The Mech Touch

The remnant of the Idol of the Superior Mother was a very valuable object, even if it looked like a piece of trash.

Though Ves felt tempted to cut short the spiritual bleeding by processing the spiritual remnant into a spiritual product right away, he paused for a moment.

"This relic doesn't really fit my specifications."

His original vision for his Hexer mech design revolved around a mech based on the six phases of existence.

As its name suggested, the Idol of the Superior Mother predominantly centered around mothers. It wasn't really associated with hexism as plenty of secular Hexers paid tribute to the statue as well. Those mothers were just doing it in order to take part in an established ritual and because they wanted to gain their social circle's approval.

The mix between secular and religious worshippers shaped the statue's spiritual residue in a direction that blended both elements. Attributes related to motherhood and women strongly suffused its spiritual character, which made it very unsuitable to be adapted to mechs designed to be piloted by boys.

Or was it?

"The design spirit doesn't have to conform to the mech pilot. Not necessarily." He whispered.

He long regarded the unity between mech pilot, mech and mech designer as the only way to increase the X-Factor of his mech and improve their overall synchronization.

What if that wasn't necessary? What if there was a different way to empower a mech?

What if he took a different approach?

To Ves, the perfect outcome had always been to enable mech pilots to become more aligned with the mechs they piloted.

For example, the Aurora Titan meshed well with defense-focused mech pilots who want to protect their comrades.

The Desolate Soldier slowly influenced its mech pilots to become more and more committed to their duty.

The Deliverer's entire premise revolved around piety and devotion. Its Guided Aim ability was only available to the mech pilots who earned Prophet Ylvaine's approval!

Yet.. Ves couldn't do the same for his Hexer mech. DIVA's commission explicitly called for designing a support mech reserved exclusively for the male mech pilots of the Hex Army.

So far, he invented an entire vision around a landbound knight mech that embodied the six phases of existence.

"I don't have to scrap this vision. I'll just need to make some adjustments."

He sat down next to the remnant of the idol and began to adjust his vision.

Its mech concept didn't require any major adjustments. However, rather than embodying a generic interpretation of the six phases of existence, his Hexer mech instead adopted the perspective of a mother!

"My mech is the mother and the mech pilot is the son!"

It was a notable departure from his conventional approach to mech design. His usual goal for his mechs was to accommodate compatible mech pilots so that their effective performance skyrocketed and that anyone with spiritual potential received a greater chance of breaking through the extraordinary threshold!

Yet.. did he have to aim for the jackpot every time? So far, aside from Jannzi Larkinson's unexpected promotion, Ves hadn't heard of any instances where the mech pilots of his successfully advanced to expert candidate or expert pilot with his mechs.

That sounded quite depressing. The LMC sold millions of Desolate Soldiers, but not one of its mech pilots managed to surpass the extraordinary threshold.

"What should I expect?" He sighed. "My Desolate Soldier is a budget mech model designed for less than stellar mech pilots. Their odds of advancements are a lot lower than the mech pilots of premium mechs."

It was too bad that the sales figures of his more expensive products such as the Aurora Titan had dropped to negligible levels.

He turned his attention back to his unnamed Hexer mech. According to DIVA, the Hegemony would try out his new creation with a select number of male mech pilots.

Hexer mech pilots were not like the average users of his mechs.

Ves had to split them up in two. Female mech pilots predominantly utilized the best and strongest mechs. They also claimed all of the flashier and more offense-oriented mechs.

Male mech pilots in the Hegemony weren't prohibited from piloting mechs, but they had to abide by a lot of limitations to practice their profession.

"According to the Hexer ideology, boys are reckless and immature. It is a disaster to give them too much power."

The inherent problem with this assumption was that it risked depriving boys from mechs entirely!

The Hexers eventually opted against this policy because they couldn't let half of their manpower pool of mech pilots stay home.

That said, even if males were allowed to pilot mechs in battle, they faced constant repression and indoctrination.

According to the Hexers, the former was needed to prevent the boys from abusing the power of mechs. The latter was needed to increase their motivation to fight on behalf of the Hegemony.

"There is a contradiction between these measures." Ves noted.

Mechs were dangerous weapons that were best left for women!

Since Hexer women believed that Hexer boys were both dangerous and incapable, the performance of the latter clearly dipped. Though Ves hadn't obtained any detailed statistics that confirmed this guess, he had seen plenty of internal footage that showed that Hexer mechs piloted by males exhibited an excessive amount of restraint and timidity.

The only instances where the male Hexer mechs exhibited any aggression was when they were directly ordered to do so by their mistresses!

With such a perverse mech culture in the Hegemony, how could his mech gain acceptance in its society?

"To women, my support mech can validate them with the outward expression of my glow. To boys, my mech can provide them with positive reinforcement and encouragement. To enemies, my mech can put the fear of Hexers in their hearts!"

As Ves became more familiar with the spiritual residue of the Idol of the Superior Mother, he learnt that it was called this way for a reason!

The Hexers who paid tribute to the original statue all passed on the same spiritual attributes. Gentle notions such as motherhood and the urge to nurture children was mixed with strong notions such as the superiority and might of women!

