Near the Marketplace, 2:57 pm

Given recent and incredibly violent attempts on the Baron, Ed Batten, and Sophie Rhovnik, Alain DeMuer did not approach the Batten Industries facilities near the Marketplace on his own. He was enjoying a conversation with a man in a hunter green dress uniform with a sword at his hip, who in spite of the constant laughter on his good-humored face was keeping his sharp eyes on his surroundings. Across the street and ten meters back was a man in a long brown coat who kept his eyes on the area immediately surrounding the two men ahead of him. The three of them passed a woman who was smiling, dressed in a comfortable summer suit with her jacket hoisted over her shoulder, strolling casually down the road, but behind her aviator sunglasses she too kept a sharp lookout.

Where the facility's own security more obviously began, the others broke off one by one, until Alain issued a farewell to the knight at his side. He lowered his sunglasses to peer at the controls by the gate or door, then buzzed the intercom: "Alain DeMuer, here for a three o'clock appointment with Edward Batten."

In spite of the stress and security surrounding this kind of public outing, the Baron could not help but feel excited at the prospect of a live fire demonstration of the OmniProof Armor's capabilities. Boys and their toys.

"Thank you, Leo," and after that Alain follows the man in silence; he clips his sunglasses into his shirt and looks around, casting his curious gaze around the building. At least at first the Batten Industries facilities seem to be informed by a far different style than DeMuer's own interbellum aesthetic. Sliding glass doors, the proud, bold display of the Batten logo, wide double staircases in the lobby...

It may help, he thinks to himself, to get a better sense of the man, through a better sense of his style. As it stands, in spite of his increasing public presence and sociable manner, Mr. Batten continues to be a mystery to DeMuer...

"See, check that out. The energy ratio is off the chart. The net output is 6.83 gigajoules...that's...a little under two megawatt-hours."

He and Jack are watching the readout on the monitor, which is a redesign of one of his alternative energy harnessing devices, one that they hadn't had a lot of luck employing. Not that it didn't work - in fact where it could be employed it was a very efficient source of electrical energy. The chief problem they'd been running into, though, was the fact that in order for the system to be efficient, the tidal forces they use have to have a very strong, very consistent current. The number of places in the world that occurs are very few, and even fewer have enough of a population nearby to make such an endeavor worthwhile.

This is something a little different.

He nods, watching the readouts for himself, a thoughtful expression on his face. "Yeah, Ah see dat. 'Course, dere's de problem, too, y'see...de concussion d'vice is cheap 'nuff t.make, and simple too. But in order t'make it efficient...t'run on de scale of, say, a small town...yer lookin' at a lot of de m'terial, and it ain't cheap t'man'facture. De size of de core ya have back dere is prob'ly, what...'least a couple million wort'..."

Jack nods, waving a hand to cut him off and talking excitedly. "Yeah, yeah, I know. I'll see what I can do about the efficiency...that wasn't a full impact, but I don't want to fry the converters. The output of the core may be just about infinite, but the converters have limits. But if we can get a more efficient converter that can take the load, hell, it'll pay for itself."

"Heard dat. We may have t'come up wit'..." He hears Leo clearing his throat behind him and turns, a wide grin spreading over his features. He motions Jack with him as he walks over to the pair, holding out his hand to Alain as he reaches them.

"S'a pleasure t'see ya 'gain, Baron DeMuer." Gesturing around them at the room with is various monitoring screens and equipment. "Welcome t'mah playground. Dis scrawny geek wit' me is Dr. Jack Adkinson, de head of my Engineering/Design and Performance/Testing divisions." Despite the wording, it's clear he speaks with great affection for the man.

Despite Ed being asked the question, it's Jack that answers first, a tone that makes the Playboy want to chuckle as he turns to look at him. Before Kyle had taught him a few things, Ed himself had a tendency to drop into what Kyle referred to as 'Squintspeak.' "Yes, sir, you heard right. Actually, it's a gravity-fed kinetic impact system - basically, dropping weight onto a plate and gathering the resulting energy from that impact into storage cells. The problem - other than the cost - is making it efficient while keeping a minimal impact on the surrounding geological and biological ecosystems."

