Chapter 568. Human Blessing (1/2)

”So that's an expert pilot.”

Later in the day, Ves had been invited by Major Verle to the medical bay. They walked past numerous pods where the bodies of heavily-injured mech pilots bathed in strange solutions that slowly restored their bodies.

These days, machines performed most medical treatments. They worked much more precise and extensively than humans. Though the risk of tampering remained, the medical machines were subjected to strict and frequent inspections. A modern-day doctor was both a medical specialist and a machine operator.

To Ves, doctors were like mech technicians. The only differences were that they possessed better degrees and worked with living bodies instead of cold, mechanical machines.

Doctor Eric Cuscar greeted the two at the end of the medical bay. As the chief medical officer, Cuscar was the most senior and knowledgeable doctor in the entire task force. He was also responsible for keeping tabs on Ves' abnormal body.

”Doctor.” Major Verle greeted the old man with a nod. ”How's the little girl?”

Cuscar deliberately coughed in his hand. ”I suggest you mind your manners, major. The 'little girl' you are referring to is a superhuman mech pilot! She's a genuine marvel of the human potential! I'm gathering bucketloads of data right at this moment!”

”You didn't answer my question, doc. How is she doing?”

”Ah, ahem, Venerable Foster is not in a good state. She broke through under great stress and in less than ideal circumstances. That she advanced to expert when she was several steps away is a testament to her talent. I've treated several expert pilots in my life, and each one is a unique work of art shaped by a combination of nature and human influence. The potential of my latest patient is hands down the best I've ever laid my eyes on!”

The doctor's excitement was palpable from the amount of spittle that escaped his mouth. Both Ves and Major Verle inched away in order to avoid getting hit by friendly fire.

”What makes her special compared to the other expert pilots you've treated?” Ves asked.

”As I've already mentioned, her genes are exquisitely perfect! In addition to that, she contains more activated genes that are known to be beneficial to mech pilots than every other expert pilot that I've laid my eyes on. The simplest way to put it is that her body has a lot of good switches, and most of them are flicked in the right way.”

Ves wasn't a complete novice on expert pilots. It was everyone's dream to advance into an expert pilot, so the general population knew what a mech pilot required in order to reach this height.

First, they needed the right genetics! Just as humans could be divided into norms and potentates, the latter group in turn fit into different subcategories.

The most expedient way to categorize potentates was to measure their genetic aptitude. Biomedical experts who specialized in studying the physiology of mech pilots utilized many different measures to classify their strengths. However, laypeople mainly referred to a single summarized grade that ranged from A to F.

Genetic aptitude was a complex concept in itself. All Ves knew about it was that it signified how strong a potentate's gene expressions would facilitate the act of interfacing with a mech.

Ves possessed a genetic aptitude of F. This meant that his brain might as well be a rock when he tried to interface with a mech. No matter how hard he tried, his mind and body firmly rejected any attempts at engaging with the interface. In fact, if Ves tried to force a connection, his brains would likely suffer permanent brain damage.

Potentates with a genetic aptitude of E could barely be called mech pilots at all even when trained. They comprise a fairly small chunk of potentates, so most people who fell into this category resigned themselves into becoming the reserves of the reserves. A state wouldn't put them into a mech unless they started to scrape the bottom of the barrel in terms of manpower.

Ves remembered witnessing one mech pilot with a probable genetic aptitude of E or E-. Only with such a low blessing would Leviticus have trouble making basic movements as he competed against other mech duelists in one of Bentheim's many mech arenas.

Aptitudes ranging from D to B comprise the vast majority of mech pilots.

Mech pilots whose aptitudes fell into the D-range mostly ended up piloting frontline mechs when they served or industrial mechs if they remained civilians. Though they weren't particularly valuable, there was a lot of them, so states rarely let them go to waste.

Potentates with aptitudes in the C-range mainly consisted of the rank and file of every mech force. They possessed enough talent to pilot a humanoid or bestial mech proficiently. However, for every mech pilot with a C-range aptitude, there were at least two mech pilots with a D-range aptitude. Their relative scarcity meant that states cherished them pretty deeply.

Those with aptitudes that reached up to the B-range could be called winners in life. Their piloting careers were bound to be smooth, and they could easily pilot advanced mechs as extensions of their own limbs.

Due to focused genetic breeding and all kinds of other medical voodoo kept out of sight, the offspring of the Larkinsons mainly fell under this enviable category. The Larkinsons wouldn't be much of a military dynasty if their genes weren't so fortuitous, which they inherited from the Larkinson Ancestor.

Ves in fact possessed many of those genes as well, but there was more to genetic aptitude than having the right materials in place. The problem in his case was that his body refused to make use of those materials. Instead, it pretty much left them into the dust, treating them as nothing more than junk.

This was the special part about Venerable Foster. Not only did she possess the right materials, her body also utilized most of them to construct a beautiful palace that allowed her to advance higher than anybody else.

”A genetic aptitude of A is extremely rare.” Doctor Cuscar lamented. ”It's such a shame that the Mech Corps never assigns their prodigies to the Flagrant Vandals. My understanding of these blessed mech pilots is far too lacking!”