"Out of a value of 10, I rate your performance today 3/10".
"And that 3 is me being generous".
"Let's just say the fact that you managed to survive such high telemetry readings impressed me, and they more than deserve 3 out of 10".
"As for your mech piloting skills, with all due respect, currently you're just a 0.05 out of 10".
Silence.
Andrew just stared at the boss.
At this moment, he was inside the office of Lucius Volstad.
Immediately after their little test in the hangar bay, the boss finally dismissed the 5 mech pilots and the mech technicians who were present after promising them bonus rewards for participating in the exercise.
As for his prime test subject, Andrew McTate, Lucius Volstad summoned him to his office. He had so many things in his mind to tell him.
And here they were.
"I'm sorry Andrew," Lucius Volstad shook his head. "I'm not trying to shoot you down or kill your confidence, just take this as constructive criticism".
"Heaven knows that I want to bring out the best in you".
"That's why I'm so interested in the first place, that's why I even care to give you some constructive criticism".
Lucius interlocked his fingers, looking into his subject's eyes. "I brought out 5 mech pilots and mechs against you, the first one destroyed you completely".
"I should not be saying this but having observed you for 6 months, I know that you're mentally resilient and can take criticism".
"Actually, before they entered the hangar bay, I told them to take it easy on you".
Crack!
Hearing that, Andrew felt something in him break.
Was that his heart?
F*ck! And here he was thinking he managed to last a few minutes.
Seeing his reaction, Lucius was concerned but he continued. "That mech pilot who piloted the Whirlwind Ranger 63-TS is one of the best Spearmen around who I managed to lure to join my mech company".
"After disarming you of your sword, he was more than capable of ending the battle in just seconds".
"It's clear that your mech combat skills regressed completely".
"Though I'm not a mech pilot, I'm a mech designer and when it comes to critiquing mech combat, few are more qualified than mech designers".
"After you lost your sword, him simply pushing his position, hitting his own mech frame against your unstable mech would have tipped you over".
"And once you fall on your back on a mech, in mech combat, it's over".
"Your cockpit will be exposed".
"Critical systems of your mech will be exposed".
"And considering the responsiveness of a mech on it's back, unless it has installed nitro boosters to get back up quickly, recovering fast enough to continue fighting is nigh impossible".
"If your opponent didn't take this option, there are others".
Lucius Volstad raised 2 fingers. "Option 2 is simply outmaneuvering you".
"Due to your high neural connectivity, your reaction speed was crazy fast but at times it felt like you were riding so fast you had no clue how to control it".
"Your speed was uncontrolled".
"If he wanted to end you fast, a simple feint would be enough to make you panic, making unnecessary movements to dodge or block and that would most likely expose critical systems of your mech".
"Once he hits a critical system, you're essentially dead".
Lucius Volstad raised 3 fingers. "Option 3, your legs".
"I read your report after the accident".
"Your report in the Philadelphus police states that you're a versatile mech pilot with a lot of experience piloting both light and medium mechs".
"You've piloted Rifleman mechs before".
"You've piloted Spearman mechs before".
"You've piloted Light mechs before".
"You've piloted Knight mechs before".
"Heck, there was even a report of that battle were pushed to a corner, you bailed your team out of sure death by taking control of a Heavy mech".
"By piloting a heavy Cannoneer mech, you managed to save over 15 policemen of the Philadelphus police from sure death".
"What this means is that you're a jack of all trade and a master of all, but do you know the advantage of this?"
"Do you?" Lucius asked again on getting no response.
Andrew shook his head. "No".
"By being a jack of all trades, it means that you're versatile, you have basic knowledge about piloting lots of mechs".
"Having piloted Spearman mechs before, you should have known more than keeping your knight shield so rigid throughout".
Lucius Volstad kept 3 fingers up. "Like I said, option 3 is your legs".
"You kept your shield at mostly a stationary position throughout, exposing your legs and other tiny openings when you moved".
"If he wanted, a simple wide swing of his spear at your legs would have ended this battle from the very beginning".
"Afterall, no matter how much armor plating is put into them, the legs of a mech were never designed to take on such force and stress".
"So, no matter what, you would have lost in seconds".
Silence.
After hearing all this about himself, Andrew became understandably downcast. All his excitement from piloting a mech for the first time disappeared.
And this was when Lucius said more. "You know the essence of constructive criticism?" He smiled. "It's to make you better".
"I didn't tell you all these so you'd wallow in the disappointment".
"I told you all these because I believe that you can improve".
"All I want from you is to practice, practice hard and you'll regain your combat power and even more".
"Give it your all and I promise, you'd be an elite mech pilot".
"Besides," Lucius grinned. "While you piloted the mech, I noticed something between your internal computer system and that of the mech".
"Both systems were interacting, it was a type of synergy that I'm familiar with, it's like the interaction done in computer networking between multiple computers".
"I feel this is something that you can take advantage of to grow even faster".
"You just need to master it".
"Well, that's all". Lucius Volstad smiled. "You can go now".
"Make me proud Andrew, I have high hopes for you".
"If you do well enough, you'll make it back into the Philadelphus police".
Well, after thanking the mech designer for the advice, Andrew left to his room.
On the way, the criticism of the boss kept on ringing in his head.
Till he got on his bed, it kept on ringing.
And then, looking at the ceiling, he thought aloud. "Simulation".
"Ultimate Simulation System…,"
Andrew's eyes widened all of a sudden, he just got an idea!