Days passed since that fateful eting with Radagast.
While the mysterious broker left the planet in order to deliver his other batches of Auto Heretics to other groups, Barrow and Idni returned straight to the NMRI with their new Carmine chs.
They not only brought along their personal Carmine chs, but also transported an additional 8 Auto Heretics that were ready to bond with any willing norm.
Suffice to say, each and every executive that received an exclusive offer from Barrow and Idni agreed to form a lifelong pact with a ch that they would have looked down upon in normal cases.
Just like everyone else who ford a Blood Pact with an Auto Heretic, they did not care about its lackluster performance or the many limitations of the Carmine System.
They already got sold from the mont they heard that they could control the ch through an experience that resembled the use of a neural interface, but conveniently omitted the excessively high wear and tear on the brain!
"This is impossible!"
"How can you control a ch with your brain when there is no direct interface?"
"Is this the power of a Class IX design philosophy?"
Although the leading mbers of the NMRI all reacted with shock and confusion at the bizarre qualities of the Auto Heretic, that did not stop them from praising how well it substituted the function of the neural interface!
If not for the extrely inconvenient rule that they could only form a single Blood Pact with a single Carmine ch, they would have definitely regarded the Carmine System ast the most perfect invention in the history of ch developnt!
Once the 8 remaining Carmine chs found their new owners, Barrow and Idni subsequently called every mber who was present at the NMRI facility for a general eting and introduced the Auto Heretic.
The reactions from the hundreds of researchers and other personnel were initially skeptical, but that soon changed when all 10 leading mbers of the NRMI hopped into the cockpits and piloted their Carmine chs as a demonstration!
Even though this display could easily be faked by turning the so-called Carmine chs into battle bots, people's trust in their leaders was too high.
There was no way that ardent ch enthusiasts like Treasurer Barrow Rakovshchik would try to deceive them all like this! At most, the Carmine System may indeed be able to deliver on its astonishing promises, but do so at an unimaginably high price. Nobody really paid much attention to the latter, though.
All they thought about was how long they would have to wait until they could pilot their own Carmine ch!
Barrow smiled as he addressed the most pressing concerns of his fellow friends and like-minded ch fanatics.
"Quiet down! Be patient! While our off-world supplier has only been able to deliver 10 Carmine chs to us, he has also supplied us with the ch templates and the original ch designs for all three versions of the Auto Heretic line. It is fully within our capability to derive a localized ch design based on the first-class version of the Auto Heretic ch template. The Carmine chs that you see before you now are copies from a different ch design. While they can be used for reference value and other research purposes, we will not be able to reproduce their exact design due to differences in material supply!"
The Genser Federation was not only rich in valuable ore deposits, but also engaged in extensive trade and comrce.
Even so, it would be troubleso and unreasonably expensive to start producing chs that required the NMRI and its partners to import uncommon exotics three star clusters away!
Most mbers of the NMRI understood the logistical constraints of trying to reproduce an unlocalized ch design.
"From today onwards, the NMRI will formally suspend all ongoing R&D projects." Barrow announced in his more officious posture that he regularly used it in his main job. "The existence of the Carmine System, the Auto Heretic ch line and the ch templates has given us all we need to start producing chs that can enable all of us to pilot our own chs. Since the Carmine System is leagues ahead of our own research projects, it is not worth the ti and effort to try to expand the eligibility of users of neural interface technology."
Many researchers such as Idni Zenokon looked upset, but also resigned. They had already given up on the notion that their research could redeem neural interface technology.
However, there were also several other specialists who had beco so invested in their research projects that they could not stand the thought that they had essentially wasted all of their years on an intellectual effort that ultimately contributed little to no value to
society!
Their self-worth was at stake!
The lead researcher of Project WR-13 raised the strongest objection.
"Just because a strange Senior ch Designer who scurried off to the lost Red Ocean managed to give us all a way to pilot chs does not an that our work has beco a wasted effort. Every failure or disappointing result we attain is another step towards progress. The more we learn through our repeated failures, the greater our chance of producing a successful result. We would be doing ourselves and our many predecessors
an enormous insult for abandoning our current line of research when we are only halfway to our destination."
Another researcher voiced his own objection.
"I will not deny the historic advances made by Professor Larkinson." The distinguished woman spoke with an eloquent voice. "His Carmine System has solved the most urgent problem that has plagued all of us. Yet what if his Carmine System cannot be improved past this point? What if we are forever stuck with pairing a single human to a single ch if we favor the Carmine System to the exclusion of all other options? What if the Carmine System contains hidden dangers that cause any bonded Carmine ch pilot to age prematurely and die within a decade?"
Another researcher concurred. "We cannot grow overdependent on a single solution. The Carmine System cos with too many flaws. Not only that, but the only reason it works in the first place is because it relies entirely on taphysical phenona as opposed to more tangible and physical phenona. The fact that there is no direct interface between the ch and the brain is proof of that. How are we supposed to study and imitate a channel as inscrutable as this 'Blood Pact"? None of us possess the right expertise to begin to understand its principles. We would be better off if we stick to our current fields. Perhaps we can learn a number of valuable lessons from the Carmine System and apply our gains to neural interface research."
The voices in support of neural interface research started to gain more montum, but Barrow remained unmoved.
"I am not claiming that it is a dead end or that no innovation is possible in this field. I am rely being realistic about our capabilities, and so are others, including your very own chief scientist who is one of our foremost experts in the field of neural interface technology. The fact of the matter is that the NMRI does not have the funds and talents to study the Carmine System and Carmine chs while at the sa ti sustaining your current research projects. Instead of chasing after a mirage that may or may not co true in the far future, I would rather have our institute devote our budget and energy to the subjects that truly matter."
That was not good news to many of the researchers. It was clear to them that the Carmine System had little in common with neural interfaces.
Idni Zenokon actually grew angry at the reluctance of his fellow researchers. "Neural interface technology is dead to us!" He shouted, causing many of his fellow researchers to look aghast. "It is not obsolete, as potentates can still make excellent use of them, but what does it matter to us? Rember what the NMRI stands for! The New ch Research Initiative was founded to complete the mission of developing a new kind of ch that can allow norms such as ourselves to enjoy the sa power and privileges as potentates. Now that one such a new ch has arrived at our doorstep that happens to replace the cursed and narrow-minded neural interfaces entirely, why are you not welcoming it with open arms? Even if the existence of the Carmine System had directly made us all redundant, I would gladly welco this developnt because the
opportunity to pilot a Carmine ch is more important than conducting research that has never produced any serious results in centuries!"
His rebuke successfully caused most researchers to reflect on themselves and recognize that they too preferred to pilot a real ch than to waste their ti on tech that had beco irrelevant to them all. Now that a far better alternative had arrived, there was not strong reason anymore for them to stick to neural interfaces.
Barrow grinned at his audience. "The NMRI will shortly begin to restructure. We will devote ourselves entirely to the research and developnt of Carmine chs and the Carmine System for the benefit of the Genser Federation and human civilization as a whole. Our imdiate priority is to develop a localized ch design from one of the ch templates in the fastest possible ti fra. I cannot state the importance of completing this priority project within a week or preferably sooner. After we have completed a reasonable design, we will use our workshop and our closest partner companies to fabricate the first batches of Carmine chs."
"Who will get to pilot those Carmine chs first?" A manager asked.
"You" Barrow directly pointed at the man before sweeping his hand across the gathered people. "All of you will receive the offer to take possession of a Carmine ch and pilot it first. We have made the special decision to buy an Auto Heretic from us at a discount of up to 80 percent. This discount will be applied to the estimated production cost of 800,000 MTA credits per copy. I am aware that this is still a considerable sum for many of you, but our institution is willing to extend low-interest loans to any of you whose
finances are tight."
That was great news to most of them! The volunteers worked for the NMRI out of love for chs and a desire to contribute to the cause. Their incos weren't entirely competitive, mostly because the institute did not wish to squander its donation money. For the NMRI to still go out of its way to supply the first batches of Auto Heretics to them was an incredibly valuable privilege, especially when many of them could foresee that demand would beco so high that everyone else would have to wait much longer!
Barrow's expression suddenly turned serious.
"However, if you agree to receive one of our Carmine chs and pilot it, you must also
be prepared to face hostility and retaliation from those who oppose what the Auto Heretic line stands for and how its availability may change our society. The MTA may decide to initiate a crackdown in as little as a day. We will never give up in our attempt to fulfill the cause, so we may beco wanted criminals in a month. If you are not ready to sacrifice your life and wellbeing to open up ch piloting to every human, then you can submit your resignation letters after the conclusion of this assembly."
A tense atmosphere had fallen over the previously jubilant mbers of the NMRI. Many
of them had just begun to realize that their work at this institute had beco a lot
graver than before!
They could suffer real adverse consequences if they continued to devote their work on a variation of a ch that contained multiple forbidden features!
The treasurer of the NMRI sumd up their new reality if they chose to stay and fight.
"We are no longer engaged in a hopeless technological goose chase. We are turning from researchers who explored the limits of neural interfaces to fighters and agitators who must do everything in our power to help the Auto Heretic chs spread across the Genser Federation and beyond, even if it costs us our life! Only then shall we be able to repay our gratitude towards Professor Larkinson for gifting us this miracle without expecting any remuneration!"
Though the mbers of the NMRI weren't soldiers, they gradually got caught up in the
excitent of the mont.
Compared to everything else in their lives, nothing mattered more than to pilot a ch themselves, and share this precious opportunity to others! Barrow abruptly raised his fist in a martial manner!
"The Carmine Revolution has begun!"
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