Page 59 of I Dated a Holiday Hero
Hever snapped her harness together, and Dex did the same. There was a nod, and Dex hammered the accelerator, spinning them out before they whipped around the test track, did a figure eight, and took a few jumps. When they finished the test, Dex pulled up at the garage door, parking where Hever indicated.
They were grinning and laughing as they walked into the lab, wearing office skirts, heels, and a lot of dust.
As they entered, the door slid open, and Hever laughed. “I am guessing you are the active that Kritz mentioned.”
The man stepped in with heavy glasses. “I need a new bodysuit.”
“Why?”
“Because I keep burning through my suits.”
“They weren’t made by me then. What is your activation?”
“Uh, I am a hypnotic. Why are you ladies covered with dust?”
“Oh, we just tested our newest rover.”
Dex wiped the layer off her face. “It’s my first day.”
Hever chuckled. “Okay, stand on that podium. We are going to be frank in our assessments, although Dex is my assistant and mechanic. If she takes too keen an interest, it isn’t good.” She snickered. “And may involve a wrench.”
The man with the heavy lenses stood on the podium, and Dex lifted her head. “Sir, are you acidic?”
He paused. “A little. Why?”
“Because when you add acid to a power source, you get a battery.” She smiled and said, “Please remove your lenses. You can keep your eyes closed if it makes you more comfortable.”
Hever grabbed some scanners, and they converged on him, taking swabs and tiny samples of the shirt that touched his skin. Hever scrolled through the fabric archive, and she smiled. “I think I have it, but it is going to have to be a two-layered suit that gets a gel interior. When the gel dries, you come back, and we line it again.”
Dex asked, “Do you ever use the acid for attack or defense?”
He frowned. “No. It just comes out of me. Zera is analyzing it.”
“Oh, cool. Okay.” Hever smiled. “Dex, I have sent a list of materials to the textile office.”
“I will wait until we get his measurements finished. You can ask him for his colour preferences.”
The male blinked. “Measurements?”
“Yes. Strip. Full skin.” Hever smiled politely.
“I would prefer that there be a male here.”
Dex nodded and called for a security officer to come and be a chaperone.
Hever nodded and tapped a control on her tablet. A screen rose from the floor and concealed him.
He said, “Oh. Thank you. In Eventha, we don’t have a lot of female scientists.”
“Ah. The rest are idiots?”
He paused. “I see I made a bad turn of phrase. Our women are in politics and make policy. They leave all the interacting with the average citizen or active to lower beings.”
“Oh, one of those setups.”
The security officer came in, and Dex said, “Just remain there so we don’t get handsy.”
The officer didn’t laugh. “Well, Dex, you do look shifty.”
