The Mech Touch

Ves observed the meeting from a detached perspective. Despite the stakes and the repercussions to his own plan, he chose to spectate rather than wade into the discussion.

Most of his attention fell on Lady Miralix. Before, she came across as an ambitious noble scion who maintained impeccable control. His interactions with her had always been pleasant, though that was mostly due to how much she needed his help.

Even then, she never lost her composure. Her dignity remained inviolable.

All of that went out of the window today. With public opinion going against her, she became increasingly more desperate. Her eyes glared accusingly at the academy buddies she assumed would have her back.

In this critical moment of the hunt, her comrades all wanted to disregard her wishes and return home!

The collusion and open insubordination among virtually every subordinate made it clear that while Lady Miralix held all the money and the authority, she was just a solitary human at the moment!

A leader would be able to command a team of a hundred people.

A single individual had no way of stopping a group of people from doing what they wanted!

Stripped of her power, Lady Miralix could truly do nothing to stop the mechs and legged transports from leaving. If the humans that crewed and piloted them really wanted to stop risking their lives on what they consider to be an increasingly doomed hunt, then no amount of orders would keep them in place!

"This is treason!" Her projection yelled at the other mech pilots, some of whom attended in projection form. "We agreed to risk our lives on this hunt in order to obtain an opportunity to earn fame! Think of what is at stake!"

"Our lives are at stake!" One of the mech pilots angrily retorted. "We all got onboard with your project because we believed in your claims that you could take down a Crown Cat! Now that we're actually putting your claims to the test, it turns out that your pedigree means nothing here! You vastly overstated the advantages you enjoyed as a member of House Laterna and hoodwinked us all into throwing our bodies against a monster that's at least half as dangerous as an expert pilot!"

A mech pilot who recently lost his mech slammed his fist against the conference table. "We all knew it was a challenge, and we all agreed beforehand that you'd order a retreat if the hunt becomes untenable. Now is that moment! With just five half-broken mechs and your lone pristine tiger mech, there's no way we can take down a freak of a huge cat like Zeigra!"

"Cowards!"

Not every mech pilot was present in projection form. Half of the mech pilots who lost their mechs in the previous rounds against Zeigra were physically present. Some of the most senior support staff attended the meeting as well, though all of them looked like they would rather be elsewhere.

Being forced to choose sides and piss off their employer at this sensitive time would certainly incur repercussions in the future!

Still, when it came down to it, the opinions of a mech technician or a hunting consultant didn't matter. Since the mechs did all of the fighting, only the will of the mech pilots mattered in the greater scheme of things.

Sadly, Lady Miralix adopted a belligerent and accusatory stance, which completely rubbed the mutinous mech pilots the wrong way. Far from bending their will in her favor, her demanding and spiteful attitude repelled them even further!

Again, Ves shook his head at the sight.

Someone like Major Verle of the Flagrant Vandals would never let the meeting devolve into such a counterproductive fashion.

Having watched the maestro work his manipulation upon the unsuspecting Vandals many times, Ves picked up some lessons on how to rein in unruly subordinates and keep them motivated to work towards a common goal.

Major Verle also taught him the importance of maintaining morale. This abstract but very real quality determined the willingness of subordinates to go above and beyond in performing their duty!

During the entire hunt, Lady Miralix completely neglected to keep up everyone's spirits! Her lack of attention into encouraging her mech pilots and pepping them had now come back to bite her in this crucial meeting!

Her stubbornness and tone deafness seemed uncharacteristic to his past impression of her. The more he observed her like a researcher observed a test subject, he recalled that she was indeed his current test subject!

"The Kinslayer!" He whispered.

He suddenly realized that between now and then, he induced a critical change in her circumstances by instilling her mech with a design spirit!

Vescas originated from his attempts to create a fusion between his own spiritual energy and the Dragon Cat's spiritual energy. The resulting spiritual product became a new entity that continually bonded with Lady Miralix during her extensive piloting sessions the last few days.

What attracted his attention right now was the traits that Vescas inherited from its 'birth parents'!

The aggressive Dragon Cat needed no elaboration. The alien exobeast personified fury when she was still alive, and she allegedly possessed the ability to induce others to embrace their rage!

As for Ves, while his spiritual energy revolved highly around mechs, it also carried some of his other traits, including his penchant for taking risks and his love for big gambles!

His eyes widened. Combining this flaw of his with the Dragon Cat's fury complemented and amplified their effects!

If his guess was right, then Vescas started off with an extreme inclination for recklessness upon his birth!

Instilling him as the Kinslayer's design spirit therefore had the unfortunate consequence of passing on this trait to Lady Miralix during the long days since the start of the hunt!

Ves smacked his face with his palm! He hadn't thought that something like this would happen! He hadn't considered the full repercussions of blending his traits with the traits of another spiritual entity.

Any spiritual product he created in the future would carry both his positive traits and his negative traits! If paired with a spiritual entity that was already inclined towards imprudence, then the resulting combination would synergize into an even greater degree of recklessness!

