When Jhonny finally stopped running, he looked exhausted. He stopped in front of Henry, gasping for air.
"This thing is amazing! But man, it's hard to control. I'm tired just from running thirty seconds," Jhonny said between breaths.
But Henry was still too stunned to answer.
Last time, he had to burn months of lifespan to fight Bitchany, and he had barely achieved a level comparable to hers. Yet, this exo-suit boosted Jhonny to the same speed as her, matching her agility as well.
This was beyond amazing. This was a marvel of humanity's technological advancements.
If they could kit every soldier with something like this, the war would be over in less than a year.
"Henry? Hey! Henry!" Jhonny shouted, waving his hand in front of the man.
"Huh? Ah, yes. It's great. How low are the suit's power levels?" Henry asked, trying to off-play his amazement.
Jhonny looked at his wrist, where a screen appeared.
"Twenty percent. Yikes. That's bad…"Jhonny said, realizing the energy consumption of such a brief run.
"Hmm. Hey, Ben. Do you have a copy of the spec sheet that I can take off your hands?"
Ben looked at him weirdly.
"I mean… The suit comes with one. But I don't recommend you tamper with it. If you do, JacksonTeck won't repair it anymore. You'll have to do your own maintenance. Those suits are complicated pieces of engineering, Calvert."
Henry waved his hand dismissively, barely listening to him. Instead, he turned to Jhonny.
"When we get home, let me look at that spec sheet. I think we can make this thing better. There is no way that short run should have consumed that much power."
Jhonny shrugged his shoulders, unsure of what to reply.
Seeing he was being ignored, Ben sighed loudly.
"Hey! Did you want to try something else? Or was that it? Because I have other things to do."
Jhonny looked at his power supply and wondered if there was anything he could still try out with twenty percent power. But he highly doubted it.
"Nah. I'm good. Thank you, sir," Jhonny said, giving a thumbs up.
Ben returned his thumbs up before looking at Henry.
"You know the way out. See yourselves out while I do my paperwork for the sale."
Henry nodded, waving at him as he left.
"You want to remove it before we leave so you don't accrue unwanted attention?" Henry asked Jhonny, giving him a side-eye.
"Hmm? Ah, yeah. That's not a bad idea…" Jhonny replied.
With a single command, Jhonny's new suit retracted on itself, becoming a puck the size of his palm. He pocketed it, making sure no one saw where it was.
With a nod, Henry led the way out of the armoury backyard, onto a path along the building, and back into the street. From there, they returned to the hover-humvee and got ready to leave.
"Wait. Aren't we getting our stuff before we leave?" Jhonny asked, frowning.
"Hmm? Nah. It'll be loaded on the ship before departure. Just like the rations and all that stuff. Weren't you wondering why we weren't grabbing anything on the spot?"
Jhonny shrugged, thinking they would have returned for everything once it was ready.
"Yeah, I was just there to ensure the lists were complete, and that we didn't lack anything while on mission. I usually do that just for myself, as the lists are usually spot on."
"So I came for nothing?" Jhonny asked, wondering why Henry had been adamant about bringing him along.
"Nothing? No. You were there so people on the base could see you and not think you were a trespasser if you ever came alone. I don't want to have to go back to Earth and tell your parents you got shot on base because I was negligent."
"Ahh…" Jhonny said, his face paling.
"Makes sense…"
"Yeah, I know. That's why I did it, haha." Henry laughed dryly.
Now that their errands were done, all that was left was to go home and cook up a nice dinner. Well, as nice as rationed food could make a dinner, Henry mused.
The ride back home was a lot quicker than the run here, and Henry even took a detour to take a moment and enjoy riding his new vehicle. He hadn't driven anything since that escape, the day he woke up, and the pleasure of driving for leisure was even further back.
Henry almost lost concentration a few times, letting his mind wander to his old life, and the system warned him twice before Jhonny got annoyed at him and punched him on the arm.
"Hey! Will you focus?! I don't want to die in a lame car accident. Keep your AND mind on the road, will you?!"
Henry looked at him with a stern gaze but said nothing.
The kid wasn't entirely wrong.
He focused on the drive for the rest of the trip, which was only a few minutes shy of being done.
"Ahh, home sweet home!" Henry dropped, half-jokingly.
Jhonny was exhausted from his day, and he just wanted to eat and go to sleep. He knew they had to wake up early tomorrow and wanted to get as much shut-eye as possible.
"I'll take care of dinner; why don't you go down and pull a few rounds in the VCP? I think a large part of the reason your power supply got so low is that you lack training for yourself.
"Knowing how to shoot is good and all, but you need to get some muscle on. Got it?" Henry said, looking at Jhonny's scrawny body.
"Urgh… But I'm so tired…"
Henry slapped the back of his head.
"I don't care! You think an enemy will care. Come on, kid. Get some pep in those steps and go train. I'll come get you when it's ready."
Jhonny groaned as he left toward the hidden basement, cursing at Henry under his breath. But the old bastard was right.
No enemy would wait for him to feel rested before fighting him. He needed to be combat-ready at all times.
So he heeded the order and entered the VCP pod, his eyes heavy but his mind still sharp.
At least he got to fight Henry's copy, which was a plus. It gave him an out for his frustration.
Maybe he could put a few holes into it this time.