The Mech Touch

The capital city of Sandan had become a lot more sober and less exuberant since the last visit.

In the recent past, Ves and Gloriana were still able to bring their children out to the city to play and shop for toys.

Despite the necessity of getting accompanied by a large security detail, the sense of confidence and optimism among the predominantly Terran citizens and visitors livened up the city.

That was no longer the case. The Red Tide Offensive had forced every human state to take the war a lot more seriously. They were all forced to accelerate their war mobilization plans and convert their civilian industries into more military-related industries.

The supply of a lot of consumer goods, luxury goods and so on would soon be cut as more workers and resources had to be diverted to more necessary endeavors.

Shops had already started to close as the Terrans began to adapt to the current and future changes.

The Devos Ancient Clan had also beefed up their military presence in the city. The Devosans set up additional checkpoints and were already working to build additional urban fortifications in case the aliens ever committed to an urban assault.

Ves did not visit Sandan in order to take a leisurely day off. He visited this place in order to meet with Lady Romanda Devos at a pleasant location.

His armored shuttle steadily approached a floating garden and touched down on the most central landing zone.

The escort of first-class multipurpose mechs of the Bluejay Fleet spread around the entire floating structure in order to stand guard and deter anyone from approaching the site.

The mechers implemented more security measures out of sight, but Ves paid no mind to these activities as he calmly stepped out of the armored shuttle.

"Meow." Lucky yawned as he lounged on Ves' shoulder.

"I know you don't want to go out with me today, but who knows whether I need your services? Just stay put and remain observant. If you sense anything amiss with the woman that I am about to meet, don't hesitate to voice your concerns. I trust your senses."

"Meow meow."

The gem cat flipped his tail before he proceeded to take a short nap.

Ves wordlessly bore the lazy feline on his shoulders as he moved to the center of the floating garden. Artworks depicting numerous Terran heroes of the past tastefully added a layer of sophistication to the place.

As he entered the central garden while under escort by a team of armored soldiers, he immediately spotted the woman he wanted to meet.

Lady Romanda Devos truly looked like the stereotype of a scion of an ancient clan. She dressed herself in an impeccable maroon dress that exuded a peculiar kind of understated luxury.

She had done her hair up in voluminous curls that framed her face in such a perfect fashion that Gloriana would probably grow jealous at the sight.

Her footwear consisted of long black boots that added a touch of aggression to her otherwise sophisticated appearance. The heels were fairly low, and the metalwork on them looked as if they could serve as combat boots in a pinch.

Ves worked with enough leather to recognize the sight of treated puelmer leather. This was a popular choice as the unusual method of locomotion for the aliens caused their hides to grow resilient, bouncy yet also supple in the right circumstances.

The lady briefly looked up as Ves came into sight, but otherwise went back to drinking her tea from a cup that exuded such a strong sense of age and history that it may have originated from before the Age of Mechs!

As Ves wordlessly walked up to the dainty black metal table, he sat down without a word and poured himself a cup of exotic-smelling coffee from the nearby heated pot.

As he lifted the cup to his lips and took a sip, he honestly couldn't taste anything aside from a tiny amount of warm water.

He might look like a normal human on the outside, but his physiology had already exceeded human limitations for a long time.

Phase lords still needed to eat and drink, and lots of it, but they had a lot more flexibility on the timing and frequency of filling their stomachs. They could easily go for years without ingesting anything and still remain in relatively good condition.

Ever since their bodies exceeded the confines of the material dimensions, they gained the ability to derive a lot of energy from other dimensions. That was why the humongous ancient phase whales did not need to eat enough food to comprise a small planet every once in a while.

Unless the phase whales experienced a rapid growth spurt, there was no need to eat to keep their bodies functional. As long as they did not lose their body mass due to injuries and so on, it was actually quite easy for them to maintain an even balance between energy consumption and energy absorption just by existing.

To Ves, eating and drinking like a regular human had lost meaning a long time ago. Even though his recent sublimation restored his taste buds, his lack of hunger made him a lot less sensitive towards the tiny portions that more normal humans delighted in, but there was no way he could feel sated in any way due to the enormous proportions of his true stomach.

Therefore, Ves saw little point in wasting too much time on indulging in the Terran custom of high tea. He decided to not act pretentiously and simply dumped the rest of the cup into his mouth as if he was drinking a tankard of beer.

He reached out and grabbed a few scones in order to take a bite at them, but he frankly couldn't derive a lot of enjoyment out of the proportionately tiny portions. He pretty much wasted the efforts of the top chefs who worked at the floating garden.

Although his mecher buddies placed a lot of importance on this meeting, Ves did not want to present a false image of himself. If Lady Romanda agreed to join the design team, then she would have to learn how to work alongside the real Ves. It was better for her to get a good impression of his actual personality.

