"We'll have to take turns piloting the Cyber Drak," Peter said with regret.
They had a special full body cyber suit with neural relays to alloy the pilot to literally control the cybernetic dragon's movements as if they were the pilot's own. There were modified relays to operate the tail and wings, and elongated neck, but like a giraffe, in spite of the length, the dragon's neck had the same number of segments (bones) as a human - just seven. It's jus the length of the segments allowed more exagerated movements. There was a helmet that relayed the sensory inputs from the dragon's eyes and nose to the pilot. The Virtual Reality screen was really impressive, Wayne had to remind himself it was only a VR screen. The interface was super high tech and super experimental, Wayne and Peter had "borrowed" the components from the university's cybernetics lab after the professor who had been developing them disappeared.
The computer program began sending shocks through the suit to check connections. Wayne was twitching and squirming, and so was the dragon. The first jolt sent everyone except Wayne who strapped to the interface gyroscopic platform hurtling to the floor. He let our a shout and the cyber dragon roared.
With the cyber interface, Wayne was impressed with how real it all felt. He had no idea how real it felt to his fellow cybernauts. Peter was shivering, as he got to his feet. He laughed nervously, "Gee, guys that sure sounded like a real dragon. I'd better tell Wayne to keep it down a bit, or the neighbors will be calling the cops."
"INTERFACE COMPLETE," announced the computer, "Computer hibernating."
"Hibernating?" Peter was confused. How could the interface work if the computer was off. He reached over to tap Wayne and discovered that the gyroscopic platform was now encased in a seamless bubble. He knocked on the transparent material, but Wayne seemed oblivious to him. He did a double take, the interface suit had changed. There was no longer a zipper visible, and the helmet had fused with suit. Shiny black metallic material was covering the grey and yellow suit. All the shiny metal connector plugs were also being covered with this shiny black metal. It reminded Peter of iron filings.
"Guys, I think we may have a problem," Peter said turning to face the others as the cyber drak leapt into the air and ripped through the ceiling of the old warehouse the guys had used to build it.
Wayne was laughing, and so was the cybernetic dragon. It felt so real. The suit somehow transferred the feeling of air rushing passed his naked body. He flew faster.
Damien stared at the monitors which were peering out of the black metallic material that was now covering all the walls and controls of the control room. He called out in suprise, "He shouldn't be able to do this. We shouldn't be able to do this. We'ra about to pass Mach One!"
The sonic boom caused many people to look up, and what they saw made them dial emergency services.
"Oh, oh," said Peter sitting down and bracing himself against the black metallic wall.
"What is it, Peter?" Will asked.