Time was slowly ticking down. Ves was acutely aware of how much time had passed and how many more minutes he had left. As much as he was interested in continuing to talk about the new and rapidly escalating voribug threat, Ves did not forget about his original goals. "Can we please get back to the original topic?" Ves asked as he gestured to the projection of the draft design of a Polymetal mech. "As we have established before, my personal Polymetal mech will consist of two fundamental smart metal products, the NanoGatherers and the NanoSmiths. This should be enough to serve as a productive foundation for my Polymetal mech. I think that I can produce remarkable results if I turn this smart metal mech alive." The Web Mistress looked intrigued. "You already possess a solid plan for your future Carmine mech. What aid do you seek from me, young man?" "I have several questions where your input is welcome, Your Excellency. First, I roughly understand what will happen if I turn a smart metal mech alive. Only the collective is alive. The individual nanomachines are sadly not clever enough to be alive by themselves. They're too small and rudimentary to develop this quality. They are also just components rather than fully self-contained units." The Devil Tiger was his first true smart metal mech. It possessed several interesting qualities that Ves never fully appreciated at the time. It was only now that he had become a Senior Mech Designer with ambitions to develop a Polymetal mech that his first smart metal mech as well as tiger mech possessed a lot of reference value. What Veronica learned from studying the present incarnation of the Devil Tiger both delighted and disappointed Ves. His father possessed excellent control over his now-ace mech as a single unit, but he was unable to exert precise control over the individual nanomachines. It was only the programming as well as the living personality of the Devil Tiger that could perform such a feat. Perhaps the only way for his father to gain total granular control over the individual nanomachines was to become a god pilot, because by that point he would merge with his living mech. That should probably work out for Ryncol Larkinson. He did not possess the mental capacity to control an astronomical amount of nanomachines directly. He never expressed a need to control nanomachines to such a surgical extent either. He was more than happy with his present level of control over his battle partner. Unfortunately, that did not align with Ves' own demands. He had become a much more capable mech designer than when he initially developed the Devil Tiger on a whim. Ves also had access to much better technology as well as materials. With such luxurious conditions, he owed it to himself to design a smart metal Carmine mech that completely raised the ceiling of what was possible and set a new standard in the mech industry! Ves outlined his ambitious demands to the Star Designer. "My wishlist for my personal Polymetal mech can be boiled down to three key features." He said. "The first one is what I call Polylife. I not only want to find a way to make each and every individual nanomachine alive, but also grant them the ability to pool their intelligence in a very intimate and unbreakable kinship network. I want each of them to merge their spiritualities together in a superintelligence of sorts that is greater than the sum of its parts. The more nanomachines in the pool, the smarter and more alive my Polymetal mech has become. What do you think about this idea, Your Excellency?" This was the first time he shared this radical concept to anyone. He had never bothered to share this crazy idea to Gloriana or his RA liaisons because their perspectives were too limited to appreciate the greatness of this idea. Ves hoped that a Star Designer would be different. The one sitting before him should not only be smart enough to understand the intricacies of his idea, but hopefully be able to offer concrete tips and advice on how to realize it. He urgently needed guidance on how to translate his imagination into a concrete mech design. The Web Mistress genuinely looked interested at this point. "You have presented a difficult puzzle to me, Ves. Do you even have a plan to turn every individual nanomachine alive?" "I do. I would not come here if I haven't figured out at least that much, though I still need to flesh out the mechanics of my action plan. What I am struggling with is how to tie all of these nanomachines into a small and most importantly unbreakable kinship network of sorts. As stated earlier, I want all of the NanoGatherers and NanoSmiths — or at least their original batch — to not only be alive on an individual basis, but form a superintelligent amalgamation that will constitute the main living mech." The Web Mistress understood the key point. "You believe that forming them into a strong network with my assistance will enable you to realize this Polylife concept, is that correct?" Ves nodded. "Yes. I may be able to figure it out myself through lots of trial and error, but that requires me to commit a huge amount of time and effort. I can't spare that much these days. I would like you to help me draft the outline of a more complex 'kinship network' that can satisfy my demands." The Web Mistress looked at the projection of the draft design of the Polymetal mech with a different mindset. Knowing more about what Ves had in mind interested her a lot. This was definitely one of the boldest ideas that she had heard from a young Senior Mech Designer. Most mech designers who heard about his Polylife concept would dismiss it as pure fantasy that was impossible to translate into reality, but she was different. Star Designers rarely if ever dealt with impossibilities. They were so much more capable than other mech designers that they were limited by time and resources far more than