What's Junk? (The Mech Touch)

[Golgotha]

This dude is going to literally not understand when he gets rejected.

 

[Evaunit02mark1]

This dude is going to literally not understand when he gets rejected.

Click to shrink...

I am fully confident Bolt can find small enough words to explain why he thinks the guy is a dick.

 

[Green Syn]

I am fully confident Bolt can find small enough words to explain why he thinks the guy is a dick.

Click to shrink...

Honestly, I think the fact that the only reason that he was participating was the laser liscence is something this guy will struggle with.

If Mei makes the offer, this will cause psychic damage too.

 

[lost star]

It was interesting seeing his mech crafted by different hands. Something had been lost in the process. Something was, as much as Bolt hated to use the term, colder than the ones he'd made himself. There was still a presence to it, but it was faint. Bolt wondered if anyone else could tell. He felt as if there was something important in that observation, but he couldn't say what.

Regardless, the mech he'd tentatively titled Praying M had far too many flaws to his eyes. Bolt was reminded again that he had a horrible habit of needing to correct things after the design. It was fine when he could make them, but other people would just follow the blueprint. Until he fixed that habit he would need to make the mech first and alter the blueprint afterwards, which felt unpleasant to realize. This was doubly so because he wasn't even sure he could break that ideal. It was ingrained into himself. Every part of his upbringing was building and fixing things as they were built. Perhaps he'd need to lean on the virtual sims more in the future? It'd save money if not time that way.

Personal flaws aside watching the pilot get into the mech and move to the testing arena was oddly anti-climactic. The demonstrations were going to be relatively simple, as befit the process. There would be targeting popups, then automated attackers, and then ranged testing. It was completely sans risk and utterly boring. This part of the test was more to find out how it looked and felt in real life than anything else.

At least M looked good while doing it. His work on getting her movement and appearance down made her walk into the center of the arena pleasant to look at. Most mechs had a sense of stomping power. This was a picture of elegance and stately steps. He was fairly sure the pilot wasn't even intentionally doing it, that was just how he'd done the gait and how the small boosts made her float a bit.

He definitely didn't program the next part though. The targets popped up around Praying M and the mech just ignited her boosters and twirled, holding up the mirror weapon. The focused laser section of it blasted each target and scored hits quickly. None of them were big damage, but the spectacle was evident.

It became more of one when the automated attackers started up and the mech danced. This resulted in more than a few hits on her armor, but still, very showboaty. Bolt had no idea what the pilot was thinking. He was pretty sure even Lilly wouldn't have put the mech through a dance routine in the middle of being shot at! Her armor did not hold up well against that either!

The finale was where the mech worked as intended though. Range testing. Here Bolt felt a bit proud, seeing the mech kneel down and the drones rise up into the air was a properly cinematic start. It looked even better in reality. The mirror firing upward looked exactly how he'd envisioned it. The drones caught the light as programmed and the entire thing became a lightshow that brought to mind old tales of divine intervention and the like. It was everything he'd hoped when brainstorming and made him very proud to see.

Even the sight of the drones hitting the ground almost felt like part of an act. Sizzling and broken, it ended the show dramatically. Bolt thought it was one of his best works yet from a theme standpoint.

From a practical standpoint he had to admit it was bad. The damage to the targets was anemic, and those drones weren't necessarily cheap to make. Fixing it was impossible with his current knowledge as well. He still had far too much to learn.

"You have the look of a man contemplating his inadequacy." A voice made Bolt look away from the demonstration.

Walking up to him was a man on the older side. He looked timeless in a way that indicated life extension, with a long grey beard and hair, he looked like the most stereotypical wise old elder you could get. It wasn't a bad look on him mind you, it was just very obvious he was playing into it.

"Somethin' like that." Bolt eventually responded and nodded at the man with a trace of wariness. "Name's Bolt, but ya probably already know that."

"I do. You may refer to me as Senior Chen. I am one of the founders of this company, lead developer, and senior mech designer." The man gave a stately and shallow nod. "I heard of your design and believed I had to see it." He turned to where the mech was wrapping up. "I am glad that our little contest here appears to have born more fruit."

"More fruit?" Bolt asked before dismissing the odd statement and giving Chen a nod of his own. "I'd assume that ya mean you've gotten other designs from this contest right Senior?"

Everything about this approach screamed danger despite the friendly attitude. No one important approached a Rat unless they wanted something and Bolt had grown up with that attitude in mind. Play along, play passive and respectful, and then run with your tail tucked between your legs afterwards. Live, survive, and never let pride lead to a fall.

"Yes. Designs." The man said with a self satisfied grin. "I'm sure you know the flaws, would you care to tell this old what you believe is incorrect?"

"Boosters are too focused on cosmetic results, hips need ta be redone, armor seems are bad on upper shoulder, rear shoulder, mid back. Sensors are likely drawing the power incorrectly, and aren't good for how her range is shaping up to be. The mirror is absolute shit, and the drones are not made for this." Bolt rattled off quickly and winced. "Apologies for the swearing Senior."

"No, don't mind me. I might not look it, but I have handled a wrench and heard far worse. My students wouldn't say that, but you aren't one." The man said with a wave and a chuckle. "But that was a very good recital. You missed the joints in the hands and if we were to look at the blueprint I could point out a good hundred changes you could make for the energy distribution and heat shunting. The only part of worth out of the entire design is your tight commitment to the entire ideal. It was why I had to come over. A focus towards a goal and a new idea are worth something."

