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In order to operate the images of the two mechs, Prism Sciences specially established a subsidiary, named simply Prism Entertainment, dedicated to handling the image operation and licensing of the two mechs.
On the very day it was founded, the cooperation applications sent in from around the world nearly ran the company's printer into the ground.
From morning to night, it churned and churned, spitting out one cooperation document after another.
Of the two mechs, the most popular was naturally Crimson Typhoon. Clearly, every human being, regardless of nationality or race, regardless of whether they'd liked mechs before, would be awed by this colossus that genuinely existed in reality.
Abroad alone, Crimson Typhoon's first wave of total licensing was projected to reach five hundred million US dollars, and this was after filtering, selecting only quality partners.
But Scrapper wasn't far behind either. On the strength of its title as the world's first mech, along with its relatively short yet sharp and sturdy image, it had garnered three hundred fifty million dollars in cooperation applications.
Even the firefighting mech, which had appeared only once, had people eyeing it, wanting to stake out a spot in advance.
The moment this news broke, it stunned the whole nation.
At home, this was the first time a cultural image had been so vigorously recognized abroad.
The mech, this image, might not have been born domestically, but now when people around the world brought it up, everyone's first impression was the country's two great mechs.
Someone commented online.
"Back when mechs first appeared, I already felt this was bound to be a heavyweight cultural bomb capable of changing our country's image."
"Especially after the Crimson Typhoon project was announced, I grew even more certain of this idea."
"To people abroad, their first impression of our country, if not backward, is ancient and mysterious, which is actually very unfavorable for promotion and outreach. Like a count living in an old castle, or a wizard in a wizard's tower, naturally separated from ordinary people by a gulf."
"But mechs are different. A giant mech that genuinely exists, and one carrying a high degree of technological content at that, is like a cultural bomb that can blast apart the previously existing cultural chasm in the fastest possible way, overturn most people's fixed impressions, and let them understand the technologically advanced side of our country."
Patricia and the others had discovered this situation long ago, which was why they'd been quietly pushing the plan to take the mechs overseas all along.
This nearly one-billion-dollar round of cooperation also owed something to their pushing behind the scenes. Otherwise, ordinary cooperation wouldn't have gone so smoothly.
For Ryan, though, the most important point was that Prism Sciences' health bar had been nursed back above the safety line by this timely heal, and the photoacoustic imaging lab he'd been longing for could begin preparations.
This round of cooperation was between Prism and Aegis Industrial.
Prism and Ryan would provide the funding and technology, while Aegis Industrial would handle the equipment and personnel portions of the work.
Making a photoacoustic imaging lab wasn't so easy.
What's more, although the micro photoacoustic imaging scanner the system provided was similar in principle to real-world photoacoustic imaging scanning, its technology was far, far more advanced.
This gave rise to a great many problems.
The most obvious point was the problem of manufacturing the equipment.
Of the three parts, pulsed laser scanner, photoacoustic signal detector, and photoacoustic image reconstruction system, only the last, the image reconstruction system, relied mainly on algorithms and computing power, which Prism could handle on the strength of the AI center's current foundation.
But the equipment standards required by the first two parts were sky-high. Without a powerful industrial body's support and its tackling of key problems, even with the technology, Prism couldn't build them.
Take that photoacoustic signal detector. It could detect multiple extremely faint photoacoustic signals through the air within a range of fifteen meters.
The sensitivity this demanded of the instrument reached an unbelievable degree.
An instrument like this couldn't possibly be bought on the market, and Prism couldn't specially open a bunch of factories just to produce the various components of this detector.
On top of that, per Ryan's usual research custom, a large number of research laborers were needed, and the talent in this field was usually quite concentrated.
So cooperation between the two sides was an excellent choice.
For the profit distribution of this project, the two sides also reached an agreement.
The patents undoubtedly all belonged to Prism and Ryan, while of the subsequent related-instrument sales revenue, thirty percent would go to Aegis Industrial.
At the same time, once results came out later, Aegis Industrial could set up a complete industrial chain for Prism, guaranteeing the smooth production of the scanner.
Both sides were very satisfied with this cooperation.
Prism was happy, Aegis was happy, Ryan was happy, and the only one not particularly happy was probably Patricia.
This cooperation project was, without a doubt, hers to handle once again.
"Ah. When I heard earlier that you were going to rest for a while, I was secretly glad in my heart. I never imagined those words simply couldn't be trusted..."
While doing the coordination work among the various organizations, Patricia's face was bitter, her expression full of exhaustion.
Ryan gave a dry laugh. "That's just the capable taking on more work, isn't it."
He hurried to change the subject. "Patricia, roughly when will the photoacoustic imaging lab be ready?"
Patricia set down the phone in her hand. "Right now I'm still communicating with the Academy of Sciences' Biomedical Optics and Molecular Imaging research lab. They'll likely relocate the entire lab into the base."
Patricia handed a printed list into Ryan's hands.
"This is the personnel roster. Take a look."
Ryan took the roster. There were fifty people on it in total.
Aside from a few top-level researchers, the remaining members were basically postdocs from home and abroad, along with a few master's-level research assistants.
"Not a single one I've heard of..." Ryan muttered.
Patricia shook her head. "You don't know the domestic photoacoustic imaging field well enough."
"This team is quite formidable in domestic photoacoustic imaging research..." Patricia had just gotten this far when she suddenly stopped herself.
Never mind. Formidable or not, to this kid it should be all the same.
Which of the research personnel at the base right now wasn't formidable?
Pull out any researcher or engineer at random, and their degree started at a master's. You could genuinely call it a city of masters. A single spark falling from mech welding might land on six or seven master's holders, and the rest would all be PhDs.
But weren't these people still able to do nothing but obediently serve as tools?
"So when can these people arrive?" Ryan asked.
Patricia gave a time. "A month at the latest. After all, this is a matter of relocating. As for the specific lab, let's put it in the Dome Base. There's still a vacant mech bay there."
"All right, then it's settled."
Once the scanner's lab was decided, all that was left was to wait. Ryan's work focus for the time being fell onto artificial intelligence.
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