The Mech Touch

The spiritual foundation of a mech represented the machine's intrinsic life. The greater the foundation, the greater its strength in certain aspects.

Ves believed that strengthening the foundation in this way was a convenient way to quickly infuse a mech with more life.

Obviously, it was unrealistic to apply it to every copy of his mech designs, especially his mass produced models.

It took a decent amount of spiritual energy to empower a design to full saturation. The amount was far more than what a typical mech pilot could ever provide through spiritual feedback under normal conditions!

Although it sounded nice to empower an individual mech to the limit of what it could take at the beginning of its life cycle, the risks were very evident as well.

Imparting tools with life was not always a good idea.

How did a nutrient pack feel when it lay in some dusty crate for a couple of centuries?

What would a handgun think if its owner never bothered to perform maintenance on the weapon?

Not everyone treated their tools with care and reverence. Those who used them as disposable items and those who picked up bad habits never thought about changing their behavior.

Why should they?

Tools were lifeless objects.

It may be different if they were pets, but mechs were far from that. There was no particular reason to treat them any better.

To be sure, Ves did not want to usher forth a future where every single object, from nutrient packs to his shaving bot, gained sentience!

In the context of his current experiment, Ves believed that mechs were worthy to gain more life. They were much more expensive and much more impactful than something as trivial as nutrient packs. They were meant to last for years or possibly decades and their performance in battle directly affected the lives of millions or billions of people.

It was worth it to empower them. Ves loved anything that could increase the cooperation between his mechs and mech pilots!

However, his enthusiasm tempered a bit when he reminded himself that not every method was safe.

As the first mech with 100 percent saturation was about to go online, Ves began to grow a little worried.

He vividly recalled the instance where a pirate mech pilot's head exploded due to his inability to take in so much spiritual input. The mech back then was too strong. If the mech ever exerted any pressure, then the huge disparity in power gave no chance for any ordinary mech pilot to resist!

As Ves observed the projection of the mech pilot entering the cockpit, Ves quickly recalled the fellow's name. He had already inspected each and every Avatar mech pilot assigned to the Bright Warriors and noted down their spiritual strength.

The first one to come up possessed no spiritual potential. That paradoxically meant that this particular Avatar had a higher chance of surviving any accidents due to the difficulty of affecting his tiny but elusive spirit.

In contrast, someone with vivid spiritual potential such as Imon Ingvar had to endure greater risks. This was because his greater spiritual potential had to expose itself and thereby open itself up to external attacks.

All of this sounded rather strange and counterintuitive to Ves, but this was the way the rules were set. He had no choice but to work around these conditions.

"This mech is different from the others." Ketis stated as she continued to observe the same projections that he was watching. "Your posture has grown a lot tenser than usual when this machine has come up. You look as if a fight is about to start."

Ves did not hide the reason for his tension. "The last batch of Bright Warrior mechs are the most special ones of them all. If you imagine the previous ones as partially filled bottles, these ones are filled to the brim. The pressure within these mechs are the greatest, and if any of it spills to the mech pilot, then I need to be ready to shut the mech down."

She gazed at him with concern. "How can that be? You always make sure that your mechs are as comfortable to your mech pilots as possible. Well, your Doom Guard is an exception, but these are Bright Warriors. They are some of the best mechs for our Larkinson mech pilots."

"Let me explain this in a way you can understand. Take your big CFA greatsword." Ves gestured towards the giant sword sheathed in a floating scabbard following Ketis from behind. "When a Swordmaiden wields this weapon, will she ever cut herself?"

"Absolutely not!" Ketis shouted back. She looked insulted that someone would even entertain this thought! "Learning how to control our blade is one of the first lessons we learn. We are never allowed to hold a real blade until we can prove with our practice weapons that we never let our blades get the better of us. The Swordmaiden must wield the sword, not the other way around."

"That's a good lesson and outlook. The same applies to this situation. I fear what is about to take place is much like handing someone such as Maikel your sword. It's far too powerful for him. Even holding it is risky."

Then.. if it's so dangerous, why go through with this test?"

"Because we have no choice." Ves ruefully smiled as the mech pilot was about to activate his mech. "The danger of wielding your sword is great, but so is the power you can exert. In an emergency, we need to put as many swords in people's hands as possible. All I want to see now is whether our Avatars are strong enough to harness their empowered mechs."

The moment that Ves had been waiting for had come. The mech pilot booted up the mech.

It was as if a hibernating monster woke up. The mech pilot quickly sensed something profound through the man-machine connection that was just starting to go active.

"What is this..?"

Ves and Ketis both looked at the projection of the interior of the cockpit and the mech pilot's life signs.

The latter already began to fluctuate wilder. Evidently, the mech pilot was experiencing increased activity and stress right away.

Roughly a minute passed as more of the mech became active. With each additional system that came online, the man-machine connection became more intense.

Suddenly, just as the mech was ready to move, the mech pilot suddenly convulsed in his seat!

"AAAAHHH! IT'S TOO MUCH! MY MECH.. IS.. TOO STRONG!"

The Avatar contorted against his seat in an ugly fashion, so much so that the sight shocked everyone who witnessed the sudden turn of events!

Not only that, but the Avatar mech pilot's life signs also began to enter dangerous territory! The moment some of the indicators such as heart rate and brain activity spiked into the red zones, Ves immediately pressed the shutdown button.

"Abort the current test! Medics, enter the cockpit and stabilize his condition!"

A prepared crew of medics and doctors led by Ranya Wodin immediately moved into action once they received the command.

Though the bootup process had gone wrong, the Avatar mech pilot only suffered for less than ten seconds. Though his brain had come under enormous stress, it shouldn't have incurred too much damage. Hopefully none of it was permanent.

Ketis and the assistant mech designers in the design lab all looked horrified at what happened.

How could this session go so awry so quickly?

Before, the Avatars mech pilots that had come before all experienced varying degrees of euphoria. They achieved significantly better scores when they piloted their newly-enhanced mechs.

It was only now that the bestanders realized that this change wasn't as positive as everyone thought.

While the medics took the injured Avatar mech pilot away, nobody knew what to do at the moment.

"Resume the test." Ves spoke with a heavy voice. "I need more data. A single doesn't necessarily point to anything. I need at least a few more observations."

"Is that a good idea?" Ketis frowned.

"I.. don't know. This could have been a fluke. If I want to rule it out, I need to run this test multiple times. Out of consideration of the danger to our mech pilots, I'll lower my demands, but I need at least three more tries."

Ves contacted the mech pilot who was supposed to go next.

"I need you to be brave. You may refuse to participate in this test. I won't blame you if you turn away. However, if you think you have what it takes to control your mech, then I won't say no if you wish to proceed. What is your answer?"

The man looked a bit discomfited, but he put on a brave face. "I am an Avatar! I will do what is necessary!"

"Good man! Then head inside the cockpit of your mech and mentally ready yourself."

Ves briefly smirked as he closed the private channel. There was hardly any chance his Avatars would refuse his demand. As long as he phrased his request as an expectation, any Avatar would feel compelled to meet it! As the golden boys of the Larkinson Clan, how could they ever disappoint the clan patriarch's expectations?

As the second test with a different mech at full saturation commenced, Ves became extra alert.

Initially, the bootup process looked similar to the last one. The second Avatar mech pilot experienced the same profundity from his newly-empowered machine.

Yet just a minute later, the man's life signs immediately spiked into the red zones straight away!

"I CAN'T HANDLE IT! IT'S TOO STRONG!"

Ves had already slapped the shutdown button the instant the life signs went crazy. Due to his faster reaction, the mech shut down five seconds faster than the previous one. The mech pilot even managed to stay conscious this time!

That said, there wasn't much to celebrate about with this test. Two successive mech pilots evidently experienced much more spiritual input than they could handle.

Ves hadn't seen any signs the Bright Warrior mechs had turned against their own mech pilots. The beginning stages of the formation of the man-machine connection went smoothly in both cases. The Bright Warrior mechs obviously liked their familiar mech pilots, yet something went wrong anyway.

The most likely explanation for this detrimental outcome was the analogy he had just shared with Ketis. Maybe the fully saturated mechs were too powerful for their own good. Their mech pilots simply weren't capable enough to harness the most radically-altered mechs.

Hardly anyone thought the experiment should still proceed, but Ves wasn't satisfied yet. Currently, he only had two instances of mech pilots failing to endure the strain exerted by their fully saturated mechs. Both of the injured Avatar mech pilots just happened to possess no spiritual potential.

What if the mech pilot was stronger this time? What if he put someone Imon Ingvar up next?

Ves hesitated. Those with greater spiritual strength also became exposed to more damage whenever something went awry. Perhaps Imon's head would be the latest test subject to feel what it was like to have his head blown apart.

"That isn't supposed to happen." Ves bent his head and rubbed his smooth-shaven chin. "If my theories are right, then a stronger mech pilot should have better chances of harnessing a powerful mech."

Despite the bad outcomes that had just occurred, they concurred with his theoretical framework. "My predictions should still be accurate!"

Ves commanded Imon Ingvar to go next. The mech champion was different from the last two Avatar mech pilots. The former noble possesses a more robust piloting foundation and his spiritual potential might be able to provide him with enough strength to keep up with his empowered mech.

"Mr. Ingvar, I expect more from you. Will you go next?"

"I will!" Imon said with fiery eyes. "I don't know what you have done to our mechs, but I think they're all stronger. I don't want my mech to be weak. Please let me proceed!"

"Then go, Mr. Ingvar. Your mech is ready to receive you. When you are ready to interface with your mech, keep our motto in mind. Per angusta ad augusta!"

"For the clan!"