Skies Over Tomorrow: Constellation Read Online Free Page A

through a being or thing.
    When the Army had obtained the rights to the opticloth, the specs for the optical and retinal nanomites were reengineered such that each unit type performed the other’s role while maintaining the implementation of their original function. This alteration revolutionized the opticloth because it allowed the units to be stitched to one side of the fiberoptic mesh, which was important for the Army because if it were to be applicable in the Predator program, then the powersuits had to be invisible, and not the opticloth itself. Furthermore, the redesigning of the opticloth resolved an anticipated issue of applying it to a powersuit in which the solution presented itself when the changes were made to the material.
    Primary and sensory units extracted from the suits were replicated and sewn to the rear of the opticloth since it was now vacant of the retinal units. When the opticloth was molded and conformed to a powersuit, the nanomites on the backside joined with those of the shell and created a seamless covering. This procedure also facilitated the problem of linking the opticloth to the biocomputer, which was programmed to supervise and operate the optical carapace at the pilot’s discretion.
    Upon command, the ocular nanomites opened a twofold refractor that linked with adjoining panes of neighboring units and, for a brief second, gave a powersuit a mirror-like shimmer before it slipped into the unseen. The new design of the units allowed for photoreceptors of the lower, retinal panes to be strong enough to receive imagery through the reproduced visual of the upper, optical panes. The biocomputers, which underwent additional programming that allowed them to process data received from each individual retinal unit and orchestrate that data among the optical units, produced a solid image of their environment across the powersuits, rendering each invisible no matter what angle they were looked upon. When the suits moved, there was no distortion or interruption in the flow of light data across the optical layer. Even with a suit’s silhouette, where curves and edges that changed planes were suspect, there was no distortion.
    The process was comparable to that of a chameleon camouflaging itself, but because of the spectral nature in which the powersuits shifted in and out of sight, the Micro Refraction System had been dubbed the Specter System. The end result had more than met the Army’s expectations.
    After meticulous scrutiny and testing of the three powersuits, the Pentagon ordered from Japan an additional fifty-seven powersuits, all of which underwent alterations at Area 51. They were redefined as Powered Insecta Gun Suits to separate them from their original, “civilian” counterparts, but were later adopted as Hard Shells by the rank-and-file of the Predator program. Some joked about the use of alien technology, but Simone had known it made no difference if the wisecracks were true or not. The Army did not care; all they wanted was to see the Hard Shells in action.
    The only demonstration came when, upon the Army’s invitation, the president visited Area 51. Simone had approached him and his guards, as they stood engulfed by the entrance of an empty hangar. They did not see her until her suit phased, reshaping light to move from the unseen. His face had paled when the menacing presence of her Hard Shell appeared before him. The Secret Servicemen, hesitant, drew their weapons; fear had frozen them in place. Then the other members of her unit materialized into view, panicking one of the protectors. Shots echoed in the bay. He was subdued with a thudding blow to the back of the head. Though unintentional, the fatal killing of that Secret Serviceman, who died from brain hemorrhage, had brought a premature end to the demonstration.
    Even so, the biocomputer had informed Simone of the damage her Hard Shell received from the gunshots, and how long it would take for it to