Simulation: Part 5

*AN: Sorry about not uploading on Thursday, had some personal things going on. That being said, enjoy this chapter 👍*

Word Count: 3777 Words 🤖

*Third Person POV* 

After resting for a bit, Aspen and Ghost helped patch each other up using the med kit Aspen had found days earlier. After doing so, Aspen ordered BT to run a diagnostic and do a damage report. 

"Affirmative, Pilot. Running diagnostics now... Diagnostics ran. Damage report: 

Integrity: 28%  

Shields: System damage detected, shields offline  

Heavily damaged left leg; Moderately damaged right leg; Right knee joint damaged; Damaged Reactor: Stable; Damaged Optics and scanners; Multiple systems malfunctioning and offline; Semi functional left arm; Right arm moderately damaged; Right shoulder mount damaged; Cockpit armor replacement required; Low ammunition; Energy Blade: Not installed 

End of damage report." 

*Whistle* 

Ghost whistled as he heard BT call out all of the damage it currently had. "So, what's the story?" 

Aspen sighed as he clasped his hands together and looked down. "Well, I ambushed a patrol of 8 Knight classes and 4 Parallax Strikers. I took out the 3 Strikers and 5 Knights. Shot the arm off the last Striker as it retreated with the remaining 3 Knights. I then left the area but it appears a Guardian was tracking me." 

At the mention of a Parallax Guardian, Ghost raised his eyebrows. "Don't tell me you..." 

"Yup," Aspen nodded me. "It ambushed me, but I was able to dodge and make his shots ricochet from my armor. I changed up tactics from running to pushing towards him, which probably caught him a bit off guard. Got up close, we went at it with our energy blades, he crippled my left arm, we fought some more, yadi yada, I managed to get the upper hand, ripped his right arm off and finished him off with it." 

Ghost's mouth was slightly agape. "You ripped off a Tier 2 Parallax Guardian's arm with a tier 1 Parallax Striker?" 

"Well, yeah. I mean, the only differences are the systems and technology, maybe the slight shift in height, but after that they're pretty much... the.... same.... oh fuck." Aspen trailed off as he started thinking. His mind running on overtime as he turned towards the organized parts for Parallax Guardian Mechs in the room, realizing that higher tier mechs were made with stronger materials, better wiring, stronger joints. It wasn't all just electronic, and he had somehow forgotten about it. 

Sure they were the exact same design, but they weren't the exact same mechs. The reason why the Guardian could move faster than a Striker wasn't just because it had better systems, though it did play a role in it, it was because their upgraded materials allowed them to be pushed harder than their lower tier counterpart. 

As realization filled Aspen's eyes that he had just done something that would be considered impossible, Ghost nodded. "Yeah, but don't get too full of yourself, it was probably only due to the fact that this is a simulation." 

The shock left Aspen's eyes as he looked over to Ghost, "Yeah, but maybe sync rate also played a role in it. Since the higher the Sync rate the more things you can pull off." He then turned to BT as he asked, "Hey BT, what was our sync rate at the moment of that fight?" 

"Pilot, at the moment of that fight our Sync rate had reached 163%. It is currently at 193%." BT responded through its external speakers. 

Ghost stood right up as he heard this. "Holy fuck! How do you have such an impossible sync rate. My sync rate is already impossible as I currently have 105% of the 108% you said I could reach with this Neural Link. Just what the fuck do you have in your body?" 

Aspen chuckled as he scratched his neck in contemplation on whether or not he should share this information with him. "Fuck it, I trust you anyways. My neural link is something that was rewarded to me by Gpd. It is called the Godlink. It allows up to 200% sync rate and gives its user a chance at reaching the Abyssal Pilot level. A level that's not within this universe's ranking system as it hasn't been reached by anyone. It would be what comes next after the Omega Pilot level. Don't be surprised by this yet, there are still many things I've yet to unlock, receive or buy." 

Ghost simply nodded with an absent minded look in his eyes. "When we exit this simulation, I want you to lend me that book you showed me." 

Aspen smiled at Ghost, "Yeah sure, just gotta wait a few weeks until its done. We're on what, our 2nd week?" Aspen said as he stood up and walked to his Mech with his helmet in hand. "I'm going to get some rest, get to fixing BT up tomorrow when there's sunlight. Don't want to attract any unwanted attention in the night." 

Ghost watched Aspen climb into his mech before picking up his helped from the floor and limp to his mech and climb into it. 

--- 

The first break of light came and bounced through the blue glass of the cockpit. It was accompanied by a knock on it from BT. Inside, Aspen slowly stirred awake, stretching his arms and legs as much as he could. 

