The Suit-Maker

I called up the System and went under the Jobs tab. Right there beside Battlesuit Designer was my second job; Marketer- Trainee. I ignored it for now, went to the Skills tab and saw my new skill; Quick-Thinking Promotion. I smiled and notice that the Mission tab was blinking. I accessed it and saw my reward.

[Mission completed. 5,000 DP awarded to User Tobias Wong. New Mission available]

I was surprised and happily so. Someone must have bought my Jumpbot. I just made my first sale! I jumped up with my arms raised in triumph. Luckily I lived alone or I would had woken someone up with all my screaming. After a few minutes of celebrating and fist-pumping, I calmed down and selected the Mission tab to see my new mission.

***

Mission: Create Your First Actual Battlesuit

A weapons designer not only need to design, he also need to build. You have successfully design a Grade 0 Battlesuit, now you must build it. Build a real-life working prototype of your Grade 0 Battlesuit. One million credit has been awarded to an account for User Tobias Wong.

Note: The credits can only be use for the sole purpose of building the Battlesuit. No other usage is allowed.

***

Wow! My human went into overdrive, blinking several times to make sure I was seeing this right. A million credits? That"s…actually pretty reasonable. The main reason why there were so few Battlesuit designers in the market was due to cost. Modern Battlesuits cost millions to design and build so a million is actually a pretty good estimate of a Grade 0 Battlesuit. My mind went into overdrive and my cybernetics pull up my contacts. I had linked my cybernetics to my mobile phone long ago and accessed it remotely to make the call. I went out to the kitchen with my mobile, set my phone on speaker mode and began making breakfast. My eggs were still boiling when the line was picked up.

"h.e.l.lo, Jaya here."

"Hey Jaya, Toby here. You remember me?"

"Of course! William hasn"t stop b.i.t.c.hing since the day his best worker suddenly decide to quit to go straight."

"Ha. As if I"ll believe that. How"s the old miser anyway?"

"Same old same old. Vehicles still need to be repaired and business has been steady though the money is really in the exotics."

"Oh, sounds like you got something."

"You know how it is; the more exotic the modification, the more it cost to do the job. Interested?"

"You heard about me going straight right?"

"And I"m a vehicle broker running a totally legal service. However if some customers want to install some parts in their vehicles that bend the rules a little, and a new repair company quietly agrees to it, that"s something I know nothing about."

"Except for your cut."

"If some kind soul want to give me a little extra on top of my commission for making such an introduction, I would hardly say no. That"s totally out of my hands.""

"Ha! I take it we are on a secure line."

"Always. So you want an introduction? As a first timer, I would even give you a discount on my cut."

"Thanks, I"ll keep that in mind but I"m calling you about something else. How much do you much about the production license of old Battlesuits?"

"Battlesuits? How old? And what"s this about?"

I told him about my new business in designing and building new modified Battlesuits. I didn"t tell him about the System or who my father was of course but I told him about using Dive for the designs and my need for someone to handle the licensing agreement.

After I had finished, he replied almost immediately. "You are crazy! You know how much it cost to get the licensing agreement for the Steambot alone? The money…"

"I set aside a million credits for all the licensing."

"Correction; you are not crazy, you"re just an eccentric millionaire. I"ll get right on it."

"You sure you can do it? It"s not really what you usually do right?"

"Hey, you"re talking to the best vehicle broker in the SEAL."

"I thought only in Singapore, and maybe in parts of **…"

"You won"t find a better man in the whole of the League. Sent me the parts you need and I"ll get you the info by today or…I"ll give you a further discount on my commission."

Jaya cut off the line and I could only laugh at the shamelessness of the man. He was always good fun and he was right, he was the best vehicle broker in the League. I quickly send him details of the Steambot, X-S Cable Punch, IK Battle-axe, and SH-3 Legs. Putting the broker out of my mind, I turned on the news. It was still on the kaiju off the west coast of America and the news agencies even had a shot of it via sonar-photo. It looked big and the various governments in North America has been putting out news on how prepared they were to meet the coming disaster. A news anchor even said that unofficial sources claimed that there was an offer from the famed mercenary group Demon Cannon Regiment to combat the kaiju if it ever made landfall. As the Regiment was mostly a mech group, their offer was being seriously considered by several of the smaller countries.

I listened to the news before switching off the channel and went onto the net. I turned to Solar Chance or as it is more commonly known, the solar gambling website. It is a site that give gamblers quotes on anything and everything, and true to form there were odds given on the kaiju. There are ever-changing odds on where it would land, how much damage it would create, how many lives would be lost, even one on whether the Earth Satellite Laser needed to be used to kill it. I scanned through the site before putting some credits on where it would make landfall. I threw the dishes into the sink before going up to the roof. It was time to go to work.

By the time I arrived at the workshop, I already got a message from Jaya. I went to the Dive console to access the message and saw that he already got the quotes for the various licensing agreement. He only need my okay to seal the deals. It was shockingly fast. I had expected word from him only in a few days and saw that Jaya also sent me a private message. I quickly accessed it and found out why he was able to get the quotes so quickly.

The rights to the IK Battle-axe was held by a small virtual company that exist solely on the Dive designer platform. Only a minimum payment was required and even that might not be necessary as it was highly doubtful that the company could afford the legal fees to take me to court. Jaya however suggested that I just pay them as the payment was so small it just wasn"t worth the risk of going to court.

The rights to the Steambot and the X-S Cable Punch were held by the same company. Called Cla.s.sic Knight Private Limited, they were delighted by Jaya"s enquiry and offered him a twenty year production license agreement on the Steambot for sixty thousand credits. They would throw in the agreement of the Cable Punch for free if I agree to it. Jaya had the impression that someone asking for the production license of the Steambot was a rare occurrence. The situation with the SH-3 Legs was no different.

Held by a company called Clockwork Lovers, the small company was created by enthusiasts of clockwork technology and they holds the rights to several clockwork machinery. According to Jaya, they all but admitted they can"t remember when was the last time someone wanted to buy a license agreement from them and a man who call himself the company president got on the line with him to thank him personally. He also wanted to know who the buyer was. Jaya brush him off by saying he needed to consult me before giving out the name. Jaya also wanted to know if I really want to use "The Fat Tinkerer" as my company name.

I gave a small laugh. Although I thought up the name on a whim, I liked it. I"m fat; tinkering is the first skill I gained through the System; and the name was a subtle tribute to my father. It wasn"t a great name, but it was fitting and I was going to keep it. I began looking through all the doc.u.ments Jaya sent me and was surprised by how low the prices were. After thinking about it, I realized it made sense. There may be a niche market for Steam and Clockwork machines but most of the buyers would be looking for vintage and cla.s.sic machines. Few buyers would be interested in a brand new modified Steambot. It almost make me pray to the non-existing G.o.ds that the System was not going to give me a new mission to sell the Jumpbot.

"System, you"re there?"

[Yes, User Tobias Wong. How may I a.s.sist you?]

"I take it you won"t be able to tell me if you are going to give me a future mission to sell my Jumpbot?"

[That is correct. As I had said before, the Mad Triple did not want to unduly influence the choices of his descendants, only to help them on their life journey. Thus I am unable to give information on future missions before you unlock them.]

"Thought so."

I typed out a message to Jaya telling him I was happy with the terms given and to complete the agreements. I added that the company name is staying and his commission fee would be transferred to his account once the agreements were signed. I hesitated for a moment before sending out the message. Jaya must have been waiting for my reply as he confirmed my message almost immediately. I let out a breath I didn"t know I was holding. Now that the paperwork is done, I"m finally a bonafide Battlesuit Designer. Now for the fun part of the job; Production.