Max hurried into his work clothes, another variant of the tight Pilot Suit that the Comor designers favor, and headed for the bay to begin today’s tests.
After climbing into the cockpit with a wave at the testing staff, Max found Sister Lilith waiting for him, with a smirk that promised that she intended to get every juicy detail of yesterday’s date night.
“I will be your assigned technician today. I have the most practical experience with Mecha repair, so it made the most sense. This design clearly isn’t going to work, it doesn’t even have a second seat with restraints, and the bed isn’t secure enough for the second seat during heavy combat.
The storage is good for two pilots, but not enough for tools if I’m going to actually accomplish anything. But there is a small maintenance room below us with reactor access. We could put the tools there. If we can get a small materials printer to make repairs on damaged parts that could work since the reactor room has access to most of the internal structure.
The biggest issue will be getting the parts removed and brought to it.” Lilith finished her speech and looked around for more flaws in the design.
“If we equip the tech with the new Exoskeleton they can take care of most of the repairs in place if we have some raw materials. It can weld, bend pushrods straight, plus print seals for the hydraulics and boards for the electronics. We will just need enough material for it to work with.
Clearly, we can’t really keep extra armor plates on board, unless we strap them to the outside somewhere, but with a supply of materials, you should be able to keep the Mecha running. I will introduce damages during this afternoon’s virtual testing and you can check the feasibility of access and repairs during service.” Max agreed, trying to think of a better solution.
With the shielding they shouldn’t need armor repairs too often, usually, weapon repairs are the priority for Super Heavy Mecha and the armor is an afterthought that is taken care of when there is time.
Lilith sent for a seat harness to be sent up right away, rectifying the oversight so she could strap herself in properly with the bed folded into the couch formation. It took minor modifications, but this cockpit design was going to be pulled in a few days anyhow to live-test the next version.
“This isn’t bad. It is secure, I can see the diagnostic Displays and reach the main circuit board in case of overload. Not a bad location for the technician.” Lilith noted it out loud, recording the observations on her tablet.
“A second bunk might be a good idea for long idle times. But it would interfere with the storage above you.” Max added.
“Yes, for a standard assignment pair, the second bunk would be essential, we will have to work on the storage. Though it might not be necessary for all units. The combination of yours and Moonie’s shampoo on the cushions is a nice combination. I wonder how they got so mingled?”
Max did his best to ignore Sister Lilith’s teasing. Let her guess all she wanted, he wasn’t giving away any secrets.
“If we scrap that entertainment station, we can put a load of extra storage next to the food preparation station. Maybe swap it out for a roll screen, so it is available when needed but doesn’t use up space? This design of the cockpit is more Naval Fleet Officer than cramped Mecha quarters anyhow.” Max suggested.
Lilith got to work designing while the team led Max through a series of movement and pose tests to check design interactions at extreme angles.
Digital design, which this team was originally in charge of, caught most things, but the chance of chafing or pinch points for lines and flexible parts still needed to be verified after assembly.
They had already found two Hydraulic lines that could possibly flip around and get caught on other parts, one under each arm, that the digital design didn’t predict.
“This Mecha has a much better range of motion than the old Phalanx did. It couldn’t aim straight up because of the design, but this one can even shoot backward over the shoulder, it is a very impressive structure.” Max commended the X137 as they finished the morning tests and Lilith sent off the proposed cockpit changes for the base computer to render into a virtual reality simulation to test after lunch.
The team all gave Max a knowing look when Moonie sat next to him at lunch, and finally, Sister Lilith couldn’t hold her curiosity in anymore.
“So, we all know you two had a great night, but have you made it official?” Lilith asked.
“What makes you think things went that far?” Moonie asked, clueless as to why everyone was teasing her so much today. None of them had seen her arrive with Max.
“You use a citrus body lotion and floral perfume. Max uses a coconut lotion and no cologne, plus he uses the standard scent officer’s shampoo, while yours is minty.” One of the other members pointed out.
Max was impressed, and a bit disturbed that he knew the scent of his coworker so well. The man must have caught the look Max was giving him because he hurried to make himself understood.
“Don’t get me wrong, we work at adjacent computers all day, I am not into something weird.” He defended himself.
“That really didn’t make it sound any less creepy. But he’s right, Moonie always smells good, but today she smells like you. Not that you smell bad, but you don’t smell like Moonie.” One of the female researchers, a tall brunette with short hair, agreed.
“I told you, Sandi, we played chess until very late and I slept over,” Moonie said shyly, and Max gave her a one-armed side hug.
“Enough picking on Moonie. Did we find everything today, or should we begin tomorrow with a repeat of the movement tests?” Max asked, changing the topic.
“We had to make a couple of changes. Let the night shift do the physical updates, and we will check them in the morning to make sure we didn’t introduce any new problems.” Sandi, the short-haired brunette told him.
“Well then let’s get a cockpit design for them to work on as well. Can’t let them slack because we couldn’t make a decision.” Lilith declared, getting up from the table and cleaning up her lunch tray.