The Greatest Mecha-Chapter 45: Blueprint Of A Bond

Professor Alberta looked directly at Alto with such piercing intensity that it caused him to fidget slightly. She gritted her teeth as she spoke. "Do you know what you did, you!" She walked to him and grabbed him by the collar of his uniform, pulling him closer to herself. "I will only ask you this once, why?"

Alto had never seen the professor angry before; he had always expected her to remain carefree as always. Knowing he had no way out of his current situation, he opened his mouth to defend himself. "That man made fun of you. He said you were just a big shot playing it safe, a loser who’s lost her spark. I was trailing behind them on the way here when I overheard it all."

Hearing this, Charles Vans became a bit more calm and understanding. But Professor Alberta did not share in his enthusiasm as she pulled Alto closer to her and said, "Bullshit! Why would you get angry for that dumb reason? People can say whatever they want. Or did you think I would butter up to you because of this?"

Looking into her eyes, she could see he was still pained. She took a few steps back and let go of his uniform. Alto looked up at her face and spoke, his voice slow and strong. "I’m used to people saying trash about me. People see me and use me as a stepping stone. I don’t care, but I can’t stand it when someone talks bad about my friends and pretends they actually care about them." Alto looked away from her as it pained him to speak a little. He leaned on one of the workbenches, which still had some pieces of scrap metal on it. "I’m sorry if I hurt your honour or anything, but I’m sorry I acted out of line."

There was a long, awkward silence in the room as they were all unsure of how to take this piece of information. The first to react was the professor, who laughed heartily as she threw her arms over Alto’s shoulder and pulled him closer to her. "Honour? Who the heck cares about that kind of shit? If you keep this dumb personality of yours, you know you’ll probably end up dead!"

Alto was not amused by her actions, and she could see that. So the professor addressed this in her own way—she shook him roughly as she pulled him even tighter to her and dragged him deeper into the workshop to where she usually sat. Eleven and Charles Vans watched them leave their vicinity.

"Why does she adore him so much? All he does is break things," Charles Vans said with spite in his voice.

Eleven scared him off by saying a few words of his own. "Do you really want me to answer that?"

Alto was struggling against the professor, but her strength far surpassed his. He could feel her bosom suffocating him. "Can you please let me go? This is embarrassing."

Hearing his pleas, the professor did not let him go. She laughed instead and spoke with a light smile on her face, "How is this embarrassing for you? I thought you said we were friends. I thought you were super into me."

Alto’s face reddened as he realized what this was about. "Are you pissed about this friend thing?"

"And here I was thinking you were a dumbass. Why would you call me your friend when I’m in charge of you?" she said with a more serious tone, but Alto hesitated slightly. "If you don’t talk, I’ll shove you in my armpit, and I will say it is not a paradise down there."

Alto soon began laughing. He knew she was always wild and unpredictable, but he never knew her to be this silly. She might have been his teacher, but she sure did act like his friend. The more he tried to get out his words, the more he ended up laughing.

Alberta was taken aback by young Alto’s laugh. She found it sweet—and if not innocent, it was childish. She could hardly remember when she had heard anyone laugh within the mech division. Everyone always carried an air of gloom with them. From the day Alto stepped into the division, he was also greeted by that gloom, but he changed afterwards. He would always greet them with his warming presence every day, and now his sunshine seemed to radiate even more.

She loosened her grip on him and spoke. "You don’t want me to repeat my question now, do you?"

"No, ma’am," he said, squeezing the tears of joy from his eyes.

"Remember, I’m not a ma’am," she pitched in just before letting him go.

"Right," Alto said with a nod. His mood felt lighter with her than with anyone he had met recently. "When I came here left without any option, you chose to take me in. For the past three years, I’ve been a burden to you, but you still taught me even when you were tired and sleep-deprived. You kept me around. I know you might not see me as a friend, but that’s how I see you."

Alberta slipped into her silver hover chair and crossed one leg over the other. She looked at him intently and spoke after a while. "Listen, measle, I took you in because you asked to, and I’ve yet to see your potential. Also, get your priorities straight. In this world, friendship is a rather rare thing, so you’d better choose who to trust in."

"But I trust you," Alto looked at her.

Alberta groaned internally before saying, "General Duncan will kill you. You only have two days to prepare. I couldn’t stall for any longer. If you need help, I can lend a hand."

Alto chuckled nervously. "I’m sorry, I can’t allow that, ma’am. I heard you were a silver seat or something like that. Involving you will not do well with your reputation. Besides, it’s my problem."

Alberta tapped her finger on her chair for a few seconds before she spoke again. "The world we live in is governed by the hierarchy of power. If you survive this duel, do well to remember: if you want to challenge someone in power, you better have some power of your own."

