The Mech Touch

5788 The Resonance Smith

The Survivalist Faction wielded a lot of influence in the Red Association and beyond.

A lot of different parties looked up to the Survivalists for guidance in this time of crisis and uncertainty.

Few insiders overlooked the fact that the outcome of the latest conference organized by this faction had been responsible for pushing the Deep Strike Plan onto red humanity.

Even though the Fist of Defiance was not the outright leader of human civilization in the new frontier, the fact that society had begun to follow his vision had elevated his renown above other god pilots!

Therefore, people were considerably more inclined to accept his recommendations or instructions than in the past.

His personality flaws were well-known, but his unwavering optimism and his unflinching belief in red humanity was exactly what everyone needed the most in this dark and difficult period!

Though the god pilot had not turned into the outright ruler of red humanity, people found that despite his crass language, he was actually pretty suitable to serve as the guiding conscience of their troubled civilization.

There had to be good reasons why the Fist of Defiance recommended Ves to become the inaugural leader of the proposed organization.

However, it was not until the famous or infamous Polymath issued a similar recommendation that people truly started to take the idea more seriously!

Ves grew nervous as the expressions of many people started to show they were weighing this additional proposal on its merits.

If the Red Collective truly lifted off, then who better to lead it in its formative years than the man who came up with it in the first place?!

Even though he was awfully young for the job, he had demonstrated many admirable traits during the times he presented himself to the public.

In addition to that, his mysterious heritage and his excellent grasp on E-technology demonstrated that he possessed the functional knowledge needed to oversee the development of cultivation in human society.

Ves could clearly sense that the seed had been planted in people's minds. That was not good for him because he really did not want this job!

This was not the time to discuss this issue. The vote still needed to go on. There were still a number of important factions that had yet to declare their stances.

"The Polymath has spoken." He said as he continued to cradle Emma in his arms. "Who else from the Red Association is ready to announce their decision?"

Another projection came forth. The power radiating from this individual made it clear that yet another Star Designer made an appearance.

It soon became clear that the latest arrival did not have the most spotless reputation. Many of the god pilots and Star Designers who had already shown up all put up their guards as the only leader of the Unbound Humanity Faction finally saw fit to participate!

As one of the more obscure Star Designers of the MTA and now the RA, many people only knew about Jose Ukewe when his name appeared in the list of Star Designers.

The mechers did not seem keen to promote his name among the public. The Star Designer himself played along and mostly kept his work confined within the Association.

That did not mean he was a non-entity. Far from it. His unusual decision to embrace the ideals of the infamous Unbounders had immediately turned him into a troubled existence among the mechers!

After all, he was one of the few crazy people among their kind who actively advocated for the weakening of the Mech Trade Association and the elimination of nearly all taboos!

The man did not look very trustworthy either. Unlike the other Star Designers who made sure to wear their most refined and sophisticated outfits, the ebony-skinned Unbounder deliberately wore a frumpy coat while not even bothering to groom his unkempt gray hair.

Was this guy even a Star Designer?

The latest arrival grinned in amusement as he swept his gaze across the grand hall. He seemed to relish in all of the confusion and discomfort.

"I am Jose Ukewe. You may know me as the Resonance Smith. To be honest, I am… torn between two stances. I am known as an advocate for human rights. More specifically, I am convinced that humans such as yourself deserve to be treated as adults rather than irresponsible children. On one hand, the founding of the Red Collective will help to limit the jurisdiction of the Red Association and the Red Fleet. On the one hand, the Red Collective may end up imposing far more rules and restrictions than the previous two organizations ever could have done on their own. Professor Larkinson, which scenario do you deem more plausible?"

Ves blinked. He did not expect for the Unbounder to address him directly.

After everything that happened, Ves actually found himself straying closer to the principles and the ideals of the Unbounders.

Perhaps Master Benedict Cortez had actually been right about aligning himself with this seemingly crazy faction.

Even though the vast majority of mechers hated these deviants for trying to advocate for reining in their power, the Unbounders were truly sincere in their belief that humans were responsible enough to handle their own affairs.

However, the persistent opposition from everyone else had turned the Unbound Humanity Faction into a marginalized group. Only the much more radical Dissolution Faction was less popular!

Ves felt a bit troubled when the Resonance Smith sought his input.

Was the Star Designer truly undecided on this matter, or did the notorious Star Designer merely wanted to poke into Ves' head by asking a probing question?

Whatever the case, Ves could not afford to take this lightly.

