06- Wave Rider
Wave Rider sat with his sister at Canterlot High’s Battle of the Bands. He had graduated from Canterlot High three years before, and is attending college in Equestrian City, majoring in robotics. He was at this battle because his little sister, Sand Castle, is a sophomore this year and had asked her big brother to escort her to the Battle. Wave agreed to it, because he and his sister have been close since she was little more than an infant. The two did look a lot alike, with a bronze skin tone and coppery hair, Wave’s being more brilliant orange while Sand’s tended more towards the red end of the spectrum.
They had enjoyed the Rainbooms performance, sitting towards the back of the theater, when the blast hit. The last thing he remembered was grabbing his sister and trying to wrap himself around her before what felt like a blowtorch hit him in his lower back. He did not wake up for over two weeks, coming to in a hospital bed, unable to feel his legs. His back had been broken and burned in the blast. That sent Wave Rider into a depressive spiral for several days, until his sister arrived to get him out of it. He had always kept himself fit, because he was a competitive surfer in breaks from school, and now he could not stand on a board, nor even stand at all.
Sand Castle got him out of his depression by not only proving to him that he had saved her from getting crushed and burned by the debris that broke his back, she got him to understand that she expected him to be there for her, like he always had been. Took her a day or so, but after the delay in her getting there, she stayed by him all through his therapy and rehabilitation. He even forgave her for not being there while he was unconscious, after finding out that their parents and her had been ‘relocated’ to the far side of Equestrian City and getting resettled was taxing everyone to their limits.
It took another month or so for Wave to be cleared for release from the hospital, having relearned how to handle himself with non-functioning legs. Fortunately, his upper body strength was quite good, and he had always kept himself athletically lean, so getting around was a chore, not a problem. In that time, his family’s home was outfitted to handle a wheelchair, his college time was updated and reset to handle his being wheelchair-bound, and he became popular with the hospital staff. He credited his sister for changing his attitude about his disability, coming to regard it as an ‘inconvenience’ instead of a ‘handicap’.
Back at college, he found that somehow being in a wheelchair sharpened his attention, enabling him to pass his classes not only with a higher grade point average, he was able to accelerate his schedule, getting his doctorate in robotics engineering in a little under five years. His graduation was understandably a high point in his life. The death of his parents in a car smash on the way home from the ceremony put a pall over it, but not much of one. He had to help his sister, who at the time was a sophomore in the same college he went to.
Their deaths were a blessing in disguise because the insurance money went a long way in getting the pair stabilized while Wave looked for work. He landed a job at Tiara Technologies shortly after graduating, and worked his way up the ranks there, eventually becoming second in command of R&D, under Diamond Tiara’s director, Moondancer. All was well until the Tiara Technologies Terminator Armor project came up. That was when sparks started to fly between himself and Diamond Tiara. He violently objected to the idea of using lethal force in the use of the suit. Every time he proposed a non-lethal variant, it got shot down. Matters reached a boiling point when, during an argument with Diamond Tiara, he not only quit, he declared that he would not consider himself bound to any agreements made about future employment elsewhere, because he had lost all respect for that ‘little girl behind the big desk’. He did declare that he would not discuss the TTTA project with anyone, lest it gets into the wrong hands and is rendered ineffective. He had worked hard on that project, and he would take its secrets to the grave. Diamond Tiara snapped back that she could arrange that as he flipped her off and rolled out of her office.
Wave decided that now would be a good time to take some extended time off before he started looking for work. His severance pay from Tiara Technologies would be enough to support him and his sister in comfort for over a year, actually more, because Sand Castle has a job with the City, her degree in architecture landing her a position in the Building Inspector’s office. He kicked back and took it easy for a while, only leaving home to shop.
It was on one of his shopping trips when he was cut off by another van. After slamming on the brakes, Wave looked up to see the back door fly open and someone firing a machine gun at him! He had no time to dodge, seeing the muzzle flash of the gun getting longer and brighter. He could feel the impact of the slugs hitting the van, and himself, as the shooter’s van pulled away.
