The Mech Touch

Work on the Mars Project proceeded at a slow but steady pace. The sheer amount of design and engineering challenges frequently drove Ves and the other mech designers crazy, but they always managed to find a way out with the assistance of external consultants.

If the developers of the complicated transphasic systems weren't able to provide any assistance, then Professor Benedict sought assistance from other channels.

As a competent Senior Mech Designer, his ability to connect with other high-ranking professionals in the mech and tech communities was not small.

It was with the help of various guest experts that everyone working on the Mars Project were able to ensure that they did not remain stuck for an extended amount of time.

Months went by as the half-complete mech design started to look a lot more whole and solid. More than a year had passed since they embarked on this design project, so the mech designers wouldn't have been able to justify their work if they failed to make at least this much progress!

Even though the Mars Project looked a lot more complete at this time, it was still a ways off from reaching completion.

The reason was that no one knew for sure whether the mech would fall apart if someone attempted to construct it. By concentrating so many high-energy and transphasic parts in a single mech frame, the chances that something could go catastrophically wrong and subsequently blow up the expert mech from the inside was quite real!

Testing the various implementations and optimizing the operations of the mech became incredibly crucial. However, this was an incredibly difficult challenge in itself because simulation programs simply froze and crashed whenever they needed to calculate anything with reasonable accuracy.

Expert mechs that began to touch the edge of ace mechs were so far beyond conventional understanding that math and logic could no longer encompass them anymore!

"How the hell are we going to optimize the Mars Project if we can't use our simulation programs?" Ves furrowed his brows.

"It's quite simple, Ves." Professor Benedict said. "We can resort to at least two solutions. First, we can cut the mech design up in more manageable parts and test them all in isolation. That is what we have already done to an extent when we initially designed the mech. Second, we can build scale model versions of either the entire mech or parts of it and conduct tests on them in realspace."

Ves and the other Larkinson mech designers looked taken aback when they heard the second solution!

"Are you actually willing to build scale models of the Mars Project?" Sara Voiken gasped. "The expense of doing so would be… considerable. Even a 1:50 scale model of the Mars Project will cost a fortune to make. Not only that, you will also have to use up many rare and precious materials to construct the various transphasic systems, which includes phasewater. You won't be able to recover it all if you decide to recycle the scale model once you have performed enough tests."

Gloriana crossed her arms. "If you want to do a good job, then you have to do it properly. This is absolutely the correct decision to make. If our best computing and processing equipment can't give us the results we need, then we need to find any viable alternative. Using scale models to test the design work we have done so far is an adequate substitute."

"It is also quite common to see this method of testing in the most advanced design projects." Professor Benedict informed the Larkinson mech designers. "Sure, first-class mech designers have access to even more powerful and realistic simulation equipment, but even they are forced to resort to more primitive methods when their expensive toys reach their technical limitations."

Ves raised his hand. "I have a question. Is it possible for Patriarch Reginald to 'pilot' a scale model of the Mars Project?"

"It is possible. In fact, I intend to do just that." The lead designer of the project replied. "Naturally, I will not try to force a human into a mech that is literally 50 times smaller than the actual Mars Project. Reginald will never be able to fit inside the replica cockpit. Instead, I will construct a mock cockpit and have Reginald interface with the scale model by remote. The piloting experience will not be realistic, but that is not important at this phase. It is more important for us to collect high-quality data on the technical performance as well as the stability of every component and subcomponent of our mech design. As long as we have what we need, we can improve our design and prevent many problems from occurring in advance."

Using scale models to test the performance of the full and completed version of a product was not a perfect method by any means.

Physics did not completely behave the same on an object that was full-sized and an object that was much smaller.

Professor Benedict and the others would have to make good use of their heads and interpret the data into an intelligent manner. Taking everything literally would be a serious mistake!

When Benedict brought up this topic, he already made a decision in advance. He was merely informing the Larkinson mech designers so that they could make the right preparations and get ready to conduct the right tests.

Though Ves had never tested a mech design through this method before, he knew the basic theories and understood what he needed to do in order to achieve further progress.

Fabricating the scale models was quite complicated as it was smaller and more delicate than the real mech.

In order to make it, the mech designers could not straightforwardly shrink the original design by how many times they needed to produce the right scale model.

They all needed to make numerous modifications to the down-scaled design in order to make it work!

Ves and the others did not enjoy the additional burden, but they knew it was necessary in order to proceed with this crucial step.

