Arc Epilogue 2 – Astraea-sensei’s Bricolage Lesson
–These events happened when Kou first practiced conducting bricolage–
『Kou is a complete amateur when it comes to designing. So, let us begin with the vehicles that were available on Earth in Kou’s era.』
「I got it. How about starting with cars?」
『Sure. Kou’s previous job was processing materials, correct? Let us start small.』
Kou operated the terminal in front of him.
It was operated using a mouse. It was the easiest control scheme to get the hang of. He can also zoom in and out using the mouse wheel.
「First is tires! Connect two of them with a drive shaft.」
Kou stopped there.
If he were designing a car model, he can make another set of tires and connect the two sets with a propeller shaft to complete the basic foundation.
If he places an engine on the front, then it will become a front-wheel drivetrain (FF).
After tinkering with the wheels for a while, Kou muttered.
「Let’s try enlarging the wheels. If they’re about 10 meters, they’d feel more like weapons.」
“Just how did you come to such a conclusion”, Astraea inwardly retorted. However, she held back from voicing her thoughts.
Humans learned by making mistakes after all.
It was good to have a rich imagination, but having one that’s too rich can also be a problem.
「How about putting a bomb on it……? Then it’ll be even more like a weapon.」
What eventually appeared in the tree was a self-propelled ground-use explosive. (Panjandrum)
「Such a weapon actually exists! I didn’t know! Amazing!」
『It would have been best if you had remained ignorant of its existence, but yes, it certainly did exist.』
Astraea’s voice sounded worn out.
『Try to conduct a simulation to see if it actually works.』
When he tried it out, Kou’s expression turned into a grimace.
The so-called self-propelled ground-use explosive merely wobbled around in unpredictable trajectories.
Astraea expected Kou to apply technology that was available in his era such as a gyro.
However, reality was often harsh, and her expectations were mercilessly crushed.
「Yosh, let’s try equipping it with a two-stage rocket booster. Let’s adjust the position so it would go straight for a time and move randomly once it reaches an enemy base. That’s it!」
Astraea really wanted to retort, but she used all her self-control to hold herself back.
She determined that she had to change her education policy for Kou.
First, he’ll have to learn the basics from various other Development Engineers. Until then, she decided to support him by showing him completed forms of machines for him to study and analyze.
Even so, she couldn’t show him things that surpassed his current knowledge, so it was still necessary to increase his know-how regarding various topics.
And so, the Wheel of Fortune was made.
It goes without saying that Astraea’s strict guidance awaited Kou.
–After Kou’s interaction with different A-Class Development Engineers–
Kou, who was in the middle of making things within the Astraea ship, suddenly asked AI Astraea a question.
「Hey, Astraea. How do other people perform bricolage?」
『The basics are mainly similar. They would select parts and put them together according to established rules. You aren’t architects after all. You are first and foremost bricoleurs.』
「There seem to be lots of limitations when making Silhouettes.」
『First of all, Silhouettes need to be structurally strong enough to be capable of moving even without Whis reinforcement. Next, internal weapons are prohibited. You also must not deviate from a humanoid form. As a general rule, sensors should be placed on the head.』
A Silhouette’s Fennel OS functions based on the assumption that it would mimic the movements of a human. Whis was ultimately just a structural reinforcement system. Thus, being able to move even without high-dimensional projection armor was a requirement when making Silhouettes.
The same factor applies to the sensors being placed on the head. A Silhouette could still move even with its head destroyed, but there would be some restrictions.
「I really wanted to equip them with internal weapons.」
『If it becomes common for humans to embed weapons into their limbs and take them out when needed, it would be possible for them to be put in Silhouettes as well.』
「Sorry, that was my bad.」
From a design point of view, adding internal weapons would just reduce the structural integrity of Silhouettes and would do more harm than good.
They’d end up adding to the weight, and internal weapons built into the limbs would most likely be unable to pierce through high-dimensional projection armor anyway.
Kou had never tried designing a Silhouette from scratch.
He only modified and tried to improve existing models.
『The biggest difference between the direction of weapons development on Earth and the Nemesis system is that we focus on Silhouettes as the basis here, and the Multi-Cockpit System is universally applied to ground vehicles, aircraft, and ships.』
「It’s like assembling machines centered around MCS. You make some useful suggestions whenever I design a weapon frame Astraea, but I wonder how it is for other Development Engineers.」
『Each Development Engineer can receive AI support in the control centers of Fortress Areas or Defense Domes. The extent of the support differs depending on the class of the Engineer.』
「How does that work, exactly?」
『For example, an Engineer would like to make a carrier-based fighter for use on aircraft carriers. Vertical take-off and landing, short take-off and landing, single engine or twin. The more concrete the image of the weapon, the narrower the parts selection we are able to propose.』
「Just like me right now huh?」
They were currently conducting bricolage in order to design patrol helicopters for the Silhouette Base.
Kou’s requests were for it to be lightly armed, equipped with electromagnetic armor, compact, and focused on stealth.
