Lackey's Seducing Survival Odyssey

Chapter 1738: Preparing Mech-Suit for Aether: Part-2

The mechanic activated the first training program.

“From this point onward, follow every instruction displayed by the simulation. Don’t rush anything. Accuracy matters more than speed.”

“Understood.”

Almost immediately, glowing white letters appeared in the centre of Young Aether’s vision, floating naturally within the ruined landscape as though they actually existed in the world around him.

[Tutorial Exercise: 01]

[Basic Mobility Calibration]

[Walk Test Initiated]

Young Aether raised an eyebrow.

“…Just walking?”

A grin slowly spread across his face.

“I think I can manage that.”

The instant he took his first step…

Thud!

He lost his balance completely and crashed face-first onto the cracked ground.

“…”

Young Aether blinked several times before lifting his head in confusion.

“What the…”

His legs felt strangely heavy.

No…

Heavy wasn’t the right word.

Every joint seemed to resist his movement as though invisible hands were constantly pushing against him.

When he attempted to bend his knee, the metallic modules attached beneath the compression suit generated opposing force, making even the simplest movement feel unnatural.

The mechanic’s voice echoed through the communication system.

“Remember something important, Mr. Lackey. You’re not learning how to walk as a human.”

Young Aether slowly pushed himself back onto his feet.

“You’re learning how to walk while wearing several hundred kilograms of mechanised armour.”

The mechanic enlarged a holographic diagram for Jonathan while continuing his explanation.

“The synchronisation modules are intentionally restricting your joint movement and applying dynamic resistance throughout your body. A real mech-suit amplifies your strength, but it also introduces inertia, actuator delay, and mechanical resistance. Until your brain adapts, your instincts will constantly fight against the suit’s movements.”

Young Aether experimentally lifted one leg again.

This time, instead of relying on his normal walking rhythm, he consciously applied more force.

The resistance was still there…

But his body responded much more naturally.

“I get it now…”

Immediately, another objective appeared before his eyes.

[Walk Forward: 5 Meters]

Young Aether took a careful step.

Then another.

Each movement caused the synchronisation modules attached to his body to emit a low mechanical hum.

SNNGG! SNGG! SSNNG!!

Tiny vibrations travelled through his arms, legs, spine, and shoulders, accurately recreating the sensation of powered actuators assisting every motion.

Although no actual mech-suit surrounded him, the feedback was convincing enough that he could almost imagine armoured limbs moving alongside his own.

The first few steps felt awkward.

His balance shifted differently.

His centre of gravity constantly changed.

Even lifting his foot required slightly more effort than expected.

However, after several meters, his body gradually adapted to the unfamiliar rhythm.

The dizziness disappeared.

His movements became smoother.

Finally, he reached the designated marker.

Another notification immediately appeared.

[Walk Backwards: 5 Meters]

Young Aether instinctively began stepping backwards.

Suddenly, bright yellow warning symbols flashed across the corner of his vision.

[Movement Deviation Detected]

[Trajectory Error: 11°]

The synchronisation modules attached to his legs vibrated sharply, forcing his body to stop moving.

Young Aether frowned.

“…What happened?”

The mechanic answered immediately.

“You drifted off your assigned path. Your body naturally walks in a slight curve, but a mech-suit requires much greater precision. Even a few degrees of deviation become dangerous during combat, especially when operating in close formations or navigating unstable terrain.”

Young Aether looked down.

Sure enough, faint glowing guide lines stretched perfectly straight beneath his feet.

Without realising it, he had unconsciously drifted several centimetres away from them.

“I didn’t even notice…”

“Most beginners don’t.”

Young Aether took a slow breath before resetting his posture.

This time, he focused carefully on maintaining a perfectly straight line while matching each step to the guidance markers projected onto the ground.

The warning indicators disappeared.

[Trajectory Corrected]

[Movement Efficiency: 96.4%]

A satisfied smile appeared on his face.

“…That’s better.”

The system immediately generated the next instruction.

[Move Right: 1 Meter]

He shifted sideways exactly one meter.

[Move Backwards: 2 Meters]

He complied without hesitation.

[Move Left: 3 Meters]

Another precise movement.

One command followed another in rapid succession.

Each completed exercise subtly increased the resistance applied by the synchronisation modules, forcing his brain to adapt faster while gradually teaching him how to move as though he were already wearing a fully operational mech-suit.

Meanwhile, the grumpy mechanic observed every movement through the monitoring screens, his expression gradually becoming more serious with each completed exercise.

“…His response time is much faster than I expected,” he muttered, narrowing his eyes as another set of data appeared.

Jonathan looked at the display before turning toward the mechanic with a puzzled expression.

