Mark was not expecting such a difference between the Nova Star and the McCain Reaper. In terms of specs, both machines were similar. The Reaper even had more durability than the female-looking model. In his mind, the decisive factor was the machine's attachment ports. They gave the Nova Star a clear advantage, making the design more versatile.
However, a downside of this was the increased neuronal load. The more systems added by the attachment ports, the harder it would be to control the mech. Mark identified this as part of society's bias against people with low neuronal capacity. It was only logical that the A.M.S. system was part of the problem. The sad part was that most people were not even aware that this was happening.
Marks' thoughts were interrupted by the sound of the cheering crowd. The patrons of the Grease Monkey workshop were elated by the results of the grading. Now, the Grease Monkey Workshop was producing three S-Grade machines. The crowd's reaction made Mark realize they would need to increase production. Upgrading the factory floor was a necessity once again. More production contracts will also be needed. But those were problems for another day.
After the event, Mark took his friends to their respective houses. He admitted to himself that having his own Sky-car was more comfortable than taking sky-cabs. Tired of all his recent activities, the young man decided to leave his grandfather and Jack to deal with the Ravens tonight. After reaching his house, the young man purchased a few skill upgrades and went to sleep.
Inside A.M.S., Melly stands in a waiting room with Nyx. They had signed up for a two-on-two duel. The golden-eyed girl was hesitant at first, but her mysterious friend offered to teach her a few things about her gift. The girl would be damned if she let the opportunity go. Melly was using her Star Dancer while her friend was using a mech with a sword.
Melly had never seen a mech like this one. The mysterious woman was piloting a slender humanoid mech. It looked both fast and agile, yet the armor coverage was thin. Overall, the machine was both elegant and unique. The girl found Nyx's choice of weapon to be odd. She never heard of anyone bringing a sword to a gunfight. Nevertheless, she decided that she would win even if she had to carry the fight.
Nyx laughed, "Don't worry about me, little Melly. I can do much with my equipment. Besides, the battle will be over before it starts." She paused for a moment. Then she began instructing Melly. "You will find that fighting against people will be different than fighting the A.M.S. artificial intelligence. With people, we can use our tricks to guess their moves."
The girl contemplated Nyx's words. "So are you saying that we can... cheat?"
Nyx laughed again. She found this little girl amusing. "It is not really cheating. We are using the abilities we have. If they had our abilities, they would use them without a second thought. In this life, you have to use the advantages you get and not let other people do what they want with you."
For a moment, Melly felt an intense anger coming from her friend. Yet the feeling left as suddenly as it came. The golden-eyed girl contemplated her words. She was reminded again of the time she was in the lab and how Mark saved her. Melly shared her experience with Nyx, "I know what you are talking about. I was trapped in a laboratory. The people there were doing experiments on me and taking my blood. I was in a horrible place until my big brother saved me."
After her words, Melly felt another flash of emotion from Nyx; this time, it was not anger but guilt. However, before she could inquire further, the match began. Both mechs flashed into an open field. These conditions were part of the settings they chose for the duel. The two would now have to find the enemy and take out the opponents to win the match.
Melly was about to use her integrated sensor systems when Nyx interjected. She wanted the girl to use her ability to feel for the pilots inside the mechs. Melly was a bit skeptical of doing this in the virtual world. She could normally hear the pilot's thoughts when they were really close, but at a distance, the girl could not do it.
Nix saw her confusion. She began her instructions by teaching Melly a new way to breathe. Now, Melly, I want you to breathe deeply through your nose. Once you inhale all you can, you will release the air in small, repeated bursts."
Melly thought this was silly, but nevertheless, she complied with her friend's request. She followed Nyx's instructions to the letter. After a few times of repeating the breathing exercise, she felt something. It was a sensation of exhilaration. This feeling did not come from her or her friend; it was from someone else. The only living people apart from her and Nyx were the enemy pilots.
While she could not tell exactly where the enemy mechs were, she could point in the general direction. The two moved in the direction Melly pointed. Soon, the open field gave way to a forest. Visibility among the trees was poor, but Melly was sure of their general position. She directed Nyx and followed soon after.
Nyx's machine was faster than her Star dancer, but since Melly had a rifle, the girl did not mind. As they closed the distance, the golden-eyed girl could better perceive the enemy. She began hearing the noise in their heads. The two pilots were about Melly's age. They were planning to lure their enemies into a trap. Little did they know that Melly was listening in on them.
A few meters ahead, Melly was able to spot the two mechs. One was a rifleman model that looked generic and mass-produced. The second mech was sturdier. It was a guardian mech using a sword and a shield. Suddenly, Nyx's weapon did not look out of place.
Melly sensed the strategy they were planning through her abilities. The larger mech was going to serve as a bulwark while the generic-looking mech pelted the duo of female pilots from afar. The girl almost laughed at the simplicity of their planning. She did not need to use her ability on these two. Yet she recognized Nyx's point.
Melly ignored the guardian mech; she circled and moved toward the rifleman in the back. Her target let out a few shots, but since she sensed his intention, the golden-eyed girl easily dodged the incoming laser fire.
