The Mech Touch

"Professor Larkinson, are Carmine mechs still mechs? I do not mean this as an insult to you and your work, but we have always been taught that a mech is unique from every other comparable machine because it is piloted by a human through the use of a neural interface. If the so-called Blood Pact works on completely different principles, then it should operate much differently from a traditional man-machine connection. Do Carmine mech pilots have to develop a completely new set of piloting skills in order to operate a machine through this Blood Pact?"

That was a rather interesting series of questions, and one that Ves felt the need to address before he was finally ready to unveil his products.

"You have presented us with an interesting philosophical subject matter." Ves spoke while he faced the speaker who had stood up from the stands. "I am personally of the opinion that Carmine mechs are not that different from mechs that can solely be operated with a neural interface. I do not think it is appropriate for us to use an overly narrow definition of mechs, as that will constrain our willingness to explore superior technological solutions. While I have yet to pilot a Carmine mech myself, I am told that many of the existing piloting skills transfer over when trying to control a machine through the Blood Pact. There is enough commonality between the usage of the two control systems. This is good news as conventional mech pilots who seek to obtain an edge can quickly adapt to the use of a Carmine System alongside a traditional neural interface without trying to operate both of them in completely different ways"

It would have been a nightmare if that was the case.

His answer provided a lot of interesting thought material to conventional mech pilots. While they welcomed the introduction of an alternate control system that gave them a backup option in case they incurred substantial brain damage in combat, they also felt mixed about the emergence of 'Carmine mech pilots'.

There was no way these norms could possibly fight as well as professional mech pilots, especially if they lacked the required training and education!

Fighting alongside Carmine mechs would probably lead to a lot of accidents and frustrations due to overenthusiastic amateurs messing around with war machines that they had little right to play around with. Whatever experience they accrued while piloting virtual mechs in their silly games, none of those experiences transferred well to real combat situations!

What about the long-term?

What if these Carmine mech pilots became good enough to rival conventional mech pilots or even replace them entirely?

Just the possibility that this could happen spooked a lot of conventional mech pilots! Would they be forced to bond with a single mech for the rest of their lives as well? Could they do anything to reject this rising trend?

The mech community needed to spend a lot of time on thinking and debating on the many issues that would inevitably arise once Carmine mechs became a part of the fabric of human society.

There was bound to be a lot of friction between regular mech pilots and Carmine mech pilots, but most people still possessed enough awareness that the native aliens were always supposed to be their real enemies.

After the question and answer session finally came to an end, Ves could finally proceed to introduce the results of the Swarm Project.

Ves grew more excited, and so did his fellow collaborators who remained silent all of the time.

He began to address his audience once more, knowing that he would not be speaking with almost every red human watching the historic broadcast, but also many more people in the future.

"The definition of mechs is an interesting topic of discussion, but a Carmine mech is still a mech as far as I am concerned. Now, I am well aware that many of you have been spending over an hour listening to me introduce and describe the wonders of the Carmine System to you. I believe that you are ready and eager to witness a practical example of this innovative new control system in action."

The section of the podium behind him suddenly began to shift. A new hole had formed where a brand-new mech slowly emerged from below!

Although the dim lighting only caused the outline of the new machine to become visible, people already developed a huge amount of anticipation towards this groundbreaking Carmine mech.

"Actions speak louder than words." Ves firmly stated. "My collaborators and I can spend another hour explaining the strengths and properties of our works to you, but a practical demonstration will satisfy your curiosity much more than any verbal description."

The lighting directed towards the Carmine mech slowly began to brighten, allowing the masses to obtain an increasingly clearer glimpse of the long-awaited machine. The Carmine mech's appearance did not match people's expectations.

The long and slender shape, the lack of humanoid proportions, the bright yellow and deep black alternating stripes, the flight system that vaguely resembled wings and the insectile limbs all made it clear that this was an insectoid mech!

"This is the third-class edition of the Yellow Jacket. There is also a second-class and first-class edition that will be introduced later. Ves introduced as he perceived people's confusion about the unconventional design of the Carmine mech. "As one of the three initial Carmine mechs available to the public, my design team and I have taken into account that the initial users will be enthusiasts who cannot wait and wish to qualify for

Combat as soon as possible. We have therefore decided to prioritize cost and simplicity. The Yellow Jacket is a wasp mech that is designed to function as an affordable frontline mech that is easy to learn, but still possesses a certain degree of depth. The use of modular components for the 6 hardpoints that are normally taken up by limbs can give their owners the option of dynamically changing their loadouts to fit the circumstances." Though Ves was already starting to lecture about the Carmine mech, what he shared was vital information that should cut off a lot of confusion and misconceptions about the Yellow Jacket.

Many mech insiders instantly understood the positioning of the Yellow Jacket model. Carmine mech or not, it was just an insectoid frontline mech that used a modular hardpoint system to achieve more versatility and customizability.

