As the hours went by, the symposium started to get into full swing. Dawn city became more populated as more and more outsiders arrived to attend this curious event.
While a lot of people came to experience Vulcan's glow or hear what the Larkinson Patriarch had to say about craftsmanship, most of them became seduced by the many interesting mechs utilized by the Larkinsons.
Projections of sweeping battles played overhead. Identical mechs stood in perfect rows. Larkinson mech pilots and mech designers all stood close to the exhibits in order to explain their mechs and answer simple questions.
Almost any mech in use by the Larkinson Clan generated a lot of interest.
"This is the Bright Warrior in all of its four configurations." Rina Orion explained. "This exclusive mech design may not have been designed for the Red Ocean, but it is still a capable mech in our hands. Through the use of special methods, this mech is able to perform better when it is piloted by our clansmen."
"What makes this mech stronger than others?" A guest asked.
"Good question. I cannot reveal all of its secrets to you as the Bright Warrior model still plays a vital role in the defense of our fleet. However, I can tell you that it is a highly versatile mech that steadily adapts to its mech pilots and grows stronger over time. These are features that are highly common to all of our living mechs. You may be able to own them or pilot them yourselves one day. While our Living Mech Corporation currently isn't ready to release any of its products to the Davute market, this will change in the future."
The group that had come to study the Bright Warrior mechs weren't particularly impressed by what they saw. Since they weren't capable to observing the invisible and out-of-sight properties of these living mechs, they couldn't distinguish how these years-old machines were better than freshly made ones.
On the surface, the design of the Bright Warrior model was rather basic by the standards of the Red Ocean. The materials that made up the machines were fairly weak while the tech level of the components were not that great either.
The only exception was the luminar crystal rifle wielded by the rifleman mech configuration of the Bright Warrior. The weapon not only looked splendid, but also exuded a greater sense of lethality than other armaments.
Even so, the more knowledgeable guests quickly figured out that the Bright Warrior was just an ordinary rim-level mech model that the Larkinsons had brought over from their previous hometown.
Rina Orion didn't have to rely on her heavy augmentations to figure out that the visitors looked down on the Bright Warrior. The technical design indeed fell behind, but that didn't mean the mech line was hopeless!
She smiled. "Our Bright Warrior mechs are still relatively young and have a lot of growth ahead of them before they become formidable. We do have a number of examples that have experienced much greater growth than other Bright Warriors. Many of them aren't on display here, but our clan patriarch has graciously allowed you to witness the greatest offshoot of this mech model. Please come this way."
The group followed the young assistant mech designer and entered another hall where there was a lot more traffic.
Before they even entered the specially-built hall, they all felt it. The glow of the mech inside was similar to that of the Bright Warrior, but it was much stronger and different than what they experienced before.
"This sensation… it's deeper."
"It's more powerful as well."
"There's more complexity and depth."
Many people used different descriptions. All of them failed to describe the wealth of sensations in their mind.
As they slowly strode forward, they entered a dark, shine-like interior where a single highly-modified Bright Warrior mech stood in place.
The mech, which was currently in its space knight configuration in order to look more imposing, was a golden marvel of metal and life.
If the visitors were previously skeptical that living mechs were even a thing, they held much less doubts this time.
"This mech is a masterwork!"
"Indeed." Rina Orion said as she respectfully bowed before one of the living relics of the Larkinson Clan. "Meet the Quint. It not only started off as a masterwork mech, but also received numerous special upgrades over the course of its usage. Two of our expert pilots managed to break through while piloting this mech. This has made it even stronger and more alive."
The mech designers among the group were incredibly impressed by the Quint. It was not only stronger and more exquisite than the ordinary Bright Warriors, but also possessed a presence that made it seem as if they were in the presence of a living legend rather than a lifeless machine!
While many different visitors gawked at the Quint, others were discovering unexpected facets about the other mechs of the Larkinson Clan.
The Chiron training mech was one of them. The Larkinsons had decided to exhibit the mech model to the public for the first time since its existence.
The mech didn't look that impressive at first. It was clearly a third-class mech that didn't perform nearly as well as an ordinary modern third-class combat mech.
However, these faults were much less severe once people realized that the Chiron was a training mech.
A young uniformed mech cadet proudly stood in front of the Sagittarius, the first production copy of the Chiron and also her personally-assigned machine. She enthusiastically sang the praises of the mech model that had accelerated her growth so much.
Even though she had outgrown the Chiron at this stage in her training, she still piloted her machine as frequently as possible.
"The Chiron here has many advantages compared to other training mechs." She claimed. "I am only allowed to tell you about two of them. First, it can change its physical form to adapt to its mech pilots. The changes it can make include changing the length of its limbs and altering the shape of its torso. By trying to match the physique of its pilots as closely as possible, more junior cadets can more easily learn the ins and outs of basic mech piloting."
Comments
The readers' comments on the novel: The Mech Touch