"I'm afraid I don't follow. It's a decent mech, but hardly something spectacular." Bolt responded with a frown at the mech as it finished the tests and began to leave.

"Walk with me." Chen said simply, and Bolt stepped quickly to catch up as the man turned. "As simply as possible, the concept is innovative. We had over a hundred submissions and none of them did anything special. Your Praying M is flawed in many ways yes. It drew the eye. Sometimes you need that, especially in marketing. I can refine this into something useful. We already have a few people drawing up plans to market the product to shrines and the like. To put it extremely bluntly, you've already won."

"Oh." Bolt breathed out and felt his alarm increase rather than drop.

"Bit shocking to realize is it not?" The old man asked with a small grin of nostalgia. "Ah I remember my first commercial mech. It was a little front line thing with the tiniest laser possible. Absolute trash, but I treasured the ten sales I made from it and used it to move up in the world." His smile continued as they passed several security points without stopping.

Bolt glanced around as they walked. There was a lot of security here. A lot of guards too. Exit was going to be tricky. He didn't have his tools. Then the old man continued and he switched his attention to that.

"But enough of that. Your mech was so unique it reminded me of something else, and I believe you'd be able to get something from it. Consider it another reward, off the books." The old man chuckled again and gestured into the mech bay.

Bolt stared, alarm briefly forgotten as they approached a strange mech. It was alien and human. Crystals were artistically placed around it's form, and a laser rifle was set by it's side. A mech unlike any other he'd seen. There was a presence too. Familiar and yet not.

"So odd." The young designer breathed out and stepped forward. "Do you feel that?"

"I'm afraid you are likely feeling it more than I. I'm an old man!" Chen joked back with a complicated look on his face. "We've had plenty of reports of unusual feelings, but I'm afraid they're all contradictory and useless."

"There is something backing this thing." Bolt tapped the foot of the machine and closed his eyes as he attempted to feel out the problem. "No idea what, but it's a sort of... Ug, I don't have the words."

Chen's warm demeaner dropped and he stared at the mech with something resembling hate. "Yes, that is something I've contemplated some myself. My specialty is lasers, but this Crystal Lord has confounded some of it. It is frustrating." Contrary to the words the tone was cool before he shook himself and seemed to put on the mask again. "Anything else?"

"I really want to tear it up." Bolt muttered and shook his head. "Sorry Senior."

"My boy," Chen sounded absurdly happy about that particular desire. "If it hadn't cost me far more than I'd like, I would have you rip this down to the nuts and bolts. I can say that physically it's not that different than any mech. There is some alien technology involved, but that I have already analyzed. It isn't what's causing the strangeness people are reporting."

The young man nodded and found a ladder before going up and popping open the cockpit to root around a bit in the nearest internals. He poked around a few areas and had to conclude that yes, there wasn't something physical causing his strange feeling. Eventually he had to give up and dropped down to the ground feeling irritated.

"Sorry I can't help anymore on this Senior. All I can say is that it's like it's got another layer? I don't have words for it. Was this built by another Senior Designer?" Bolt stared at the mech as he reviewed what he'd learned and frowned. "It seems too er, crude for that?"

"No." Chen replied with something almost like disdain on his face. "Just a designer at your level, with some help of some sort. Ves Larkinson. He's a fair distance away so you'll likely not see most of his work, but I watch for everything related to lasers and this came up."

Bolt nodded and stepped back from the mech before looking over it again. There was a clue here. He knew it. Something that would help him significantly.

"Well just staring won't help us. You could look at it later if you like as an incentive! You could call it a sign on bonus." Chen stepped forward before reaching up to pat the young man on the shoulder and offering his other hand. "How would you like to become my student and join my company?"

The young man very carefully did not show any sort of real reaction to that as his panic returned, though muted now that he could see the angle. "I'd have to think on it." He instead said with a warm smile as he stepped away without taking the hand. "I'm currently staying at the MTA facility due to personal reasons and don't want to many any sort of commitments while they are processing things." That was hopefully neutral enough to keep from immediate retaliation.

Nothing showed on Chen's face either as he replied while dropping his hand. "Fully understandable. Please do let me know. I'd love to show you all the wonders of lasers, if you'll pardon my obsession! Actually, thinking of it." He nodded decisively as if deciding something. "I'll do a quick revision of everything and send it your way in a few days. You show many signs of being self taught, and it'd be a pity to let such a talent go without any guidance at all. Be sure to treat it as a learning opportunity all right?"

Bolt nodded with easy acceptance. Internally for once he wished he knew more about politics. There was a trap looming and he hadn't dodged it yet.

 

[Golgotha]

So he took it as wanting a better offer perhaps?
Ves is the original main character from what I understand? I haven't actually read the original fiction.

 

[lost star]

So he took it as wanting a better offer perhaps?
Ves is the original main character from what I understand? I haven't actually read the original fiction.

Click to shrink...

Ves is the MC of the original fiction. He's a pioneer of a technique that puts spiritually \ psionics into mecha. Lilly's warm feeling is her feeling that.

I'll explain it more as Bolt discovers it.

 

[Evaunit02mark1]

Ves is the MC of the original fiction. He's a pioneer of a technique that puts spiritually \ psionics into mecha. Lilly's warm feeling is her feeling that.