"Morning BT," Aspen said as he rubbed his eyes. 

"Good morning, Pilot, it is 6:03 am. The sun has risen, and it is time for you to, and I quote, 'make me better than I ever was.'" 

Aspen chuckled in the cockpit as he opened the hatch and climbed out. Once he was on the ground, he stretched once again, moving with his helmet in hand to the Parallax Guardian section and sorting through parts. In the middle of doing so, he heard footsteps behind him and said, "Morning." 

Ghost, who was still a little weary and hurting from yesterday's fight responded while yawning. "Morning to you too. I got tons of extra food in my storage, have this MRE," he handed Aspen an MRE which Aspen promptly opened and started eating. 

"So, what are you planning to do? These are Guardian parts," Ghost pointed to all of the parts neatly arranged in the room while chewing his food, "they're all Guardian parts, tier 2, not meant for tier one mechs or for the Striker in general." 

"I'm trying to figure some things out. I'm thinking of possibly doing an overhaul on BT's design. Change the cockpit and how you board it, make changes to the frame, possibly make a whole new mech and just transfer BT over to it. Something that can take a hit and keep pushing like it was nothing," Aspen said as he used a tablet that was about 11x17 inches to start drawing up something new. 

"What are you thinking of making? A Rakshasa class mech variant?" Ghost asked as he looked over Aspens shoulder at the tablet to see what he was drawing up. 

Aspen didn't respond and just kept on working, taking glances at the parts and making mental calculations, adjusting things here and there in the design. 

Ghost moved away from Aspen and started walking towards his mech. "Alright, keep your secrets, I'll go for a walk, stretch my legs, scout the area, make sure no one is closing in on us, maybe take care of them if they are." 

"You do that, I'll have something done by the time you get back here. At the very least design-wise." Aspen responded without looking up from the tablet and continuing to work as Ghost mounted his mech and left the warehouse. 

As Aspen worked, his memories of mechs from Earth kept on popping into his mind. But out of all of them, the one that really stuck the most was the one mech he had been obsessed with. Gundam Frame Barbatos Lupus Rex. 

Of course, it wasn't like he could outright make Lupus Rex with the available materials, tools, and time. But he could make a half-assed attempt at something similar to it, yet vastly different at the same time. Lupus Rex stood proudly at 19 meters tall while the tallest mech in this universe was 13 meters tall. 

If he wanted to make Lupus Rex, even in a simulation, he would have to fabricate every single part from scratch, and even then, what were the odds that it would be anything like the actual Lupus Rex. But that didn't mean that he wouldn't try. 

Over the course of the next 6 hours, while Ghost was patrolling, Aspen managed to design a miniaturized version of Lupus Rex, It would stand at the same height as the Parallax Guardian of 8.5 meters and would only have one reactor. Its weapons would be fitted on the exterior, and its cockpit would differ slightly from Lupus Rex's. 

"I don't know if I made an abomination or if I've created a masterpiece," Aspen said as he looked over his design. The cockpit appeared the exact same as Lupus Rex's cockpit, but it would function like that of a Titan cockpit from Titanfall 2, to allow for easier and faster mount and dismount by the pilot. 

The head also did not resemble the head of Lupus Rex, maintaining the low profile head of the Parallax, but making it double to give it a wider field of view and making it so that if one of the optics was damaged, the Pilot could still see outside. The shoulders bore the resemblance of Lupus Rex, being rounded, a better way to armor it making it more likely for shots to ricochet. 

The legs were just like Lupus Rex, except for the fact that the feet bore a slight difference. Instead of the 2 claws in front and one hoof in the back shape that Lupus Rex had, Aspen had split the back hoof and put them at a 33-degree angle left and right from the claws, giving the mech more stability and allowing it to reach higher running speeds. 

"Eh, I'll do better if I make this in the real world. I just had to take account of the parts available to make this," Aspen murmured to himself as he finished inspecting his sketches. "Time to go from drawing to reality." 

Aspen stood up and started going over the parts in the warehouse. He started picking out what he needed and used a cart to move them around. It took about 2 more hours to move everything to a place with enough space to start assembling, and by the time he was done, Aspen was almost out of it. Tired and hungry. Ghost had returned about 2 minutes before Aspen finished moving everything and it was now 2 PM. 

"So, what are you making?" Asked Ghost as he dismounted his mech and tossed Aspen an MRE. Aspen didn't have the energy to catch it and just let it smack into his body and drop to the ground before he slowly bent over to pick it up. 

"Check the tablet on that table," Aspen responded as he opened the MRE and dug in. 

