The Legendary Junkmaster - Chapter 92

The dials inside the helmet gradually crept up to what should be considered standard operating parameters, which made Jason’s rapidly beating heart gradually slow down. This had been the part he had been most afraid of. After all, there would have been nothing worse than getting blown up in your armour or something if you had made a mistake creating it!

Jason slowly started to move around. The joints of his body would touch pressure points in the exoskeleton to activate the internal machinery to help in navigating it properly. All in all, he was pretty happy with its response. At the very least, there was nothing wrong with it so far.

However, the Infinity would be put through a proper stress test when he took it out for training in a few hours. Jason first walked, then jogged and finally ran some laps around the hall. It took a while for him to get used to moving around correctly in the Infinity, but it gave him a kind of rush that he could not explain.

Luckily, he already knew that his Flamethrower, Dart Gun, RDB’s and Firebrand Blade worked just fine as he had tested them independently earlier that day. The only issue that he really had with it was the narrowed vision due to the visor.

‘I’ll need to redesign it at some point, but this should be enough for now.’ Jason sighed as he collected his thoughts on Infinity’s first test run.

‘There are a few points to improve on as soon as possible. I need a better system to help with making it respond to my movements while inside. There were a few areas that could cripple it if it takes too much damage. Then there was….’

“Just stop already. You can think of these things some other time. Right now, you need to get to bed and rest up. Just think of how Sentinel will react if you perform poorly tomorrow!” Syssie cut into Jason’s thoughts with a rather sharp tone.

Jason cursed because he knew she was right. But at the same time, he really wanted to optimise the Infinity as much as possible before he revealed it to the other Guardian cadets. ‘There’s no point. Even if I can think of how to replace these parts, I don’t have enough time. It’ll just have to do as is for now.’

Jason slowly approached the workstations before pushing on the pedal hidden in his left boot this time. The armours systems gradually shut down as the hatch unlocked and opened up. ‘I need to think of a manual emergency release for this too. Otherwise, it’ll become a death trap if the system gets crippled.’

That was just another issue that Jason added to his current list of things to improve on. Jason fell to the floor in a heap as he struggled to climb out of the Infinity. Which naturally meant that yet another modification idea was added to the already extensive list in his mind.

‘Damn it!’ Jason complained as he picked himself up off the floor.

“Serves you right! I’ve been bored as hell the past few days. All you’ve done is play with your toys. Would it kill you to just have a conversation with me from time to time?” Syssie complained as she straightened out her signature red cocktail dress.

“What do you expect me to talk about? You know everything I do, which kind of kills any conversation starters.” Jason chuckled as he closed the Infinity’s hatch. ‘Of right! The Firebrand Blade!’

Syssie flashed an annoyed look at Jason as he retrieved the sword and slotted it into the sheath situated beneath the air tanks on the armour’s rear. Jason’s eyes sparkled as he took a final look at his newest creation. There was something beautiful about it, even though it was just a lump of metal.

“So… do you want me to give it an evaluation now?” Syssie asked as she glanced at the armour with disdain.

“No…” Jason replied after a slight pause to think about it. This was only his prototype, so he did not want to waste the First Creation Bonus on it. He did not lack in means to gather PP just now anyway, so what was the point? It was clearly better to wait until it was in a more complete state to maximise his gains.

“Let’s just get some sleep for now. I have no idea what happens in training. Sentinel won’t tell us anything about it, so I might need you to be at your best.” Jason smiled ruefully at her before heading into his room. He grabbed a quick shower to freshen up a bit before sliding into bed.

As Jason fell asleep, Friday appeared in the hallway next to the Infinity with a complicated expression upon his face. He scanned the Infinity armour from head to toe and managed to reverse engineer it with his processing power.

“The technology level used is still basic. However, the biofuel is unique. If Sentinel replaces the blood and oil intake of his left side with it, his lifespan should increase slightly.” Friday hummed to himself as he studied the data. “It’s still a low-grade fuel, so how did nobody in the base come up with it?”

Friday felt complicated when he considered Jason as a whole. On the one hand, Jason could hold the key to increasing Sentinel’s lifespan exponentially. On the other, Jason’s potential was terrifying. If Sentinel was right and Jason’s Power was a higher classification of Super Intelligence than Technomancy, then he was someone who could become dangerous to them later on.

“Hm, will he take our side if he finds out about the plan? Or is he a monster of our own making that we’ll have to deal with down the line?” Friday’s eyes narrowed as he wondered what the Infinity might come to look like in the future. “Only time will tell, I guess. It’s called the Infinity, right? I guess I should get on with what Sentinel asked me to.”

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