Alto smiled and gave her a nod. He looked at her with wide eyes and asked, "Can I borrow some books?"

Alberta was surprised by how quickly he had changed the focus of their conversation to being mech-related. "And what books would that be?"

Alto replied, "Circuitry, AI interface, coding, sensor systems. Most preferably at the beginner level."

Alberta raised a questioning eyebrow and looked at him more intently. "That’s a lot of books, measle. But does that design even have any of this in it?"

Alto chuckled nervously as he scratched the back of his head. "Actually, I finished reassembling the Fenwick-720. I’m thinking to do some light reading and enhance my knowledge base."

Alberta nodded in understanding. "That’s great. A bit of light reading every now and then is good for you. Those books might be a bit much, so it’s best you take it easy and not all at once."

Alto bowed his head slightly, "Thank you, ma’am, and I won’t disappoint you."

"Again, not a ma’am." Then something hit her about what he had said earlier. "Wait a minute, did you say you mastered the design?"

Alto almost jumped back. He waved his hand frantically and said, "I never said I mastered it, but I think I understand it a bit now."

Not wanting to believe, she asked him to bring up the mech design of the Fenwick-720. She disassembled it multiple times and had him reassemble it. And every time, he shocked her as he reassembled the mech design—not by his speed, which was not very fast, but by his method. He put the parts together strategically and with purpose. To Alto, he had simply just completed the task given to him a bit too late. But to the professor, who had no hope in him finishing within a week, she was shocked.

"So did I pass?" Alto asked optimistically.

Alberta looked at him long and hard before saying, "In flying colours. But why do you want to learn from these books? I can’t say that this design inspired you to become an avid learner."

Alto laughed nervously as he shook one of his feet to dispel the sleep spell from it. "Actually, it did. After I sold my first mech, I realized I was lacking in certain fields, so I thought to work on my flaws before I give it another shot."

Alberta’s eyes almost popped from their sockets. "Do you mean to say you sold an actual virtual mech in the game, within the first week I gave you the account? What sort of dumb luck is that?"

Alto did not know if he was supposed to be proud of himself or to feel ashamed. "I don’t think it was anything special, anyway." He had mistaken the missions given to him by the mech designer protocol to be of the same standards as what a normal mech designer would do.

Alberta jumped from her seat and squeezed both his shoulders tight. "Did you use the virtual fabrication system?"

Alto nodded, "It was hell to make it work. I lost a lot of resources too."

Alberta looked at this bright young man who answered questions about things that should clearly be months above his level as an ignorant, blissful child. "How did you afford those raw materials?" She knew how much resources cost in the game.

Alto thought of how to respond to that question and soon came up with a response he felt was just about right. "I can’t say how exactly, but let’s say I got a sponsor."

"You got a sponsor? In a video game? Willing to pay for your design?" Alberta could not even believe she was saying such words so idly. How could such a thing be possible? He managed to master the design she had sent to him, improve upon it and remove its previous flaws, weaponize it—even if poorly—fabricate a semi-functioning armour, market it and sell it all within the span of a week. As a scientist, she did not believe in luck, but she believed in geniuses—and this level of genius was nothing like she was back in her day.

Alberta almost collapsed to the ground, but she held on to Alto for support. "Are you alright, ma’am?"

She started to walk away groggily to the vending machine. "I need something to drink. What the fuck. In a week. Now I have to make sure you don’t get killed by the general."

When she came back, she had a mini can of alcohol in hand. Alto sat down awkwardly and watched her after many failed attempts to stop her. Even Charles Vans came over to do the same, but she shooed him off. Unknown to them, due to having a much stronger genetic composition than others, she could synthesize huge deposits of alcohol and not get drunk. freēnovelkiss.com

"Measle, how did you do it, really?" Her eyes told him she wanted the truth.

It was in that moment that it came to his realisation: "She doesn’t know that I have the mech designer protocol." He thought to himself.

He was pleased that he had known this before divulging the secret to her. As much as he trusted her, it was not to the extent that he would reveal his trump card—especially not now that he was just getting on track with his life.

"I don’t really know. When I saw the mech design, I guess it just came to me." He prayed she would fall for it, but he knew she was much too smart to.

Alberta smiled instead, to his surprise. she had not expected him to be a practical learner. Instead of questioning him further she decided to hand him the books he wanted and sent him off to his room to do whatever he wanted to. She had no reason to hold his hand or monitor him, she would wait to see what he would achieve on his own within another week that is if he survives his fight against the general’s man.

Even after he had left she still could not shake the fact away that Alto could just end up being a genius, the likes of which the world has never seen.