The Mech Touch

Jovy made a convincing argument why going too far with granting people access to powerful deities would be detrimental to human society.

"Imagine what it would be like for people of faith to gain access to their personal hotline that connects directly to their supposed 'gods'. They will not only pray to the higher existences for protection against the aliens, but also many other reasons. This can be an earnest plea for their sons and daughters who are fighting in the frontlines to survive. It can also be a more trivial request such as letting them win a lottery."

"If you are afraid that a bunch of newly appeared gods will come and change stuff left and right, then the Red Collective can impose laws on them that should restrict their behavior. I am also sure that we can use technological and more exotic solutions such as my Pacifiers to minimize these divine manifestations in the areas where they are less than welcome."

"None of these are perfect solutions." Jovy said. "It is impossible to monitor every instance of power usage, and the glow of your law enforcement mech produces too many side effects that render people insensitive. We need to solve this problem at the root, for we cannot allow society to change beyond recognition due to the chaotic and uncontrolled meddling of these supposed deities."

"I… can see why you are concerned about this, but why not try it out for a time? You told me yourself we live in troubled times right now. I would have imagined that you guys think we should get all of the help we can get."

"That is true up to a limit. There comes a point where excessive or misguided help turns into harm. Let me give you an example. Think about high school graduates who are undertaking entrance exams for their chosen degrees at a prestigious university. There is one worshiper among them that hasn't made sufficient preparations to pass the exam, but still prays for success. His god answers his prayers and 'helpfully' infuses a large amount of unearned knowledge in the student's head, or simply compels his fingers to type out the perfect answers. Now try and answer these questions for me. First, does this 'blessed' student deserve to pass the exam and begin his studies? Second, how would you rate the intervening god's actions in the spectrum of good and evil?"

Those were deep questions that involved a lot of ethics and philosophy. Ves was not in the mood to think so hard on this issue, so he plainly voiced the first thoughts on his mind.

"I can see where there are circumstances where the student does deserve to get accepted, but in my opinion this should not happen. The university has a limited quota for the amount of students who can enroll for a study program, and it is only fair to reserve those spots for the best performing students. The ones who are supposed to get in are those who are intelligent enough and put in the hard work to memorize a lot of stuff and learn how to apply their knowledge. I don't think anyone will argue that they have deserved their places fair and square, but it becomes more difficult to hold this stance if others come around who are simply better."

"There are many parts of our society that only value results. They do not necessarily place any emphasis on the process, which means that the believers of gods may be able to exploit this to their own advantage."

Ves rubbed his hairless chin in thought. "If you purely want to judge by competence and capability, then a student who skipped all of that and directly had his knowledge implanted by his 'god' may be able to get into the study program anyway. However, if we start doing that on a civilization-wide scale, then a lot of 'cheating' will occur where those who play by the rules get disadvantages while those who pray to their gods for instant success will get ahead. If this trend becomes prevalent enough, then a lot of people will simply stop studying and start praying instead. They will never be able to develop the critical thinking and problem solving skills necessary to become competent mech designers, engineers and so on. This may eventually plunge our entire civilization into a pit of superstition."

"That is a highly apt description of one of the scenarios we are most afraid about." Jovy said. "One of the driving reasons why we have yet to fully automate every job that is currently performed by humans is not only because we are afraid of hostile takeovers of our AIs. It is also because we need to give people enough activities for them to make progress, better themselves and climb up the ladder. We absolutely cannot give them any reason for them to grow lazy and remain idle. As soon as humans begin to give up on working hard on a large scale, then that usually presages the utter collapse and extinction of a race, human or alien. Even if that does not happen, humans will most certainly be reduced to slaves of their gods as they can no longer do anything difficult by themselves."

The consequences could be very dire. Ves got reminded of all of his fears about developing an overdependence on the Mech Designer System for his success.

Fortunately, he possessed enough self-control to hold him back from using the System to solve every trivial design problem.

What about others?

Would ordinary people be able to exercise the restraint and discipline required to keep their ability to grow and learn intact?

Ves very much doubted it! There would be far too many people who gave up on trying to achieve success the old-fashioned way. They would instead devote their entire lives to being as pious as possible in order to beg for more divine favors!

This sort of situation could very well happen due to Ves' actions because he had already grown powerful enough to do so. This was yet another reminder that he really needed to think through his more profound actions and decisions.

