Chapter 3929 Qualities of Test Subjects
Ves developed mixed feelings towards MTA.
On one hand, he couldn't quite feel comfortable how one of the arbiters of human space engaged in such blatant human experimentation.
Not even the elite soldiers and officers of the New Rubarth Empire could escape the fate of becoming the MTA's experimental materials!
On the other hand, the highly detailed and substantially more varied research data produced by these unethical experiments exceeded his imagination!
Master Termaneo Dervidian was a much more thorough and experienced researcher than Ves. The man not only came up with much more elaborate and varied experimental designs, but also possessed the facilities and resources to enact them all without running into practical limitations.
As a result, Master Dervidian managed to collect a lot more research results in two hours than Ves had obtained in months!
Of course, much of that had to do with Ves' reluctance in engaging in human experimentation.
Over the years, he carefully controlled his impulses and tried his best to keep his research urges at bay.
He had always been taught that the Big Two were the protectors and guardians of law and order. There were countless different mentions of incidents on the galactic net where the MTA and CFA ruthlessly destroyed entire families and organizations for violating the taboos that had once led humanity to a darker path.
With the Big Two's good reputation and extensive history of enforcement, not a lot of people dared to flout the most important rules nowadays!
Every state obediently abandoned their dreams to operate warships and accepted the fact that they needed to utilize mechs and carrier vessels in order to wage war.
No military force dared to obtain any weapons of mass destruction, let alone harness them against their enemies.
Everyone assumed that one of the Big Two would quickly come and crush the violators to pieces!
Even though Ves learned that the MTA and CFA were not flawless and had slacked off in their enforcement duties, their heavy reputation still exerted a chilling effect on indigenous human populations.
Ves assumed that most mechers were honorable, well-meaning and upright for the most part.
Master Moira Willix was perhaps the most defining example of a model member of the MTA.
Though she was so proper and straitlaced that Ves felt uncomfortable around her, she was nonetheless worthy of his trust and respect.
Not every mecher was as restrained as Master Willix, though.He was aware of a portion of its darker deeds, he figured that it was the exception rather than rule.
Even if the MTA engaged in dubious actions and research initiatives, it would surely keep them in the dark or push them onto patsies like the Supreme Sage.
This way, the mechers could claim plausible deniability and avoid the stain to their valuable reputations.
Ves had clung to this assumption about the MTA for a long time that he could not quickly adjust to the reality happening before his eyes.
Nothing was sacred to the MTA!
Master Dervidian and his handpicked team of researchers went through the lives of captive humans as if they were annoying seeds that needed to be removed from fruit.
Ves had grown numb as he saw one of the most respected mech designers and researchers of the MTA condemn people who were much wealthier, stronger and much more impressive than he could imagine being driven to their deaths, all without showing any remorse or hesitation!
As 400 prisoners not-so-willingly sacrificed their lives in the name of advancing humanity's scientific progress, Master Dervidian finally halted the attempts to gather more data.
He was not being merciful towards the hundreds of imprisoned humans that were still languishing in their holding cells.
The Master simply wanted to take a breather so that he could inspect and process the data gathered so far. There were enough samples now that he could derive a lot of preliminary conclusions from analyzing the different outcomes.
"Intriguing. The lethality of the Aspect of Transcendence is truly difficult to block. Many of our conventional attempts to protect our test subjects from its lethal effects have failed. Neither energy shields nor meters of solid armor can prevent its glow from passing through and affecting the prisoners. The only solid measures that can prevent the test subjects from perishing is to maintain distance, rely on formidable tempering to resist the glow or obtain the strength or protection of a high-ranking mech pilot."
Ves already knew much of what the MTA researchers had discovered today, but the experiments also revealed nuances that he wasn't aware of before!
For example, he never verified how long it took for mech pilots to last when they were interfacing with a mech.
He already knew that mech pilots who were connected to mechs effectively became a lot harder to influence. This was because they could borrow a part of the formidable strength of their machines!
Although the experiments only involved normal mechs as opposed to his living mechs, the mech pilots interfacing with their machines lasted 20 seconds longer on average.
This was a considerable margin that provided mech pilots with much more chances to escape and survive exposure!
There were other points of data that also provided a lot of insights to Ves.
Most importantly, he gained more proof that there was a direct correlation between the quality of a person and their ability to persist against the transcendence glow.
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