Wave found himself unhurt, though the front of the van was riddled with bullet holes, and his wheelchair had taken some hits, one bullet having severed the drive belt for his chair. One thing he did was remove the SD chip from his dash camera, putting it in a pocket. When police arrived, he was helped out of the van because his chair lift no longer had power and was checked over by police and ambulance personnel. They were startled that he was not shot up, though the front of his van had many bullet holes. After a thorough interview with the police, he was allowed to head home to his very worried sister.
“Wave, how come you would not answer your phone? I’ve been calling you for hours, ever since I heard about the shooting on the radio!” she declared when he got home.
“Two reasons. One, I was being interviewed at length first by the police, then by the insurance rep. Two, my phone doesn’t work, it having taken a bullet or two while mounted on the dash,” Wave said in return.
“Yes, that will do it. Are you all right?”
“Yes, I am, and I think I know why,” Wave said. “either I’m the luckiest person alive, or I’m a meta. I’m leaning to the second option myself.”
“What makes you say that?”
“I got hit by several bullets, two to the face and at least four to the chest. Look, sis, no holes!” he said with a chuckle. “I think I can generate a force field around me that will deflect bullets.”
“A force field? What makes you say that?” Sand asked, looking a touch confused.
Wave removed his coat, then his shirt and tee-shirt. Once removed, holes were evident in all three layers, the coat holes concealed because of the coat’s dark color. “See? I think it’s a skin-tight field”
“Well, that’s one hell of a way to find out about it. At least you’re all right, and that’s what is important.”
“That it is. Now, I think we should dispose of these clothes before the police come sniffing around, wanting to ask more questions,” Wave said as he started emptying the pockets. Touching the chip, he gave a thin smile. “Besides, while I gave the police a full and accurate report, I didn’t tell them everything. This is the vid chip from the dashcam.”
“You and your damned vanity, surfer dude!” Sand laughed. “You and your cameras!”
“Hey, at least now I have some proof I was shot at. Also, I think I recognized something about that van. I know I have seen it before. A little research should jog my memory.”
“Your photographic memory has saved your ass before, Wave. Let’s see if it can save you again.”
After viewing the chip several times, there were several things that Wave was certain of, they being the van was of a type Tiara Technologies uses, the person who shot at him had a tattoo of some sort on his (or hers) right cheek, the person he had seen in the halls of Tiara Tech, and the plates on the van were more than likely not of the van itself. After reporting his ideas to the police, the next day, after a good night’s sleep, Wave went to tackle his next two projects.
His first chore was to check out his force field, to see if he could get it under voluntary control. He could, but it took a good two weeks of practicing before he felt comfortable with it. As far as Wave and Sand could figure, it was proof up to and including bullets of the caliber he was shot at with. The field was flexible, conforming to his skin and moving with him. If he made the field cover him completely, he found he could only maintain it for as long as he could hold his breath. To breathe, he had to decrease face protection enough to let air pass. At that point, scents and particulates would penetrate the field. He did not want to test the protection level, nor did his sister want to smack him in the face repeatedly with a baseball bat. So, after his basic setpoint finding, Wave Rider put the idea into the ‘done for now’ folder and went on to his second chore, that being to build something that would enable him to walk.
That chore was paradoxically easy and hard. Easy because of the work he did with the TTTA, he knew how it could be done. Hard because he did not have many of the materials nor fabrication facilities. It took him a month to kitbash something together that would enable him to stand up and walk across the room. Not perfect by any stretch of the imagination, but it was a start. Of course, getting into and out of the apparatus was a chore. A difficult chore. Not to mention it was uncomfortable enough to require enough attention to preclude doing much else.
“Wave, after all we’ve done with the apparatus, I can only think of doing one of two things,” Sand Castle said as she helped him out of the apparatus after a test run.
“What are they, Sand?” Wave asked, hanging by one of the multitude of straps that hung down from the ceiling, so he could move about the house without using his wheelchair. If anything, since the Catastrophe, his upper body strength had improved some, his frame still trim and athletic enough to attract attention from the ladies if he still surfed competitively.
