Chapter 2350: Fully Saturated Mechs (1/2)
The spiritual foundation of a mech represented the machine's intrinsic life. The greater the foundation, the greater its strength in certain aspects.
Ves believed that strengthening the foundation in this way was a convenient way to quickly infuse a mech with more life.
Obviously, it was unrealistic to apply it to every copy of his mech designs, especially his mass produced models.
It took a decent amount of spiritual energy to empower a design to full saturation. The amount was far more than what a typical mech pilot could ever provide through spiritual feedback under normal conditions!
Although it sounded nice to empower an individual mech to the limit of what it could take at the beginning of its life cycle, the risks were very evident as well.
Imparting tools with life was not always a good idea.
How did a nutrient pack feel when it lay in some dusty crate for a couple of centuries?
What would a handgun think if its owner never bothered to perform maintenance on the weapon?
Not everyone treated their tools with care and reverence. Those who used them as disposable items and those who picked up bad habits never thought about changing their behavior.
Why should they?
Tools were lifeless objects.
It may be different if they were pets, but mechs were far from that. There was no particular reason to treat them any better.
To be sure, Ves did not want to usher forth a future where every single object, from nutrient packs to his shaving bot, gained sentience!
In the context of his current experiment, Ves believed that mechs were worthy to gain more life. They were much more expensive and much more impactful than something as trivial as nutrient packs. They were meant to last for years or possibly decades and their performance in battle directly affected the lives of millions or billions of people.
It was worth it to empower them. Ves loved anything that could increase the cooperation between his mechs and mech pilots!
However, his enthusiasm tempered a bit when he reminded himself that not every method was safe.
As the first mech with 100 percent saturation was about to go online, Ves began to grow a little worried.
He vividly recalled the instance where a pirate mech pilot's head exploded due to his inability to take in so much spiritual input. The mech back then was too strong. If the mech ever exerted any pressure, then the huge disparity in power gave no chance for any ordinary mech pilot to resist!
As Ves observed the projection of the mech pilot entering the cockpit, Ves quickly recalled the fellow's name. He had already inspected each and every Avatar mech pilot assigned to the Bright Warriors and noted down their spiritual strength.
The first one to come up possessed no spiritual potential. That paradoxically meant that this particular Avatar had a higher chance of surviving any accidents due to the difficulty of affecting his tiny but elusive spirit.
In contrast, someone with vivid spiritual potential such as Imon Ingvar had to endure greater risks. This was because his greater spiritual potential had to expose itself and thereby open itself up to external attacks.
All of this sounded rather strange and counterintuitive to Ves, but this was the way the rules were set. He had no choice but to work around these conditions.
”This mech is different from the others.” Ketis stated as she continued to observe the same projections that he was watching. ”Your posture has grown a lot tenser than usual when this machine has come up. You look as if a fight is about to start.”
Ves did not hide the reason for his tension. ”The last batch of Bright Warrior mechs are the most special ones of them all. If you imagine the previous ones as partially filled bottles, these ones are filled to the brim. The pressure within these mechs are the greatest, and if any of it spills to the mech pilot, then I need to be ready to shut the mech down.”
She gazed at him with concern. ”How can that be? You always make sure that your mechs are as comfortable to your mech pilots as possible. Well, your Doom Guard is an exception, but these are Bright Warriors. They are some of the best mechs for our Larkinson mech pilots.”
”Let me explain this in a way you can understand. Take your big CFA greatsword.” Ves gestured towards the giant sword sheathed in a floating scabbard following Ketis from behind. ”When a Swordmaiden wields this weapon, will she ever cut herself?”
”Absolutely not!” Ketis shouted back. She looked insulted that someone would even entertain this thought! ”Learning how to control our blade is one of the first lessons we learn. We are never allowed to hold a real blade until we can prove with our practice weapons that we never let our blades get the better of us. The Swordmaiden must wield the sword, not the other way around.”
”That's a good lesson and outlook. The same applies to this situation. I fear what is about to take place is much like handing someone such as Maikel your sword. It's far too powerful for him. Even holding it is risky.”
Then.. if it's so dangerous, why go through with this test?”
”Because we have no choice.” Ves ruefully smiled as the mech pilot was about to activate his mech. ”The danger of wielding your sword is great, but so is the power you can exert. In an emergency, we need to put as many swords in people's hands as possible. All I want to see now is whether our Avatars are strong enough to harness their empowered mechs.”
The moment that Ves had been waiting for had come. The mech pilot booted up the mech.
It was as if a hibernating monster woke up. The mech pilot quickly sensed something profound through the man-machine connection that was just starting to go active.
”What is this..?”
Ves and Ketis both looked at the projection of the interior of the cockpit and the mech pilot's life signs.
The latter already began to fluctuate wilder. Evidently, the mech pilot was experiencing increased activity and stress right away.
Roughly a minute passed as more of the mech became active. With each additional system that came online, the man-machine connection became more intense.
Suddenly, just as the mech was ready to move, the mech pilot suddenly convulsed in his seat!