The Mech Touch

Chapter 7242 Deviated Path Forward

"No." Ves shook his head. "I disagree with the framing. Completing 3 out of 4 steps of the Mech Body Merger Process is not necessarily beneficial to Saint Orfan. I do not believe that the requirements to transcend to godhood are that simple. The 4th step of achieving a total union between mech and machine sounds deceptively simple, but it has proven to be the number 1 reason why the vast majority of peak ace pilots ultimately falter and perish. It appears that removing a human's dependence on the human body that has nurtured and accompanied his soul for his entire life is one of the most difficult challenges that exist."

He did not understand enough about the Mech Body Merger Process and the breakthroughs of this exceedingly high level to say anything further.

It was safest to assume that he still remained unaware of all of the important variables that determined the success rate of the Mech Body Merger Process.

Factors such as resonance strength, the quality of a mech, the conviction of a peak ace pilot, age, combat experience and so much more also played a role in a breakthrough.

Therefore, just because Saint Orfan managed to 'complete' most of the steps of the Mech Body Merger Process did not mean that she could transcend her mortality much easier than other ace pilots.

Fortunately, the Transhumanists understood this truth as well.

"We are still waiting for Saint Rosa Orfan to regain her consciousness and communicate with us. Depending on how lucid she is and how functional she remains, we expect to obtain many answers from her." Vector told the pair of Larkinson mech designers. "Due to her mutations, we believe that she will have to follow a slightly different process if she wishes to resume her career and become a god pilot. I can imagine that she will become more motivated than ever to work for her next breakthrough. If she succeeds, she will gain the power to reshape her human body."

He was most likely correct. God pilots were fundamentally energy-based life forms. Their material bodies were not as important as before.

Of course, just because their God Kingdoms made up their actual 'bodies' did not mean that their physical forms became irrelevant. They still relied heavily on their god mechs to exert their strength to the fullest in the material realm.

God pilots were capable of many feats, but they could not whip up an extremely powerful mech by themselves. They still had to rely on Star Designers to shape their most formidable physical manifestations.

Of course, if there was no need for god pilots to wield so much power, then they could easily use their innate capabilities to mold a human body for themselves.

God pilots no longer possessed a dependence on their human bodies. Each time they presented themselves in this form, they were essentially piloting tiny meat puppets that just happened to resemble their forms back when they were mortal.

Some god pilots tried to preserve their prior human forms as precisely as possible.

They cared little about the flaws and imperfections that marked their bodies as they aged or suffered injuries.

Others reshaped their human bodies into younger and more idealized versions.

The Evolution Witch happened to do this as she had worked hard to transcend her flawed and incurable human body before her ascension.

All of these cases made it clear that their human physical forms were like putty in their hands.

Perhaps it was even possible for them to shape the bodies that belonged to other people and impersonate them. Not that god pilots would ever stoop so low.

"We are not quite certain whether the individual who wakes up will still be recognizable as Rosa Orfan." Ves voiced another concern. "It is clear that a fusion has occurred between man and machine. This means that it is not so easy to separate Saint Orfan from her living mech. Given that the latter became occupied by a dark and malevolent being, I fear that her recent breakthrough has accidentally worsened the situation by making the contamination permanent."

"Vector, could you tell us the mental state of the test pilots of those failed experiments? How much of their humanity did they manage to retain? Were they still recognizeable, or did they experience a complete change in personality?"

The Transhumanist paused as he silently accessed a few records. "It depends. Deviations always occur. The severity of it is roughly in proportion to how much they have changed or fused to their machines. I am afraid that what has happened to Saint Orfan can be categorized as one of the more severe cases. This should normally be enough to shatter the sanity of any test pilot, but this case is different. We have never conducted any experiment of this magnitude on an ace pilot."

Somehow, Ves had a feeling that this was not the case. The MTA existed for a long time. The mechers possessed a lot of curiosity. Ves would not put it past them to secretly kidnap an ace pilot and conduct experiments on him just because they wanted to generate more research data.

Ves only believed that a Senior Mech Designer like Vector Loban likely remained in the dark about these classified and very much illegal experiments!

His wife relaxed after she remembered that Rosa Orfan was not a weak and fragile mortal.

No matter what she experienced during the first activation of the Riot Mark III, she eventually succeeded.

She had to retain at least a portion of herself, or else she wouldn't have been able to cling onto her extraordinary willpower.

Such potent willpower could only exist when the mech pilot possessed an unflinchingly strong belief in one's own self and existence.

This was not a property that others could steal or usurp.

The Prophet's Bane lacked the traits that made him worthy of forming extraordinary willpower, let alone borrowing it from others!

