落とし穴外伝：技術者のお手紙 (Part2)
In this world, prosthetics are purely utilitarian, designed for nothing more than basic support. People don’t bother with artificial arms; usually, a simple wooden peg for a leg is the standard. Their performance is exactly what you’d expect from the look of them.
Consequently, if you lose a limb, unless you are a person of significant influence with the right connections and deep pockets, you are left to your own devices. It is common for ordinary people to find themselves unable to work, eventually leading to their demise—a fate that strikes particularly hard at those in professions requiring physical labor, like adventurers and mercenaries.
Yet, people must find a way to live. If more functional prosthetics could be developed, the range of work available to these individuals would expand significantly. That is a prospect that brings Hifi genuine joy.
"That said, it’s not actually that difficult. Hifi, you’ve studied the structural mechanics of the human body, haven't you?"
"Yes, that’s fundamental knowledge for any physician. Broadly speaking, there are bones, muscles, nerves to relay commands, and blood vessels to provide the fuel—if you want to call it that—to keep it all moving."
"Right. That’s a bit simplified, but you’ve hit the mark. The real challenge lies in how to replicate that using a combination of technology and magic."
"That part is a complete mystery to me."
"Well, I suppose it would be."
This sort of thing requires a certain intuition. It takes experience to discern where engineering should end and magic should begin.
"Since we’re at it, let me give you a lecture, Hifi. You’ve shown interest, after all."
"A lecture? Is it really that involved?"
"It’s all about the atmosphere, the mood. For reference, we’ll use this."
I pulled out...
"A plastic model of a robot?"
"Exactly. You’re looking at it with skepticism, but there is no finer model for an intricate prosthetic than this. After all..."
As I spoke, I stood the plastic model on two legs, posing it so that its weight shifted onto one foot.
"And?"
"Are your eyes playing tricks on you, Hifi? Look at how it maintains its balance in a way a standard prosthetic never could."
"Ah."
Realizing what I was getting at, she stared intently at the model, picking it up to shift its legs and stand it back up again.
"...In other words, you’re saying that this structure can be replicated through engineering?"
"That’s the gist of it. Though, adjusting the range of motion and the strength provided by muscles is difficult. After all, there’s no way to manufacture the muscles that regulate that range of motion. That places an immense burden on the joints. And unlike a human body, they don’t self-repair, which makes it even more precarious."
"I see. It’s true, compared to a person, the range of motion is restricted. And the reason is the lack of muscles to compensate for that range, right?"
"Well, it goes without saying, but nerves and such are all part of the muscular system. What this model utilizes is an exoskeleton, or perhaps an endoskeleton structure. Since it lacks the auxiliary support of biological muscle, it has to maintain its form entirely through its outer shell or internal frame."
"...This is fascinating."
Hifi seemed to have grasped the potential of the model sitting before her.
Well, back on Earth, we have techniques like bending steel plates to dissipate impact, and things of that nature. This won't allow us to build a full-scale robot just yet, but it is one step closer to the dream of robot construction.
That said, our greatest obstacle is Yuki.
We want to build a special unit—a one-of-a-kind, super-powered machine. But he keeps going on about "ease of maintenance" and "cost-effectiveness," insisting we build mass-produced models instead. How are we supposed to deal with that?
Perhaps I should just build it in secret and present it to him as a fait accompli?
Yuki loves mass-produced units for their maintainability and stability—things like GMs or Daggers. But Comet and her group want to build super-machines—things like Mazinger or Getter. Every time I think about it, I have to wonder: where on earth do the people who build these special units get the money for the construction and maintenance costs?