“Either we try to build a full suit of armor for you to wear, so the whole unit can support itself, or we work on your wheelchairs so that a stray bullet won’t leave you dead in the water,” she said bleakly, plopping down in the lab’s sole comfortable chair.
“You have a point, Sandy. Problem is figuring out how to build a full suit without the facilities available at either Tiara Tech or Diamond Labs,” Wave sighed. “That or figure out a way to make wheelchairs less vulnerable to random flying ballistic pieces of lead.”
“I have an idea on that, Wave. Two motors, one each to the main wheels, individually controlled, acting like a two-engine speedboat.”
Wave thought on that for a moment or so. “Not a bad idea, but that ties up both hands. I would love to use the encephalic controller modes, but I don’t have the pieces to build one, nor the programming to make it work right,” he said with a sigh. “With Tiara after my ass, I need to think of something better.”
At that moment, the house phone chose to ring. Being closer, Sand went to get it. Checking the caller ID, she blinked once before picking it up. “Yes, hello… He is… Let me ask…” Sand held the phone to her chest. “Rare Innovations wants to speak to Doctor Wave Rider. Will you take the call?”
Wave nodded. “Let me get to my chair first,” he said, brachiating to his chair and sitting down before reaching for the phone, “Ready now.” Sand passed him the handset. “Doctor Rider speaking.”
“Doctor Rider, I am Rarity Belle, of Rare Innovations. It has recently come to my attention that you have parted company with Tiara Technologies. Would you like a position with Rare Innovations, being a second checker on our Wonderbolt type one suit?” Wave heard, immediately recognizing Rarity’s cultured voice from many press conferences, news briefs, and other times, mostly tape recordings in the TT lab of previous conferences in the competition.
“Miss Belle, it would be an honor and a privilege to take such a position. May I record this conversation and send a copy of it to Tiara Technologies in order to prevent some unpleasantness later?” Wave asked, matching class with class.
“Of course not, Doctor Rider! In fact, we should both send copies there independently, as to keep all of us covered. We waited this long to make you an offer because of your recent shooting incident. Have you heard anything farther about the progress of your case from the police department?”
Wave thought very long and hard before replying. “From the police department, very little. On my own investigations, I have indicators that are pointing in a certain direction, but nothing I can use in court. I thank you for your thoughtfulness in this matter. Some nights, I must confess, I need a good stiff drink to shut off the occasional nightmare.”
“You really should be careful about that, darling. Going overboard with that can lead to much unpleasantness,” Rarity cautioned.
“I understand completely, Miss Rarity. Now, to the reason for the recording. I, Doctor Wave Rider, formerly assistant project manager of Tiara Technologies Terminator Armor project, wish to formally declare that I regard any and all technical information about how the Terminator Armor is assembled, programmed, outfitted and used to be privileged information of Tiara Technologies, and as such will refuse to discuss such matters with Miss Rarity Belle or any member of her technical staff. Despite the current animosity between myself and Diamond Tiara, a promise like I made to her about the Project I still consider binding, unless and until something drastic happens to me and mine that can be directly attributed to any actions Tiara Technologies has taken to enforce my silence,” Wave dictated, making every effort to speak clearly and distinctly.
“While I, Rarity Belle, chairperson of Rare Innovations, bear witness to the statements made by Doctor Wave Rider about this topic and will honor them and his commitments. However, I reserve the right to compare and contrast my designs against what he has worked with, to see if any improvements can be made to my design,” Rarity said, also speaking clearly.
Wave handed the phone to his sister. “I am Sand Castle, sister of Doctor Wave Rider. I can attest that what Doctor Wave Rider has said, he has said in my hearing, and will bear witness to his words. As to the other end of this conversation, I cannot say, because the phone is not set for speaker mode.”
