The Mech Touch

Aurelia tugged at Gloriana's lab coat as she leaned in front of her terminal in the Genesis Lab.

The mech designer turned away from her latest series of sketches and directed her attention to her daughter.

"Do you want another hug, baby?"

"Look, mama! Design!"

Aurelia presented an awful-looking feline figure that she had shaped and molded with her hands.

Even though the abomination of a 'mech' violated every rule of mech design that Gloriana had ingrained in her mind, the mother did not utter any admonishments.

She expected more from the mech designers in the employ of the Larkinson Clan because they invested many years to become professionals.

In contrast to the Apprentices and Journeymen she worked with on a daily basis, her daughter was only a little over a year old. How could Aurelia possibly come close to displaying the skill of her parents?

She was just a baby!

"Is this your first mech design? Let me take a look.

Gloriana directed a loving gaze at Aurelia before she picked up the molded figurine. It was made out of a form of smart metal that mimicked the properties of clay but came with a lot of safety features to make it safe for small children.

For example, the smart metal would automatically slip out of Aurelia's grasp if she tried to ingest it or throw it onto Clixie or something.

Ever since Ves came back and gifted Aurelia this toy, she had become completely fascinated with it. While her control over her limbs was not good enough for her to work with precision, their daughter did not care about that at all as she did what every impressionable kid would do in this situation.

She imitated her parents!

From the moment she was born, Aurelia spent most of her time alongside her mother and father as they worked on various mech designs.

No matter whether she was sleeping, eating, playing or calling for attention, Aurelia had become immersed in the world of mech design from the start of her life.

In fact, Gloriana did not want to expose her daughter to mechs so much. Aurelia was meant to become the next leader of the Larkinson Clan. It would be a waste of her designer baby pedigree if she chose to become a mech designer!

Perhaps the young mother should look into finding playmates for Aurelia. The problem with that was that her daughter was too much of a genius compared to other babies at her age. Not a lot of children were cognizant enough to keep her brilliant daughter company!

"Your 'mech' looks quite cute, Aurelia. Is this your vision of a ferocious tiger mech?"

Aurelia eagerly nodded.

"Did you model it after another cat?"

"Clixie!"

"Miaow!"

Clixie ran up and preened proudly at Aurelia's side.

Gloriana could clearly see that Aurelia's 'tiger mech design' was simply a rudimentary copy of Clixie. The proportions of actual tiger mechs were still different.

"How will it fight in battle?"

"Pounce! My mech will pounce! Just like how Lucky pounces on Clixie!"

"Oh? Can you show me, my dear?"

"Here!"

When Aurelia took back her tiger mech, she made a cute noise and made it pounce an imaginary enemy.

Gloriana indulged her baby's preoccupation a bit more before Aurelia decided she wanted to design a knight mech next. The little girl left her 'tiger mech design' with her mother and raced off to her stash of unused smart metal.

As Aurelia started to shape a big shield with her cute little hands, Gloriana turned back to her terminal and studied a more serious mech design.

She had sketched several variations of the C-Man Project already but couldn't lock in her choice.

Each version of the C-Man possessed slightly different physical properties. Some of the draft designs were tougher. Others were more capable of launching powerful punches. A few exhibited exceptional flexibility that allowed the frames to perform more elaborate wrestling techniques.

She wasn't quite able to nail a mech concept that possessed the advantages of every version.

"What am I doing?"

If she was approaching this design project from an ordinary angle, then she would have settled on a single choice and accepted the tradeoffs that came with it. As a mech designer, it was impossible for her to forget that her craft was all about compromises.

Her expression soured. "What if I don't want to settle for the least-bad solution this time? What if I want to have it all for once?"

She continued to brainstorm for solutions as she tried to come up with a draft design that could simultaneously make her mech tough, strong and flexible whenever needed.

Her initial idea was to borrow a page from the Chiron mech design and rely on physical transformation systems to dynamically alter the C-Man's configuration in the field.

She shook her head. "This is not an acceptable choice for a melee mech that is meant to endure frequent physical stresses."

Adding additional mechanical systems to a mech that would undoubtedly get smacked around in every battle was a recipe for disaster!

Just a small proportion of these complex and finicky systems needed to go wrong in order for the C-Man to suffer from a critical malfunction! Gloriana did not want Venerable Vincent to die because her work failed him in a moment where he had to rely on it the most!

What else could she choose?

Gloriana looked around and inadvertently landed her gaze on Aurelia's 'tiger mech'.

The main reason why a little girl like her daughter was able to make it in the first place was due to the helpful properties of the smart metal that a producer had turned into a toy!

Gloriana suddenly came up with an interesting idea.

"What if I base the C-Man around nanotechnology?"

She could already imagine the infinite possibilities of doing so. By relying on a smart metal system to form the main structure of her next expert mech, she could develop a powerful melee machine that did not have to remain stuck with the strengths and constraints of a single configuration!