Ed can only chuckle at that, turning his gaze on Alain again to see if he understands that for a moment, before motioning to Leo. "Do me a fav'r, Leo, an' give Pont a call, tell 'im we're 'bout ready t'get started. Ya brought yer sidearm, right?"

His security chief chuckles, patting his left side over the jacket he's wearing. "Oh, you know it, boss. How many times am I going to get this opportunity, really?"

As he watches Leo walk away to make the call, it occurs to him that his head of security is getting, just maybe, a little too much enjoyment out of this.

He nods, chuckling as he motions Alain over to a long, brushed steel table. On it lies a few plates of material in varying thicknesses, along with a vest that looks like it's made from a dull, dark grey cloth that seems to have almost an opalescent sheen to it. It's not the most attractive shade, but it could be worse, too. What's most striking about it, as Ed picks it up and hands it over to Alain, is its weight. Only a couple millimeters thick, the vest isn't much heavier than one might expect a thick denim vest to weigh, and the material seems to have the same sort of feel to it, semi-stiff but not rigid.

"Dis'll be de demonstration vehicle fer dis exercise, de lightes' weight we make of de armor. B'lieve it or not - and if ya don't, by de end of t'day ya will - dat dere'll stop multiple hits from a 30mm cannon an' keep de person wearin' it from serious inj'ry...dat is, if de armor's all dat's hit."

Once Alain has the vest in his hands, Ed turns to a nearby touch screen and taps it, bringing a series of of displays to life. One shows a sample of the clothlike material DeMuer is holding, with a very small section blown up to high magnification. What it reveals is not interwoven threads, but rather microscopically small, hexagonal tiles laid out flush against each other in an impossibly tight pattern, so much so that how they stay connected can't be seen.

"De armor isn' really a clot', as ya c'n see here, but actually an extremely finely tasselated mail composed of a propri'tary compound in mult'ple layers. Dis allows fer better kinetic energy transfer when de bullet strikes de surface. De mater'al itself reacts t'sudden deformation in a unique fashion, polarizin' and becomin' denser in a cumulative-catalytic effect - de stronger the energy of impact, de harder it gets, de more punishment it takes at once, the stronger it becomes...but once de pressure is off it returns to its original state 'gain."

Punching up another display, he continues. "O'course, penetration's only part of de problem when yer gettin' shot, or stabbed, or even gettin' hit by somet'in like a baseball bat. Ya gotta worry 'bout kinetic energy transference."

The screen now shows a computer-generated graphic display of a man firing a gun at what the screen shows as standard body armor in slow motion. As the bullet and the figure wearing the armor converge the view zooms in to the point of impact, showing the bullet flattening against the surface, and as it does so circular shapes continue on, the image showing them labeled as 'kinetic force' which continues to travel through the armor and into the image of the person beyond, showing them being knocked to the ground in slow motion. "Dis sorta t'ing's usually referred to as 'knockdown' or 'stopping power,' but when ya boil it down it's de force de bullet gives out on impact, which - dependin' on de caliber, bullet veloc'ty, an' so fort' - can do damage whet'er de bullet gets t'rough de vest or not, in normal armors."

The graphic display restarts, showing the same tableau - a gun being fired at another person, this time labeled as wearing OmniProof armor - only this time, when the bullet reaches its impact point, the circular lines of force seem to radiate outwards and along the contours of the armored area, moving around the image of the man rather than through him.

"De OmniProof armor's design and unique materials redirect 'bout 96% of dat kinetic force, keepin' de wearer safe from impact-related injuries - bruises, broken bones, hydrostatic effects. Ah c'n tell ya from pers'nal experience dat gettin hit wit' a M1911 at close range...'s'about de same ya might feel gettin' hit wit' a paintball."

He walks into the lab just in time.