Since the Riot Mark III had unquestionably formed a Saint Kingdom in the short time following Saint Orfan's successful breakthrough, she should still be alive underneath all of that superdimensional matter and archetech.

They would have to wait to be certain. It could take weeks before Saint Orfan recovered from her ordeal and woke up again.

Gloriana hoped that she had not turned into a demon, though she was prepared for the worst.

"So how do we go forward from here?" Ves asked.

"The wellbeing of the pilot must come first." Vector Loban stated. "The Transhumanist Faction has a strong interest in finding out whether she can still prosper and do well in her unfortunate condition. We must provide her with all of the psychological support she needs to accept her new condition and work towards a better future. At the same time, we must upgrade, repair and modify the Riot Mark III as best we can. Now that you have embarked on this special project, you cannot abandon it midway. You have a responsibility to see this through. Our faction can make it easier by providing support services, but we must ultimately rely on your ingenuity to complete this fusion in the best way possible. This applies to both of you, by the way."

He pointedly directed his last remark towards Gloriana. It was pretty obvious that she felt sickened by what her work had wrought. She truly wanted to cut ties with the project that had spun out of her control, but Vector was right.

Even without the directive from the Transhumanist Faction, Gloriana owed it to the Riot as well as Saint Orfan to continue to take care of them. She knew that her continued involvement was vital as she was responsible for turning the Riot Mark III into an archemech.

Hardly any other third party mech designer had bothered to develop a specialization in archetech. Not even Ves understood this form of alien tech to the same degree.

This meant that Gloriana was stuck.

Unless her involvement was detrimental to them, then she could not turn away from their plight.

"I think there should be no problem with that." Ves responded to the Transhumanist liaison. "I was afraid that you guys would insist on taking the Riot away and stuff it in a secret lab or whatever. No matter what, Saint Orfan is still a Larkinson. We take care of our own. If the Riot Mark III is still functional enough despite all of the deviations, then it can serve as the most powerful protector of the Bluejay Fleet. We do not solely have to rely on 30 Ascended Giants to defend us against enemy champions."

The 15 Ur-Titans and 15 Faceless Giants represented a lot of combat power, but it was easy to overlook the fact that they were still lesser phase lords.

A sufficiently powerful enough greater phase lord or greater phase whale could still overpower them despite being heavily outnumbered. This should especially be the case if the powerful alien adversary was outfitted with a Saint Piercer or Saint Armor.

Only a full superdimensional ace mech such as the Riot could hold back such a threatening enemy. All others had no choice but to keep their distance and prevent themselves from getting hit at all cost.

Perhaps that might change again once the Ascended Giants received their stopgap superdimensional weapons and raiments.

"Rosa Orfan is a fighter." Gloriana stated. "If a semblance of her is still alive and in control of the Riot Mark III, then she will not want to remain idle. A mech is made to fight. The purpose of a mech pilot is to control a mech. Both will want to be used, preferably in active battles. The best way for Saint Orfan to heal and come to terms with her new condition is to enjoy all of the power she has gained. Regardless of all of the mutations, it is undeniable that the Mark III is much more powerful than the Mark II. She can finally realize many of the fantasies she has entertained in her mind."

Ves pointed out a necessary step. "We will need to upgrade the Riot Mark III from a high-tier expert mech into a junior ace mech first. The resonating exotics need to be swapped. I know we designed the mech to make this exchange as easy as possible, but… given how the machine has partially turned into Saint Orfan's body, I believe it is better for us to wait until she wakes up again. Who knows what harmful changes will ensue if we recklessly change such a vital aspect of her machine."

"I disagree, Ves." Gloriana responded with a frown. "We need to make this swap as soon as possible. Have you noticed that the resonance meter is still reading a low amount of true resonance from the Riot Mark III? I believe that Saint Orfan is continuing to deepen her connection to her mech. This is not a desirable occurrence as she is becoming more attached to a mech that has already become outdated. The longer this goes on, the more she will become hurt when we rip the BSN-17A and Pierrotis from the archemech frame. If we complete the exchange quickly, Saint Orfan will only experience moderate discomfort. We must make her acclimate to the new set of ace mech-grade resonating materials as quickly as possible."

Her logic was sound, but they lacked too much information to figure out what was best.

Should they upgrade the Riot Mark III right away, or should they wait a week or so until Saint Orfan finally regained her consciousness?

Both Ves and Gloriana turned to Vector.

"I do not dare to issue a judgment on this matter." The Transhumanist raised his palm. "I will transfer the details to more experienced and knowledgeable Master Mech Designers and record their answers. There is no guarantee that their verdicts are correct, so you do not have to follow their advice."

"I see. Well, it is still helpful to hear from other mech designers. We welcome their input."