“It’s admirable the foundries are trying to redesign it for mass production, but I’m skeptical. You can’t always copy a classic.”
“Why not?”
“Well, this replica might have the same specs, on paper: comparable ballistics, same impact rating, same caliber output, all that, plus matching optics, stock and shock absorption, yada, yada, yada. But what if they leave out the stellar sextant?”
“...Pardon?”
“What if they haven’t included the subsystems and subsidiary functions of the original? And how could they, if they want to make it cost-effective? How are you gonna convince management the gun needs to have the stellar sextant when nobody ever uses it?”
“Uh, but why bother if nobody uses it?”
“Exactly! That’s just what they’ll say—but here’s the thing: what if it doesn’t matter that we don’t use the stellar sextant? What if it matters that it’s there? What if those subsystems contribute to the gun’s... I dunno... the gestalt of its functionality?”
“You think having a stellar sextant was somehow part of why the MIDA series performed like they did?”
“Yes! Yes, exactly!”
“Even if that’s possible... how would we know if it’s true?”
“Well, for starters, we’ll have to see how these new-made copies measure up to originals. If their performance does fall short, and the foundry folks can’t put a finger on it—maybe that means I’m on to something. Maybe it’s the stellar sextant.”
(MIDA Multi-Tool w/ Digital Ops)