Dr. Selene
Dr. Selene.
She had devoted herself to Dystopia's cause, working tirelessly to drive out Master Mind — the organization that had swallowed the whole world.
But Master Mind's power was overwhelming, and Dystopia, fighting against it, had always come up short.
Even so, she had carried on her father's will to restore the world to what it once was, running herself ragged in pursuit of that goal.
It was true that the mechas she'd built had delivered respectable results, but they could never rise beyond being one-off ace machines — the technology of the era simply fell too far short to make mass production viable.
'The current tech just isn't enough to realize my vision.'
So she had poured her energy into mass-produced machines with lowered specs instead.
But at some point, Selene reached a conclusion: if her ideal machine could never be mass-produced anyway...
Then why not plunge into the abyss and build a single, supreme mecha that no one had ever touched before?
That was how Project Black Nova was born.
Her aim was a machine that was, for all intents and purposes, a mobile fortress — capable of unleashing staggering levels of defense and firepower.
The trouble was that building it would consume astronomical amounts of money and time, and she worried the war might actually be over before it was finished.
'I have to find some way to speed this up!'
She wasn't the only one developing the mecha, of course.
Her whole development team was pitching in alongside her.
It wouldn't be easy, but one way or another, she was determined to see this supreme mecha project through to completion.
She had thrown herself into it full of drive — and sure enough, it wasn't easy at all.
Practical limitations in the technology proved to be an enormous obstacle.
'If I lower the specs here...'
She couldn't build the overwhelming machine she'd dreamed of.
'Maybe my ambitions are simply too high.'
Should she just compromise? Or should she give technology development more time and take the long road?
She'd been wracking her brain in her office for the better part of an hour when she stepped out to grab a cup of coffee from the vending machine. And the moment she walked back in—
She heard it.
"Honestly, a hulking monster like that is way less efficient. A light-frame mech would be better, surely."
Words she never could have anticipated.
A light-frame mech. In an era where heavy-frame, high-firepower combat dominated the meta, light frames were about as weak and fragile as it got.
Their attack power was pitiful, their durability worse. Easy to shatter, and incapable of landing a meaningful hit on a heavily armored heavy-frame — in this day and age, nobody touched them.
"When it comes to mechas, speed beats raw tonnage every time."
It was a beautifully simple proposition.
To boil it down to a single sentence:
If your defenses are weak, then don't get hit.
Practically utopian idealism — and yet, somehow, there was romance in it.
"That's an interesting thought."
And so Selene addressed the young woman who had snuck into her office and was muttering to herself.
The girl stammered out an answer like a child caught red-handed doing something bad, but Selene, showing not a hint of displeasure, asked:
"These are thoughts inspired by my blueprints. Could you share them with me in detail?"
"Haha, I really don't think I'm qualified to explain this in front of an actual expert..."
"It's fine. Go on. Don't make me curious like this for nothing."
"...Then, understood."
And so Reserve Pilot Christina Angelos, apparently deciding resistance was futile at record speed, began to lay out her thoughts.
At first, nothing the girl said made sense to her.
Why choose a light frame here, of all places? Could this design actually stand up to a heavy frame?
Worse still, there were components that seemed impossible to manufacture with modern technology no matter how she looked at them.
But then—
'Why is a mere pilot so knowledgeable about this field?'
Meticulous component design. Reasonably sound energy distribution. The parts integration was efficient, and as she listened, several of the technologies started to seem achievable — with just a little more research.
'No, wait. This was designed with even that taken into account.'
The deeper she listened, the more astonishments piled up.
Selene had always considered herself the very pinnacle of this field, and yet here she was, marveling at knowledge of the light-frame mechs she herself had avoided researching for so many years.
"Incredible — compensating for the weaknesses like this!"
Come to think of it, that much was perhaps only natural.
With this approach, the project would clearly reach completion far faster than the original plan. Shrinking the volume and cutting the weight would demand far more precision work, true — but it would slash resource consumption just as dramatically.
"However, manufacturing these parts the way you envision them will require considerably more time."
"No, it won't."
"Why do you think that?"
"Because these parts are based on their technology."
"Whaaat?!"
Selene recoiled in surprise and asked her to repeat herself. Christina continued as if it were nothing.
"Grab one of their mechas, rip it apart, study the parts — we'd have a working copy in no time."
"Wait — how do you even know about their technology?"
"Ah, u-um, I'm, well, fairly interested in this field, so I've done some digging here and there."
It wasn't entirely believable.
Master Mind's technology was unmistakably different from theirs — difficult to understand even on its own terms, that much was true.
And yet she had never once thought of grafting that technology onto her own designs.
'I still have such a long way to go.'
All this time she'd refused to accept other technologies simply because she trusted her own — nothing but pointless pride.
'For real growth, copying technology is indispensable, after all.'