Ghost analyzed the sketches Aspen had made, all the details in it and all the changes he would have to make to existing parts. "You know, you won't be able to pilot this unless you are a Delta Level pilot. The parts, the weight, the mech itself, its just too much of a load for your brain to bear when you pair with it. If this wasn't a simulation and you tried pairing with something like this in real life, you'd cook your brain." 

Aspen looked up tiredly from his meal, his mouth half full as he asked "Aren't piloting levels just awarded to you based on how many hours you have piloting a mech?" 

Ghost couldn't help but facepalm at this. "If it was solely because of the piloting experience, just about anyone could pilot a mech. Sometimes I wonder if your a genius or a straight idiot with the shit you do and ask. Piloting levels are a simple concept to explain: The longer you have piloting a mech, or in a simulation where you are piloting a mech, then the more your Neural pathways are developed. Piloting levels tend to signify not just how capable of a pilot someone is, but also how much their brain has developed to bear a load from connecting to such a machine and being able to control it." 

Aspen nodded in understanding, "So then, what about pilots? Can every single one of them reach a certain level, even if their potential caps below that." 

Ghost shrugged at the question. "Theoretically, I guess they can push themselves just over and reach a higher pilot level than their potential, since potentials are only an estimate. Though I have yet to hear of any human breaking past their pilot level potential." 

Aspen nodded as he finished his MRE. "Interesting." 

After about an hour of rest, Aspen felt rejuvenated again and grabbed his tools along with some others that he had found while scavenging the previous day. After getting his tools, Aspen went to work changing the shapes of certain parts to fit that of his design. Over the course of the next 5 hours, Aspen worked tirelessly, managing to only assemble the legs and arms of the miniature Lupus Rex before the sun came down. 

He grabbed some wipes and went to a corner to "bathe" himself, or at least keep himself from stinking like crazy. Being a pilot in a war zone came with the nasty perks of having to endure extended periods of times without a proper shower. 

He then climbed into BT and went to sleep, the fatigue accumulated from the day of work taking over him. 

--- 

Just like clockwork, the next morning came just like the previous, however, it was a rainy day this day. BT woke Aspen up as the sound of rain filled the atmosphere. Aspen Climbed out of BT, who maintained his power output at the lowest at all times, and walked over to the parts with his own MRE in hand. He quickly ate it as he glanced over at Ghost's mech, which was also in a low power output mode. 

Once he was done eating, he went straight into assembling the cockpit, chest, abdominal and head area of the miniature Lupus Rex. Aspen worked tirelessly until about noon, when he had finished assembling all the parts. Now he just needed help moving everything to connect it all together. 

When he had fixed up BT previously, it had been easy to do so since he was just taking things out and putting things in on an already built mech. But this time around, he was assembling everything from scratch, No section after section work that would allow for easy connecting of parts together. 

So he walked over to Ghost's mech and stood in front of it. Seeing no response from it yet, he grabbed a rock and threw it against the cockpit's glass. The action was enough for the mech to turn on and wake Ghost up. After awaking, Ghost turned his exterior speakers on and asked in a groggy voice "what is it?" 

Aspen smiled and raised an eyebrow as he asked "did you keep watch last night while I slept or something? Why are you still knocked out at noon? Ah it doesn't matter. Listen, I need you help with assembling the mech together. As you can see, I have nothing but you to help move thins around, and I don't think BT is in the condition to be of much help." 

Ghost sighed inside his cockpit as he replied, "sure..." With that, Ghost piloted his mech over to all the assembled limbs and parts. In a bemused voice he questioned, "You already did all of this that quick? Man, if only factories worked as fast as you." 

This caused Aspen to raise an eyebrow as he asked, "What? Do mechs usually take ages to be assembled?" 

"Yeah, safety test and all that shit," Ghost replied. 

"Oh yeah, all the non-important things that you definitely don't need if you want a mech that functions correctly..." Aspen replied in a sarcastic tone. 

"Exactly," replied Ghost. "Alright, so what do you want me to do?" 

Aspen instructed Ghost on what to do, putting his mech's rifle aside and bending down to move parts where Aspen wanted them. After he would do so, Aspen would go and tighten them together, connecting wires from limb to the cockpit in the process. They repeated this with every single limb until the mech was assembled. It lay on the ground motionless as it was only missing one thing to activate and control all of its systems... an AI. 

Aspen walked over to BT who was in its low-power mode and climbed into the cockpit and fully powered down the mech, turning its reactor completely off. He then disassembled parts of the interior and disconnected BT's powering unit and the unit that contained its AI self. He climbed out of the cockpit with it and his helmet in hand and made way to his new mech. 

