Nana slid her finger across the control panel, and the data stream immediately switched to the vibration waveform graph. Chen Hao stared at the curve with its constantly compressing intervals, his brows furrowed.
“Once every forty seconds,” he said. “It’s faster than my heartbeat.”
Nana nodded. "The trend hasn't slowed down, and it's impossible to predict whether it's a foreshock at this time."
Chen Hao stood up, the chair dragging on the floor with a dull thud. He grabbed his coat hanging on the back of the chair and draped it over himself. "Never mind that for now."
"Aren't you going to send someone to investigate?" Nana asked.
“Investigate,” he said, “but not now. If the equipment isn’t set up properly, our men will be sitting ducks. We need to get our gear up first.”
He tapped the communicator. "Karl, see you at the workshop. It's time to test the new equipment."
The lights in the corridor flickered, as if they hadn't woken up yet. Chen Hao walked slowly, but without stopping. Nana followed half a step behind him, her optical module occasionally scanning the cracks in the wall, recording data on structural changes.
Karl was already waiting at the workshop entrance. He was squatting on the ground, holding a wrench, and tapping a metal frame at his feet.
“You’re too late,” he said.
"I'm not late." Chen Hao glanced at the time. "It's three minutes to twelve."
“I’m calculating the start date.” Carl stood up, tucked the wrench into his belt, and said, “Everything is ready.”
The workshop lights were half on. Two backpacks were placed in the center of the long table; one was a lightweight, silver-gray structure with a finely textured surface; the other was a dark brown leather bag with an exposed metal frame, like a small spine.
"Yours?" Chen Hao pointed to the gray bag.
“Nana made it,” Carl said. “She called it an ‘adaptive folding system.’”
“It’s not adaptive.” Nana walked in and went to the table. “It’s based on six preset terrain modes that automatically adjust the support points.”
"Sounds like an advertising slogan," Carl muttered.
"And what about this one?" Chen Hao patted his briefcase.
“The old way.” Carl picked it up and shook it. “Steel lining, double stitching, thickened bottom plate to prevent punctures. It won’t fall apart even if you carry fifty kilograms for three days.”
"How heavy is it?"
"8.3 kilograms."
Chen Hao looked towards Nana's side, "What about yours?"
"3.1 kilograms."
The room fell silent for a moment.
"You've lost more than five kilograms?" Chen Hao raised an eyebrow.
“When actually using it with weights, the difference in sensation will be even greater,” Nana said, “because the center of gravity is closer to the back.”
Carl sneered, "It's light enough, but let's see if it can withstand a fall for ten seconds."
“Then let’s test it.” Chen Hao opened the drawer and took out the test record book. “Let’s check the durability first.”
The first test was a bending test. A robotic arm gripped the shoulder strap and swung back and forth to simulate walking. Nana set the number of cycles to 5,000, equivalent to walking continuously for ten days.
Two minutes later, the shoulder straps of the traditional backpack remained completely still. By the time the innovative model had been used for the 3,200th time, tiny cracks began to appear at the joints.
"Stop," Chen Hao said.
The robotic arm stopped. Nana reached out and touched the seam, her fingertips bringing back a few bits of fiber.
“Material fatigue,” she said. “We need to strengthen the joints.”
“I told you so,” Karl said, arms crossed. “All that fancy stuff looks impressive, but it falls apart as soon as you start using it.”
"Its weight advantage cannot be ignored," Chen Hao said. "Carrying more than five kilograms of extra weight for a month is worth saving, even if it kills you."
“Then let’s fix it.” Carl took a small steel plate from the tool rack. “Add a metal clip to cover the seam.”
"It will affect the folding function," Nana said.
“Then don’t fold it all over,” Carl gestured. “Leave a movable hinge, and rigidly connect the key parts.”
Chen Hao thought for a moment, "Okay. You do the work, I'll write down the plan."
The second test was an impact resistance test. They put two backpacks into sandbags and dropped them from a two-meter-high platform. The traditional model bounced slightly upon landing, with the metal frame deforming by less than two millimeters. The innovative model, however, had its side shoulder straps ripped upon landing, and a section of the internal frame was misaligned.
“Tsk.” Karl shook his head. “If this thing were to roll down a ravine, everything inside would fly out.”
Nana squatted down to inspect the damaged area. "The outer layer of weave is not dense enough, causing stress concentration when subjected to force."
"Next time, add an inner lining," Chen Hao said. "If a soft one doesn't work, add a hard shell; it just can't break."
“I can redesign the buffer structure,” Nana said. “I can use a honeycomb energy-absorbing layer.”
“Sounds like a cookie,” Carl said.
"It's a structural term." Nana looked up. "How many kinds of cookies have you eaten?"
Carl was taken aback. "...I've never eaten honeycomb biscuits before."
Chen Hao laughed out loud, "Alright, continue."
The third test was a temperature control test. They placed two mannequins in a cryogenic chamber, dressed them in protective suits, and set the ambient temperature to minus thirty degrees Celsius.
Traditional models rely on three layers of insulation, maintaining an internal temperature of 12 degrees Celsius after two hours. The innovative model features a built-in micro-circulation system that regulates the internal temperature through a low-power heating film, stabilizing it at 18 degrees Celsius.
"A difference of six degrees." Chen Hao looked at the data table. "This is not a decimal."