“Hmm? Faster? It looked fairly normal to me. That’s almost exactly how I move inside my own mech-suit.”

The mechanic slowly shook his head.

“That’s because you’ve been piloting one for years. Your brain automatically filters out the tiny delays between command and execution, but someone who’s never worn a mech-suit before shouldn’t be adapting this quickly.”

He enlarged another graph, where dozens of colored lines represented Young Aether’s neurological responses during each movement.

“Watch this carefully.”

Jonathan stepped closer.

The mechanic pointed toward several highlighted sections.

“Every beginner experiences the same problem during their first synchronisation. Their brain knows they’re physically standing inside a room, but their eyes insist they’re somewhere else entirely. That contradiction creates hesitation.

Even if it’s only a fraction of a second, their subconscious pauses while trying to reconcile both realities before allowing the body to move.”

Another graph appeared beside it, comparing Young Aether’s data against thousands of previous trainees.

“Most first-time pilots hesitate before almost every command. Some overthink their movements, while others unconsciously resist the simulator because their instincts can’t fully accept the illusion surrounding them. That’s perfectly normal.

Our brains weren’t designed to process two conflicting realities at the same time.”

Jonathan slowly nodded as he finally understood.

“So that’s why rookie pilots always look awkward during their first simulation.”

“Exactly.”

The mechanic folded his arms.

“But Mr. Lackey…”

His gaze returned to the monitor.

“…doesn’t hesitate.”

Jonathan frowned.

“What do you mean?”

“It almost looks as though his brain accepted the simulation as reality the very moment synchronisation reached one hundred percent. Every command appears, and his body immediately attempts to execute it. There isn’t even the slightest sign of mental conflict.”

Jonathan quietly watched the screen for several seconds before speaking.

“…Then move on to the next test.”

The mechanic nodded before storing the completed data into the workshop database. His fingers danced across the holographic interface, selecting the next training sequence before pressing the confirmation command.

Inside the simulation, the floating text immediately changed.

[Tutorial Exercise: 02]

[Running Calibration]

Young Aether instinctively leaned forward and accelerated.

Just like during the walking exercise, his first attempt ended in failure.

His right leg failed to compensate for the simulated actuator resistance, causing his balance to collapse before he tumbled forward onto the cracked ground.

However, unlike most beginners, he didn’t remain confused for long.

He immediately analysed what had gone wrong, adjusted his posture, redistributed his weight, and tried again.

His second attempt lasted considerably longer.

By the third attempt, he was already running smoothly.

The tutorial continued without pause.

[Hurdle Test]

Mechanical obstacles suddenly emerged from the ground, forcing him to jump while maintaining balance under simulated mech-suit weight.

His first jump clipped the obstacle.

The second nearly succeeded.

By the fourth attempt, he cleared every hurdle cleanly.

The simulation immediately transitioned.

[Body Flexibility Test]

Young Aether learned how to crouch, kneel, and rotate his body without allowing the simulated armour joints to bind against one another.

Then came…

[Rapid Sit-Up Test]

[Single-Leg Balance Test]

[Lateral Movement Test]

[Crawling Mobility Test]

[Low Clearance Navigation Test]

Every completed exercise unlocked another.

The training never slowed.

During the first few attempts, Young Aether stumbled repeatedly.

He lost balance.

He fell.

He misjudged distances.

Several times, the synchronisation modules completely locked his movements after detecting incorrect posture.

Whenever he became confused, the mechanic calmly explained the reason behind each mistake.

“You’re rotating your hips before your upper body.”

“Don’t force the movement. Let the simulated actuators complete the motion before initiating the next one.”

“Shift your centre of gravity first, then move your legs.”

“If you fight the suit’s mechanical assistance, the actuators will oppose your movement instead of supporting it.”

Young Aether listened carefully every single time.

More importantly…

He never repeated the same mistake twice.

Each explanation became immediate improvement.

Each failure became another lesson absorbed almost instantly.

From the observation room, Jonathan watched with growing admiration while the mechanic quietly continued recording every piece of performance data generated by the simulator.

Several minutes later…

The mechanic suddenly stopped typing.

His eyebrows slowly knitted together.

“…That’s strange.”

Jonathan noticed the subtle change in his expression.

“Is something wrong?”

The mechanic remained silent for several seconds while carefully reviewing the latest diagnostic report.

Finally, he exhaled slowly.

“The results are excellent…”

“…too excellent.”

Jonathan frowned.

“What does that mean?”

The mechanic enlarged several performance graphs before projecting them between them.

“Look here.”

Jonathan followed his finger.

“During the running test and the hurdle sequence, Mr. Lackey successfully reacted to every movement command almost perfectly.”

“I can see that.”

“But despite completing them successfully…”

The mechanic zoomed into several highlighted warnings.