Wave took the phone back. “Now that the formalities have been observed, Miss Rarity, lets us get down to true business. Let me hear your job offer.” It took twenty minutes of haggling to get to a setting that was agreeable to both parties, Wave Rider having to raise his voice a few times to get Rarity to agree to a salary three-quarters what he was earning at Tiara Technologies, instead of the hundred fifty percent she had offered. He agreed to show up at Rare Innovations about midday the next day to take care of Human Resources before getting an initial run-through of the Wonderbolt Armor.
After hanging up, the siblings looked at each other. “Looks like vacation for me is over. Help me clean up here, and I’ll order out for dinner tonight,” Wave said.
“Saves me from cooking, big brother. I’m not saying your cooking is bad, but what you like is not what I like, in most cases,” she said back with a smile.
“Understood, little sister. First step is to clean up. Let’s put the walking frame away, then put away tools.”
Promptly at ten the next morning, Wave Rider rolled in to Rare Innovations, where he was met by Rarity’s business partner, Silver Spoon, before being escorted to HR. The paperwork involved in hiring on took over two hours to do, after which he was escorted to the break room and shown how to use the machines there for lunch. Post-lunch, Wave was brought up to meet both Rarity and her head of R&D, Doctor Twilight Sparkle. The two scientists hit it off famously, each knowing of the other by reputation only. Twilight brought Wave Rider to the labs, where he was shown the Wonderbolt armor.
After looking it over, Wave Rider sighed. “Twilight, I have to confess something. I would like nothing better than to make something like this for myself. Not to be taken into any combat with meta criminals, but simply to be able to walk again. I have several ideas in mind, but no means to build them on my own. Getting shot at revealed some vulnerabilities. If I didn’t get lucky, I would have got dead.”
“That’s one thing I have been wondering about since I read about your shooting. Just how did you avoid getting riddled with bullets?” Twilight asked in honest curiosity.
Wave just shrugged. Without looking at Twilight, he just muttered, “Pure… fricking magic, more than likely. I’m just not certain.” He shivered some in his wheelchair, remembering the incident, the muzzle flash slowly creeping his way. “How the shooter missed me, I do not know. I do know the windshield was peppered with shots.”
Twilight took his hand in hers as a stray tear or two leaked from his eyes. To her surprise, instead of warm skin, she felt something cold, hard and slick. She looked but could not see anything. A few seconds later, the cold slick feeling faded, bringing back warm skin. “Are you all right, Doctor Rider?”
Wave sniffed some before pulling a hankie from his pocket and blowing his nose. “I have these flashbacks every so often, mainly at night. I think I have had a good night’s sleep maybe three times in the past six weeks,” he confessed. “Drives me to late night drinking, it does, just to shut off the nightmares.”
“You really should get some therapy. Crawling into a bottle solves nothing in the long run. Now, what did I feel just now?” she asked.
“What do you mean?” Wave asked innocently.
“When I took your hand, it was cold, hard and slick. It faded rapidly. Don’t tell me it was just terror that did it,” she said, looking at Wave in sympathy and curiosity, nothing more.
Wave Rider honestly looked confused before he paled, realizing what had just happened. “Oh. That. It’s something that showed up at the shooting, and I do not know much about it. No reference books to look up,” he said quietly.
“Is this why you didn’t get shot?”
“I would have to say yes. From my figures, five of the shots would have gone through me. With the shield up, not much can penetrate it. It does have its limits, though,” he told her before outlining what he knew. “I didn’t realize it comes on when I’m having a flashback.”
“Something to look into, but later. Right now, let’s give you a detailed look at the Wonderbolt armor. Maybe you can see some flaws that will need correcting,” Twilight said gently. “It should help you get your mind off your troubles.”
“Thank you for the offer, Doctor Sparkle,” Wave said, looking up at Twilight before guiding his chair to a terminal. For the rest of that day, the two made observations and compared notes on the Wonderbolt armor. To his credit, not once did he mention the TTTA armor during the session, just getting a thorough walk-through of the armor’s control and weapons systems. To Wave, a promise made is supposed to be kept, even though it was given to someone totally unworthy of it.