"A man in my position has to trust his own eyes above all else."

Without hesitating, he walks over to the table, a grin tugging at normally stoic features. "Well, sir, then you're in luck. Ed happens to place a lot of importance on empirical research."

He watches as Ed turns towards him with a look of sour amusement. "Y'all enjoy dis far too much. Alain, Ah'd like ya t'meet Kyle Pontius, my director of operations here at Batten Industries. Kyle, dis is Alain DeMuer, owner of de Silver Mark Brewing Comp'ny and Baron of Saint-Ouen."

Kyle waits for hand to be shaken before he turns to Ed, looking around for Leo and Jack, who seem to have disappeared. Probably to make last minute checks on the testing chamber.

"So, Ed, are you ready for this? And don't make like you're not looking forward to it, we all know you like it."

His boss chuckles, arching an eyebrow his way before turning back to DeMuer. "Don' listen to dis'ere lummox. He ain't de one gettin' shot at."

Kyle laughs at that, shrugging. "I volunteered. You're the one that insists on being the practice dummy. I don't know where you got it into your head that you make a more convincing presentation target than I do." Turning his attention back to DeMuer, he grins again, a rare expression to be seen on that face outside of certain venues and situations. "In case you haven't figured it out, sir, the demonstration today will be a live fire test using a variety of calibers and munitions. Ed here is going to be our target, since he has some foolish notion that it makes a better sale if you demonstrate absolute confidence in your product yourself."

Just then the voice of Dr. Adkinson comes over the intercom. "Gentlemen, chamber four is ready for commencement of live fire testing."

He waits for Ed to lead the way down the hallway, also made of reinforced concrete that looks if anything newly added to the building, within at least the past few months, until they reach a metal slab of a door standing open that looks more like it should be on the entrance to a small bank vault.

Stepping inside, the room can be seen to be unadorned concrete again, with none of the instrumentation of the main room. The near end of the room has a standing brushed-steel plate, perhaps an inch thick, three meters tall and equally wide, with an ellipse cut out of the center just the right height to shield Ed completely while leaving only his torso exposed.

The further end, where both Leo and Dr. Adkinson are standing doing checks, however, has a table with a fair assessment of weaponry laid out on it - pistols, shotguns, rifles and what looks like a RPG launcher - and, topping it all off, two heavy-looking stationary mounts bolted to the floor. One holds what looks to be a very large Gatling-style gun with seven barrels instead of the usual six - the other, a device that resembles a large-bore cannon whose design resembles something that might have originated in the American Civil War.

He chuckles as he listens to Alain wishing Ed good luck. He's seen the video of the last live fire test for a security firm based out of Sweden, and there's a similar array of weapons here that was used there. Motioning the trio of DeMuer, Ed, and Kyle over to the table on which the varied weapons are laid out. "Wishing him good luck isn't necessary...for the heavier stuff we have a dummy that can simulate the presence of a human being under the armor of average constitution and size."

It's Ed's turn to chuckle then as he nods. "Damn right. Ah know de stuff works, and dat Ah'll survive. Ever'one knows ya can take a blow from a baseball bat t'most parts o'yer body an' live, but mos' folks don' wanna go t'rough de experience."

Leo and Kyle both nod agreement to that. "Kyle, I'll be needing your sidearm." As the big man lays his gun on the table - a familiar Glock design - Leo gestures to the guns laid out on the table as Jack walks over to the large-bore cannon. "Gentlemen, we have a variety of firearms for your viewing and playing pleasure today. We'll start with the pistols and their ammo types."

Starting from the left side of the table, he points to each pistol as he names it. "Here we have the SIG Sauer P220, loaded with .38 Super FMJ; a Browning M1911A1 loading hollow points..." As he names each pistol and its respective ammunition, he picks it up, ejects the clip and shows them to DeMuer so he can see for himself that they haven't been tampered with in anyway and that the cartridges are indeed legit.

