Black Market Merchant

“Wow, is that a holo-graphic projection of the full Mech’s specs?” Tom asked pointing at the blue image floating above the controls.

“Yep, it sure is and it can tell in real time what is wrong, damaged or in need of a tune up in real time.” Hanna answered. “Also, it can show its movements in real time.”

All three of the young teens had crammed into Gillian Mech and were excitedly going over whatever Hanna managed to pull up on the controls displays. Clair remained mostly silent as the two carried on the conversation. She had brought along a note pad and was doing her best to scrawl down some of the terms the two were spouting off to each other. This way she could do research later the parts she didn’t understand on her own.

“Show me the sensors you mentioned before. This is more than I expected!” Tom asked enthusiastically.

“Sure.” Hanna replied.

She then hastily tapped at a few buttons and then double selected the foot of the holo-projected Mech. The blue image zoomed in on the foot and expanded to replace the Mech. Along side the foot, coming off in bubble information form from key points of the foot, were various information about the condition, parameters, and basic information of its condition. Neither Tom nor Clair had time to read them as Hanna selected the bottom most information bubble.

The foot and other information bubbles instantly fazed away to only display a 3D graph and an ever-changing set of information graphs. The 3D graph was labeled as “Ground Configurations”.

“As you guys see here,” Hanna said pointing to the graph. “The sensors located on the bottom of the Mechs foot test in real time what the conditions of the ground are. The sensor is so fast, in fact, that as the Mech is stepping forwards it can assess the ground and then adjust the grip at the bottom of it foot accordingly. Like for sandy ground it expands with many wavy layers to keep from sinking and getting enough grip to move forward. While rocky terrain it forms sharp triangular wedges to snag the uneven surface to keep from sipping. In every case the feet actually conform to the ground it steps on within a thirty-degree angle!”

“That’s impressive!” Tom replied as he leaned in closer to look at all the numbers and information being relayed. “Sonar only lets boats know where the river is deepest and if there is anything in the water. This is way more advanced.”

“That’s just the beginning of what this Mech can do.” Hanna replied smugly. “Let me show you what else this thing can do!”

“How do you know all of this stuff?” Tom asked. “You aren’t any older than I am.”

“Like I said, I just know how all this works somehow.” Hanna replied shrugging. “It feels like I have some kind of connection, it’s hard to explain.”

Hanna closed out the information bubble and returned to the holo-image of the whole Mech. However, before Hanna could show off some more Gillian poked his head into the cockpit.

“Hold on now you guys, the fun is over.” Gillian said much to the disappointment of the kids. “Hanna, you need to prove to Mr. Weathers that you really can pilot this thing. He’s been very adamant in expressing your safety.”

“Fine. Its probably for the best.” Hanna sighed.

“Wait, you are going to pilot this thing?” Tom said with a surprised expression.

“Yep!” Hanna nodded giving a smile.

“Come on you two.” Gillian said to Tom and Clair. “Out you go. John needs to come in here to watch her. You two can wait by the dam or go back to the fish fry.”

“I want to watch!” Tom exclaimed.

After the two kids climbed down and John took their place, Gillian explained what they were going to do next. “Hanna, since we are short on time, all you are going to do is listen to me on the intercom and I’ll relay to you some tasks to carry out.”

“Ok. That’s fine. I wanted to do more into the night, but I see you already disabled the headlights.” Hanna replied as she fiddled with the leg throttles excitedly.

“Oh? So, it looks like you don’t know everything after all.” Gillian said rubbing his chin in thought.

“Huh, what do you mean?” Hanna said looking at Gillian curiously.

“I did disable the headlights, but not because there is no need for them.” Gillian replied. Then he leaned in and pressed a few buttons. “See, if you reenable the lights the feedback says there are none.”

“Interesting…” Hanna said as her brow furrowed. “I guess I can’t feel everything if a part is disabled.”

“Yes, it is curious.” Gillian repeated. Then he chuckled, “Well, we better get this over with. My stomach is starting to eat itself!”

With saying that Gillian closed the door and slid down the ladder. John was a bit confused by what just happened. Both because of their conversation and that Gillian had left Hanna alone with the controls.

“Isn’t he going to turn it on for you to start?” John asked looking down at Hanna sitting in the seat in front of him. He had chosen to stand behind her to see everything she did better.

“No, I already figured it out.” Hanna answered. Then before he could reply, Hanna started up the motor. The hum of the heat exhaustion fan whirled to life and the whole Mech lifted slightly as power coursed through it.

Then Gillian’s voice sounded out into the cockpit on the open intercom. “Hanna, can you read me?”

“Yes, I read you.” Hanna replied. She didn’t need to press any button to reply, as the mic was already on open chat.

“Good. Now we are going to do a few moving maneuvers to get you accustomed to how the Mech feels in motion. Last time you seemed unsteady.” Gillian explained. “Start by turning the Mech around to face the start of the sandy road behind you.”

“Ok.” Hanna replied.

