What's Junk? (The Mech Touch)

[Luker number 5]

Just making Mech Vallhalla because you didn't know what to do with the spirits no big deal.

 

[Simonbob]

So.

Artifact creation.

Yep, more Xianxia Tropes, done in mechs.

 

[Thomisannoyed]

Ok, mech afterlife, Bolts honestly way too nice for the universe. Let's tear apart this horrible dark ritual and make something nice out of this particular part.

 

[Pollyamorous]

He might think his actions silly by itself, and in a vacuum it is, but the Heart System is inevitably going to have people mess with it, iterate on it, and try and see how they can exploit it in the best way possible.

Can we really say that nobody would figure out how to pass around the Heart Crystals, create spirits themselves, and then come up with new and horrifying ways to abuse them?

He might not have realized it, but he's essentially safe-guarding souls from a possibility of an eternity of never ending slaughter, pain, and death.

 

[Negation]

Synthetic souls manufactured to be sacrificed to make Stone Blood.

 

[Emptiness]

Bolt has now become the creator of a cycle of reincarnation, partially to not be seen purely as a necromancer.

 

[lost star]

Lilly relied on her instincts for a lot of things. Intuition and gut feelings had served her well all her life, and she liked to think she'd honed them well. Therefore she was quite certain that her husband was doing something very silly while she was away again.

"You know people think I'm the dangerous one." Lilly said to the cockpit.

'Pilot is dangerous.' Morning Star didn't so much speak as relay the concepts back. It was an interesting method of communication that she wasn't sure other pilots would have managed. It required some extreme sensitivity to hear the being respond.

"Oh I am, but the best I can do is destroy things on the planet. My darling husband made things that can do that on a few hundred worlds instead." The woman paused and shrugged. "Basically I use a gun, he's made a thousand of them."

'Other me?' The mech asked.

"Maybe, but not like you. I can already tell that Dowry will be different when she wakes up." Lilly did a small dash over the ground and then hit the boosters in a quick maneuver designed to strain the systems.

There were plenty of mercenary companies around. None of them would be willing to do more than spar a bit if she wanted. That wouldn't really push Morning Star to the limits, and she rather needed to see how the new occupant? Tenant? Personality? How whatever it was worked in combat.

Her initial thoughts were that nothing changed. That could have been Lilly taking over it all like she usually did though. Time to see if she could change that. The pilot reached out and mentally tapped on something metaphysically. The handshake that followed was relatively normal, but the way the other side actually seemed to offer support was decidedly abnormal.

'Helping.' Morning Star gave the offer freely, and Lilly allowed it.

It was almost like having a second mind aiding her, but not quite. She would perhaps describe it as her having the ability to spread her attention more. She could feel the mech better, and the spirit could sort of make a flick to draw her attention to something. The mech felt more comfortable as well. Almost like she was the mech instead of piloting it. It also made her very aware of the new consciousness aiding her.

Morning Star as a spirit was weaker than Lilly. Significantly so. The expert candidate knew she could crush the new thing with barely any effort. She had no desire to, but that was possible. The spirit was eager in a newborn sense, wide eyed and innocent despite being born in a war machine. She wanted to help.

Lilly almost wanted to call it a child made from her and Bolt. That was not accurate, as much as part of her wished it. This was a concept given will. There were colors and histories in the mech's personality. The initial design of a sinful angel actually predated the spirit. As did other things. This was a weapon. It was a mech. It was not a child. It was just young and pushed to wake up too early. That was what Lilly finally concluded after some careful examination.

"I actually don't think that every mech will get something like you." Lilly murmured her thoughts and guesses after they bounced off a few rocks and took to the air. "You came about because I already noticed mechs had a personality and we pushed this." If a mech pilot only thought of it as a tool, that was all it would be.

That was ok too. Lilly working with her mech had an extra set of eyes. It took coordination to work with that sort of thing. Another pilot would want something different. That was turning out to be the beauty of the Heart system, Lilly thought. Every mech would develop along with their pilots.

'Left. Enemy.' The sharp thought made Lilly turn and chuckle as she identified things.

"Hey boys, out for a stroll?" She asked the approaching pair of mechs.

"Something like that. Saw you out there."

The mechs were fairly ugly as things went. Just blocky things with rifles. Merc company standard cheap fodder. Not quite frontline, but closer than the pilots would like. They were common in the merc companies that had settled down nearby, and with all mercenaries in truth. Cheap riflemen were easy to slot into various spots.

"Word is you'll sometimes give advice." One of the men said.

