The Mech Touch novel Chapter 7287

Chapter 7287: Neural Interface Policy Shift

All of this talk about ambitions and empire building discomfited Ves. Learning about the personal ambitions of the high-and-mighty tier 1 galactic citizens caused him to no longer look up to them as much as before. That mental shift jarred Ves quite a lot, so much so that Jovy pulled back and began to divert to less weighty secrets.

Ves allowed Jovy to brief him on matters such as secret doomsday bases, multiple successful attempts at launching generation ships to the other dwarf galaxies of Messier 87, bioengineering alien bodies that were secretly controlled by human intelligences, assassinating the leaders of relatively small but disproportionately disruptive organizations, the ongoing development of multiple new Masterwork Installations capable of shaping the battlefield in unprecedented new ways and more. While these secrets sounded interesting enough when presented in isolation, they all seemed to blur in the background as far as the current recipient was concerned.

It was too much. Ves still couldn't get over what he learned about the schemes and ambitions of the Marmedions and the Xenotechnician. He also found it difficult to foresee what would happen to him if the Evolution Witch finally decided to cut the cord and break away from the Red Association. How should he navigate this future?

The future became more and more clouded with uncertainty. An avalanche of changes threatened to engulf red humanity and had the potential to create huge gaps. A part of Ves wanted to feel angry at how the situation was spinning out of control. Wasn't the Red Association supposed to be a stabilizing force? It was about to do the complete opposite!

There was nothing he could do about it. Despite becoming a tier 2 galactic citizen, he still did not possess enough power or influence to block the ambitions of a powerful god pilot or Star Designer. They were driven individuals who were willing to go through certain extremes in order to achieve their life-long goals. The more Jovy talked, the more Ves calmed down. Enough time had passed for his heated emotions to cool down to the point where he was able to regain his composure.

He started to pay more attention to Jovy's continued disclosures. "...furthermore, the Red Association is about to loosen the safety limitations on neural interface designs. Traditionally, we have always kept them tight in order to offer solid protection to mech pilots. Current events make it difficult to maintain our stance. Breakthroughs matter more than safety. By permitting mech designers to make use of more potent but dangerous neural interfaces, we hope that their works can induce more breakthroughs."

That was a big change. It might not produce results immediately, but once more and more mech models got released that came with the altered neural interfaces, then the shift would gradually become more obvious. Neural interfaces with less restrictions than before promised superior performance by establishing deeper and more intimate man-machine connections. This made it easier for the mech pilot to control all of the functions of a mech, but it also increased the negative consequences of damage feedback. If a mech suffered a sudden but powerful blow, then the risks were great that the mech pilot would suffer as well! Even if the pilot's body remained hale and whole, the damage feedback would cause to react almost exactly as if she was suffering a real wound.

The mechers did not fully understand the damage feedback phenomenon. At least, they didn't share their full understanding with Ves. In the worst case scenario, a mech that got hit in the head could potentially induce permanent permanent brain damage to the pilot! The RA had done studies about probabilities and such and came with a number of thresholds. If the neural interface parameters fell below these figures, then the probability of neural interface accidents became infrequent enough to be tolerated by the Association. For the mechers to let go of those strict standards and willingly permit the use of more dangerous neural interface represented a drastic shift in strategic direction.

"Why?" Ves couldn't help but ask. "I think it is better to explain the need to maintain strict regulations in the first place." Jovy responded. "For several centuries, we have tried to turn mechs into the main means of waging war among humans. To do so, we needed to make them as safe and reliable to operate as possible. In the early years, the mech industry was apprehensive about the acceptance of neural interface technology. They were afraid that mass adoption would not happen due to the very legitimate fears that potentates might have about making use of it. The early abuses certainly did not help matters. This is why the rules mostly became stricter over the years." "So that you mechers could ensure the public maintained its trust in neural interface technology." Ves remarked.

"Yes. However, four centuries have passed since the start of the Age of Mechs. Neural interface technology is no longer an unproven innovation. It has matured into a widely accepted tech that few people question these days. Mech pilots can remain confident that so long as they pilot a mech that is equipped with a certified neural interface model, they have no reasons to be afraid of the tech. This grants us a considerable amount of leeway."

Realization dawned in Ves' mind. The scheme was quite simple now that he understood the greater score. "You guys are taking advantage of all of the trust you have built up. By releasing more dangerous neural interfaces, many mech pilots will become attracted to the promise of raising their breakthrough chances. Their greed will surpass their prudence, and many of them will end up overestimating their capabilities."

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