Chapter 2: CHAPTER 2 - SPECTRE
The man and the mecha stared at each other among the pregnant silence of the workshop.
Linn shook his head and turned away to find a ladder.
"I should get my head together" he murmured to himself as he rolled the ladder to the base of mecha. The squeaky wheels of ladder drowning his voice in its protest.
He latched the ladder to the air sealed door of the mecha. The entrance to the inside of mecha is a good seven meters from the ground. The doors should be airtight to maintain the atmosphere of inside.
Linn climbed on the ladder, his eyes locked on the door not even watching where he was placing his foot. Seven meters are not a height which could be neglected. If he falls from here at least there will be a twisted ankle to show for it.That is if he got out lightly.
He had seen much worse. He had seen soldiers falling down from one meter and getting their neck broken.
His right hand took hold of the mechanical lever painted in bright red colour. Most of the actions of the mecha could be achieved remotely using the central console. But these types of mechanical door openers and emergency exits are often provided in case of a rescue operation or emergency situation.
'HISS.....' . The door opened inward with a hissing sound.
He climbed inside the mecha. This space is called the EGG, which is obviously due to its shape.
Egg shaped structures have the ability to withstand high pressure and stress. That is why you could not crush an egg by applying pressure longitudinally to its shell.
Linn walked past different consoles and control centers. There are almost ten different control consoles. They are placed in an arc-like formation with outside of the arc facing the front of mecha. Each of these consoles have displays and several control equipment.
Some of them have more than one display. Some have only one.
Some have joysticks, like those used by kids of government officials to play their stupid virtual reality games. Some of the consoles have knobs and push levers on their consoles.
There is a console which is different from all others in the middle. It looks special.
Special because it looks like it has a more comfortable chair, more of a recliner with a plush headrest. More weirdly it doesn't have any display screen or control equipment before it.
That is the station of Elite. The one who drives the mecha in combat. They obviously don't need controls and displays, since they could directly Link Up with the mecha.
Mecha's sensors become their eyes and ears. Their motor nerve signals become the actions of the mecha.
Well......and mechas damage becomes their pain too. There is always a take away if there is blessing. Is there not ?
But all of these are ignored by Linn. His attention solely focused on the island console present in the center. This console is separate from all the others and it looks important.
This console is placed in a platform and is situated behind all the other consoles. It provides the user with a commanding view of all that is happening inside the EGG.
Yes it is !!
It is the commanding station, seat of the commanding officer. The single most important position in an operating mecha. Every decision made by the person sitting in that chair will have outreaching consequences and changes in the battle field.
A heavy responsibility to take on to one's shoulder, but a necessary one. Commanding officer makes the decisions so that others in the team need not and could operate without any other concerns.
Linn stepped on to the commanding platform. There are two chairs on the platform. One for the commander and one for his Lieutenant commander.
There are three displays in front of the commander's chair and instead of control equipment he has a chrome colored mic in front of him. To the right side of the mic on the table is a black depression.
The depression looks like ........ a cup holder ? But the interesting thing is the depression is made of a velvety organic like substance and it is squirming like ….it is breathing !!! .
Linn's face showed a disgusting expression. The disgust shown is not like he wants to throw up, but more like he wants to tear that thing apart into pieces.
He had seen worse things out there for his stomach to get squeamish over a piece of skin.
That is exactly what it is. A piece of skin !!!
To be more precise, this is the membrane seen inside predators which covers the energy core inside their head. This acts as a conducting material for signals from the energy core and to the energy core.
Scientists call it the G-membrane.
And disappointingly humans were not able to replace it with any other material. They had tried and failed time and time again.
"Even with all the scientific advancements the scientific department boast with and all the funds pipelined to them, those cowards could not even mimic the skin of a predator" Linn murmured
'Those funds will be better used if they equipped the soldiers with advanced armour and survival gears' Linn thought
"At least there will be fewer casualties with each scouting trip" Linn's voice echoed inside the Egg.
But he knows it is not going to happen. Because government officials and higher ups need the scientific department to be a giant. They need that giant for a safe career for their offspring and family members.
Working for the science department and staying inside their cabins all day will sure as hell make them much safer than Military teams scouting outside for information and raw materials.
And the officials will make sure that it stays that way with each budget declaration.
"Idiots, all of them are idiots. Do they realize the military is the only thing standing between them and gawking mouth full of teeth ?"
"When the predator population grows unchecked and they come knocking at your door then where will all these cowards hide ?" Linn spoke out with resignation in his eyes.
"perhaps behind the flimsy tables in their laboratory" Linn said
"Or perhaps under their bed" Linn laughed out loudly.
HAHHHHAAA....HAHHAAA.... His laughter echoed loudly inside the Egg
like someone else is laughing with him or maybe.....laughing at him.
Shaking his head he placed the energy core inside the depression. Suddenly the membrane wrapped around the core like leaves wrapping around.
And the mecha trembled!!!! once ! twice !.......five times.... well.....after that Linn lost count.
Almost after two minutes mecha stabilized. This is in fact a common occurrence when an energy core is inserted into a new mecha. Energy travelling through the conductive routes needs some time to stabilise.
This is because of the probing of the energy core. energy core probes the extremities of the mecha when it is newly inserted in order to be familiar with the mecha.
After all this is its new body from now onwards unless it is transferred to a new mecha or destroyed due to overload.
Linn could feel the presence of the new core or more importantly presence of another consciousness near him. It is a feeling of being in a haunted house. Like there is someone near you but you can't see them.
He knew that the core completely integrated with the mecha. And It feels like Spectre is alive.
"No, not alive" he corrected his thoughts
"You are somewhere in between dead and being alive"
"Somewhere between nothing and being meaningful" Linn said and climbed out of the mecha.
Inside the Egg, the core throbbed once and there is a fluctuation in the consciousness.....
Gifts
-- Gift
received Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone