The Suit-Maker 53 The Sealion

"It seems to be holding up well." Jaya said.

I nodded my head in agreement. As an operator in an unfamiliar Battlesuit, the operator chosen by Jaya was currently testing the Sealion. This is a common practice among all operators and a sense of pride swelled inside me as thus far the operator seems pleased with the Battlesuit. Honestly, I'm not that worried about the performance of the Battlesuit as I had ran several simulation tests on the Dive but it's one thing to test something on a computer and quite another to see it being done with your own two eyes.

Seemingly satisfied with the Sealion's performance on the ground, the operator walked up to the tank. The organizers had installed a small staircase for people to walk to the top of the tank and the operator walked up the stairs without issue. Once at the top, he immediately jumped in.

The Sealion sunk to the bottom. The operator held his position for a few seconds before beginning to walk. He was walking slowly and I realized the operator was taking it slow as he wanted to see if the Battlesuit works underwater. The operator then turn on the RB Pack and the operator began testing the backpack rotor. The Battlesuit was pushed forward but as it is still in the standing position, the resistance of the water slowed down the Battlesuit significantly.

"We're getting a crowd."

At Jaya's words, I looked around and realized that he was right. There were more people around and most of them had an eye on the tank.

"That's good right? More eyeb.a.l.l.s means it's easier for you to sell my Battlesuits."

"Only if this operator start moving. He is a little too cautious."

"It's his first time in the suit. He is being prudent. Better to be safe than sorry."

As if he heard our conversation, the operator choose to switch on the transforming cubes at this exact moment. The two arms of the Sealion locked into place at the side of the Battlesuit and the legs came together. The legs shortened and the feet turned horizontal. In fact, the whole Battlesuit turned horizontal and for a moment, it would look like the operator was laying down. The sight lasted all of one second as the RB Pack extended downwards and the clockwork backpack began working.

The transforming technology had worked it's engineering magic and the Sealion was now moving quickly through the water. To a layman, the transformed Sealion looked like a small underwater submarine with a rotor beneath it. The transformed legs was the front of the submarine, and the operator operated the Battlesuit from the back like an underwater boatman.

"Fatman, when you told me you built a Battlesuit that turned into a submarine, I thought you had finally went crazy. I was right. You are nuts, but in a good way. This crazy design of yours is going to make us a lot of money."

"First off; I never said that! I said my latest can go underwater like a submarine; I never said it can turn into a submarine."

"Looks like a submarine to me." Howard choose to enter the conversation at this point. He returned my glare with a look of innocence and just pointed at the Sealion. "Just look at that thing."

Jaya just laughed and the two of them shared a high five at my expense. I decided to ignore the two idiots and concentrate on the operator who was putting my Battlesuit through it's underwater paces. I couldn't help but noticed it's shortcomings.

"Don't be too happy you two, the Sealion is hardly perfect." I continued. "It has no weapon system to speak of; it's slower than a Maid of Orléans on land; and less maneuverable than most other underwater Battlesuit in the water."

"You worry too much," Jaya said. "Your Sealion work fine as a scout Battlesuit. It has amphibious capabilities and Clockwork technology emit less energy than most modern technology so it is more difficult to track. h.e.l.l, you have to adjust most modern sensors just to pick up Clockwork tech. The biggest problem I see with the suit is that it can only go down to seven hundred meters."

"Did you and Van got something to do with that? I ran the simulation again and Dive state that the Sealion should be able to go down to a depth of a kilometer without any issue."

"You can't the simulator with everything. In theory, the Dive is correct but the Sealion is a Battlesuit. Combat stress is something you need to account for and according to Van, the Sealion just isn't as strong as a normal underwater submarine. That is to be expected as it isn't a submarine but don't worry about it too much. People aren't going to buy this Battlesuit because of how deep it can go. They are going to buy it for the transforming function."

"That's a trick that won't last long. Transforming technology is just a novelty."

"Oh, I won't say that."

I didn't get what Jaya was saying till I noticed that the operator of the Sealion was heading straight to the edge of the tank. At the last moment, he angled the Sealion towards the surface and the Battlesuit shot out of the water. The operator then switched on the transforming function and the Sealion transformed from the minisub mode into a walking Battlesuit in mid-air. The water tank was ten meters tall and the operator managed to land on it's feet.

Applauses erupted around us while my heart almost came out of my mouth. I really wish operators would stop doing that! Why do they keep insisting on transforming while moving? And I was just beginning to get a good impression of this operator! Jaya and Howard didn't share my concern though, both were clapping along with everyone else.

"See! Told you not to worry about it." Jaya said. "The transforming is both the hook and biggest selling point of the Sealion. Go to the hotel and have a good rest. You have to look your best for the speech tomorrow."

That caught me out. "Uh! What speech?"