The Mech Touch

The power of speech was one of the most emotive manner of conveying information to one person to another.

Compared to other means of information transfer such as plain text, speech allowed the source to convey emotion.

Many people didn't even consciously think about the emotive quality of their manner of speaking. Perhaps some people did, but they never used it to their full advantage.

What Ves did was actually a step beyond conveying emotion through sound. Though the inflection of his voice conveyed a portion of his passion, this time he mainly relied on his spiritual manipulation to permeate his passion to the assembly members!

The power of spirit possessed a powerful and more direct influence on someone's mood than regular speech.

On top of that, the effect he achieved was a lot more potent than he could achieve on his own by making use of the aid provided by the Golden Cat and the Bright Warriors!

The Larkinson Clan's ancestral spirit may not be the most sophisticated spiritual entity, but she was decently strong and possessed a direct connection to all of the Larkinson clansmen!

The Larkinson clansmen who took part in the founding ritual essentially opened a backdoor in their mind for the Golden Cat. This two-way connection not only fed the Golden Cat, but also allowed her to peek in their inner minds or exert some influence!

Of course, there was only so much the Golden Cat could do, especially against spiritually insensitive individuals.

No single means was strong enough, but it was the combination that Ves set out to convey!

The Devil Tongue moniker stood for more than his clever words. His impassioned speech, his insidious spiritual manipulation and his courage to bring up touchy subjects all combined in an experience that hardly left his audience unmoved!

There was a reason why Ves hesitated in employing his full range of persuasive tools to his own family. Employing spiritual techniques and amplifying it through the Golden Cat and the Bright Warrior was something that hardly anyone could guard against.

It strayed far too closely to indoctrination because Ves sought to win the argument by distorting their judgement! Rather than trying to convey a clear argument based on sound logic and compelling benefits, he instead sought to scramble their rationality by firing up their emotions!

From a cynical perspective, each time he utilized his Devil Tongue, he sabotaged the better sense of his audience!

Trying to sway people through such means was borderline unethical and very distasteful.

The only reason Ves didn't equate it to brainwashing was because he knew that there were a lot of impressive leaders and statesmen who could accomplish something similar!

What was incredibly frightening about these master manipulators was that they trained their speech-making abilities to the point where they could essentially brainwash anyone through clever word choice and emotional inflection alone!

Ves knew his own limits. He was far from reaching that point, especially since he never formally trained in this area. He liked to speak from his heart rather than come across as inauthentic and slimy. His spiritual manipulation worked best when he matched it with the passion in his speech!

Right now, the assembly members he addressed all appeared mesmerized. It was as if Ves cast a spell on them. Only a handful of people such as Caratan Larkinson and Speaker Ovrin Larkinson possessed the will and experience to remain lucid in the middle of his extraordinary speech.

Leavers such as Caratan Larkinson didn't want Ves to gain the upper hand. As far as they were concerned, if Ves had his way, the identity of the Larkinson name would forever be diluted! Sharing it with thousands of outsiders was a travesty to those who always felt pride in belonging to the famed and honored Larkinson Family!

After a long and solemn pause where everyone had the illusion that their hearts were beating as one, everyone slowly drew themselves out of their fugue. The Larkinsons taking part in the assembly session and the people witnessing it through a projection all came off their highs.

Ves could have proceeded with the vote right away, but he didn't think that was the right choice. Though he attempted to make his point by scrambling their minds, he didn't want them to cast their votes only to regret it later on. That would only breed further resentment from his relatives.

For this reason, he added an extra step.

"Many of you may harbor some lingering concerns." Ves spoke in a calmer and less intense voice. "There are many people in the galaxy. Each of them hold different values and abide by different principles. These are legitimate concerns."

Just as Caratan wanted to reiterate his objections, Ves raised two of his fingers!

"However, consider these two points! Once we begin our travels and embark on our expedition, we will be meeting many different people. We will become exposed to various different cultures that could make the Ylvainans and the Hexers look like normal folk! In order to rise above our local roots and fit into the galactic scene, we must develop an openness and tolerance towards different cultures! Only through developing a cosmopolitan identity will we be able to grow our clan and become a major power!"

This was not a particularly strong argument. Even if the relatives who followed Ves and joined the clan consisted of the more ambitious Larkinsons, their hopes were grounded by their modest roots.

Back in the Bright Republic, the Larkinson Family wasn't even an important entity. Though it possessed a decent presence in the military, the lack of high-ranking officers among the Larkinsons hampered their political influence.

Compared to the likes of the Tovar Family whose members regularly held the presidency, no one important listened to the Larkinson Family!

The lack of success still weighed on the necks of the Larkinsons like a stone. With their heads constantly pointed towards the ground, they were unused to raising their heads and looking up at the sky! Even if Ves cut the cords and lifted their burdens, centuries of defining their identities as loyal, upright soldiers!

Ves may have ripped their physical shackles, but their mental bonds still remained intact!

This was why he broached this point. He wanted to rip apart their bonds and liberate their minds!

Of course, an aspiration for greatness wasn't enough to assuage their concerns. Every decision revolved around weighing risk and reward.

