The Mech Touch

"Have you made your decision?"

Ves nodded and smiled. "Yes. I'll take the Symp organ. I don't have much use of it myself, but my wife will love it, I am sure. I can't keep all of the good stuff for myself. Archetech has become a core competency of the Larkinson Clan, so it makes sense to invest in it. If this phasewater organ can help my wife gain a deeper understanding of archetech and develop better archemechs as a consequence, then that will allow our clan to become a lot stronger. You have seen what Saint Tusa has been able to do with a relatively basic archemech like the Dark Zephyr."

"To be fair, the Dark Zephyr is strong due to a particularly rich and diverse collection of advantages. Archetech is far from the only contributor." Jovy argued.

Archetech was bound to become more prevalent in the future. Ves already decided to implant a version of the Symp organ into his body once the Larkinson Biotech Institute had concluded its research on it. Even if he was not as compatible with it as Gloriana, he may be able to make good use of it when fighting alongside other archemechs.

"I know. Anyway, please mark down the Symp organ for me. This should leave me with a quota of two more lesser phasewater organs, am I correct?"

"That is correct. I advise you to overlook the more exotic phasewater organs and settle for the more basic choices. Try and produce more synergies instead of attempting to branch out and acquire more abilities."

Ves agreed with Jovy. He had already deviated from his original selection plan several times. He needed to stop following his whims and try to fulfill his goals as honestly as possible.

When he studied the list again, he deliberately focused his attention on a few organs that he already possessed.

"This Kelsis organ is more developed than my own." He said. "Do you have a better indication of how much better it is? It certainly looks like its previous owner has invested quite a bit into improving its capabilities."

The Kelsis organ produced spatial barriers that served as a strong layer of defense. The Locos organ granted enhanced senses towards spatial and gravitic phenomena. The Maracos organ allowed for the bending and manipulation of the fabric of space at varying distances.

While they started out relatively weak, their ubiquity caused phase leaders to develop many different development trajectories for them. After many rounds of successive upgrades and modifications, one phase lord's Kelsis organ may look completely different from that of another phase lord!

This was why Ves could not rashly choose a more developed Kelsis organ than his own basic one. He first needed to learn whether the more advanced version came with the right features.

"Our researchers understand the functioning of the Kelsis organ much better than the more exotic phasewater organs. We are much more confident in our analysis of this particular specimen." Jovy said. "What you need to know is that it originates from an arche phase lord. Every member of the arche race is obsessed with defense. However, they primarily prefer to invest in the strength of their archeshells rather than rely on intangible spatial barriers. The somewhat intact Kelsis organ that we have managed to identify is therefore not the most favorite organ of that phase lord. However, that is not entirely disadvantageous to you, as your researchers should easily be able to decipher its relatively simple construction."

"Does it do anything special?"

"Well, our analysis has revealed that the Kelsis organ is tweaked to resist physical damage much better than other forms of damage. It can help you resist explosions, gauss rounds, melee weapon strikes and so on without depleting the strength of your spatial barrier as quickly. This makes a certain degree of sense as archeshells are much more effective at resisting energy damage. They rely on their Kelsis organ to compensate for their weakness."

"I see."

This was not the most flashy defensive enhancement that Ves had heard, but that did not diminish its usefulness.

"Okay, mark this down for me. Out of the three basic phasewater organs, upgrading the Kelsis organ is my highest priority. I am not in a hurry to upgrade my Locos organ and Maracos organ.

It was not a good idea to ignore the uses of the latter two organs, but Ves was not a normal phase lord to begin with. His needs and circumstances were different. He also preferred specializing in a few core strengths rather than spreading out his competences too much.

Now that he only had one quota left, he needed to stick to an organ that satisfied his most urgent needs as opposed to obtaining a luxury feature.

Ves proceeded to examine other lesser phasewater organs.

There was one that offered camouflage capabilities, which enabled Ves to pass off as a random piece of space junk.

There was another organ that was able to vibrate solid objects at high speeds, causing them to get shaken and stirred to the point of collapsing.

Ves also encountered a much more developed Locos organ.

"This particular Locos organ has received valuable enhancements that significantly extends the range of a phase lord's spatial senses." Jovy said. "The arche phase lord is probably the designated scout among their group. He is much more capable of detecting enemies from far away. He can also detect the presence of hidden pocket spaces and other spatial anomalies. Most importantly, he can direct instantaneous teleportation with much greater accuracy and precision at longer distances. This Locos organ pairs well with another phasewater organ that offers stronger teleportation capabilities." "Did this arche phase lord possess such an organ?" Ves questioned.

"No. We believe that this arche lesser phase lord may have been saving up to procure a teleportation organ later in his life."

"I see. That is a pity. That would have been another powerful combination."

Ves gradually learned that phase lords did not blindly focus on obtaining the most individually powerful phasewater organs.