If the C-Man wanted to punch harder, it could thicken its torso and its arm and exert more power through its upper limbs.

If the C-Man was under heavy fire, it could thicken its exterior in the direction it was attacked.

If the C-Man needed to wrestle or subdue an opposing expert mech, it could take on a limber shape or just 'melt' a portion of its body to dig into the cracks of an exposed enemy mech!

Gloriana realized that this could definitely give the C-Man the edge it needed to gain superiority in battle!

"It will entail a significant change in identity. Vincent also needs to learn how to harness the properties of smart metal mechs."

There were other downsides to utilizing smart metal as the base of a mech.

Smart metal systems such as ASMAS were extremely expensive. A mech made out of ASMAS was at least ten times and sometimes more than a hundred times more expensive than a mech with equivalent properties!

Although smart metal mechs possessed a lot of additional versatility, it was extremely difficult to come up with a design that justified the extravagant spending.

"This is even more concerning for a expert mech!"

It took a lot more money to design a machine that could keep up with the power level of an expert mech. Ordinary nanomachines such as the product that Aurelia used to design her 'mechs' would fall apart after getting hit by a single sneeze from an expert mech!

"If I go through with this decision, our clan needs to exchange a considerable batch of phasewater to afford a smart metal system that is optimized for expert mechs."

Not only that, but a mech that was heavily reliant on nanotechnology became vulnerable to new forms of attacks.

The chief danger of any smart metal mech or device was the constant fear that the miniscule bots that made up this programmable material could get hacked!

Once an enemy forcibly gained control over the nanomachines, it could easily be subverted and turned against its own side!

Gloriana furrowed her brows as she continued to hold Aurelia's tiger mech. There were many good reasons why she needed to abandon her current train of thought. An expert mech made out of smart metal was an expensive investment that might not pay off in the end.

If she wanted to play it safe, then she would have listened to her better sense and reorient her thoughts towards more realistic design solutions.

However, when she imagined how her husband would behave in this situation, she had no doubt that he would go for the crazy and stupid option in order to pursue a more ambitious goal!

"Maybe I need to make bolder decisions as well."

A smart metal mech came with so many disadvantages that they hindered the potential of a mech that could dynamically change shape and adapt its form in mid-battle.

Yet if Gloriana was able to work on these weaknesses and mitigated them one by one, then turning the C-Man into a viable smart metal mech became a lot more viable!

She already started to develop a few ideas on how she or her husband could tackle the many problems associated with designing a smart metal mech.

"I have to pursue this idea!" Gloriana hungrily claimed. "I can unlock so many new possibilities if I succeed in harnessing this technology!"

She spent the remaining hours of her design session on entertaining Aurelia and performing research on smart metal expert mechs.

Compared to normal smart metal mechs, their expert mech counterparts possessed significant advantages that somewhat lessened their vulnerabilities.

However, the cost was exorbitant. There was no way that the Design Department's discretionary spending budget could cover for any of the extravagant smart metal systems that were for sale in the Red Ocean!

When she met with Ves after she ended shift, she immediately presented her proposal and ideas to him. Her husband took on an odd and bewildered expression when he heard she wanted to turn the C-Man into a smart metal mech of all possibilities.

"I don't see how the concept of the C-Man is compatible with smart metal technology." Ves voiced his initial opinion. "The C-Man is the definition of a hard and rigid mech. It is a macho mech that needs to remain strong and hard when put under high pressure situations. Smart metal mechs have a tendency to collapse and deflate in the situations where we most need it to perform."

He had a good point. A simple plate made of solid metal was almost always tougher and more resistant than a plate made out of lots of tiny interlocking machines.

"You are not wrong, Ves, but that is not a reason to dismiss this technology entirely. We can work on this issue. Aren't we good at innovation? We can leverage our specialties to develop new solutions that can lessen this problem! Think about it. Wouldn't a living mech be a lot more impressive if it could exert more control over its own form? Venerable Vincent doesn't even need to make any of the complex calculations needed to dynamically reconfigure the shape of his expert mech. The C-Man could decide for itself if it wants to grow a tail or lengthen one of its limbs!"

"..."

Her husband fell silent for a time.

In truth, Ves felt as if he was experiencing a moment of deja vu.

Hadn't he already implemented this concept in his Devil Tiger design? Ves had already achieved a part of what Gloriana wanted to realize with her new smart metal expert mech concept!

"Well? Do you agree that this is promising enough to spend more time on it or not? I think my latest idea is highly promising, Ves. If you can combine the strengths of living mechs with smart metal technology, I can work on developing new solutions that can address some of the other problems associated with smart metal mechs! If we succeed, we can introduce a brand-new expert mech that is filled with ground-breaking advancements! The gains we can make from this project will more than compensate for its cost!"