Queens, at Li Si's home.
Max sat uneasily on the sofa, his body hunched slightly. He soon seemed to realize that he was sitting awkwardly, so he picked up the coffee on the table and took one small sip after another to hide his nervousness.
"Max, don't be so tense. Just make yourself at home."
Li Si said helplessly.
"Okay."
Max nodded several times and took a few more sips of coffee. After a moment of silence, he spoke. "Mr. Lee Stein, you said earlier that you wanted me to help..."
"I told you, just call me Li."
Seeing that Max still looked uncomfortable, Lee Stein sighed and stood up. "Come with me. I'll show you what I've been working on."
With that, Li led Max to his garage—or rather, his workshop.
The roll-up door rattled as it rose, revealing the scene inside.
Max's gaze went straight to the robot in the middle of the garage. It was impossible to miss.
"My God..."
Max froze, murmuring involuntarily.
"Well, Max?"
Though Li didn't consider it particularly sophisticated, seeing Max's reaction still filled him with a little pride and satisfaction.
"That's one impressive piece of work."
Max said, staring at the giant robot's upper body without turning around.
It had to be said: even without its outer shell, the complex components and metallic mechanical arms had an appeal to most men every bit as strong as that of melee weapons and firearms.
"I call it a Transformer, a robot that can switch between a car and a humanoid form."
Li smiled as he introduced his creation bit by bit, then showed Max an animated model of it transforming.
"I've finished the main design, but as you can see, these tangled wires look awful. I was trying to figure out how to fix them, and then I met you today, Max!"
Lee Stein tapped his forehead, putting on a troubled expression. Then his tone turned serious.
"Max, I admire your talent, so I'd like to invite you to join my project. How about we work together to improve this big guy? I'll put your name down as second author!"
"Me? You mean... you want me to help finish it?"
Max looked utterly incredulous, then hurriedly waved his hands. "No, no..."
"Ah, wait. I mean, I'd be happy to help, but this is your creation, Li. You've already completed it!"
Max anxiously tried to explain himself.
"All I can do is make a few minor improvements to its circuits. You don't need to put my name on it. It should belong to you!"
"Don't turn me down, Max."
Li cut him off. "You deserve this. If you put in the work, you should get something in return. If you think your contribution isn't worth the reward, then you should focus on doing better."
"But..."
Max froze, then took a deep breath and said solemnly, "I understand, Li. I'll do everything I can to perfect this big guy!"
"Hey, enough with the emotional speeches. You're officially on the job now, Max. I need to finish making these batteries, so come give me a hand!"
Li had already walked over to the workbench. Watching Max make vows to thin air, he couldn't help laughing as he waved him over.
"No problem."
Max answered enthusiastically and hurried over.
"Here are the battery design plans. The appendix covers the battery pack. Take a look and see if you spot any problems."
Li carefully picked up the storage box containing the graphene sheets, pulled a stack of stained design plans out from underneath it, and tossed them to Max.
"This is... Li, your graphene battery technology is already this advanced? Its performance is five or six times better than the concept products in the company lab!"
As he flipped through the plans, Max gradually became engrossed in them. It took him a long while to look up in astonishment.
"There's nothing surprising about it. The only thing holding graphene battery technology back is the cost of producing graphene. The technology itself just depends on how much time and money you put into it."
Li kept his head down, focused on making the unfinished graphene batteries. He spoke casually. "Max, take a look at the battery pack design. Also, all of the Transformer's plans are in the notebook over there. Familiarize yourself with its circuits first."
"I've looked over the battery pack, sir. I think we could add a regulator. With proper control, we can minimize unnecessary energy loss," Max replied.
"You're in charge of the circuits and power systems. Go ahead and get started however you think best, Max."
"No problem, sir."
Max looked excited and ready to get to work. He examined the design plans while picking up a pen to sketch out some ideas.
Li glanced up at Max, who was brimming with enthusiasm, and grinned.
If nothing went wrong, Electro—Max—was already in his hands as a powerful ally.
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