Bringing the pair to the back portion of the armoury, Benjamin walked them toward the section with the exo-suits and war-walkers.
Jhonny saw a war-walker for the first time, and his jaw dropped to the ground.
"What is THAT?!" he asked, pointing at the four-meter tall metal mechanical structure.
Ben looked at him with curiosity, wondering what kind of backward planet he came from, to not know what a war-walker was. Police forces everywhere now used these as riot breakers.
"A war-walker. Have you never seen one?"
Henry couldn't blame him. If Joseph hadn't given him a plethora of documents which documented the current state of humanity's tech and planet spread, he wouldn't have known what they were, either.
"We don't have these on Earth…" Jhonny mumbled, looking at the mech with awe.
Ben looked at him with wide eyes before snapping his head toward Henry.
"He's from Earth too? Did they recruit him there when they recruited you? It's strange that they would get more people from that planet. Humanity has abandoned it for so long…"
Henry shrugged.
"I don't think they abandoned it. But I think many elite people fled it, leaving the less skilled humans to fend for themselves. This means the skill ceiling there is lower. But sometimes, some little pearls like me come from rougher backgrounds. And he ain't half bad," Henry said, praising himself.
Ben looked at him with a disdainful face.
"One day, the pot will follow all those flowers you throw yourself, man. I hope you know that…"
Henry chuckled.
"Anyway!" Ben said, clapping his hands.
"We didn't come here for those. Those are for war zone deployments. Not special ops like you guys do. Exo-suits are more your shtick. Let me show you the new model."
He walked around the war-walkers, and brought them toward a more recluse spot of the armoury, where many exo-suits were on display.
And one of these displays had a spotlight shone on it.
"I present you the NX32, the newest invention of JacksonTeck. This baby is completely bulletproof, laser resistant, and even blocks out minor shock waves from smaller explosives. It's like wearing an armoured vehicle on your body but without the tonnage, hah!" Ben said, selling his salad.
Henry was already eyeing the suit, asking the system questions.
'What do you think? How would it compare to the model I have?'
The system took a moment to reply as it scanned the suit and pulled out the spec sheet on it.
'The NX32 is a nanite-based suit. The technology of these nanites is purely military in design, and their versatility isn't as expansive as what we can achieve for the host. But in comparison to the current exo-suit, the NX32 would give a hundred and fifty percent increase in performance.'
Henry salivated at the thought.
Considering his already high physical capabilities, a hundred and fifty percent increase was massive. This would be like adding wings to a tiger!
But he could already imagine the price tag of such an item.
"Can I try it on?" Henry asked tentatively.
"Do you have the creds to buy it?" Ben asked, grinning.
'Fuck!' Henry cursed inwardly.
"No…" he grumbled, lowering his head.
"How much?" Jhonny's voice pitched in.
"It's expensive, shorty. I doubt—" Ben started saying.
"I asked how much. Not how much money do you think I have. How much it costs. Answer the question," Jhonny spat, eyeing the suit with greed.
"Bahahaha! He's got spunk. I like you, shorty."
Jhonny glared at him, starting to tire of being called shorty.
"The suit is marked at a hundred thousand credits. Do you have that kind of cash lying around? Because if you don't, I can't let you try it on. If you break it, I'll have to pay for it," Ben said, smirking.
Jhonny grinned.
He stepped forward, tapping his wristwatch on Ben's, which dinged.
Looking at his watch, Ben's eyes widened.
"What the fuck?! How much do you guys get paid?! I haven't seen that much money in so long!"
A payment on hold of precisely a hundred thousand credits on his account. All it needed was the sender's final confirmation.
"Can I try it on now?" Jhonny asked with a cocky smile.
"By all means!" Ben exclaimed, unlocking the display.
He made a five percent commission on sellable items, so he would instantly earn five thousand credits if he sold this. That was his weekly pay on base!
Henry was eating the inside of his own mouth in jealousy. He wanted to try it so badly, but he was sitting on about four thousand credits.
But Jhonny had just received his money and had yet to spend a single credit of it. And with how much they were paid, he must have had just a little over the asking price.
But Jhonny couldn't care less that only ten thousand credits remained in his account.
This exo-suit would still be worth every credit if it performed as advertised.
As the force field around the exo-suit faded away, Jhonny stepped forward, sliding his hand on the suit. It had a cold exterior, like metal, but still felt like fabric under his fingers.
"To put it on, tap the center of the chest twice and step inside it. It'll close around you and adjust automatically," Ben instructed him.
Jhonny nodded, reaching up to the chest area and tapping twice. The exo-suit split open in the front, like a peeled orange, and stayed that way.
The moment he stepped inside it, it closed up, shrinking to fit its wearer, and a holographic display appeared in front of Jhonny's eyes.
"This is amazing…" he mumbled, his voice echoing through the suit's speakers.
"Yeah… I bet…" Henry murmured, sour.
This didn't escape Jhonny's ears, as the suit enhanced his hearing.
"Aww. Don't be a sourpuss, Henry. I'll let you try it once in a while," he mocked.
Ben had to slap his mouth from fear of erupting into laughter. The scene was rich.
Henry getting a dose of his own medicine? Who wouldn't want to see this?
"Do you want to bring it into the yard, give it a spin?" Ben asked the recruit.
A grin appeared on Jhonny's mouth inside the suit.
"Of course!"