That evening, Wave had his sister pick him up, because his mind was busy working on what he learned and did not think it would be safe for him to drive. On the way home, Sand asked him, “So how did it go?”
“I can have respect for the people here at Rare Innovations, far more than anyone at Tiara Tech, except maybe for Moondancer,” Wave told her. “Far less violent in their plans, and they made me some subsidiary offers I should let you know about.”
“Oh? Like what?”
“Giving me a studio apartment in the building, one that they will equip to my standards, in case of having to work overtime. I like that idea. Doesn’t have to be much, when we are under crunch time,” Wave explained.
“I have heard lots of good things about Rare Innovations. Why did you not go there when they formed?” Sand asked as she drove.
“Because I was already making a good living at Tiara Tech, and I did not want to shift jobs in progress. Besides, you could not fault what I was making there.”
Sand nodded. “You have a point there. You know, you have not sold your TT stock shares yet. You have what, three hundred shares?”
“At fifteen hundred a share last I looked. It has been declining. Maybe I should sell. Thanks for the reminder, sis. I’d be so lost without you,” Wave said gently, reaching a hand out for Sand, who took his and squeezed gently.
“We’ve never argued, and we’ve looked out for each other for as long as I can remember, big brother. You’re low maintenance. Besides, you have a lot on your mind.
“Where do you want to stop for dinner?” Sand asked.
“I’ll leave that choice up to you. I’ll pay.”
Wave Rider settled in to his job at Rare Innovations, getting to know the Wonderbolt armor inside and out. In his mind, he found the Wonderbolt armor superior than the Terminator armor, it being lighter, more flexible, and the weaponry is decidedly non-lethal. It CAN be boosted to lethality at the discretion of the user, but as a LAST resort, rather than a first. True to his word, he never said what was in the Terminator armor, but he did say what sort of damage it could do, without naming specifics. While not helping as much as naming the weapons, it did help in beefing up the armor some.
He also worked on another project, with Twilight Sparkle’s help. He worked on a much lighter suit, not for use as armor, but to get him to walk. That proved to be far harder than he expected. He may not weigh much, barely a hundred fifty pounds of lean meat on a six-foot-five frame, but finding something that could bear his weight AND help him walk proved elusive. Something that did not make him resemble a tottering zombie while walking, that is.
After a few weeks of part time labor at his mobility designs, he went to Twilight with a confession. Over dinner, he told her that he had run into a roadblock. “Right now, I can see two possible avenues on getting out of this wheelchair. One is to simply wear a set of armor, a full set. With some modifications to the legs, to give my body more support, I will be able to walk or fly with the help of the suit’s systems. The second would be essentially a reinforced pair of bib overalls, again with skintight legs, to give me support while I try to walk, with control circuits in the front pocket. The problem I see there is retaining enough flexibility in the suit to make it comfortable as well as effective. Do you have any ideas?” he asked his friend and boss.
Twilight thought about the question for a bit. While Wave Rider was being a big help with the Wonderbolt armor, he knew nothing about the Matterhorn suit, Spike, or Rarity’s involvement with the other metas in town. Unless and until such revelations were necessary, she would not bring Wave into the fold, nor the other two.
“I do have some ideas, Wave, but I’m going to have to do a bit of research first. I may be able to come up with something that will assist in your second idea. Can you give me a few days to research?” Twilight asked.
Wave smiled at her, his easy, relaxed, friendly smile. “Of course, Twilight. At least I can stop bashing my head against the wall on this for a while. I was getting tired of the squishing sound.”
Twilight laughed at Wave’s attempt at humor, which was his intent. “Funny, I don’t see any deformation.”
“I was using my force field as insulation, Twilight,” Wave responded in a dry voice, but the smile on his face and glint in his eye took any sting out of the words.
“You’re definitely no stodgy scientist, Wave. Just how do you do it?”
