The Mech Touch (Web Novel)

5720 Promising Breakthrough Direction

From the moment Ves got struck by inspiration, it was as if a veil parted before him. The Carmine System that he had initially developed a while ago was already capable of producing widespread changes that could transform the lives of a lot of people regardless of their genetic aptitudes.

Yet for all of the wonder it evoked, Ves was more aware than anyone else of its flaws. Aside from the fact that a mech had to be integrated with an abnormal biological construct, it also locked the mech pilot to a single machine for the rest of his career.

This was a major shortcoming that massively dampened his target audience's enthusiasm for Carmine mechs.

Even the Red Association which saw plenty of utility in his signature invention did not fully buy into his Carmine mechs either. The mechers were highly conscious of the fact that if the Carmine mech ever got blown to pieces, it would be useless of the ejected mech pilot managed to save his life.

That was because the commitment he had made prevented him from piloting any other mech, no matter it was through a Blood Pact or with the use of a traditional neural interface!

This was not a theoretical prediction. The mechers had already tested this assumption in real tests where they deliberately destroyed the Carmine mechs bonded with different test subjects.

No matter whether the Blood Pact was only a few hours or a few months old, the consequences of destroying the bonded Carmine mechs remained the same.

A Carmine mech pilot needed to abide by the terms of their Blood Pact without exception. This rule was as fixed and unchangeable as the oath that his grandfather Benjamin made when he was still a high-flying mech pilot.

The rules were harsh and unforgiving, but that was what made the Blood Pact so strong. Ves had invested a lot of hours into trying to explore alternate versions that would not impose such harsh demands, but he never produced any acceptable results.

It was because of all of the prior work he put into testing the limits of the Blood Pact that he knew that his latest inspired idea had a real chance of success!

Even Jovy understood the enormous significance of this potential technological breakthrough. The mecher completely disregarded the fey models below his feet and faced Ves head-on. HIs expression grew extremely serious as a lot of people invested in the Carmine System would definitely want to know if its inventor was being serious at this time!

"How viable is this idea of yours? How certain are you in turning it into a practical improvement to your existing Carmine System?"

"How can I know?" Ves replied in a bewildered tone. "I just came up with this. I need to account for so many variables that I really can't give you an accurate estimate. Still, if you are okay with receiving a less substantiated answer, then I can tell you that my gut feeling is cautiously optimistic about my ability to realize this idea. My gut feeling tells me I have a 60 percent chance of success."

"60 percent. That is rather high for a breakthrough of this magnitude. What are the major challenges?"

"There are many. First, in order to make this possible, I need to flesh out the foundational structure of the Blood Pact. Even though I have conducted a lot of research in it, I still do not entirely understand all of its mechanisms. My prevailing theory is that I accidentally rediscovered and repurposed an ancient and forgotten ceremonial ritual for present day use. The building blocks were already there. I just randomly mashed them together to produce a working spiritual construct. I have little understanding of the actual building blocks themselves and how I can rearrange them to create a more complex spiritual construct. The only way I can make that happen is to conduct old-

fashioned research in this subject."

"That long?"

"Yes, Jovy. Ever since I developed the second generation Carmine System, I have reached the limit of what I can rapidly improve with my current level of understanding of the relevant variables. My inadequate theoretical framework is holding me back from developing more refined applications. I need to complete the development of the third generation Carmine System first where I incorporate improvements that are reminiscent of what I have observed from the Yuri Machine."

"I see. Only then can you work on binding the mech pilot to multiple Carmine mechs as opposed to a single machine?"

Ves nodded. "That will probably be the goal for my hypothetical fourth generation Carmine System. The difficult part about this is that I cannot do it alone. Deepening my understanding of the building blocks of the Blood Pact is only the starting point. I will need to work together with Alexa Streon to see whether I can expand the definition of the Blood Pact so that it binds the mech pilot with an ever-changing dynasty of living mechs. This is a huge difference you know. The original Blood Pact is supposed to be an intimate oathbound connection between two real living entities. They may be different from each other, but they are still individuals. Trying to change one side of this relationship from an individual to an entire institution of related entities is a huge expansion."

"Will altering the definition of the Blood Pact cause its effect to weaken?" Jovy asked with concern.

"I really don't know the answer to that question. My preliminary guess is that there will certainly be consequences to doing so. I think that the original Blood Pact will still provide the greatest benefit to the mech pilot. The greater the sacrifice, the greater the rewards. Changing the ritualistic contract so that the mech pilots form a permanent bond with a larger institution is less costly but also less personal. The sense of ritual is weaker, and before you ask, that is really important. Don't ask me why I know this. All I can say is that I believe that forming Blood Pact with mech dynasties will likely shape up to become a more expedient but less rewarding option."

