.
The Munich Convention Centre (MCC) was hosting the Mecha, and Military Expo was within walking distance of the tournament. They were all part of Munich"s hub of entertainment infrastructure.
The expo was so large it took up trade hall one through to five. The twenty metre high ceilings easily housed a twelve-metre mech from Svarski which took pride of place at the entrance. It shone like a mecha from an Alvion VR story. It was predominately white with patches of blue and red. Like most modern mechs, it had no imitation human head. The pilot"s cabin was in the top of the torso which had the most armour and was the heart of the mech.
Below the pilot"s cabin would be the reactor. The pilot was basically sitting on top of a multi-megawatt cold fusion reactor. It was not unduly unsafe, no matter where you were if the reactor blew you were toast. It was more likely for the lithium plasma to kill a pilot than a cold fusion reactor. Even Daedo"s exos were full of lithium plasma. It was the most efficient energy storage material available as well as being instrumental in power delivery.
"Now that is a sight," Vannier announced while the squad stood and gazed in awe at the Svarski Mech. Svarski was always vying with Huawei and DaVinci for top honours not only in the Tier one Academy league but also for the number one corporation and private mech military in the world.
"The big boys are here," Barran said in admiration.
The squad gained free entry simply by showing their identification which showed they were Academy cadets.
"Perks of being rich. You don"t have to pay," Picard said cynically.
"Don"t be like that," Barran responded with a dramatic pose, "I can"t help it if I am rich and handsome, I was born this way." Unsurprisingly he received a scoff and a thump from Picard, which he was too slow to dodge.
It was mid-afternoon, on the Sat.u.r.day, and it was fortunate the expo was open until late, it would take them a day to see everything. And if they stopped for long periods at a particular stand, the time needed would quickly turn into days. The expo closed Sunday night at midnight.
One of the first standouts amongst the exhibits was the Marais Industry stand. The cadets didn"t recognise anyone, certainly Cillian as CTO would not be working at a trade show. As with most stands it had one of their premier products on display, with display bots showing anything else you wanted to look at. As the squad approached the main display changed to an exo carrier. Ten seaters with the capability of carrying soldiers in exo gear or storing the exos in easy access racks along each side.
"Do they have our rental data?" Axelzero asked.
"They must, the b.a.s.t.a.r.ds. This is a company that knows what it"s doing Daedo," Barran proclaimed.
Daedo asked the screen, "how much?"
A message appeared, "Academy cadet discount, 3,300 bitcreds."
"That"s cheap!" Barran exclaimed.
"We rent the hovervan which carries the bins and us for a bitcred a month," Axelzero said sternly.
"Yeah, but it doesn"t go offroad, have VTOL jumpjets, and is capable of absorbing an autocannon blast," Barran retorted.
"No thanks," Daedo said and when Barran looked upset. "Not yet."
"I bet I can get one free with Marais sponsorship," Barran flourished at the vehicle on the screen.
"Depends on what that sponsorship costs us," Vannier rebuffed Barran.
"Can"t hurt to ask," Daedo showed Barran support, nodding to the relatively tall blond haired cadet.
Barran smiled and nodded back, "Done, I"ll find out."
The cadets made it to the end of the first aisle, and a different type of stand drew their attention.
"Euro Professional Mech League, wow, they have a stand," Picard said.
The cadets approached, and a now familiar bot which was mostly a holo-display approached them, using public data it had on them and displaying a hologram aimed specifically for them. Based on what the organisation knew about them, its product offerings and some algorithm which predicted their needs.
Based on their expressions the bot would change the material. If they smiled, it would continue. If they took a step back or frowned, it would change tact. Vannier liked to smile and step back, or talk about how she liked the product and then run to the next stand. To mess with the bots.
"You too can be the hero by sponsoring your favourite Mech. Purchase ad s.p.a.ce or season tickets. All here for a low low expo show price" the bot did not show any gambling messages knowing their ages and year level.
"No thanks," more than one responded encouraging the bot to change tact.
"We want to compete," Barran declared.
The bot began to play hard to get, "only the elite in Mech construction and Piloting can compete. An average compet.i.tor invests seven thousand bitcreds and constructs the Mech in-house. The top compet.i.tors invest up to ten times this amount."
"Oh that"s nothing," Barran extolled. "How much can we win?"
"Top ten ranking Mechs earn an average of fifty thousand bitcreds in prize money per year," the bot replied showing images of mechbays, bitcred signs, charts and a celebrating mech mechanic.
"That"s not a lot considering the outlay and upkeep," Axelzero noted.
"I think they make creds in other ways," Barran said nodding knowingly.
"Like what?" Axelzero asked.
"Sponsors, supporters and most of all gambling," Barran replied.
The bot chimed in, "young cadet is correct. Mech owners make revenue from sponsors and supporters above prize money earnings." Again the bot was silent on gambling.
"What is the prize money for the Mech that wins the Munich tournament?" Daedo asked.
"Twenty-two thousand bitcreds," the bot replied showing an exert from the previous years final and winner.
"What can you put Old Dawg together for?" Barran asked.
"Old Dawg can"t win," Daedo replied, "his structure is obsolete."
Barran, Axelzero, Vannier and Picard were heartbroken. But it was Mace who reacted uncharacteristically.
"Surely there is something we can do!" Mace said emotionally. Her and Daedo had been dismantling Old Dawg all week. Pulling out old parts then redesigning and manufacturing a slightly better working part.