Wave grinned at the question. “Well, before my first accident, I was something of a minor celebrity. I was a top competitive surfer, and I found it easy to get along with people. After I wound up in the wheelchair, my sister refused to let me succumb to depression, so I make it a point to try to get along with everyone I meet and see if I can’t make them glad to be with me. In most cases, it works. Those it did not work on, well, I refuse to say anything ill about someone, especially if they richly deserve it.”
“I can understand what you mean, Wave,” Twilight told her new friend. “I also notice you do not gossip about your old job any. Did you not get along with anyone there?”
“I sure did, for the most part. There are a few I did not. I won’t mention those people. Most of the gossip was work-related, and I promised not to talk about the Terminator armor, which was my main line of work. Moondancer is a good lady. We got along. I did not go to many social occasions, for obvious reasons,” Wave said with a straight face. “Most people’s homes are not wheelchair-friendly.”
“Is that why you want to be able to walk again?”
“Part of the reason. Another part is that after the shooting, I could not get out of my van unaided, the van losing power to the holding clamps and lift. I’m just glad it did not catch fire,” Wave said. “Being helpless is a very frightening, humbling feeling.”
Twilight leaned across the table and took his hand in both of hers. “Believe me when I say that I know that feeling and understand you completely. After tonight, why don’t you take a few days off while I do some research, okay? I should have some ideas by the time you come back.”
Wave put his other hand over Twilight’s and squeezed gently. “That sounds like a good idea. I’m sure my sister would like a small trip out somewhere. Getting me out of the house as well can’t hurt, either.”
“You talk about your sister a lot. Maybe I can meet her someday.”
“I’ll see what I can arrange, after the time off. I know she would like to meet you. They were not big on socializing over at Tiara Tech. Too afraid of secrets leaking out,” Wave said, letting go of Twilight’s hands.
“While here, we recognize the magic in friendship. Now, head home and take some time off to clear your head. I’m sure we will make a lot of progress when you return,” Twilight said with a friendly look into Wave’s face.
Wave smiled back. “I’ll do just that, Twilight, IF you promise me you will do something similar while I’m out of the building. I don’t want YOU to suffer from burnout!”
“I’ll take that under advisement. Now, are you going to go on your own, or am I going to have to push your wheelchair myself?” she mock-glared at him.
“You and what army, Twilight?” Wave laughed, scooting his chair back. “I’m out of here! Oh, please let the cook know he or she did a fantastic job!”
“I will!” Twilight called after him as he headed for the elevator. When the doors closed, Twilight asked, “Spike, any ideas to give him some calming time?”
Spike appeared on a monitor. “I think I can come up with something, Twilight! Just give me a few seconds!”
On his way home, Wave called Sand and let her know what his boss had told him. “I have some ideas already, big bro! I’ll give you a full report when you get home!” she squealed in excitement before hanging up.
“Well, I made her happy,” he thought. “That’s what is important to me.”
At home, Sand told Wave she had booked four days at something they had both expressed interest in, a rock and roll fantasy camp. What the best thing about it was is that on the fourth day, the class would get a chance to perform, on a stage, with none other than Rainbow Dash herself. “Sand, how did you manage to pull this off?” Wave gasped in surprise.
Sand just leaned against the kitchen counter and grinned. “You have contacts, I have contacts. I just used some of mine to get this, is all.”
“When does it start?” Wave asked.
“Thursday,” Sand told him.
“But, it’s Tuesday! I’ll never be ready in time!” Wave said anxiously, pulling at a lock of his shoulder-length hair.
“Chill, bro! You got all day tomorrow to get reacquainted with your keytar. I have to practice on my guitar as well. I got the rest of the week off from work to look after you, so, tomorrow, it will be you and me jamming, to get back into synch. Think we can pull it off?” Sand challenged her big brother. Fortunately for Wave’s mental state, he was up to the challenge.
The four days at the rock and roll camp was just the tonic Wave Rider needed to settle his mind after the frustrations at work. Meeting Rainbow Dash that Sunday, and getting a chance to tape some songs with her, by himself, with Sand Castle, and with the four other campers, was a true highlight to him.
