Anti-Extremis Armor

The lab lights were still on, just as white as before, like a supervisor who never dozes off. Ye Mo's fingers had just slid off the terminal, and his palms still retained a little warmth—not from a fever, but from the lingering warmth of the system after it had finished its work. He didn't move, staring at the slowly fluctuating energy suppression curve on the screen, as if waiting for it to catch its breath.

Tony was no longer there.

A figure flashed to the control panel three meters away, tossing a bunch of data onto the main control panel while muttering rapidly, "Reverse modeling of the resistance chain waveform complete, pulse frequency locked at 4.33 Hz, just in time for the virus's collapse window—this thing isn't a bulletproof vest, it's a timer clock, designed to blow up its weak point."

Ye Mo smirked. "You installed a biological metronome on the armor?"

"More advanced than that." Tony didn't even look up, casually grabbing a pair of gloves and putting them on. "This is the ' Anti-Extremis Core Module.' The name's a bit corny, but it works pretty well. We'll test it by connecting it to the Mark 42 frame later. If it can withstand three rounds of simulated impacts, we'll have hit the nail on the head."

Ye Mo stood up, his legs still a little weak, his Regeneration abilities still cooling down, but his mind was clear. He walked behind Tony, his gaze sweeping over the pile of parameters. "You copied this model from the reactions inside my body, didn't you?"

"Nonsense." Tony pressed Enter, and a rotating miniature device popped up from the holographic projection. "Aren't you a ready-made living experiment report? Heartbeat, nerve conduction, cell breakdown rhythm—it's all written on your face. If I don't use it, that would be a waste of research resources."

"You make me sound like a walking USB drive," Ye Mo muttered.

"Pretty much." Tony grinned and finally turned around. "But your USB drive is pretty durable. It got burned by the virus projection earlier, but it's still standing and complaining. That means its resistance chain is solid."

Ye Mo raised his right hand and looked at it. He could no longer feel the fiery snakes thrashing under his skin. He closed his eyes and his consciousness sank into the 19th floor of the "Gene Spiral Tower." The semi-transparent barrier was still there, hanging quietly like a freshly wiped glass.

The [Passive Resonance Protocol] is still active, weakly but persistently.

He opened his eyes. "Okay, I can sense energy fluctuations. Do you want me to describe what you feel so I can help you tune your frequency?"

"I couldn't be happier." Tony immediately switched the analysis program to shared mode. "Come on, try synchronizing my read port. Don't worry, I won't steal your memory."

Ye Mo snorted, placed his finger on the edge of the terminal, and silently recited, "Authorize sensory link, temporarily grant perception permissions."

There were no light effects, and no one saw anything. But three seconds later, the screen in front of Tony suddenly skipped a frame, and the previously stable interference waveform began to jitter slightly, as if someone had gently blew on it.

"It's done?" Tony squinted.

"What do you see over there?" Ye Mo asked.

"Your system is feeding me raw signal streams." Tony quickly adjusted the filters. "Not text, not images, pure energy feedback, like an electrocardiogram, but more... wild."

"That's normal." Ye Mo leaned against the edge of the table. "It's impolite, it just keeps outputting. You have to filter it yourself."

Tony remained silent, focusing intently on dismantling the signal stream, filtering out noise while reconstructing the data structure. The machine's hum grew stronger, and the prototype Anti-Extremis Armor in the main cabin began its self-check. The silver-gray coating on its outer shell glowed faintly, and the core lights flickered on and off, the rhythm slow but resolute.

Five minutes later, Tony looked up. "It's adjusted. Frequency calibration complete, now it's 4.328 Hz, error controlled within ±0.005, accurate enough."

"Shall we give it a try?" Ye Mo flexed his wrists.

"Of course." Tony pressed the start button. "Small-scale test, without external power, to see if it can last for thirty seconds on its own."

Countdown begins.

7, 6, 5...

The armor core lights gradually increased in intensity, accompanied by a rising hum, like an engine warming up.

4, 3...

Suddenly, the main screen alarm flashed red.

"Wait!" Ye Mo suddenly reached out, "The frequency is off! It's mimicking the rhythm of a virus!"

Tony immediately paused the program.

The alarm stopped, but a burning smell still lingered in the air.

"Damn it." Tony fiddled with the data. "What's going on? It was definitely calibrated."

"It's not a problem with your code," Ye Mo, staring at the afterimage on the screen. "It's the device itself resonating. Your prototype is too sensitive; it automatically captures the surrounding energy field as soon as it's started, and as a result, it's tuned itself to the same frequency as the virus."

"So... it was supposed to be a virus protector, but it almost became a virus clone?" Tony frowned.

"Almost." Ye Mo rubbed his temples. "We need to add an isolation layer, otherwise we'll have to recalibrate every time we boot up. In actual combat, who gives you time to slowly adjust it?"