It was actually a thoughtful introduction of the Carmine System to red humanity. While the Yellow Jacket obviously offered very little of interest to conventional mech pilots, they should serve as a very easy introduction to piloting actual mechs.

At the very least, the inherent simplicity and lack of complications should make it so that Carmine mech pilots had less ways to screw up and cause a catastrophe! "Alright, now that you have laid your eyes on the first commercial Carmine mech, I would now like to ask for a volunteer among you to come up to this podium, enter the cockpit and form a Blood Pact with this Yellow Jacket so that you may prove once and force all that the Carmine System is not a figment of anyone's imagination. Soon enough, each of you will receive access to a new portal where you can submit your willingness to bond yourself to this third-class mech. In order to make this demonstration convincing enough, we will only accept applications from norms whose genetic aptitudes are confirmed to be unqualified."

A short moment of silence ensued before a lot of people began to discuss this exciting

Possibility!

There were many people who expressed interest in piloting a Carmine mech, but completely disdained to sully themselves with an inferior third-class product that was clearly aimed towards the bottom of the pyramid.

There were also other people that wanted to claim the honor and fame of becoming the first person to convert into a Carmine pilot in full view of red humanity, and signed up at

The first chance!

While the seconds passed, many mech pilots and mech designers already began to analyze the visible design elements of the Yellow Jacket and deduce its properties.

There were a lot of clever, experienced and insightful mech designers who instantly dissected much of the essence of the Yellow Jacket and gained a fairly complete thorough of the mech design!

Ves did not mind this behavior. Third-class mechs did not have much room for complexity to begin with, and the Yellow Jacket was never meant to be great. It was not

That complicated of a machine once he stripped out the Carmine System.

Once the people attending the product reveal in person had submitted their applications, a projection of a random selection program came into view.

The program began to execute its task. A large number of individual names began to

Scroll at a dizzying speed.

Slowly, the scrolling speed slowed down, allowing people to read the names more clearly.

As the metaphorical wheel gradually stagnated even further, it finally stopped at a single

Name.

[JACOB ABBOTT]

Many people groaned and expressed their regret at missing this historic selection!

They had all missed the chance to become a part of history!

As for the lucky individual who was bound to become a household name, a 31-year man

Stood up from the stands as soon as a spotlight shone on his position.

His body automatically floated up in the air before it gently flew over to the podium.

Once his body lowered to a position next to Ves, Jacob Abbott looked like he was doing a

Decent job at keeping in his excitement!

"Jacob Abbott." Ves addressed the lucky individual that had truly been selected at random. "Would you like to introduce yourself to everyone? Please keep it short." "Ah, Yes, professor! I am Jacob Abbott. I am a citizen of the Independent State of Roye in

The Liebhart Upper Zone. I am 31 years old, and I am currently employed as an

Apprentice Mech Designer."

An Apprentice Mech Designer!

That was an incredibly interesting candidate!

There was no way that Jacob was a potentate or received professional piloting training,

Or else he wouldn't have chosen to become a mech designer!

A lot of other mech designers grew eager. They seemed to substitute themselves in

Jacob's shoes.

If a mech designer like him could successfully pilot a Carmine mech, then there was no reason that other mech designers would fail!

"Before I let you try out the Yellow Jacket, please answer the following questions. First,

Do you have any piloting, combat or martial training?"

"No." Jacob shook his head. "I have only completed a short mandatory weapons training

Course. That is the extent of my combat training."

"Have you ever played virtual reality games where you can control virtual mechs?"

"Yes. I played those games for years in my youth, but I gradually quit because my studies

Consumed much of my time."

"What is your genetic aptitude?"

"F" Jacob spoke without any shame.

"We would like to verify that just to make it clear to everyone that this is genuinely the

Case."

"Please feel free to do so, professor,"

A pair of mechers approached from the rear. They held a strange apparatus in their

Hands. Once they came close enough, they carefully fit it over the head of the candidate.

The machine soon spat out a clear result.

[GENETIC APTITUDE: F]

"Good. Now that we have learned that your record is accurate on this, you may proceed

To enter the cockpit of the Yellow Jacket."

Jacob needed no more encouragement. He listened to Ves' brief instructions and began

To float towards the rear of the dormant Carmine mech.

Just as the entrance to the cockpit opened, Jacob became greeted by an unexpected

Sight that caused him to recoil in instinctive disgust!

"What is this?! Is this a biomech?!"

Hints of organic components became visible under the metal plating now that the

Cockpit opened up its entrance.

Ves smiled. "Oh, I forgot to mention that all 3 editions of the Yellow Jacket are actually

Cyborg mechs. Each of them partially consist of organic parts that extend beyond the Carmine System. There are good reasons for this that I will explain after we have concluded this demonstration. For now, please proceed if you are willing to continue,

Jacob."

The first-class Apprentice Mech Designer had never come into contact with biotechnology before, but he quickly managed to suppress his disgust reaction. He held his breath and decisively entered the cockpit!

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