Calibration was a needed first step. We first had to put on a light gray unitard. I looked at it and had no clue how to put it on. I had to ask Haroon for help. He did not let a good opportunity go to waste. Haroon did not let me, or anyone near me forget it either. The unitard ran from the neck to the ankles. They were skintight and they all had some outer lining for the second layer. When it came to the general categorization or things like this, there were a few categories. Such categories had general classes, due to the wide quantity of exoskeletons. They are structure, body part focused on, action, power technology, and purpose. Exosuits are not only designed for specific body parts; the exosuits we used were for the full body. Rigid exosuits are those whose structural components attached to the user’s body are made with hard materials like metals, plastics and fibers. On the other hand, soft exosuits, are made with materials that allow free movement of the structural components. Exosuits are often made with, yet not restricted to, textiles. It made them all sleek and very nice to look at.
It varied on the job we were deployed to do. The soft exosuit was for scouting and exploration. The power armor was rigid and for combat. One of them was "active" and the other "passive" in terms of movement. The active class comprised of exosuits that give the user “active” aid. In other words, active suits performed the movements without the need for the user to apply energy. The energy needed to perform the movement is supplied by an external source. That was the power amor to a tee. It had preprogrammed motions and procedures. You just had to think about doing it. On the other hand, the passive class comprised of exoskeletons that needed the user to perform the movement to work; these exoskeletons do not have power sources. Thus, the user has to perform the movement, and while doing it, the exosuit facilitated the movement. It was powered by internal electric batteries with solar emergency backups installed inside. The power armor had a big external hydrogen cell on the back with solar panels as an emergency measure. We were all using the exosuits for this trial.
Donning the exosuit second layer, I felt my entire body tingle. "Woah!" left my mouth before I could reel it back in. Haroon said "Don't worry David. It's just the calibration sequence. Once it links up with the bodysuit in the activation points, it will register you as the user and it will be like a second skin. It also will let the base upstairs track you when we leave the ship." That was what the weird patters on the thighs, abs, chest and back were. I just rolled my eyes. "I know that! I didn't know it would be so tingly." He looked at me concerned. "You don't like it?" he checked as he moved closer. I waved him off. I said "I'm fine. It was just unexpected. I'm fine now." Both Corey and Dolan were off to the side looking at us. The exosuits were white in the middle with 2 vertical stripes that caught the arms and half of each leg. The stripes were both a nice, sunny yellow. Our trial was to race to the top of a giant rock tower. We had to do it alone. I was totally out of my depth here. I took the longest to climb and I even fell. That was not good. Haroon, Dolan and Corey did theirs in a decent amount of time.
