Chapter 1044

Cameron forced a smile. "The traffic's flowing smoothly now. He should be here in ten minutes at most. Please bear with us just a bit longer, Mr. Connolly."

"Ten minutes," Lorenzo replied coldly. "That's all you get."

"He'll definitely be here by then," Cameron said, maintaining his strained smile.

Meanwhile, at Greenbrooke Building, Matthew was crouched in a temporary office on the sixth floor while several researchers adjusted the mechanical exoskeleton's leg length, waistline, and arm span. After a few minutes, everything was properly fitted.

Sonny brought out a helmet with over a hundred fiber optic cables bundled at the back of the head. "Put this on—we need to collect your brain wave data," he said, handing it to Matthew.

Matthew examined the helmet, noting the circuit boards and mysterious metallic discs inside. It weighed at least ten pounds.

As he put it on, the thought of all those circuits and wires near his head made him uneasy. He could not shake the unsettling image of his skull being opened and connected to fiber optics, feeling almost like a robot being studied.

Sonny directed his team to connect the helmet's cables to a computer and began collecting brain wave data, including several emotional response patterns. Then, they uploaded the data into the exoskeleton's memory.

After a few minutes, Sonny explained, "The database has parameters for nearly ten thousand movements, now matched with your brain wave patterns. We can test it out."

"That was quick," Matthew remarked, surprised.

Sonny replied, "That's thanks to the comprehensive original database. We just needed to match it with your brain waves. Try walking around."

Matthew stood up excitedly and tried to take a step. The exoskeleton responded to his walking motion, activating various components. However, something felt off.

While walking was not difficult, it required more effort than moving without the suit. Confused, Matthew asked, "Isn't the exoskeleton

supposed to make movement

easier? Why does it feel more strenuous?"

Sonny explained, "You need to think about the movement first. The exoskeleton responds to your brain wave commands to complete the walking motion."

Matthew immediately understood the logic behind it. He was used to walking naturally, so he needed to consciously think about walking to generate the brain waves that would command the exoskeleton.

He closed his eyes and focused on lifting his right leg, feeling the exoskeleton's components raise his leg in response.

Opening his eyes, Matthew thought

about moving his left leg and

watched as the exoskeleton

activated, lifting it. After taking a few

steps he could not help but think.

but think beat that everything felt surreal-itwas as

if his consciousness had separated from his body.

His body did not need to move on its own; he just had to think about walking, and the exoskeleton controlled his body's movement, almost like puppeteering himself.

After circling the room several times, he began to get the hang of it, his movements becoming more fluid.

"Building the exoskeleton was the easy part..." Sonny mused from the sideline. "Creating the movement model database was the real challenge. It's truly an innovative achievement. I... never mind."

He had considered asking to license the movement database but realized how valuable it was. He knew Matthew would not sell it, so he dismissed the thought.

As Matthew grew accustomed to

the exoskeleton, he clenched his steel-covered fist. Though he wanted to find a safe place to test the sup's strength, the urge to throw a punch grew stronger by the second.

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