Synergies were also important. A phase lord or phase whale could only fit so many phasewater organs inside their true bodies. The more developed their body cultivation, the more stuff they could fit in, but there was always a finite limit to how many organs they could accommodate.

Since space was limited, phase lords needed to plan out their organ development and pick the right synergies to make up their personalized combat systems.

If the list contained an organ that enabled long-range teleportation, then Ves would not have hesitated to drop the Symp organ or the upgraded Kelsis organ in favor of picking up this fantastic combination.

Ves could still choose to pick up the upgraded Locos organ in advance and wait for a future opportunity to acquire a teleportation-oriented phasewater organ.

The best place to find one was at Yernstall, which just happened to be his next

Destination.

Did he want to bet that he could obtain a teleportation organ in Yernstall and pick up the upgraded Locos organ first?

Even without this obvious synergy, a powerful Locos organ was useful in many other ways. Ves even had a suspicion that it may help him design, fabricate and upgrade transphasic mechs a lot better.

Yet... an upgraded Locos organ did not offer as much direct value in combat. It enabled him to perceive enemies and events a lot better, but did that necessarily help him fend off stronger attacks? Not necessarily.

Ves ultimately decided to reject the upgraded Locos organ for this reason.

"I will let this one pass. Every phase lord and phase whale possesses a Locos organ. It shouldn't be too difficult to find another one, though maybe not with these precise

Enhancements."

"You are correct." Jovy said. "Phasewater organs are not prevalent enough to be traded in the open market, but it is easier to find a party willing to trade a Locos organ as opposed to the more exotic options. What else would you like to choose?"

Ves spent a few more minutes examining the other options. There were many decent

Options, but nothing really stood out. The arche lesser phase lords were much weaker than the Arena Lord, so they did not have the ability to obtain anything particularly

Strong.

One weird organ with dubious value was a lesser phasewater organ that was somehow able to transmit a subtle spatial vibration that could hypnotize weaker organisms!

"How does this even work?!"

"I have no idea, and I do not think that any of our scientists can figure it out either." Jovy shrugged his shoulders. "We have actually encountered other instances of this phasewater organ before. The enemy phase whales are able to interfere with the concentration of the crew members of a starship before space suppressors became available. It is not effective against mech pilots, as the man-machine connection offers

Good protection against this form of attack"

"I see."

There may be ways to upgrade or mutate this phasewater organ so that it could produce surprising results on the battlefield.

Ves even saw how it could be useful in social settings.

However, all of that

Ed a lot of research and development. Ves could not ask the Larkinson Biotech Institute to allocate their resources on a research project that was

Not as essential as the others.

Ves eventually focused on one entry that was pretty useful enough for his current self, but also offered a lot of potential synergies in the future.

"This Arcis organ seems a bit out of place. According to the description, it can generate stable and reliable electric currents which are suitable to power a whole range of

Technological equipment."

"That is correct, Ves."

"Why does a phase lord need this Arcis organ in the first place? It sounds no different

From a power reactor to me. Can't they just equip themselves with a raiment that also comes with its own power source?"

"They can, but the nature of a raiment or a suit of armor means that the power reactor is always placed in a relatively vulnerable and exposed position." Jovy patiently explained. "The Arcis organ removes this vulnerability and ensures that you always have a reliable power source available. Our research has not confirmed this, but it is also possible that the Arcis organ can supply additional energy to other phasewater organs, allowing them to perform at slightly higher levels." That made an Arcis organ a lot more interesting to Ves.

"I see. This Arcis organ sounds especially useful for phase lords that want to rely more

Heavily on their raiments to enhance their combat power. Is there anything else that is special about this phasewater organ?"

Jovy nodded. "Our researchers have developed another theory that should be relevant to you. The Arcis organ partially derives its energy from other dimensions, so it can never be completely exhausted. In order to operate at its best, the Arcis organ must be fed with high-density nutrients or phasewater. What makes this relevant to you that a phasewater production system can completely satisfy the input requirements of the Arcis organ. Any greater phase lord can continually draw a large amount of electrical power from this phasewater organ."

That was right! Ves' eyes lit up as he thought about this combination.

As a mech designer, Ves would never neglect the value of good equipment. The Battle of

Mazepan had taught him the hard way that participating in a fight without the best gear would only make life a lot harder for himself!

Since Ves had vowed to address this shortcoming in the near future, possessing a

Phasewater organ that was tailor-made for this purpose would definitely serve him well.

"I'll take it." Ves decided. "It is not a choice I expected to make, but I have too many uses

For this Arcis organ."

"Very well. I have noted this selection and the other ones. We will make sure to harvest

Them carefully and deliver them to New Constantinople VIII."

In the end, Ves was pretty happy with his selection.

The acquisition of a PPS, a Norigo organ, a Marigal organ, a Sympatico organ, an upgraded Kelsis organ and an Arcis organ would form the framework of his much-improved combat system as a phase lord!

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