The Mech Touch

As Ves and his wife continued to tour the Prescott Museum, he received an interesting message.

"Curious."

"What is it?" Gloriana asked as she stopped and turned around.

She let go of Clixie, who managed to remain aloft and avoid falling to her death with the help of her antigrav harness.

"Miaow!"

"I just received a message from Miles Tovar. We finally managed to hook a neural interface specialist."

That instantly aroused Gloriana's interest.

"Really?! That's great! Having a mech designer on our staff who has received MTA approval to study and design neural interfaces is a great addition to our Design Department. That was one of the major specialties that we have always lacked. Now that we have someone like that onboard, we have gained one of the requirements to design expert mechs. We can also fine tune the neural interfaces of our other mechs so that they facilitate better connections. This is perfect!"

Ves raised his palm. "Hold on for a moment. Don't celebrate too quickly. Let me give you the mech designer's record and interview transcript."

He transferred over the doc.u.ments to her comm so that she could skim through them in her mind with the help of her implant.

Her smile still held strong.

"I don't see anything of concern, Ves. Mr. Arkan's record looks clean enough. Even if he is a loyal citizen of the Telva Association, he hates his former employers, so it is unlikely that he will cling onto old loyalties once we bring him to the fold. His MTA certificate is still valid so he is authorized to develop new neural interface models without requiring any extra permissions. As long as his neural interfaces doesn't result in mass casualties, his services are ours to keep!"

Ves became a little more strained. "Gloriana, don't you see the problem here? Sure, Richard Arkan seems like a bright Apprentice who possesses a rare and valuable specialty, but did you hear what Miles had to say about the fellow?"

"Mr. Arkan sounds like an ambitious mech designer. He certainly dreams big. That is a trait that every successful mech designer possesses. I am sure he will make it far in his career. He kind of reminds me of you in that regard, hihi!"

Ves didn't see what was funny about this situation. As far as he was concerned, the comparison to him made Arkan even less desirable in his eyes!

As someone who frequently engaged in risky experiments, Ves was more aware of the potential risks and dangers than anyone. While there were plenty of times when he engaged in radical experiments, he always tried to stay away from them unless the situation was too dire.

At other times, he tried his best to limit his impulses and adopt a slower approach. He developed plenty of crazy and risky ideas as time passed. That didn't mean he should investigate them all. He was still capable of exercising restraint.

At least he thought so. He hadn't killed himself so far, so he must be doing a good job, right?

Ves dealt with these kinds of temptations every day. It was frustrating for him to think up a good idea, only to put it in the freezer because he was too incompetent to explore it further.

Yet what about others? Would other mech designers like him be able to make the decision to shelve a dangerous idea because the risks were too great?

His trust in other people was relatively poor. He may trust himself to hold back from performing a ruinous experiment that was associated with too many risks, but that didn't mean he was willing to give others the benefit of the doubt!

Perhaps some might argue that Ves should be more sympathetic towards a like-minded mech designer, but he was the opposite. He became more wary towards those who had the urge to engage in reckless experiments!

"There are too many warning signs in Mr. Arkan's materials. I don't think it is a good idea to bring such an unstable factor into our Design Department." He declared.

Just as he was about to transmit an instruction to strike the applicant off the list, Gloriana placed her palm on his shoulder.

"Don't be so quick to throw this opportunity away. Haven't you been looking to recruit a neural interface specialist for at least a year? Now that someone is at your doorstep, why are you thinking of chasing him away? You're missing a golden opportunity here!"

"Gloriana…"

"He's young. Well, young enough. He's still an Apprentice. We can mold him, Ves. We can shape his methods and approach like we did to all of our Braves and Erudites. I'll personally take him under my wing so that I can encourage him to slow down and be more thoughtful about his implementations."

Ves sighed and pushed her hand off his shoulder. "There is a limit to how much you can indoctrinate a mech designer. Even if Mr. Arkan is an Apprentice, it looks like he has already chosen his direction."

"We should try anyway. We can always reassign him if he turns out to be as you feared."

"I don't want to take the risk."

"Then at least keep him on hold for the rest of the month!" Gloriana quickly suggested. "We have no idea if another neural interface specialist will apply to join our clan! We should keep our options open just in case Mr. Arkan is the only choice."

She made a good point. Even if Ves felt that taking in a personality like Mr. Arkan was troublesome, he did not want to rely on external consultants to solve his neural interface needs.

A neural interface designer introduced a lot of new possibilities to Ves. Out of his d.e.s.i.r.e to come away from the Life Research Association with at least one of these specialists in tow, he accepted his wife's advice.

He transmitted a brief message back to Miles. The recruiters shouldn't reject Mr. Arkan's application, but they shouldn't be in a hurry to complete the necessary checks and examinations either.

Gloriana grinned. "You've made the right choice. In order to design a more perfect mech, we need to move away from our dependence on standard MTA-provided neural interface models. Their potential is too limited in order to ensure maximum safety."

Technically, that wasn't entirely true, but Ves didn't need to share this little detail.

"Let's just move on. There are still exhibits that we haven't seen yet. I've been eying that human mech over there for a while now."

Upon his urging, they floated over to a mech that looked more human than many of the other machines they had viewed. They stopped next to an older dignified-looking man who was also studying the fleshy mech.

