The Mech Touch

After demonstrating how Venerable Davia Stark could weaponize her excitement and sadness to produce energy beams with different effects, the test resumed.

She began to repeat the same sequence with different emotions.

[Disgust or contempt.]

This produced a dim, brown laser beam that only inflicted surface damage onto the targeting dummy.

Although Venerable Stark was able to muster up a lot of contempt before she channeled this emotion into her weapon, it did not appear to have done too much.

"I speculate that the luminar circuitry pattern converts the emotion of contempt into a different expression." Harry Kaikkonen said. "If you study the data readings related to the luminar circuitry pattern, you will notice that it exhibits energy activity that is more commensurate with higher activity levels. Yet for the effect to lead to an energy beam of reduced power seems wrong and counterintuitive."

"You think that it is producing another effect?"

"Yes. Maybe multiple effects. The potential issues are that the emotion of sadness cannot be properly expressed through a simple hyper laser beam attack, or that it does not have any offensive component to begin with. Luminar crystal technology originally encompasses far more than energy weapons. It is a complete tech base that can be used to generate or provide defenses, propulsion, heating, shelter and much more. The applications that we have managed to recover only encompasses a fraction of what luminar crystal technology is capable of. I believe that the purposeful channeling of specific emotions may respond much better if we make use of luminar crystal devices other than firearms."

The theory made sense. In fact, Vesk knew it was true because he had visited the ruins of an ancient and decrepit settlement belonging to the luminar race in the past.

He had witnessed small alien structures made out of luminar crystals. While they were able to shoot light beams as a form of defense, they probably possessed a lot of other functions as well.

Even though Ves clearly witnessed the fact that luminar crystal technology was a complete tech base that could be used to construct all kinds of useful objects, he had always fixated on luminar crystal weapons and never thought about using the same tech for other purposes!

That was a pretty embarrassing cognitive error. It was yet another sign that he was ultimately not committed enough towards luminar crystal technology to do it justice.

Ves felt inferior towards Harry in this aspect.

Despite the fact that he was a Journeyman who had not yet made any notable accomplishments, Harry Kaikkonen's passion, sincerity and dedication towards luminar crystal technology easily allowed him to put himself in the shoes of the ancient luminars and imagi what they built with their dazzling crystals.

Having a passionate mech designer like Harry become the Larkinson Clan's go-to expert and custodian of luminar crystal technology worked out extremely well for Ves.

It was not just pure technological advancements that helped his clan grow stronger. It was the alternate perspectives and differences in mindsets that could truly lead to the development of fantastic innovations!

"You know, I never seriously thought about making a tower shield or a flight system out of luminar crystals before." Ves mused. "It may be interesting to explore whether you can make them powerful and cost-effective enough to utilize them over more conventional products."

"That would require a lot more research than I can currently devote my time towards. I am a weapon specialist. I will remain stuck in the trial-and-error phase for years if 1 attempt to develop a luminar crystal tower shield." Harry admitted.

"Maybe it won't take that long, but I understand what you mean. For now, energy weapons are the priority. Anyway, please continue the playback of the test footage. I am curious to see what other emotions can produce strange effects with your ERC luminar crystal rifle."

The projected footage continued to display the other tests.

[Shame or embarrassment.]

It took a bit of effort for Venerable Stark to channel this emotion. She had experienced plenty of shameful and disgraceful moments in the past. Each of them left horrible scars onto her heart.

Harry's request was not an easy one to fulfill for Venerable Stark. Her expression grew pained as she evoked a semblance of the great shame she felt after failing to protect the lives of billions of innocent civilians. Ŗ𝘼N𝘰₿ËＳ

The energy beam fired from her rifle was tinged in orange, but also inflicted significantly lower damage than the baseline.

Again, both Harry and Venerable Stark suspected that the emotion of shame possessed another effect, but they did not have the capability to identify it at the moment.

[Love and affection.]

This was the first time Venerable Stark truly struggled to channel an emotion. No matter how hard she tried, she simply could not bring herself to muster any of the love towards her deceased relatives.

While she was barely able to muster up a bit of affection towards the Larkinsons she had fought alongside with for years, her effort was surprisingly feeble.

It was not possible to gather high-quality test data if Venerable Stark was unable to muster up enough love and affection.

However, Harry thought of a possible solution.

[Wait. Think about your relationship with the Amaranto. Your living mech has served as your most trusted and reliable partner for years. She has covered your back in every battle since she fell into your hands, and she will become even stronger and more magnificent after we have completed the Amaranto Mark III Project.]

As soon as Venerable Stark switched her mind to the Amaranto, her love and affection bloomed like the rising of a sun.