Besides, Ves could not pretend to be classy like Gloriana because he originally grew up as an ordinary third-rater. Many people knew about this, so they tolerated his lack of manners.

"Professor Larkinson." The older woman finally broke the silence. "You are as impressive as you appear in the broadcasts."

"Oh? Did you expect to see anything different?" Ves raised an eyebrow as he casually raised one of his arms to pet his dozing gem cat.

"Maybe I did. I am not displeased by your current appearance. Your uniform is well-made, and you carry yourself in a manner completely unlike other Terrans or anything I can recognize. Your existence defies many boundaries. You are neither a first-rater, a second-rater or a third-rater. You are associated with both the Red Association and the Red Fleet, but you are leading the initiative to set up a direct competitor to them. You relocated to New Constantinople VIII after the Great Severing, but you built your base well outside of any existing population centers. In short, you are a walking contradiction that simply cannot be defined by a handful of words."

Ves chuckled. "That is not the first time people failed to pin me down. I think one of the reasons why that is so is that I have tried my best to live my own life. I refuse to fully bind myself to the mechers, the Terrans or any of the other groups that I have associated with in the past."

"You can say the same for your work." Lady Romanda said. "Your design philosophy is unlike anything our industry has ever seen. You have combined your mother's old heritage with modern human technology in such an inspired fashion that your living mechs have become its own category in the mech market. It is admirable of you to bravely pioneer the development of such a radical departure from the definition of a traditional mech."

"Your work is also new and different." Ves complimented the woman back. "Your design philosophy, though unusual, dares to reimagine one of the core aspects of mechs that people have long taken for granted. Whether your vision is the future of the mechs or not, I admire your dedication for sticking to your ideas for so many years while receiving considerable stigma and pushback from your fellow Terrans. Why do you insist on catering to the barely receptive Terran market when you have a greater chance of appealing to foreign customers?"

The Terran Senior Mech Designer did not reply immediately. Her eyes grew hazy as she took another elegant sip from her tea cup.

"I was born and raised a Terran and a member of the Devos Ancient Clan. I have an obligation to serve my people first. I do not have a particular reason to market my products to foreigners. Maybe it is true that I can attain more success if I do so, but my accomplishment will feel hollow so long as I have not been able to gain more traction in my home market."

Ves honestly did not understand why she would make such a strong distinction between domestic and foreign markets, but then again, he was not born a Terran.

He was originally a Brighter, but lost all of the pride he once held for his original state. The Larkinson Clan had taken the place of the Bright Republic for the most part, but if Ves was being really honest, he no longer wanted to shackle his life to any state or organization.

"I can respect your attitude." Ves politely said before he decided to get to the point as he was not adept in these kinds of conversations. "Anyway, you may have guessed that I requested a meeting with you because I am interested in collaborating with you on a very special mech design project."

Lady Romanda looked surprised that Ves was being so direct about his purpose. She gave him her full attention as she gently put down her tea cup and saucer.

"The Devos Ancient Clan guessed as much. In fact, my elders have urged me to accept your offer of cooperation regardless of your conditions."

She did not sound too satisfied about that. Lady Romanda's relationship with the Devos Ancient Clan was not exactly the best given its poor reaction to her design philosophy.

Ves gave her a sympathetic smile. "Disagreements with the elders of my own family is one of the reasons why I chose to step out of it. I hope that the overly enthusiastic actions of your ancient clan did not spoil my proposal in your eyes."

"You do not need to be concerned about that, Professor Larkinson. I admire you and your work. I am more than willing to listen to your offer of collaboration and weigh it on its own merits. As long as you plan to properly implement my design philosophy in your new mech design project, you will have a high likelihood of attracting my interest."

Though Ves had only talked to Lady Romanda for a short time, he already felt as if he had gotten her measure.

Lady Romanda reminded him a lot of himself.

She was like a much posher but also less successful version of himself.

She clearly wanted to pursue her own ideas, but unlike Ves, she had never mustered up the courage and the opportunity to sever her toes to her ancient clan and set up an independent organization around herself.

Despite her unwillingness to separate herself from the Devos Ancient Clan and the Terran Alliance, she was still willing to dedicate her entire life to proving the concept of her quirky and unusual design philosophy.

No matter how many times the Terrans rejected her defeatist mech designs, Lady Romanda one day hoped to earn vindication by earning true acceptance and recognition from her people!

Ves confidently smirked.

Though Romanda was unlikely to accomplish this ambition by herself, Ves believed he could help her fulfill her dreams with his assistance.

He checked to make sure that all of the jamming devices and other precautions were in order before he started to make his pitch.

"Let me introduce you to a revolutionary new idea that I have been working on…"

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