I'll explain it more as Bolt discovers it.

Click to shrink...

I haven't read it myself but I seem to recall many saying he jumped off the deep end at some point, as Xanxia protags tend to do.

 

[lost star]

I haven't read it myself but I seem to recall many saying he jumped off the deep end at some point, as Xanxia protags tend to do.

Click to shrink...

He did. Admittedly he has some entertaining points, but he did.

I Don't plan on that happening here. No worries.

 

[lost star]

A few days after the contest, and well into his third month of being the MTA's guest, Bolt was deep into research. This was different than his normal stuff. It was research into this Ves and his mechs. There wasn't much unfortunately. He was two nations away and getting information at that distance was hard even with the communications they had. He had a few news articles, some public information, and that was basically it aside from the accusations of being a cult leader, which was rather weird. Something about insisting that mechs be assembled by hand and forcing people to adhere to his beliefs. Living Mechs came up too, which he was obviously missing context on.

Strange stuff, but ultimately not particularly helpful. The Iron Spirit mechs Ves had made were more informative. With Lilly's help he could identify that they had that strange feeling that Bolt had gotten. She considered them warm, but in a different way. 'Like a blanket versus a heater.' Which both was and wasn't helpful. Mechanically there was nothing that could cause what he and Lilly were noticing. Bolt seriously believed that the only way he was going to get full answers was getting a mech built by Ves and taking it apart. It was a strangely potent urge.

A disassembly would have to happen later though. It was going to be horribly expensive. The transport fees would be hellish! He could probably afford it if he converted some MTA credit, but not while he was at the mercy of the MTA and their hospitality. He wanted his tools and some help before he really dug into analyzing a fellow designer's work. There was something important there that he knew he could find if he just had time.

In the meantime he had to get back to work elsewhere. Chen's revisions were coming in soon, and while Bolt didn't want to work with the senior more than he had already, making an enemy this way seemed unwise. He could also really use the money considering his increasingly large list of needs.

He was admittedly rather confused as to why the entire thing had certain parts censored when he received it though. He assumed most of it was proprietary stuff after some thought and got right to work on reviewing. Despite his minor distaste, Chen was a more experienced designer and had a lot of input to give. Bolt hadn't even thought about half of how the power lines were supposed to go, and the way it distributed heat was inspired. It didn't quite fit the mech all over though. Some places changed the lines of the profile and it felt like some of the personality was lost. Also the man had removed the firing stance.

"I get that it's functionally better, but why not lean into it?" He asked the display of the mech in front of him out loud. "Removing it removes one of her unique features."

It wasn't his mech anymore. It was a laser mech made using the chassis of his idea! Bolt wasn't so arrogant as to assume he could improve upon a Senior Mech Designers work, but this entire design was just ick now! There was no other way of defining it in his head. The appearance hadn't changed much but it didn't feel good anymore! Bolt made a copy and adjusted a few things here and there, using the changes as a base. If he were to make the girl look right again while maintaining the good stuff he had to adjust the wires here, shape out the hips more there, and redo the firing stance. He wanted that there even if it didn't make much sense!

A few hours later Bolt felt less disgusted and more amused. He then moved to delete his adjusted design. He could reply back to Chen and thank him for the lesson. It wasn't like he learned nothing. He felt like he had a good grasp of lasers now! That was about it though. It felt almost disappointing in a way. He'd expected more from a simulation.

The simulation he was in glitched right after he hit delete. Everything went black. Bolt immediately got ready to hit the emergency override and get the hell out of the sim pod.

"One moment. A flag has been raised." The ominous text scrolled across his vision in an oddly friendly manner and Bolt paused. "Hidden Master has been alerted due to automated protocols being tripped. One moment while you are connected. Please remain calm and in the VR pod."

"What?" Bolt asked the text.

"Encryption engaged. Protocol handshake established. Master connected. Apologies for the alarm." The ominous text dropped and the design he'd been working on appeared in front of Bolt again.

"Curious." The text accompanied by the voice felt like ice in the simulated VR designer, and Bolt knew exactly who was talking now. "You appear to be developing a knack for drawing my direct attention. This may become an issue in the future. I have precious little time I can allot to the one designated Bolt Silica."

Bolt swallowed, feeling suddenly very, very scared. He didn't say a word, just stared at the text. He knew for a fact there was nothing he could say here that would change things.

"You need not worry at the present time. You are far from any point of concern and might never reach them at all. I am merely informing you that you are setting yourself apart from the others I am monitoring. My time is very limited for those at your level. Consider this a statement of clarification rather than a threat. " The voice and text paused a moment and then continued. "But this is likely not comforting. Let us move onto the reason I have been alerted. Senior Mech Designer Chen has committed a rather grievous social faux paus."

Bolt was still trying to deal with being scared shitless at this point, so he didn't say anything. Not that this hidden master cared much. They continued in that same clinical and robotic tone and text with only a single brief moment of silence.

"To clarify the problem, he sent you a design containing no censoring. This is not appropriate for a master to do for reasons that you will not understand at present time. It was censored by automated programs set around you and no harm was done. Any more information would be actively harmful for your development. The problem will be resolved without further action from you. Do not bring this incident up to others and do not accept any further work from Senior Mech Designer Chen. That designer was attempting to exploit your ignorance and will be occupied for some time after this." The text stopped there and a light illuminated the designs as they were deleted from the VR environment.

