The Mech Touch

Ves and Jovy faced the final candidate selected for this demonstration.

"Pilot Krio Delamar has accepted the honor of piloting your demimech for special reasons." Master Goldstein introduced the third candidate. "He is one of the best-performing mech pilots stationed on the Khamater Reign. His genetic aptitude is A, his scores rank in the top 5 percent of his cohort and he has mastered a large amount of combat skills with a large variety of mech weapon systems."

That was impressive!

Though Ves knew little about the sort of mech pilots that tended to serve the Association as its frontline combatants, even he knew how rare it was to encounter this combination of qualifications in a single pilot!

What surprised him was that the Survivalists were willing to risk the life and career of one of their best soldiers for this dangerous and uncertain endeavor.

It soon became clear why Pilot Krio Delamar did not object to this mission.

"Delamar is an excellent performer in almost every criteria that we can measure, but... his mentality is not up to par. We have tried many ways to correct his deficiency, but the results have been less than fruitful. We believe that it is ultimately helpful if he enjoys a change of scenery."

Ves found out what was up with Krio Delamar. It turned out that he was... bored.

Yes. Bored.

The man was practically born for this job. Ending up with A-grade genetic aptitude was like winning the lottery. The prevalence of this much talent was so sparse that Delamar should have been like a fish to water within the Association!

The reality was much different, however. The man had coasted through his classes with ease and he hardly needed to put up a lot of effort into raising his proficiencies.

Somewhere along the way, Delamar lost his passion and motivation in mech piloting.

Even if he had yet to overcome any major challenges such as breaking through to expert candidate, his love for mechs fallen away, preventing him from fighting on the battlefield with all of his heart.

This was a fatal defect as far as mech pilots were concerned. Every high-ranking mech pilot that Ves had encountered in the past were all incredibly motivated, strong-willed, caring and passionate.

A pilot who lacked all of these qualities was not suited for willpower cultivation!

The mechers had mastered a lot of different technologies and methods. Yet when it came to the domain of the mind, they were much less capable of solving any problems in this area.

It was far too easy to overshoot and inflict permanent damage to an individual. Perhaps a more invasive medical procedure might be able to restore Delamar's lack of motivation, but if the same process caused him to lose his exquisite genetic aptitude, then that would defeat the purpose!

Ves studied the man a little closer. So far, Delemar exhibited elevated interest in the Carmine Raider. The demimech was so substantially different from anything else he piloted before that he couldn't help but develop an interest in trying it out for himself.

That was good.

"Let us commence the first test."

"Yes. There is no reason to delay anymore. The results are of paramount importance."

It did not take too long to set everything up. Master Xena Wintress and Master Vayro Goldstein had total control over every invisible function of this secure chamber.

A single moment of thought caused a secure bunker to rise out of the deck. Transphasic energy shields came to life as well to surround each individual Carmine mech in case they ever went out of control or exploded for whatever reason.

To be honest, the precautions were all overkill as there was little the relatively basic second-class mechs could do to threaten the interior of the Khamatar Reign.

That was no excuse to ignore the safety rules. The entire group except for a single mech pilot retreated to the bunker.

Tina Ekland meanwhile lifted off the deck and smoothly entered the cockpit of the recently fabricated Carmine Trooper.

On the surface, the second-class hero mech did not look like much. Yet below the layers of armor and other structural components, the freshly grown organic parts of the Carmine System awaited its fated user.

As Tina Ekland settled down in the piloting seat and strapped herself in, she occasionally transmitted her observations and opinions.

"The mech feels warm to me. I cannot describe it well, but it feels as if I have returned to my mother's womb. The living mech is eager. I am not sure, but its desire to form a connection with me is growing. We should not keep it waiting for long."

The mech designers all stood in front of a large array of control panels that displayed a lot of different parameters and settings of the Carmine Trooper. They all made sure that everything was fine before they started the next phase.

"Pilot Ekland, you may proceed with interfacing the Carmine Trooper with the neural interface first. Let us test whether your mech's basic conditions are sound before we proceed."

The Carmine Trooper came to life in full as most of its systems all came online. Ekland took several deep breaths as her mind connected to a second-class mech that was unlike any other machine she had piloted over the course of her career.

The first time a pilot interfaced with a living mech was always a special experience. It was unfortunate that Ves hadn't been able to employ his full strength and turn the Carmine mechs into third order living mechs.

Nonetheless, individuals who never came in touch with these kinds of responsive machines in the past all experienced a major shock when they came across any kind of living mech for the first time.

A second order living mech already made such a difference to Pilot Ekland that it took several minutes for her to get over her fascination and turn her attention back to her mission.

"Please test the basic motions and capabilities of the Carmine Trooper."

The Carmine Trooper began to move and jump around as Ekland put the machine through its paces.

Everything looked okay so far. Ves and Jovy had done good work despite the limited amount of time they spent on the design.

Once everyone saw with their own eyes that the Carmine Trooper was mechanically sound and not seriously flawed in any way, the test soon reached the most critical stage.

"Pilot Ekland, please keep your Carmine Trooper in place. Whatever happens next, do not lose control."

"Understood. 1 am ready, Masters."

"Then proceed."

Ves activated a command that remotely unlocked the Carmine Sytem for that machine.

