The Mech Touch

5791 Decisive Resolution

The history of red humanity had changed forever!

Due to a confluence of accidents and botched conspiracies, Ves had impulsively called for the society he was a part of to found a worthy end addition to the Red Two.

Surprisingly enough, his idea gained so much traction that his improvised proposal got passed by plenty of stakeholders!

Not only was the public nearly universally behind the idea of gaining a much easier pathway to power in a collective that they could call their own, but a broad plurality of tier 1 galactic citizens decided to go onboard as well!

This was nothing but a miracle, one that could have never taken place if a lot of conditions had been slightly different.

Public attention had worked in his favor.

Ves found it ironic that the antics of Lieutenant-Commander Astrid Jameson had actually caused the initially boring public inquiry to turn into a civilization-wide spectacle!

If not for that, Ves would have never been able to throw a verbal bomb that detonated all of human society!

Ves realized that he had been put in the right place and time to chip away at the hegemony of the Red Two. So many people sought to weaken the mechers and the fleeters, yet none had managed to do so because these rival groups always banded together in order to resist any challenge to their power structure.

Even though the opponents to living mechs sought to leverage overwhelming public pressure to force Ves to limit the capabilities of his products, in the end he had brilliantly hijacked the weapon of his enemies and turned the will of the people into his strongest weapon!

He had no doubt that if public opinion hadn't been so overwhelmingly in favor of his ideals, a lot of god pilots and Star Designers probably felt they could get away with rejecting this obvious challenge to their authority.

Yet because Ves had aligned himself much more closely with the desires of the common folk, it became impossible for the mechers and the fleeters to pretend that they were working in the best interest of the masses.

What happened taught Ves a few good lessons about power and influence.

In any case, now that the Xenotechnician had completed his announcement, the show had finally come to a close.

Admiral Amelie Jameson departed first, but not before directing a mean scowl towards Ves. She did not hide her disgust at the outcome of the proceedings, nor hide her personal animosity towards the chief culprit behind this circus.

Ves remained cool. He knew that he had made or enflamed a number of powerful enemies today.

However, there was no way for him to avoid this consequence without outright admitting defeat.

So what if a bunch of tier 1 galactic citizens really did not like him at the moment?

He more than made up for that by earning the appreciation of even more powerful leaders!

While the Star Designers only took a single speculative glance towards Ves before shutting down their connections, the god pilots had no such restraint.

The First of Defiance grinned and raised his fist as if he wanted Ves to bump it back. "<nullb>YOU'VE GOT GUTS, KID. WE TRULY NEED A YOUNGSTER LIKE YOU UP HERE. TOO MANY HOLDOVERS FROM THE AGE OF CONQUEST ARE LETTING THEIR IMPRESSIONS OF HUMANITY AT ITS WORST DICTATE THEIR DECISIONS. IT IS HIGH TIME FOR THEM TO GET OUT OF THE WAY AND LET THE LATER GENERATIONS TAKE CHARGE OF THEIR OWN DESTINY."

The god pilot definitely worsened his relationships with these so-called holdovers, but the Survivalist leader did not show any sign that he cared about that. He simply voiced his frustrations at the status quo before he signed off without waiting for any replies.

The physical projection of the Army of One moved closer and eyed Ves up like a cut of meat.

The god pilot's stare unnerved Ves, especially when there was actual force behind it. The famed powerhouse was fairly young, but that also caused him to be a lot more open-minded towards new ideas.

The man did not seem to spot what he was looking for, because he soon shook his head in disappointment.

"<nullb>YOU ARE NOT READY YET. WORK HARD AND DO NOT DROWN YOURSELF WITH YOUR NEW RESPONSIBILITIES. WE DO NOT HAVE THE LUXURY OF TIME."

Ves kind of understood what the Army of One meant and sought from him. "I am very much aware of that, Your Holiness. Do not be concerned. I am not my mother. Designing mechs will always remain my primary vocation."

After the departure of the Army of One, a Star Designer approached him next.

Surprisingly enough, the Web Mistress saw fit to adopt a more reconciliatory tone!

"There are aspects of your work that greatly intrigue me." The junior Mech Supremacist leader stated. "Once the planning and deployment of your kinship networks have reached an advanced stage, I will be called upon to inspect, review and possibly augment your work."

What?

"Uh, you will?"

The Web Mistress smiled at Ves. "This is not my original area of expertise, but I admit that your work has greatly inspired me. E-technology may be beyond the reach of most mech designers, but you vastly underestimate Star Designers if you think that will stump us. There are only several quirks about your unique design application that we cannot replicate, but we are confident that we can develop substitutes if need be. The Red Fleet's ARCHIE comes to mind."

Ves remained silent for a few seconds.

This was not a simple message. Ves did not forget that the Web Mistress initially sided with the opposition in an attempt to restrict his third order living mechs.

Was she trying to reconcile with him? How would her involvement in his kinship networks affect their deployment? What did she seek from his work?

More importantly than that, had she managed to destroy his monopoly on kinship networks?