"Got it!" Bolt wasn't ashamed to admit he squeaked a bit as he responded. There was a surprisingly long pause before the text continued.

"A small possible misconception should be clarified to prevent future harm. Courteous Mech Designers do not do what he did to a another's design, even with your skill disparity. Your initial design was not traditional or efficient. It was functional and contained your insights. Senior Mech Designer Chen's revision fixed some problems and removed significant and deliberate choices. It was in essence an attempt at overriding your style with his own. This is extremely offensive to most designers and has been known to provoke lethal feuds if done without permission."

Several news articles were brought up in rapid succession. Bolt skimmed over them briefly and felt his eyebrows raise. Some of those were outright brutal.

The voice and text seemed almost soft as it continued. "As a matter of professional courtesy, I will provide a proper teaching blueprint, appropriately censored to your level. This is how another Senior or higher designer should act. The design will also provided back to the offending designer. The mech will be produced with full co-designer rights, which means you would be considered a co-owner. Consider it your first officially marketed mech. Congratulations." Incredulously that statement was accompanied by party streamers.

The simulation went dark a few seconds later, and not for the first time Bolt wondered what the hell was going on.

Later that night, the news reported that Senior Mech Designer Chen was admitted to the hospital due to an accident in his office. He was expected to make a full recovery and he attributed the accident to spending too long designing the newest line of mechs. Called the Shining Shrine Maiden, it was a mech deliberately aimed to work with Shrines and Temples as a cross between a decoration piece and a practical defense. It would start out notorious due to his injury and rapidly became a cult classic due to it's beauty and rather quirky firing stance. Favored for festivals and the like, it was not bought in great numbers, but it rapidly became a cultural icon. Especially because the mirror and other decorative parts could be easily adjusted to fit the various temples at no loss in functionality.

Chen would withdraw from public appearances immediately after revealing the mech. Bolt would know very little of this, due to deliberately trying to avoid all of the news after his scare. Instead he reviewed the revised blueprints and watched his bank account go up.

The changes were utterly fascinating. He now knew what the hidden master had meant by a proper teaching aide. Everything had been subtly adjusted to fit alongside his desires instead of override them. The firing stance especially. He'd never even thought of some of the changes! It made the mech actually rather deadly if it could set up and made sense as a feature rather than just a quirk he'd tried to ham-fistedly implement. The drone configuration alone made him take notes. They were still expendable, but they were affordably expendable!

Whom or whatever this master that had picked him was, they were a designer that knew their stuff. Bolt was almost curious enough to wonder, but then the feeling of ice came back and he was quite sure he was better off not knowing. All he could do was move forward and try not to depend on whatever old monster was interested in him.

 

[Evaunit02mark1]

Ah the surprise hidden master bitch slap.

Always a classic.

 

[Happerry]

As someone who doesn't know much about this setting, what was the trap/problem in a non-censored mech? Just 'parts beyond your comprehensions' stuff, or something else?

Also, here's hope Mei makes it out ok.

 

[lost star]

As someone who doesn't know much about this setting, what was the trap/problem in a non-censored mech? Just 'parts beyond your comprehensions' stuff, or something else?

Click to shrink...

It's not something that Bolt knows so it will be explained later in the story. Not for a bit though, so I can do some now.

Basically higher level concepts in the system are 'persuasive' in an unnatural way. If you aren't careful you can think that their way is best. Chen was basically making an argument backed by his power saying 'lasers are the best.' It's something that hidden master didn't allow, and in this fic is very, very poor form to do to a new designer. Seriously, it's more acceptable socially to arrange for their death than do that.

I'm basing this a bit off the Mech Touch's depiction of another character. Ves, the MC interacted quite a bit with a senior. That senior was considered a major criminal and tried something similar, but even then he was delicate with it. He didn't go full on blast, he genuinely tried to persuade Ves to think his way, and actually didn't take offense when Ves didn't go along with it.

 

[Golgotha]

You've honestly made the setting very compelling. I'm seriously considering trying to find the source material to read at this point.

 

[Drak4806]

I actually did start reading the source material because of all the fanfics. I find it kind of hilarious that none of the fics seem to follow the rules of the video game when they use Iron Spirit.

 

[lost star]

I actually did start reading the source material because of all the fanfics. I find it kind of hilarious that none of the fics seem to follow the rules of the video game when they use Iron Spirit.

Click to shrink...

I probably missed a fair bit, but what'd Id do here?

 

[Drak4806]

I probably missed a fair bit, but what'd Id do here?

Click to shrink...

From what ive read here's how the game works from my understanding.

Every pilot starts in the Bronze league which because it's for beginners largely lowers repair costs, limits matchmaking to your local planet, and restricts you to only 1 star mechs and components which are ancient relics. If you eventually manage to rank up to Silver then you can buy 2 and 3 star mechs which are younger than 1 stars and therefore more advanced. Your matchmaking is now galaxy wide and your repair costs are normal though since its still old tech are cheaper than higher stars. Gold lets you buy 4 and 5 stars while the next rank Platinum lets you buy 6+ stars. 5 stars seem to be all current gen mechs and components with 6+ stars being ridiculously expensive advance shit and next gen prototypes. Repair costs scale with stars and advanced stuff adds repair times

The gap between stars is big, which reflects actual real world advances, with even the most cheap and shitty 5 star laser rifles being able to core the toughest 1 star mech in a single shot.