As they flew closer, Ves began to feel strangely uncomfortable in the presence of the biomech.

[Devin & Devin NuMan Beta Version]

The so-called NuMan was a humanoid mech that didn't appear to have any obvious weapons or inclinations. The uncovered mech's entire body was tall and lanky. Its thick and resilient flesh was covered by pale human-like skin.

In order to prevent giant human mechs like these from looking too o.b.s.c.e.n.e, their designers usually left out their genitals and other unnecessary characteristics such as n.i.p.p.l.es, hair and even facial organs.

Not so for this disturbing mech. Its designer seemed to have eschewed the customs of the biomech industry and attempted to translate the human form into the organic machine as accurately as possible!

There was a bit of hair on the c.h.e.s.t of the biomech, which helped cover up the giant n.i.p.p.l.es that Ves had no d.e.s.i.r.e to see, even if it was in a male form.

What was even most outrageous was that the museum curators equipped the NuMan with a codpiece of all additions!

It was definitely a later addition. The metal codpiece looked completely at odds with the aesthetics of the rest of the mech.

Ves and Gloriana couldn't help but stare at it for a time.

"This.." Gloriana trailed. "Do you think.. there is something underneath this codpiece?"

"It.. kind of looks that way." Ves lamely said.

The old man floating a small distance away began to chuckle. "This mech is definitely equipped with a 'weapon' underneath its belt."

Gloriana turned around. "How do you know, sir?"

"I knew the designer who concocted the NuMan." The older man replied. "There is more to this mech than meets the eye."

Both Ves and Gloriana noticed that the other person's man was very unusual.

"Who may you be, sir?"

"Werther Cline."

Gloriana suddenly straightened her back. "It is an honor to greet you, sir!"

Ves already knew that Werther Cline was a Master Mech Designer the moment he came close. The older man not only exuded the unique kind of grace and wisdom that was common to old geezers who were over two centuries old, but also possessed a mind that was blindingly strong to his spiritual senses.

No one else but Master Mech Designers possessed minds and spirits that were at this level!

Yet despite the fact that Ves was in the presence of one of the greatest mech designers of the star system, he kept his emotions in check. He had no entanglement with Master Cline. They were just passerbys.

"Can you tell us why this mech is so.. Human-like?" Ves curiously asked as he drew his attention back to the odd monstrosity.

"That's because it is human."

"What?"

"It's in the name." Master Cline slowly explained. "Nu. Man. New Man. If you scan the insides of this 'mech', you will notice that it not only possesses the organs of a typical biomech, it also holds the organs of a true human. The NuMan possesses a heart, a pair of lungs, a liver, a pair of kidneys, a stomach and so on. While they are present in a more miniaturized form, the NuMan is truly designed to contain the full capabilities of a human."

That.. sounded crazy! Many human organs had no place in biomechs! They merely took up space while bringing almost nothing to the table. Biomech designers developed far more efficient organs that could keep the organic machines running at much greater efficiencies.

"What is the point of this mech?" Ves frowned in doubt. "A war machine doesn't need to contain so many redundant organs."

"That is because the NuMan wasn't designed for combat. It was designed to replace the ailing human body of my colleague. What you are looking at is a giant visual replica of one of my best friends when he was in the prime of his life!"

"WHAT?!"

Neither Ves nor Gloriana could remain calm anymore. The NuMan's absurd purpose astonished them both. They never thought that a biomech designer was extreme enough to design a new 'replacement' body that also happened to look as if it could wrestle against other mechs!

Ves couldn't imagine living a life with a body like this. How would he ever be able to get around indoors?

"Did.. the mech designer responsible for developing the NuMan succeed in his goal?"

"Absolutely not." Master Cline sternly responded. "This mech is an abomination and a severe threat to the continuation of the LRA's biomech industry. Still, before the Planetary Guard barged into his secret lab in order to stop him from completing his self-developed consciousness transfer procedure, it was too late. He already transferred his mind to the NuMan, or at least that was supposed to happen."

"What exactly occurred?" Gloriana asked.

The Master sighed. "We don't know, but the NuMan wouldn't be here if it housed the consciousness of an actual human mech designer. After performing an extensive series of examinations, we concluded that the experiment failed. The NuMan is still an empty shell."

That.. sounded unfortunate. Even if the experiment violated all kinds of rules, Ves couldn't help but admire the daring behind it all. It took a special kind of courage to take this unprecedented step.

"If this is a prohibited experiment, why show it off? Shouldn't the NuMan be incinerated or something?" Ves asked.

The old Master shook his head. "That is a short-sighted decision. The mech designers of today must remember the mistakes of the past. In order to prevent subsequent generations from attempting a similar mistake, we decided to preserve the NuMan and let everyone witness the folly of its designer."

The NuMan was a symbol of a biomech designer's failed ambition!

"What was its designer trying to accomplish, exactly?"

"Why, longevity of course." Master Cline smiled at them. "The two of you are too young for this, but when you approach my age, you become more willing to do anything to live a longer life. My old friend.. tried to extend his life through unorthodox means. You see, the NuMan… is immortal."

"Immortal?! How is that possible?!"