They had stripped Old Dawg down to his structural frame and cleaned it up removing all signs of corrosion, giving him an electrolytic bath and testing for any defects in the structure itself. There were none. Old Dawg"s frame was in perfect health.
"We could fight with Old Dawg," Daedo replied, "it would be an experience. But I can"t see him winning."
Vannier smiled slightly and poked Daedo, "You," she said loudly, "Are just a perfectionist. Don"t try and build the perfect Mech on your first attempt."
Daedo frowned. That"s how he rolled. It"s how he approached CyberMech and the Academy.
Barran grabbed the contact info for entering the league but before the squad moved on two men who were standing nearby started to address them.
They both had beards, wore matching dyneema overalls and were rough around the edges. They looked at least thirty if not forty years old.
"Listen, cadets," the red-haired one said, "Don"t be wasting your creds entering the league."
The black haired one added, "Every time yer like does, they lose all their notso hard earned and drop out without winning a match. It may be a show, but it isn"t a game like yer used to."
"Thanks for the advice," Vannier stepping into her role as the cadet who spoke to strangers before Barran could get them into trouble or Daedo was put out of his comfort zone.
"But we aint your average cadets," Barran added. To which he received four headshakes and a message.
*Vannier: zippit. and why are you talking like them?*
Barran"s normal speech pattern had altered especially the way he p.r.o.nounced ain"t.
"Oh ain"t ya?" Red hair asked. "I bet ya are the best of the best. Trace, who was that inter-academy league chic which got her a.s.s handed to her?"
Trace, who had black hair, "It was Werner, from Mercedes, I think she was in her last year. She was on their league team too. An" still lost every match."
"Wasn"t good for "er confidence. That"s why I am tryin to help ya kids," Red hair said. "Lose yer creds and yer confidence." He shook his head slowly. "But if yer do head to the next round at Monaco don"t say that Smack Ninja didn"t warn ya."
"Smack Ninja!" they exclaimed.
"Oh yeah, ya know us?" Trace asked.
The cadets all nodded. As Trace and Red hair waved goodbye wandering off in the opposite direction.
"At first I thought they were arrogant," Vannier mentioned, "Now I think they genuinely were trying to give us advice."
"Never judge a book by its cover," Mace stated a very old saying. In 2142 a cover was the digital image, holographic or otherwise, which represented a book in the net library.
The cadets wandered past another stand called Outfitters. It was set up to sell mechs or mech parts to wannabe professional mech pilots. Their top of the range was built to order and started at one hundred thousand bitcreds.
"Daedo, Daedo, Daedo," Barran called a few minutes after pa.s.sing Outfitters. "I have an idea. And it"s brilliant!"
"Err, can we be the judge of that?" Picard asked.
"Spill it," Vannier asked.
Barran looked solemn at their lack of confidence. Daedo smiled and asked, "come on I want to hear your idea."
"Ok, ok," Barran started excitedly, "it"s like this. You build up Old Dawg using all your tricks and smarts. Like you say, he is an old model, and you think it"s better to start from scratch. But we have him, so, what we do is enter him when we are ready, win and then sell him after the compet.i.tion! For as much as some smuck will pay for a proven winner."
Daedo looked thoughtful and walked along further before responding, "That"s not a bad idea except for two problems."
"What?" Barran asked concerned.
"One, we wouldn"t win. And two, look at Mace, Vannier or Axelzero"s face and say sell Old Dawg," Daedo finished.
Barran turned to look at the girls who returned the look with dagger stares. Daggers that puncture your lungs, your heart and slice your throat kind of stares.
Barran very seriously stated, "It"s my job to make creds." And walked off in a huff.
Daedo mentioned, "He has a point." Before the stares were turned in his direction. Old Dawg had found a place in the squad"s heart, and they would have to keep him on as a mascot based on the current vibe.
It was late when the squad arrived at the centre of the expo, the central stand was obvious from all directions, it was ten times the size of any other stand and towered above them all as well. It was the Svarski stand which were the major sponsors of the expo.
Svarski sold everything from tech shoes to s.p.a.ceships. In the centre of their stand was a yacht, it was sleek, it was s.e.xy, and it was made to fly in outer s.p.a.ce. Daedo had never seen anything like it in his life. Not in person.
There was a section dedicated to Svarski"s presence on the spiral, but the cadets were drawn to the yacht. They were able to take a tour inside the yacht, they had to pay, but it was worth the few creds it cost for the group.
"Omg omg omg," was all Barran could say. He didn"t even know what the letters stood for, it was what one said when they were super excited or in awe.
The yacht was built for four people, and it was apparently the smallest in a luxury model series which Svarski made. Although it only catered for four, it could house twenty robots in addition to its internal crew of bots for ship functions. It had a state of the art navigator and pilot AI, which was copied from an AI with fifteen years s.p.a.ce experience.
"Why so many robots?" Vannier asked Daedo as they snooped in every compartment that would open.
"Depends on where you are going. The thing about robots is they don"t need to breathe, and other than the lack of gravity s.p.a.ce doesn"t worry them." He replied.
"What about the cold?" Vannier asked.
"I guess they would have to have robots that didn"t rely on lithium plasma ES or a cold fusion reactor. Probably a micro-fission thermal generator, or something which generated heat as well as power," Daedo replied.
"Hmm, but s.p.a.ce for twenty bots and just four people," Vannier contemplated.
"Robots could build a habitat while…..," Daedo suddenly paused mid-sentence, "s.h.i.t."
"What?" Vannier asked.
Daedo looked around. "Let"s talk about it later. I will fill you in."