191: Better than disguise

"Frankly, what exactly is the purpose behind this powered suit... no, rather, what is Satā-sama's intention in mimicking a powered suit?"

The female officer, who had given up on the disguise aspect, examined the intricate details of my powered suit and asked me directly about my purpose.

Purpose...

"Primarily, I'm thinking of situations where I'd face opponents smaller than myself but larger than a human, where capturing them is preferable to crushing them—situations where summoning the main body would be impractical due to size constraints... or perhaps using Memoqsi as a living barrier as well."

"I see. So, in order to handle these scenarios, is it really necessary to disguise myself as a powered suit?"

"...Now that you mention it... no, it's not."

Now that you mention it, there's really no need to pretend to be a powered suit.

Frankly, why was I even trying to pretend to be a powered suit...?

"By the way, what was the reason Satā tried to disguise himself in the first place?"

"Well... I was trying to suppress the sense of intimidation or unease I might cause others. You know, even though creatures of this size do exist, they're not exactly common. I figured that appearing as an unfamiliar creature might lead to unnecessary friction..."

"Is it just a matter of calling them only when needed? If so, it wouldn't be much of an issue if people thought there was something strange about them. After all, imperial nobles already have a few unusual guards here and there—hardly a problem. Wouldn't it be more efficient to allocate resources toward achieving our goal rather than disguising ourselves?"

"I agree."

Ah, yeah, I can't really argue with that.

You don't really need to go through the trouble of disguising yourself, that's true.

"By the way, Sat. If we don't bother disguising ourselves, what kind of things could we do?"

"Loads of things. Honestly, we wouldn't even need to worry about maintaining our structure, and we wouldn't have to care about our color either."

Responding to Viridian's words, the armored plating on my powered suit's arms cracked into fine fragments, the joints dissolving into waves, and the color shifted until it perfectly matched the floor and walls.

"Ah, I see. Sata, let's go without disguise. A limb that moves freely without joints and can wear camouflage of maximum efficiency anywhere is far more useful."

"Is that so? Then let's do it that way."

"Yeah, it really is useful. By the way, could it extend suckers on its limbs and stick to walls?"

"Theoretically, it should be possible."

"Then let's add that feature too."

"Understood."

Yeah, if that's what Vilijanila wants, then we'll go that route.

Still, it should maintain its humanoid form in daily use.

That way, it can catch opponents off guard more effectively.

"...Anywhere, it can maintain high-level camouflage, sticking to walls and ceilings, with strength like a space monster... something straight out of a panic-inducing movie, really."

"Yes, indeed. But considering that Satā-sama is a space monster, it's only natural. And even though we call it camouflage, it's only at a basic level of precision—nothing to worry about."

"Wouldn't be surprised if it secretly had a camouflage enhancement mod installed by now."

"Even so, we'd report it to Lady Vee, so the Empire wouldn't have an issue with it. Well, if it's just about improving precision..."

Johalis and Mekoxi are saying something, but... eh, no need to worry about it.

"Then the real issue is the cockpit integration."

"That's right. Ideally, if we could smoothly synchronize it so my visual abilities could be transferred to the powered suit and controlled exactly as I imagine it... but..."

"Hmm... it's not about synchronizing with the powered suit, but rather with another living being. Since this is my first time attempting something like this, I'm not entirely sure how to proceed... Well, let's start with explaining the basic principles. That way, Satasama might come up with some ideas of their own."

The female attendant explains how cockpit operations are transmitted to the powered suit.

Well, according to her...

In the case of the cockpit purchased by Viridianila this time.

While the fundamental method involves operating levers and buttons inside the cockpit, it seems equally important that electrical signals from the levers and seat are also transmitted to the pilot.

Apparently, if the powered suit vaguely understands what movement you're intending, it can translate that into smooth motion when actually operated.

In that case...

"Hmm, if I combine the body control mod I'm using with the one Magatsuki uses, and create a new mod that integrates them properly, maybe I can manage to move somewhat like a normal human...?"

That's right. If we use the built-in foresight mod in the cockpit, convert its output and controls into electrical signals, and relay those signals, we might be able to handle the operation somehow.

Powered suits move using electricity and mods.

What moves me is electricity and mod.

If we can handle the signal conversion properly... yeah, it should manage to work somehow.

"Sata. Can you transfer my visual abilities to the eyes of the powered suit?"

"I don't think that's feasible. I don't know how Vee's eye mod is configured, and even if I did, I doubt I could replicate it."

"I see... then we'll have to give up on that option for now."

Could we transfer Vilijanila's eye abilities to the powered suit?

Well, that's probably a bit too much to ask.

Touching it recklessly might even put my life at risk.

Then again, trying to adjust the gate to match Vilijanira's field of view so I can see directly through it... that might endanger Vilijanira's safety.

So, at this point, there's simply nothing I can do about it.

At best, I can only enhance the powered suit's visual capabilities to the extent possible for me.

"By the way, Satā-sama. Why doesn't this powered suit come equipped with weapons like a blaster?"

"Ah, uh... "

Changing the subject to weapons... Weapons... Well, weapons are...

"Is there a problem?"

"Ah, right. Satā-sama, you were told by Seiryō Corporation not to use a blaster, weren't you? There was a document about that, wasn't there?"

"An event collapse?"

"No, that's not how it was written. Satā-sama, since you're here, why don't we look into the circumstances?"

"True. Since you're here, let's bring it up. Is there a secluded space we can use?"

There's a bit of an issue between me and the blaster.

If I were to explain it, it'd probably be faster to just show you.

With that in mind, I borrowed a cheap, low-power blaster mod and entered a private room.