Transformers: Survival of Defective Products

Chapter 22 Vehicle Mode!

After the vector was returned, the whole machine was filled with an excitement that was hard to suppress.

Having a vehicle mode is one thing, but successfully transforming after knocking someone down is another. What really excites her is that she hasn't had a chance to drive it out and test it out yet.

She barely managed to get home, but more than once she had the urge to just find an open space on the way and run away.

As soon as she entered the room, her initial thought of "calming down" was quickly crushed by herself.

Zhen Tianzun was sitting in the living room, seemingly doing nothing, and didn't even look up when he heard her return.

The next second, the vector was already rushing up to him, saying, "Quick, come with me to try out the vehicle mode."

Zhen Tianzun finally looked up at her.

She stood there, her optical lenses gleaming excessively, the whole machine radiating an unusual, overflowing excitement.

Zhen Tianzun stared at her for two seconds, then said in a nonchalant tone, "You finally couldn't hold back anymore?"

"Nonsense," the vector replied matter-of-factly. "I can transform now, but I have no idea how this thing moves. Come with me to take a look."

Zhen Tianzun leaned there, not getting up immediately, and slowly scanned her from head to toe.

"The way you look right now," he said casually, "is like you've just found some expensive parts."

The vector's lips twitched.

"More or less," she didn't deny it at all. "Anyway, are you free now? Come with me."

Zhen Tianzun gave a soft scoff and stood up.

"Let's go. Don't get too excited yet." He paused, his gaze returning to her. "You don't even know what your own vehicle is yet."

The vector sounded an "Mmm".

As for how much of that "hmm" she actually listened to, Zhen Tianzun, seeing that her whole body practically screamed "get out of here," didn't bother to investigate.

Outside the city of Kalon, there is a semi-abandoned old factory that has been partially leveled. The ground is empty with few obstacles, and a few sections of long-disused guide rails remain on the edge.

When Zhen Tianzun brought her there, the night had completely fallen, and the only sound was the soft rustling of the wind through the metal scraps.

Yin Vector stood in the center of the field, looked left and right, and his whole body was almost burning up with excitement.

"Is that enough?" She turned to look at Zhen Tianzun. "This place is big enough for me to run wild, isn't it?"

Zhen Tianzun stood to the side with his arms crossed, his tone indifferent, "Enough for you to flip yourself over first."

Yin Vector clicked his tongue, too lazy to pay attention to his unpleasant remark, and took a half step back.

The next second, the structure of the aircraft rapidly folded and contracted along the path that had just been restored and was already making her feel itchy. The dorsal guide vanes unfolded, the legs and waist locked in place layer by layer, and the magnetic levitation components at the bottom slid out along the hull.

Soon, the slender, low-slung, and excessively sharp magnetic levitation assault boat came to a quiet stop in the center of the test field.

The vector itself paused for a second.

……Depend on.

That's really cool.

Zhen Tianzun had been standing to the side with his arms crossed, as if he really just wanted to see if she would flip his plane over on the first try.

But after the vector truly transformed into its vehicle form, he took a few extra glances at it.

The assault boat was parked in the center of the field, with a low and narrow profile and sharply tapered hull lines, its front end so sharp it was almost aggressive. The dorsal air deflector structure, after deformation, unfolded into side wings and a stern stabilizing plate that fit snugly against the hull. The whole machine didn't look like the common wide, round, heavy civilian assault boats that were geared towards transport purposes; it looked more like something born for high-speed cut-ins and extreme maneuvers.

That's the problem.

She didn't resemble any of the standard military uniforms that Zhen Tianzun remembered.

At least not the ones he had seen before.

His gaze swept over the front of the hull and the magnetic levitation structure at the bottom of the boat twice, and his eyebrows twitched very slightly.

...Her vehicle mode is not quite right.

The vector was clearly not interested in thinking about these things with him.

She has only one thought in her mind right now.

Try it.

Just for a moment.

The next second, the magnetic levitation component at the bottom emitted a very light but very dense low hum. The entire assault boat had almost no dragging feeling that a heavy vehicle should have when starting. It was as if it was suddenly pushed forward by an invisible force.

With a "whoosh," the boat slid straight off the ground.

Even the vector itself was momentarily confused.

--no.

She didn't use much force at all.