This was one of the fews instances where synergy worked against his intentions!

In a man-machine connection, Just as Lady Miralix influenced the mech, the mech also influenced Lady Miralix!

Most of the time, Ves viewed this as a beneficial and positive relationship. What was the harm of letting mech pilots bond with their mechs?

Yet after his talk with Old Man Terrence, he recognized the dark side of this equation. What if one side of the bond possessed an undesirable trait?

It would get passed along to the other side regardless of whether it was a good idea!

This was true spiritual contamination!

Since the process took place over a man-machine connection, Lady Miralix's mind had been completely exposed to the influence of the other side!

As Ves continued to palm his face, he let out a deep breath.

Next time, he should pay more attention to the overlapping traits that he put in his spiritual products!

"Goddammit.. I'm such an idiot.. hehehe… stupid me… I want to hit my old self…"

"What's so funny, Mr. Larkinson!?" A mech pilot confronted him all of a sudden!

"Uh, what?" Ves quickly lowered his palm and looked at the mech pilot pointing him in an accusatory manner.

"Are you mocking us?! Do we look like clowns to you? We are fighting for our lives here! Lady Miralix is completely being unreasonable, and all you're doing is sitting in the back as if you are watching the show!"

A befuddled expression came over his face. "

At this moment, Lady Miralix's projection turned towards him as well!

"Mr. Larkinson, help me convince these numbskulls that they're missing the opportunities of their lifetimes! Don't forget our deal!"

Ves sighed. If the mutineers had their way, he could kiss goodbye to the heavy concessions Lady Miralix promised to him. There would be no opportunities for him to trade with organizations like the Sentinel Peacekeeper Association and the Circle of Mota.

He'd also miss out on other benefits!

Though he still possessed some misgivings about continuing the hunt, he eventually decided to side with Lady Miralix. He was familiar with the Kinslayer's capabilities, and judged the hunting team still stood a chance of defeating Zeigra as long as Lady Miralix put her entire heart and soul into the battle!

As Ves viewed the discontented expressions of everyone around the conference table, he knew it was time to dust off his old Devil Tongue.

He condescendingly sneered towards the mech pilots.

"I can hardly believe the bunch of you are mech pilots. Do you think a situation like this is untenable? The military mech pilots that I've served alongside with for several years during the Bright-Vesia Wars would be ashamed of your timidness!"

"Are you calling us cowards?!"

Ves shook his head. "Not necessarily. To be honest, your concerns are valid. The hunt has indeed taken a risky turn. Yet the resolve that you are showing today is incredibly disappointing!"

That riled up the mech pilots even more, but Ves didn't care. He began to place Lucky down in order to stand up from his seat. With deliberate steps, he approached the center of the meeting room.

Meanwhile, he concentrated his mind and roused his Spirituality. He automatically constructed an image of confidence, superiority and above all the leadership that Lady Miralix lacked!

He had become so adept in this process that it only took seconds to form a basic image, but it was sufficient for him to don it as a mask.

The invisible aura that emanated from his body caused some of the people present to pause and back off. The people standing in the way subconsciously parted to the side, allowing him free passage all the way to the side of the conference table!

The spontaneous parting added more weight to his presence. It was as if he demanded everyone's attention!

"Are you proud of yourselves?" He began, staring down in the eyes of each mech pilot in succession. "Is this what you imagined yourselves to be when you were attending your fancy mech academy? From what I've heard of Lady Miralix, each and every one of you scored high in your classes at your mech academy!"

"This is exactly why we should turn back! We can't waste our skills in this doomed venture!"

Ves crossed his arms. "Waste? Is that the extent of your resolve?"

"What's wrong with that?! So what if we chose to retreat? You're not the one who is risking your life by confronting Zeigra up close! It must be nice to be a mech designer, right? All you cowards do is sit back in the rear and use those big brains of yours to calculate whether it's better to coat our mechs in green or red!"

A brief moment of silence ensued after a mech pilot made this remark. The air grew tense as some people began to sense an unsettling feeling in the air.

Ves narrowed his eyes. "Did you just insult my profession?"

"I—"

"—I repeat, DID YOU JUST INSULT MY PROFESSION!?"

His outburst momentarily suppressed every mech pilot!

"You mech pilots are a disgrace!" He continued. "Do you think you're entitled to honor? Do you think that battles where you hold the advantage are the only ones worth fighting?"

"It makes sense to—"

"SHUT UP, YOU SAD EXCUSE OF A MECH PILOT!" Ves clenched his hand into a fist and banged it against his heart. "I know many mech pilots. I come from a family of mech pilots. I served alongside mech pilots. I sell my products to mech pilots. Of all the ones I've interacted with, the bunch of you are some of the most disgraceful I've ever met!"

The accusation that Ves threw at the feet of the attending mech pilots did not endear him to them. Even so, Ves still expressed his opinion without hesitation!