Ves wanted to deny this possibility, but he couldn't. Out of all of the Star Designers who could make this happen, he judged that the Polymath and the Web Mistress had the highest chance of succeeding!

If this was the case, then Ves needed to adjust his expectations accordingly. He was not as irreplaceable as he thought.

While he could still lean on the value of other contributions such as the transcendence glow, Carmine mechs and companion spirit fruits, it did not feel good for him to lose one of his trusty pillars.

Perhaps the only reason why he was not completely worried was that he doubted that anyone could fully replicate features of his kinship networks. They were based on living entities of his own creation, and they were purpose-built for this functionality.

"I would be… happy to collaborate with you on this matter." Ves politely responded. "I think that kinship networks can offer great value to human society. I would like it if we can employ them more extensively."

"I agree with you, but we cannot move too quickly on this issue. There is a great degree of suspicion towards them. It will take more effort and accommodations to make them more universally acceptable."

"I understand.

By the time the Web Mistress said her piece, most of the tier 1 galactic citizens had retreated from the Dragon King's Palace.

Ves flagged the Evolution Witch before she could complete her own disappearing act.

It took a lot of courage for him to draw the attention of a god pilot on his own initiative, but Ves wanted to strike while the iron was hot. There was no better circumstance for him to issue a request to the Transhumanist leader!

"<nullb>PROFESSOR LARKINSON, THE AGENT OF CHANGE. WHAT IS IT YOU REQUIRE?"

"I have a big favor to ask of you." Ves decided to be direct in sharing his intentions. "It is not really suitable for me to explain it to you in public. Are you available to speak in a more private setting?"

"<nullb>FOR YOU? I CAN INDULGE YOU. LET US SPEAK TWO HOURS LATER. BOTH OF US WILL NEED TO HANDLE PRESSING MATTERS FIRST. MY APPOINTMENT AS THE HEAD OF THE INTERIM LEADERSHIP COUNCIL IS AN EXCELLENT OPPORTUNITY FOR ME TO INITIATE THE REFORMS THAT I HAVE ALWAYS ENVISIONED, BUT I WILL NEED TO TAKE ACTION RIGHT AWAY IN ORDER TO YIELD THE BEST RESULTS."

"Ah, do not delay your plans on my account. I still hope to speak with you later."

The Evolution Witch nodded once at Ves before her physical projection went away.

The final personality left was the god cat cradled in his arms.

Emma gently lifted up in the air and turned around to face him squarely in the eyes.

"Thank you, Your Holiness. Your support has been invaluable to me. I owe you another favor."

"<nullb>MIEW."

By the time the various tier 1 and tier 2 galactic citizens had withdrawn their presence, the grand hall felt a lot emptier and more diminished.

This was a historic moment.

Everyone understood that the decisions made today would reverberate through human civilization for many years to come.

For the first time in several centuries, the mechers and the fleeters were on track to lose their duopoly on power.

Their previously unassailable authority had cracked now that most people recognized that the existing hegemons were no longer adequately equipped to handle the issues that plagued red humanity.

Ves… had done the unthinkable.

That caused him to attract a huge amount of attention. Ves could feel the hot stares trying to poke at his body!

Ves looked around for anyone who could take charge of this runaway session. It did not surprise him that Planetary Governor Rod Mergan-Castelaus had quietly managed to beat a retreat. The moderator of the public inquiry had completely lost face during the final session. It had been wise of him to retreat from the public eye.

Since that was the case, Ves might as well step up since nobody else did what was necessary.

Ves boldly lifted his body up in the air and addressed the public.

"I declare that this public inquiry has come to an end. Given the many irregularities that have occurred throughout these past few days, let us just agree to give the matter of living mechs a rest. Whatever the case, the Red Collective that is on track of being formed is a much more legitimate organization to regulate my living mechs. Until then, given that my helpful third-order living mechs have done nothing but prove their value to their users, I think it is reasonable to decide that we should preserve the current status quo. Does anyone object to my judgment?"

He was pretty sure that the rules of the public inquiry did not allow for the defender to cast judgment on himself, but Ves boldly did so anyway.

His momentum was so great at this time that no one dared to stand in his way anymore!

Those who had attempted to do so had received a lashing from his Devil Tongue!

Ves purposefully looked down at Lieutenant-Commander Astrid Jameson and the other speakers.

Though they most definitely took issue to his latest unreasonable stunt, they knew better than to voice their objections.

They understood extremely well that they had not only lost public support, but would also incur even more hatred if they continued their attempts to beat up their golden boy!

Ves did not let his adversaries get away with a silent assent, though.

"Answer me." He demanded in a commanding tone. "Do you accept my verdict or not? A simple yes or no answer is sufficient."

He hoped that Astrid Jameson would be the one to step forward, but it was Professor Kacuk Chabran who did what was necessary.

"Yes. We accept. You win, professor. You have played the game brilliantly if I may say so myself."

"Good. I hope that this matter comes to an end today. I do not tolerate any further challenges from you about my work."

"Oh, we shall not make this mistake again."

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