Mech designers not only have to pay real money for virtual licenses of mechs and components but they also have pay for the cost of all the virtual raw materials used in the production of mechs and apparently the local governments and license holders get a cut of the money. Designers have to literally assemble each copy of the mech in a virtual workshop that they sell themselves or they have to let the game "automate" the production which doubles the cost and reduces quality and performance. I think the real money the designer pays for the materials is for only the initial design instead of each copy but im not sure. Earnable in game currency kind of throws off the whole thing because if the entire game was RMT then it would make sense for the cost would be each mech.

The game also somewhat recently added a virtual market street where you can walk around and visit mech designer shops instead of just using game menus to browse. Ves's cousin notes that his shop is the default basic one since he never bothered decorating it and changing the shopkeeper.

 

[lost star]

Every pilot starts in the Bronze league which because it's for beginners largely lowers repair costs, limits matchmaking to your local planet, and restricts you to only 1 star mechs and components which are ancient relics. If you eventually manage to rank up to Silver then you can buy 2 and 3 star mechs which are younger than 1 stars and therefore more advanced. Your matchmaking is now galaxy wide and your repair costs are normal though since its still old tech are cheaper than higher stars. Gold lets you buy 4 and 5 stars while the next rank Platinum lets you buy 6+ stars. 5 stars seem to be all current gen mechs and components with 6+ stars being ridiculously expensive advance shit and next gen prototypes. Repair costs scale with stars and advanced stuff adds repair times

Click to shrink...

Been doing most of that. It was mostly off screen. Lilly did start at 1 star. Pretty sure 5 stars are previous gen actually since that's what Ves big mech is I think. Repair costs are mentioned and it's been limited at 5 stars so far, which is all still in game gold to repair quickly.

The gap between stars is big, which reflects actual real world advances, with even the most cheap and shitty 5 star laser rifles being able to core the toughest 1 star mech in a single shot.

Click to shrink...

Been making this a bit less, just because it's more interesting. 1 stars will still get very stomped by 5 stars though.

Mech designers not only have to pay real money for virtual licenses of mechs and components but they also have pay for the cost of all the virtual raw materials used in the production of mechs and apparently the local governments and license holders get a cut of the money. Designers have to literally assemble each copy of the mech in a virtual workshop that they sell themselves or they have to let the game "automate" the production which doubles the cost and reduces quality and performance. I think the real money the designer pays for the materials is for only the initial design instead of each copy but im not sure. Earnable in game currency kind of throws off the whole thing because if the entire game was RMT then it would make sense for the cost would be each mech.

Click to shrink...

Been doing a bit of this. Been keeping the in game money and out of game money separate though. Very technically Bolt has been assembling a lot of his mechs, but frankly I don't want to talk about it all the time.

In this I kinda want it to be a game instead of some bizzare combo that would not be the third most popular game in the galaxy.

The game also somewhat recently added a virtual market street where you can walk around and visit mech designer shops instead of just using game menus to browse. Ves's cousin notes that his shop is the default basic one since he never bothered decorating it and changing the shopkeeper.

Click to shrink...

This I forgot about, and might or might not implement it!

Thank you very much for the list. I suppose my story isn't as exact, but ah well. It's been awhile since I read that part and it was not a large part of the game. Some of it also doesn't make much sense because we have quite a few kids in game who likely aren't able to afford a lot.

 

[Drak4806]

Pretty sure 5 stars are previous gen actually since that's what Ves big mech is I think.

Click to shrink...

Oh you're right his mech was last gen. I was thinking it was early current gen.

Some of it also doesn't make much sense because we have quite a few kids in game who likely aren't able to afford a lot.

Click to shrink...

Kids seem like they're supposed to be stuck in Bronze for years where things are way cheaper because they old and outdated. But yeah the game seems like it would be a huge pain in the ass with how much real money it demands of player and especially designers. It's like if a racing game paid the car companies for each car sold in the in game shop and the government also got a fraction of the hypothetical cost of the real world materials used in the car.

 

[GrindStone]

Haven't looked at the source material at all but this is using cultivation stories for notes?

 

[lost star]

Kids seem like they're supposed to be stuck in Bronze for years where things are way cheaper because they old and outdated. But yeah the game seems like it would be a huge pain in the ass with how much real money it demands of player and especially designers. It's like if a racing game paid the car companies for each car sold in the in game shop and the government also got a fraction of the hypothetical cost of the real world materials used in the car.

Click to shrink...

Yeah, so in this, in game mechs can always be bought, repaired, and paid for with in game currency. 6 stars and up are modern mechs, and they take awhile to repair. All mechs can be repaired instantly with in real money.

Mech design is similar, to a point. Designers need to purchase licenses and materials. Then they need to make a mech and sell it. All of it is in game currency. You get an economy going then! I'm also going to have stars rated more on performance than actual parts, because some mechs could be 5 stars and be worse than 1 stars just because they're horribly built.

Personal thought is that the game gets the majority of it's funds from parts and mech manufacturers advertising things. The game gets a small cut from that. They also get a lot of backing from the MTA.

Haven't looked at the source material at all but this is using cultivation stories for notes?

Click to shrink...

The setting is basically a cultivator society got shanked and broken, then they built mechs over the corpse. Early bits of it are pretty good and entertaining. Eventually the cultivator nonsense starts getting bigger and the MC starts going completely amorally mad.

