The Mech Touch novel Chapter 849

Ves and Mayra chatted some more about the unusual circumstances of the planet. Eventually, they drew back to the original topic of the meeting.

"Have you figured out any way to shield our mechs and machines from the breakdown effect?"

Mayra frowned a bit. "I’ve poured a lot of time and effort into this very issue. Did you know what I learned?"

"What did you find out?" Ves asked.

"The mech models that I’ve personally designed are breaking down ever so slightly less. It’s not only due to my mastery of their designs and my modifications. I’ve performed an extensive statistical analysis and there is an outside factor that can’t be attributed to what I’ve mentioned before. The only mechs this protection applies to are my own mechs!"

Ves didn’t doubt her words. A Journeyman Mech Designer wouldn’t botch something as simple as a statistical analysis.

That caused him to think of the next step. If an outside factor existed that already protected some of the Swordmaiden mechs, could they leverage this influence?

He even already honed in on the fact that only her personally-developed models resisted the breakdown effect better.

Was it the X-Factor?!

Though Ves had seen the Devil Razor and the Silver Valencia in person and didn’t perceive any special X-Factor, they still possessed a small advantage compared to generic mechs.

Mayra explicitly designed the Devil Razor and some other designs as the exclusive mechs of the Swordmaidens! Not only did she design them by herself, preventing others from polluting her vision for her mechs, they also inherited her affection for the Swordmaidens!

A labor of love differed dramatically and carried an entirely different meaning than a commercial product bought from the market or scavenged from the battlefield. The internal Swordmaiden mechs not only carried Mayra’s affection, they were also well-loved products by the Swordmaiden mech pilots themselves.

Therefore, even if their X-Factor didn’t amount to much compared to a mech designed by Ves, they possessed their own charm that gave them a tiny edge over other pirate outfits.

It may have been one of the reasons why Lydia’s Swordmaidens managed to survive for so long.

Still, broaching this subject touched upon his own advantages. Though he respected Mayra immensely, it didn’t mean he wanted to hand over priceless secrets for free.

So for now, Ves could only approach the issue from an indirect angle.

"Maybe the fact that you are the designer who is in close proximity to your designs is the difference."

Mayra frowned at Ves. "While that is a potentially logical argument, it’s also poorly conceived. What difference does it make if I’m the designer?"

"Well, is there another answer that can explain it better?"

"The breakdown effect is caused by the spacetime distortions originating from the turbulence in the flow of higher-dimensional particles above our heads. Nothing about them is related to the fact that I’m in the vicinity of the mechs I’ve designed! Correlation does not necessarily imply causation!"

She basically stated that Ves was being nonsensical. It was like saying that someone was a genocidal murderer because he wore the same mustache as an infamous villain.

"Look, Mayra, just sit still for a moment and think. Can you come up with a better explanation than this?"

While Mayra already developed several possibilities, they sounded even less plausible. However, to accept the suggestion by Ves would force her to surrender to metaphysics.

Mech designers instinctively avoided metaphysical phenomena unless they aimed to harness them. In every other case, metaphysical phenomena only added to their burdens.

"Let’s say your guess is correct." She said, not quite taking it seriously yet but contemplating the possibilities if it was true. "What do you want to do?"

"It’s simple. We can design a new mech that’s adapted to the environment!"

"Design a new mech?"

Ves came up with this idea as soon as he heard Mayra’s observation. Wasn’t this the best solution? Not only would they design a mech that would hopefully enjoy some spiritual protection, they could also make specific changes to their mechs that allowed them to fit the environment even better than their regular mechs.

"Think about it." Ves spoke. "Before we reached Aeon Corona VII, we heavily underestimated the difficulties we’d face. We only expected heavy gravity, but it turns out the surface is wracked with the breakdown effect as well. Most of our mechs will fare exceptionally poorly if they stray within a thousand kilometers of the crash site, and they can forget about functioning at all if they enter within a range of about a hundred kilometers. It’s clear to me that pretty much our entire mech roster is too unsuited to the task of fighting close to the Starlight Megalodon."

"So your idea is to design a new mech that can conceivably operate within the vicinity of the battleship?" Mayra gave the suggestion a deep thought. "Even if the relationship you mentioned earlier didn’t exist, it’s still a viable idea to pursue. However, we’ll be faced with severe restrictions. While it’s not too difficult to design a mech in the field, it’s very hard to fabricate them with our equipment and resources."

This was the biggest limitations they faced. Right now, they brought enough equipment and supplies to maintain and repair their mechs. It was a stretch to state they brought enough to fabricate new mechs.

While Ves acknowledged those limitations, he was already used to designing mechs under difficult conditions.