Chapter 4080 A Smarter ch
"Mama!"
Aurelia tugged at Gloriana's lab coat as she leaned in front of her terminal in the Genesis Lab.
The ch designer turned away from her latest series of sketches and directed her attention to her daughter.
"Do you want another hug, baby?"
"Look, mama! Design!"
Aurelia presented an awful-looking feline figure that she had shaped and molded with her hands.
Even though the abomination of a 'ch' violated every rule of ch design that Gloriana had ingrained in her mind, the mother did not utter any admonishnts.
She expected more from the ch designers in the employ of the Larkinson Clan because they invested many years to beco professionals.
In contrast to the Apprentices and Journeyn she worked with on a daily basis, her daughter was only a little over a year old. How could Aurelia possibly co close to displaying the skill of her parents?
She was just a baby!
"Is this your first ch design? Let take a look.
Gloriana directed a loving gaze at Aurelia before she picked up the molded figurine. It was made out of a form of smart tal that mimicked the properties of clay but ca with a lot of safety features to make it safe for small children.
For example, the smart tal would automatically slip out of Aurelia's grasp if she tried to ingest it or throw it onto Clixie or sothing.
Ever since Ves ca back and gifted Aurelia this toy, she had beco completely fascinated with it. While her control over her limbs was not good enough for her to work with precision, their daughter did not care about that at all as she did what every impressionable kid would do in this situation.
She imitated her parents!
From the mont she was born, Aurelia spent most of her ti alongside her mother and father as they worked on various ch designs.
No matter whether she was sleeping, eating, playing or calling for attention, Aurelia had beco imrsed in the world of ch design from the start of her life.
In fact, Gloriana did not want to expose her daughter to chs so much. Aurelia was ant to beco the next leader of the Larkinson Clan. It would be a waste of her designer baby pedigree if she chose to beco a ch designer!
Perhaps the young mother should look into finding playmates for Aurelia. The problem with that was that her daughter was too much of a genius compared to other babies at her age. Not a lot of children were cognizant enough to keep her brilliant daughter company!
"Your 'ch' looks quite cute, Aurelia. Is this your vision of a ferocious tiger ch?"
Aurelia eagerly nodded.
"Did you model it after another cat?"
"Clixie!"
"Miaow!"
Clixie ran up and preened proudly at Aurelia's side.
Gloriana could clearly see that Aurelia's 'tiger ch design' was simply a rudintary copy of Clixie. The proportions of actual tiger chs were still different.
"How will it fight in battle?"
"Pounce! My ch will pounce! Just like how Lucky pounces on Clixie!"
"Oh? Can you show , my dear?"
"Here!"
When Aurelia took back her tiger ch, she made a cute noise and made it pounce an imaginary enemy.
Gloriana indulged her baby's preoccupation a bit more before Aurelia decided she wanted to design a knight ch next. The little girl left her 'tiger ch design' with her mother and raced off to her stash of unused smart tal.
As Aurelia started to shape a big shield with her cute little hands, Gloriana turned back to her terminal and studied a more serious ch design.
She had sketched several variations of the C-Man Project already but couldn't lock in her choice.
Each version of the C-Man possessed slightly different physical properties. So of the draft designs were tougher. Others were more capable of launching powerful punches. A few exhibited exceptional flexibility that allowed the fras to perform more elaborate wrestling techniques.
She wasn't quite able to nail a ch concept that possessed the advantages of every version.
"What am I doing?"
If she was approaching this design project from an ordinary angle, then she would have settled on a single choice and accepted the tradeoffs that ca with it. As a ch designer, it was impossible for her to forget that her craft was all about compromises.
Her expression soured. "What if I don't want to settle for the least-bad solution this ti? What if I want to have it all for once?"
She continued to brainstorm for solutions as she tried to co up with a draft design that could simultaneously make her ch tough, strong and flexible whenever needed.
Her initial idea was to borrow a page from the Chiron ch design and rely on physical transformation systems to dynamically alter the C-Man's configuration in the field.
She shook her head. "This is not an acceptable choice for a lee ch that is ant to endure frequent physical stresses."
Adding additional chanical systems to a ch that would undoubtedly get smacked around in every battle was a recipe for disaster!
Just a small proportion of these complex and finicky systems needed to go wrong in order for the C-Man to suffer from a critical malfunction! Gloriana did not want Venerable Vincent to die because her work failed him in a mont where he had to rely on it the most!
What else could she choose?
Gloriana looked around and inadvertently landed her gaze on Aurelia's 'tiger ch'.
The main reason why a little girl like her daughter was able to make it in the first place was due to the helpful properties of the smart tal that a producer had turned into a toy!
Gloriana suddenly ca up with an interesting idea.
"What if I base the C-Man around nanotechnology?"
She could already imagine the infinite possibilities of doing so. By relying on a smart tal system to form the main structure of her next expert ch, she could develop a powerful lee machine that did not have to remain stuck with the strengths and constraints of a single configuration!
