The Greatest Mecha

Alto and Priscilla got to work on the model given to them, it appeared to be a medium weight class mech, that was also a hybrid type mech. freeweɓnøvel.com

"Curses." Alto cursed under his breath at the thought of having to work on a hybrid type mech, of all the function type mechs that could have been given to them it had to be an hybrid type mech.

To his surprise Priscilla laughed and snorted. "Your curse word is curses, that is such lazy writing." Alto tried to hide the sting her words gave him, the instructor in charge of the test noticed them and said.

"It seems that we have a good duo there. I would have shit my pants if I was at your stage but it seems that the new generation are really fire hearted."

Alto sighed, "You know we’re doomed right?"

"Speak for yourself." Despite the level of confidence she portrayed he could see her trembling slightly.

They both knew they had their work cut out for them, a medium weight class mech was already a handful but an hybrid type was something no one had prepared for. Hybrid mens were the hardest type of mechs to work on, unlike assault type mechs which specialised in frontline combat, or sniper mechs that majored in long range precision attacks, a hybrid type mechs role in battle was its ability to adapt to any situation. This meant that it’s said role was not given specifically.

It also meant that the mech would have a feature that could allow it to adapt the said situation on a whim. Alto could hear cries from other participants who were dissatisfied by the test they were given and he could also hear those who were confident enough to work on heir own now break into tears, their composure fizzling away at the challenge.

Priscilla bit her lower lip and threw him a sideways glance. "Do you think six hours will be enough to finish with this?" She was interested in his output since they would be working on the design for a while.

Alto was hesitant to reply at first but after a moment’s thought he finally spoke. "Not till we are tired out, we have used almost five hours since the first test, without food or water or any rest. Speaking on normal sense being able to work for such long hours will be a mental strain."

"Considering we operate on normal sense." His companion chipped in.

"What’s that supposed to mean?" Alto asked as he tried to access the blueprint of the mech which proved to be very hard at first since he had never worked with another person watching him before, and not exactly maintaining a conversation with that person. It distracted his though process to think that he was in a room full of people and with cameras probably watching over him. He yearned for his cherished privacy but would not let such a little thing disrupt his work flow.

Priscilla answered his question shortly after. "I mean you’re not normal, or at least you me you’re not. The finalists for this test will probably not work under normal sense, since no one wants a mediocre to emerge on top."

Alto tapped the screen, the mech was in the design of a beast like something from stories he had once heard, about things that predated the era of mechs, it was practically myth at the moment. Apparently in that time era when human-kind still used mediocre forms of technology the always indulged in stories of monsters and fictional beings. Alto never understood the concept but myth did not always mean truth.

"Your point being...?" He asked his companion.

She smiled and said. "You and I we’re not normal in any way, you almost made a convincing act of pretending to be mediocre and I almost fell for it at the time."

The mech had a unique feature that would prove itself as a challenge to them with that being interchangeable parts that would allow it the ability to morph itself and transform into an underwater type mech.

"Oh really, what gave me away then?"Alto asked her openly, all this time their eyes on the holoscreen before them and trying to understand the specifications of the mech they would be working on as best as they could.

Priscilla’s face became more serious as she got more absorbed in the work before her. "Your eyes, their confident." The next few minutes continued in silence with none of them speaking to each other, the 3d printer despite being real actually printed virtual parts as it seemed that the examiners did not want to waste actual materials on the test.

Alto after an more than half an hour finally understood the mech model to some extent and the major problem he would likely face with it being the interchangeable parts of the mech allowing it to flip most of its internal parts and convert them to help the mech move effectively underwater.

It’s land form was strictly for assault and the underwater version for deep sea exploration. It’s was armed with shoulder mounted lasers cannons for deep water diving and on land it would be about to detach the laser cannons and hold them like hand held weapons. He took in a deep breath as he prepared to work on the mech at almost the same time Priscilla was already working on it.

Alto tapped her on the shoulder gently and said. "Sorry, I’m usually start with the internals." It was strange having to work with someone on a mech and it made him uncomfortable even talking to someone about it.

Priscilla gave him a long hard stare that showed how annoyed she was of his prescence, a few seconds later her face softened and she spoke. "I apologise, I’m not used to working with others but we just might have to work together on this to make up for our lost time."

Alto sighed. "That’s a relief, I thought you would see things differently." He said this because he had noticed many other pairs fighting over their ideologies over the mech design they were working on, apparently Alto and a few others were given the hard task of replicating the hybrid mech and bringing it to reality.

Priscilla locked eyes with him and spoke with clarity in her voice. "You-- no, forget it. I’ll work on the externals since it seems you’re good with the internals. I’ll make sure the armour plates do just what their supposed to."

Alto nodded as he appreciated the gesture. "And I’ll make sure the internal systems work perfectly." Honestly he was not sure if he was better than her at internals or at a high enough level but it was better than working on the externals since they were triple plated. The biggest challenge was to replicate exactly as the model was, it had to follow it almost exactly so they could put together both the internals and externals when they were done.

There was an unspoken clarity and confidence between the two young mech designers, they got to work without saying a word more. They had no idea how capable their partner was only the faith that they could deliver a good performance. This was a very hard thing everyone who worked in pairs had to face since your success fully depended on how capable the stranger you worked with would be.

Alto worked as nimbly as he always did, working on the internal components and wiring, the motherboard. The only thing that could have posed a world of problems was already given to them with the model, and that was the coding. Every mech ever created had a directive code or many codes that ran through the systems and controlled sensors like scanners or missile guidance systems, having to write a new code was not something Alto could confidently say he was capable in. But the code was already given to him, he would only have to imprint the code which was also no easy task but it was much easier than writing one from scratch.

As he worked on the code he was very surprised by how advanced and sophisticated it was compared to the cheap codes he used when he worked on his virtual mechs in mech galaxy wars. He only used his designer’s eye whenever he felt he had made a mistake which would cause him to go back and make some amendments.