THE SABAZIUS PROGRAM

The Sabazius Program is the latest in Empire Corp's technological battle weaponry line. In order to retaliate against his new foe, Leo decided the only viable option was to fight fire with fire – he would get his own dragons. Of course, this is easier said than done – and obtaining a real dragon (or developing a clone) was, disappointingly enough, out of the question. Besides, Leo realised, this was a prime opportunity to prove the superiority of his technology over the most ancient and primal magic there was: dragons.

And so Empire Corp's team of scientists set about developing something capable of combatting the beasts. In an astonishingly short amount of time, they had something – a mechanical dragon using Empire's latest technological development, the Slave program. Slave is the closest thing Empire has developped to AI; it's at its simplest a program which learns how to respond to different stimuli by experience, so it essentially becomes more efficient and "smarter" the longer it runs. Empire coupled this with another of its promising new developments, the Neuros System, in order to create a revolutionary new piloting program that operated like an extension of the pilot's own body.

The way the system works is as follows: A chemical called Neuronol is injected into the pilot's bloodstream and given a short amount of time to circulate. When this chemical reaches the brain, it works somewhat like a phosphorescent – it illuminates certain neurotransmitters in the brain, enabling special scanning devices to actually visualize and record the synapses and chemical reactions taking place in different areas. The software can then determine, based on the location, strength, and duration of the various signals, what the pilot is thinking. Unfortunately, the process is not nearly as refined as Leo would like it to be – it can't be used to read the mind of a random individual, for instance. The system must be programmed to a specific individual, using a complicated process of inputs and checks to learn what the individual wants. (For instance, if I decide to move my left index finger, a certain part of my brain becomes more active than the rest. This software picks up on these small distinctions, and interprets this as a command to move the left index "claw" of my mech.) This is a highly intricate process, and one which takes far longer than anyone involved would like – for this reason, units (and pilots) are often considered operable long before their actual programming is completed.

This means, simply enough, that the more experienced a pilot is, the better his unit – which is usually referred to by its model name, though the generic name for the mech is a Sabazius machine, after the lead developper – will respond to his commands. It is also important to note that a considerable amount of concentration is required to pilot one of Empire's mechs. If a pilot becomes distracted and his mind begins to wander, his Sabazius will pick up these conflicting signals and could become confused. This leads to a lot of errors, especially for pilots just beginning their use of the system; for this reason, there is another program called Shield which is designed to protect the system in the event that the pilot, for whatever reason, becomes unable to operate the machine properly. Shield is auto-activated once the pilot's commands become too unreadable for the program to decipher, and can also be activated from a remote location by those in Empire Corp with the proper authorization. This final step is in place as a safeguard to prevent the machines ever being used for purposes not deemed appropriate by Empire Corp. The "squad leader" also has the ability to activate Shield in any of his inferiors' mechs at his discretion.

The actual set-up within the mech is a relatively simple one: the pilot sits inside a pressure-controled "cockpit" known as the shell, as it remotely resembles the shape of an egg. Inside the shell, the pilot (who has presumably been injected with Neuronol some time beforehand – more on this in a moment) dons a pair of translucent goggles (which are more like eye shields or shades than full goggles), through which he can view the outside world. Looking in any direction has the same effect as turning his head outside the mech; in this way, pilots can see behind them even though there are no physical windows to the shell. The "camera" through which the pilot sees is actually built into the unit's eyes. (There is a rather considerable blindspot below and behind the mechs, which mimics that of a real dragon. No satisfactory "fix" for this problem has been suggested as of yet.) The pilot also dons a wrist-wrap on either arm, which fits snugly and is connected to the machine via a single long cable, enabling his arms freedom of movement. These wraps keep constant measure of heart rate, blood pressure, and other such vitals. In front of the pilot is a large screen, which can be viewed through the goggles (the two images are overlaid), on which will pop up the varying readings and such for the machine. (Note that the visor displays ONLY the outside image and the text and graphics on the screen – the pilot can not see his immediate surroundings, ie the inside of the shell, without removing the visor. This is to help prevent confusion, but some developers have expressed concern that this could lead to a pilot not noticing a mechanical problem or something more serious, like a fire, until it is too late. Others have countered that the machine will inform the pilot if anything malfunctions, but pilots should still be aware that that danger exists.) The screens are touch-operated, so the pilot (who is already wearing the appropriate gloves) needs only touch and drag to move around the various menus and make selections. These screens are the machine's way of communicating with the pilot; fuel readings, airspeed and the like are given, as well as a few adjustable selections that proved difficult to access utilising the Neuros System.

Back to Neuronal: In the beginning, Neuronol can take as long as three hours and multiple shots to fully integrate itself in the body. However, as the pilot becomes more experienced this process accelerates, so that some older pilots may need an injection only minutes before entering the shell. There is a pressing theory that after a certain amount of exposures to the drug, a pilot might only need a "refresher" injection every few weeks or months, or might not even need one at all. As the machine becomes more fine-tuned towards its specific pilot, and the amount of chemicals in the pilot's brain builds up, the amount of neuronol needed to communicate with the mech decreases. (The long-term effects of repeated use of this chemical have not been studied. Needless to say, there is no FDA overseeing Leo's rather dubious operation.)

As all of this must obviously suggest, the time, effort, and money expended in fully acclimating a pilot to his mech is quite considerable. As such, Empire Corp is understandably reluctant to begin training individuals who will prove unreliable, and there is little question of any mechs being reused by other pilots – they would have to be wiped clean and restarted from the beginning. Empire Corp takes great pains to ensure that a pilot is fully qualified before training commences, and it is assumed that the pilot will see his service through to its completion – generally, contracts must be signed before a pilot even sees his mech.

The screening process, then, is understandably rigorous – candidates must possess certain qualities, including a suitable demeanor, strong physical and mental performance, positive reaction to neuronol, and, of course, loyalty to Empire Corp. It should be noted that as neuronol is still a very new and largely experimental substance, it has had its share of bad runs – quite a few people have proved unable to handle its effects. Side-effects of the drug, even for those not initially adverse to it, can include nausea, lightheadedness, and general flu-like unpleasantness; that is, for the first few times you are exposed to it, it will leave you feeling a bit sick. It's comparable to getting a meningitis or flu shot that makes you feel a bit under the weather. For some people, however, the side effects have been more severe, and so it's crucial to be tested for compatibility with the drug before signing on.