With the rifle of her Star Dancer, Melly ended the enemy rifleman, shooting a few times. The girl found little challenge in a confrontation like this. As she turned to watch the battle between the guardian mech and Nyx, she saw that her friend had dispatched the bulky machine before she was done with the rifleman.
Since both enemies were down, the duel ended. The duo had finished the encounter in less than five minutes. Melly felt dejected by the rivals assigned by A.M.S.; their poor performance left her wanting more. She turns to her friend and complains. "Nyxy, these games are not so fun. Why don't we try something more challenging?"
Nyx contemplated Melly's request for a few minutes. The girl's abilities were more developed than she thought. She proposed a new course of action. "Why don't we try Warlord Battles? The larger groups of people will be more challenging to read, though."
Melly thought for a moment. Mark had warned her before about the different modes and how players tended to target newbies for easy kills. She hesitated for a bit; however, after considering the outcome of her friend's instruction, she decided to agree to Nyx's proposal. "OK... let's try and see if it is more challenging."
Nyx looked at the time and saw it was getting late for a school night. The woman decided to cut the game session short. "We will do it next time, Melly. It's getting late, and you need to wake up early. You have classes with your tutor."
Melly had forgotten about the time. Rachel asked her to stop playing by nine, and it was 8:55 pm. She said goodbye to her friend and logged off. As she removed her V.R. headset, the girl heard Rachel's voice coming from the hallway. Nyx's timely reminder saved her from a scolding.
The girl spoke with Rachel for a while before going to bed. She decided to practice the breathing techniques in the morning after waking up. Nyxy's lesson had immediate benefits, and Melly was eager to learn more. If she had more power, the girl could protect her family without bleeding her nose off.
The night went by uneventfully. Mark woke early, feeling refreshed. This time, he managed to sleep for nearly nine hours. It was nearly 5:00 am. Looking around in his dark room, the young man decided to upgrade his workshop.
Mark had discussed this with his friends while taking them to their respective homes. They all decided to take their enterprise to the next level. After seeing the amount of cash and TP produced by the production contract with GACT, they decided to sell the mechs fabricated at the Grease Monkey workshop outside of the Rappal System.
Between the revenue generated by the production contracts and the sales of the McCain Reaper series, they had more than enough to take the factory floor up to level three. That was the level at which the workshop unlocked the inter-systems sales platform. While this cut into GACT's enterprise, the Conclave would not mind. Since they wanted to disperse Mark's mechs throughout the sector, it actually worked in their favor.
Between upgrading the factory floor and purchasing new production equipment, Mark spent nearly 10 billion A.M.S. Vouchers. Yet the store account had more than double that number. The young man now had a new dilemma. How to distribute the production equipment.
With a Level 3 workshop, he now had 60 production lines. He decided not to break his head figuring out the best solutions. Mark decided to assign 15 lines for each of the S-grade models. 3 lines would be assigned for the version 1 Reaper, and the rest would be assigned for weapons and components.
After assigningthe production lines, he started producing the new mech. This time, he decided to save the first fifty mech of each new design. He had to provide the prizes for the lottery winners along with the other mechs he promised. While the amount was nowhere near fifty, he wanted to use some of them for other reasons.
Mark felt the itch to upgrade the rest of the facilities. Using another 1.5 billion A.M.S. vouchers, he increased the size of The Waiting Room. He also upgraded the food quality from a diner to a three-star restaurant. Thinking of his little sister's sweet tooth, he added a three-star pastry droid. Following Livia's advice, he added a dojo facility for melee practice. Lastly, he improved the shooting range.
Mark decided to wait for Steve to upgrade the repairshop. Since he had been working there a lot, the loud-mouthed teen wanted to help upgrade the equipment and add more space. They would also improve the paint shop. Alex's paint jobs were becoming more popular with every new customer.
Looking at the time, there was still half an hour before 6:00 am. Mark decided to start on the Humphrey project. Mark moved to the design Lab. As he entered, he realized one thing: he had not upgraded this space. The young man felt like facepalming himself. Since he mostly uses the design space, he had neglected the workshop's design lab. To better cover his tracks, Mark was forced to upgrade the space.
Spending an additional 100,000 A.M.S. Vouchers, Mark now had a state-of-the-art design lab. Still, the terminals and equipment in his newly refurbished lab could not hold a candle to those in his design space. Mark had a bad taste in his mouth after spending so much money on his fake design lab; however, saying that he designed his mechs in this space became more believable.
Shaking his head, Mark entered the design space after purchasing the fabrication rights for the Humphrey. He quickly loaded the design onto the terminals and began disassembling the mech's projection. This time, his design had a dual purpose. The first one was to help his father's company. The second one was to influence the military mechs of the Lishean Commonwealth.
He could only achieve his second goal if his father's company secured the grant using his mech design. Since Mark had no idea who his competitors were, the young man resolved to do his best with the skills he had at hand. However, given his experience with rifleman mechs, Mark was confident he could deliver a good product.