Free Web NovelPavela's communication channel was currently in a state of complete chaos.
"Pavela! Listen to me! Stabilize your posture first!"
Dr. Lovelace's voice exploded in Pavela's ears, carrying an urgency she had never heard before.
"I am stabilizing!"
Pavela's hands gripped the control stick tightly, her knuckles turning white from the excessive force.
Alarms blared one after another inside the cockpit, red warning lights flashing across her face.
"Warning: Posture imbalance."
"Warning: Rapid altitude loss."
"Warning: Propulsion system overload."
"Warning: Structural stress exceeding safety threshold."
"I fucking know that!"
Pavela was alternately pinned to the pilot's seat by high G-forces and nearly floating out of it due to weightlessness.
Her vision was still spinning wildly.
Sky, ground, clouds, buildings—everything was whirling before her eyes.
It was as if someone had stuffed the world into a drum washing machine and set it to the highest spin speed.
"Left thruster! Reduce the output of the left thruster!"
It was Dr. Lovelace's voice.
Pavela's hands fumbled over the control panel.
Buttons.
There were buttons everywhere.
She recognized some of them—they were standard Usar Union configurations.
She recognized others—those followed the design logic of the Victorian Empire.
But there were even more buttons she didn't recognize at all.
"Which one is the left thruster?!"
"Third row! Second one!"
Pavela's finger pressed down.
The mecha jolted violently.
Then it began to spin even more crazily.
"Not that one! The second one from right to left!!!"
Dr. Lovelace's voice almost cracked.
"The one you pressed is the Booster valve for the right thruster!"
"Why the hell did you put the Booster valve in the red zone?!"
"Because red represents the power system!"
"Red should represent weapons!"
"That's Usar logic! In the Empire, red represents power!"
"The Empire's power section isn't usually in the third row either! What kind of sane person designs a control panel like this?!"
...
Pavela really wanted to go back ten minutes and break her own hands.
Back then, she was sitting comfortably in the cockpit, listening to Dr. Lovelace explain the basic operations of this mecha.
"This is the Attitude control lever, this is the switch for the Spinal Interface, and this is the unlock switch for the weapon system—"
Dr. Lovelace pointed to various areas on the control panel, speaking quickly, but enunciating every word clearly.
"Don't be nervous. Today we're only doing ground tests to get familiar with the operation logic. We won't be taking off."
Pavela nodded.
She was sitting in a custom seat, the lumbar and neck supports were just right, giving her a feeling of being gently enveloped.
The Spinal Interface was right in the center of the seatback, but she hadn't initiated the connection.
Dr. Lovelace said that until all ground tests were completed, there was no need to connect the Spinal Interface; she could use Manual mode first to get used to the operation logic.
Manual mode.
Hmm, sounded very safe.
However, not long into the explanation, Dr. Lovelace was dragged away by a bristling black cat.
Pavela still remembered how it looked: Ms. Etina was standing at the door, her tail held straight up, her fur standing on end all over her body like an angry black furball.
"Meow—!"
The cry was as sharp as an alarm.
She stared at Dr. Lovelace with a look that said, "If you don't come and deal with this problem right now, I'm going to tear your lab apart."
"Uh—Pavela, you familiarize yourself with the control panel first. I'll be right back—"
Before Dr. Lovelace could finish her sentence, she was taken away by Ms. Etina.
To be precise, she was dragged away by Ms. Etina.
Ms. Etina bit down hard on the hem of her lab coat and pulled her away with an irresistible force.
The door closed behind them.
Pavela was now the only one left in the hangar.
Along with this mecha that hadn't been officially named yet.
Pavela looked at the control panel.
It was packed with buttons, switches, and indicator lights.
Every button had a label.
Pavela leaned in for a closer look.
Those labels were—
Military symbols of the Victorian Empire.
She recognized some of them.
But she didn't recognize most of them.
In the Punishment Camp, she had piloted Usar mechas, which used the Usar labeling system.
The symbol systems of the two countries were completely different.
Usar's labels were rougher and more direct, using simple geometric shapes to represent different functions.
The Victorian Empire's labels were more complex and refined, filled with aristocratic aesthetic ornamentation.
Pavela took a deep breath.
Alright.
Familiarize herself with the operation logic.
She could totally do it on her own.
She had piloted the thug-iv in the Punishment Camp; she could drive a mecha like that with her eyes closed.
This mecha was meticulously designed by Dr. Lovelace, after all; it couldn't possibly be harder to operate than a thug-iv.
Besides, it was in Manual mode.
Nothing could go wrong, right?
Pavela placed her hands on the control stick.
She looked at the labels on the panel, trying to understand their meanings.
That symbol that looked like a gear should be the power system.
That symbol that looked like a lightning bolt should be the energy source.
That one looked like—
Pavela wasn't quite sure.
But she could give it a try.
Following the standard operating procedures of the Usar Union—
Step one: check and start the power system.
Her finger pressed a button in the left section.
The label on that button looked like a gear.
Should be right.
The mecha emitted a low hum.
The indicator lights in the cockpit lit up, showing the power system was normal.
Good.
Step two: release the joint locks.
She flipped a switch in the right section.
The label on that switch looked like—
Some kind of Imperial aristocratic crest?
Pavela wasn't sure, but her intuition told her it should be the joint lock.
The mecha's limbs made clicking mechanical sounds.
Joint locks released.
Also good.
Seems her intuition was quite accurate.
Step ◈ Nоvеlіgһт ◈ (Continue reading) three—
Pavela's finger pressed a blue button.
The label on that button was a complex pattern made of multiple lines.
Pavela didn't recognize this symbol.
But in Usar mechas, the blue button in this position was for "entering Standby mode."
Should be about the same?
She pressed it. freewёbn૦νeɭ.com
The mechanical sounds inside the cockpit suddenly became more intense.
Armor plates were sliding.
Joints were reorganizing.
She could feel the entire mecha's structure changing—limbs retracting, the torso extending, and the Variable wings on the back beginning to unfold. freēwēbηovel.c૦m
The mecha was transforming!
"...What?"
Pavela was stunned.
"Transformation sequence initiated."
"Estimated completion time: 4.7 seconds."