"It's also more breathable," Nana said. "It won't trap sweat."
“The problem is the power supply,” Carl pointed out. “Your system needs a power source. If the battery fails, it’ll turn into a thin sheet of paper.”
“A spare insulation layer has been reserved.” Nana opened the design drawing. “The outer fiber itself has reflectivity, so it can still maintain basic insulation after the power is cut off.”
“That’s still not as solid as cotton,” Karl said, still unconvinced.
“But it’s half the weight.” Chen Hao closed his notebook. “For long journeys, temperature management is more important than weight. We’ll prioritize that.”
The fourth test was the deployment speed test. The innovative toolkit could automatically pop out the main support, unfold the multi-functional blade, and deploy the signal transmitter within ten seconds. Carl's hand tool bag required manual assembly and took at least one minute and twenty seconds.
“You’re using robotic standards to judge people,” Carl said.
"Every second counts on the battlefield," Chen Hao said. "Whoever is faster survives."
“But fully automatic systems are prone to jamming.” Carl picked up the toolbox and shook it. “There are loose parts inside.”
Nana took it, opened the outer casing to check, and found that "the fixing screw was only half a turn too tight."
“Look,” Carl said, pointing to the small screw that had fallen from his palm, “the details are poorly done.”
“I will fix it,” Nana said, “and add self-check prompts.”
The test was over, and a pile of data sheets lay on the table. Chen Hao sat in the middle, his left hand clutching the broken shoulder strap of the Innovation Bag, and his right hand holding Karl's metal buckle.
“The conclusion,” he said, “is that the new ones are light, warm, and fast, but not durable. The old ones are stable, heavy, and slow, but they won’t break if dropped.”
No one spoke.
“So,” Chen Hao placed the two items in the middle, “we won’t choose sides. We’ll merge.”
"How do we fuse them?" Carl asked.
"The main body uses Nana's design to reduce weight and improve efficiency. Key stress points, such as shoulder straps, base plate, and tool interface, are reinforced with your metal fasteners. The power supply section features dual-mode switching, with automatic and manual backup."
Karl stroked his chin. "...It's not impossible."
"You provide the materials and make the samples," Chen Hao said. "Nana will revise the drawings, and the new version will be ready tomorrow."
“It can be changed today,” Nana said.
“We have to try it tonight,” Carl said. “I don’t want to be woken up in the middle of the night to fix my backpack.”
“Let’s get started.” Chen Hao stood up. “Let’s modify three parts first: the shoulder strap, the base plate, and the main buckle.”
Nana opened the tablet and began adjusting the model. Karl rummaged through the cabinet and pulled out a roll of alloy sheet, cutting off a small piece to place at the break.
“Add an L-shaped support here,” he said. “Secure it with two rivets.”
"It will affect the folding angle," Nana said.
“Then move the fold point back one centimeter.” Carl drew a line on the paper with his pen, “to avoid the stress zone.”
Nana input the parameters and ran the simulation once. "Feasible. Strength increased by 47 percent."
“That’s enough,” Karl nodded.
Chen Hao watched the two of them talking back and forth, revising the blueprints again and again, and replacing the parts repeatedly, and suddenly laughed.
"When you two argue, it's like haggling at a market, but when you work together, it goes quite smoothly."
“I’m not making a fuss,” Carl said. “I’m just sticking to the bottom line of safety.”
“I’m not arguing,” Nana said. “I’m just stating the facts.”
"Alright." Chen Hao waved his hand, "None of you were arguing, only my ears were."
He walked to the corner, opened the storage box, and rummaged through it for spare batteries. At the bottom of the box was an old label that read "Polar Expedition Issuance List." He casually tore it off, crumpled it into a ball, and threw it into the wastebasket.
The lights in the hallway outside were still flashing.
The vibration monitoring device showed that the latest fluctuation occurred thirteen minutes ago, with the interval shortening to twenty-five seconds.
Chen Hao didn't look at the machine.
He returned to the table, picked up the modified shoulder strap sample, and pulled it twice.
"Is it sturdy now?"
“Theoretically,” Nana said.
“Don’t just talk about theory,” Carl said. “Just put it on the test machine and run it five thousand more times.”
"Test it now." Chen Hao loaded the sample onto the robotic arm. "We'll wait for the results."
The robotic arm began to swing, emitting a regular clicking sound.
Carl pulled out a wrench and disassembled another connector in preparation for pre-assembly. Nana looked down to check the new material serial number. Chen Hao leaned against the table, his eyes fixed on the counter on the screen.
one thousand.
One thousand five hundred.
two thousand.
When the counter jumped to 2003, a small puff of white smoke suddenly came out of the connection, followed by a crisp breaking sound.
The robotic arm stopped.
The three of them crowded around at the same time.
The edges of the fracture are blackened, resembling burn marks.
“It’s not a material problem.” Nana reached out and touched the broken surface. “It’s an internal short circuit that’s causing localized high temperatures.”
“The power cord is wrapped too tightly.” Carl peeled back the outer layer of fibers. “There was no slack in the wiring, and too many bends wore through the insulation.”
Chen Hao sighed, "It's all about the details again."
“Rewire,” Nana said. “Add an insulating sheath.”
“I’ll assemble it this time.” Carl took the parts over. “You guys design it, I’ll do the work. At least I know how to prevent it from exploding.”
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com