Mark began examining the design. Unlike his previous works, this mech had no glitches or quirks to work out. The lack of issues was to be expected, afterall, the Humphrey was both a recent design and a military mech. These machines were held to higher standards.
The lack of problems actually made Mark's job easier. Since the mech was functioning properly, he only had to focus on upgrading it. Mark began by analyzing the alloy used on the armor and the chassis. It was an alloy developed 150 years ago known as Silovium. The military of many stellar nations commonly used this alloy.
Mark carefully analyzed the composition of Silovium. Having upgraded his metalurgy skill to level five during the past week, this was easy for him. The alloy used a composition of materials that were not very common in the Lishean Commonwealth. Mark saw this as a flaw. If supply chains were to be disrupted, the L.A.F. would suffer greatly.
His first task was to find a way to fix this flaw. In his eyes, there were two possible solutions. First, he could replace the alloy altogether. Finding an equivalent solution was not impossible, yet the problem may persist if the chosen alloy is composed of exotics unavailable in his stellar nation.
The second choice was to look for locally sourced equivalent exotic materials to create Silovium. That way, Mark would be killing two birds with a single stone. Reducing attrition and increasing the local economy. He felt that this was the best of the two options. Using the terminals present on the Design Space, the young man began his search.
Nearly 15 hours later, he found the materials he was looking for. Some were even present at the Rappal System. To him, this was a bonus; increasing the importance of his solar system could alter the deep-strike scenario. Mark shook his head. Deviating from the problem at hand was counterproductive. Regaining his focus, he resumed his work.
While the alloy solution that came out was equivalent in all aspects, it could not be named the same. The composition was different, thus the name needed to reflect this. To save time, Mark added two letters to the name to distinguish it. Thus, Silovium-LC came to be. The letters at the end stood for the Lishean Commonwealth. This naming scheme was a lazy solution, but to him, the name was not important, only the result.
After sorting out the alloy composition issue, Mark decided to work on the armor. While the alloy used was the same as that of the chassis, a different technique, known as alloy compression, was used to fabricate the armor plates. This process was done for all mechs; however, the compression rate for military mechs differed from that used on the common market.
As Mark fiddled with the rates, he discovered that his new alloy, Silovium-LC, performed better under compression than Silovium. The simulation he used showed a 13% increase in durability at the same compression rate. He was not expecting this, yet it was a welcome development. While 13% did not look like much on paper, in reality, it was a difference between life and death.
With the armor and chassis sorted, his next hurdle was power generation. The original generator was good, but Mark wanted to use his new Virtrumite generator. He spent a few hours finetuning the proportions and dimensions required for the size of the mech. Unlike his demi-mech, this mech required a 135kWh supply. This need required a larger component size; it was to be expected. With the new generator, the energy efficiency increased by nearly 50%. So far, it has been the biggest performance margin.
After finishing the generator, he moved to the power distribution channels. The original ones work efficiently; however, with Mark's skills, they could be optimized further. With careful planning, the young man managed to improve the power distribution and redundancies by 12%. To improve further, higher skill levels were required.
While he had the TP to do so, Mark had to be mindful of his progression. Getting skills too fast could land him in hot water. So far, everything he had done was explainable by human science. Once he advances beyond humanity's understanding, he could trigger a witch hunt. Mark feared more for his family and friends than for himself.
Returning to the task at hand, Mark worked with the actuators next. His father and Rowan had shown great interest in these components. Mark used the actuator package he designed for the Reaper. After leveling up his movement optimization skill to level five, his ability to optimize the actuators increased. Both fine-movement and locomotion parameters improved by 25%.
Mark was satisfied with the actuators' movement. However, after including the base design's armor layout, the range of motion was hindered. The young man decided to scrap the old layout and create a new one. What followed was a few hours of one simulation after another. Mark did not stop until he found a satisfactory layout. This affair took another four hours.
Once finished with the armor layout and the actuators, he moves on to the engine. Mark saw no need to replace the component. However, he resolved to optimize the engine using his skills. With the new energy-efficiency and engine-configuration changes, Mark increased the motive power output by 18%. Further overcloking the engine could reduce the component's operational life.
Next, he turns to the onboard computer and software. His computer science skills, along with logical code optimization, enabled the young man to improve the mech's algorithm efficiency and command response. The machine was shaping up to be his best work so far.
The Humphrey had multiple attachment ports. Not only could the model mount a backpack, but it could also mount two additional modules, one on each shoulder. These ports opened up many options for the mech design. Mark decided to take note of this configuration, borrowing the feature for his future designs was a good Idea.
He thought about implementing another integrated system but ultimately decided against it. Mark wanted to keep a low neuronal load. Besides, with the attachment ports, people with high neuronal capacity could install other systems.
