Chapter 5

Ajax extended his right hand and gently touched the chest armor of the machine, his eyes filled with desire. He was an ordinary person, no he was a peasant at the bottom of the food chain, but he still harbored a dream – to own a mecha and become a pilot.

Whether he could lead a good life was a different thing. At the very least, he aspired to live with dignity and avoid humiliation like the one he had faced today. The ear-piercing ridicule, the eddies falling on the ground, and Charles's foot stomping on him lingered in his heart.

To earn respect, he needed to become stronger and become a pilot, the prerequisite for which was to have a mecha. A brand new mecha was too expensive; even the cheapest one cost nearly 200,000 eddies, a sum that would take him ages to save, even if he lived frugally without eating or drinking.

Unable to afford a new mecha, Ajax decided to use all his savings to restore the one he had picked up. Success was the only option and failure would cost him relatively little. It's not like he had much money saved up.

With a vision for the future, Ajax began installing the mecha system, the main software responsible for activating the mecha, also known as its CI (central intelligence). While a more advanced CI system would make it easier for the pilot to control the mecha, Ajax wasn't privy to such a luxury.

The complex and delicate work took its time, and by the time Ajax finished, it was already ten o'clock at night. The maintenance shop had already closed and the other personnel had gone home hours ago. Kent, the owner, was probably drunk and asleep in his office.

Taking advantage of the CI system loading time, Ajax retrieved the small cake he had bought and enjoyed it as he sat on the ground leaning against the legs of his mecha. There were still about 2 hours left in the day – just right.

It didn't bother Ajax that there were no candles, no birthday song, no blessings, no presents, no one – just a sandy, incomplete cake with a crunching sound when chewed. He ate with gusto and even licked the butter and bread crumbs left on the box. He was so hungry and rightfully so, after all, he had only had breakfast.

After today, he would turn eighteen and be eligible to participate in the pilot examination.

If he managed to repair the mecha, he would be a pilot in the future. With many job options available, no one would dare look down on him, and he wouldn't have to worry about his next meal – at least that's what Ajax dreamt.

As if on cue, the mech's system completed loading with a "beep beep" sound as he took the last bite of the cake.

Ajax stood up quickly, wiped his mouth, licked his fingers, and stared at the mecha for a while. He found no problems before taking out the group of green energy blocks – a total of twelve.

These were advanced energy blocks, with ten times the energy of the white ones. Of course, they were also ten times as expensive. The dozen or so items cost nearly 400 eddies. Ajax considered using cheaper ones, but the white energy blocks didn't support the mecha's consumption at all, and it was doubtful if the mecha could even be activated with them.

After completing the energy filling, the next step was to enter the mecha to complete the activation. Ajax got in without hesitation.

The inside was a closed space with an independent environmental regulation system. When the mecha was activated, even in outer space, the pilot inside wouldn't feel the difference.

Ajax called up the control panel, which was followed by a mechanical voice: "Your pilot certificate has not been detected. Please pilot the mecha only after obtaining your pilot qualification."

Ajax ignored the prompt. He wasn't a pilot yet, so it was only natural that he couldn't be detected. He continued messing with the control board, intending to forcefully connect with the mecha as it was the only way to check the mecha's status.

A few seconds later, the inside of the mecha started flashing red and orange as another mechanical voice sounded: "WARNING! WARNING! WARNING! WARNING! Attempting to connect to the mech without a pilot's certificate may have unpredictable consequences. Are you sure you would like to connect directly to the mech with your neurons? CONFIRM/DENY?"

This wasn't just a senseless warning. Most people couldn't control mechas. Only one in every million could become a pilot, and to do so they had to undergo extensive training and assessment. Forcibly connecting could lead to nosebleeds, temporal blindness, and ear bleeds in mild cases. It could even cause brain damage in severe ones and even death in extreme cases, with many previous examples to back this.

"Confirm," Ajax said without hesitation.

Of course, Ajax just threw this warning aside since it wasn't the first time he had connected to a mecha. When he was fifteen, he successfully connected to a newly repaired mecha by himself and controlled it for a few minutes. In recent years, he had driven many mechas in the repair shop without any issues. He had come to regard the connection as routine and nonimportant.

"Connection being established... 1%..10%..30%..70%..100%... Connection complete!"

As the mechanical sound ceased, the surroundings suddenly became quiet.

Ajax felt a tingling pain in his brain, and his vision shifted from the mecha to the workshop, signifying that he had integrated with the mecha.

Ajax moved his arms and excitement surged through him as the mecha did so too – the mecha was still operational. He had successfully repaired it!

In this state, within the mecha, not only immune to most fatal injuries, but he also couldn't feel the most basic pain – it was like gaining an extra life.

Moreover, his mecha could carry various ordinances. An ordinary mecha could easily provide fire support for a human team. These were the reasons mechas frequently appeared on the battlefields of major galaxies, always dominating ground battles.

Excellent pilots were highly sought after by major planets and forces. Pilots and mechas complemented each other, with only top pilots being able to unleash the full performance of mechas.

"Start self-test mode."

Ajax managed to suppress his excitement and got down to business.

The self-inspection mode allowed the mech to perform a self-inspection, read the core data, and provide Ajax with detailed information about the model and functions of the mech.

However, as soon as he issued the order, a sharp pain struck his head, stemming from the connection nexus. He started to feel suffocated and couldn't recover. The pain worsened and he started bleeding from his nose and mouth. As the pain overwhelmed his senses, he passed out.

After an unknown amount of time, Ajax slowly opened his eyes. Scanning around, he realized he was still inside the mecha, but the connection had been severed.

Touching his aching head and swollen nose, Ajax noticed blood all over his mouth and chin. Judging from its dryness, he had been out for a while.

During his unconscious state, he had a long dream. In it, a man skillfully piloted the mecha while being pursued by many others. A battle unfolded when they reached a large garbage dump, resulting in severe damage to the mecha. Fortunately, the man managed to defeat all pursuers.

The man exited the mecha, took out a baby, and left with the child, leaving the dilapidated mecha behind. This was the last dream scene before Ajax regained consciousness.

The dream felt too real as if it had truly happened. Ajax couldn't forget it even after waking up, but he didn't understand its meaning.

More concerned about the mech than the dream, Ajax realized that the self-inspection had been completed. With the data at hand, he could always find out what went wrong.