The Mech Touch novel Chapter 1634

Chapter 1634 Expensive Mech

While Ves mainly worked on the Deliverer project, he did not entirely ignore the Adonis project.

The same went for Gloriana.

Both of them had to be involved in both projects in order to make sure they managed to achieve synergy when they moved on to the next design phases.

Gloriana's specialization required her to gain a thorough understanding of Vincent Ricklin's mind and body.

For this reason, Vincent became a regular guest of the design lab in the first couple of days.

Ves was deeply uncomfortable with letting Vincent inside the design lab. He could do a lot of damage if he wanted to. It didn't help that Vincent didn't shut up and frequently talked as he impatiently endured all of the tests and examinations.

"I'm bored here!" He shouted as his body was being subjected to a whole-body scan. "Is this what you mech designers are doing all day?"

"Please bear with it, Mr. Vincent!" Gloriana admonished from behind a control panel.

Different from the time they worked on the Resentful Soldier project, Gloriana had an assistant by her side.

Considering that it was important to gain an excellent understanding of Vincent's physical state, Ves suggested that Dr. Lupo should be involved.

Though Gloriana initially doubted Dr. Lupo, she fully became convinced in him after he showed off his expertise!

As Ves walked up to the control panel, he studied the readouts. He failed to interpret the data.

"What's going on?" Ves asked the exobiologist.

"We are almost done with measuring Mr. Ricklin's physical state." Lupo replied, making sure not to disturb Gloriana as she focused on manipulating the scanner machine. "It's quite surprising how healthy he is. It's rare to encounter a baseline human body that has grown admiringly fit through natural means."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Vincent Ricklin spends a lot of time on working out. While he has made use of supplements to enhance his muscle growth, it is not to the extent that he has become dependent on them. He hasn't augmented his body with any genetic treatments either."

"Of course not!" Their current client yelled. "I'm proud to be human! I hate it when people are trying to get ahead by turning themselves into half-aliens! Don't they realize that they're losing their humanity?!"

Lupo smiled. "Ah, a human purist."

The practice of augmenting someone by applying alien genes to their genetic makeup was not accepted by every human. Though Ves discovered that the practice turned out to be widespread among the upper echelons of society, most lower-class citizens detested the practice after it had almost led humanity to extinction during the twilight of the Age of Conquest!

In truth, Ves was not entirely unsympathetic of this ideology. If Dr. Jutland hadn't forcibly stuffed his body with enough alien-derived organs to turn him into a literal half-alien, he would have agreed with Vincent's viewpoint.

Unfortunately, the reality of modern society was that those who failed to keep up would always be left in the dust. By far, most mech designers who managed to become a Journeyman did so because they augmented their intelligence in some way.

Every other successful human relied on some form of implants or genetic treatments to become better at their jobs.

Fortunately for Vincent, mech pilots were less dependent on augmentations than other professions.

Skill, discipline and genetic aptitude determined the performance of a mech pilot in a mech.

The former two could only be developed through training and hard work while the latter completely depended on birth and early nurturing.

So whether Vincent Ricklin wanted to remain a baseline human or not did not matter that much in his career.

Of course, those who were willing to augment aspects of themselves still gained some advantages.

"How skilled is he in piloting mechs?"

Gloriana answered this time.

"To be honest, he's all over the place."

"HEY! I object to that, babe!"

"Quiet!" She hissed to Vincent before turning back to Ves. "According to his own words, he piloted a variety of mechs when he fought for the Bentheim Liberation Movement. He started off with your custom Marc Antony, then switched over to a spaceborn skirmisher before dumping it for a spaceborn rifleman mech. He then went back to piloting some landbound mechs such as a knight mech and a striker mech."

"That... is certainly a very colorful resume." Ves haltingly responded.

"I didn't always get the luxury to choose the mech I wanted to pilot! It's not like the BLM can enter a mech outlet in Dorum and order a batch of mechs to be delivered to our secret base!"

"Why did you pilot both landbound and spaceborn mechs, then?"

"I didn't have any choice! Whenever I spend too long on a hidey hole on the surface, the Planetary Guard eventually caught up to us and forced us to flee! Whenever I'm starting to get comfortable in space, the Mech Corps narrowed down our coordinates and forced us to lay low at one of our hidden bases!"

"It sounds like the authorities should have done a better job."

"Haha! I don't go down that easily, buddy! I'm stronger than you think!"

Gloriana shook her head. "I've already tested his piloting performance in simulations. He is passable in piloting most standard mech types, but his irregular training and experiences hasn't led to anything else."