"Ugh, I can't forget about my future wife."
Though it would be nice to partner with a ch designer who specialized in nanomachine systems, Gloriana might not be okay with this solution.
She already hogged most of the physical developnt of their collaborative ch designs. Adding a third partner in the mix who encroached on her territory might not end well for everyone involved.
He shook his head. Even without partnering up with a specialist, Ves still believed that solutions such as ASMAS would eventually beco accessible to him over ti.
Right now, the Larkinson Clan had already grown to the point where it was ready to make use of second-class ships, second-class chs and other second-class tech. Options that he previously considered unattainable such as positron beam weapons or ch-grade shield generators suddenly ca within reach now that the LMC sold more and more chs.
Ves felt proud for achieving this level of comrcial success. Even if he didn't consider his bestsellers such as the Desolate Soldier and the Doom Guard in the best light these days, they at least provided the Larkinson Clan with the resources to transcend its third-class origin.
The sa evolution should also apply to nanomachine systems. As his clan grew more prosperous and his proficiency in second-class ch design increased, it should be viable for him to design nanotech-based chs.
"It might take years. It might take decades. In fact, if I want to start right away, I don't have to beg Gloriana to obtain a batch of pure ASMAS."
While ASMAS was prohibitively expensive, Ves could easily obtain another batch with the LMC's current level of earnings. He could even obtain enough ASMAS to build another self-growing ch by selling so of the loot that Task Force Predator had plundered!
If Ves ever reached a ti where he was able to design a first-class ch, then that would be even better. At the highest level of ch design, nanomachine systems beca a lot more affordable!
Ves already experienced the power of a ch that was able to adjust its shape spontaneously in battle during one of his Mastery experiences. Though gimmicky, the first-class nanomachine ch he witnessed truly made a strong impression in his mind.
"Should I convert to designing nanomachine chs exclusively in the future?"
This was a difficult question. Though he felt that designing more chs such as the Devil Tiger fit well with his design philosophy, there were still a lot of inherent weaknesses to this tech.
Though he had implented so counterasures such as binding the pure ASMAS to the design spirit, Ves always feared the possibility that one of his father's enemies might succeed in hacking the nanomachines!
The inherent vulnerability to hacking and tampering was the main reason why nanomachine systems failed to beco mainstream. Just because Ves could apply so taphysical tricks to make it more difficult for soone to tamper with them did not an that this weakness was gone!
"I guess I'm stuck with making my chs out of old-fashioned solid components."
The classic ch was the most reliable ch. Though many people attempted to 'evolve' the concept of chs by developing unconventional products such as biochs and lithic chs, the market mostly preferred solid tal chs since the beginning of the Age of chs.
Just earlier, he contemplated whether he should design his first nanotech-based ch after the Devil Tiger for his own clan. The Bright Warrior was a pretty good candidate for revision because it was already designed to change aspects of itself.
Instead of mounting different add-ons on it to alter its configuration, the ch could instead rely on its nanomachine-based fra to alter itself on demand!
"It sounds like a pretty good idea, and cost shouldn't be much of a concern if it remains exclusive to the Larkinson Clan."
The thought of entrusting the lives of most of his Larkinson ch pilots to fallible nanomachines did not sit well with Ves. At the very least, he did not believe he possessed a sufficient understanding of this branch of technology to rule out any shenanigans.
"This is what a ch designer who specializes in nanotech is for. It would be great to partner up with soone who is on top of this ga." He muttered.
After a while, Ves stopped his idle musings and focused back to his main priority. He did not waste so much ti on tinkering on this Desolate Soldier ch to dream about designing more nanochs.
Solving the physical aging problem of his chs was a long-term issue that he wouldn't be able to solve for a very long ti. In the anti, it wasn't as if his chs were suffering.
"No one lives forever. If humans aren't immortal, then chs shouldn't be much different."
He turned to its spiritual foundation and tried to find a way to mold it in a way that made it more adaptable to its user. How could he turn the ch into a machine that slowly developed a distinct personality that complented its ch pilot?
The key was to feed it with an abundant amount of spiritual energy. The ch pilot might not be able to satisfy the ch's hunger, but the Solemn Guardian was a different story!
Aside from Qilanxo and Nyxie, the Solemn Guardian had the least to worry about lacking spiritual energy. So many ch pilots used the Desolate Soldier and its variants every day that the spiritual product had long reached its current level of saturation.
All of this ant that inducing the Solemn Guardian to 'donate' a portion of its spiritual energy shouldn't cause any harm.
"I guess now is as good a ti as any to try and see what happens."
The Desolate Soldier ch he serviced had already reached its best possible condition. To Ves, it was more than ready to be experinted upon.
Ves approached the ch and placed his hand on its surface. He closed his eyes and tried to connect with both the ch and the Solemn Guardian.
It wasn't difficult. Every Desolate Soldier was connected to the duty-oriented spiritual product. The Solemn Guardian imdiately sensed the presence of Ves.
