The Mech Touch

Chapter 6198  Damn the Consequences

Even if they could pilot a Carmine mech tomorrow, how could they possibly match up against alien phasefighters, let alone conventional mechs piloted by actual professionals?

It was unlikely that these Carmine mech pilots could match the performance of potentates who trained and studied in the mech academies for 10 to 15 years!

Sure, virtual reality games did a pretty good job at simulating the experience of piloting a mech, but the degree of realism was terrible.

The games targeting the mass market had to simplify and outright remove a lot of variables in order to make the experience more enjoyable. They also had to work around the very obvious limitation that norms couldn't form an effective man-machine connection.

Ves had played those games in the past, so he knew that the virtual mechs relied extensively on extreme automation to make up for the lack of deep pilot control.

That may be acceptable in a virtual battle where the stakes were trivial, but it was not a wise idea to surrender so much control to AIs and algorithms on a real battlefield!

Even so, that should depress the fanaticism of norms who always wanted to become a mech pilot even after they had grown into adults!

Out of all of the people who would be willing to embrace Carmine mechs and put in the work required to become a useful presence on the battlefield, these die-hard mech enthusiasts would definitely go all-out in order to fulfill their greatest dreams!

Once Carmine mechs exploded a bomb in human society and completely ignited the passion of so many people, the ripple effects may actually be able to change the narrative of the Red War for the better!

No wonder the Survivalists and the Transhumanists decisively changed their minds. They had become desperate. When the mechers started to get desperate, they were much more willing to resort to extreme measures!

"What do the Fist of Defiance and the Evolution Witch think on this matter?" Ves bravely asked.

"Neither god pilots have made any specific comments as far as we know. They are rather busy with beating back the alien offensive." Jovy said. "Their adjutants are able to make decisions on their behalf. Trusted leaders such as Master Goldstein are permitted to utilize their own judgment to activate the most appropriate contingency plans and make other decisions in response to unforeseen situations. If the leaders of our factions do not bother to countermand the decisions made by their subordinates, then we will all assume that their will is being carried out. This is the case with your Carmine mechs."

That sounded reassuring to Ves. He was afraid that the true leaders of the Survivalists and Transhumanists would get angry because the initiative shown by their subordinates had ruined their master plans.

"How soon do you want Carmine mechs to show up? Should I work on them at my usual pace, or should I attempt to rush them into completion in order to give the public something to chew on as quickly as possible?"

Jovy paused for a few seconds before offering a response.

"We would rather have you introduce them sooner rather than later. Safety is still important, but… we are willing to tolerate certain risks as long as they are not too severe. Our Association have never ceased to conduct tests on the prototype Carmine mechs that you have supplied to us in the past. To be absolutely honest, these tests are far from sufficient. We have yet to conduct proper longitudinal studies over several years or decades that can definitely prove that piloting Carmine mechs will not lead to long-term harm to the physical and mental health of their users."

That was a fair and valid concern. A lot of products that provided a lot of benefits in the short term only started to inflict serious harm onto people a decade or several decades later.

Instances like this happened so many times throughout human history that inventions as radical as Carmine mechs needed to undergo extremely rigorous studies in order to rule out these awful possibilities.

Perhaps the Carmine pilot became so accustomed to hooking up his body to the Carmine System that it lost the ability to sustain itself outside of the cockpit. Only by permanently circulating the blood produced by a Carmine mech would the pilot be able to sustain his body.

However, the decision to skip all but the most shallow examinations in order to bring the release date forward came with a hidden implication that disturbed Ves.

If he was reading this strategic shift correctly, then the unspoken message was that the mechers didn't care about the long-term dangers of making use of Carmine mechs anymore!

It may very well be the case that after piloting a Carmine mech for one or two decades, the Carmine pilot would begin to suffer a range of health problems and psychological disorders!

Perhaps the Carmine pilot became so accustomed to hooking up his body to the Carmine System that it lost the ability to sustain itself outside of the cockpit. Only by permanently circulating the blood produced by a Carmine mech would the pilot be able to sustain his body.

Another potential long-term problem was the psychological distortion of maintaining strong intimate contact with a living mech. Unlike conventional mechs that could only be piloted by professionals that had completed rigorous studies and training on how to control them to the best of their ability, a lot of norms who rushed to acquire their own Carmine mechs lacked these qualifications! n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

Perhaps their lacking skills and knowledge could be compensated for in other ways.

The issue was that amateurs lacked the military-esque conditioning and tempering that orthodox mech pilots received during their education.

Ves possessed a decent understanding on how much of a shock it was for pure civilians to dive head-first into a bloody battlefield.