The acceleration response in the assault boat mode was ridiculously fast. It was as if she had just suppressed the thought of "going forward" when the entire boat had already overdone it.

Behind them, Zhen Tianzun stood still, but the optical mirror noticeably sank a little: "...You didn't fully activate that attack just now."

At this point, the vector was too preoccupied to respond.

She was initially startled by the sudden outburst, but quickly regained her focus and tried to slow down.

Fortunately, although I started off incredibly fast, my response was equally quick.

She just instinctively had the thought of "slowing down," and the boat really did stabilize little by little, without continuing to rush forward out of control, and without the sluggish feeling of a heavy vehicle swaying wildly when slowing down.

The vector finally managed to stabilize itself, and tentatively circled around in a large arc in the distance before slowly driving itself back.

...That's too fast.

After she glided back close to the ground near Zhen Tianzun and the entire boat came to a stop, she transformed back into robot form, stood there quietly for two seconds, and her first words were: "I didn't exert any force at all."

Zhen Tianzun glanced at her and said, "I know."

He paused, then added, knowing she hadn't been listening at all: "That's why I said you didn't open it to its full potential that time."

Yin Xiang looked down at his hand, then turned to look at the path he had just darted out from. The tension in his heart from being scared hadn't completely dissipated, but what followed was another kind of excitement that was even harder to suppress.

"One more time."

This time, Zhen Tianzun didn't immediately criticize her; instead, he raised his hand and pointed to the other end of the field.

"Don't go crazy yet," he said. "Start with the basics: straight line, deceleration, turning, try each one one at a time."

The vector input gave an "Oh".

Whether he caught the implication in his tone that "you'd better not put yourself in the scrap heap" is hard to say.

She was indeed more restrained this time than before.

After transforming into a strike boat once again, she first tried a relatively gentle start.

The result was that with just the slightest intention to propel it forward, the hull slid off almost weightlessly. Some invisible force at the bottom lifted it off the ground first, then propelled it forward.

Zhen Tianzun stood to the side, his brows furrowing lower with each glance.

"This is not ordinary hover propulsion," he suddenly said.

While slowing down his speed, the vector replied absentmindedly, "I've discovered that I can lift myself up without relying on an orbit."

"What are you surprised about? Levitating on its own without a track is something that existed many years ago." Zhen Tianzun glanced speechlessly at the Graviton Vector, watching her circle around.

He knew she lacked many system modules and knowledge, but sometimes hearing such an ancient lament was another matter entirely.

"Don't act like you've just witnessed the spark of civilization being ignited. Those old-fashioned suspension systems that require tracks to run should have been in museums long ago."

"Fine, I admit I lack common sense, get to the point." Vector rolled his eyes at him inwardly. "...Then what did you just say wasn't normal propulsion?"

"I'm not talking about whether it will float or not," Zhen Tianzun said, watching her circle back, the optical mirror never leaving her side. "It's about the response."

He paused, his gaze sweeping over her assault boat hovering close to the ground.

"It starts too fast, decelerates cleanly, and is so stable that it doesn't feel like a normal civilian vehicle. The steering feedback is also ridiculously sensitive."

"It floats so well."

The vector remained silent for two seconds.

Then her mind automatically translated those sentences into a version that was more suitable for her.

...Anyway, it's really awesome.

After the vector in the core digested that "very awesome" sentence, it immediately thought...

...And what about turning?

Without much hesitation, she pushed the boat forward again, this time deliberately keeping the speed low, sliding along the edge of the course for a short distance, and then trying to follow the direction she intended to turn.

Then, almost without hesitation, the entire assault boat veered sharply in accordance with her intention.

The hull drew a low, sharp arc, and the tail deflector and bottom suspension system simultaneously expanded and contracted, the movements were so clean and fast that she barely had time to react.

The entire boat was startled by the vectoring, and the hull swung in an exaggeratedly sharp turn, its tail grazing the ground and drawing a cold, bright arc, almost throwing off her remaining control as well.

Did she just do a 360-degree super spin on the spot?!

"--etc!"

She forcefully dragged the boat back, barely managing to stabilize it. After sliding along the ground for more than ten meters, it finally stopped again, transforming back into a robot and standing there quietly for two seconds.

"Was my steering a little too sharp?"

Zhen Tianzun, standing to the side, felt his eyelids twitch slightly as he watched: "It's not spiritual. It's excessive."