After the taping, the six and Rainbow shared a buffet, just talking. “Wave, you and Sand sound almost perfect together. With about a year’s worth of tutelage, I think you will be good enough to record,” Rainbow Dash told the brother and sister duo, the other four campers agreeing.
“That’s good of you to say so, Rainbow Dash,” Sand told the music star. “But we have our own lives to lead. I work for the city’s Building Department as an inspector, and my big brother is a roboticist at Diamond Labs.”
“Ever since my back got broken at the Canterlot Catastrophe, music has been a way for me to forget I’m stuck in a wheelchair and remember my life from before. I miss surfing, beach parties and walking,” Wave Rider told the group.
Dash reached for Wave’s hand, and he took it. She gave him a firm grip. “I know how that goes, Wave. I lost my sight there, and I lost friends as well. Music helps me gain the strength to keep going, to not let my blindness hold me back. Keep pressing forward, knowing you have my support and that of the others here. Think you can be awesome?” she asked, smiling down at Wave.
“I can do the best I can, Dash, even though I can never hope to be nearly as awesome as you. Tomorrow, it’s back to work. Today, though, has been a truly awesome experience. How can I thank you?” Wave asked in return.
Rainbow Dash let out a small laugh and a big smile. “That’s easy. Just be awesome. Wave, Sand, the rest of you, just go out and be totally awesome. That’s the best way to thank me.”
The campers all cheered the statement, all pledging to be awesome. After a round of picture taking, autograph giving, and a hug fest, the campers and star headed for their respective homes. As they drove, Wave said to his sister, “Thanks, Sand. Thanks for a truly awesome experience. Just how did you manage to get passes to the camp at such short notice?”
Sand shrugged as Wave drove. “Just lucky, I guess. Right before you called, I got an email advertising it, and I jumped on it after you hung up. I’m so glad it worked out.”
“Me, too.”
Monday morning, Wave Rider showed up at work feeling very much refreshed, optimistic, and ready to tackle his problems head on. He was met by Twilight at the lab door. “Wave, I have some ideas for you, but I must get a promise from you,” she said after greetings.
“What sort of promise, Twilight?” Wave asked.
“What I am about to show you is not to be discussed with anyone unless and until I personally give you permission to do so. Is that understood?” Twilight said in severe tones.
Wave is, and has always been, very quick on the uptake. “I do so promise, Doctor Sparkle. If silence you want, silence you shall have,” he declared solemnly.
“Follow me, please,” Twilight stated. She led Wave into a section of the lab that he had never been to before, having been told earlier that he was not cleared for it. Her walk led to something like a tube that was open at the top, with some sort of trapeze bar hanging from the ceiling above it, attached to a track and winch in the ceiling.
“This is one of my high-end fabricators, used in some projects you are not cleared for. However, I have reprogrammed it to be able to make a walking suit for you. Thing is, I do not have your exact dimensions, so in order for me to make you a walking suit, you are going to have to be set into it, holding on to that bar while it builds a suit around you, tailored to your specifications,” she explained.
“This is not the same fabricator you are using for the Wonderbolt armor, is it?” Wave asked.
Twilight shook her head. “No, this is the next upgrade. You’ve seen the Wonderbolt fabricators. Would you be willing to try and see if my programming is proper?”
“Only if you share the walking suit specifications with me. I just might learn something, Doctor Sparkle,” Wave said with admiration in his voice.
“It’s going to take a couple of hours to fabricate the walking suit the first time. Think you can hang around that long? I tell you about the specifications, you tell me about your holiday. Deal?”
“You got a deal!” Wave said, grinning from ear to ear.
Twilight coughed, her lavender skin blushing a little. “Er, you’re going to have to undress first. This suit underlayer has to be form-fitting, so…”
Wave started unbuttoning his suit jacket. “I will bear any indignity to walk again, Twilight. Bare skin does not bother me. I keep myself fit.”
“I noticed. Let me know when you are ready, and I will lower the bar for you.”