The power of her earnest devotion towards the Amaranto caused the luminar circuitry pattern to glow and accumulate considerably more energy than usual! Fortunately, Harry had deliberately constructed the luminar crystal rifle out of high-quality exotics and hypers, so it was still able to withstand the increase in power. As soon as Venerable Stark pulled the trigger, a bright and uplifting pink energy beam blasted forth and caused the torso of the metal target dummy to explode! "Whoa!" Ves reacted with surprise at this result. "That is a considerably impressive

Result."

"The best part about it is that it should be replicable by virtually any of your customers." Harry said that a smile. "Regardless of their interpersonal relationships, any mech pilot who adores his living mech should be able to replicate this result. The stronger their bond towards their machine, the greater the increase in power output. This is the safest and most reliable means of weaponizing the emotions of a mech pilot that I have come across so far. Relying on other emotions can be dangerous."

"I know what you mean,"

It was not wise to instruct high-ranking mech pilots to fight while feeling overly

Excited or sad.

Expert pilots and ace pilots were highly emotional to begin with. Their combat effectiveness and combat approach changed significantly according to their mood swings. Not all emotions were suitable for every occasion.

Love was therefore a practical choice as it lifted up the mech pilot's mood at the cost of only moderate mental distortions.

Of course, this was not a certainty. Venerable Stark's love towards her Amaranto was intimate but also fairly pure. This was not the case for other relationships. More tests needed to be performed in order to understand the full interactions between the emotion of love and ERC luminar crystal weapons.

The test continued.

[Altruism and sacrifice.]

This was a surprisingly easy mentality to channel for Venerable Stark.

She was a highly driven woman.

She no longer lived for herself, but for the sake of others.

Davia Stark had forsaken her personal life, her relationships with people and the mundane pleasures of mortal humans in pursuit of greater power.

The energy beam released by her luminar crystal rifle was pure white and

Overwhelmingly bright!

The target dummy did not stand a chance.

There was a strong suspicion that the power of altruism also produced another effect, but none of the sensors and scanners managed to detect anything strange.

The high-tier expert pilot had to pause and catch her breath for a few minutes. While

Davia Stark had done well in channeling the power of altruism, she also expended a bit.

Too much of herself in the process.

[Pride and arrogance.]

This session appeared less like a test of Harry's prototype ERC luminar crystal rifle and more like a psychological inspection of Davia Stark's mental state! Fortunately, the expert pilot did not appear to think much of it and obediently tried to channel the right feeling of pride.

Even though her pride had suffered multiple blows due to witnessing the rise of 3 ace pilots among her peers without being able to join them, that did not mean that Davia Stark had become humble all of a sudden.

She still possessed the pride and arrogance of a high-tier expert pilot that most pilots

Still had to look up to! If that was not enough, her ranged firepower still remained the highest, at least until Saint Isobel Kotin was ready to get back into the saddle! The energy beam fueled by Davia Stark's pride was rich in purple. It demolished the torso of the target dummy, but also eroded the edges of whatever was left! Ves narrowed his eyes at this display. Parts of these demonstrations looked a little familiar to him. He had a suspicion that the colors corresponding to different

Emotions might not be random. Soon, the final test had arrived.

After Harry gave Venerable Davia Stark a few more moments to reset her mind, he

Finally request her to evoke a very common human emotion.

[Anger and rage.]

Venerable Stark did not need any time or special preparations to enter into this

Mindset. She merely had to recall the many injustices she witnessed a long time ago in order to convert into a vessel filled with rage!

Her face began to scowl while her willpower subtly began to shake the surroundings

Due to fury!

She lifted up the rifle, took aim at the latest target dumn

Overwhelming anger into the weapon as possible!

And dumped as much of her

The luminar crystal rifle quickly began to get stuffed with hot and violent power!

The weapon already began to glow in red as if it was trying and failing to contain the

Heat!

At one point, faint cracking noises started to sound!

[A dangerous situation has occurred! The prototype weapon's maximum energy limit has been reached! Venerable Stark, you need to open fire right away! The weapon cannot withstand so much fury!]

As much as Stark wanted to keep channeling more anger into the weapon, she had no

Choice but to abide by the request.

The expert pilot's intuition already warned her that her weaponn could explode like a

Bomb if she pushed its limits any further!

From the moment she opened fire, the sensors became flooded with red and heat. It took a bit longer for the optical sensors to restore their normal vision.

The entire target dummy got obliterated. All of it had disappeared to the point where

Only scraps were left!

That was not all. The energy beam was so powerful that it had struck the azure energy

Shield and drained its capacity by a huge margin to prevent any further damage from occurring!

"Whoa." Ves said as he became utterly impressed by how much anger could amplify the damage inflicted by the ERC luminar crystal rifle.

"Channeling the power of anger does not merely lead to a strong increase in

Firepower." Harry added. "It also penetrates defenses easier and can destroy particularly tough objects."

That wrapped up the initial testing session.

Ves had gained a lot from watching the footage. I is understanding of ERC luminar crystal technology had not increased all that much, but he had a much better idea on how it could augment the firepower of his customers.

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