"I am not sure what sort of answer you are looking for. In my opinion, the Red Collective is very different from the Red Association that you are familiar with. For one, nearly any cultivator who isn't an outright criminal or traitor may join the Collective. This strong inclusivity means that the new organization will never completely exclude ordinary people from power. One of the most persistent complaints about the mechers and the fleeters is that they make a lot of decisions that directly affect the lives of other people. That should not happen in my new organization."

"That is an admirable goal, but implementing it is far more difficult in practice." The Resonance Smith spoke with evident interest in his voice. "How would you propose to grant the general population a voice in the decision-making process? Will you allow them to vote directly on proposals? Will you give them the right to elect representatives that will be tasked with creating and voting on legislation?"

Ves shook his head. "The Red Collective is not a government and should not be structured as such. People will have the wrong ideas if we run it as a state. I really do not think it should be up to me to decide on how the Collective should be run."

The Resonance Smith shook his head. "Do not shirk my question. This is your vision. You must have an idea on how it will impose itself on human society."

The Star Designer made it sound that if Ves did not supply a satisfactory answer, the Resonance Smith would reject the proposal!

Even if the support of a single Star Designer was not that crucial, Ves did not want to lose the support and goodwill of a powerful player.

From what little Ves had heard about the Resonance Smith, this Star Designer was responsible for many of the advancements of high-end resonating materials!

A lot of ace mechs but especially god mechs derived a lot of power from the extremely powerful resonating alloys developed by Jose Ukewe.

The vast majority of resonating materials found in the cosmos were fairly weak. They were powerful up to a point. When high-ranking mech pilots outgrew these natural materials, their ability to leverage more power from their machines became constrained by hard ceilings.

The only way to further unlock the power of ace pilots and god pilots with vastly superior resonance strengths was to resort to artificially synthesized resonating materials!

If not for the groundbreaking work by the Resonance Smith, the domain fields and combat power of many ace mechs and god mechs would have been substantially weaker than in the present!

The extreme importance of the Resonance Smith's works had made him unassailable within the Association.

The mechers depended far too much on the Resonance Smith's work to ostracize him for his controversial ideals.

That meant that Jose Ukewe could keep on advocating for the lifting of many taboos as long as he kept making vitally important contributions!

He was clearly a shrewd and cunning Star Designer. It would not be good for Ves to get on the Resonance Smith's bad side!

The powerful mecher clearly wanted to force a real answer out of Ves.

"I… think that none of the existing governance models are suitable for the Red Collective." Ves eventually explained. "The way the mechers and fleeters run their own organizations may work well for them, but too many decisions are made by high and mighty elites who are locked in their ivory towers. Ah, no offense to you, but ordinary folk find it impossible to connect to you guys."

"I am aware." The Resonance Smith responded with a more severe expression. "The Big Two and the Red Two deliberately set themselves apart from the rest of the population. They believe that maintaining a degree of separation will allow them to manage our society in a more fair and impartial manner. I personally do not agree with this policy, but it is the prevailing consensus."

The leader of the Unbounders attracted a few ugly looks from the other leading figures. The Resonance Smith was making the Red Two look bad in front of the public.

Ves continued to explain his views. "As I have stated before, I don't think that appointing representatives to enact policies or letting people vote on measures directly is the answer either. Not only will it warp the Red Collective into something else, it will also lead to a lot of distracting and unproductive popularity contests. I am not opposed to giving ordinary people a way to exercise their power within the new organization, but these mundane measures will only decrease the efficiency of the Collective in a time where we can least afford it. We are locked in a total war against the native aliens of the Red Ocean. We need to be more decisive in our decision-making."

"Ah, but there is the dilemma." The Unbounder smirked in amusement. "More effective decision-making can only be accomplished by centralizing power at the top. A technocracy can accomplish that at the cost of disenfranchising the bottom. A more democratic governance system can give the general population more influence over far-reaching policy decisions, yet there are many concerns about respecting the voice of large quantities of people with little understanding of cultivation."

Neither of these governance systems sounded ideal to Ves. He did not want to determine which one was the lesser of two evils.

This was why he came up with a third idea that was so crazy and radical that he did not really want to voice it in the first place!

Unfortunately for him, the Resonance Smith demanded a real answer out of Ves!

After a few seconds of hesitation, Ves finally decided to throw his suggestion into the opening.

"I have been putting a little thought on an alternative solution that sidesteps the problems of the prior models." He slowly said. "It takes a bit of explanation to understand it in full, but if I have to summarize it, I think it is best for me to employ my kinship networks to bind large groups of people to powerful entities. These 'spirits' or gods if you will are theoretically the embodiment of the collective will and desires of a distinct population. That means that they are qualified to represent that group in the main decision-making organ of the Red Collective. Are you following me so far?"

"..."

Everyone had been stunned into silence.

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