"Ah yes, the one word that gets companies running, free." Lilly shot back with a hint of amusement. She did occasionally give people a few words if they were polite. "Tell ya what, I need some exercise. Try to tag me with a shot and I'll give ya a few words."

The pilot closed her physical eyes and grabbed at the connection with Morning Star. There was something else she could try. Something that she was certain was possible if she reached just right. Her physical body's input washed away and she became Morning Star. The feeling was an illusion, but it felt so real she could feel the gravel under her feet. A wing twitched and the men raised their weapons.

Naturally they were a bit hesitant. "Boys, you couldn't damage me even if you hit me." Lilly spread her wings and then gave a flap. "Go for it."

The two fired then. Lousy shots, which wasn't surprising. Young, untested, untried. Lilly evaluated all of that. She could feel Greed waiting to sip at their power. She could even feel the air run over her wings. It was a heady riot of sensation that she exalted in.

Lilly twitched and twisted as the shots came in. Everything missed. She didn't have to move so much to dodge. She did anyway. She danced forward until she was a few steps away and only then did they manage to clip a wing. The damage was non-existent, but they'd touched her despite all her dodging. It was a reminder that she was still mortal and one she took to heart.

"Good. Left guy's not suited for rifles. You're too aggressive. Knight or sword. Right, you're not practicing enough. Decent at firing, but I can tell you've half-assed your training." Lilly advised before giving another flap and boosting back. "That's yer free advice. Don't ask for more."

"That's more than enough Venerable Lilly." Both men gave their best gestures of respect.

The expert waved them off and evaluated her own performance. This method of piloting felt more natural in a way. The spirit was still there, but was part of her. It was an armor and an aid and more. That was two methods of new piloting from this change. Interesting. She rather liked this better really.

It also sort of settled what the spirit was. She was a mech and though she wasn't designed for it, she was meant to work like this. Her intuition said that was important somehow. It certainly felt better to pilot. There was always a bit of stress and feedback in the interface. The spirit was buffering a lot of it. She could connect deeper with less risk.

Lilly wondered if this would remove the pain feedback too? There was a reason her terror tactics worked aside from the horror aspect. When you got damaged in a mech you frequently got some sort of feedback. It could get very dangerous and deadly, with the possibility of death. When Dowry bit of a mech's face, they sometimes felt a bit of it.

She wasn't inclined to test that very much at the moment. A few quick deliberate dings to easily repaired areas made her sure that she couldn't feel everything. Deliberately damaging the mech to test that more would get the techs mad at her and not give her proper feedback anyway. The pain had always been inconsistent in the first place.

Further thought was cut off by a small twinge on her senses, no her spirit's senses. It was like a light had suddenly appeared. Gentle and welcoming, without judgement or demand. A light on the porch welcoming one home. Lilly turned her head towards it and noticed that it was looking towards her home. The expert sighed and pulled back some so that she could register herself in the cockpit better. Then she flicked a direct line to Bolt.

"Honey, what did you do?" She asked when he picked up.

"Just solving a problem." The young man answered too quickly.

She recognized that tone. It was the tone he got when he was coming down off an inspiration high. He'd done something special again.

"I'm heading back. Morning Star works better than she did before." Lilly blinked as the autopilot began without her input and she gave it a grateful pat. "Why don't you tell me all what you did." She said and crossed her fingers in hope that he hadn't broken anything.

Well, nothing important. Why was she being the responsible one now?!

 

[Simonbob]

Well, nothing important. Why was she being the responsible one now?!

Click to shrink...

The instinctive illiterate combat monster is the responsible one.

 

[foo-jin]

The instinctive illiterate combat monster is the responsible one.

Click to shrink...

Ehh, she never came across as particularly irresponsible either, so it's really not that surprising. Might be that it clashes a bit with her self image, but given she dreams of motherhood it's certainly not a bad thing to become more responsible.

 

[Simonbob]

Ehh, she never came across as particularly irresponsible either, so it's really not that surprising. Might be that it clashes a bit with her self image, but given she dreams of motherhood it's certainly not a bad thing to become more responsible.

Click to shrink...

Not arguing, just amused.


I do enjoy this story. It's vastly better than the Mech Touch.

 

[Golgotha]

Not arguing, just amused.


I do enjoy this story. It's vastly better than the Mech Touch.

Click to shrink...

I never got past chapter 300, and everything I've heard told me that's for the best.
But I'm loving this story.
I suspect reports of electronic heaven will be slow to spread, but things will get crazy.

But at least it will finally answer the question of where do all the toasters go.

 

[Emptiness]

MTA: "Please inform us before you make anything else that has Theological Implications."

 

[lost star]

One test and some assumptions was not enough of course. It took time. After some extensive testing with both Morning Star and other mechs, Bolt was able to come to a few conclusions. It was possible to inhibit the formation of a spirit in a mech. This probably wasn't something he wanted to build into the mech though. According to Lilly's guesses, the pilot of the mech would be responsible for forming the entire consciousness, and if it wasn't desired it would never form. It also wasn't particularly intrusive if you weren't that sensitive. Bolt figured that his current precautions would handle most of the problem cases, and he'd have to address edge cases as they came up.

"Really though, making a mech Shangri-La?" Lilly teased as they examined the server in the safe room after they'd finished with their examinations.

Bolt tapped at the computer. "I didn't have a better option. Though I wonder if they need stimulous. I could install a few games into the computer." He pondered out loud. "Though having them actually use those games would be interesting. They aren't actually physical or digital. The computer is just a prop."

"We'd have to ask them." The expert pilot noted. "Morning Star say anything while you moved her around?"

"Communication is still a bit abstract." The designer admitted. "She didn't appear to be distressed aside from the fact that the moving is complicated and potentially very costly."

As part of the testing they'd requested Morning Star move back and forth from things. One thing that had become apparent quickly was that Morning Star's Heart Crystal and mech frame were the 'home' metaphysically. Some power was invested in the frame, the rest was in the Crystal. Pulling the crystal out was mildly uncomfortable, but tolerable. Leaving the crystal was very hard and cost something integral to the spirit. Moving to the sanctuary and back to the crystal was relatively easy though, and transferring crystals was outright impossible difficult without Bolt helping. Placing Morning Star's spirit in another frame had gotten a statement of 'uncomfortable' and 'Grow into it.' They hadn't tested switching things with Dowry though, that one got a report of 'dangerous' and Bolt didn't want to push based on that feeling.

Fortunately the sanctuary seemed to sustain and support Morning Star if she moved to it, but Bolt would have to monitor the new construction's energy levels. Both a net positive and negative would need to be addressed if they happened. He could probably have it leach a bit from the Hearts installed already, or have it pull from Crystals in general if it became an issue, but that was for the future. It was something to keep an eye on over time. That and improving the security would be the greatest things to address.

"Still pretty strange." Lilly commented on the overall situation. "Do you think that there were other mech spirits out there?"

"You mean aside from what Ves made?" Bolt asked back with a contemplative look. "I don't know. I have to assume some happened, but it probably requires some special conditions, and I'm pretty sure most people wouldn't even notice. We're pretty sensitive."

Lilly stared at the server the man had made. "Feels a bit lonely. They're likely in storage. A mech wants to be used." She observed.

"Hmm." Bolt placed his hand on the server. "Give me your hand." He said while offering his free hand.

The expert gave him a grin and grabbed at it. "So what do you have planned now?"

"Bit of this, bit of that." The designer muttered and closed his eyes. "Remember connecting? Try that with me."

With an effort of will Bolt grabbed at the substance of the sanctuary he made. His next action was akin to pulling. It required a surprising amount of effort, but once he got the trick he was able to almost pull him and Lilly. He could taste Lilly's mild surprise as he did it, but he didn't dwell on it. Instead he continued to heave.

Then, like magic it was like he was in two places at once. He was in that safe room and also in the spiritual realm. More importantly, Lilly was with him.

"Huh, it worked!" Bolt exclaimed.

Lilly looked down at herself. Her outline was sharp in this realm. She was still small, but her long hair was almost alive and so vibrantly red it looked like it was on fire. She flexed her hands and then wiggled an arm as she tried to determine what had changed.

"Ok, I didn't expect this." The woman admitted with a grin. "So, where are we?"

"Basically in the sanctuary I made. This is pretty secured already, but I think I'll need your help fer the next part." Bolt said and gestured into the distance.

The place they were in had no real form. It was all cloudy. That was fine for Bolt, but he did need some structure. Creating the FTL tower was the first step. Then he just put a light on top it. This sort of resonated with the entire grounding part. He just wanted to give a small path for mechs to visit if they wanted to. It was actually surprisingly easy to do. He'd expected a lot more effort, or it to not work. Instead it was almost like he'd slotted something into place.

Lilly giggled at it. "That looks rather silly."

"It's a spirit lighthouse!" Bolt explained and took a seat in midair. "Now, let me see if it works as I'm guessing it should."

"Don't see why you need me- Oh." Lilly breathed out as motion started to happen in the distance. "Incoming!"

The next few actions happened in a blur. Something came in, Lilly intercepted it, the sanctuary rippled just a bit and then Lilly was pinning a man-sized mech. The woman stared down at it coldly before it really registered what had happened.

