Chapter 7287: Neural Interface Policy Shift

All of this talk about ambitions and empire building discomfited Ves. Learning about the personal ambitions of the high-and-mighty tier 1 galactic citizens caused him to no longer look up to them as much as before. That mental shift jarred Ves quite a lot, so much so that Jovy pulled back and began to divert to less weighty secrets.

Ves allowed Jovy to brief him on matters such as secret doomsday bases, multiple successful attempts at launching generation ships to the other dwarf galaxies of Messier 87, bioengineering alien bodies that were secretly controlled by human intelligences, assassinating the leaders of relatively small but disproportionately disruptive organizations, the ongoing development of multiple new Masterwork Installations capable of shaping the battlefield in unprecedented new ways and more. While these secrets sounded interesting enough when presented in isolation, they all seemed to blur in the background as far as the current recipient was concerned.

It was too much. Ves still couldn't get over what he learned about the schemes and ambitions of the Marmedions and the Xenotechnician. He also found it difficult to foresee what would happen to him if the Evolution Witch finally decided to cut the cord and break away from the Red Association. How should he navigate this future?

The future became more and more clouded with uncertainty. An avalanche of changes threatened to engulf red humanity and had the potential to create huge gaps. A part of Ves wanted to feel angry at how the situation was spinning out of control. Wasn't the Red Association supposed to be a stabilizing force? It was about to do the complete opposite!

There was nothing he could do about it. Despite becoming a tier 2 galactic citizen, he still did not possess enough power or influence to block the ambitions of a powerful god pilot or Star Designer. They were driven individuals who were willing to go through certain extremes in order to achieve their life-long goals. The more Jovy talked, the more Ves calmed down. Enough time had passed for his heated emotions to cool down to the point where he was able to regain his composure.

He started to pay more attention to Jovy's continued disclosures. "...furthermore, the Red Association is about to loosen the safety limitations on neural interface designs. Traditionally, we have always kept them tight in order to offer solid protection to mech pilots. Current events make it difficult to maintain our stance. Breakthroughs matter more than safety. By permitting mech designers to make use of more potent but dangerous neural interfaces, we hope that their works can induce more breakthroughs."

That was a big change. It might not produce results immediately, but once more and more mech models got released that came with the altered neural interfaces, then the shift would gradually become more obvious. Neural interfaces with less restrictions than before promised superior performance by establishing deeper and more intimate man-machine connections. This made it easier for the mech pilot to control all of the functions of a mech, but it also increased the negative consequences of damage feedback. If a mech suffered a sudden but powerful blow, then the risks were great that the mech pilot would suffer as well! Even if the pilot's body remained hale and whole, the damage feedback would cause to react almost exactly as if she was suffering a real wound.

The mechers did not fully understand the damage feedback phenomenon. At least, they didn't share their full understanding with Ves. In the worst case scenario, a mech that got hit in the head could potentially induce permanent permanent brain damage to the pilot! The RA had done studies about probabilities and such and came with a number of thresholds. If the neural interface parameters fell below these figures, then the probability of neural interface accidents became infrequent enough to be tolerated by the Association. For the mechers to let go of those strict standards and willingly permit the use of more dangerous neural interface represented a drastic shift in strategic direction.

"Why?" Ves couldn't help but ask. "I think it is better to explain the need to maintain strict regulations in the first place." Jovy responded. "For several centuries, we have tried to turn mechs into the main means of waging war among humans. To do so, we needed to make them as safe and reliable to operate as possible. In the early years, the mech industry was apprehensive about the acceptance of neural interface technology. They were afraid that mass adoption would not happen due to the very legitimate fears that potentates might have about making use of it. The early abuses certainly did not help matters. This is why the rules mostly became stricter over the years." "So that you mechers could ensure the public maintained its trust in neural interface technology." Ves remarked.

"Yes. However, four centuries have passed since the start of the Age of Mechs. Neural interface technology is no longer an unproven innovation. It has matured into a widely accepted tech that few people question these days. Mech pilots can remain confident that so long as they pilot a mech that is equipped with a certified neural interface model, they have no reasons to be afraid of the tech. This grants us a considerable amount of leeway."

Realization dawned in Ves' mind. The scheme was quite simple now that he understood the greater score. "You guys are taking advantage of all of the trust you have built up. By releasing more dangerous neural interfaces, many mech pilots will become attracted to the promise of raising their breakthrough chances. Their greed will surpass their prudence, and many of them will end up overestimating their capabilities."

Few would question how many deaths this colossal policy would produce in the coming decades. Yet this game of statistics could produce very real consequences to mech pilots and the people around them! Families would break as casualties would mount. Once this phenomenon became known, people's trust in neural interface might drop. A century of progress in propagandizing the safety of neural interface technology could be unmade in a single day!

