5630 Project S1
In order for Apprentice ch Designers to advance to the next rank, it was not enough for them to settle on an original design philosophy and conduct successful research.
The people who designed chs for a living did not call themselves scientists or researchers for good reason.
The approach, mindset and work processes were substantially different, though there was also a lot of overlap.
However, any ch designer that wanted to formulate a design philosophy and realize it could not get away by conducting research alone.
They needed to apply their theories and inventions into actual ch designs and prove that their work had practical value!
A ch designer whose research capabilities was stronger than their design ability often did not go far in their careers. They lacked the love and comprehension for chs that enabled them to break the conventional standards and improve them in a way that had never been done before.
The sa was true for the opposite. ch designers who excelled at designing chs yet found it difficult to conduct original research were unlikely to advance to the rank of Master. They actually had to be ingenious and rigorous enough to understand deep knowledge and be able to innovate beyond the current capabilities of their civilization.
In short, good ch designers had to excel in both areas. As a first-class ch designer who attended one of the oldest and most exclusive universities located on Old Earth, there was no question Alexa's ability to design first-
class multipurpose chs!
In order to design the chs that represented her chosen design philosophy for the first ti, Alexa did not have to design chs according to first-class standards.
She could have settled for second-class chs that she had grown increasingly more familiar with as she assisted Ves in his work.
It would have made her design projects a lot cheaper and easier to complete.
Yet she chose to implent her design philosophy into true first-class ch designs because they were her root and her original area of expertise.
Of course, there was no need for her to pull out all the stops and design a fully featured first-class multipurpose ch.
She had settled for designing fairly basic first-class chs that were not that complicated, enabling her to avoid any excessive bloat.
This allowed Alexa to invest much of her attention into designing and fleshing out the novel procreation chanisms that she had devised but never really implented in full up to this point.
The result was two radical ch designs that Ves would have never thought about designing in his life!
Ves possessed an active mind and tended to co up with the craziest ideas at tis. Whacky ideas such as the Elental Lord showed that he was more than used to taking unusual detours in his work, if only to satisfy his curiosity and his need to create unprecedented works.
Yet there were many areas that Ves did not dare to touch or simply didn't care about.
Procreation was a topic that he admittedly never showed much interest in. As far as he was concerned, every living ch was born in a factory or workshop, and that was it. He never thought that there was anything wrong with this production process. Wasn't it logical that living chs started out in the sa way as conventional chs?
Obviously, Alexa Streon did not think so. She recognized a major shortcoming in Ves' paradigms and sought to plug a hole that he had overlooked!
As Ves studied the two ch designs, he could clearly discern that the smart tal ch ca first.
This was easy to figure out as it was a lot easier for Alexa to implent her idea when chs ca in a much more malleable form.
Although Ves was not able to study all of the intricacies of a ch that completely consisted of nanomachines due to how much of their functions were tied in their programming, he could still feel that it was made with procreation as a core feature from its inception.
"Project S1 is the initial ch that I have designed to translate my chosen design philosophy in a concrete form. I believe that it is the first design that ets the standard of a living ch. It is 100 percent made out of first-class Terran-developed smart tal, which ans that it is expensive and lacking in rigidity. Project S1 nonetheless makes up for that with flexibility. Similar to your Bright Warrior model, my smart tal ch functions as a humanoid machine that can alter its configuration on demand to wield a variety of handheld and mounted external weapon systems."
The younger ch designer demonstrated what she ant by manipulating the projection that showed the smart tal ch.
The initial form of Project S1 looked like a generic unard ch. It soon bulked up and wielded a sword. It then slimd down and wielded a plasma rifle. The smart tal ch then proceeded to acquire more mass and integrate a lot of laser weapons into its ch fra, allowing it to fight like a hybrid ch.
There were no limits to what the Project S1 could turn into. It could embody both humanoid and beast ch types, though Alexa had locked her ch design to solely humanoid ch configurations in order to limit the complexity of her project.
On the surface, Ves figured out that the overall point of Project S1 was to deliver a smart tal ch that could accommodate any ch pilot, no matter whether they specialized in lee or ranged combat.
Although Project S1 did not promise stellar performance when wielding any weapon, it at least guaranteed a minimum degree of combat effectiveness when it adopted the form of any common humanoid ch archetype.
"This is like a super-expensive version of my old Bright Warrior concept." Ves remarked as he grew fascinated with this seemingly simple ch concept. "Yet unlike my Bright Warrior, there is greater depth to it that I cannot fully deduce just by studying it. I can feel that there is a much greater goal and ambition behind your first true living ch design."
Alexa smiled with pride. "Good observation. Project S1 is not just designed with the present in mind. It serves as the heart of a larger frawork that is based on the concept of inheritance. The first-generation copies of Project S1 all start out as blank slates in ch production facilities. When they are delivered to their custors, they will get used in the configurations that match the skills of the ch pilots and the needs of their owners. Each smart tal ch will grow, learn and develop on an individual basis from that point."
Ves nodded in understanding. This sounded no different from the growth trajectory of ordinary living chs. This was not the extent of Alexa's expansive sche.
"As the Project S1's are being put to use, they will experience setbacks and losses. Whether their defeats can be attributed to their qualities or not, the process of survival of the fittest will filter out the weaker and less adapted smart tal chs. After five or ten years of active fighting, only the strongest and most well-adapted Project S1's will remain standing. They have not experienced substantial growth in their respective ch archetypes, but have also proven to be stronger than their less fortunate counterparts. If you have to choose the parents that are tasked with passing on their secrets to the next generation, the survivors among the first-generation living chs are the most suitable candidates."
Her sche mirrored the generational developnt of organic races. Natural selection was a universal process that took place on any life-bearing planet.
Natural selection contained the word 'natural' because it was able to co about without any deliberate intervention.
That made Alexa's idea so subversive. By transplanting the process of natural selection to the frawork of living chs, she essentially brought her products closer to nature!
"How does your Project S1 produce the next generation, exactly?" Ves inquired. "Can they generate the second generation of their ch model through parthenogenesis, or do you require your smart tal chs to engage in a chanical form of sexual reproduction?"
"Theoretically, Project S1 can do both, but I have decided to restrict it to the latter, sir. This is a principle that I have deliberately adopted because parthenogenesis is too selfish and solitary to match my ambition. By demanding that my living chs can only procreate if at least two of them co together to produce a single offspring, I can encourage the formation of more complex social structures."
"Complex social structures." Ves repeated the phrase. "You an families. You want second-generation chs to be raised by both a daddy ch and a mommy ch, is that correct?"
His disciple nodded. "It is a much more desirable social unit than a single parent and a single child. Two parents who care about their offspring will be able to teach a wider range of lessons. Any mistakes or bad habits acquired by one parent ch will not be blindly passed on to the next generation."
"Have you thought about applying a more communal child raising model?"
"I did, but that may lead to unexpected consequences. It is best not to be overambitious. The initial family unit should be identical to a typical human family structure. The commonalities between the two will make it much easier to promote mutual understanding between the living chs and their human owners and ch pilots."
That was extrely important, as humans tended to get freaked out whenever their complex machinery behaved in a bizarre or inscrutable fashion!
"Continue." Ves said. "I have the feeling that this is not the extent of your new frawork."
"The process of procreation is never ant to end in two or three generations." Alexa emphasized. "Let us assu that my Project S1 model will remain usable and relevant for many years. As the original Project S1's continue to get used, they will constantly grow and eventually procreate when they have reached a mature stage. The second-generation smart tal chs that are born from the originals will grow up faster and beco much better prepared to confront the challenges that their 'parents' have experienced. It is conceivable that their growth trajectories are considerably better. Once they are ready to reproduce, the third-generation living chs will not only be able to benefit from the gains of the second-generation living chs, but also acquire a part of the inheritance passed on by their 'grandparents'!"
Ves widened his eyes. He finally understood what Alexa was truly trying to create.
A couple of reproduction cycles was not enough to produce dramatic results. Yet as long as they continued to take place over a longer stretch of years, the growing number of Project S1's would have accrued so much collective strength and knowledge that the 20th or 30th generation of living chs would enjoy much better starting and growth conditions than their distant ancestors!
A second-generation Project S1 might start out 20 percent stronger than the first-generation copy of the smart ch model.
A fiftieth-generation Project S1 could start out 300 percent stronger than the originals that started their lineage!
This intricate process of growth, procreation, accumulation and inheritance reminded Ves of one enormous concept.
He looked at Alexa with an astonished expression. "If these reproduction cycles continue to take place over decades and centuries, then a huge web of family relations and inheritances will form. This can lead to the formation of larger and much more complicated social structures!"
"That is exactly what I am aiming for! Only with a larger and more complex social structure will subsequent generations of living chs be able to inherit the gifts and wisdom of their elders even when their family units have broken down. Combat chs live a violent life. It is inevitable for parents to fall. This is not a complete loss as the child ch should have already inherited a part of their spiritual strength and talents. The responsibility for raising the child chs can be left to the grandparents, more distantly related living chs or dedicated teacher chs. In short, the chain of inheritance will remain unbroken as long as the living chs grow nurous enough to form their own dynasties, and eventually an overarching civilization!"
A civilization built by living chs alone!
Alexa certainly did not hold back in her ambition!
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