Lei Shi withdrew his Rank 4 HTB suit into its vessel, revealing his injured body which was still in the cooperate wear that he wore when he was disguised as an intern.
He then put the Rank 6 HTB Armor vessel around his neck, aligned it to his spine and triggered the suit to be donned.
…
The donning was instantaneous.
It was so fast that it made the Rank 4 HTB suit look like a snail and caused that of the Rank 2 HTB suit to not even be worth mentioning.
It enveloped him starting from his back, to his chest, to his arms and hands, then his legs and feet.
The HTB suit looked magnificent. It truly looked like Armor, a Knight's Armor.
It exuded formless pressure that made it look even grander.
As he stood with it under the sun rays, the black color of the HTB Armor made him look like a dark knight that had stepped into the day. However, Lei Shi wasn't really in the mood to appreciate all these changes.
"Welcome Sir, would you like me to tell you the new added features of the Rank 6 HTB Armor?" the automated female voice of the AI Monitor rang out.
"No, maybe later. For now, tell me my current location" Lei Shi said with an even tone, sounding as though he expected nothing except for it to tell him his location. However, deep down, he was terrified.
"..." the AI Monitor didn't respond immediately and Lei Shi's heart pounded with more intensity every second it didn't.
"Sorry, I can't do that. Please get in the range of a satellite" Lei Shi felt like a bomb exploded in his heart after hearing its words.
"This can't be. I refuse to believe it" Lei Shi flew into the air and dashed into the distance but even after flying for several hundreds of kilometers, he met no end to the desert, which was surprising because even the largest desert on Earth would've ended already. But Lei Shi only felt despair.
"Fuck!" Lei Shi yelled at the top of his voice, venting out his frustration.
"Boom" he fell to the ground and punched it, causing sand to splash in all directions around him.
"Where is Leng Shi? Why the hell is this happening?!" Lei Shi yelled to sky, his voice trembling.
"Thud"
He then fell on his side and laid on the ground, with the wind blowing around covering him with sand. At that moment, even though he was in the desert, under the scorching sun, he felt cold.
Only after about an hour had passed did Lei Shi move again.
*Bamm*
Sand exploded in every direction and Lei Shi was once again under the sun rays.
"Well, that's life. Just accept it as it comes" Lei Shi said, encouraging himself.
"As of now, sulking won't help" he told himself.
"If I'm not on Earth or Mars, then, where am I?"
"Is Leng Shi also here?"
"If he is, I have to find him"
"I've got to also find a way back to Earth"
Lei Shi spoke to himself, finally concluding that looking around and taking hold of his surroundings was his best option.
However, before doing any of that, he first had to make adjustments to and personalize his new Rank 6 HTB Armor.
"Hey, AI Monitor" Lei Shi said
"Yes Sir" the AI Monitor responded in its automated voice.
"What's your name?" Lei Shi asked it.
"I don't have one" it responded
Its response dumbfounded Lei Shi that he had to ask "Why not? I thought all HTB suits from Rank 4 and above had AI Monitors, and I thought they should all have their own names, at least names that they came with from their Manufacturing Company before the wielder, if he or she so wishes, decides to change it or maintain it"
"Your thoughts are indeed correct, Sir" the AI Monitor responded "AI Monitors in HTB suits do have their own Company given names, however, I don't, reason being that I wasn't sold"
Lei Shi was surprised at its words.
"In the processes of selling a HTB suit, there's a part were the HTB suit is powered and given a name, while still in its Manufacturing Company. At that point, that is where the HTB suit is registered and recognized by its Manufacturing Company as one of its product, it's similar to how humans give birth certificates to children. So, I don't have a name because I wasn't sold and am unregistered" Lei Shi was at a loss of words.
Lei Shi, after suppressing his shock, asked "Is it possible for a Manufacturing Company to track its HTB suits AI Monitors?"
"Theoretically, Yes." it responded "Since, it is created and registered by that Company it is possible. It would be similar to a mother looking for one of her children, and since she was the one that gave life to the child, finding the child would be only a matter of time because of the connection between the both of them, provided the child is still alive. Similarly, provided the AI Monitor is still active"
Lei Shi was getting more and more elated but to confirm things he asked "So, are you telling me that your Manufacturing Company can't track you?"
"Yes" it responded flatly.
"Nice!!" Lei Shi was delighted by her reply that he almost leapt for joy. However, he suddenly stopped after giving it some thought.
"Fuck!!!" he yelled in anger.
Only now did it occur to him that since the Rank 6 HTB suit was unregistered, that meant Acme Company couldn't find him as he was lost in the middle of nowhere, he felt his bad luck was repeatedly getting the best of him that day.
He only calmed down after telling himself that it might be for the best, since if Acme Company found him as he was alone and in the middle of nowhere, killing him would be as easy as flipping a palm.
Lei Shi then took his Rank 4 HTB vessel and said to his AI Monitor "Download Contents". He did this because he wanted to retain the stored information of his life on Earth and information from the storage device that he and Leng Shi got from Acme Company.
"Done" the AI Monitor said after a few seconds, calming Lei Shi who had thought that it might not have been able to because of the destroyed state of his Rank 4 HTB suit. But it's next words surprised him once again.
"Do you want me to copy the configurations of your old HTB suit?"
"What? There's a thing like that?" Lei Shi was astounded.
"Yes, Go ahead" he agreed.
*Swish*
The Rank 6 HTB Armor powered off them came back to life after a second of inactivity.
However, as it powered on, the HTB Armor had some visible changes.
First was its color.
It changed from its default Black-color to Black and Yellow just like Leng Shi's previous HTB suits.
Second was the structure of its physic.
Its muscles compressed and its body slimmed down slightly, changing its build from the default muscular-physic to a speed-type physic which possessed a less-muscular build.
Even though it didn't look as burly as before, its muscles seemed to contain explosive power.
Third were his weapons.
They abruptly shot to the sky before falling back down with his sheathed saber landed on his back and his gun landing on the back of his waist, holstering itself there.
Fourth was his entire body.
It released an electric field and electricity then crackling all round his body.
"I found an AI Monitor with the name Ryan. Do you want me to make him your active AI Monitor?" the AI Monitor asked as other adjustments were being made.
"Fuck No" Lei Shi yelled "That fucking bastard! He's the cause of all my problems!" "I prefer you, but my only problem with you is that your voice is too automated and emotionless".
"In that case..." the AI Monitor paused before saying "What about now?"
Lei Shi was shocked. The voice that the AI Monitor has used to say the second part of its sentence was a gentle, pleasing to hear, voice
"Amazing" he praised.
"Do you want me to retain the name Ryan or do you prefer calling me AI Monitor?" the AI Monitor asked.
"No, absolutely not" Lei Shi said embarrassedly.
That was because names were usually the first thing you gave to pets and AI Characters. And he not giving one made the AI Monitor think that he preferred calling her 'AI Monitor'.
Lei Shi thought for some time before saying "I'm gonna name you Titania"
"Thank you" the AI Monitor said in a flat tone before returning to silence.
In order to break the silence and drive away the tensed atmosphere Lei Shi asked "Titania, can you tell me the newly added features of the Rank 6 HTB Armor".
"It would be my pleasure" Titania said in a kind tone.