Both Ves and Jovy fell silent for a minute as they went over the implications of these words.

The biggest problem was that Ves had no solid proof to back up his speculations. He was basically using his inadequate understanding and his intuition to form a lot of spurious guesses. Without enough proof, there was no way to know for sure whether Ves was talking truth or nonsense.

"We need more data." Jovy stated. "As promising as this possible breakthrough may be, we have no indication whether it is viable. Even if you have made it work, the tradeoffs you have mentioned may lead to an outcome where the altered Blood Pact is only 10 or 20 percent as effective as the base version. That is far too great of a reduction to make this invention worthwhile."

Ves shrugged. "I will work on it, but do not expect to obtain any quick results. As I have mentioned before, I first need to complete the development of the third generation Carmine System. As for the fourth generation that comes after that, a lot of progress will depend on Alexa's efforts. I can only complete this breakthrough if Alexa has made significant progress in her own design philosophy. What is most important is that in order to test our work, we will have to experiment with an existing living mech dynasty. No such thing exists at this moment as Alexa has only just broken through the rank of Journeyman."

An existing living mech dynasty was extremely important for Ves' purposes. He was unable to make one himself. Only Alexa possessed the capability to do so at this time.

What this meant was that Alexa's cooperation was indispensable for Ves to attain his desired result.

If anything happened to Alexa that caused her to die, fall out with Ves or otherwise become indisposed, then Ves could forget about making any further progress in this specific research direction!

He would have to pursue a completely different line of research that might hopefully make the Carmine System practical enough to allow Ves to realize his design philosophy.

"You are both lucky and unlucky, Ves." Jovy said as he considered the same variables. "The main reason why older mech designers are so keen on raising disciples is because the students can pursue alternative possibilities that can help their teachers find new breakthrough opportunities. It is usually Master Mech Designers who do so, but it is not unheard of for Seniors to benefit from this as well. The fact that you can already deduce a promising breakthrough opportunity only a short time after Miss Streon locked in her design philosophy is nothing less than amazing."

"That should be the part why you think I am lucky. What about the other side of the coin?"

"Your explanation makes it clear that when you reach this stage in your journey as a Senior Mech Designer, you can no longer rely on your hard work to advance further." Jovy grimaced. "You will become shackled to Alexa Streon's speed of progression. If her design philosophy doesn't progress fast enough and if her work on combining her own innovations with your Carmine mechs continually counters setbacks, then you will effectively be at her mercy."

Ves did not like it either, but thinking about how well Alexa performed so far gave him a shot of confidence.

"No mech designer truly stands alone." He spoke with conviction. "Larkinsons should be able to count on each other without harboring any doubts. I trust Alexa. Ever since she came under my wing, she has performed nothing less than exemplary. There are very few reasons for her to fall off at this point. She has only just begun her meteoric rise as a mech designer. I have full confidence in her ability to make quick progress and flesh out her living legacy mechs to the point where her signature works can successfully be combined with an altered version of my Blood Pact."

He built up a solid development roadmap in his mind. He knew what he needed to work on in order to satisfy the requirements on his end.

The biggest complication was Alexa's side of the equation. Ves did not possess a thorough understanding of all of her work, so it was mainly up to her to improve her signature design application to the point where a living mech dynasty gained enough definition to function as a whole institution in spiritual terms.

Of course, neither Ves nor Alexa had to work in isolation to make progress in their respective design philosophies.

The advantage of working in the same field was that they could easily pitch in and assist the other in related research!

Two minds working together was better than a single mind working in isolation. The ability to bounce ideas, solicit feedback and having a second opinion on hand could potentially shave years if not decades worth of research in the right situations!

"If everything goes right for you, how soon do you expect to be able to complete the development of your fourth generation Carmine System?" Jovy questioned.

"A decade. It shouldn't take too long. However, the most important requirement is that there is at least one living mech dynasty at my disposal. It takes time to build one. It is not enough for a pair of living mechs to produce one generation of offspring. Those children will need to mature and produce grandchildren in order to form the semblance of a healthy and continually expanding mech dynasty."

"I see. If Alexa is able to satisfy this important condition, will your resulting research results be sufficient for you to realize your design philosophy?"

Half a minute went by as Ves mulled over this question.

"I cannot say for sure, but my gut feeling says yes. If mech dynasties can serve as legitimate targets for the Blood Pact, then I am very confident that my Carmine System will truly have the capital to become a widely used system that can allow many people to pilot mechs they are otherwise qualified to handle. They can gain all of this benefit without making an excessive sacrifice."