Hao Xuan wanted to give it a cool name as well but seeing the sour expression Gamil had on, he decided against it.
It was most probably because of the dragon fire that all these strange and unique weapons were produced.
Hao Xuan inspected a few of the weapons and the remaining armor sets, returning to Gamil once he was done.
"Did Baracus's tinkering help?"
Gamil nodded, albeit quite hesitantly.
"I hate to admit it but…yes," he walked to one of the corners and brought back a mannequin that was wearing a complete armor set with a black full body 'onesie' under it.
"Once all the armor pieces come together they create a power suit that is completely air tight with help of this black undergarment.. Here at the back and below the shoulders, you can see the power unit that controls everything. Even though we are still several years away from having one of these for every person but once we do, it will be a 'game changer' as you put it."
"Not only will the suits be built for every possible terrain but they will have numerous built-in functions to aid the wearer. For example, this one already has a defibrillator to jump-start the heart, over 300 different antitoxins that could be injected directly into the bloodstream upon identification of the exact poison, kinetic energy absorption pads, a 72-hour built-in air supply unit, …."
He went on and on for quite some time explaining every little feature they had already added in this tiny little frame. Hao Xuan zoned out somewhere in the middle because he didn't want to interrupt Gamil and only came to when it sounded like he was about to wrap it up.
Gamil proudly slapped the back of the mannequin, "All in all, upon completion this baby could be sent to the vacuum of space or the depths of a volcano and it wouldn't break a sweat. We still need to test everything but I am positive that these armor suits will be the answer to all of my prayers. Although, the materials required for this are still extremely rare. If I used everything we have gathered so far we would only be able to make about 12 suits in total."
"Wow, really?"
Hao Xuan looked back at the almost 2,000-meter wide room that was filled with junk more than halfway. Gamil's voice lowered, as did his head.
"Yes, it's both because of my inexperience and our limited knowledge. I still have to experiment a lot and mix and match various alloys. If I already knew what was good and what techniques to use for each part then it would be much more efficient. There is just so much to do and so little time."
Hao Xuan patted him on the shoulder endearingly.
"I wish I could help you. Are there no other Orcs that have any talent or interest in this?"
Gamil shook his head weakly, "There are a few but the ones who are talented don't want to try and the ones who are interested have a lot to learn before they can be of help."
"And you can't use robots for this? I can have Baracus churn up a few that would be more than capable, at least physically."
"NO!" Gamil shouted involuntarily, "I-I'm sorry for raising my voice but no robots. It has become very clear to me that a 'human' touch is needed to bring life to everything I do. Otherwise, they don't 'feel' alive anymore, mere empty husks of metal."
As Gamil said that his fingers brushed across the headpiece of the experimental armor. Even Hao Xuan could see how much he cared about them. To him they were more like his children or loved ones, he had a personal connection with each one of them.
It wouldn't make sense to others that didn't have the same gift.
*Crrrrr*
Hao Xuan suddenly turned towards the side where the noise was coming and saw several of the covered mannequins shaking and creaking by themselves.
His eyes widened from shock as he looked back at Gamil. Some of the armors were responding to him, to his emotions!
'How is this possible?? Did he breathe life into them?'
There were always stories floating around about how when a weaponsmith created something in which he poured his blood and soul it would gain a life of its own. Was that what was happening here?
Hao Xuan gently punched Gamil's back, stirring him awake.
"Hahaha, it looks like you really do have a gift, in more ways than one."
"Eh? What do you mean?"
Gamil was as confused as he could be by the sudden change in Hao Xuan's attitude. But Hao Xuan didn't explain and only laughed loudly.
"Buhahaha, this really is a blessing from the heavens! And you, don't be so depressed alright. Keep working on the experimental suits on the side but focus on finishing the base armor sets first. You have a LOT of time, all of you do. A handful of hours out there equate to almost a year in here so, take all the time you need."
"Experiment, learn as much as you can, and then do your best with what you have. From now on I will stay here and work on filling up this entire floor and maybe a few others too. So when I do actually have to leave you will have more than enough materials to keep going for a long time."
Hao Xuan did as promised for the next 2 weeks and spent almost every waking moment on bringing in more resources for Gamil. Just when the third week was about the start he got a 'message' from Bo that it was time to return.