Even if the result wasn't a perfect match, customizing it to fit their own systems would be more than feasible.
'Phew... I can hardly tell her I've stolen enemy parts in a game, though...'
Meanwhile, Christina quietly breathed a sigh of relief.
This place was definitely not the game — that much was certain.
Still, since the system had existed in the game, she'd figured there was a decent chance she could put it to similar use here.
"You're right. There's real potential here."
Thankfully, Selene's reaction suggested there was indeed hope.
"All right, then. Shall we scrap the whole thing?"
"No! Doctor! Are you serious? Wasn't this a major project? If you suddenly scrap it, I don't think a lot of people will let that slide."
"To be honest, I've always had a soft spot for light-frame mechs."
Back in her childhood, she'd watched mecha anime on TV — those slim, elegant machines tearing across the screen in dazzling displays of speed.
That was what had first drawn Selene into mecha engineering. But reality had been merciless to light frames.
To win, one had no choice but to weigh efficiency.
And so, forgetting the romance of her youth, she had spent her entire career prioritizing efficiency and working on heavy frames...
"Thanks to you, I feel like I've gotten back a dream I lost long ago."
"Um, Doctor? That's not a decision you should make on your own, is it?"
"True, it's not mine alone to decide. But I'll be the one to make it happen."
"I'm the one saying this, but nobody is going to look kindly on light-frame mechs."
"But you said this approach was more efficient? Even if it's not as strong as what I originally planned, it means we can build something that's stronger in the right hands, and faster, doesn't it?"
"I... I suppose that's true."
An unconfident voice.
Well, of course it was.
Christina was no expert.
She'd merely recited ideal theory.
But this reserve pilot's theory was no fabrication.
Selene, with her deep command of the field, knew that better than anyone.
"I was stuck and frustrated anyway. Maybe this is my chance to chase the ideal I've always wanted."
"Just so we're clear, I take no responsibility for any of this."
"Heheh, don't be silly. I was rather hoping you'd help along the way, you know?"
"What?! I'm a pilot! And not even an officially assigned one, at that!"
"You clearly know a fair bit about this technology. If you have time, I'd like you to at least consult with us now and then. Even just that would be plenty."
"Wouldn't the development team downstairs be more useful for that? They're actual experts, unlike me."
"But none of them know more about light-frame mechs than you do."
"Hmm..."
"Light frames have been persecuted and neglected all this time — and as a result, their technology was never developed. Calling it drastically behind the curve would be an understatement. But the theory you laid out, the design, the parts composition — all of it was undeniably practical. Frankly, I'm starting to wonder whether you're really a pilot at all."
"Aren't you accepting a non-expert's word a little too readily?"
"Hmph, what nonsense. It's because I'm an expert that I can properly weigh a non-expert's advice and judge it on its merits."
And with that, she gave the girl's nose a light flick with her finger.
"Hyaah!!"
Watching the small reserve pilot clutch her nose and scrunch up her brow with an adorable little yelp, Selene continued.
"Building a light-frame mech used to be my dream, you know. I just figured that if it was ever going to happen, it might as well be now."
Back then, she'd had no position, no prestige, no money.
But things were different now.
Unlike those days, she had status and honor and funding. She had the power to reach for the dream she couldn't grasp before.
She was already accumulating stress building machines she didn't even like.
Why not take this chance and just go a little wild?
"Oh, by the way — Team Leader Stone asked to see you."
"Oh? She'll be in the maintenance bay."
"Ah, right, yes."
"Thank you. I'll see you again later, adorable little reserve pilot."
And so, brimming with hope, Selene turned on her heel and left the office behind her with a smile and a spring in her step, brimming with confidence.
After that, Selene threw the original project out entirely.
Not that it was easy. Her development team downstairs was left aghast, and the other executives scrambled to block her at every turn.
But she had spent all these years bending to their wishes —
aligning her work exclusively toward the single goal of winning — and for once, just once, she wanted to have her way.
"If any of you doubt me, then I will prove it with results!"
And so Selene decided to gamble.
"If I fail to deliver results in the first live combat test, I will step down from this post."
When Dystopia's supreme mecha engineer went that far, no one had a word left to say.
The development she'd forced through against all objection proceeded step by step.
And then, as time passed...
The day came to unveil the results.
And one problem arose.
"Ha! You expect ME to pilot that flimsy scarecrow of a machine? Don't make me laugh!"
There was no pilot willing to actually get into the light-frame mech.
In fairness, that made sense.
Pilots didn't favor something so small and dainty either.
Think of cars — people felt safest in a mid-size sedan, and nobody wanted a compact, terrified it would crumple and kill them the moment an accident happened. It was exactly the same logic.
'Nobody wants to pilot it. That's a problem.'
And it was then that a certain pilot flashed through Dr. Selene's mind.
"Heheh..."
With a smile on her lips, she set off to find the pilot she'd just envisioned.