The shock and trauma of seeing thousands of humans die in an instant could break the mentalities of these poor mech enthusiasts who had never witnessed real death up close.

The extreme emotions that Carmine pilots would experience on the battlefield may become amplified or lead to other unintended consequences due to the presence of a Blood Pact.

Even though Ves invented the Blood Pact, he himself had no idea whether it would lead to any negative side effects in the long run!

Just because nothing happened so far did not mean that these health risks were absent.

For the mechers to outright disregard these risks this time indicated that they would not care if Carmine mechs ended up killing their bonded partners a few decades later.

This was because they predicted that the Red War would no longer be in such a dire state in the future. So long as red humanity managed to survive this difficult early period, its advantages would begin to accrue.

So what if Carmine mechs ended up killing a lot of people later on? What mattered now was to stop or slow down the decline in the short term as much as possible!

Though Ves recognized the benefit of this dangerous approach, he grew worried about what this would mean for himself.

After all, if he released a product that ended up causing a lot of misery, he would definitely be condemned by society!

How could he possibly maintain his reputation by then? Much of the reason why many of his initiatives proceeded smoothly was due to the respect and acceptance he gained on account of his good reputation!

All of these advantages could disappear in an instant if he became the subject of a huge scandal!

"There will be many consequences to this change of plans." Ves spoke. "I am sure that you guys have figured out these possibilities, but if anything serious happens in the future, I will get into big trouble."

"We know what you mean." Vector Loban said. "We cannot negate all of the consequences of serious errors, but I can promise you that we will take the corresponding actions to resolve any public outcry. Radical innovation can never be separated from controversy. The Evolution Witch understood this truth early on, and embraced her notoriety as a way to train the public into developing a tolerance for the occasional accidents."

"I see. I am no god pilot, though."

"It is an idea."

Although Ves did not put too much stock in this promise, he understood that so long as he remained useful enough to the Red Association, the mechers would continue to cover his back and shield him from most negative consequences.

Of course, Ves knew better than to take this protection for granted. The mechers sure hadn't been able to accomplish much when his critics compelled him to attend the public inquiry on living mechs.

It may be that all of his fears were overblown. The Carmine System did not produce all of the negative side effects that he imagined. If that was the case, then there was no need for him to trouble himself too much over these issues.

The three Senior Mech Designers continued to discuss the alterations to their original plan.

"If possible, The Transhumanist Faction would like you to postpone your non-essential design projects and work on designing Carmine mechs right away." Vector Loban explained. "We do not have the patience to address every class one at a time. We would like you to design a third-class mech, a second-class mech as well as a first-class mech on a concurrent basis in the next half year."

"Are you serious?"

"Are you unable to fulfill this request?"

"I can do it." Ves quickly responded. "Depending on the requirements, it would probably be really helpful if I can gain access to additional help. This is particularly the case with the first-class Carmine mech. I will have to suspend multiple ongoing design projects in order to clear up my schedule. To be fair, I do not begrudge the delays because it may be better for me to let my more ambitious projects remain dormant while I wait for technology to catch up to my needs."

Outside of the expert mech design projects helmed by Gloriana, Ves had been working on a range of interesting mech designs.

He had been puzzling with a light skirmisher in the style of the Dark Zephyr, a heavy support mech equipped with shield link technology that looked like an upright elephant, an ECM mech with special transphasic features and a missile interceptor mech.

All of these projects had a lot of value if he completed them to his satisfaction, but that was still too far away.

The high technological demands of most of them caused him to waste a considerable amount of time on scientific research and technological acquisitions.

While Ves most definitely believed that the impact of these mech designs would be as great as the Fey Fianna and the Ultimatum if he completed them one day, he could affect the balance of the Red War a lot more extensively if he shifted his attention to Carmine mechs instead!

He would be able to open up a brand new market with the release of numerous Carmine mechs!

Not only would he be able to fulfill the dreams of millions if not billions of mech enthusiasts, he could also invigorate lives of potentates whose genetic aptitudes were too low to get taken seriously!

Carmine mechs also promised to revive the careers of brain-damaged mech pilots like his grandfather. There were definitely a lot of injured veterans that would probably explode with potential now that they gained a second chance to become a hero again!

The Carmine System also offered benefits to existing mech pilots that could already make good use of the neural interface. The promise of increasing their effective genetic aptitude would definitely attract a lot of mech pilots, most particularly the first-class ones who had always been frustrated that their shortcoming in this aspect limited their futures!

As Ves grew more eager about how he could fulfill the needs of so many different people, he fully went onboard this new plan.

"Tell me what I should design."