Chapter 5: Connecting the Dots
After just a few more seconds of foot tapping and eye rolling, a black and blue exosuit touches down from the air as the siren's sound approaches and is suddenly silenced, and all eyes on the scene are drawn to the new arrival, as the voices of the watching crowd die down. The aura of a powerful person could be seen permeating from the law enforcement officer, commanding attention- and this was just a low ranking enforcement officer. Dynamo is likely one of the only places in the galaxy with the sheer wealth to have individual exosuits for its force, as well as have the people wearing them be qualified. Everyone can't help but marvel at Dynamo's depths.
For Dynamo's law enforcement, rather than the lethal focus of the Serpent series, they were clad in the Hard-Shell series that was quite obviously focused on defense. On the bulkier side for exosuits, the rippling plating of black and blue (the color scheme consistent throughout the law enforcement force in Dynamo) was crafted for better application of mental energy toward resisting blows, with these grooves assisting mental energy used in this manner rather than mental energy used for attacking purposes. In addition to this personal defensive bolstering, the back of the exosuit's gauntlets (reminiscent of large metal mitts) had large circular shields built in, as specially receptive to mental energy as the rest of the exosuit, letting the user defend others in addition to themselves.
Yet even with this clear specialization being the case, that doesn't mean the Hard-Shell series can't dish out heaping helpings of pain. When reinforced with appropriate mental energy, few can stop a Hard-Shell series exosuit pilot from crushing their opponent into paste if they get too close- but that can be considered the hard part... except not really. Few exosuit pilots like antagonizing a Hard-Shell pilot since they have incredible efficiency in terms of utilizing mental energy, considering it isn't expelled in the form of an attack. Even in the vacuum of space, a Hard-Shell's thrusters can keep up quite well in chasing a more agile exosuit in terms of endurance,though they indeed lack the speed of their more agile counterparts.
For the standard officers in Dynamo, the Hard-Shell exosuits they utilize are referred to as the Hingeback. A lower end product in the Hard-Shell line, they are still quite effective, but lack some of the specialist features that their brother models have- Captains, the Deputy Chief, and the Chief themselves have said higher class exosuits for use in their job as well as personally. Even if the position is vacated then replaced by another, the state of the art autofit mechanism present in modern exosuits would alleviate any potential compatibility issues.
With the officers arrival and eyes gathered on them, they turn their head from side to side, examining the scene. Then, they turn their helmeted view over to Mason, asking him a question through amplified voice transmission, (courtesy of their exosuit) increasing their voice heavily in volume yet retaining its clarity. A woman's authoritative voice booms out over Mason and the crowd, which gathered to be even larger as they wondered about the commotion.
"I received notice of an armed man assaulting a civilian... So, where is this man?"
Mason couldn't help but be confused as to why he was being asked this, considering the obvious location of the man's body. Concealing his doubt, he points toward the curb the attacker impacted.
"Uh, he's just over... what?"
There was not even blood on the curb Mason indicated, let alone a body.
Mason was shocked dumb.
How? How could he suddenly disappear under so many watchful eyes? With so many other civilians looking how did he...
He suddenly felt his thoughts grind to a halt, before looking deeply at the law enforcement officer, recalling their arrival gathering all eyes. Perhaps... that was intentional? Even the people who were watching the situation from the start couldn't help but mumble and start stepping back, aware of the potential consequences of interfering in this bizarre situation.
The officer simply stood there, not putting anyone in her view other than Mason. She began to speak once more.
"I sincerely hope that I was not led here under false pretenses. I request that you come with me to the station- by your own volition, rather than me having to drag you. You can make a proper inquiry, and we can investigate the situation."
By this point, Mason started to have a headache, especially as time ticked by toward the induction of new students. It seemed his "invitation" was going to be wasted- but Mason knew that refusing to go along with this officer would be absolutely idiotic... and he strongly suspected that they were in league with the man that attacked him on the streets- maybe even the one that appeared in his room? So many strange occurrences in quick succession, with two of them being an attack on his person. Sighing and cracking a bitter, self mocking smile, Mason couldn't help but curse his powerlessness- while just as an individual he could be considered enough to protect himself at least, his power paled immensely in comparison to even the most common exosuit. He knew plenty about them and how to use them, but the idea of him actually being granted the opportunity to use one let alone attaining one personally was nigh inconceivable. He resigned himself, and walked over to the officer as the crowd dispersed, mentally preparing himself for what was to come.
***
"He's qualified. I still have basically no idea of where he came from, but I assure you he's more than suitable."
A good looking, dirty-blond man in a pristine pure black suit (a style and color that has never gone out of fashion) spoke to a hooded figure in a dimly lit square room, empty of everything except them and a small table with a variety of strange and advanced laboratory tools. The hooded figure was of average build and height and clad in a long, purple robe with gold accents that extended past their feet- as fitting for their colors, an aura of majesty seemed to emanate from them. After a few seconds of silence, they responded to the handsome man.
"Their sudden appearance, the result of their appearance, and the location of their appearance was indeed recorded correctly. I didn't expect "it" to be so accurate, yet I am not averse to this result. Despite being with him for a year, you found no results as to his origin?" The robed figure said in the voice of a wise man and an elder.
The blond man bows slightly with a grimace.
"He left nothing slip- he's quite young, but seems shrewd enough. Although... he seemed to adapt to life in the low-income district surprisingly well- almost as if he lived in a place like it before. Also, he even evaded me despite me concealing myself. His use of mental energy is like nothing I've ever seen before."
"Hoh?" The robed man leaked a sound of surprise before continuing, "He might really be what we need to combat Goetia, if he could even do that much, as well as earn your evaluation."
The blond man straightens himself and nods, a serious expression on his usually frivolous looking face.
"I thought at first it was merely an error on my part, or that the low end exosuit I was using was holding me back, but that wasn't the case. He also seemed to suspect me. With him receiving the invitation, he should be in the city now- the thing I've planned should let me meet with him again... this time, I'll tell him a bit of the truth. Enough to get him started, that is. He isn't quite ready yet."
"I trust your judgement. However, we still have time until Goetia's impact. Let him... feel things out on his own."
"Yes sir."
And the man turned and left the room, firmly closing the door behind him, leaving the robed figure deep in thought.
CREATORS' THOUGHTS 
Seismac
Seismac Tired, and was determining the direction I wanted to go from here. University is still annoying. Sorry for the smaller chapter. Exosuits inbound.
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone