The Mech Touch

energy and matter running through wild god meat.

Nonetheless, eating any god meat was a treat to the men.

In the following day, Ves made some final adjustments to the sixth variant neural interface.
He incorporated the final bits of lessons and insights learned in the last testing session and shaped the sixth variant closer to perfection.

Eventually, he finished fabricating the final product according to the latest iteration of the design.

The experts of the beast rider project surrounded the neural interface components with reverence.
They spent so much time on aiding the development of this fairly compact but significant piece of equipment.

”We have completed something that the galaxy has likely never seen before. ” Ves stated solemnly.
”While we still need to engage in one more test to see if the neural interface works with our candidate beast riders, it is amazing what we have achieved so far from scratch. ”

”Most of the credit belongs to you, Mr.
Larkinson! ”

Ves earned the respect of most of the experts that aided him in his research.
All of them contributed bits and pieces here and there, but Ves played the leading role in this research project.

From the start, many experts in fact didn ’t think they could produce something as ludicrous as a beast rider neural interface.
All of them lacked the required expertise even if they combined all their knowledge.

Only Ves remained undaunted by the challenge.
He persevered and made some extreme decisions that caused a lot of test subjects to die, but their sacrifices hadn ’t been in vain.

He managed to develop a working product in a reasonable timeframe under difficult field conditions!

”What we have accomplished is an advancement for all of humanity! ”

Of course, the dwarves that laid down their lives so that a bunch of foreigners could play at becoming beast riders likely didn ’t agree.
Nobody cared about their opinions, however.
The Vandals dumped their remains into a pit and covered it up with soil.

Things moved quickly from then on.
Just a half-day later, the experts set up a bunch of equipment around Qilanxo ’s form.
They inserted her with a bunch of sensors and monitors, but not as much as with the wild god because going overboard might provoke her ire.

Unlike their previous test subjects, the beast rider project needed to take the feelings of their current participants into account.

”Be careful with that! Qilanxo is on our side! ”

”I think that ’s enough.
Qilanxo is starting to get angry! ”

Once they finished the preparations, Ves personally climbed up Qilanxo ’s back and entered the alloy riding cage the Vandals recently developed.
He carefully installed the final version of the beast rider neural interface before inviting the first test pilot to strap themselves in and don the interfacing helmet.

”Who ’s going first? ” He asked.

Captain Orfan and Lieutenant Dise looked at each other.
No one wanted to go first.
From what they observed of the beast rider project, the experts didn ’t really know what they were doing.
A lot of dubious stuff went on that they didn ’t fully understand.

To be frank, Ves didn ’t blame them for thinking that the beast rider project muddled about in their research.
They hadn ’t exactly held themselves to the highest standards.

After two minutes of staring into each other ’s eyes, the two mech pilots still couldn ’t make up their minds.

”Damnit, just decide already! Go roll a dice, guess a number, play rock-paper-scissors or whatever! ”

They eventually employed a random number generator that produced a random number between one and a hundred.
Orfan and Dise kept guessing the right number in alternating turns until Dise happened to guess the winning number correctly.

”Forty-two! ”

”Correct! ” Ves declared, and inputted a command on his comm that displayed the result of the random number generator.
”Captain Orfan, it seems you have the honor of going first. ”

”Damnit. ” The mech captain cursed.
”I hope to hell this neural interface of yours won ’t fry my brains or anything.
You guys tested it on some random dwarf captives, right? Did any of them die? ”

Ves released an awkward laugh as some technicians began prepping her into the modified piloting seat.
One of the technicians pulled down the interfacing helmet onto her head.

”Technically, all of the dwarves who underwent the proper tests survived. ”

Captain Orfan looked at Ves with suspicion.
Her intuition was quite sharp.
”Why do I get the feeling you ’re hiding something from me? ”

”It doesn ’t matter. ” Ves quickly waved his hand.
”All of this science stuff shouldn ’t be of interest to you.
Just trust me.
You ’re in good hands here. ”

Once Captain Orfan sat comfortably in the piloting seat, Ves and the others quickly climbed off Qilanxo ’s back and stood back at a healthy distance.

There was a risk that Qilanxo might go crazy or lose control over her body.
That was why they made sure to conduct the test far away from the camp.
A company of mechs surrounded Qilanxo from a fair distance away.
That left them close enough to react if Qilanxo became a threat, but far enough away that they wouldn ’t be in reach if she went on the attack.

”Begin the test. ”

The neural interface began to connect with Captain Orfan ’s mind.
Ves paid careful attention to this stage because her baseline human brains differed substantially from that of the dwarves.
Ves had to incorporate some substantial changes in the interfacing helmet and the settings of the neural interface to compensate.

However, Ves didn ’t appear to be too worried because the relevant settings weren ’t too different from those of a standard neural interface for mechs.
In other words, this was familiar territory.

Once the beast rider neural interface connected with Qilanxo, Ves held in his breath.
The connection engaged smoothly as expected, as Qilanxo brain structure didn ’t differ too much from the brain structure of a wild god.

After a couple of minutes of stabilization, the connection opened up.
Thought patterns translated into data, and data started flowing in both directions.

”Captain Orfan is starting to interface with Qilanxo ’s mind! ”