This story won't be going down that route. There will be some cultivator stuff, because that's the setting, but well, you'll see as it goes.

Personally I like having a lot of it be a mystery to the MC honestly. I can explain it all to you and adjust things or do strange stuff too!

 

[GrindStone]

Eventually the cultivator nonsense starts getting bigger and the MC starts going completely amorally mad.

Click to shrink...

Crazy how often that happens I'd ask if the Koreans are ok but I know they aren't. Looking forward to seeing how you play it I won't call myself super observant but the part about teaching had me going 'hold on this sounds like dao stuff'.

 

[lost star]

Crazy how often that happens I'd ask if the Koreans are ok but I know they aren't. Looking forward to seeing how you play it I won't call myself super observant but the part about teaching had me going 'hold on this sounds like dao stuff'.

Click to shrink...

I think the author is swedish actually. It's more a problem with it being a long running serial and the author being rather nihilistic than anything else.

 

[lost star]

Spoiler

AN: So it's been brought up that the Iron Spirit in the fic isn't completely compliant with the canon Iron Spirit. I'm ok with that, because the completely cannon one also makes no sense as being a popular game. It's galaxy wide, which is frankly an insane number of players.

So, here's how it is in the story. Iron Spirit is a galaxy wide game, technically. More practically it has departments in each sector that don't have any interaction with one another. It's an MTA backed simulator / game.

The way it works is you pay money to get in game money. You then use that in game money to buy mechs or licenses depending on if your a pilot or designer. Money only goes in. It doesn't come out. Iron Spirit makes a lot of money my just letting companies advertise in it, so it's actually rather generous to pilots. If they win a lot, they typically only need an initial small buy in. This makes it so that kiddos can start with say a 20$ buy in so to speak, and the parents don't need to break the bank.

Star rating is how mechs and pilots are evaluated. Pilots start at one stars and go up. Star ratings for mechs is actually done by simulations. All mechs designed go through a few standard simulations and are rated by stars. Benchmark wise, each star is a generation. 6 Stars are 3rd rate modern day mechs. 5 stars are previous generation. This means that 1 stars are -5 generations. They're not that good in other words.

5 1 stars cannot win against a 5 star. They get basically one to two tapped. They can however provide firepower, and bodies. This relates to the tournament previously. A bunch of 1 star fodder is useful as bodies, additional firepower, and so on.

Mech designers have to make mechs once after designing them. Once they do they can have them mass produced. Mass produced mechs have a small penalty to encourage people building them. You get a surprising amount of people that do it for fun. (They even get discounts!)

Finally, 5 star mechs are typically the most popular mechs. Not only are 6 stars a bit less common, 5 stars can be insta repaired for a sane amount of in game money. 6 stars and up are basically $$.

As an additional note, Iron Spirit is not popular in the first rate nations.

---

Bolt had a tiny, little, barely there problem of his own making. It wasn't related to incident that should not be named, but it was something that reminded him of it. The problem was that he still didn't know how to work with people in his capacity as a designer. Dai's phone call, and subsequent VR meeting rectified it, but he felt more than a little bad about forgetting completely about it.

"It took Wu reminding us that you likely had no idea what was expected here." Dai gestured emphatically at the simulated cafe they were in. "So, here's the first thing. We have two months to get coordinated together and settle on a series of preliminary designs. That means regular meetings."

"Am I too late?" Ando asked as he appeared.

"Nope, just going over what we need. Tests go well?" Dai asked back.

"I believe I passed, but only as above average." The young man said and took a seat, not that it mattered much in a digital area.

"For your information, that means he's basically screwed." Dai informed the other designer. "There are what, several hundred graduates from our school? And we're not a bad school. We're top of the line in the city. You want a career you need to be the best, have connections, or have achievements."

"Yes." Ando replied very simply as he gave Dai a very flat look. "Much as I appreciate the reminder, I would rather not speak of it further."

"Hi." Wu appeared then. "Barely passed." She said as she flopped down on a chair. "Give me whisky."

"Ouch." Dai winced.

Bolt stared as a bottle appeared. "You can get drunk here?"

The young woman chugged the bottle. "Sort of. It's semi-simulated. Won't do this in real life."

With a sigh Dai met Bolt's eyes and tried to imply something. Bolt took a moment to get it before he cleared his throat. Somehow, he had better prospects at the moment than three near college graduates. It was just a bit daunting.

"I've been informed that we need to practice together and coordinate." The designer told the others. "Since I have somehow been designated lead, I suppose I'll have ta arrange something." He tapped a virtual interface. "Do you all have Iron Spirit accounts?"

"Yep." Dai answered for the group. "Standard thing if you want to go anywhere. Get an account in each of the popular mech games. Can't say we used it much, but we all have one."

Bolt grinned. "Perfect. The game does allow for collaboration. I propose we do it through there. I have the following designs and we can meet every day for a few hours until the contest starts." He brought up his designs. "I've been working on making them all refined five star mechs for possible sales back home."

There was a long beat of silence and then Dai hit his head on the table. He did it again before Bolt could ask a question. Wu chugged at the bottle again almost desperately and Ando stared at him before heaving a long sigh.

"There are so many things that I want to ask Buddha once I meet him." Ando eventually said.

"Is there something wrong?" Bolt looked at the designs in front of him.