Picking up Kyle's gun next, he goes on. "This here is the Glock G31C. A good pistol, .357 SIG rounds. Kyle, you still loading this with jacketed hollow points?" The bigger man nods silently, a slight grin tugging at his lips, and Leo nods, his expression still serious. "If you look, you can see the slots cut in the barrel and slide -" he turns the pistol, pointing these out "- designed to compensate for the heavier recoil of the round while still allowing for maximum firepower."

Setting Kyle's pistol down, he picks his own up. The pride he takes in the weapon is obvious as he describes it. "This is the IMI Desert Eagle Mark XIX, chambered in .44 Magnum." Pulling the clip, he shows it to Alain, revealing sleek, shining bullets. "The rounds are armor-piercing frangible bullets, made by myself, designed to maximize penetration without sacrificing stopping power. This gun will drop anything up to a rabid charging St. Bernard dead in its tracks."

Slapping the clip back in, he sets the gun down and moves on to the next, a rather large, shiny pistol that looks almost obscenely huge, with a barrel that looks to be at least six inches long, if not more. "This is the Smith and Wesson Model 500, the most powerful production revolver in the world...at least, the one we come from. It mounts .500 S&W Magnum cartridges, is used for big game hunting or as a defensive weapon against bears, and will just about take you off your feet with the recoil." Flipping open the cylinder, he pulls out one of the bullets to show to DeMuer, which looks as obscenely huge as the gun itself, before slipping it back in and snapping the cylinder closed again and setting the gun down.

The next gun is a long, almost futuristic-looking shotgun that Leo picks up and holds with a grin. "Next is the Benelli M4 12 gauge semi-automatic shotgun, firing heavy slug rounds. This gun is a favorite of the Marines and Navy SEALs, not to mention numerous other military and security forces." Setting it down, he moves on to the rifle, a long-barreled, bolt-action gun mounting a high-power scope, set on its bipod stand with the barrel angled upward. "And, last but by no means least of the smaller-caliber arms, we have the Barrett M95 sniper rifle. This baby fires .50 caliber armor-piercing sabot rounds, and is generally used in an anti-materiel capacity for taking out lightly armored vehicles and other semi-hardened targets."

Motioning for the others to follow him, he walks over to the Gatling-style cannon, the barrels of which are each longer than Kyle and big enough to stick a thumb into easily. "We bought this from the Air Force with the strict understanding that it was to be used for testing purposes only. This is the GAU-8/A Avenger 30mm cannon, which is mounted on the Air Force's A-10 Warthog close air support aircraft and is used specifically for shooting at tanks. Ordinarily the gun fires depleted-uranium core rounds, but since the military doesn't like civilian agencies having that kind of ammo, we'll be using standard practice rounds, which can still cause a hell of a lot of damage."

Turning to the large-bore cannon now, he slaps the side of the barrel with a grin. "This, as I understand it, is Dr. Adkinson's invention. This handy device is a modified cannon design meant to fire an array of sharpened shrapnel to simulate a bomb blast roughly equivalent to a Claymore mine."

Turning back to the others with a wide grin, he chuckles. "Mr. DeMuer, as you can see, we've got quite an array of things to test our armor out with, from the things you may encounter from your average street punk up to problems we hope you won't have to deal with, but it never hurts to be prepared for. But I have to ask - did you happen to bring your own gun with you today?"

He'd somehow figured the Baron wouldn't be unarmed, and he listens as the man explains the details of his gun, the modification to the chamber getting an arched eyebrow. That's an aftermarket sort of thing, and not the easiest to do. A grin tugs at the corner of his lips.

And I'll bet he did it himself.

Kyle watches out of the corner of his eye as Ed crosses the room towards the steel plate, carrying the same vest he'd been showing Alain out in the monitoring room, slipping it on as he goes. Before Leo can answer, he cuts in, speaking in his deep, slow voice.

"Two reasons, really. Partially for an independent factor in the test - after all, you haven't had the opportunity to completely inspect these weapons, and - while I know the capabilities of this material, having tested it for myself - the results can be a little hard to believe for the first time observer, so we find it best to let the person observing the test participate, preferably with their own devices."

