The Mech Touch

The Time Gate completely surpassed Ketis' imagination.

She simply couldn't process the craziness surrounding the ability to travel back in time and experience history from the perspective of an actual mech pilot.

The fact that she could potentially interfere with the life of the mech pilot in question and change the course of history blew her mind!

The potential abuses were enormous! What if she leaked a lot of future information to the humans in the past? What if she engineered the downfall of the heroes of the present? What if she produced a butterfly effect that ultimately caused her own birth to be unmade?!

"Don't worry too much about it." Ves reassured a shocked-looking Ketis. "The primary purpose of the Time Gate is to give us the most realistic front-row seat to how a mech pilot fights with an actual mech. Everything else is secondary. Just do what comes natural to you, and don't worry about accidentally unmaking our present timeline or anything. From what I have observed, the present time that we currently live in has already incorporated every jaunt that I, and now you, have made in the past. So don't hesitate and feel free to do whatever you want. Every change that causes enough ripple effects to change our society has already happened. We just don't know it yet. If you don't want to engage in these shenanigans, then don't think about it and use these Mastery experiences for their intended purpose."

Ketis furrowed her brows as she tried to process all of the information provided by Ves. Time travel was a very mysterious subject. There were many people that believed that the Red Two may have mastered a rudimentary form of it, but the cost was probably so high that it was simply never done.

If the mercers and the fleeters truly mastered time travel, then they would have never let the Red Cabal pull off the Great Severing!

"Isn't this too reckless, Ves? I know many people who would kill to be able to travel back to the past so that they could alter their history and set themselves up for future success."

He chuckled. "I don't think the System can bear all of those consequences. There is always a price for everything. We just don't know exactly what is being paid because the System isn't being transparent about the mechanisms of the Time Gate. Personally, I believe that the System's selection of Mastery hosts is anything but random. Maybe they are specifically selected that no matter what you do, you will not be able to harm the timeline."

That sounded rather reasonable. Ultimately, Ketis had to undergo a Mastery experience herself in order to get a better idea of what she was dealing with. Descriptions and second-hand accounts alone did not do the Time Gate justice.

"If you want to make use of the Time Gate, do keep in mind that the time you spend in 'the past' will also go by in reality."

"That doesn't make any sense." Ketis frowned. "Isn't the progression of time in reality slowed down to almost zero right now? Why does it suddenly return to a normal pace as soon as we pass through the Time Gate? Why doesn't this time-manipulating device allow us to spend days on the other side while no time passes by on this side?"

"Beats me. I don't make the rules, Ketis. I may have been making use of the Mech Designer System for almost two decades, but I am still just a user, just like you. Only the creator or someone with heightened authority can give us more detailed explanations why everything is set up this way."

The only person he could think of was his mother, who oddly enough possessed the ability to influence or intimidate the System into acting in a certain fashion.

"Is there anything else I should know about the Time Gate before we move to the next stop?"

"Yeah. If my guess is right, you should be able to make use of the Time Gate for free once every year. Don't waste this opportunity. I do not think there is a better way for mech designers like us to understand what mech pilots are going through when they are struggling inside the cockpits of their machines. One of the reasons why my customers enjoy the experience of piloting my mechs so much is because I have incorporated so many lessons from so many Mastery experiences in my mech designs. It is also why I have been able to make so many masterwork mechs. One of the factors that determine the quality of a product is how well it serves the needs of its intended users. A machine that pilots like a well-fitted glove is most definitely superior to a clunky lump of metal that actively fights its pilot's intentions every step of the way."

The swordmaster looked thoughtful at that. She most definitely understood the implications as well as the value of the Time Gate.

"I will not waste it." She promised. "From what you have described, this is a far better way for mech designers to understand the challenges of mech pilots than the alternatives. Interviewing mech pilots is a poor means of information transfer, and trying to connect with their minds with the help of neural interface technology is risky and can only be done outside of the cockpit."

If Ketis disregarded the shenanigans related to time travel, then the service provided by the Time Gate was already invaluable enough to any mech designer. She would be more than happy if access to these so-called 'Mastery experiences' was the only gain she made today.

The pair eventually eventually left the clearing that held the gate and moved up to the second-to-last stop.

Before they reached the top of the mountain, Ves led Ketis to a clearing that was built to the side and looked a lot more technologically advanced than the other facilities.

"Is that an old-fashioned land-based observatory?" Ketis asked in puzzlement. "I assumed the sky above us was fake."

"You are not wrong, Ketis. This particular facility is looking at something different than the sky of the System Space. This is the primary reason why you are here. I had already been thinking about inducing you into the Mech Designer System for several years, but I never pulled the trigger until the appearance of this structure recently has encouraged me to pull the trigger."