"Is this a mech spirit?" She asked incredulously and then blinked. "Wait, how did I beat it so easy?"

"Two reasons I think. This place desires peace and you're actually stronger than them here." Bolt explained, using his paltry understanding of the area.

"That explains one thing." The expert muttered and looked down at the metal figure. "Ya don't have much going on mentally do you? Gonna talk?" She leaned back to avoid a shot from a suddenly appearing rifle. "Hey, no!" She pulled the rifle away.

Bolt watched it, and watched as more spirits started to congregate. He wasn't sure how many. Not a lot. Some of them were so faded that they were just outlined, though that improved as they started to gather in the sanctuary.

"These ones seem less hostile." He said as he watched some and then amended his statement as some began to fight with one another. "Or not."

"This one's really- Wait, these are mechs." Lilly observed and did a complicated rolling and kicking action that had the mech flying towards the other ones. "We're being silly. They want to fight."

"Ah." Bolt felt like smacking himself over that. "One second then." He mentally connected to the 'admin panel' of his creation and began to adjust settings. (It was an easy way to frame it, there wasn't an actual administrator panel.)

Terrain formed. An arena spun into being. A forest, a desert, and more. Places where mechs had fought, where they'd lived, and where they'd sometimes died. The spirits immediately began to separate themselves into preferred arenas, but never stopped dueling one another, fighting, and then exploding, only to reform again.

"Well, if you wanted to make a paradise for mechs, it looks like you did it." Lilly said as she dusted herself off and moved away from the ongoing battle.

"Not as many as I'd expected." Bolt commented. There were maybe one or two dozen here.

Lilly rolled her eyes. "Ain't like ya needed em. You just wanted ta help them and jumped on the first idea didn't you?"

The designer nodded and watched the events with a critical eye. Some of these mechs looked old. He could see mechs centuries old appearing. The age really didn't matter though. They were all as only as strong as their spirit, not their equipment, and a few of the older ones were immensely strong. They didn't seem happy about that after a few bouts though. As he watched their forms started to solidify and they very deliberately started to make their performance match up with their age, which meant some of the strongest ones were starting to lose more. Pride? Or was this just how mech spirits were? It was surprisingly informative to watch.

"So strange." The expert had seen the same thing. "Why are they doing that?"

"No idea." Bolt muttered in reply. He didn't have enough data to make conclusions.

After a few minutes one of the less defined spirits moved up. 'Pilot?' It asked, in words that weren't words so much as impressions.

Bolt stared at it a moment and shrugged. "We could arrange that." He said. That was something he could confidentially say he was capable of if he wanted to.

The words spread like lightning, and the rest of the spirits focused on him. The battles ceased and the designer could feel the weight of their desire and need. These were mechs that had been left to rot for years on end. Bolt's words were like offering water to a person dying of thirst.

"Before you get too excited, what sort of pilot do you want?" Lilly interjected as she stepped forward in front of Bolt. "Cause I can see a all of you are kinda special and we ain't getting yer old frames. You'll have ta be moved into something we got."

About half the spirits immediately turned back to fighting at those words. Bolt watched them and gave a small nod at the new information. It was an informative data point. He wondered what moving into a new mech would do for these spirits? It was hard to tell. It would hopefully be a beneficial thing to experiment with. He just had to arrange a few things first, and knew just how to do that.

"One moment." Bolt switched to the physical world and started up the computer that he'd used as a base.

A bit of typing and work and he had it connected to their internal network. He then did a bit of mental twisting here and there to sort of designate it as something specific. This was a 'mech computer' now, and it could be read by mech spirits. It wasn't that big a stretch, but it still hurt a bit to adjust it mentally and spiritually. Sort of like putting your arm in an awkward angle. Once he was done, he then connected to the spirit world again.

"Here we go!" Bolt tapped at the air. "Our mechs, recordings of our mech pilots, even their simms."

Like that he had all the mech's attention again. Even if they didn't want to 'move' so to speak, they did apparently love seeing battles and such. They immediately began to play a few simulations and then some managed to run them too, which was very interesting. It gave him a bit of another possible path to take!

"Oh no, he has another idea." Lilly's voice interrupted his thoughts and he turned to her.

"I think you'll like this one a lot more." Bolt answered and chuckled as he switched to the physical again.

His wife gave him a look once she was back but left him to it with a small smile on her face. They both knew it was going to be interesting.

 

[Golgotha]

Afterlife mech dating service ahaha.
Jokes aside, talk about helping find amazing compatibility of the mech spirit can pick both it's pilot and frame