The Mech Touch

Ves entered Hempkamp's private research lab with both anticipation and trepidation in his mind.

Despite keeping a fairly close eye on Hempkamp's ongoing research projects, Ves lacked the expertise to fully understand the research that took place in this chamber.

While it looked as if Cormaunt Hempkamp stayed within the lines that Ves had set, who knew whether this was actually the case.

Another concern Ves had of Hempkamp was whether his first completed research project was safe enough to be utilized in any new and ongoing design projects.

If Ves was forced to shoot down Hempkamp's work despite the man's admirable restraint, who knew what he would do afterwards.

This was why he hoped that Hempkamp truly succeeded in delivering a real result that could provide solid benefits when put into use. The Larkinson Clan could truly use all of the advantages that it could get, and making better use of neural interfaces sounded like a good way to improve the actual combat performance of its mech units.

The research lab that Ves had set up in an available space inside the Genesis Lab did not look unusual.

Hempkamp had done little to rearrange the interior. The only real element he added to the lab was bringing in different living mechs every now and then to conduct experiments that required their usage.

Right now, Hempkamp had brought in a Transcendent Punisher of all choices.

The heavy mech possessed an imposing presence due to its bulk, but also exuded a sense of sacred purpose due to its Ylvaine-derived glow.

The combination between the two made it seem as if the Transcendent Punisher was ready to shoot down demons with extreme prejudice!

The age of the Transcendent Punisher also contributed a lot to its presence. Ves could immediately spot many different clues that told him that the mech was among the batch of earlier heavy artillery mechs that the Larkinson Clan had produced.

The mech enjoyed a good life and had developed an excellent cooperation with its Ylvainan mech pilot. It had already developed a character of its own, though it was still a distance away from evolving into a third order living mech.

At this time, the Larkinson Clan was already midway into its comprehensive upgrade and refit process. A lot of existing Larkinson mechs had been upgraded from their original incarnations to the Mark II or Mark III versions of their models.

The Design Department had yet to update the Transcendent Punisher design to the current standards of the clan, but it was only a matter of time before it happened.

Ves just wanted to wait for a while in order to see whether his clan could gain access to a mass production version of a transphasic artillery cannon system.

Even if the penetrative power of more economical transphasic weapon systems was not that significant, they still dealt a lot more effective damage towards ordinary targets!

That was a consideration for another day, though. For now, the Transcendent Punisher design had changed little since he had completed it years ago. It was still a rim-level heavy artillery mech that possessed decent damage output and excelled at accuracy by taking advantage of special means.

"Tell me why you brought a Transcendent Punisher in your lab." Ves requested as soon as he approached the eager-looking neural interface specialist. "Why experiment with this mech instead of the many other ones that we have available?"

Hempkamp smiled as he turned towards Ves. "I chose this model to demonstrate my progress because it responds best to what I have in mind. It may be large, but it is relatively simple in purpose and in its metaphysical traits. It is a mech that you have designed in a way that is highly compatible with its design spirit. It is a literally an Ylvainan mech that honors the individual known as Ylvaine. I enjoy working with unitary mech models like the Transcendent Punisher because the variables aren't as complicated."

"Couldn't you have gone for other mech models, then?" Ves asked. "Why not opt for a Bright Warrior, for example?"

"The Bright Warrior is a fine mech all-considered, but it is too unfocused and not specific enough for me. You will find that my design solution doesn't actually work that well with this specific model."

Ves was willing to accept that explanation. "Please proceed with your experiment."

"Very well. Let me bring in the mech pilot that is bonded to this machine. The first step is to measure and observe the performance of this pair in the MSTS."

By now, every Larkinson mech had gained a connection to the Mental Simulation Training System.

Though it started out as an add-on and a unique selling point of the War Squire model, there was no rule that prohibited Ves from connecting his new spiritual simulation program to all of his other living mechs!

He had updated all of the mech models that were in use by his clan and made it so that every Larkinson mech pilot was able to engage this function.

While Ves also had the option to extend this function to his customers who bought the LMC's commercial offerings, he did not do so for many reasons.

For now, only the users of the War Squire and the mech pilots of his own clan were able to make use of this valuable and extremely effective simulation training system!

The mech pilot, who turned out to be an ordinary pilot of the Eye of Ylvaine, began to show off his skills in the MSTS.

Having piloted his Transcendent Punisher for several years, the Ylvainan mech pilot acquitted himself well in the simulated battle scenario.

The mech pilot knew the properties of all of the cannons well. His accuracy with each of the guns was fairly high as well.

Naturally, battle performance skyrocketed when he engaged the Transcendent Punisher's signature Guided Aim triggered ability.

Eventually, the simulated artillery mech got overrun when a flood of light mechs reached its position and turned its vulnerable rear into a pincushion.

"What do you think about the battle performance that you have just witnessed?" Hempkamp asked.