The two stepped inside the large structure and became greeted by a lot of empty space and two very distinctive sights.

Though Ketis' attention was immediately drawn towards the smaller object, Ves held her hand and pulled her towards the large array in the middle.

"This is the Dimension Telescope. It is one of the two main components of the Dimension Observatory we are in. Simply put, it allows us to peek at one of them in any other dimensions that are normally inaccessible to us. It contains a range of useful features and upgrades that will allow us to look for specific resources and such, but all of it costs lots of AP to acquire. You can take a look yourself by accessing the console."

Ketis did so and soon began to look troubled. "These upgrades are… expensive. There are so many of them as well, and I bet that this device will continue to present expensive new upgrade choices later on. Why are you so eager to make use of this telescope? There is little point in observing different dimensions unless you want to conduct specialized research, but I do not think this is relevant to your research projects."

"To explain that, I will have to take you to the second component of the Dimension Observatory. Come over here. You have already been staring at it from the moment you stepped inside this place."

Compared to the large and impressive telescope, Ketis clearly possessed a much greater attraction towards a giant pillar surrounded by spatial energies!

The reason why she felt such a strong affinity towards it was because it was vaguely shaped like a sword!

Not only that, but she intuitively guessed that it was able to leverage the spatial energies to form an exceptionally sharp blade that could cut through more than solid matter!

As a swordmaster, Ketis already felt the urge to wield this giant pillar and swing the massive 'blade' at least once.

Unfortunately, she was not a phase lord. It was impossible for a mere human like herself to hold a pillar that was large and heavy enough to hold up the roof of a medium-sized structure!

"What… what is it called?"

"This… is the Dimension Blade. Perhaps you may have guessed it already, but this device exists to sever the walls between dimensions in a targeted fashion. This will generate a tear that will connect the material realm with one of the higher dimensions that we have targeted. Anything on the other side can cross into our own set of dimensions and vice versa so long as the dimensional tear continues to persist. For now, the tears we can make with this Dimension Blade are not that big. The tears won't last that long either."

"This… this is amazing." Ketis gasped. "Wielding the Dimension Blade is like wielding the power of a god, if only momentarily. Can only create minor gaps between the dimensions?."

"The System allows us to upgrade the performance of the Dimension Blade in several ways, so we can attain much better results as long as we invest enough AP. One of my ultimate goals is to save enough AP to secure one of the best and most expensive upgrades that allows us to make a permanent tear through the dimensional walls!"

A temporary tear and a permanent tear had completely different meanings. Ketis was smart enough to deduce the consequences of either option.

It was already amazing enough to be able to produce temporary tears for the purpose of quickly plundering valuable dimensional resources, but creating permanent tears had a much greater impact on society!

"This…!" Ketis widened her eyes in realization. "If we can create numerous permanent tears into resource-rich dimensions, then we can significantly expand the availability of resources in human-occupied space! If we can plant them in strategic star systems to the rear, we can give the Red Two and every other major power the ability to continuously mine the resources they need to construct powerful mechs and warships."

"Exactly! Do you see now why I am so keen on using the Dimension Observatory?"

"Why haven't you already made use of it if you think it is so important?"

"It's too expensive." Ves frankly admitted. "Not only that, but I don't want to draw any further attention to myself than I already have. Let me explain my concerns to you in greater detail so that you understand my perspective."

He spent the next ten minutes telling her how he was struggling to earn enough AP to fuel his own upgrades while also trying to improve the performance of the Dimension Observatory.

He also explained how he had become way too high profile and that he did not think he could afford to become a lot more valuable than he was today.

"...I don't have a good way to explain how I have magically gained the ability to cut a tear through dimensions. Not even phase whales can do stuff like this. People will suspect that I am hiding a much greater secret if I show off this ability one day. That is why I have spent months without ever touching the Dimension Observatory." Ves concluded his explanation.

Realization dawned on Ketis as she completely comprehended her former mentor's plan at this time.

"So the main reason you inducted me to the system is to wield this power in your stead?"

"It makes sense, doesn't it? You are a swordsmaster. You can do all kinds of cool stuff with a blade in your hand. The Red Two, the first-rate colonial superstates and every other major power won't look too deeply into you when you show off your crazy new ability to create dimensional tears one day. They will just assume that this is part of a hidden traditional swordsmanship method. This can serve as the apparent origin behind your powerful new ability! You can even invent a fake sword style around it and toss it to others as a diversion. It is not your fault that their sword practitioners are so incompetent that they can't pull off any of the techniques in the manual."

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