The Legendary Junkmaster

Chapter 21: Brand Identity (1)

The next few days saw Jason tinkering with and testing his upgrades to the Primal. He added a rubber grip to the handle, which was made from those present on old rusted bicycles. This prevented him from being electrocuted every time he turned the damn thing on. He also added a few changes to the switch so that it could now control its power usage.

Now it could give a slight stun effect, the full-blown incapacitated state that he had ended up in, and an output that Jason could only some would be lethal. After his tests, he concluded that the low power setting could activate around thirty times, mid-power for fifteen uses, and the deadly dose would consume the entire charge in just three uses.

It was needless to say that Jason was ecstatic with the modifications. On top of that, it barely added any weight to his design. He felt a sense of pride and accomplishment wash over him as he stared at the Primal's new completed version. 'It takes roughly an hour to charge each battery, so I won't be making any more of these for the time being.'

Jason could only sigh in resignation. He had no plans to sell the recharging equipment as this would give too much away. Neither did he plan on spending his time constantly recharging this weapon for any potential customers. At most, he might consider making one solely for Dani, but that would still draw a lot of envy towards her.

'Still, this should be enough for her to win the competition. As long as she doesn't screw it up on her end anyway.' Jason sighed as he thought about what might happen if he entered the competition. 'Yeah, I'd definitely get my ass handed to me. There's no way around that.'

Even though he no longer wanted to join the Lord's Guardians, he still wanted to show what he was capable of. Still, that was impossible for him right now, considering what would happen to him due to showing off his power. Making items could quickly be passed off as just being gifted enough to find a use for anything laying around.

At least, as long as he did not take things too far too soon. People would definitely begin to question it if he suddenly came up with anything too advanced. So, for a while at least, Jason would have to stockpile anything that fit that category somewhere safe for his own use once he set out from Highrise.

'That day still seems so far away.' Jason gazed out of his window with a sad smile before turning his attention to female AI lounging around on his bed. "Alright, Syssie. It's ready for your review."

"Finally!" Syssie sprang up from the bed and made a show of fixing her virtual dress before heading over to take a look at what Jason had accomplished. For a split second, she seemed taken aback before giving her evaluation.

"Evaluation E Rank melee weapon suitable for Novices that incorporates blunt, piercing and electric types for damage output. The strength required to wield it efficiently would be 0.1. Value is estimated at twenty-five copper credits." Syssie nodded along with each critique she gave. "So, the total PP awarded for this creation comes to two and a half PP."

"Two and a half! That's all?" Jason felt his heart aching slightly as he looked at the weapon. He was unsure as to what he had expected, but it was certainly more than that!

"I'm afraid so, kiddo! What? Did you expect this to be a walk in the park? Like you'd just suddenly start unlocking everything like there was no tomorrow? This stuff takes time. I know it's technically bad for us, but you'd just do more harm than good to your brain in the short term." Syssie gave him a sympathetic expression. "Come on now, tell me what you want to name it so I can file it away in my databanks."

Jason groaned because he knew that she was right. Just the high PP costs of the skills he had looked at should have been enough to warn him on their own. He would be lucky to get his hands on one or two essential skills a month with how slowly he would gain PP. For now, he had to name his creation.

'Hm, I named its previous form due to how primitive its weapon style is. This is more advanced, though, so I can't use something similar. Its name should also reflect its ability in some way.' His mind ran through plenty of options while he tried to come up with something clever. 'In the end, I'm still terrible with naming things.'

"Let's just go with Thunderspear, put it under the SDW series." Jason eventually replied while lamenting his creative skills when it came to these matters.

"Yeah, no. Your naming sense sucks. How about this SDW: Riot 001." Syssie rolled her eyes at him before smiling as she gave her own advice.

"Don't look at me like that! I know it's terrible, but it still sounded better than Lightningspear. Even if that would have been more accurate." Jason replied to her look with a hint of indignation in his tone.

"Please tell me you weren't really going to go with that!" Syssie shuddered as she cringed at the alternative.

"Fine! Let's go with your suggestion!" Jason complained, even though he had to agree that her suggestion was far superior to his own.

"Got it. SDW: Riot has been created as a subfile of SDW: Primal." Syssie beamed as she saved herself the headache of having look through poorly named files. "Oh! Congratulations! Since this is the first time you have created this item and it's above the Frank, you have received twenty-five PP!"

"Wait! Didn't you say I would only get two and a half points? What's up with that?" Jason suddenly blurted out, confused by the sudden development.

"No idea. I'm just as clueless as you. Syssie shrugged her shoulders. If I had to guess, it seems like an incentive to create new things instead of churning out the same items time after time." Syssie replied with a casual expression.

'Hm. Makes sense. There are so few points available at the lower ranks, so if I want to grow fast, I have to expand on what I can make quickly.' Now that the turmoil in his mind had been solved, Jason turned his attention as to how she had come up with that name. 'It's perfect for crowd control. Especially if you want to take people alive. On the other hand, it still has the capability to deal with potentially lethal situations. It seems like a perfect weapon for the guards to use. I wonder if they're who Al sold the Primal's to.'

As Jason thought about this, he realised that it was a good business opportunity. It would be perfect for when he finally had a reliable way to charge the batteries without becoming exhausted or wasting his own time. Preferably after he had created something better for himself as well.

"Shit! That's right! I still need to come up with a mark to identify it as my work!" Jason felt perplexed when he remembered this issue. His naming sense was horrible, and so was any other artistic parts of him.

He could not risk coming up with something lame that people might want to cover up in shame or put them off buying his creations all together. At the same time, it would have to symbolise that he was dipping his toes into many fields and not just weapons. He wanted people to have a sense of pride in owning items with his mark emblazoned upon them!

Jason looked around his room to see if he could gain some inspiration. However, apart from his tools, there was only junk. His eyes lingered on the pile of ruined stuffed teddy bears for a moment. 'Will I fuck use one of them as my symbol!' Jason scoffed at his own mind for trying to take the easy way out. This decision was too massive to waste it like that.

'Using electricity like this is just the beginning. But, it's still the first step I've properly taken on this path. If that is where this began, then where will it end?' His mind raced to try and figure out that question. However, it kept returning to the old stories he was told about humans flying in the skies freely because of their inventions.

'A cloud doesn't represent the depths of the secrets I want to uncover.' Jason sighed as he thought about how to express this better. When his eyes glanced outside of his window, they came across the light of the stars flickering in the never-ending darkness.

At that point, Jason knew that he had found his answer to that part of the problem. Now he had an almost finished image in his mind. One that represented the starting and hopefully endpoint of his journey. There was just one thing missing. Something that represented his own personal touch and that of the things that the old world had left behind.

This time he scanned the spare mechanical components still laying on his desk. It did not take him long to decide on what it was that his symbol was missing. Jason chuckled lightly as the entire image became clear in his mind. 'Yes! That's perfect!'

Jason quickly raced around the room as he gathered up everything that he would need to create his own stamp. It would take some work to shape and create something that would work when hammered into the metal to leave his mark. However, Jason could not feel more excited right now! It was the feeling of creating his own personal identity that he could share with his creations that kept him working into the night.

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