“I hope I don’t raise mine inadvertently, Twilight,” Wave said as he undressed, Twilight keeping her back turned. After a couple of minutes, he declared, “I’m ready!”
Twilight made a few gestures, and the crossbar lowered, moving to where Wave could grasp it. Once he got a firm grip, he was raised up before getting loaded into the fabrication tube. Twilight started the process.
Wave shivered some. “That feels so odd…” he said.
“That’s the initial scan, measuring your body to ensure a proper fit. Assembly will start in a few minutes. The suit will go from your feet all the way to your shoulders. The programming pack will be at the small of your back, and electrodes will be all through the suit underlayer, to tell your leg muscles what to do, so you can stand, sit, walk and run like you did before your injury. The controller has an initial set of programming instructions, but it will adapt to you within a short time,” Twilight explained as the machine did its work.
For the next two hours, Twilight explained about the suit construction, and Wave told about his weekend at rock camp as the suit was assembled around him. When the tube signaled completion, he was raised out of the tube and placed in his wheelchair. The walking suit was a dull gray in color, rather sheer in appearance as well, and glittering slightly in the light.
“Now, the suit is powered by your own body’s myoelectricity. You should feel the small lump of the controller unit at your back. The programming can be linked to other suits, so you won’t have to go through the setting up process with replacements. It has a Velcro fly and drop seat, so you can use the facilities without taking it off. Any questions?” Twilight asked.
“Three, actually. One, is it machine washable; two, when do we start; and three, how do I put it on and take it off?” Wave asked, looking himself over closely.
“One, yes, but let it drip dry, no tumble drying. Two, whenever you are ready. Three, just like a body stocking. So, see if you can stand up.” Twilight told him.
Wave locked the wheels, slid the foot rests aside, and put his feet on the floor, using his hands to do so. That was when he noticed the suit had feet on it. “Well, I have little reason now to worry about socks,” he observed as he put his hands on the arms and pushed himself up.
He did not feel anything below the waist, but he could see his legs straighten as he pushed up. Twilight moved over next to him, and he let go of the arms of the wheelchair. “It’s working…” he whispered in disbelief.
“Use me as a support, and we’ll see if you can walk around the room. Slow walk.” Twilight directed. He thought ‘walk’, and slowly his legs started moving. Using Twilight as a support, he slowly paced around the room, turning left and right, stopping, walking backwards, sidestepping, and so on.
“It’s working… it’s really working…” he whispered over and over as he stepped about. After a few minutes, he was guided back to the wheelchair, where he settled into it with an audible thump. “Wow…”
“You said it, Wave! Now, just rest for a while. You can’t feel your legs, but walking does take energy. Your muscles are being stimulated to enable you to move them. Later today, I’ll take you to the building physical therapy area. There, your workouts will really begin!”
“Twilight, how can I ever thank you?” Wave said, his voice cracking with emotion.
“Easily. As Rainbow Dash told you, ‘Be Awesome’!”
Testing revealed some flaws in the suit, the first being it was extremely delicate. When he fell one time, the material tore, thus disrupting the fine wire electrode mesh that the suit depended on. Another flaw was that prolonged use made his abdominal muscles very sore. A revision to the manufacturing process made the material tougher, but it was still only as strong as ordinary cotton. Attempts to use a Kevlar weave resulted in malfunctions, because the electrodes could not reach Wave’s skin to send the impulses to his leg muscles. Days of practice with the suit made it so that Wave did not resemble a stumbling oaf while walking, but his mobility was still limited. He didn’t care, he had a goal in sight. Of course, he plunged into his work with Doctor Sparkle with renewed zeal and gusto. A side effect of using his walking suit was that it also trained him how to move in the Wonderbolt armor, which improved their testing of the armor, because now he could wear it, use it, and give accurate feedback.
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9767835
Stay tuned... Rip does improve. Slowly and steadily, but he does.
This was a pretty good introduction for Wave before his official debut in Equestrian City
9779133
Thank you for saying so. I work hard on these characters.
9779317
You're welcome