"You don't appear concerned." Ves said as he scrutinized Jovy. "That is because plans on how to manage this transition has always been in place. We are not entering this new situation blindly. There are many means we can employ to stimulate the potential of red humanity while mitigating the dangerous side effects. For example, transparency and choice will be at the forefront. The mech pilot must be given the option to choose to switch to a more dangerous neural interface. To be honest, the MTA has experimented with much milder initiatives like this in the past. This will be the first time we loosen the restrictions to such a great extent."

Ves could see how the proposal could work in theory. By giving mech pilots a choice, they could decide for themselves whether to stick to their old and reliable neural interfaces or take a chance and make use of the newly released alternatives. "It would be even better if the neural interfaces become more modular." Ves openly thought. "That would make swapping a lot faster and easier to implement. The biggest problem is that the mech pilots may not be the ones to make this decision. Their superiors could order the mechs to switch to the new neural interface models without consulting the actual soldiers who will be doing all of the fighting. I am afraid that numerous mech pilots will be deprived the choice that I have given to Saint Rosa Orfan and Saint Isobel Kotin."

Jovy seriously nodded. He had deduced this potential downside as well. "This is the tradeoff that the Red Association has decided to make. We are balancing different interests. The need to promote more breakthroughs has become a much greater priority than before. In order to save red humanity in the short term as well as long term, we are prepared to accept the very real likelihood that many more mech pilots will suffer permanent brain damage or even death as a result of using new neural interface models that do not prioritize safety as much as before."

This was the brutal calculus of war. The higher ups had definitely made a lot of calculations. The results apparently promised rosy outlooks, or else they wouldn't have bent their principles to this degree. Ves felt very mixed about this development. As a mech designer who presented similar options to his clients, he knew how tempting it was to select the more extreme option, not knowing how easily it could ruin people's lives.

The temptation to advance was too strong among humans. Too many mech pilots struggled to break through and become strong enough to make a difference in the ongoing conflicts. They would feel tempted to make the dangerous choice. It would not take much for mech designers and others in their orbit to encourage them to make use of neural interfaces that they were frankly not qualified to use. If the mech pilots weren't skilled and disciplined enough, then the probability of suffering permanent injuries rose considerably! Ves knew quite well how much this might damage the fundamental bond of trust between mech pilots and mech designers!

Fortunately, the assumption that a crippling injury to the head would result in forced retirement may not be the case anymore. "I bet that the availability of Carmine mechs must have persuaded many of the RA's leaders to approve of this initiative." Ves made a guess. "So long as the use of a dangerous neural interface does not outright kill the mech pilot, then the latter still has a chance to remain useful by controlling a mech with a Carmine System. With my innovation, the state of the brain has become nearly irrelevant. As long as the Carmine mech pilot is not comatose, he should always be able to control a mech through a Blood Pact."

Jovy smiled in response. "You are correct. Carmine mechs as well as the emergence of novel new treatment methods based on cultivation science has given us greater confidence that injured mech pilots can be treated. This will significantly diminish the fears and skepticism surrounding the policy initiative." These were not perfect solutions. Only one line of Carmine mechs came out so far. While other mech designers had worked hard to publish variants of the iconic Yellow Jacket series, they could only stray from the mech design so much until they broke the mech's capacity to form a Blood Pact. All of this meant that the mech market had become flooded with Yellow Jacket variants that appeared to be a mix between frugality and excellence. The variants served their own purposes. They had rapidly risen in popularity because Ves failed to meet market demand.

That would partially change once Ves managed to release his elemental Carmine mech designs. The thought of it sent a trill of excitement through Ves! Jovy had returned not just to serve as a messenger and a delivery boy, but also to facilitate the collaboration effort between Ves and the Red Association. The development of Polymetal mechs had been slow so far, but Ves expected that to speed up very soon! "I would love to make the Carmine System more universal and easier for other mech designs to adapt in their own mech designs." Ves spoke. "You will have to advance to the rank of Master Mech Designer first."

"I know. That will take a few years, but you can velocity it up if you help me complete my higher-end Carmine mech design projects."

"That is the plan, Ves. Your Carmine mechs are of great strategic importance to the mech community. We will all benefit if you can flesh out your Carmine Systems and make them more accessible to both producers and consumers. It would greatly help if you design Carmine mechs that target the middle segment of the first-class, second-class and third-class mech markets." That was a relatively serious demand, but Ves was willing to fulfill it. He had been thinking about it for a while. (More chapters in Buyers club for TMT)

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