The Mech Touch

The new form of adaptation that Professor Benedict came up with was powerful!

Since Ves possessed a thorough grasp of the relevant fields due to his System-acquired Skills and Sub-Skills, he could more easily appreciate the charm of the Senior's bold idea.

Most mechs possessed internal architectures that were fixed from the beginning. They needed to be strong enough to withstand both powerful currents and strong external shocks. If a machine was weaker in either area, then it was liable to fall apart in battle. Relying on a strong structure and solid materials helped with strengthening mechs in the right ways.

Of course, all of this rigidity also came with downsides. The inability to change to a more suitable energy transmission layout meant that mechs might not be utilized in the most optimal fashion at certain points of a battle.

In fact, this was not an unusual sight at all. There were plenty of instances where mechs fought in circumstances that they were not designed to perform well. Instances where light mechs fought against offensive melee mechs and artillery mechs fighting up close against knight mechs happened more often than not due to the inherent unpredictability of battles.

In the same fashion, the expert mechs of the Larkinson Clan excelled in certain situations and did not do well in other situations.

Given the kind of battles the Larkinson Clan tended to fight, Ves had designed all of his expert mechs to put more emphasis on peak performance.

This meant that they pumped a lot of energy into their various power-hungry parts so that they could perform at their very best.

While this sounded great, the problem with doing so was that all of the components dropped in efficiency. The greater the performance, the more energy was being wasted!

This would ultimately lead to situations where his expert mechs ran out of steam remarkably quickly. This was highly inconvenient in battles where any expert mech returning to its mothership to resupply would inevitably open up a gap in the battle lines.

Lower efficiency also resulted in the generation of excess heat. All of the Larkinson expert mechs scored rather poorly in this regard. Even the Dark Zephyr could quickly heat up if it chose to go for speed over minimizing its energy signature.

Ves glanced at Professor Benedict, who looked both proud at his idea and eager to implement this challenging arrangement.

As far as he knew, Professor Benedict's primary selling point was that he was able to design mechs that continued to perform rather efficiently despite being configured for peak performance.

No matter what kind of mission his mechs were designed for, they all lasted longer, performed a bit better and generated less heat.

Naturally, a Senior Mech Designer possessed many other tricks and methods, and now he sought to develop another weapon that he could put in his arsenal!

"This solution… how does it work, exactly?" Ves asked. "I see you are attempting to make a morphable internal architecture, which has been done before, but what makes yours different? Also, how will you even make it possible? Will you rely on nanotechnology? That will introduce a lot of new vulnerabilities and complications to the Mars Project."

Professor Benedict looked appreciatively at Ves. "Those are good questions. Let us sit down, because my answers are not simple."

Both of them moved to a nearby lab table where they both sat down. The Senior even used his cranial implant to call down a bot that served tea to them both.

Ves raised his delicate and refined porcelain cup and studied it for a moment. He could not imagine that someone who used to make pirates shiver in their vacsuits would fancy such dainty little cups.

He raised his cup to his lips and took a sip. The tea was nothing fancy to him. He only tasted a hint of citrus-like notes but it might as well be hot water to his dulled taste buds.

"How do you like my tea?" Professor Benedict curiously asked.

"Uh. Its a bit plain. My tastes are a bit abnormal due to my messy augmentations. I am not a connoisseur."

"That has become quite obvious." The older man said in a depreciating tone. "A pity. I cultivate tea in my spare time. I have always tried to recreate the taste of the classic Earl Grey tea that I have enjoyed in my youth."

"I… did not expect you to have such a hobby."

"Every mech designer needs a hobby. As much as people like us prefer to spend our every waking moment on designing a stronger mech than before, we are still bound by the weaknesses of our flesh and blood. As humans, we are both empowered and restrained by our irrationality. Managing our mood and emotions are just as important as managing the energy transmissions of a mech. A hobby such as cultivating tea is always relaxing to me because it is a puzzle to me. There are so many variables that determine the taste of a cup of tea that I cannot help but get engrossed in finding the best combinations. If I did not become a mech designer, I would have preferred to grow my own specialty teas."

"..."

Ves could not imagine for a moment that someone who had the blood of an expert pilot on his hands could express such love and passion for such a quaint activity.

"Have you developed any hobbies yourself, Ves?" Professor Benedict curiously asked as he took another sip of his cup.

"I don't know. Well, I occasionally make totems, but only for a purpose. I rarely if ever approach it as a hobby that I engage in for relaxation. I also enjoy working on non-mech related side projects, but each of them have a definite work purpose so they don't count either."

