While Ves engaged in his research related to developing an enhanced version of luminar crystal weapons, his wife took on the burden of watching over their children.
Gloriana smiled with satisfaction as her three children all sat down and sloppily used the projected interface to draw different images in the air with their fingers.
Each of them have seen their parents designing chs in a similar fashion for years now, so they developed a particular liking for expressing their creativity in this way.
Of course, compared to the complicated professional design suites utilized by full-ti ch designers, the three munchkins had to make do with a simplistic children's drawing program.
This was more than enough for them to draw crude figures. The art, style and aesthetics did not matter much to them as their imagination was already doing most of the work.
Though Gloriana objectively found the drawings of her children to be ugly and a stain on her eyes, her overflowing love for her son and daughters allowed her to overco her inherent disgust.
None of her children had taken any formal art classes, so how could they know anything better?
Even their designer baby genes offered little help in making them more proficient in drawing. They would have to be conceived with designer genes especially formulated to raise artists or artisans.
Gloriana walked up behind Aurelia and kissed her proudest girl on her cheek.
"What are you drawing, my dear?"
"Can't you see, mama? They're cats! Look, here is Clixie, and here is Lucky. Don't they look cute?"
"They certainly look cute." Gloriana lied as she tried her best to maintain a pleasant deanor.
Aside from the blotches of color, there was nothing in the drawing that looked anything close to a feline. Gloriana would have to be drunk if she could recognize a single cat from this ss of lines and colors!
"Miaow~"
Clixie didn't seem to mind at all. The Rubarthan Sentinel Cat happily laid beside Aurelia as more and more 'cats' began to fill up the projected drawing interface.
Gloriana couldn't stand her perfect daughter continuing to make a mockery out of art, so she gently tutored her girl so that she would at least be able to make passable drawings next ti.
"Rember what I told you, okay? Start by getting good at outlining a single cat before you go any further. Clixie is by your side all the ti, so you always have a readily available model by your side. If you are able to make a decent line drawing of her, I'll give you a present."
"Really?"
"Mama never lies, sweetie!"
The young mother showered her eldest daughter with kisses before she moved over to her other daughter.
"ow~"
Lucky happened to keep the younger girl company. The chanical cat had draped his body over her lap which made for a comical sight.
Fortunately, Lucky didn't weigh much more than an organic cat despite all of the advanced hardware in his body, and he possessed the ability to manipulate his own gravity, so Andraste hardly bore any pressure.
Unlike Aurelia who had opted to use all kinds of colors in an attempt to depict different cats, Andraste kept it simple and stuck to making sketches with simple black lines.
Of course, Andraste was also younger and might not be proficient in manipulating the drawing interface, but Gloriana could already tell that her second daughter simply preferred it this way.
"Hm?"
Andraste showed greater talent in art than Aurelia. The ch she drew looked surprisingly good even if its proportions weren't accurate at all. The angle of view and the pose of what appeared to be a Valkyrie Redeer looked like it was taken straight out of a snapshot of the ch in battle.
"Do you like chs, honey?" Gloriana asked.
"Yup!" The little girl chirped. "I want to pilot a ch just like this when I grow up! I will beat lots of bad guys with auntie Helena when I am strong!"
Gloriana smiled with both pride and concern. She ca closer and hugged her doll-like daughter from behind.
"I'm so happy for you, but don't be in such a hurry, okay? Let us wait until you are 10 years old before we plan out your future. No matter if you beco a ch pilot or not, you will always be able to work with chs. This drawing of yours tells that you might be able to follow in my footsteps! Doesn't that sound great, sweetheart?"
Andraste clearly didn't think so because she imdiately shook her head. "Designing chs is boring, mama. I want to fight with them! I don't want to sit around all day!"
The two chatted a bit further before Gloriana kissed her second child on the cheek and approached her only son.
Marvaine's ability to draw sketches should have been the worst considering his young age.
However, his specialized designer genes granted him a considerable advantage in this area.
Even if he was still too young for his designer genes to exert their full potential, Marvaine instinctively mastered crucial skills that would allow him to visualize chs to an impressive degree when he matured!
Gloriana curiously studied what Marvaine was working on at the mont.
At first glance, her son had chosen the sa subject as Andraste, making it look as if he was copying his sister.
However, the image looked substantially different.
Andraste had opted to make a line drawing of a ch she loved. Her feelings for the ch prompted her to make the ch look as cool as possible. Accuracy and realism weren't big concerns to the energetic young lady.
Marvaine adopted a different approach towards his sketch. He already began to imitate the deanor of his two parents and did his best to pretend as if he was a ch designer.
His sketch showed an attempt to depict a draft design with as much accuracy and fidelity towards realism as he could manage.
Even if Marvaine was far too young to master any real knowledge or skills, he appeared to be quite good at learning from his parents!
"How impressive." Gloriana genuinely spoke as Marvaine did a surprisingly good job at reproducing a draft design for a boy of his age. "Is this the Dullahan Project that your father is working on, Marvaine?"
Her son nodded but pouted at the sa ti. "Yes, mama, but I hate it. My ch is not as good as that of papa."
"Oh, dearie. You are still too young to be thinking about drafting a ch at our level. Your sketch is completely fine. You already show a much better sense of proportions and angles than your sisters."
Her son did not accept her praise at all. Instead, he sulked even deeper.
"It's all wrong!"
The mother grew concerned. "What is wrong, Marvaine?"
"It's not warm!"
"Huh? What do you an by that?" Gloriana looked puzzled.
Marvaine waved his hand at the projection, causing a lot of ssy lines to appear due to his uncontrolled gesture.
"My ch is cold. Papa said that cold chs are bad. Only the chs that can make feel warm are good."
Gloriana began to sense that sothing was horribly wrong. She lifted up her little boy in her lap and began to stroke his head.
"What has your father been teaching you lately? Can you tell ? Tell what a warm ch is supposed to be. Why do you want to sketch one so much?"
It didn't take long for Gloriana to obtain the answer from Marvaine's enthused and partially-incoherent babbling.
Her expression soured more and more as Marvaine professed his complete liking for supposedly 'warm' chs!
Though Gloriana had long been aware that her husband wanted to groom Marvaine into his successor, that didn't necessarily an she was willing to let one of her own children develop a warped perspective on what constituted a good ch!
Whatever nonsense that Ves had drilled in Marvaine's mind was completely wrong!
"You shouldn't listen to your father all the ti." She told him. "He can be a dum-dum sotis. Just because he likes to design living chs doesn't necessarily an they are good."
Marvaine shook his head. "You're wrong, mama! Papa's chs are warm while everyone else's chs are cold!"
"Whether a ch is warm or cold doesn't determine how good it is." Gloriana sternly retorted. "Let give you an example."
She waved her hand to set aside her son's drawing and summoned up projections that showed two different chs.
One of them displayed a Desolate Soldier Mark II Version B, which was a rather basic but popular budget model in the LMC's product catalog.
Though the ch was one of the cheapest products sold by the Larkinsons, it still stood out for its useful and desirable duty-based glow.
This made it especially popular among second-line troops and garrison forces. The ch pilots employed by these forces weren't the most elite or well-trained of the bunch, so the glow of the Solemn Guardian was able to make these soldiers a lot more diligent in doing their jobs.
Floating next to the image of the Desolate Soldier was a snapshot of the Mars in battle.
Compared to a comrcial standard ch design, the unique and domineering ace ch exuded a lot of more majesty and power!
The Desolate Soldier looked like an inconspicuous blade of grass next to a blooming red rose.
Not only did the ace ch radiate an imnse amount of masculine power, the ace hybrid ch also looked a lot more impressive when it was in the process of firing all of the integrated energy weapon modules of its ARCEUS System!
"Which of these two chs is better, Marvaine?" Gloriana gently asked.
"That one!" Marvaine imdiately pointed towards the Mars!
"Which of these two chs is a warm ch?"
"Uhhh… this one?" The boy pointed at the sa ch again.
"Wrong! That's not a warm ch according to the definition of your father. It's a cold ch, don't you see?"
Her words threw her son in utter confusion.
"I don't understand…"
"I know." Gloriana responded. "That's because your father has been lying to you. Warm chs or living chs can be useful, but they are not always the best chs. Do you see these two chs? The Desolate Soldier is a living ch designed by your father while the Mars is a perfect vessel that is largely designed by myself! Did you know that the Mars started out as a warm ch upon the insistence of your father, but that it changed into a cold ch because its pilot liked it that way?"
"Huh? Isn't it nice to have a friend?"
Gloriana shook her head. "Not everyone wants their ch to be a friend, my dear. You can't control a ch if it has ideas of its own. Warm chs aren't always good, Marvaine. A cold ch like the Mars is actually the strongest ch in our fleet, and there are good reasons why that is so! It used to be weaker back when it was a living ch, but now that it has gotten closer to perfection, it has beco much stronger! Can you see these smooth lines? Can you feel the power in the tal? Can you pick up how well its proportions are set? Your mother is largely responsible for designing such a powerful ch."
Though her son was obviously impressed by the sight of the Mars, he didn't understand anything that her mother was trying to press into his mind.
"I'm confused, mama."
"That's okay, Marvaine. I will tell you as much as you need to understand that perfect chs are stronger than the sloppy chs of your father. There is no reason to admire his work when they are completely uncontrollable once they beco alive. While it may be nice to turn a ch into your friend, it is not necessary for you to build a relationship with a machine. There are already many family, friends and pets around you. They are more than enough for you to play with for the rest of your life! Rather than make new friends with the chs you want to design in the future, you should rather strive for developing stronger and more perfect chs so that you can protect all of your pals!"
"Ohhh…"
User Comments
0 comments from readers