He went to the right side of its cockpit and lifted one of the armor panels and placed his bare right hand against it. This caused the cockpit to split into 2 and part of it go down along with a row of controls and leave the seat open for easy access. Aspen carefully climbed into the seat before pressing on a few buttons on the bottom of his seat which caused the cockpit to close again. 

Aspen then used a flashlight to see under the row of controls and connect BT's AI unit and power to the mech. "Here goes nothing," he murmured as he then pressed a series of buttons on the bottom of the row of controls. A few quiet seconds went by before the low whir of the reactor coming online could be heard. About a minute went by with the reactor on before the lights in the cockpit turned on. 

Another minute went by and the HUD turned on. Aspen then pressed a button on the left side of the bottom of his chair which caused a holographic keyboard to appear above the row of controls. When this happened, Aspen started typing. He spent 2 hours typing in code into the code, optimizing the mech's use of energy and its distribution. The mech was now online, but only in an idle way as he had yet to activate BT. So he activated BT which took 2 minutes of waiting for its code to align and connect with the custom code Aspen had put into the mech. 

Once that was over, BT's voice filled the cockpit 

"Analyzing Data.... Data Analyzed. Synchronizing with mech systems..... Synchronized. Mech information does not appear on Database. Mech believed to be a new prototype. For further analysis, pilot connection required." 

"BT, can you run a diagnostic and give me a report?" Aspen asked as he stretched. 

"Affirmative. Running Diagnostic....All systems operational.  

Mech condition: Optimal 

Mech Integrity: 100%" 

"Well, that's good to hear. BT, are you able to control the mech and stand it up?" Aspen asked. 

"Negative. Pilot connection required for further actions such as movement and operation of the mech." 

Aspen sighed. "Alright, lets connect." He said as he grabbed the thick wire and plugged it into the incision in his back. 

"Pilot level detected to be at Epsilon Mid-tier. Pilot level recommended for connection: Delta." 

Aspen sighed as he heard this and unplugged the wire from his back. "Alright BT, open the cockpit." As soon as he finished talking, the cockpit split open and Aspen climbed out. Ghost was standing outside his mech now, enjoying his breakfast MRE in the afternoon. 

"So, what's up?" Ghost asked Aspen as he saw him get out of the mech. 

Aspen didn't say anything until he sat down next to Ghost. "It's requiring a Delta level pilot to activate it." 

"Told you so." Was the only thing that came from Ghost's mouth. 

"Yeah, yeah. I'm just going to bypass its safety systems. I only came out to rest a bit before going through with it." Aspen replied. 

Ghost shook his head at Aspen's voice before saying, "If you want to end your simulation early, then go for it." 

For the next hour, Aspen rested. Once he had rested enough, he asked ghost with keeping a lookout. He then climbed into his mech's cockpit and quickly started rewriting a part of BT's code that prevented lower than recommended level pilots from connecting with a mech. It was there to protect the pilots, but this was all a simulation, so safety wasn't much of a concern for Aspen right now. 

Once he was done, he connected the wire to his back again. "Alright BT, commence pilot connection." 

"Pilot connection initiated." 

As soon as BT finished speaking, a sharp pain shot through Aspen's body and he tried to scream, but no sound would come from his mouth. His vision blurred and he saw lines of code streak through it. The world in front of him shattered like glass, piece by piece as his body convulsed. Blood started dripping from his nose, out his eyes and out his ears. 

Outside the mech's cockpit, an electrical field engulfed the mech as Ghost ran to his mech and boarded it. "This stupid motherfucker. Sparrow, search for life signs in that mech, now!" 

"Analyzing life signs.... unable to analyze. The Electric field is preventing my scans from working." 

Ghost leaned back in his chair as a smile formed and a mutter escaped his lips, "Fucking idiot." 

As he closed his eyes, alarms started blaring inside his cockpit as red and orange lights started flashing. 

"Pilot, it is imminent that we leave the area. Although my scans cannot pick anything up, energy levels are getting dangerous to even be around." 

"Alright Sparrow," said Ghost, "get us out of here." 

As Ghost about a kilometer away from the factory, a light blue haze went past him and knocked him forward. He turned around only to see the factory crumbling down, as if a sinkhole was pulling it in. 

Ghost shook his head as he turned around and continued walking South away from the factory. "I have no idea what the fuck happened, and although that's not what should happen when someone of a lower level connects to a mech with higher pilot level requirements, I did warn him." 

Ghost continued moving South, away from the area before the energy readings brought in the unwanted attention of two warring parties.