Author : Dominic Constable

Jacob stood in his garden. The sky was clear and the sun cast it’s early morning, summer rays across the long strip of grass where the clover had taken hold, it’s white flowers, scattered across the green vista. He could hear the hum of the bees and see the glowing green of the leaves.

Jacob had not slept well and felt tired. He had worked into the early morning. A few turbulent hours of sleep later he stood waiting for the rays, like the trees. Now the warm finger tips massaged his naked torso, the heat welcoming and alluring. He carefully ran his forefinger along the inside of his left wrist, triggering the implants.

Like a mass of dominos collapsing simultaneously, small, square scales erupted across his back, that he turned to the sun. The wave of solar panels, each one revealed as the skin above them became translucent, flickered orange and then blue in the sunlight as the multifaceted metal caught the solar rays. Jacob twisted his back and the solar cells moved with the stretching, flexing with the muscle, echoing the shape of his back, an integral part of his body.

The energy surged through Jacob’s form and the late night fell away. He could feel the tiredness in his aching limbs evaporate, the fuzziness in his mind clearing. He let the warmth surge through his body and couldn’t stop, the solar energy was addictive, but just when he felt like he could stand there all day the inbuilt failsafe triggered and his skin returned to normal. He signed and turned to walk back to his office. The company had paid a lot of money for him to worked extended hours.