The two communicated on a spiritual level. Neither of them resorted to words or other human ans of communication.
Instead, they conveyed their aning to each other on a more abstract level. It was very difficult for Ves to describe what he was doing, but it was very effective in making the Solemn Guardian understand what he wanted.
As one of his personal creations, the Solemn Guardian was an obedient design spirit. Since its existence centered around duty, it was very committed to loyalty. The Solemn Guardian was one of the design spirits that Ves was least worried about rebelling or leaving.
Once the Solemn Guardian understood his intentions, Ves moved on to his next step.
He began to extend his influence to the individual spiritual foundation of the Desolate Soldier ch he was touching. He carefully attempted to alter it in order to make it more responsible for the changes to co.
After several minutes, the bond between the ch and its design spirit beca active.
A relatively hefty amount of spiritual energy poured into the ch's spiritual foundation!
"Too fast! Slow down!" Ves alarmingly shouted!
The Desolate Soldier ch couldn't take so much energy at once! Once the Solemn Guardian reduced the flow, Ves noticed that the spiritual foundation no longer looked like it was about to crack.
The ch absorbed all of the energy without spilling it. This was good. The bad news was that Ves failed to discern any changes. Though the spiritual foundation of the ch grew deeper, he didn't feel as if its life was blooming from a sapling into a tree.
"It feels like I'm cultivating a clone. No matter how healthy it becos, its still deficient when it cos to personality!"
This experint at least proved that he couldn't artificially age his chs just by pumping them with an excess of spiritual energy. Even if the Desolate Soldier ch was able to accept the input from the Solemn Guardian due to their close connection, the forr did not actually undergo any evolution.
"It looks like life has to develop naturally." He concluded.
This was not entirely out of his expectations. Eventually, the Solemn Guardian seed to hit so sort of limits and stopped pumping the ch with spiritual energy.
Compared to before, Ves sensed a degree of solidity and energy he hadn't sensed before. Even if the ch's character hadn't developed at all, its overall strength had grown sohow.
"Before, this ch was a mosquito. Now, it's a cockroach. Aside from getting bigger, it hasn't gotten any smarter. They're both stupid bugs."
Ves was curious at the result. All of that spiritual energy pumped into the spiritual foundation of this particular ch had to result in sothing, right?
The only way to find out was to stuff a ch pilot inside and turn it on to see what happened.
He activated his comm and ordered his security officers to bring a prisoner from the brig. He had already transferred so captured pirate ch pilots to the Scarlet Rose for just this occasion.
While the guards brought his next test subject, Ves prepared the ch for his upcoming experint.
"I can't very well allow my test subject to take control of his ch and destroy my ship from the inside!"
He began to open up so parts of the chs again to physically remove or deactivate so of the control chanisms. He also entered the cockpit to modify the programming of the ch.
As an added precaution, he activated the workshop's heavy-duty clamps to forcefully keep the ch in place.
Once he was done, he retreated from the machine and greetest his next test subject.
"MMMFPHFMMFFM!" A muffled pirate raged at Ves. "MMFMMFM!"
The forr Dry Snake turned captive did not exactly consent to participating in this experint.
No matter. Pirates weren't entitled to human rights.
"Put him in the cockpit and make sure to restrain him to the piloting chair. You can leave after that." He commanded.
"Yes, sir."
The two security officers dragged the prisoner to a lifter platform which elevated them to the opening of the cockpit.
After slipping inside, the two guards reerged without the prisoner. Ves approached a workstation connected to the Desolate Soldier ch and confird the prisoner was held firmly in place.
"Alright, let's see how our test subject fares." Ves grinned.
Ves activated the ch from remote. As the machine slowly booted up, the captive restrained to the piloting seat began to tug and hurl his entire body for so reason.
"There is no reason to worry." Ves transmitted to the cockpit. "Calm down and don't resist. Just interface the ch and everything will be over soon."
"MMHMMHPHMM!"
The ch pilot did not do as he said. Instead, the pirate captive thrashed more and more. Ves began to check the teletry and noticed that the pilot's stress levels and other physiological signs kept rising without stop.
Not only that, but the spiritual activity inside the ch seed to grow more volatile as well. Ever since the pirate ch pilot started interfacing with the altered Desolate Soldier, sothing very weird was happening.
"Wait a minute. This is heading into dangerous territory!"
Before Ves could interrupt the start-up procedure, the pirate let out an agonizing muffled cry!
"MMMFFWFWWOWW—"
Through his spiritual senses, Ves sensed the spiritual activity inside the ch had spiked!
Bang!
At the sa ti, the projection of the interior of the ch turned bloody as the head of the captive ch pilot exploded!
The ch abruptly interrupted its start-up procedure on its own. Without a ch pilot, here was no aning for the ch to co online.
Its ch pilot was dead.
"..."
Ves stared at the bloody chunks of bone and brain matter splattered all over the consoles and interior of the cockpit.
"GODDAMMIT! NOT AGAIN!"
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