Tony paused for two seconds, then suddenly laughed, "Have you ever thought about using your system directly as a calibrator?"

"Ha?"

"I'm not kidding." Tony's eyes lit up. "You have an immune system that can naturally detect virus frequencies. As long as you're on-site, you can report anomalies in real time. Let's just incorporate your sensory capabilities into the early warning protocol and create a 'dual-core' system—my armor will handle the attack, and your system will handle the surveillance."

Ye Mo was taken aback. "You want me to work part-time as a human radar?"

"That sounds great, ' Cooperative Perception Module '," Tony patted him on the shoulder. "Anyway, you don't need to plug it in."

Ye Mo rolled her eyes. "Then you'll have to provide me with a lounge and meals."

"Deal." Tony turned and reprogrammed. "Now, let's do it again. This time, you keep perception enabled the whole time, and I'll connect to your feedback stream for double calibration. Let's see if it dares to jump around like that again."

A new round of testing is ready.

Ye Mo stood back in front of the terminal and authorized the system to open the perception channel again. This time, his consciousness seemed to be on another track, able to see the screen data and the faint light reaction of the barrier inside his body at the same time.

start up.

The countdown has ended.

The armor core light flashed steadily, the jammer was successfully activated, and the 30-second self-test process was completed for the first time.

"Did it work?" Ye Mo asked.

"It's stable." Tony looked at the data curve and breathed a sigh of relief. "No resonance, no overload, the energy field is completely under control."

"So, does that mean that with this armor, we can fight the virus?" Ye Mo mimicked his tone.

Tony turned to look at him, flashing a smile that revealed his white teeth, "Did I say that?"

"Just now, you said it," Ye Mo pointed to his ear, "With perfect pronunciation; I could even dig up a recording of it."

"I said 'can fight back,' not 'can win,'" Tony shrugged. "This thing is still just a giant flashlight. It's powered by a wall socket, takes ten minutes to cool down, and it's too slow to even chase someone while wearing it."

"But at least it's not just for show anymore." Ye Mo leaned against the table. "Should we shrink it down next?"

"Absolutely." Tony opened the new design drawings. "I plan to fit it into the Mark 43's arm module, making it a detachable unit that can be installed and removed at any time. However, the energy consumption issue hasn't been resolved yet; it can only release a maximum of three pulses at a time, and any more than that and it'll shut down."

"Then release it in stages," Ye Mo suddenly said.

"Um?"

"Don't go all out at once," Ye Mo said, pointing to the waveform. "Look, the virus crashes every four and a half minutes. Let's not be greedy. Each time, we'll only release a short pulse during the collapse window, operating at low power to extend our combat time. Although the lethality will be less, it's better because it's more sustained."

Tony stared at him for two seconds, then suddenly burst out laughing, "You're really suited for this line of work. Most people, after suffering a viral backlash, would be too busy trying to avoid it, and you're thinking about using it as a tactical timing device?"

"I didn't have any other choice," Ye Mo smiled. "I can't always rely on the system to save the day."

Tony didn't reply, but instead lowered his head to rewrite the control protocol. The new pulse strategy was entered, and the armor entered the second round of testing preparation.

This time, the whole process went much more smoothly.

Self-test passed, interference field established, energy consumption reduced by 42%, and cooling cycle shortened to six minutes.

"That's it." Tony closed the terminal. "Phase one objective achieved. Although it's still some distance from actual combat deployment, it at least proves that this path is viable."

Ye Mo nodded without speaking. He stood there, his consciousness still connected to the system, the barrier hovering silently like a battery that had just been fully charged.

The laboratory lights remained bright, and the hum of the machinery was deep and rhythmic, like a slow, deliberate breath.

The Anti-Extremis Armor stood silently on the central support, its outer shell gleaming with a cold silver luster, its core lights flashing steadily.

Tony removed his gloves, picked up the whiteboard, and wrote the last line in his log, "Project No.: X-257. Interim Conclusion: Based on the host resistance chain principle, a working countermeasure module has been successfully constructed, possessing basic defense and tracking potential. Future Direction: Initiation of a miniaturized, portable deployment solution."

He put down his pen, looked up at Ye Mo, and asked, "What are you planning to do next?"

Ye Mo was staring at the core light of the armor when he heard the question. He slowly replied, "I want to try... whether I can use system perception to locate the source of the virus."

"You mean Killian?" Tony frowned.

"No," Ye Mo shook his head, "It's the virus itself. It left a trace in my system. As long as it's still active, I might be able to... follow this trail and find where it's hiding."

After he finished speaking, he closed his eyes and his consciousness sank into the depths.

[Passive Resonance Protocol] vibrated slightly, as if it had sensed something.

Inside the laboratory, the machines were still humming softly.

The armor core light flashed.

Ye Mo's fingers twitched slightly.