It was actually quite interesting for him to downscale his implementation of the ARCEUS System. The more he manipulated and played around with the advanced transphasic energy weapon system, the more he understood its nature and mechanisms, though only to a minor degree.

The work was actually quite difficult, but fortunately the developers working for Immace Energy Armaments came through once again.

Over the course of developing the ARCEUS System, the development teams employed many different scale models in order to test their product. It was easy enough for them to apply their old solutions to the current problem and downscale the transphasic energy weapon system in a way that still allowed it to perform in a similar fashion to the original version.

It took several weeks of work for the mech designers to be able to fabricate their first partial and complete scale models.

Since even the miniature versions of the Mars Project were expensive to build, Professor Benedict and Gloriana took up most of the responsibility for fabricating these tiny and delicate items.

Ves wanted to gain some practice with fabricating a version of the Mars Project as well, but his wife practically turned into a banshee when he volunteered himself for this duty.

"STAY AWAY FROM THE WORKSHOP! I WON'T ALLOW YOU TO STEAL AWAY MY PRECIOUS PRACTICE TIME!"

Ves sighed as he stared at the closed and locked doors that led into the workshop of the Primary Cross Lab.

That was the end of his attempt to get his hands dirty.

He understood why his wife acted so possessively towards the simple chore of fabricating the scale models. She wanted to master the art of fabricating portions of the Mars Project as much as possible.

By familiarizing herself with the various quirks and properties of the mech design by working on its scale models, Gloriana would be able to gain a lot of practical proficiencies and insights.

This would subsequently allow her to fabricate the actual full-sized mech with greater skill and results. The chances that she would be able to fabricate a masterwork mech would minutely increase as a result.

Though Ves wanted to receive this benefit as well, it was not as important to him. He could live without this opportunity as he had managed well enough without any practice runs in the past.

It took a few days before Gloriana emerged out of the workshop with a few scale models in tow.

Most of them were only partial reproductions of various parts and systems such as the legs.

However, Gloriana made sure to fabricate at least one whole scale model of the Mars Project.

The miniature mech made an immediate impression on those who laid eyes on its flaring red frame.

Although its decorations were a little bare due to Professor Benedict's decision to dispense with them for the time being, the down-sized Mars Project still made a powerful impression by existing!

The red exterior, the aggressive angular lines and the Abasis Armor that was filled with transphasic potential all made it clear to everyone that it was far more than a toy or a collectible!

"If this is what a mini version looks like, then the real deal will doubtlessly be a powerhouse." Ves remarked.

"It's not really alive, though." Gloriana frowned. "I tried to follow the design of the scale model as best I could, so why isn't this scale model as alive as other second order living mechs?"

"Ah, I purposefully prevented that from happening."

"What?! Why would you do that, Ves?!"

"Because this is only a test product that we will dispose of when we are done with it." Ves told his wife. "Don't you think it is cruel to bring a creation to life only for us to trash it shortly after we are done with it? I would rather not bring any scale model to live if that is its fate. Besides, is it really necessary for these small models to be alive? The focus for this testing phase lies on gathering accurate physical data on the technical performance of the Mars Project. Nothing more. Making the scale models alive will only increase the chance of skewing the results. Trust me, it is better this way."

In fact, part of the reason why he was so reluctant to make the scale models alive was because Ves had not yet completed the spiritual design of the Mars Project.

Ever since he made a bold decision to figure out a way to impart the Mars Project with a strong personality, he has tried to find ways to accomplish his goal.

It was not so simple to turn a newborn living mech into a strong and assertive character that possessed enough fortitude to resist Patriarch Reginald's powerful will and desires.

Other than attempting to feed the living mech with lots of universal life energy, Ves did not have any compelling ideas on how he could make the Mars Project's personality strong on the onset.

"What if… I can transplant another life into the Mars Project?" Ves muttered.

This was not the first time he developed this notion, but this was certainly the first time he took it seriously.

While it was possible to do this with any living mech, Ves believed that it would not end well if Patriarch Reginald and the Mars Project became incompatible with each other.

The greatest advantage with starting off with a fresh living mech was that the mech pilot would be able to mold its personality in a way that fit!

If Ves skipped this process and inserted a defined personality into the Mars Project from the beginning, then the results would be similar to how the Larkinson Clan tossed different expert candidates in the cockpit of the Quint.

"So the key is to establish a matching personality in the Mars Project, one that Patriarch Reginald will definitely respect."

Ves began to develop a few interesting ideas…