Dai hit his head again. Bolt would probably have been concerned had it been real life. That looked painful. "We're over here working on things to avoid being relegated to a sweatshop mechslop shop, and you're working on making commercial mechs. You are also responsible for the damned Undead Legion fad that's been blazing around. Is there anything else I should know about?!"

"Wasn't there something about a Shrine Maiden too?" Wu asked everyone after a moment of thought.

"You know what, no." Dai said immediately. "Let's do mech design for a few hours. I'll break down in my bed later! We're good, just pick one to start on."

Rather confused Bolt decided to just go along with that. "Let's do Bloody Berserker first then. He needs the least amount of parts changed. Just some refinement."

"I'm familiar with that one actually. I wondered some, but you probably haven't heard of the more exotic armor designs right?" Ando asked immediately and began highlighting areas. "You reinvented more than a few things to get this done. It works, but it's pardon my expression, shoddy. Most of the attachments are inefficient."

"Oh?" Bolt watched as Ando made a few changes as a demonstration. "Ahhh. I get it." He did a few himself. "Like that?"

"Stop being shocked when he picks something up in a few seconds." Dai advised his fellow once he saw the look Ando was giving the changes. "I like the axes but I don't recognize the design."

"Made them." Bolt admitted.

Dai frowned at them and nodded decisively. "That'd explain the simple alloy. Give me a moment. For axes specifically we want different alloys at different points. I can also give that detailing some refinement. I get the look, but it's not exactly visible. We want style there."

"That's a good point. Hold up on the work though." Bolt glanced at Wu.

"I'm apparently bad at boosters if you take my test scores into account. I can run the sims to get those smoother and give better thrust though." The woman set her bottle down and peered at the design. "Unusual choice admittedly. Why?"

Ando was the one to say something about that. "It's deliberate. It's essentially a pseudo lancer in the initial stages of combat."

Bolt nodded before flicking the design to the side. "We can get deep into it later. Let's call this a quick notes section. I'm actually curious what you have to say about these." He brought up version one and two of Ghoul. "On the left is the first real mech I built. The right is one I refined some for the game. I'd call them my worst work at the moment really."

That got a small chuckle from the group before Dai spoke up. "I can see why. That first one." He hissed out. "Well, it's functional."

"It was made out of scraps that I could find." Bolt explained with no shame. Why would he have any? That was what his life had been.

"You can actually see the designs improve between the two. Again though, the armor. This time I get the function, but I'd want to complete redo it." Ando said slowly.

Dai was less kind. "Claws suck without something propping them up and that acid is useless. Skirmishers need to be able to do damage in a second or less."

"I like the way it's designed to leap, but I don't think the arms would like it if you impact wrong and the arrangement makes it so that you'd want to hit with them." Wu gave her input.

That aligned up with a lot of what Bolt was thinking. Trying new things each time wouldn't always result in complete hits. Lilly was really attached to this girl though, and he wanted to do something for her using it. Especially because their wedding was still coming up, as unreal as that sounded.

"Keep wanting ta update this into a modern mech." Bolt mused out loud as he stared at the design. "But the claw thing keeps running into issues. I love the concept, but it's hard ta make work."

"There are examples of claws out there." Dai said. "All of them use exotics though, and I'm assuming you're still on budget of sorts."

"Making anything has ta be outta my personal pocket fer this." The explanation drew winces. "Got a big old wad of money in Iron Spirit, not nearly enough outside it. Makes it easy ta experiment at least." That fad was really giving him money there.

"Why the mouth and teeth?" Wu asked and poked at that point in the design.

"Oh, the first version was from salvaged parts. The head was missing the jaw so I just made something to fill the gap. Lilly used it a few times for fighting and because it was scary." Bolt explained happily before chuckling. "That girl will push every machine to the limit and use everything in it. Ghoul more than most, every engagement has her arms nearly break and I've seen the jaws need to be remade more than once."

"There should be a function in Iron Spirit that shows your damage reports if you have access to her account." Ando said with fascination at the description.

So informed, Bolt immediately looked for it. Some fumbling through the interfaces brought up her match record, and some directed work had a list of damages repaired. The list was both long and mildly horrifying. Lilly didn't wreck mechs, but she did certainly redline all of them routinely. It seemed like even Iron Spirit was struggling with her ability to really push everything to the limit. One match had her entire mech damaged!

"Well, there's a reason she likes your stuff aside from you being her fiancé." Dai breathed out. "Damn girl, settle down. If Bolt didn't make durable stuff they'd be ridden to death." Wu gave him a light smack before she paused and began to open up things.

The group looked at her and then exchanged glances. Sometimes you felt inspired, and Wu did seem like she looked inspired. They waited a moment and watched as she located what she wanted.

"Do you think you can work with this?" She brought up a few articles.

"ASMAS?" Bolt frowned at it. "What is this? Some sort of Nanomachine brand? These exist?"

Coughing made him glance at the others. Dai scrolled down and pointed at the cost. Bolt wasn't shocked easily, but the number depicted there did get a reaction.

"It costs how much?!" The designer practically shouted.

Wu winced. "No good?"

"No-wait." Bolt scrolled up and down and then opened a few more windows as he forced himself to look everything over. "Interesting. Why does it, no. I see. Calculations would be something like this then." He put in a number. "We'd put it right here. Would it work then? We'd have to process the stuff. It's the only way, and it would not do full repairs."

