Chapter 264: The Power Suit Project
The next day, Ron successfully lured three nerds into the lab, tempted by the prospect of dining with Stan Lee—a prospect no geek could resist.
Watching them busily at work, Ron smiled with satisfaction. If he had a mirror, he'd have noticed he looked a great deal like Gollum, the notoriously greedy character from Lord of the Rings.
Especially after seeing two more people in the lab than he'd expected: Sheldon and Alex Dunphy.
Sheldon was easy to understand. If you presented him with a question that interested him and he gave a childish or ridiculous answer, even without your saying anything, the adorable little angel of obsessive-compulsive disorder in his head would compel him to erase the wrong answer and give the correct one.
In fact, Ron had exploited this quirk of Sheldon's. Since moving in, he hadn't cleaned his apartment, not even his closet or his small "arsenal" where he kept his gear.
Every time he came home, he'd toss his dirty clothes on the floor, just like Penny did, and stuff his gear into the little "armory" room. Whenever Ron felt the need to clean up, he'd find various excuses to bring Sheldon over and show him everything.
And that little angel would repeatedly urge Sheldon to keep Ron's house in perfect order. Even Ron's small armory was sorted by type, sorted by caliber, and hung on the wall from smallest to largest.
More professional than a professional British butler. With such professional butler service and free meals (Sheldon never picked up a single check), who would bother buying a big house? That's just foolish!
As for Alex, she was in her last year of high school and starting to prepare for college. Her experience with the Caltech science project would be a great addition to her resume.
At this point, we have to mention the American university admissions system. Unlike what many people imagine, the American version of college entrance exams, the SAT and ACT, only account for a portion of the admissions process. American universities place greater emphasis on a student's overall profile.
Are many underachieving students starting to get excited? They think, if they were born in the US, they could definitely get into a good university? Ron thought the same thing in his previous life, but after experiencing it firsthand, he realized the system was truly complex.
First, the concept of overall profile is a relatively abstract concept, difficult to quantify beyond trophies won in sports or academic competitions. This gives the wealthy an advantage.
Consequently, you'll often see children from wealthy American families regularly participating in various charitable events during their school years. Don't be surprised or think they're just being kind; they're simply trying to improve their credentials.
This is one of the biggest drawbacks of holistic admissions: when abstract things can't be quantified, wealth often dictates opportunities.
Alex came to the lab to help out for this very reason.
Whether it was Sheldon, Leonard, or Rajesh, they were all qualified to write a letter of recommendation for Alex, and with the academic status of the three, this letter of recommendation would play a significant role.
Except for Howard, because he only has a master's degree.
"Hey, can you please not bring this up every time? How many times do I have to tell you that I'm an engineer, and a doctorate title means nothing to me. I don't need to do theoretical research, I do applied science!"
Howard complained dissatisfiedly, and after saying that, he didn't forget to glance at Alex. Even though Alex was just a high school student and Howard already had a girlfriend, he still didn't want to embarrass himself in front of a smart young woman.
Alex covered her mouth and smiled. She liked Caltech more and more.
"I think getting a doctorate in a certain field is also a good choice. To be honest, it feels great to have a doctorate title. I have one~" Ron commented calmly.
Rajesh took a long gulp of beer and said, "Don't forget, Bernadette's got a PhD in microbiology. When she graduates, you'll be the only one of us without a doctorate."
Howard, taking ten thousand points of damage, began to withdraw. "Guys, can we talk about something else?"
"Okay," Ron agreed politely, walking over to Howard's workbench. On it sat something resembling a human skeleton. Howard was connecting wires through metal tubes, while Alex assisted him.
"This thing looks really ugly. Can you guys help me make it look better?"
"This is just an experimental verification device, mainly to verify Sheldon's design. When the official version is ready, I promise it'll be as cool as Iron Man's."
Howard picked up two safety masks, gave one to Alex, put on the other himself, and began welding the connection between the shell and the skeleton. Ron watched with interest and walked over to Leonard's whiteboard.
This... individual combat exoskeleton system was a new piece of equipment designed theoretically by Sheldon, practically designed by Leonard and Rajesh, and assembled by Howard.
It was very different from the simple individual exoskeletons Ron had often seen online before. Besides the exoskeleton system that assisted movement, it also featured a full layer of composite ballistic plating.
A layer of special ceramic sandwiched between the metal shell protected it from all common caliber small arms ammunition, effectively reducing the bullet's kinetic energy even from a .50 caliber machine gun.
While the pilot would still be injured, it was unlikely to be fatal.
Consequently, the weight increased significantly, so the four nerds decided to add a large battery pack to the exoskeleton for power supply.
However, the more Ron examined their designs, the more familiar they felt. This thing couldn't really be called an exoskeleton anymore, could it? If the helmet was replaced with a classic dome head and painted red, white, and blue, it would look like a sci-fi movie robot.
It could almost be called a powered armor suit.
"Are you sure this thing can move?" Ron asked during a break in Howard's welding.
"Well... it can move. With its hydraulic power system, it can easily run up to 50 or 60 mph. But its battery life is a bit short. It needs to be recharged or the battery pack replaced every half an hour."
"But don't worry, if Sheldon's miniaturized reactor is successful, you can run as long as you want. Have you decided on a name for this thing?"
Ron lowered his head and thought for a moment: "Then let's call it the Liberty Suit. It would be even better if you could help me equip it with some kind of energy weapon."
(End of this chapter)
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