The Mech Touch

Was it possible for Carmine mech pilots to break through without using a neural interface?

Ves did not know the answer, and neither did the mechers.

They were not entirely clueless, though. His grandfather Benjamin not only regained his power as an expert pilot, but had grown until he had reached the limit of his rank. This proved that existing high-ranking mech pilots could fully control their Carmine mechs without any apparent complications.

The only question was whether Venerable Benjamin was able to break through.

Although he was far older than the other expert pilots of the Larkinson Clan, Ves was growing less confident in his ability to break through.

Benjamin was too old. His restoration had rejuvenated him to an extent, but there was a limit to how much his willpower was able to 'reverse' the damage and decay wrought by the human aging process.

Not only that, but he had stayed idle for far too long. He was no longer the vigorous mech pilot of the past. He was an oldster who was supposed to enjoy the twilight of his life. Switching gears to such an extreme extent was such a big change that he needed to spend a long time to become accustomed to a much more active lifestyle.

One thing was for sure. As long as Benjamin successfully managed to break through, he would serve as proof that it was possible for mech pilots to break through with the help of Carmine mechs. This single instance could serve as convincing proof that the Blood Pact was fully able to substitute the role of man-machine connection.

Ves closed his eyes for a moment before he faced Lady Romanda with a confident demeanor. "We have yet to obtain any hard proof that it is possible for mech pilots to break through with the help of the Carmine System, but I think it will not take long for relevant data to arrive. Even if it turns out that neither norms nor potentates can break through by relying on the Carmine System, it is not a major setback. Many people are already content if they can pilot any mech. Being able to break through and become an expert candidate is icing on the cake. Besides, who says that the development of the Carmine System has come to an end? It has only just emerged. There is still a lot of room for improvement. I myself have already come up with a very ambitious idea that involves combining my invention with hyper technology. Early results have been… promising."

There was no need for him to elaborate on this advanced topic. He proceeded to get back on track and complete his lecture on the Carmine System.

Lady Romanda looked intrigued to the point where she wanted to work with Carmine mechs right away.

"I will need the design files of one of your early Carmine mechs as well as RA assistance on the fabrication of a new proof of concept mech. Before I proceed with collaborating with you on the Swarm Project, I must understand the limits behind combining my design philosophy with your Carmine System. I will report to you as soon as I have discovered an ultra-large cockpit configuration that satisfies both of our requirements."

"I will tell the mechers to facilitate your experiments as much as possible. How likely do you think you'll be able to find a good solution that we can use as the basis of the subordinate mechs of the Swarm Project?"

"60 percent." The Terran Senior calmly replied. "The percentage should be higher, but I am lacking too much reliable data. My experience tells me that it is very much possible that this combination will yield the desired results. If we are unable to produce the right cockpits, then that is due to our own shortcomings, not the underlying tech."

That was an interesting remark. She must be feeling really confident in her tech if that was the case.

"Then go ahead and conduct your research. Please keep in mind that while you are working on the Swarm Project, your movement space will be limited. You are only permitted to stay aboard the authorized sections of the Tarrasque and inside Diandi Base. The need for secrecy for this project is too great. I hope you understand."

The woman nodded. "I am already aware of what my commitment entails. This is not the first time I am working under a strict regime. You do not need to be concerned for me. I will dedicate my time to the Swarm Project on a full-time basis."

"That is good to hear."

Ves left the Terran mech designer to her work after a while. He was not entirely certain whether she would be able to advance the Swarm Project by leaps and bounds, but he had a good impression of her so far. She displayed enough interest, intelligence and initiative to up to this point.

After spending time on his own work assignments, Ves eventually teleported back to Diandi Base hours later.

He dropped by his wife's design lab shortly afterwards and brought her up to speed on how Lady Romanda Devos fared in her first day at work.

"She sounds competent enough." Gloriana said as she tinkered on the incomplete design of the Riot Mark III Project while holding a napping Marvaine in her arms. "Your project is in good hands. Adding a woman to your otherwise male-dominated design team will keep you all focused and on track."

She lovingly kissed her son's head as she continued to refine the archemech frame that was supposed to embody chaos. Marvaine smiled and snuggled up to his mother even more as a response.

Ves did not even deign to respond to her insane argument. He only cared about the specializations and other work-related competencies of the members of the design team. The overarching goal was to deliver the best possible result for the Swarm Project. Being a man or woman should not have anything to do with this goal.

"Let me worry about the progress of the Swarm Project. Unless you are willing to assist in our work, please do not make any judgments like that." He said.

