Chapter 13
Eckwood focused his mind on the strange and random noises created by the Exo-Suit. The suit maintained a positive internal air pressure to ensure the soldier was not exposed to any toxic gas or airborne disease or contagions. The seals that surrounded each of the multitudes of joints always leaked. When the air pressure inside the suit dropped below the operational tolerance, Eckwood would hear an audible HSSSSSSS as the pressurized air valve automatically opened allowing compressed air to vent into the suit. The hissing sound continued for a few seconds until the air pressure inside the suit returned to within normal operating range and then would abruptly stop.
Additionally, the Exo-Suit was outfitted with an array of servos that would auto-activate in response to the motion of the Eckwood’s arms and legs. The purpose of the servos was to augment and assist with the management of the weight of the suit, and any additional gear or weapons that he happened to be tasked with carrying.
The use of automated servos throughout the Exo-Suit meant that a soldier wearing an Exo-Suit was stronger. But at the same time, the heavy full body armor and controlled motions required to activate the servos make the soldier slower and lumbering. Active motion by the soldier inside the suit resulted in a wide range of whining sounds from the automated servos inside the suit. Each servo operated at a different pitch and sometimes the sounds of the servos were singular and sometimes they would ring out in harmony with each other, depending on the complexity of the soldier’s activity.
Finally, the Exo-Suit was equipped with a temperature control system that was utilized for both heating and cooling the soldier who remained insulated inside.
Private First Class Holden Eckwood was sitting inside the confined space of the multi-purpose vehicle. It was driving across the heat of the mid-day desert and the cooling system inside his Exo-Suit was running on high. The cooling system therefore was continually making random gurgling noises as the coolant was re-circulated.
These random background noises were the focus of Eckwood’s auditory meditation. By focusing on the white noise of the Exo-Suit and assisted by the drug induced state of 10CC’s of liquefied Somnambutol, Private Eckwood was able to enter into a deep meditation. A trance that allowed Eckwood to remove himself from his body sufficiently so that even loud combat noise did not distract him.
Eckwood found he was floating above himself. He drifted out of his body and out of the multi-purpose vehicle. He was rising higher, until he was far removed from the scene below. Rising up, and up, on a bubble of noise from his Exo-suit, he rose up into the white light of the desert sky. Eckwood was floating on an updraft of hiss, and whine, and gurgle.