Right now, Ves amplified the reward. Now, he needed to lower the risk."

"Secondly, our Larkinson Clan is not a weak entity. Look into your hearts. Do you feel it?" Ves tapped his heart before tapping the surface of the Larkinson Mandate. "What you sense is the living essence of our clan. It is alive. It is a part of us. As long as you believe in it, the clan will always have your back, but if you have nefarious intentions in mind, then the clan itself will mark you out and expose you for the cancer that you are to us all! Caratan Larkinson, let me be the first to show you what your ill intent and disloyal tendencies has wrought!"

Ves dramatically lifted the Larkinson Mandate in the air! Its antigrav brace caused it to float from his grip and soar until it reached the center of the assembly theater!

Everyone's attention shifted towards the book that radiated the same glow as Ves and the Bright Warriors.

Invisible to everyone except a couple of entities, Ves began to communicate and manipulate with the book and the spirit residing inside of it. The Golden Cat was perplexed at his request, but she eventually acquitted and proceeded to manipulate one of her bonds according to his intentions.

Caratan Larkinson stood perplexed as he looked at the book. Though it was a very impressive piece of craftsmanship, how was it supposed to exact its punishment? Smacking him with its heavy cover?

The attack came without warning. The invisible, almost unnoticeable bond he shared with the Golden Cat suddenly grew hot!

"Ahhh!"

The older Larkinson immediately bent over as a sensation akin to a migraine afflicted his head! He massaged his palm as the suddenness of his headache took him by surprise!

The headache was just the prelude. As a former mech pilot who fought in several wars, his mental fortitude was resilient enough to shrug off the pain!

Yet that was not the extent of the punishment that Ves announced!

While Caratan steeled his mind in order to resist the pain, his entire mind and body began to exude a discordant sensation!

Though weak and imperceptible to most people, those who were connected to the Golden Cat began to sense something weird from Caratan.

Like a fly in a soup or a stain on a shirt, Caratan no longer looked like he belonged.

Surrounded by Larkinsons and Bright Warriors, his single presence broke the uniform pattern!

The surrounding Larkinsons instinctively expressed disgust or dislike at his presence. He was like an annoying uncle spoiling their cozy family gathering!

"What have you done?" Caratan asked, his perplexity becoming more evident as the assembly members sitting besides him started to scoot away!

Ves smirked and crossed his arms. "You are a pariah upon the clan. Rather than allow you to hide behind your mask, the Larkinson Mandate has marked you out and exposed the ugliness inside you to the rest of our clan!"

"What?! That's absurd!" The dissident protested! "I am a Larkinson! I am a veteran! I fought and bled for the family! I have never disgraced our Larkinson name!"

"That may be true, but the fact that you intend to leave the clan for the family signifies that you are no longer welcome in our midst! You can join your like-minded relatives in the family all you want, but don't linger in our clan and try to sabotage us from the inside! This assembly represents the Larkinsons who are part of the clan. Someone like you who openly stands against everything the clan is trying to achieve has no place in this theater!"

"What witchery is this!? You've become stranger and stranger, Ves! What more will you do to turn the clan into your private property?!"

Caratan's flailing words might have sounded reasonable to a normal audience.

It was too bad the assembly members weren't receptive to his arguments! The Larkinson glow substantially attuned them to Ves and the Golden Cat. Any complaints from someone who came across as a pariah of the clan sounded like ineffectual whining!

"Clansmen," Ves ignored Caratan and addressed the assembly members. "There is an intruder in your midst. What will you do against this unwelcome visitor. Will you allow him to poison our discussion?"

"No!"

"NO!"

"Go away!"

Ves smirked wider and swept his hand towards Caratan. "Then cast him out!"

A brief silence ensued before the Larkinson sitting next to Caratan stood up and grabbed the other man's robe.

"What are you doing?! Unhand me!"

"Get out, you old man!"

More Larkinsons around Caratan quickly joined the commotion. Hands from all sides grabbed onto Caratan and slowly pushed, pulled and cajoled the Larkinson who didn't belong out of the seats!

"You're not welcome here anymore!"

While this ugly proceeding took place, Ves quietly passed some orders. A couple of Avatar guards quickly moved to Caratan just as a kick caused the old man to fall against the deck besides the edge of the theater!

The guards rudely picked up the former assembly member by the shoulders and dragged him out of sight.

"This is a travesty! I'm a Larkinson! I contributed more to our heritage than most of you! You won't get away with this, Ves!"

No one paid much attention to his fading shouts. Due to the Golden Cat's secret manipulation, the remaining Larkinsons continued to view the departing Larkinson in a bad light.

Now that this show was over, the Golden Cat subsided her efforts. The Larkinson Mandate flew back to Ves' palm.

"Just like my mechs, our clan is alive." He smiled. "I've shown you what that entails in case of a threat in our midst. Now, I'll demonstrate what can happen if we embrace outsiders who are actually dedicated to our clan! Joshua King! Please step forward!"

The young prodigal mech pilot strode from the crowd of bystanders in his Avatar dress uniform. Every assembly member turned their attention to him in curiosity!