Chapter 3915 Pioneers of a New Age
The first observation he made after Ves regained his bearings after getting teleported was that he had ended up in yet another hangar bay.
Many of the impressive first-class multipurpose mechs that he had seen in action through the live feed were right in sight!
Ves held a breath as he looked up to a nearby MTA mech. He recalled that this specific auxiliary model was the one responsible for receiving the shield link beam transmitted by the Paracelsus Optimus, thereby providing strong protection to over a hundred nearby mechs!
"Impressive, is it not? This model is part of a new wave that seeks to further expand the strength and utility of mechs on the battlefield."
He turned around to face a figure that was quietly floating towards his position.
The man that appeared in front of him did not wear the lab coats that mech designers typically wore. Instead, he wore a hypermodern utility suit that provided excellent protection and functionality in a package that was not that much bulkier than a vacsuit.
It also happened to come in a bright orange shade with even brighter lines.
Whatever Ves expected from the Transhumanist, it wasn't this! The man wore his garishly loud orange suit with no apparent discomfort over his appearance. It was as if such concerns were beyond his considerations!
When he studied the man's face, he saw that it was unnaturally smooth, making the fellow appear as if he was of the same age as Ves.
This was impossible.
The posture and demeanor of the new arrival already told Ves that he was dealing with an old geezer!
Having met plenty of older and distinguished men, Ves had developed a keen ability to recognize them based on various clues.
Besides, he developed an even more reliable measure of someone's age and importance.
The man's spirituality was like a blazing sun! Only Master Mech Designers possessed such powerful strength!
"Hello, Master…"
"Ah, let me introduce myself." The grey-haired man smiled and made a shallow bow. "I am Master Termaneo Dervidian, currently stationed on the Paracelsus Optimus. I do not expect you to recognize my appearance, but if you have been keeping up with the latest developments in the mech industry, I believe you should recognize my name if nothing else."
To be honest, the MTA Master's name did not ring a bell at all. Ves quickly had to use his cranial implant's search function to dig up any memories where he had encountered this odd name in the past.
His eyes quickly widened. "You… you are one of the lead developers of the minidrive!"
Ves was shocked that he was meeting with someone who had successfully affected the course of human history and development in a major fashion!
While Master Dervidian's invention was not as grand as the beyonder gate, the work he had done on miniaturizing warp drives and FTL drives was crucial in granting mechs the ability to move a lot further without needing any help from starships!
Though minidrives were still too expensive to allow for widespread adoption, just the fact that the tech became available meant that it could always be improved in the future!
The starting point was the hardest. Ves couldn't imagine how much work and effort Master Dervidian poured into leveraging phasewater to make drives work at a much reduced size.
"Hehe." Dervidian chuckled in a good-natured manner. "I fear you are overestimating my individual contribution to the minidrive projects. I am one of hundreds who have contributed to their development. I became much more involved in the early stages of the combat drive project. The indigenous alien races of the Red Ocean already developed many fine applications of warp drives. Reverse engineering them was the first step to understanding and improving their tech. Much more brilliant developers than myself deserve most of the credit for making several breakthroughs and allow us to miniaturize the drives to the point where they can be mounted onto mechs."
The MTA Master probably referred to Star Designers such as the Polymath, though he did not mention them by name.
Just the fact that he was able to work in major research initiatives where the best mech designers of humanity intimately became involved was still a major honor!
All of this meant that Jovy was right. Master Dervidian was most definitely an influential bigshot within the MTA!
"I see." Ves replied as he controlled his tone. "I take it your specialty is related to mobility, correct?"
The other man nodded. "I specialize in superluminar travel systems. I may not enjoy sole credit for the invention of the minidrives, but I was one of the few who helped to get them off the ground by building up a theoretical basis for them and convincing the relevant parties that the concepts are viable. It gladdens me to no end to see them appear on more and more mechs."
The pair began to take a short tour through the hangar bay. This allowed Ves to see and admire the various MTA mechs from a much more intimate distance.
While the machines were all devoid of life as he expected, they were still impressive and brilliant in other ways. Master Dervidian hardly needed to give Ves an explanation for him to understand and appreciate the charm of these first-class multipurpose mechs.
As the two continued to talk, Ves slowly grew more comfortable in the presence of the Master. The fellow did not act pompously or maintained a clear separation of status.
Master Dervidian nodded. "That is a clear answer. However, have you ever thought how much our race has grown dependent on technology? What if every FTL drive ceases to work one day?" fгeewёbnoѵel.cσm
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