The Senior smirked at him. "It sounds to me that you have yet to find a formal hobby for yourself. I highly recommend you do so. The earlier you start with it, the sooner you can reap the benefits from it. Try not to find a hobby that is too closely related to mech design or engineering. The goal of engaging in a hobby is to cleanse your mind and find peace from your work. The less it has to do with your primary passion, the more it can reinvigorate you after you have completed an intensive design session."

That… sounded a bit familiar to Ves. Wouldn't spending a few minutes with the Angel of Tranquility produce the same results?

Not quite. A hobby was meant to do more than blanking his mind. It could provide a lot of other benefits such as entertaining him and helping him feel fulfilled in a different manner.

Ves recalled that another older mech designer advised him to find a hobby. Back then, he utterly failed, but this time might be different.

"I will try my best, though I don't think it is easy for me to find a hobby that clicks with me. I have spent so much time on creating one product after another that it doesn't feel right when I step outside this sphere."

Professor Benedict gave Ves a knowing look. "You crave control. That is not an uncommon desire among mech designers. Perhaps it is best for you to find a hobby where you are not fully in control over all of the variables. Such activities require you to adopt a vastly different mindset which will help you ground yourself after you have spent too much time on designing mechs."

That actually sounded like good advice. Ves seriously nodded. "I shall try and find a hobby that fits."

The two eventually turned back to the topic at hand. The Mars Project that they would work on soon was a powerful expert mech design that contained a lot of special elements.

So far, Professor Benedict only unveiled a part of the charm of the Mars Project. He soon began to explain how he intended to make the internals more malleable.

"Earlier, you asked how I intend to implement the adaptation that I have planned. Though taking advantage of nanotechnology is the most obvious answer, I am not too proficient with it and I cannot fully take advantage of all of its properties. They are also more difficult to apply to expert mechs as resonance can more easily interfere with the functioning of many individual nanomachines. You will understand later on. What is important is that I have decided to go for a more conventional semi-modular arrangement."

The Senior projected another diagram that displayed an extremely complicated arrangement of shifting parts. Ves grew dizzy as he studied it as its complexity exceeded what he could bear.

The drafts fully embodied Benedict's design philosophy!

"You should understand the gist of what I am trying to achieve by looking at these drafts. I think your Chiron design is a good example of what I am trying to accomplish. The goal is to enable the internal architecture to dynamically shift and change into different configurations that excel in different situations. While most mech designers that attempt to do the same will outright fail in trying to achieve a good balance between toughness and adaptability, I believe I am able to find a good sweet spot."

The technical challenges related to this ambitious problem were far beyond the scope of a mere Journeyman such as himself! Ves finally encountered a situation where his solid foundation and Senior-level Skills were too inadequate for him to implement a similar solution!

Still, he didn't need to understand how everything worked in order to learn the effects of this solution.

The semi-modular arrangement not only enabled the Mars Project to shift configurations on the spot, but also adapt better to Patriarch Reginald's piloting style by tweaking the distribution of energy.

This was remarkably similar to the concept of growth that formed a central component to Ves' work!

"You recognize it, correct?" Professor Benedict grinned. "The true potential of this solution is when I apply it to mass-produced mechs. Each copy can develop its own unique configuration over time depending on the preferences of the mech pilot. A soldier who prefers to fight indirectly can direct more power to his mech's flight system and boosters. A pilot who has a preference for long-ranged combat can redirect more power to a mech's precise laser weapon systems. The more they pilot their mechs, the more they become aware of the changes they need to perform better."

This was adaptability on another level!

While nanotech mechs were able to adjust their forms to a vastly greater degree, they were much more expensive and did not offer the same degree of solidity and robustness.

Besides, using expensive nanomachines was overkill for the purpose. Instead, Ves much preferred the solution that Professor Benedict presented. Like a true mech designer, he came up with a sophisticated solution that was relatively affordable, efficient and just effective enough to serve its purpose.

Even if other mech designers were able to design similar internal architectures, they would be hard pressed to match Professor Benedict's promised efficiency levels!

This was the first time that Ves truly came in touch with the full effort of a Senior Mech Designer. Just the drafts and outlines was enough to make him impressed!

"I call it the Magma Vein System." Professor Benedict said with pride. "I bestowed my new method with this name because I visualize it as the magma flows of a terrestrial planet. During calmer times, the magma flows peacefully. Yet when it is time to erupt, the flow of magma can build up an enormous degree of pressure which will eventually lead to an explosion of power!"

Magma Vein System!

Though the visualization sounded a bit weird, the Senior was fully passionate about his innovative new energy transmission system!

With the help of this innovation, the Mars Project would definitely be able to exert supreme energy superiority in battle!