Gloriana rolled her eyes. "You are the one who felt the need to talk to me in order to reflect on your decisions. No matter. You are all Seniors who have accumulated enough work experience. The most you need to do is to find a good teamwork dynamic for your specific group of mech designers."

"I know what to do. Anyway, enough about the Swarm Project. Give me an update on the expert mech design projects. How are the Amaranto Mark III Project and the Riot Mark III Project doing as of late?"

"Our work is continuing to proceed according to schedule, Ves. Much of the labor lies in converting them from a conventional mech frame to a near-total archemech frame. The complexity of my work is not excessively high, but I have to manually solve many problems. I suppose I can automate these processes if time is of the essence, but I refuse to surrender this task to AIs. I need to do all of this myself. I need to know exactly why an archemetal component is designed and shaped in a certain fashion. If I cannot grasp the construction of a mech, then it is not my product anymore."

He understood what she meant. Mech Designers could automate their work to a much greater extent in order to save a lot of time and effort.

However, this not only resulted in qualitatively worse outcomes, but also caused mech designers to lose their understanding of their own work.

The more egregious downside was that mech designers that relied too much on automation lost the ability to solve these problems themselves. The lack of practice and improvement would eventually come to bite them in their behinds when they sought to design a more advanced mech that could not effectively be done by relying on heavy automation.

This reason and more was why Gloriana insisted on the manual approach. This was not just work to her. It was the method that mech designers used to improve their own 'cultivation', in a manner of speaking.

Ves had not been keeping up in his archetech studies as of late, so he still did not understand all of the complicated design choices made by his wife. The more he looked at the projection of the incomplete mech design of the Riot Mark III, the more he felt as if he was looking at a fundamentally alien machine.

It didn't matter. The whole point of bringing mech designers of different specializations together was to pool together rare and valuable skills. His wife did not fully understand how he designed his more advanced living mechs to this day, and that was also fine from her perspective. It was better to leave every complex design task related to E-technology Ves.

"By the way, the vessel carrying Ketis is due to arrive later this week."

"I have heard." Gloriana responded. "Andraste will be happy to see her swordsmanship tutor again in person. She has made sure to keep up her practice. I am not a swordswoman myself, but even I can notice how she is becoming increasingly more skilled at wielding blades. I had to arrange older and more experienced sparring partners for her because every child of her age that has learned how to wield a sword or any melee weapon for that matter is unable to keep up with her. Even the most combat-oriented designer babies are unable to surpass our baby girl."

She sounded awfully smug about that, as if it was her impeccable genes and upbringing that allowed Andraste to make so much progress.

Ves felt both proud and concerned for his daughter. Andraste was doing a little too great, to the point where the mechers and everyone else paid very close attention to her and the rest of his kids.

It was actually quite impressive how much better Andraste was doing. Her original designer baby package was not that high-end compared to the much more expensive and sophisticated gene treatments enjoyed by the wealthier Terrans.

Other factors such as her partial primorial human physique and early acquisition of a companion spirit clearly made all of the difference.

Ves felt both proud and concerned for his daughter. Andraste was doing a little too great, to the point where the mechers and everyone else paid very close attention to her and the rest of his kids.

They were destined to never lead normal lives. Their amazing potential and impressive growth rates meant that they were doomed to greatness.

The best Ves and Gloriana could do in the face of their brilliant offspring was to make sure to shower them with lots of affection. They needed plenty of reminders that they were only human in the end. Not everything in life should revolve around study and work.

"Why did you invite Ketis to New Constantinople VIII anyway? Shouldn't she be making her way over to the expeditionary fleet in order to support our troops at the front?"

"You are not wrong, but I need her here in order to fill her in on a few plans." Ves vaguely said. "The delay is worth it. Since the mechers don't allow me to ride with the expeditionary fleet anymore, Ketis is the best surrogate that I have. I need to make sure she understands my plans and intentions for the coming years. I won't be able to supervise the expeditionary fleet as often as I used to in the past. Ketis will have to serve as my agent and make sure that Commander Casella Ingvar, Master Benedict Cortez and the rest don't wander off in a completely different direction without my notice."

"I see. Will you also discuss the major overhaul of the First Sword with her?" She asked. "She has already approached me in order to inquire about the most significant changes to turning the First Sword into an archemech. Both of us will need to work extensively with each other in order to ensure the new archemetal components are still able to move and perform sword techniques with both strength and precision."

The First Sword was a mech that heavily emphasized technique. If the archemetal conversion caused the machine to perform worse in this aspect, then Ketis would probably reject the notion of transforming the expert mech into an archemech!

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