『The support AIs gradually narrow down the parts that were selected by A-Class Development Engineers or display the effects different parts would have on the design. For example, they would show if it would be possible to take off vertically by using a certain thrust vectoring nozzle.』
Astraea showed an example.
『The abilities of the selected parts are differentiated. More expensive ones generally have higher performance. Size, length, toughness, functions, and compatibility with other parts. A-Class Development Engineers are able to receive that level o technical support from the AI.』
「That’s very thorough.」
『If we use Kou’s favorite games as an analogy, it would be akin to being showed a recommended equipment set.』
「Thank you for the easy-to-understand analogy. But it doesn’t sound so futuristic if you put it like that.」
『I would be troubled if seek something like that from me.』
Astraea continued her lecture.
『The predicted results are simplified in the case of B-Class Development Engineers. Other than that, there is no difference in the recommended parts.』
「Oh. There doesn’t seem to be much of a difference between A-Class and B-Class Development Engineers huh?」
『There really isn’t much of a difference. In the case of the previous example, there is still the question of whether or not a recommended equipment set really is useable or not.』
「I see!」
『That’s how it is. Even if you conduct a simulation and succeed in meeting the performance you require, you still wouldn’t be completely sure if the current configuration really is the optimal one. Even if the performance requirements are satisfied, it’s only natural for new problems to appear during development. There are quite a few instances where weapons made by B-Class Developments Engineers that went through an extensive trial and error process are more useable compared to those made by A-Class Development Engineers.』
「So, that’s how it is.」
『This directly relates to sales. Transferee companies with high sales often move to better heavy industrial areas. Being an A-Class Development Engineer doesn’t directly translate to a wealthy company.』
「Umm, what about Skunk Technology and TAKABA……?」
『They are companies that focus on making cutting-edge machines. Next, let’s talk about C-Class Development Engineers.』
Astraea clearly refrained from answering.
「Please.」
『Regarding C-Class Engineers, let’s take that earlier carrier-based fighter as a reference. Only a list of available parts for the fighter will be displayed to them. Then, they would need to choose from that list on their own. Unless they did something that would undoubtedly cause an error like attaching a Silhouette arm to the plane, they wouldn’t be able to pinpoint the problems until they fully build a model and perform simulations.』
「Hold on. Isn’t the difference in the support level between B and C-Class a bit too much?」
『There definitely is a large difference. However, the available parts are the same from A to C. Therefore, C-Class Engineers generally establish companies that are subsidiaries of larger ones.』
「I see. If the range of parts available to them is the same as A-Class Engineers, they can just set their factories to manufacture specific parts instead.」
『Correct. D and E-Class Development Engineers are unable to do so. Some C-Class Engineers even propose drafts to B-Class Engineers and have the latter put together the prototypes for testing.』
「So the B-Class Engineers would be able to further refine them?」
『Or just try them out and see if they work. It’s basically just a matter of repeated trial and error. As long as one has the required knowledge, one will not be regarded as irrelevant. In that sense, Skunk Technology is an excellent company for learning the ropes of being a Development Engineer.』
Skunk Technology certainly did have a university-like atmosphere, Kou thought inwardly.
He remembered being tasked to write cost reviews all the time while he was there.
「Each Development Engineer also specializes in making certain types of machines, right?」
『Skunk Technology and Kurt Maschinenbau are the types to pursue performance while disregarding costs, and that reflects in the results obtained by their mass-production machines. They can be said to be spec supremacists. That’s why the prototypes made by these two companies generally have very high performance. Kou seems to also be spec-oriented…… No, this tendency of yours must be the influence of those two.』
「It feels like you just casually dissed us you know? Are the other Engineers different?」
『John Arms’ Jack and Wangcheng Industrial’s Yunlan are different. First, they tend to design prototypes that take cost balance into account. And in the process of refining them into mass-produced variants, they would select parts that have great cost performance ratios.』
John Arms’ Bear and Wangcheng Industrial’s combat vehicles do occupy a large share of the market. That’s because their products offer the most bang for the buck.
Machines with great performance don’t necessarily always sell well. Products with a good balance between performance and cost are the ones that sell the most. Fuyuki would probably say something along those lines, Kou mused.
「What about TAKABA and Misumaru?」
『TAKABA focuses on manufacturing close-combat Silhouettes and Misumaru Heavy Industries focuses on high-performance aircraft. Other than those, their machines tend to be well-balanced and priced reasonably on average.』
「Costs huh?」
『You don’t have to worry so much about it, Kou. With me and the underground arsenal, we can handle everything when it comes to Silhouettes.』
How reliable, Kou thought.
It was thanks to Astraea that Kou can focus on designing concepts that focus on performance.
「I’m quite blessed, aren’t I?」
『I and Asia are supporting you with our all after all. Please have more confidence.』
「I really think I’m blessed. Thank you, Astraea.」
『You’re very welcome. Hearing you say that makes me happy.』
Astraea’s image projected on the monitor smiled gently.
I really am blessed, Kou inwardly thought.
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