The Mech Touch

"Do you understand now why the Transhumanist Faction will endeavor to transform Venerable Lanie Larkinson to meet your requirements?"

Ves nodded. "Now that you have explained it to me, I can see how Lanie's transformation completely aligns with the posthuman ideology promoted by the Evolution Witch. From the perspective of the current Transhumanist Faction, there is great promise in adding plant-like traits to Venerable Lanie's physique. Not only will she become stronger in many ways, but if she can achieve fantastic synergies with an already powerful Woodsap mech, then that will turn her into a positive example of the benefits that posthumanism can bring to our civilization."

Professor Loban grinned. "That is an astute analysis. As eager as we may be in trying to evolve our race to a higher state, we are not pursuing posthumanism for the sake of it. We are always mindful of our goal, which is to make ourselves stronger and more competitive in comparison to other alien races. Mechs are a binding factor of our civilization. If we can successfully tie posthumanism to mechs in a beneficial manner, then we can promote our cause and convince many more people to embrace the changes that we are attempting to introduce in our society. Mechs and posthumanism go well together, and your elemental Carmine System has the potential to serve as concrete proof of this assertion."

In other words, Ves could not escape the reality that his work on elemental Carmine mechs had a strong political and ideological dimension to them. There was no way he could merrily develop his Woodsap mechs without gaining the support of a strong political supporter.

If the Transhumanist Faction was still being led by the Chosen Human, then it was seriously doubtful whether its members would be willing to condone the extreme transformation that Venerable Lanie had to undergo in order to pilot a Woodsap mech!

Fortunately, the RA Transformation Faction had already entered into a new regime. Ves' work just so happened to align with the objectives of the Evolution Witch. As long as this remained the case, he would not encounter any major hindrances from the Red Association!

"My elemental Carmine System concept is probably not the only posthuman project that your faction has developed an interest in, correct?" Ves asked.

"Naturally. I do not have an overview of the immense amount of R&D initiatives that our faction is sponsoring or directly working on, but I can tell you that the changes to our race will be profound. From developing a systematic method of transforming humans into phase lords to fully digitizing humans to the point where they are no longer dependent on frail human flesh, our faction is doing its utmost to speed up red humanity's collective evolution in an effort to better adapt to this cruel new age."

"Aren't you guys afraid of going too fast to the point of running headlong into an accident? What does the Survivalist Faction think about your newfound frenzy?"

Vector Loban chuckled. "The Survivalist Faction are the ultimate pragmatists. They will do whatever is necessary to ensure humanity's survival. Right now, the Survivalists collectively agree that the threat of getting defeated by an overwhelming number of aliens is far greater than the threat of ending our race due to rampant genetic modification. As long as this remains the case, the Survivalists will always serve as our most dependable allies and enablers. If you do not believe me, you can ask Jovy Armalon for further clarification."

That indeed sounded like the Survivalists.

"Will posthumanism become the dominant trend in our society?" Ves curiously asked.

"I cannot answer that question, Ves. Not every human in the Red Ocean is as open-minded as us. There are still many groups of humans who resist posthumanism. The Terrans and the fleeters are much more restrained on this subject and prefer to adhere to classical transhumanism. I predict that red humanity will become increasingly more divided on this issue. The fault lines are not that obvious for the time being, but that will change in a handful of decades."

"Oh?"

"An entire new generation of children will grow up while reaping the benefits of posthumanism." Professor Loban explained. "Unlike the people of our generation or the older generations, these children have received the unprecedented opportunity of undergoing more far-reaching transformations that will make them stronger, smarter and much more competent than their peers. They are lucky to be born and raised in an age where the Chosen Human's restrictive policies have already been overwritten by the Evolution Witch's more permissive policies."

Ves widened his eyes. Vector Loban hinted at a profound shift in human society. If it was true that a lot of designer babies were being born that were a lot further removed from the human template than before, then these were all monsters in the making!

Of course, these posthuman babies had no way of affecting human society on a large scale at the moment, but that would definitely change.

Once these freaks that superficially resembled humans completed their education and entered the workforce as adults, that would be the moment where human society as a whole would begin to experience a massive shock!

"I can definitely foresee that this difference will turn into a political wedge issue down the line, but… we first need to survive whatever the native aliens throw at us." Ves said.

"That is what the Survivalists think as well. Being able to live long enough for us to argue over political and ideological differences is infinitely better than losing all of our territory and most of our population. By the way, do not think that you can stand on the sidelines and remain unaffected by this debate."

"What do you mean by that?" Ves frowned.

