared at me. "You mean we're walking?"

"For another twenty-six feet," I answered, resisting the urge to roll my eyes as we continued walking. It would be nigh impossible for me to walk that distance in a single day... Dismayed by this realization, I made a mental note to begin exercising more regularly. "After walking the approximate distance of twenty-six feet, I intend to begin field testing an anti-gravity enabling device and friction reducer, combined with some interlinking antigrav weight-bearing harnesses and a jetpack."

Thaal blinked several times in rapid succession. "And in Interlac…?"

I felt a sigh building up inside me but managed to resist releasing the burst of pent-up air. "I will be fastening you and Arno to an improvised belt-like device and strap a jetpack on myself, and we will fly to the wilderness area."

"Won't we be heavy, though?" Thaal asked.

I resisted an urge to apply my hand to my forehead with a decent amount of force in order to produce a satisfying smack. I believe this motion is referred to as a 'facepalm' in common vernacular. "It's an anti-gravity belt and linking harnesses."

"But what about-?"

I cut off Thaal before he had a chance to ask another obvious question. "I have a third harness for the bag."

Thaal's shoulders slumped. "Oh. Okay." He glanced around suddenly. "Did you say jetpack?"

I nodded.

"But…but…but…" Thaal was staring at me with confusion. "But… but…but…"

I waited through several more intonations of the monosyllabic utterance before interrupting. "Thaal? Allow me to attempt utilizing a popular colloquialism: I don't have all day."

"But what about the ring?" Thaal finally sputtered, pointing to his right hand demonstratively.

I stared at him. "Oh, you mean a flight ring? An item I invented exclusively for the Legion that would not be at all remotely suspicious for someone else to have conveniently re-invented? Not to mention the fact that the rings are composed of a rare and expensive element and require specifically designed manufacturing facilities to create them..." I gave him a hard look. "Honestly Thaal, twelfth level intellect is not a requirement to consider the repercussions of using a Legion-specific technology when I'm going to be testing materials that will aid me passing myself off as a super-inventor at Legion Auditions."

Thaal appeared properly subdued. "Yeah… I guess you're right…"

I nodded at him before turning to Arno. "We have traveled a sufficient distance. If you would gently place my bag on the ground I would be most appreciative." Arno proceeded to drop the bag to the ground, which caused it to let out several disconcerting clinking noises and created a decent-sized dust puff. I allowed myself a sigh. "Arno?"

"Yeah?" Arno said, glancing at me and tilting his head slightly.

"Is that your definition of 'gently placing' my bag on the ground? I have highly volatile and unstable experimental equipment and mechanisms inside that bag. If you are incapable of safely conveying them then I will make use of my antigravity belt for the remainder of the trip and will even risk being discovered with such technology on the public transport."

Arno rubbed the back of his head, appearing sheepish. "Sorry, won't happen again."

"It had better not. I can't exactly say something like that to Thaal if you drop it again and we are caught in an explosion."

"Hey!" Thaal yelped, "How come I'm the one who gets blown up?"

I resisted the urge to roll my eyes, and unzipped the bag, retrieving the antigravity belt, harnesses, and jetpack. Thaal stalked around me, eying the equipment as I strapped the belt around my waist, wound the two crisscrossing chest straps over me, then fastened the jetpack to my back where the straps crossed.

"Isn't that a little…small?" Thaal asked me.

I frowned. "You think it would be better for my antigravity belt and jetpack to be bulky and cumbersome?"

"Well, no…I just didn't expect it to be so small, and…"

"Elegant!" Arno butted in, tracing the edge of the small round propulsion jet. "It's a fantastic design!"

"It's ergonomic. Practical. Friction-resistant," I said. "It's made to be functional, not beautiful."

"Beauty and functionality are not always mutually exclusive." Arno informed me. I was aware of this fact. However, I had not realized that any of my designs could be considered aesthetically appealing.

"Fascinating," I noted aloud, before handing each of them a harness. "Put these on." I held out helmets with faceplates also. "And these." I slipped one on myself, then gazed at them expectantly.

Thaal and Aarno exchanged glances, then complied. I snapped their harness leads onto my own belt, then strapped the bag to myself as well. "Hold on to your harnesses," I warned them.

Thaal frowned. "Why?"

"Because it will keep your arms from flailing uselessly in midair," I snapped. "Hold on." With that, I activated the jetpack and we took off, Thaal shrieking like a child in distress. I was going to enjoy the next few minutes of flight. Thaal was going to hate me. A tiny smile tugged at my mouth, and I allowed myself to enjoy the sensation of bodily flight for the first time in what felt like an eternity.

A/N: Yay for testing equipment! I am really excited for the next chapter, which hopefully will only contain minimal explosions and hopefully no lasting damage to any of the characters... I am still kind of curious about how Brainy used to test his inventions with the Legion... Did he just walk up to people and say "Here, put this on"? Or did he have people he hired to test things? Maybe he experimented on himself...? There's a long and somewhat creepy mad-scientist history of inventors testing things on themselves...

Eh, whatever... Anyway, stay tuned for your next lovely chapter! I do hope to be heading towards Legion Auditions sooner than later, and now you guys have a decent idea of how Brainy plans to get back into the Legion... but it's probably not going to be as straightforward as Thaal and Arno might think it should be... hahaha, I am really enjoying this... Anyway, if you're enjoying this anywhere near as much as I am, feel free to leave a review! If you'd rather not, that's fine, and thanks for reading anyway!