The young man worked on this project until reaching his 140-hour limit in the Design Space. On paper, his upgrades could be seen as marginal when considered in isolation. However, the small margins added up. The result was a comprehensive upgrade of the machine. After calculating the average, he found that his new design increased performance by 33% over the base Humphrey.
Mark needed a new weapon for the design. However, this had to be done on a later date; his current design session had reached the safety margin. Before exiting the design space, he decided to name the variant. Since it was a mech meant for soldiers with low neuronal capacity, Mark chose a name that reflected its status. He named it The Humphrey Trooper.
Exiting the Design Space, Mark heads to his bathroom and gets ready for the day. Meanwhile, at the Grease Monkey Workshop, the factory machines had begun to process the orders for the new mechs. The number of orders kept growing with no end in sight.
After purchasing the 3rd level for the factory floor, the shop gained access to the interstellar market. The revolution that affected the A.M.S. servers in the Rappal system began to spread to other regions. With every passing second, more orders from interested customers came in.
Even though GACT had begun producing McCain Reapers a few days earlier, the product had not yet become popular. However, after the grading event from the night before, the products of the Grease Monkey Workshop went viral overnight. Not one, but two mechs made by the same guy were graded S-grade. On top of that, another S-grade mech was sold along with other top-tier equipment.
The high-quality products became commodities within seconds of being available. Players wanted an edge; with these machines, they could gain money and experience. The price tag made them even more popular among the new players, while the low neuronal load caught the attention of those with limited neuronal capacity. Rich and poor alike coveted the S-grade machines.
Companies and mech boutiques bought copies of Mark's designs. They were aiming to reverse-engineer the mechs and gain the knowledge to build S-grade machines of their own. With the rush created by the new designs, they had to adapt or risk becoming obsolete. More than a few wanted to hire the creator of these machines.
To that end, they scour the comm-grid looking for information. Some of the less savory even resorted to bribing the A.M.S. system administrators for the player's information. Their greed for money and knowledge fueled an unintentional manhunt that quickly moved through the Lishean Commonwealth.
Mark was taking a bath, blissfully unaware of the manhunt launched against him. He followed his morning routine as usual until he grabbed his comm-pad and saw countless notifications covering its screen. All of a sudden, the young man was taken aback by the attention. In his mind, he wondered how all these people had managed to get his contact info; he had paid the Comm Commission to remove his comm-pad from the registry.
Turning the comm-pad off, he put the problem out of his mind for now. Once he had finished eating his breakfast, the young man would search for a solution to his new problem. Putting his device into his pocket, he strolled towards the kitchen. There, he found Rachel cooking while Melly talked to Marcus. The blissfully common scene drew a smile on his face.
Mark moved to the kitchen and helped his mother with the food. By now, his mother had become accustomed to seeing her son cooking. With the meal in hand, they all sat at the table discussing various topics. As they shared recent events in their lives, their familial bonds grew closer.
Melly, to no one's surprise, talked about her new friend. Her recent acquaintance smote her. Rachel spoke about the Droid Boutique and the recent success of the Mimi Droid. Marcus shared his pride in his son's success. He predicted that the mech designs would be a runaway success. Little did he know that this was happening as they spoke. The family took a turn sharing recent events from the past few days.
After breakfast, they all went their separate ways. Marcus left for his company, while Rachel grabbed her tool belt and went down to the Droid boutique, and Melly got ready to receive her tutor. Mark left with his entourage for school, his mind racing with the expectations for the day. This life was a far cry from the one he had before.
Inside the Blazing Hand compound. Gin found himself in the Boss's room. They had just finished discussing the information gathered on Mark. The Boss was pondering his options in silence after the briefing. In the eyes of the Blazing Hand, the young man was an agent of the Conclave. The misinformation had led them to believe he had been recruited and enhanced at the Black Site.
The Boss lifted his head. An angry expression showed on his face. "Gin, we can not let this be. I'll be damned if I let the Conclave run us out of my city." In his mind, the man fought his anger while looking for a solution that did not end with his death or the death of his men. "We will have to force this Specter to work for us."
Gin's face darkens. He was ready to get revenge on the kid from the droid boutique. This time, he will be the one to be blindsided. "Sir, tell me what you have in mind; the men and I are eager to teach this kid a harsh lesson."
The Boss took a look at the information they had on Mark. His glowing eyes hinted at the dark machinations in his mind. "We will take the people he holds dear. Once we have him in our pocket, we will exploit him. Gin, you have to move fast. This thing has to be done before the Conclave can react."
The subordinate looks at the man with determination. With eagerness, a response came from his lips. "Sir, it will be done."
As Gin exits the Boss's room, he relays the orders given. The members of the Blazing Hand stirred. Moving with purpose, they began preparations. With fanatical devotion, they were determined to fulfill the orders given.