The Red Suit

Dango and I stayed with Beatrice the whole time it took for her to calm down.

Meanwhile, Punch cleaned the blood-stained dagger with snow and put the weapons away with the others.

He also took the time to wash Beatrice's hands and hair with the snow. Dango didn't take his eyes off him for a second. The positive side is that he didn't yell at him.

Is he starting to realize that he doesn't have bad intentions? ... No, too optimistic. He's probably just realized that this isn't the time. It's a step forward anyway.

***

As soon as we were sure Beatrice was okay, we left her by the fire with Punch. We still needed to deal with the body.

Dango and I moved far enough away so she couldn't see what we were doing.

«Dango, what are you doing?»

«Give me a hand taking off his suit. We could repair it and improve it. Not to mention, it might have information and I want to figure out who's under there, whether it's an android like the ones in the armed forces, or a human like those in law enforcement.»

Reusing the suit for our own benefit wasn't a bad idea.

«There's no way he's an android. You saw for yourself that he bled.» I replied skeptically.

«Give me a hand and we'll find out. It could have been a liquid to prevent oxidation or something. Aren't you curious to see who's under there? Maybe it was a lady android for you.» he retorted with a smile.

I looked at him for a moment, then started to help him. «Just so we're clear, I'm doing this to get the suit, not because of that android thing.»

After turning him over a couple of times, Dango finally found a button on the nape of his neck. As soon as he touched it, the suit came off, reducing itself to a kind of package. Revealing, what I already knew.

«He's just a man.»

But how could a human have such extraordinary abilities?

Dango stood there looking at him for a moment, then yelled «Punch!»

The little guy ran quickly towards us. «Tell me master, how can I serve you?» As soon as he reached us, he paused to look at the man. «I hope you don't want to involve me in anything ambiguous.» he commented ironically.

I laughed lightly at his joke.

«Take his plaser swords and put them with ours, then bring me a knife.» Dango said, immediately breaking the good mood.

«Right away!»

I can understand that he doesn't trust him, but he could at least pretend for Beatrice's sake. As soon as Punch returned with the knife, Dango wasted no time in plunging it into the leg and opening the skin.

He looked like a doctor performing an autopsy... If only he weren't a graduate... or didn't have a scalpel... He looked more like a butcher. As soon as he revealed the skin, mechanical components were immediately visible. Now it was clear to me what it was.

«So… he was a Cyborg.»

«Apparently so... Pierrot, see if you can find any information in the suit.»

Punch looked at both of us confused. «What is a cyborg?»

«A cyborg is the perfect union between man and machine. It takes the best qualities of both.»

«Yeah, and from what I see here, he had an enhancement to his tendons and joints.»

Dango surprised me, I didn't think he understood mechanics.

Punch was quicker than me to ask him the question. «Incredible, my lord! How do you know that's what they're for?»

«I don't know, I'm just guessing. From the way he moved, he must have had something to improve the reactivity of his muscles or tendons. And to withstand such a load without wearing down the cartilage of the joints in the long run, he must have had something to protect him from the “recoil”.»

So he doesn't know anything, but his analysis after the battle is incredible.

Dango approached the unfortunate man's face. He turned to me, threw something at me and said «Take it.»

I caught it in mid-air. As soon as I opened my hand I saw that the object he had thrown me was an eye.

I dropped it. «Ew!»

Punch picked it up immediately and handed it to me with a smile.

«Don't be squeamish. Since you're sleeping on the suit, get close and connect directly to his brain through the eye socket.»

«I'd rather not.»

«Did you find anything by feeling the suit?»

«No.»

«Then stick your finger in and dig through his memories. And why are you so squeamish? You don't even have a sense of touch.»

«I know, but I'm still squeamish. And it's not like just because he has mechanical parts now, I can access them like a computer.» They both stared at me dubiously. «Don't look at me like that. You're making me uncomfortable... Okay, I'll do it!»

Reluctantly, I knelt down and did as Dango said. Incredibly, it worked. I was able to connect directly to his brain.

«Apparently he's part of a new class of elite warriors. They took the best soldiers and enhanced them. So far they've produced 5.»

«What did they enhance?»

«Just like you guessed. They enhanced joints, muscles and tendons to increase speed and power without interfering with the person's health. In addition, nerve impulses are faster thanks to repeaters placed on the spine. The eyes have night vision and can see 5 km away. Even lung capacity has been improved to withstand high altitudes and hold your breath for long periods.»

Dango was perplexed for a moment. «If they're trained soldiers, and with all these enhancements, how did we win?»

«The master asked a very good question. Maybe their batteries ran out?»

We both looked at him strangely, so Dango asked «Batteries? How old are you?»

Punch put his hands behind his back and made circles with his foot. «I didn't think I looked so old at 250 years old.»

I  can't believe it, that little guy is so old?! He deserves a thorough study.

«Dango, let's not digress.»  I said, bringing his attention back to the matter at hand, «The mission they assigned him was simply to find us and capture one of us to get information.»

«Why didn't he attack us earlier?»

«Because you and I stayed up most of the night. I have almost complete vision and you were armed. It was dangerous to attack without knowing the enemy's abilities. But with the arrival of light in a bare, silent forest you still risked compromising your position. So he had to risk it.»

«I understand.» Dango stood up with a stoic expression. «Let's take everything and get out of here. This time we'll fly low to the ground. You and Punch start the preparations, I have one more thing to do... And another thing. Don't tell Bea that he didn't intend to kill us. She's already shaken enough, let's try not to give her any more weight.»

I had already come to that conclusion. Is he talking about Punch? He doesn't seem very smart or fearless, but he's honest and willing to follow orders. Maybe he's saying that to make sure he doesn't risk telling her.

Without adding anything else, Dango takes a plaser sword and walks away, dragging the body with him. We quickly remove the camouflage from the vehicle, put the swords in the trunk with the leftover wood. As soon as Dango returns, we leave immediately.