Super Robot Quest G

"Controls."

"Pardon?" Boris looked to Marcus from their position at the Proving Grounds. In the end, he'd decided to something nice and neutral that Major Devin had already set precedent for – show his guest the training conducted by the mass production units. Truthfully, it was more of a ploy to buy himself some time to think about what he was going to introduce Marcus to – but it turned out that the brains behind the Valiant were also quite perceptive.

"The controls." He waved vaguely towards the Jackals whose pilots were undergoing introductory training. "The movements." Even when most of their formations had already left, Captain Sasaki had clearly thought that sending everybody was not particularly wise. So small guard elements of each company had remained, including those undergoing basic piloting familiarization. And from their position in the elevated spectator stands, and behind the greatly strengthened armor glass, Dr. Dinym saw something that had caught his attention.

---

"Alright, Rivera." The instructor's voice filtered in through the cockpit, even as his own Jackal was standing fully Configured right in front. "One more time from the top. Don't worry about messing up, just watch the arms. The Steed layer will keep you safe, and we go through training units all the time anyway. Keeps the Engineers busy."

"Roger. Reconfiguring now." Why did I think this was a fun career choice!? Lisa Rivera grit her teeth as both feet slowly pushed down on the pedals as she pulled both control sticks sixty or so degrees backwards – and immediately felt the lurching sensation of the Jackal's rear components sliding forward, kneeling when there had been no knees before, and the cockpit lifting upwards.

"Easy, easy now," the instructor warned. "Easy-!"

But it was already a bit late – the control sticks chose that moment to abruptly loosen to reflect the fact her Jackal's arms were already starting to unfold outwards, and she instinctively pulled even further, accelerating the speed of the cockpit's elevation, which then had her practically stomp on the pedals.

"Ohcrapohcrapohcraaaaaaaaaa-!" The extra pressure on the pedals saw the Jackal's sense of balance swing off wildly, and the Jackal's arms began to flail wildly as Lisa fought to regain some sense of balance. She could see the other Jackals around her rapidly back away, their own motions clumsy and inelegant as they tried to avoid getting involved in the collision. The whole world seemed to swerve as her own began to stomp around in an unbalanced and undignified drunken lurch. But finally, gravity had its say – and the Jackal crashed down to the ground, covered in an explosion of dust and grit.

Only then did her head unit finally emerge from the top of the cockpit, now far more dented and deformed due to the rocky Configuration process.

"I warned you about the arms, Rivera," the instructor said. It might have just been her, but she could swear the instructor was trying not to laugh. Not that she was in any state to call him out on it – she was pretty sure her eyes were nothing but swirlies and stars. "Now's a great time to show you how to Reconfigure back to vehicle mode from this position…"

She didn't even bother to mute her mic as she groaned in frustration.

---

"Those controls are stiff," Marcus commented. "I've seen the recordings Beowulf and Perseus in action." One hand tugged at his beard as he watched the fallen Jackal sluggishly Reconfigure back into vehicle form. The Jackal's form was sluggishly trying to fold its limbs back into place, albeit with not too much success as the torso attempted to twist back into place while lying face first on the ground. "The controls there are all mechanical. There's none of the fluidity of motion that I saw in your Super Robots."

"An interesting observation," Boris replied. He gestured for Marcus to follow him, but he didn't say anything further than that just yet. "And how do you think the Super Robots have managed it?" He was genuinely curious if Marcus had figured it out, or if at least he had some kind of hypothesis rattling around in his brain.

"Despite how the greater mass would inhibit the humanoid form in motion, Beowulf – and to an extent Perseus – move too naturally compared to that," Marcus commented. "I would imagine some kind of predictive interface…" The doctor's face grew thoughtful as he tilted his head, his eyes somewhat unfocused as Boris recognized the signs of someone doing mental math in real time. "…a harness mimicking the pilot's motions?" he guessed. "No, no, that does nothing to account for the vehicular modes…perhaps if the cockpit itself shifted…?"

Boris allowed Marcus his mental musings – at least until he brought him to his own workshop. The 'Lair,' as Lieutenant Wilde had so colorfully labeled it, had (for better or for worse) stuck as the nickname for the massive server farm that served as the beating heart of information flow across the DFRI. He could feel Marcus's concentration break as he beheld the buzzing activity beneath the catwalk that overlooked the servers. The various technicians, many of whom had been present since the university grounds were nothing but dilapidated ruins, scurried to and fro. Occasionally, Katarina's hologram materialized, often in several different places at once, as she helpfully resolved whatever issues the technicians were encountering as they oversaw maintenance of the delicate machinery.

Marcus might be interested in some of that, but Boris had a specific destination in mind. "You weren't far off," he confirmed to the brain behind Valiant as he brought him to one of the smaller workshops not in use. A mechanical frame, appearing skeletal in appearance, stood on a spherical treadmill next to a Man-Machine Interface helmet. "But this-" He hefted the helmet, presenting it to Marcus, "-is the secret behind the motions."

The MMI helmet had gone through several different iterations. Now, with K-Class Materials in mind, it appeared like a slightly oversized combat helmet. Non-intrusive sensor pads mixed with the lining of the inner helmet, mostly hidden beneath the crash padding placed for pilot safety (and comfort ostensibly, but that was debatable). This model was not wireless, but had a hardline that connected to the computer terminals and controls next to the skeletal test frame.

"Translating brain activity to motion?"

"Essentially," Boris agreed, deciding that discussing the intricacies of Sam's ESP theory was a bit too much of an information dump right this very moment. "Here. Give it a try. The MMI translates abstracted thought and intent into motion. It works like thus…"

---

An hour had passed, and Boris had a feeling that Marcus was quite intrigued by the MMI.

At first, the motions had been halting. Even as his fingers manipulated the controls, articulating each finger one by one on the frame's hands before instinctively clenching a fist, there was a hesitancy about his motions. As if he couldn't quite believe that he had such control without quite knowing how he was doing what he was doing.

But soon, the frame was walking, the treadmill keeping up with his motions. The cranial unit was looking around, the torso twisting left and right as Marcus's intents continued to be translated into kinetic motion. Hesitance soon turned to muted joy as the frame soon broke into a sprint, taking leaps that were only restrained by the nature of the test unit (and not wanting a few tons of solid metal to leap over the treadmill and crash into expensive equipment – Boris was not having a repeat of that incident).

Soon, the test wound down, and Dr. Dinym's hands were trembling slightly as he took off the helmet. "I think," he said thoughtfully, "that this will work quite well for the Valiant…but." He frowned as his thoughts continued to glide across his head. "The fact that the Valiant's limbs are mostly independent and held only by the currents might have…problems for Erika's nervous systems. How have-?"

His question paused as he realized how much he was trembling. "You're not the first one that's happened to," Boris said kindly as he took the helmet back from him and placed it back onto the rack. "But to answer your question – you're experiencing the feedback right now. The pilots do feel some measure of the damage. However, the feedback is…banked, for lack of a better word. They are 'wearing' the body of the Super Robots more than being the Super Robots. But once they take it off, post-battle fatigue sets in. I'm told aching, headaches and a strong desire for sleep are common."

Mostly because of how far the pilots pushed their limits or refused to back down in the face of an overwhelming threat.

"I will have to look into that," Marcus muttered to himself. "Does this conclude what you wished to show? Or is there anything else?"

---

Pick ONE.

[] No - Dr. Dinym seems happy with this option, and this should fulfill the DFRI's obligations.

[] Super AI (if you choose this, you can emphasize one of of the following sub options)
-[] AI 'Sisters'
-[] Golems
MMI
[] Configuration
[] Write-In