The computer next to him beeped as Jon sat on the medical bench in the most high-tech lab he'd ever seen. Computer monitors were everywhere, and everything looked modern and up to date -- just like something out of a sci-fi television show.
"Analysis complete," said the doctor, a beautiful woman wearing a lab coat with her hair in a messy bun. "This test confirms the results. He is compatible!"
"Excellent, Ms. Bradford," said one of the suited men. Mr. Smith? Jon couldn't keep track of who was who, since they both looked nearly identical.
The suited man turned to him. "Jon, before we continue, I need you to swear absolute secrecy. You must not tell anyone about this, not even your family. Do you agree?"
Jon gulped, then nodded. "Yes."
The suited man actually smiled. "Have you ever wanted to be a superhero?" Jon grinned. "We have been developing a number of unique technologies here, based on attempting to replicate many of the powers exhibited by the traditional superheroes you have probably seen in the movies or on television."
"Or comic books, right?"
"Yes, or comic books," the man said. "Let me show you something."
He led Jon down a short hallway to a room filled with high-tech equipment.
"This is our labratory, where we develop the prototypes for the technology. This is Mr. Takeda, the lead scientist on the project."
Jon shook Dr. Takeda's hand. The man looked friendly and seemed very excited to show Jon around.
Okay, let's start with the most impressive stuff first, right? These are my pride and joy!"
He took Jon to a lab table, where a pair of orbs, one silver and one gold, were resting in a high-tech looking bracket. Each was about the size of a baseball.
"These devices can alter the gravitational and intertial fields of nearby objects. This one," he said, pointing at the silver sphere, "Can reduce or increase the intertia of a given object. For example, if you threw a punch at me, I could increase the inertia of your fist, simulating super strength. Conversely, if you were to be attacked, the device would neutralize the inertia of any physical object hitting you."
"Cool!" Jon said, nodding.
"You don't know how cool! These will revolutionize our understanding of physics once they become public! and the first version was nearly the size of this room, so we've made great strides in miniaturization! I think we are approaching the physical limits of how small we can make the technology, though, so this is about as small as it's theoretically possible to make them. We do require a set of secondary control webs," he said, motioning to a set of curved items an inch or two thick, "But those can be mounted anywhere within a few feet of the primary generators, and we can tune them to adjust for exact positioning."
Jon was starting to get confused, but he smiled and nodded, figuring the really important stuff would get called out.
"Anyway, where was I? Oh, yeah, the gold one is the gravity controller. As you know, gravitational field manipulation is subject to the Bosemann-wave theory, so this device only works in one direction. We can't increase something's weight, but we can decrease it. This means you'll be able to lift heavy objects. And while you can't directly use it to fly, you can lower your weight to basically nothing, and either 'leap tall buildings in a single bound', or else use some method of propulsion. Speaking of which..."
He led Jon over to another lab table with a couple of small, squarish devices. "These are repulsor generators."
"Like Iron Man?"
"Well, pretty close. It'll take some training, but combined with the gravity nullifier, you should be able to fly pretty much anywhere!"
"Wow, awesome!"
"Those are the real headliners. We do have a few secondary systems that you might be interested in, though. For instance, have you ever wanted to have X-Ray vision?"
"Sure, I guess."
"Well, we don't quite have that, but check these out!" He motioned to a set of tiny, slightly curved antennae fixed to a grid about half an inch square. "These will pick up infrared and ultraviolet light as well as EM waveforms in the direction they're pointed. It's not quite X-Ray vision, and we're still getting the kinks worked out in terms of how the data is transmitted via the optic nerve, but it will still greatly increase your vision."
He continued to another table, on which sat a small cylinder. "Here we have a device capable of supercooling air as it passes through. It's based on the same tech as the inertial dampener, but more specialized. It reduces the kinetic energy of the particles passing through it."
"So... an ice beam?"
"Think more like freezing breath. Of course, that one will have to be surgically implanted, but I've designed it to replace your existing vocal chords."
Jon gulped.
Seeing his reaction, Dr. Takeda moved on to the last table. "Here's where it all comes together. Creating the devices is all well and good, but it's useless unless you can control them. That's why we've developed a unique neural interface system. It will allow you to control the tech just by thinking about it. With practice, it's no different than moving your arm!"
Jon looked at the device on the table, a mess of thin antennae resting atop a mannequin head.
"So that's it, Jon! What do you think?"
"It sounds great!" Jon said, "But I have to ask: why me?"
