The Mech Touch novel Chapter 2749

Chapter 2749 - Monument to Folly

Ves and Gloriana regarded the NuMan biomech in a completely different light once they listened to its backstory. Even their two cats had stopped playing around.

The NuMan was not a mech at all! The as-of-yet-unnamed designer who developed this abomination did not have mech pilots in mind at all. Instead, he willfully ignored the rules of his profession and broke all kinds of taboos in a bid to preserve his life!

Ves couldn’t imagine what kind of mindset a highly-accomplished biomech designer adopted to bring himself to come up with such an extreme plan. Apparently, it wasn’t enough to develop a clone. The biomech designer in question wanted to fashion a body that towered over people just like other mechs!

"Do you think the designer of the NuMan is crazy?" Master Werther Cline looked straight into the NuMan’s dull eyes. "Do you think that the rest of the biomech industry hasn’t thought about transplanting their minds in similar bodies?"

From the way the Master phrased his question, Ves couldn’t help but let his imagination go loose.

Gloriana also gained some suspicions. "Are you hinting that.. the NuMan isn’t the first attempt by biomech designers to create new bodies for themselves?"

"It is not that much of a secret in our circle, young miss. You are indeed correct to think that the NuMan is hardly the first attempt of such. The only difference here is that its designer is the most accomplished from the Life Research Association. This ’biomech’ is more refined and advanced than the rough and rudimentary attempts by others. It had the greatest chance to succeed."

"How so? What makes the NuMan better than the other examples?"

"I’ve combed over the data and research notes in detail." The old man generously answered. "The NuMan incorporates many brilliant innovations that should have solved several problems relating to mind and consciousness transfers. Despite its size, its human-like organs are almost identical to his old body. The genetic and physical resemblance of the NuMan and the designer’s original body is quite high, which should theoretically lower the chance of rejection to an acceptable level. What is even more absurd is that the NuMan also attained immortality!"

"How?" Gloriana widened her eyes.

The Master gave her a regretful smile. "I cannot go into the details. I can only tell you that the NuMan is a unique product that is cultivated from tissue samples harvested from a unique alien organism that is extremely rare. It is a miracle in itself that my old friend succeeded in transforming the alien cells into NuMan cells. There are probably only two or three biomech designers in the LRA that can replicate this feat."

There were too many secrets behind the development of the NuMan. Master Cline only scratched the surface of what had been done to make the NuMan as great as possible.

"What does immortal mean in this context?" Ves asked. "Is the NuMan impervious to damage? Is it able to regenerate endlessly?"

"This organic body is not so fantastical. Its cells are endlessly replicable, courtesy of their alien origin. As long as they are supplied with energy and matter, the body cells will continue to renew themselves after they start to decay."

"If this biomech designer was able to create an immortal biomech, why not apply it on a more human-sized level?"

The older man grew grim.

"The answer is complicated, but to put it in the simplest possible terms, the human body is too small to contain so much power. Why do we wage war with machines the size of mechs? Why do we not opt to deploy armies of cheaper and less c.u.mbersome infantry?"

"The amount of equipment and firepower that infantry can bring to bear is too limited." Ves supplied the standard answer he learned at school. "The ratio of human body to machine is too high. Since the latter is mostly a weakness, that means the overall package is inefficient on a volume basis. The equipment itself is also weaker due to constraints on size and mass. A single mech can easily trample hundred heavily-armed infantrymen with ease."

Master Cline nodded. "That is true. Now extend this concept to our current situation. What do you think about my old friend’s attempt to continue his life in a new body?"

Gloriana’s eyes lit up. "I see! All of the stories on the galactic net about dying people futilely attempting to live a new life by transferring their mind and consciousness into clones of themselves never mentioned a single success. There’s something terribly flawed about this process. If the clone is too weak or limited, then maybe you’ll be able to succeed with a larger and more powerful body!"

"There are indeed many biotech researchers who ascribe to this unsupported theory. Biomech designers are highly proficient at developing massive organic machines that are packed with more power than any normal human body can bear. Since humanoid biomechs closely resemble bodies like ours, it is easy to draw the conclusion that such a creation can also serve as a superior replacement body for our race. Nobody has ever proven that this theory has any merit, but when you are desperate, you don’t tend to stop at these questions."

Ves understood this approach. He adopted it many times when he was also driven to proceed with his reckless experiments. Who cared about scientific rigor when the barbarians were at the gates?

"I take it that none of these wild experiments have succeeded."

"That is a given. If it was possible to transfer your consciousness to another medium, whether it is a processor, an identical clone, a biomech or any other physical shell. If it was that easy for individuals to stave off death in this manner, we’d be living in a radically different society."

Verify captcha to read the contentVerify