John looked on in wonder as he watched the little girl grasping the two leg throttles to start making the metal monster move. At first Hanna rushed the rotating movement and the Mech rotated to the right faster than both of them expected. The Mech wobbled slightly off kilter but quickly the weight of the stocky Mech kept it in place. Hanna then finished the rotation at a slower, more controlled pace.

“Good, now lift up the bucket loader to mid mech height. You don’t want it dragging on the ground or blocking your view.” Gillian instructed.

After Hanna performed the task, Gillian continued, “Now move forwards and off the road to get onto the sandy path. You will notice a change from a solid impact of the Mechs feet on the paved road to a sloshy, uneven impact from the sand. Do not let it throw you off though. The Mech can compensate for the change in terrain. As the area around here is mostly sandy, so you will need to get used to it right away.”

“Understood.” Hanna answered confidently.

She then pressed forward on the two leg controls in turn, simulating a walking motion. The heavy steps of the Mech clunked heavily on the road. Each time she lifted them the cockpit leaned backwards almost a bit to far to feel safe.

“Hanna, there is no need to raise the feet so high on a flat surface. Just like with walking you only need to come off the ground slightly.” Gillian’s voice pointed out over the intercom.

Hanna wordlessly followed his advice and tried only moving the throttles at half the distance as before. She kept looking at the holo-projection of the Mech on the control panel for reference. It was hard to tell how far up to raise the feet using the projection visuals alone. There wasn’t any indicator to show how high the foot truly was from the ground using the holo-projection.

“Good, that is better.” Gillian said moments later. “Feel how much more natural the sway of the Mech feels?”

Hanna inwardly took note of the slim gap that the holo-projection’s foot showed in relation to the ground and continued moving forward on the paved road more confidently. The cockpit also became noticeably more stable and didn’t sway backwards as much.

“Only two steps away from the sand path now.” Gillian called out. “When you first step off the road, try not to overextend the step. Overextending your steps on to an uneven surface could cause the Mech to slide and fall over. Though this machine is made for terrain like this, its not all that different than moving like a little kid.”

“Ok, I’ll try.” Hanna replied.

“One more thing.” Gillian called. “Try not to look at the projection the entire time. You need to look out the window slits at the ground. The sensors will not pick up anything like rocks, stumps, or any other debris further ahead of you in the path. The Lidar only see’s things taller than five feet before it issues you a warning.”

“I see, thanks.” Hanna answered. She looked away from the holo-projection and at the five different window slits in the cock pit. Though it was hard to see due to the welded metal covering the majority of the windows surfaces, Hanna could see the ground directly ahead of her next steps, to the immediate left and right of the feet, and then in a 180-degree radius of the area beyond. To see out these two-windows Hanna had to almost stand up to see. Even with these windows there were still lots of blind spots and it was best she move carefully.

Once Hanna understood her bearings, she started pressing the right foot controls to go out onto the sand. As Gillian warned the Mech felt much different when stepping onto the sand. Rather than the heavy jarring feeling of pavement, the sand had an initial impact and then proceeded to sink and slide forwards from the motion and weight of the Mechs momentum.

Hanna pulled back on the throttle slightly in reaction to the sliding, but Gillian corrected her right away. “Don’t pull back on the throttle when you feel that sliding. When you do it is making the Mech step back up and this could cause it to lean even further forwards. This is why you need to take smaller steps, to compensate for the sliding.”

“I think I understand.” Hanna replied. Then she moved the other foot onto the sandy path. This time she made sure to commit to making the step. After a few uncertain steps forward, Hanna seemed to get the knack for it.

“That’s really good progress Hanna.” Gillian called after a few moments. “Go ahead and turn around and come back to the road. Transitioning from an unstable, to stable ground, is not hard but moving with larger steps again is an odd sensation at first.”

“Alright.” Hanna answered as she started rotating the Mech’s torso back around.

It was a smart feature in the Mech’s design to be able to move in any direction with out moving the whole body. The legs could automatically adjust to the change in direction, thanks to the legs 360 Degree Motion Monitors that she had asked about when she first moved the Mech. This system design was implemented in most Mechs of all kinds and variations.

A few moments later, Hanna had gotten back onto the road and returned to the spot where she had started. Gillian instructed her to lower the bucket loader back onto the ground and power off the Mech. The sun light was getting lower now and visibility would become too hard for a beginner to move safely.

As Hanna turned off the Mech, she let out a sigh and spoke to John, “That was interesting and exciting! I might know how this works but actually performing the maneuvers is much harder than I expected.”

John didn’t know what to say. She had done everything up until now with out so much as asking Gillian for any kind of guidance. “I-I have to say, Hanna, I am most impressed. When I first was learning to drive a car, I didn’t even do as well as you did with this Mech.”

“Does that mean you won’t need to worry about me driving this then?” Hanna asked excitedly.

“Mostly.” John replied. “I will have to still be here to watch, but I guess I can consent to you working on this job.”