PHOME™ (Polygraphene Hardening Obsequent Mass Expediator) is an all-purpose flame-retardant, sealant and bonding agent. PHOME™ cures near-instantly–and it sets harder than Iconel 625 steel alloy or any equivalent. PHOME™ is corrosive, toxic and mutagenic. PHOME™ can explode under pressure or when overused. Portable PHOME™ throwers are NOT to be used as propulsion units in zero gravity…
Owing only to a huge screwup*, Thom’s space/utility suit is actually one of the better ones that money can buy. The Landirex EVAsleev–woven from Mutable Smart Fabric whose emergent nanoprocessors are co-ordinated by a powerful proprietary quantum-chaos computer in the helmet–has the right to jostle for position amongst the most sought-after of voidwear.
Loose or form-fitting; pressurised by constriction or by atmosphere; it can all be customised on-the-fly according to situation, comfort and preference. The toughness and active filtering systems of the Mutable Smart Fabric colossally reduce the potential risk of vacuum hazards like radiation and micrometeorites. High-efficiency atmospheric recyclers and chemical solid-fueled O2 generators can provide hours of life support without a tank. Baseline-calibrated paralinguistic gesture controls allow Thom to interact with the helmet computer’s HUD by intention alone–Landirex were one of the first to develop a hands-free interface system that accurately understands what you want it to do without you having to say or do anything: it accurately interprets what you want to happen based on reading the microgestures of muscles, eye movement, breathing, heartbeat, brainwaves and other metrics.
What the EVAsleev doesn’t have, by default, is a propulsion unit. That’s an optional extra. Meaning that, despite warnings, there are often occasions where makeshift solutions need to be found.
*The EVAsleev is way more expensive than Thom could ever afford to buy, obviously — or even rent. It’s worth more than he could hope to earn in a lifetime. And it’s certainly not within the normal scope of a company-provided uniform. The only reason Thom got provided with such an expensive suit was a branding-related decision. When REZQ’s parent company was preparing to launch its new subsidiary, it tasked a subcontractor with sourcing a supply of suits available in what they wanted to become known as “REZQ Orange”. As Landirex were the only company who could supply these suits in this colour at short notice, the order was placed with them.
Proceeds from the lawsuit brought against the subcontractor by REZQ’s parent company for going so wildly over budget managed to offset much of the cost of the suits. And now the suits are an asset on the company’s balance sheet–so all’s well that ends well. Except for the employees of the subcontractor, obviously, who–with liability shared contractually between them–are currently scattered amongst various debtors’ colonies, where they’ll likely stay for the rest of their dramatically-shortened lives.