"It's good." Ves immediately judged. "Though the Transcendent Punisher is not that great of a mech anymore, the cooperation between mech and mech pilot is excellent. I expect nothing less after years of training. It would be very hard for a new recruit to gain this level of familiarity, proficiency and reaction speed without spending just as much time in familiarizing with all of the quirks and nuances of the Transcendent Punisher model."

"Under normal circumstances, do you think this Ylvainan mech pilot will be able to achieve a better score through persistent training and other efforts?"

"Hmmm." Ves rubbed his smooth-shaven chin. "I would say the chances that he can increase his score are limited. I can roughly tell that he has already peaked in his training. Barring any actual battles where he can make a breakthrough in other aspects, he has already approached his ceiling. It should take numerous years for him to increase his average performance by more than 5 percent. After a certain amount of years, his performance will stagnate and even begin to decline as age takes its toll."

It was not necessarily the case that older mech pilots were better mech pilots. While they were certainly wiser, more skilled and more experienced, the younger generation possessed much better reflexes and weren't weighed down by as much baggage.

Hempkamp knew that as well, which was why he picked this particular combination of mech and mech pilot to show off his research results.

"Please allow me to apply my new procedure to the mech and mech pilot. This will take at least ten minutes due to all of the checks I need to make."

"You may proceed."

Cormaunt Hempkamp showed exceedingly great care. He did not move quickly and made sure to do everything properly. With Ves watching over his shoulders, he did not dare to act sloppy!

Once he verified that all of the equipment was working fine, he transmitted a command that activated a new and completely original sub-system that Hempkamp had added to the Transcendent Punisher's neural interface module.

Ves could see from the cockpit feed that the Ylvainan mech pilot had frozen into place at this time!

"I have made it so that the Ylvainan mech pilot stays in place at his current posture when subjected to my new procedure." The neural interface specialist explained. "Right now, the mech pilot and the mech are bonding with each other through a special man-machine connection. This connection is not meant to facilitate mech piloting, so the mech cannot be controlled in this state. The connection is purely dedicated towards data exchange on a deeper and more profound level. You can think of it as connecting the two subjects together with one of your design networks, but one that is trying to achieve more than letting the two grow more familiar with each other."

"What is going on, exactly?" Ves puzzlingly asked as he felt rather unsettled at his lack of understanding of the current procedure.

While nothing wrong had happened when Hempkamp performed similar experiments on paid volunteers that he had picked up from the job market, this was different.

Fortunately, the mysterious process only lasted a few minutes. Once the added sub-system powered down, the Ylvainan mech pilot regained his awareness and his wits with no apparent problems.

The only interesting change that Ves could observe from his vantage point was that the mech pilot had grown a lot more intimate towards his mech!

Compared to the rather mild reaction of the mech pilot, Ves noticed an even greater difference from the mech.

The Transcendent Punisher had suddenly become a lot more responsive and active towards its mech pilot!

"Wait. What the…"

When Ves swept his spiritual senses towards the Transcendent Punisher's spiritual foundation, he discovered that it had not only grown in a substantial fashion, but that it had also made a significant leap towards evolving into a third order living mech!

Hempkamp smiled. "I see that you have already noticed one of the changes that my design application can produce. This is only part of the story. You should take a look at the pair's performance now that they have undergone my new procedure."

Under the man's direction, the Ylvainan mech pilot engaged the MSTS once again.

As the simulated Transcendent Punisher began to fight against similar waves of incoming enemies, Ves immediately noticed the differences in performance.

Compared to the first simulated battle, the artillery mech clearly performed a little bit better.

The difference wasn't drastic. It was not as if the mech pilot suddenly turned into a superstar or anything.

What actually happened was that the Ylvainan pilot made more efficient use of his machine. Ves had thought that the individual in question already hit a ceiling in how much he could improve, but clearly this was the wrong assumption!

From what Ves could see, the pilot not only exhibited slightly better piloting skills, but also utilized and balanced the various systems and parts of his mech to a significantly finer degree!

By cleaning up his piloting style and removing a lot of inefficiencies and suboptimal habits, the mech pilot managed to draw out more of the potential of the Transcendent Punisher than before!

While the heavy artillery mech still succumbed to the same wave of light mechs in the end, it had taken down significantly more targets in the process!

Ves glanced at the numerical score that judged how well the pair performed in this battle scenario.

"The score is 9 percent higher than before!"

This effectively meant that the Transcendent Punisher and its mech pilot had improved their overall combat effectiveness by 9 percent!

The most remarkable aspect about all of this was that it only took a couple of minutes to make this change!

Combined with the fact that this mystery process actually caused the Transcendent Punisher to make a substantial step closer to becoming a fully aware third order living mech, it was clear that Hempkamp's innovation deserved a deeper look!

"Please explain what you have done and how your new solution is able to produce such a drastic improvement in performance."