The Mech Touch

Ves felt disturbed at the turn that Maikel Larkinson had taken with his prospective design philosophy. Your adventure continues at m v|l-e'm,p| y r

It was already bad enough that Maikel wanted to design autonomous living mechs.

It became even worse now that Maikel wanted to tie his machines with absorbing the souls of their own mech pilots!

Even if Maikel had the best of intentions when he devised this 'solution', it introduced a huge amount of ethical and legal problems!

If Maikel remained in the old galaxy, then Ves had much less qualms about letting Maikel get his way.

It would have been perfect actually. The Milky Way was no longer his primary concern, and the demand for this kind of life-prolonging mech was undoubtedly greater in a low-energy environment!

The masses over there lacked easy access to life-prolonging treatments. The space peasants that deserved to be called this way had too few opportunities to acquire them and extend their lifespans.

The low viability of systematic cultivation deprived original humanity of a cheap and accessible way for humans to promote their self-evolution and extend their lifespans through their own effort.

Another issue that created a lot more fertile ground for Maikel's taboo mechs was that there was a huge number of old people living in the Milky Way.

The demographics of the old galaxy and new frontier diverged enormously from each other.

Back in the Milky Way, the last cataclysmic war that engulfed all of human space happened over 4 centuries ago.

Although humans had never gotten rid of the phenomenon of war, the conflicts that broke out since the start of the Age of Mechs were akin to brush fires.

From a galactic perspective, humans were not at risk of driving their species closer to extinction. Many parts of the old galaxy had enjoyed peace for many generations, thereby creating room for a lot of old people who had retired from the workforce.

Many of them had begun to suffer health problems and did not have any expectations of finding relief or extend their lifespans.

Not all of them were resigned to their fates!

There should definitely be a considerable proportion of old fogeys that would do everything to transfer their minds and spiritualities to living mechs!

Compared to the alternatives available to these poor and forgotten folk, becoming a living mech and permanently getting rid of the frailty and other weaknesses of their failing mortal bodies was more than worth the price!

All of these factors and more clearly made Maikel's proposed design philosophy a lot more useful in the Milky Way!

It would have been great if Maikel got left behind if that was the case. His journey to realize his design philosophy would have remained difficult, but his chances of winning over a huge amount of buyers should also be immense!

Alas, Ves and Maikel had to work with what they got.

Red humanity's demographics obviously leaned towards the younger end. When the greater beyonder gates first opened up, the ones that were willing and able to enter the new dwarf galaxy largely comprised of rich and highly skilled people that sought to build new lives in the new frontier.

Old people had little business with the Red Ocean. Their lives were already set once their bodies started to deteriorate due to their advanced ages. How could they possibly pay back the money needed to earn a quota for passage to the new frontier?

Few pioneers and colonists wanted to bring dead weight to the Red Ocean. They mainly sought young to middle-aged professionals who could form the bedrock of entirely new states and contribute to its development for many decades.

As such, the proportion of people who were actually old in the Red Ocean was distressingly little!

Very few people grappled with the onset of ailments that caused their bodies to age and decay during their twilight years.

The demand for Maikel's mechs would therefore become a lot more limited. Perhaps there were a lot of injured veterans from the Red War that were unable to obtain proper treatment and were currently suffering.

However, it was rather questionable whether the Red Association would even permit for Maikel to sell his living mechs to these desperate customers.

The taboo mechs crossed way too many bottom lines!

The negative impact on the mech industry would be significant as people would permanently change their opinions on mech designers, and not for the better!

Ves sighed multiple times as he ran his fingers through his hair.

"Alright, Maikel. You have presented your case, or at least the beginnings of it. I would like to answer a few questions for you, is that alright?"

The nervous but still optimistic Apprentice Mech Designer nodded. "Ask away."

"First, how do you name your brand of living mechs? What do you call the process that in theory should be able to allow people to live in another form?"

"The keyword is conversion." Maikel stated with considerably greater conviction than before. "For now, I refer to my works as living conversion mechs. The process that enables the living mech to absorb the minds and spirits of their mech pilots and allows them to take root inside their new metallic shells should be called the man-machine conversion process."

Conversion.

This would probably turn into the core attribute of Maikel's domain if he was able to progress his design philosophy a lot further.

It was a sophisticated word, but when used in this context, it sounded like a euphemism to a much more macabre ritual!

"Are you aware of how much the Red Association and a lot of other squeamish leaders will react towards your so-called living conversion mechs?" Ves asked.

Maikel's eyes shone with optimistic anticipation. He even began to grin in a manner that reminded Ves of himself whenever he gained inspiration!