“…the simulator still marked those movements as failures.”

Jonathan looked confused.

“Why would it fail him if he completed the exercises?”

The mechanic’s expression grew unusually serious.

“…. Because the simulator wasn’t evaluating whether he could keep up.”

He paused briefly.

“I see… It was evaluating whether the mech-suit could.”

Jonathan’s eyes narrowed.

The mechanic continued.

“Every simulated actuator, hydraulic piston, servo motor, stabiliser, joint assembly, and structural bolt has an operational response limit. The simulator constantly predicts whether a real mech-suit could physically execute the pilot’s commands.”

He enlarged another section of the report.

“Mr. Lackey completed the movements successfully.”

“…but the projected mech-suit couldn’t.”

Jonathan stared silently at the screen.

“The simulator predicts that if he were wearing a standard military frame, the actuator motors would experience excessive strain, the joint servos would desynchronize, and several structural components would exceed their safe operating limits.”

“…In simple terms…”

The mechanic looked toward the monitor where Young Aether continued training inside the ruined virtual battlefield.

“…his body is moving faster than the machine designed to carry him.”

Silence filled the observation room.

The mechanic opened another report containing Young Aether’s neuromuscular measurements.

“A normal human requires approximately seven milliseconds for muscle activation after receiving a neural signal.”

He highlighted another value flashing bright crimson.

“According to this simulation, Mr. Lackey’s neuromuscular response is approaching one-tenth of a nanosecond.”

Jonathan immediately looked up.

“…That’s impossible.”

The mechanic nodded slowly.

“It should be.”

“No human nervous system can process information that quickly.”

He continued staring at the impossible figures displayed before him.

“Either the simulator is malfunctioning…”

“…or we’re looking at a biological phenomenon that has never existed in recorded history.”

Jonathan remained completely silent… and gulped with a worried expression, ‘Damn bastard… just do it like a human!’ he screamed inwardly.

After several long moments, the mechanic finally spoke again.

“…Forget what I said earlier.”

Jonathan turned toward him.

The old mechanic never looked away from the screen.

“If these numbers are even remotely accurate… then this boy’s potential doesn’t stop at Governor.”

“…He possesses the potential to surpass even the President Level.”

Those quiet words echoed through the observation room, leaving Jonathan standing in complete silence as he continued watching Young Aether’s every movement inside the simulation.

After the final test concluded, every monitoring system inside the simulator gradually powered down as the chamber returned to its pristine white appearance.

By the time all the diagnostic reports had been compiled and archived, the light had long disappeared beyond the horizon, and darkness had settled over the city.

Just as Maiuri had warned yesterday…

It had truly been an incredibly long day.

Young Aether changed out of the compression suit and back into his usual clothes before walking out of the changing room.

Although his muscles still ached from the endless examinations, his excitement far outweighed his exhaustion. Standing beside Jonathan, he quietly waited while Jonathan discussed the mech-suit with the grumpy mechanic, who had already organised every report into a single digital document floating above his holographic tablet.

The old mechanic reviewed the final specifications one last time before looking toward Jonathan.

“As you already know, the Tower normally covers the entire production cost of an officially commissioned mech-suit. However, this one isn’t being authorised through normal military channels. Since you’re requesting it as a personal commission, Commander, every expense will fall entirely on you.”

Jonathan gave a small nod.

“I expected as much.”

He folded his arms before asking the only question that mattered.

“So… how much?”

The mechanic lowered his eyes toward the itemised quotation hovering above his tablet.

“Ordinarily, the cost would already be substantial, 2000 or 5000 if best quality, but Mr. Lackey’s synchronisation data has created an entirely different problem.”

“…”

“A standard military frame simply won’t survive his reaction speed. The actuators would overheat, the servo motors would desynchronize, and the joint assemblies would suffer catastrophic stress after prolonged combat. If we build an ordinary mech-suit for him, he’ll destroy it before finishing his first serious battle.”

Jonathan’s expression gradually became more serious.

“So what do you need?”

“I’ll have to replace nearly every critical component.”

The mechanic began listing them while scrolling through the blueprint.

“High-response servo actuators… reinforced gravimetric pistons… military-grade neural processors… adaptive stabilisation joints… and an upgraded kinetic feedback core.

Unfortunately, the newest generation of those components has been classified for Governor-exclusive combat frames.

Military divisions aren’t permitted to purchase them. Not even in the black market! The last and remaining parts were seen in Alpha City. So yeah… we don’t have much to get here.”

He sighed quietly.

“The best I can realistically acquire is equipment equivalent to what Commanders currently use.”

His finger finally stopped beside the total cost displayed at the bottom of the quotation.

“The estimated production cost will be approximately 25,000 Aevum.”

“…”