The Mech Touch



Though Ves did not sound friendly just now, Master Goldstein fully understood the younger mech designer's fears.

The MTA Master was a mech designer as well. He had found himself in similar situations in the past.

The older man waved his arm. "You do not need to be concerned. Progress is unstoppable. We will not instruct you to suspend your research in this project. We are merely concerned about your ability to maintain its confidentiality while you engage with it. The best solution that I can offer is to invite you to work aboard the Antazella de Osiris or another secure MTA facility."

Ves immediately shook his head. "That is unacceptable to me. I am not a mecher and I have no interest in separating myself from my clan. Besides that, much of the reason why I have made such rapid progress and came up with so many useful inventions is because I went on so many expeditions. I do not want to change my lifestyle just to comply with your security demands."

The key to maximizing a mech designer's productivity was to ensure he worked under the right conditions.

Every mech designer had different needs and requirements. Ves had always tried his best to present an image of a highly passionate mech designer that easily got excited after he harvested a lot of loot and insights from his expeditions.

He did not even have to pretend all that much!

Since the Mech Trade Association clearly collected a lot of information about him, the mechers should know that it was best not to disrupt the current status quo!

Master Goldstein remained silent for a minute until he finally came up with a solution that both sides could accept.

"You can stay with your clan and fleet. The conditions over there are not as ideal, but we can improve upon that by implementing additional measures. Your clan will soon welcome back an upgraded factory ship, correct? It is not that difficult for us to implement secret upgrades that can allow you to conduct your secret research with greater confidence."

The MTA Master immediately activated a projection that went up despite all of the interference in his office.

The wobbly projection showed a detailed three-dimensional schematic of the upgraded Spirit of Bentheim.

The design of the quasi-first-class factory ship began to shift. The primary workshop and design lab that Ves treated as his mancave received a lot of additions, many of which were hidden beneath the surface.

"Please limit your work to this compartment as much as possible. We will upgrade its security measures so that it almost meets our standards."

This was a massive upgrade, and an expensive one as well!

Fortunately for Ves, it did not sound as if Master Goldstein would charge him anything for these major changes.

An adjacent chamber that had recently become available due to lengthening the hull by 500 meters also received a lot of upgrades.

"This shall be your most secure internal testing chamber. If you ever have a need to test the operations of your new mechs, please use this compartment. To prevent any possible accidents or damage to your ship, it will come with an array of strong energy shields powered by their own integrated power generators."

Ves' eyes lit up after he heard this! He bet that these were first-class shield generators that were just as strong as the ones employed by the warships of the MTA!

If this was the case, then this chamber may be the most secure and impenetrate location of the Spirit of Bentheim!

Even if the rest of the ship got destroyed one day, it was highly likely that this testing chamber would be able to sustain itself for a long time!

A smaller compartment also underwent drastic changes.

"It is best to add a secret dormitory to your ship where you can comfortably house any test pilots for an extended period of time. This compartment will also be isolated so that no signals can pass through."

Ves hadn't thought about that, but it made a decent amount of sense. He just wondered who he was supposed to use as his test pilots. Would he have to draw them from his clan or would the MTA supply a batch of them like last time?

The projected schematic continued to undergo further changes, though not as drastic as before. Every section of the hull received a few minor changes here and there. Ves could not figure out what changed as he did not recognize any of the new ship components.

It took five more minutes for the Master Mech Designer to complete his revisions to the current design.

Ves had no idea how long it would take to transform the Spirit of Bentheim yet again, but he was sure it wouldn't take as long as before!

"That should be sufficient for the time being." Master Goldstein said with satisfaction. "Please conduct your confidential research inside the designated compartments. I shall assign a trusted security officer to your ship to ensure that the security measures will remain functional and up to date."

"Okay…"

Ves did not like the sound of that, but it was clear that Master Goldstein would not take no for an answer. This was not a big deal as Ves did not intend to hide his work on the Carmine System from the Survivalist Faction.

"We shall implement more thorough security arrangements after we have convened a panel and informed other trusted mech designers of our faction. My colleagues will agree to leverage their own resources if you have successfully convinced them of the viability of your research."

That meant that Ves had to make sure to make an excellent case for himself at the upcoming conference!

"I will be ready."

The projection of the factory ship disappeared. It looked as if upgrading a quasi-first-class capital ship was as easy as drinking water to a high-ranked member of the Mech Trade Association!

The older man leaned forward. "Now that we have addressed the security issue, we can hold a more substantive discussion on what you have presented. Never forget that you must always pay attention to confidentiality first. If you are not absolutely certain that you are in a secure environment, then whatever you have in mind can wait."

"Understood." Ves seriously nodded.

He thought that he had already been paranoid enough, but Vayro Goldstein sounded even more concerned!

This was a good sign. It showed that the MTA Master believed in the Carmine System so much that he was willing to pull out all the stops.

"Let me ask you a question. Do you believe that our Association has developed a method that can enable non-potentates to pilot mechs?"

That was a rather unexpected question. Ves did not expect Goldstein to start on this angle.

"I am sure that you guys have mastered more than enough technology to come up with not just one but several solutions. I recently learned about Divine Hussain Albedo's special service."

"The Chosen Human's ability to impart genetic aptitude to a human by force does not fall within the scope of this subject." Goldstein retorted. "The goal is to circumvent the limitations of genetic aptitude. Since the start of the Age of Mechs, an innumerable number of people have tried to overcome the absolute requirements of the neural interface by developing alternative means to effectively control mechs. Several of our research groups have pooled their efforts over the centuries and have managed to produce limited but ultimately insufficient results. Alternative interfacing technologies have proven to be an enormous black hole to many of our best researchers."

Ves felt pleased by what he heard. The value of his most promising design application became a lot higher so long as there was no viable competition!

It also showed that what he brought to the table was definitely new to the MTA! No one else had explored this research direction before, which meant that the mechers had little choice but to treat Ves seriously!

"Can you give me a description of these alternative solutions?" Ves asked. "I would like to know how much my work overlaps with the efforts of other researchers and whether I can benefit from existing research."

"You would normally not be authorized to learn about them, but given your current research direction, it may be helpful for you to be more aware of our existing efforts. This is anything but a complete listing, but I am reasonably confident that our Association has not developed any better solutions in secret."

Master Goldstein activated a projection that showed an odd human interfacing with a mech in a more direct manner.

Instead of forming the man-machine connection through a less intrusive method, the cockpit directly jacked in a cable through the back of the pilot's skull!

"Heavy digitization is a blunt method to force a norm to interface with a mech." The Master began. "This can be accomplished by converting a large proportion of an organic brain into an electronic equivalent. Genetic aptitude becomes less relevant as it is a function of an organic brain's capacity to exchange and process data."

This was no different from replacing nerves with literal computer processors!

Though Ves could understand the logic of this solution, he could not imagine the consequences of undergoing such an extreme transformation!

"I take it that this has severe consequences to the digitized human." Ves remarked.

"That is correct. The heavily digitized test subject will lose much of his humanity. His thinking process will become rigid and mechanical. The differences between the pilot and the mech will become so small that the two are no longer able to produce strong synergies. An electronic brain is much more vulnerable to hacking and subversion. Any hope of developing strong willpower and psionic power will disappear, making it impossible for such an individual to become an expert pilot. Even if this is not the case, the Kingdom of Mechs actively repels pilots who have become too inhuman."

These downsides sounded so heavy that people were better off relying on other methods to solve this problem! They could easily attain a similar result if they simply converted an empty mech into a battle bot!

"Mechs must serve humanity, not the other way around." Ves repeated this well-known saying. "I don't know much about heavy digitization, but from what you have described, it should definitely be treated as a taboo subject."

"That is indeed the case. We have been forced to scrap many of the human test subjects out of ethical and security concerns."

This could happen to the test subjects of the Carmine System as well. Ves had a feeling that Master Goldstein brought up this example as a cautionary tale.

After all, Ves did not have a clear idea on how sharing the same blood as a mech would change the physique and the mentality of the mech pilot. He was operating completely blind on that front.

"What other alternatives are out there?" Ves asked.

"High automation. Theoretically, a mech that is simple to control can be made even less demanding to pilot by automating many functions that should ordinarily come under the direct control of the mech pilot. There are many ingenious software and hardware solutions that can significantly reduce the data throughput of a mech. This makes it possible for humans with F-grade genetic aptitude to reluctantly 'pilot' a mech."

Ves snorted at this statement. "That sounds like playing a game rather than actually piloting a war machine. It is no different from letting AIs do all of the work. The only difference is that you can give a human the illusion of control."

Again, this alternative solution threw away all of the advantages and principles of mechs. It offered false hope and could not truly turn normal humans into heroic mech pilots.

Goldstein also had a lot of contempt for this fake solution. "It has mostly been reduced to a toy for rich children who wish to indulge in their fantasies. The cost of developing a reasonably viable heavily automated mech is extreme. High-quality tech and materials are required to simulate an authentic experience, but even then its combat effectiveness will only be a fraction of an authentic but inferior mech."