"Mind explaining for the class." Dai said after some more muttering from their lead.

"We can use it and I think it would be something worthwhile to try as well. The idea is to have Ghoul eat the parts and use an internal processor to extract what's needed. We'd have to use some specific sensors and well figure out a way to extrude the waste, but we could have her refuel and repair by consuming fallen mechs." Bolt explained and tapped at the number he'd written down. "I'd need about this much, and it'd have to be very specifically configured but it would be affordable enough to justify the hassle of getting it bought."

"I'll do that. We can do it in game to see if it works first." The young woman immediately volunteered.

"Sounds like a solid project! I can see about finding something we can fit to give the claws more omph." Dai said.

"We're going for a long term skirmisher I assume? I'll find something there to add with my talents as well." Ando volunteered. "We'll need a very specific armor for that I assume."

"Let me know then and I'll get it all coordinated together." Bolt finished the session with a wide grin. "This will be a modern mech, a six star." He lowered his voice a bit. "I plan on revising Ghoul back home and making it sort of a wedding gift. Don't worry about keeping it a secret though, we'll have to have Lilly test it in game and give it another polish afterwards. It'll likely be her sole mech for awhile. I want it to be as good as possible."

All three of the other designers nodded very seriously. Bolt completely missed how much prestige this sort of thing meant for completely new designers. Even had he gotten it, he likely wouldn't have cared honestly. It was very, very good practice for the future.

 

[Negation]

As an additional note, Iron Spirit is not popular in the first rate nations.

Click to shrink...

Because in those nations, the Players leak classified data worse than War Thunder?

 

[lost star]

Because in those nations, the Players leak classified data worse than War Thunder?

Click to shrink...

More they don't want to pilot peasant mechs.

 

[Evaunit02mark1]

"Let me know then and I'll get it all coordinated together." Bolt finished the session with a wide grin. "This will be a modern mech, a six star." He lowered his voice a bit. "I plan on revising Ghoul back home and making it sort of a wedding gift. Don't worry about keeping it a secret though, we'll have to have Lilly test it in game and give it another polish afterwards. It'll likely be her sole mech for awhile. I want it to be as good as possible."

Click to shrink...

Get you a man that'll make you a crime against God/Budget Evangelion unit.

If he's not helping you disembowel the next motherfucker that looks at you funny it's not love.

 

[RandolphWill]

Author can you do a info sheet in the style of the mech designer system of the current Bolt stats and skills.

 

[kienlong49]

So the game in 1st tier nations is called Premium Gold Spirit. The only way to get in is to have more money then a tier 4 nation. There's no micro transactions only macro transaction, cosmetic is automatically unlocked. Only by buying the original mech designer time can you have unique cosmetic.

To buy a new mech design you need to give the mech designer the real world amount of money through the ingame real money tranfer that would cost about 1/2 to buid the mech. The mech designer also write paper thank you letter to the buyer.

If you're not rich enough to buy a 1st tier mech designer time are your really a 1st tier nation mech enjoyer?

 

[Pyro Hawk]

a function in Iron Soul

Click to shrink...

Iron Spirit?

All three of the other designers nodded very seriously. Bolt completely missed how much prestige this sort of thing meant for completely new designers. Even had he gotten it, he likely wouldn't have cared honestly. It was very, very good practice for the future.

Click to shrink...

Yeah... It's not like they started the meeting lamenting their fate as 'merely' functional designers. And now you are not only tying their names to a revamped versions of the core designs for the current fad going around, but actually getting their names tied to a modern actually produced Mech?

There is 'making up for our lacking academics' with achievements, and then there's this. Congratulations Bolt, so long as things don't go to hell, they are going to be extremely willing to keep working with you and just helpful in general. After all, you've basically guaranteed that they'll be finding a job that is at the worst the 'manager' level for a design team in a 'sweatshop mech company'. Or in other words, something that not only will they actually get a job, but they'll get a job that's high enough to escape the 'pit' that is the bottom of the workforce. Still the lowest tier on the promotion ladder, but something that means they have a practical chance to climb.

All of which is of course using 'minimum results' expectations for whatever comes of Bolt's efforts. The actually expected outcome is notably higher than that.

Anyway, Bolt's new friend group/design team have both shown that they're already starting to settle into design specialties, at least in the context of what part of the mech design they focus on improving, and also seem to have had a firm realisation about Bolt. Namely, that Bolt is damn good at the fundamentals and can probably whip up something functional, though not good, for any given role in a way that I don't think is expected except for those who will 'make a Name for themselves'. But at the same time, he's so solid at that because he is extremely lacking in the 'exotics' aspects to things so that's where they'll likely focus their efforts in regards to finding 'new' improvements, rather than just the general iterative improvement process.

Oh, as for the specialties? Bolt is 'chassis and systems', aka 'what you need to have a functional mech'. If you want a mech that's a mech, rather than an assembled pile of parts, talk to Bolt. Ando seems to be headed towards Armour Design, Dai's taking over Weapons Development and Wu is... Wu's the one that doesn't exactly have a role right now but at the same time? It feels like she does have a role, it's just 'Utilities Functions'. So boosters and other components that allow a mech to pull off 'tricks'.

 

[Negation]

We'd have to use some specific sensors and well figure out a way to extrude the waste

Click to shrink...

Depending on what the waste is, the Ghoul 2.0 can crap out cannonballs?