With a grin, he speaks a bit louder so his boss can hear. "But mostly, it's because it wouldn't be fair to ask you to watch us have all the fun."

He catches Ed's chuckle as the man moves behind the steel plate, taking his place behind the hole cut in the metal. "Ya jus' had ta t'row dat in dere, di'n't ya, Pont."

He laughs himself, motioning to a lab assistant that enters, carrying earmuffs and range safety glasses, walking over to them and passing them around to everyone remaining in the chamber. As everyone is putting them on Kyle slips his own on, watching as the assistant walks behind the sheet of metal with one more pair for Ed before heading back out of the chamber.

Turning his attention to Alain, he motions to the target area where Ed is standing. "Want the first few shots?"

He's been listening to the ongoing conversation going on at the other end of the room, chuckling to himself. The acoustics of the room are fantastic, being composed of nothing but polymer reinforced concrete, the walls angled specifically to contain any sudden explosive energy, sound included.

As he hears Kyle ask the Baron if he'd like the first shot, he arches an eyebrow, unseen by the others except by video monitor, which is running continuously as he steps in front of the hole in the steel plate. That was certainly a surprise - usually Pont liked to take the first shots himself.

Not that he's upset by it, of course. It doesn't matter who's shooting at him. With a grin, he speaks up loud enough to be heard as he settles his ear protection into place.

"Y'all c'n fire when ready, monsieur DeMuer."

Outwardly, the results are unimpressive. Alain's aim is flawless, and the high-speed cameras dutifully capturing the entire process record this fact. There are no sparks or whining sound of ricochets - in fact the only sounds are the gunfire and the tinkling sound of spent shells bouncing on the concrete.

Those same high-speed cameras capturing the events in the room show the moments of impact for each round with crystal clarity. As each round plows into the surface of the armor, it flexes inward as one might expect, before there's a rippling motion that travels outward from the point of impact at a speed that the high-speed motion capture process only just manages to make visible, whereupon the bullet flattens itself against the armor as it is stopped suddenly in its forward motion, destroying itself with its own kinetic force.

Behind the armor, the Playboy doesn't even wince, though he feels each impact. That ever-processing brain behind the blue-grey gaze - which is fixed on the steel plate in front of him - makes a note of each point of impact, grimly thinking to himself that he wouldn't want to be on the receiving end of the Baron's aim without the benefit of armor.

Chuckling, he raises his voice a little to be heard at the other end of the room. "C'mon now, boys. Dat really de bes' y'all c'n do?"

At the other end of the room, Kyle and Leo look at each other with a grin, both reaching for their guns, skipping over the SIG and the Browning. Kyle speaks up for the pair as they move over to where Alain is standing to take their positions.

"Now, as you can see, Ed back there sounds like he's not only in perfect health, but you'd almost swear that you were plugging away at him with a peashooter, which we know isn't the case - 9x19 Parabellum rounds are hardly anything to sneeze at."

As he's talking, both he and Leo are checking their weapons, aiming down range, clicking safeties off. "So we'll bring a bit more firepower to bear, and we can answer another question at the same time - what if you're being shot at by more than one person?"

That seems to be the cue, as both he and Leo raise their weapons at the same time and start firing. The reports from the Desert Eagle alone are thunderous, and adding to it Kyle's Glock, the muzzle flashes from both weapons, and the sudden burning stench of gunpowder burning that fills the room despite the ventilation fans sucking all the smoke out of the air, the chamber is beginning to feel like a gun range, or the scene of a shootout.

Behind the steel plate, Ed is caught somewhat by surprise - he'd been expecting the two weaker pistols for this turn, and he can tell by the feel of the impacts - which make him grunt softly, a sound lost in the roar of gunfire - that the two have gone straight for the heavier hardware.

Once the gunfire dies away, Ed coughs softly, then chuckles. "Ah guess y'all're jus' havin' fun wit' me now."