"I can still give my mech six different facets as long as I can emphasize specific attributes."

The more he fleshed out his idea, the more he got taken in by its potential. Any spiritual product he created based off the Superior Mother would essentially take the form of a Hexer matriarch!

If Ves designed his next spiritual product well enough, it might even surpass its limited role as design spirit for a single mech design!

"I can shift the outcome of the war with this spiritual product!" He exulted!

Of course, the mech had to be good as well. If such a fantastic design spirit was attached to a mediocre mech design, then it would probably be buried!

He began to figure out what kind of ingredients he needed to augment the attributes of the spiritual residue.

"I'll need to add a bit of myself, not just to create the spiritual product, but to add some much needed male influence to its spiritual mix."

The design spirit would still be female, but he hoped that it became a bit more understanding towards boys.

Ves didn't think he was a very appropriate role model for Hexer boys.

"Unlike them, I'm a man, not a boy!" He stated! "I can stand up to women! That's something that they can never imagine!"

Perhaps that was exactly what his design spirit needed. He didn't want to coddle the mech pilots of his Hexer mech to death. They needed to show at least some spine while they piloted their machines.

Gloriana's influence was also essential. Her error-correcting ability and her strong Hexer beliefs would reinforce the spiritual product's main characteristics.

"That's two additional ingredients so far. I think it could use a third."

He needed a source of energy. Ves immediately turned his gaze to the vault section where he just stowed the Ancient Sarcophagus.

Was it time to harvest another spiritual fragment from Nyxie?

Just as he was about to retrieve his F-stone, he paused.

"Nyxie isn't my only option."

Ves suddenly recalled that Qilanxo was also a mother!

Though she was too alien and too centered around protection to make for a perfect Hexer design spirit, she was also a female!

He concentrated his mind and briefly communicated his request to Qilanxo.

She sent back a positive response. Ves guessed that she was filled with spiritual energy. Though she wasn't able to make a qualitative transformation, she wasn't lacking when it came to quantity!

"That was easy."

What wouldn't be easy would be his next step.

Now that he set his mind, he reluctantly decided to obtain Gloriana's input. Though she objected to his idea before, Ves hoped that she was a bit more tolerant this time. He wouldn't be able to proceed with his vision without her contribution!

He called Gloriana to the vault and passed the time by playing with Lucky.

"Meow."

"I don't know, Lucky. Gloriana might blow up on me again."

"Meow!"

"Hmm, that's true. This debris hardly looks like a proper relic. I don't think she'll mind that much."

Lucky rolled off his lap and floated above his head.

"Meow meow."

When Gloriana arrived with Clixie in tow, the vault instantly brightened up. Ves stood up and hugged her before breaking the news.

"Do you remember DIVA's commission?"

She immediately frowned. "What are you up to, Ves?"

"Well, DIVA managed to secure a relic for me. Before you get angry, let me show you what I'm talking about!"

He presented the blackened piece of broken metal to Gloriana and described its origins. He emphasized the fact that it had laid forgotten in some storage place for decades.

"...The Hexers would have probably melted it down and repurposed its materials if they hadn't given it to me." He finished his explanation. "Compared to erasing it from existence, I can make a portion of it live on through my mechs! What do you think, Gloriana?"

His girlfriend fell silent. Though she maintained her frown, she didn't blow up this time, much to his relief!

"I.. I'm not entirely comfortable with this idea, but.. it sounds a lot more acceptable this time." She responded. She reached out and touched the damaged surface of the piece of debris. "I think you're right. It's a shame to let the original Idol of the Superior Mother die out in such an ignoble fashion! What we can do is like giving it a second life!"

"So.. you approve?"

She slowly smiled. "I do. What you originally suggested was something that I would never agree with. This is different. I like the respect behind this decision!"

That was all he needed to hear. Ves relaxed, and so did Gloriana. The faint underlying tension between them after they had their last argument melted away.

The pair began to discuss what they needed to do to create his next spiritual product. Ves needed time to construct the most appropriate images to direct its formation.

"Let's design the mech first and wait until it's almost complete before creating its design spirit." Ves suggested. "I need you to contribute your spiritual strength to its creation. That will drain some of your spiritual energy reserves for a time."

"Creating proto-gods is never easy." Gloriana smiled and leaned her head against his chest. "I can't wait to see how she will turn out!"

The two snuggled a bit before leaving the vault. Ves carefully stored the relic in its protective crate to protect it from the environment as much as possible.

Just when they reached the design lab, Gavin waited next to the entrance.

Ves's heart sunk yet again. Whenever his assistant showed up outside of their scheduled meetings, he always brought a surprise.

"What is it this time, Benny?" He asked in an exasperated tone.

"Well… it's about the Larkinson Clan. Did you recall the proposal introduced by Calabast? Well, there has been a big discussion throughout the clan. The Larkinson Assembly and the Executive Council have both come to a consensus."

"What.. is their answer?"

Gavin breathed deeply. "There is a lot of support for the proposal. Both the Assembly and the Council are in favor of integrating outsiders into the clan!"

"What?!" Ves looked shocked. "That fast?!"