competence and ability. In other words, almost anything was possible to a Star Designer. They just had to find it worthwhile and cost-effective enough to pursue an ambitious project. Not every Star Designer would think so, but the Polylife concept happened to be a viable design application to the Web Mistress! "You have approached the correct Star Designer." She complimented him. "I am able to devise the steps you need to take in order to have a good chance of realizing this Polylife concept for your smart metal mech. It will appear as if you are creating a heavily altered version of a kinship network. It is much more limited in scope and lacks a true nexus of sorts. It will also be more difficult to expand. Adding more smart metal to your Polymetal mech will not immediately upgrade the superintelligence. It may take days or weeks for the new additions to be fully assimilated." That last part surprised him. "Why does it take much longer for the new nanomachines to assimilate into this 'Polylife Network' or whatever?" 𝒇𝙧𝙚𝓮𝔀𝓮𝒃𝙣𝓸𝒗𝒆𝒍.𝙘𝒐𝒎 "That is because the nature of the network has changed too much. The absence of a nexus will remove a critical weak point to your Polylife mech. Theoretically, each nanomachine can be eliminated and replaced by new ones without negatively affecting the whole." "I am familiar with the Ship of Theseus concept." Ves mentioned. "I always take advantage of that when upgrading my existing living mechs." "That is clever, but it is also reflection of the looseness of the living traits of your mechs." The Web Mistress gently chided him. "The 'Polylife Network' that I have envisioned will strengthen and harden it against external tampering and attacks, but it will also make it much more difficult to adapt to rapid changes." Ves' eyes lit up. "Can these measures be used to strengthen other kinship networks such as my own Larkinson Network?" "Nya?" Even the Golden Cat who had previously been napping in the last half hour perked up after hearing this possibility. However, the Web Mistress shook her head. "Do not get your hopes up, Ves. It is theoretically possible to reverse engineer my specific solution for your Polylife Network and apply the same principles to the Larkinson Network, but the conditions are completely different. A small-scale local area network is incomparable to one that rivals the galactic net in scope." Ves grew disappointed, but he did not dispute her words. It was ridiculous for him to think that it would be that easy to translate the benefits to the Polylife Network to normal kinship networks. "So what do I need to know about this Polylife Network?" "There are several points that you need to be aware of. I am unable to create this Polylife Network myself. Only you can do so as you are the living mech specialist. I am therefore unable to verify whether it is viable enough for you to produce a successful outcome. In the event that you are able to create your Polymetal mech as you have envisioned, your new living mech may not behave as you expected." Ves frowned when he heard that second part. "What do you mean by that, Your Excellency?" "Have you ever spent much thought on the form this 'superintelligence' will take? I am unable to determine how intelligent you can make each and every individual nanomachine. Regardless of that, even if every single NanoGatherer and NanoSmith is only as alive and intelligent as an ordinary bee, their quantity is so vast that melding them together in a Polylife Network will result in the birth of an amalgamated life that far exceeds anything that you have produced with your living mechs up to this point." He froze as he thought about what she said. He admittedly put a bit of thought behind how smart or how stupid this superintelligence may be, but he possessed so little data and knowledge about it that he could not make any solid predictions. The Web Mistress evidently suspected that the most likely outcome would be an unprecedentedly powerful and intelligent living mech! "All of my latest living mechs, especially the ones that I have designed and crafted in person, are what I call third order living mechs." Ves explained. "They are as intelligent and sapient as baseline humans. They are even better at certain aspects, especially when they grow older and more experienced. If what you are saying is right, my Polymetal mech may be able to reach the fourth threshold of a living mech. It is one that I have yet to define or even imagine, but if your theory is correct… my Polymetal mech may actually break the barrier of a third order living mech, if only on a conditional basis." He never imagined that his Polymetal mech may be the first living mech to become a fourth order living mech! Even if it did not truly reach the fourth order due to the nature of its existence, what mattered was that Ves could study his machine extensively and gather lots of data on the traits that made it different from his previous works. It was like gaining a preview on what he was capable of if he mastered his specialization further. His analysis and conclusion would subsequently help him develop a genuine fourth order living mech in the future! Perhaps his Polymetal mech may only be classified as a pseudo-fourth order living mech. This was because it could theoretically regress back into a third order living mech if it lost a lot of smart metal. Yet Ves did not see any reason to quibble over this circumstance as the only other alternative was a regular third order living mech. "Are you not afraid of what you may inadvertently bring to life, Ves? What if your creation escapes your control?" "I am not afraid." Ves said with a smirk. "That is because I intend to form a Polymetal Pact with it right away. As long as we are bound by blood or rather smart metal, the two of us are completely tied together. That should be enough to ensure its loyalty and obedience."