"I am more than clear about the obstacles that I might face in society, sir. Regardless, just as how you managed to convince the public to embrace your living mechs on a wide scale, I should be able to build a case for my conversion mechs as well. I just need to highlight the benefits and find enough early adopters who can transform their lives for the better after conducting the man-machine conversion process. Once we have built up enough word of mouth about the amazing benefits of my products, demand will grow organically as there are always people out there who have strong reasons to abandon their weak and tiny human bodies for well-engineered war machines made out of damage-resistant alloys!"

Maikel's plan sounded far too simplistic, but the underlying logic was still valid. He could indeed build up a case for his living conversion mechs by letting the people who needed them the most make use of them first.

The Red Association would probably adopt a wait-and-see attitude and observe whether Maikel's living conversion mechs truly allowed humans to live in a completely different form.

What happened next heavily depended on a lot of different factors such as the state of the Red War or the policies favored by the mechers who gained the right to pass judgment on Maikel's works.

No matter what, Maikel's subsequent path ahead was bound to be filled with thorns!

As his former teacher, Ves felt an obligation to check whether Maikel had invested his time in the right research direction. He could never allow this overly ambitious Apprentice to ruin the lives of many mech pilots due to preventable oversights!

"Have you been able to design and fabricate a working version of a living conversion mech?"

Maikel's expression faltered a little. "Design, yes. Fabricate, not so much."

"What's the matter?"

The Apprentice Mech Designer called up his mech design and transferred the files over.

Ves immediately began to examine the mech design. He recognized a lot of aspects of his own living mechs in Maikel's work.

However, Maikel had made a conscious effort to develop his own design style by making his machines more human-like, as if to more closely mirror the human form.

There was an almost organic quality to the mech design due to all of the unnecessary curves and articulation in the design.

All of it added to a certain 'weight' that was meant to support a life-changing ritual.

Yes, ritual.

Ves was surprised to note that Maikel had actually based his core design application on the mysticism of rituals!

It looked as if he managed to get his hands on a few scattered cultivation science books related to rituals. He subsequently proceeded to cobble one together that was meant to 'transcend' a human by adopting a superior metal form!

There were plenty of parts about this entire ritual that felt dodgy, unrefined and downright unreliable!

However, Ves appreciated the ingenuity and hard work that Maikel had put into its development.

The Apprentice Mech Designer had invested his passion and love for mech design into the conversion ritual. He managed to overcome many difficult obstacles and figure out new mechanisms that could not be found in the records he had access to. No matter whether it worked or not, Maikel had undoubtedly grown as a mech designer by engaging in an earnest form of invention.

Yet just because Maikel acted in a manner befitting an ambitious mech designer did not necessarily mean his mech design deserved to be realized.

"This experimental mech design of yours is too immature." Ves said without bothering to hide his disappointment. "I can sort of understand what you have done and what you are going for, but… this mech design is like a ladder made out of random sticks that you picked up outside of Diandi Base. Some sticks are thick and solid enough to support the weight of a person, but there are others that are far too thin and fragile to be relied upon. Do you understand what I am saying?"

"I do." Maikel said as he knew his own work best. "I have done a good job in designing some parts of my experimental mech, but I have not done so for other aspects. This is not acceptable in my case as the success of my living conversion mech is not determined by the average quality and reliability of all of its parts, but the properties of its weakest components and systems. If there is one aspect about the man-machine conversion process that is poorly designed and highly prone to failure, my experimental mech can never be safely utilized."

Ves grimly nodded. As a responsible mech designer, he could never allow Maikel to go through with fabricating this experimental mech.

It did not deserve to be realized.

There was little point in arranging a testing session where Ves arranged a condemned criminal that could serve as the guinea pig for the unverified man-machine conversion process.

Maikel's mech design needed to be straightened out first before overly ambitious Apprentice earned the right to bring up the topic of human experimentation.

He knew that as well, so Maikel never dared to express an intent to fabricate his flawed mech design.

Ves now faced a difficult decision.

Did Maikel deserve to be praised for his innovation and be encouraged to continue his problematic research direction?

Or did Maikel have to be admonished for violating too many taboos and straying too far away from the fundamental purpose of mechs?

Ves did not want to force Maikel to throw away years of earnest research.

Even if the young Apprentice was able to salvage his accumulation thus far and reorient himself by switching to a less controversial design philosophy, there would still be a lot of waste.

Yet… Maikel knew what he was doing. He played with fire with the awareness that he could get burned at any time.

Mech designers needed to account for their own design choices and career choices.

An inability to cope with the consequences of their own choices would ultimately impede their growth and prevent them from making further progress, especially in the later ranks.

How should Ves respond to this situation?