If the C-Man wanted to punch harder, it could thicken its torso and its arm and exert more power through its upper limbs.
If the C-Man was under heavy fire, it could thicken its exterior in the direction it was attacked.
If the C-Man needed to wrestle or subdue an opposing expert ch, it could take on a limber shape or just 'lt' a portion of its body to dig into the cracks of an exposed enemy ch!
Gloriana realized that this could definitely give the C-Man the edge it needed to gain superiority in battle!
"It will entail a significant change in identity. Vincent also needs to learn how to harness the properties of smart tal chs."
There were other downsides to utilizing smart tal as the base of a ch.
Smart tal systems such as ASMAS were extrely expensive. A ch made out of ASMAS was at least ten tis and sotis more than a hundred tis more expensive than a ch with equivalent properties!
Although smart tal chs possessed a lot of additional versatility, it was extrely difficult to co up with a design that justified the extravagant spending.
"This is even more concerning for a expert ch!"
It took a lot more money to design a machine that could keep up with the power level of an expert ch. Ordinary nanomachines such as the product that Aurelia used to design her 'chs' would fall apart after getting hit by a single sneeze from an expert ch!
"If I go through with this decision, our clan needs to exchange a considerable batch of phasewater to afford a smart tal system that is optimized for expert chs."
Not only that, but a ch that was heavily reliant on nanotechnology beca vulnerable to new forms of attacks.
The chief danger of any smart tal ch or device was the constant fear that the miniscule bots that made up this programmable material could get hacked!
Once an enemy forcibly gained control over the nanomachines, it could easily be subverted and turned against its own side!
Gloriana furrowed her brows as she continued to hold Aurelia's tiger ch. There were many good reasons why she needed to abandon her current train of thought. An expert ch made out of smart tal was an expensive investnt that might not pay off in the end.
If she wanted to play it safe, then she would have listened to her better sense and reorient her thoughts towards more realistic design solutions.
However, when she imagined how her husband would behave in this situation, she had no doubt that he would go for the crazy and stupid option in order to pursue a more ambitious goal!
"Maybe I need to make bolder decisions as well."
A smart tal ch ca with so many disadvantages that they hindered the potential of a ch that could dynamically change shape and adapt its form in mid-battle.
Yet if Gloriana was able to work on these weaknesses and mitigated them one by one, then turning the C-Man into a viable smart tal ch beca a lot more viable!
She already started to develop a few ideas on how she or her husband could tackle the many problems associated with designing a smart tal ch.
"I have to pursue this idea!" Gloriana hungrily claid. "I can unlock so many new possibilities if I succeed in harnessing this technology!"
She spent the remaining hours of her design session on entertaining Aurelia and performing research on smart tal expert chs.
Compared to normal smart tal chs, their expert ch counterparts possessed significant advantages that sowhat lessened their vulnerabilities.
However, the cost was exorbitant. There was no way that the Design Departnt's discretionary spending budget could cover for any of the extravagant smart tal systems that were for sale in the Red Ocean!
When she t with Ves after she ended shift, she imdiately presented her proposal and ideas to him. Her husband took on an odd and bewildered expression when he heard she wanted to turn the C-Man into a smart tal ch of all possibilities.
"I don't see how the concept of the C-Man is compatible with smart tal technology." Ves voiced his initial opinion. "The C-Man is the definition of a hard and rigid ch. It is a macho ch that needs to remain strong and hard when put under high pressure situations. Smart tal chs have a tendency to collapse and deflate in the situations where we most need it to perform."
He had a good point. A simple plate made of solid tal was almost always tougher and more resistant than a plate made out of lots of tiny interlocking machines.
"You are not wrong, Ves, but that is not a reason to dismiss this technology entirely. We can work on this issue. Aren't we good at innovation? We can leverage our specialties to develop new solutions that can lessen this problem! Think about it. Wouldn't a living ch be a lot more impressive if it could exert more control over its own form? Venerable Vincent doesn't even need to make any of the complex calculations needed to dynamically reconfigure the shape of his expert ch. The C-Man could decide for itself if it wants to grow a tail or lengthen one of its limbs!"
"..."
Her husband fell silent for a ti.
In truth, Ves felt as if he was experiencing a mont of deja vu.
Hadn't he already implented this concept in his Devil Tiger design? Ves had already achieved a part of what Gloriana wanted to realize with her new smart tal expert ch concept!
"Well? Do you agree that this is promising enough to spend more ti on it or not? I think my latest idea is highly promising, Ves. If you can combine the strengths of living chs with smart tal technology, I can work on developing new solutions that can address so of the other problems associated with smart tal chs! If we succeed, we can introduce a brand-new expert ch that is filled with ground-breaking advancents! The gains we can make from this project will more than compensate for its cost!"
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