Ekland activated a similar command that removed a second lock. Nothing was stopping her anymore from engaging the Carmine System for the first time.

Several observers started to hold their breath as numerous tubes extended from the piloting chair and plugged into the ports that were specifically built into the piloting suits.

The volunteer pilot withheld a cry as she felt the needles and a collection of thinner tubes tapping into his blood veins.

It only took seconds later for his blood to be drawn away from half of the tubes. Foreign blood simultaneously injected his body through the other tubes.

The all-important blood exchange had commenced!

There was no real physical purpose to making this happen. It only introduced a lot of additional dangers and health risks.

Yet that was only the case on the surface.

Ves leaned forward and tried to observe the spiritual activity within the Carmine Trooper. It was a bit difficult for him to make his observations from this distance, but he could vaguely sense that the Carmine Trooper was attempting to form a Blood Pact with its pilot!

"Don't just sit there, Pilot Ekland. Nothing will happen if you remain passive. The mech is too weak to do all of the work." Ves transmitted over the communication channel. "You need to cooperate. Reach out to the Carmine Trooper. Embrace your living mech with open arms. Be sincere about accepting a future where you will be piloting the Carmine Trooper for the rest of your life. It may be just a simple second-class hero mech for the moment, but it will be able to grow alongside you and receive continuous upgrades over the course of her existence. Together, you and your blood-bonded machine may be able to shift the future of red humanity. All of this can start today so long as you accept your fate!"

Whether his words had an effect or not, Tina Ekland displayed enough initiative for the Carmine Trooper to grab hold!

"It's happening." Ves grinned wider.

The sight was beautiful. Though the spectacle was not as dramatic as in the previous cases, Ves saw with his own two eyes how a mech pilot without any exceptional willpower or other strong quirks managed to form Blood Pact with her mech.

A lot of different meters started to show greater fluctuations. The Carmine Trooper shook and started to make slight, uncontrolled movements. All of this showed that the forming Blood Pact was starting to allow Ekland to issue instructions to her machine through an alternate control system!

Once Ekland opened her eyes three minutes later, her connection with her living mech had reached an entirely new level!

The recent events and transitions were a bit too much to her. She had undergo so many changes in a short amount of time that even her training couldn't prevent her from getting caught in the moment!

"Pilot Ekland! Can you report your status? How do you feel?"

"I... I cannot adequately describe this. I never expected the Blood Pact to be like this. It is... as if I have reunited with my long-lost twin for the first time. The Carmine Trooper... is like family to me. I have the impression that no matter how far I am separated from my new partner, I can always determine its direction."

The pilot answered a bunch of other questions that fascinated everyone else. This was a completely new situation for all of them! The Carmine System had gone online and was functioning closely according to expectations!

"Alright, let us put your mech through its paces again. Please conduct the same testing routine. Try to make active use of both the neural interface and the Carmine System at the same time. Can you do that?"

"I... am uncertain."

The Carmine Trooper moved a lot less gracefully than last time. It became clear that Pilot Ekland was treading on new ground at the moment. None of her training ever prepared her to control a pilot through two different channels at the same time.

It did not help that the Carmine System was not comparable to the neural interface and demanded an entirely new approach and set of techniques to utilize properly!

"It appears that your Carmine System comes with a substantial learning curve." Master Goldstein remarked.

Ves shrugged. "I guess so. Before today, 1 only tested it out with two expert pilots. They are more familiar and proficient in manipulating metaphysical forces. Tina Ekland has no experience in that kind of stuff, so she has to learn everything from scratch."

The mech pilot showed clear improvements over time, but it looked like she needed to spend at least several weeks of training to regain her normal combat effectiveness.

"Let us commence the final test for the Carmine Trooper." Master Goldstein spoke. "Pilot Ekland, please lock your mech in place and prepare to disengage the neural interface while keeping your Carmine System operational. Let me warn you that this is a dangerous and untested maneuver. Brace yourself and be ready to disengage from your machine at any time if there are any major signs of distress."

Tina Ekland gritted teeth. "1 am ready!"

"Go!"

As soon as the neural interface started to disengage, the traditional man-machine connection melted away.

Only the Blood Pact was left to keep the mech pilot in control of the Carmine System!

The consequences were considerable. Ekland let out a cry in surprise and pain as the young and relatively fragile Blood Pact suddenly experienced far more strain that it could safely handle!

So much data crammed through the young connection that Ekland felt as if her connection to the Carmine Trooper was beginning to fray and disintegrate!

"I... can't handle this! Disengage!"

Before Tina Ekland pulled the emergency brake, Ves had already moved ahead and shut down the Carmine Trooper a moment earlier!

The Carmine mech forcibly powered down, shutting off almost every function including the Carmine System!

"Damn." Ves cursed. "I feared this would happen."

The Blood Pact was only as strong as its participants and their relationship with each other.

It was one thing to form a spiritual bond between a third order living mech and an expert pilot that already cared a lot about each other from the start.

It was another thing to attempt to do the same between a second order living mech and a low-ranking mech pilot!

The resulting Blood Pact simply couldn't accommodate the bandwidth needed for a mech pilot to control an entire mech. Not yet at least. It had to undergo a lot of growth and possibly additional upgrades in order to enable Ekland to control her permanent battle partner through the Carmine System alone!