[@caramialunaestelle (Makoto) continued from here]
He... actually hadn't thought about that. Honestly, he'd kinda just been messing around, making the things just because he could.
"That... is a really good idea. I should write that down."
"I mean, the jets aren't strong enough for sustained flight, but I could set them up to do a quick burst at full power to give me a little boost, or dodge out of the way."
Come to think of it, that boost idea would pair very nicely with another project he was working on.
But he should probably focus on his current project for the time being.
"Anyway, you haven't even seen the coolest part!"
He turned over the shoe and pointed to an odd stripe lining the bottom between the jets. It was a sorta orange plastic, but there was an odd texture to it, almost like the side of a match box.
Which was an apt comparison, because-
"This is what I like to call a friction generator. It takes any amount of friction and converts it into energy!"
He swiped his finger across the stripe, causing it to briefly light up in a trail following his movements.
"Of course, it depends on the amount of friction going in, and the rate of conversion isn't one-to-one."
"The only downside is I haven't figured out a way to properly store the energy yet. It's rather unstable, so I can't just slap it into a battery. Buuuut it can give the jets an extra boost if I need it... once I figure how a decent portable power source-"
Currently, he was powering the things with a couple of D batteries. Which was fine for testing, but once he actually put it on? Those things would drain in seconds.