mech

But I reprogrammed the recognition codes, and they won't treat him as Roubor Transic, nor will they obey any order he gives them. He's Mr. X to the mechs, a casual human to be taken care of just as well as possible, but never, never released.

Yes, Switchitis. It's a highly contagious disease which can affect all propeller mechs. This disease can be costly, but usually not to the mechs. They're just the carriers. The people most affected by this disease are the flightcrews – those fearless adventurers who go flying around in machines that you mechs have worked on.