Micro mechs^[1] started out as medical tools, but their tiny size quickly proved useful in espionage, as they allowed spies to be literal flies on the wall. From there they found their way into the criminal underworld as a favorite tool of pickpockets. Pilots could hop into a victim’s wallet^[2] and copy ID or bank card numbers, then slip out undetected, possibly with a valuable trinket or two in paw.

Counter intelligence and law enforcement agencies had to develop strategies to detect, chase, and catch these lilliputian saboteurs. These hunting methods soon grew popular as sports, to the point that most micro mechs manufactured at the time of First Contact are built for recreational use rather than as medical tools. Pickpockets now favor sport mechs rather than those built for use by healers because the sport models are both far less expensive and are designed for speed and maneuverability rather than for safe operation in the delicate environment of a patient’s body.

Sport micro mechs are built cheaply as they are designed to be disposable. Each manufacturer has their own proprietary control system–paw gauntlets and tail sheath for input, and a HUD visor for output, and each make and model has its ardent defenders and bitter detractors.

The most popular micro mech sport at the time of First Contact is a hunting game where one or more mechs compete to touch the nose of a participant on foot, who in tern is trying to chase down and smash the mechs. From an external perspective it looks like someone trying to chase down and squash a troublesome insect, so most people watch vid feeds from the mechs. From their perspective it’s a Dark Souls style giant boss battle. Since the mechs are piloted remotely the only risk is to the “boss”, who has to do a lot of leaping and brachiating. Humans refer to the sport as EXTREME snoot booping (caps and bold text mandatory).

Conventional mechs that are piloted internally are also used in fighting competitions similar to the arena from Armored Core.