"Alright, you don't have to say anything more. I fully agree with you and your faction that if we reintroduce more active gods to our society, they will need to abide by a strict set of rules to prevent them from messing everything up. I think the overall purpose that we have to keep in mind is that these gods exist to serve humanity, and not the other way around. It should be the responsibility of the Red Collective to set these rules and enforce them, so I guess I will have to follow up on this matter."

"There are other councilors that will be active in doing so. There is no need for you to allocate too much time on this issue." Jovy reassured Ves. "What we require you to do is to limit the power and growth expression of the 'divine avatars' so that we can prevent the worst from happening. If the gods are unable to freely fulfill the prayers of their worshipers, then that is enough."

"And how do you propose for me to do this, exactly? Please keep in mind that this is definitely not what those other religious organizations had in mind."

"It is not difficult to form a suitable plan, Ves. One suggestion is to create 'divine avatars' that are much more limited in scope than you originally planned. For example, instead of indulging in the desires of the Diocese of New Rome by creating the most accurate vessel possible for a god that is all-knowing and all-powerful, instead try to shape a more modest object of religious significance. For example, you can create a cross or just a part of it. You can create a crown of thorns. You can even create a shroud with the imprint of a person if you want. If you need to justify your work to your client, then say that you are too weak and limited to shape their almighty deity in a more complete and accurate form. It may actually be true."

Ves understood the plan. It was actually quite an elegant workaround. His 'clients' would definitely become disappointed when he delivered products that did not match all of the hype, but at least he fulfilled their most important needs, if only barely.

Disappointing his clients would definitely suck the wind out of his Coalition of Faiths, but he was confident that the various churches would not grow upset to the point of cutting ties.

"This is probably the most acceptable way to go forward. I think I will be able to make these 'castrated avatars' in such a way that they… won't be as proactive and eager to throw their weight around than if they were truly accurate representations of people's gods. However, I should warn you that there is a limit to what I can do. I can tell you from my past experience that design spirits and ancestral spirits do not entirely stick to the programming that I have set. They can grow, learn and evolve over time. They are alive. They are not static products that stick to their original directives. The more worshipers expect greater things from them, the more these avatars will change to suit those human desires."

"That is why we must shape the optics of the so-called divine avatars by turning them into objects related to the faith, Ves. No one expects a sword to heal their injuries or give them the intelligence to pass a university exam. A wrench will only be regarded as a source of blessing for industries. The more limited and specific the object, the narrower its scope will be. The purpose is to use the images and symbols to direct people's beliefs and make them believe in the divinity of an object related to a supposed god instead of the deity itself. This not only cuts down on the uncontrollable and unpredictable variance, but also encourages greater specialization. Do you understand?"

If Ves managed to implement the plan, then the landscape of gods or rather 'divine avatars' would become much less chaotic and prone to producing unforeseen disasters!

The mechers wanted to impose a lot of order and predictability in what could have otherwise unfolded into absolute anarchy.

"I do. It is quite a clever and elegant solution to this problem. I think I will try it, though it may be hard for all of those church representatives and leaders to swallow this limitation."

Jovy smirked. "You do not need to concern yourself too much about that. Simply inform them of the changes in conditions. If they accept the limitations that we have set, then that is for the best. If they refuse to cooperate, then simply end your engagement with them and wait for my faction to intervene. There are good reasons why these bastions of ignorance and superstition fear our Association."

Well, that was certainly an effective way to solve a problem.

The unspoken message here was that it didn't matter if Ves or the churches were not willing to cooperate. The mechers would force them to comply one way or another.

This was exactly the kind of tyranny and oppression that the Coalition of Faiths was supposed to end!

Right now, Ves had no choice but to abide by the directive of the Survivalist Faction, but it should be different in the future.

Once the Red Collective got up and running and gained enough power to threaten the existing hegemony of the Red Two, that would be the point where Ves would no longer be forced to dance to the tune of the mechers anymore!

Ves couldn't wait for that day to come.

Even though he acknowledged that Jovy and the Survivalists had good reasons for ramming through a change of plans, it still galled Ves that the mechers did not even think about listening to his input!

As far as Ves was concerned, the Coalition of Faiths became even more necessary for his future ambitions!

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