"Perhaps you do not fully realize it yet, but you have quickly emerged to become one of the standard bearers of posthumanism. You are the most successful example of your generation. Think about it. As far as we know, you were born a baseline human or close to it in a small and modest third-rate state in the galactic rim. Once you embarked on your career, you relied on your brilliance as well as many different adventures to evolve into a Senior Mech Designer, the first human phase lord and the youngest tier 3 galactic citizen in human history. Your superhuman capabilities have played a key role in all of your accomplishments. It is impossible for a baseline human or lightly augmented human to replicate just 1 percent of your record."

Loban's explanation put Ves' career and accomplishments in a different light. Ves never thought of his work from this angle.

As much as Ves wanted to deny that his many achievements could only be made by sacrificing his own humanity, he could not lie to himself. He knew exactly how extensively he relied on advantages that exceed human boundaries.

"I still value my humanity." Ves plainly said. "Perhaps it is the third-rater in me that feels this way, but I still think there is a lot of merit in clinging to our weak human sensibilities. Whatever entanglements I have with posthumanism doesn't stop me from believing in the strength of humble humans."

"You are free to think this way, Ves, but opinions in the rest of our society are changing rapidly. As reluctant as I am to speculate on the Evolution Witch's motives, I believe that one of the reasons why she favors you so much is because your example helps her cause. It also makes you a thorn in the eye of those who are proponents of classical transhumanism, such as the First Flame and Admiral Amelie Jameson. Like it or not, you have already picked a side in this ideological debate."

Ves looked anything but pleased after hearing this. He was a mech designer first and foremost. He believed from the bottom of his heart that humans, even the weakest baseline variant among them, could become as strong as a god pilot as long as they piloted great mechs.

There were many examples in the history of the mech community that validated this assumption.

In the Larkinson Clan alone, Saint Tusa Billingsley-Larkinson was the true hero as far as Ves was concerned.

Just like Ves, Tusa was born as an ordinary baseline human in a third-rate state that was located right on the furthest edge of the galactic rim.

Over the course of many battles, Tusa steadily managed to develop his strength and increase his status until he had finally become the first ace pilot of the Larkinson Clan!

Throughout his entire journey up to this point, Tusa only received light augmentations and never felt the need to remove himself further from his own humanity.

His willpower had always remained his strongest asset. With the help of an excellent living mech in the form of the Dark Zephyr, Tusa possessed an unlimited future!

Though Ves believed it would be ideal if all of his clients and customers could attain the same degree of success as Saint Tusa by piloting his living mechs, he knew that reality could never produce this result.

To those who lacked the many opportunities that Tusa had received, embracing posthumanism may be their only way to step onto the path to godhood.

"Your children are also part of this debate." Vector said.

"What?"

"Oh, come now. Did you think that none of us have noticed how each of your three children perform far above their peers of the same ages? They may look human, but their bodies are so much more superior that their astounding evolution cannot be explained by their designer genes alone. I can tell you that not only our faction, but many other groups are carefully monitoring the performance of Aurelia, Andraste and Marvaine. We are all highly interested in seeing whether they can continue to overperform in their respective fields while also retaining enough stability to function in our society."

The mention that so many different groups were paying attention to his children deeply disturbed Ves!

He understood that it was unreasonable to expect his children to fly under everyone's radar.

That did not mean he wanted everyone to treat his son and daughters as long-term observation targets, though!

There was no chance for any of his kids to grow up while remaining low key if this was the case. They were doomed to live high profile lives, just like their father!

Ves sighed in resignation. "I hope that everyone will stick to watching. I would hate it if they purposefully interfere with the lives of my children for experimental purposes. They are not test subjects."

"There is no need for you to feel concerned about that. Your children automatically fall under our protection. This is a service that we extend to every high tier galactic citizen. If you are not reassured by that, then I suggest you increase their security detail."

That was a good suggestion. Ves already added it to his to-do list.

The two mech designers talked a bit more about posthumanism. Ves gained a lot of insight on certain people's attitudes on human augmentation and transformation.

After learning that Ves did not have to worry about the opinions of the mechers, he began to feel a bit better about his work.

His elemental Carmine System concept may demand extreme changes to any mech pilot that desired its power, but it remained a niche choice.

Most people could not stomach the option of turning themselves into a half-human freak.

Another hindrance was cost. The anticipated transformation that Venerable Lanie must undergo in order to pilot a Woodsap mech was anything but cheap. Only first-raters and possibly wealthy second-raters should be able to afford the personalized treatments.

There was still room for the regular version of the Carmine System to exist. It might not be as flashy as the more exotic variations, but a mech pilot should still have a good chance to advance to god pilot with this solution!

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