The Mech Touch

Human technology reached an extremely high level. Thousands of years of research and development had elevated the human race's mastery of various fields of science and engineering to an astounding level!

As far as Ves was aware of, no alien race in the galaxy could surpass the modern human race when it came to the breadth and depth of technological development.

However, it was no secret that most of humanity's technological gizmos traced their roots back to alien tech.

Simply put, humanity did not invent all of the tech from scratch. They stole it from aliens and adapted the tech for their own purposes!

The FTL drive that served as the most commonly-used means of traversing the stars was the most iconic example!

None of the powers hid these truths. Perhaps some might find shame that their race had plundered a lot of tech rather than develop them on their own, but human civilization probably wouldn't have dominated the Milky Way if it tried to keep itself pure.

These days, much of alien-derived tech had been fully mastered by human scientists. Some, like FTL drive tech, still had traces of alien influence, while others, for example antigrav tech, had progressed so far that they became unrecognizable by their original alien developers!

In general, human civilization tried their best to convert alien tech into human tech. A lot of inventive alien races developed very strange scientific principles that were very difficult for humans to understand even after several centuries spent on deciphering them. While the effects of their tech might sometimes be great, humans preferred to work with something under their control.

Therefore, the use of alien technology was heavily discouraged in human civilization.

This was part of a deliberate cultural policy to keep human space as human as possible.

Even though their race had conquered a lot of alien territory during the Age of Conquest, almost no trace of alien buildings, monuments and other visible traces remained.

This was on purpose as the human conquerors wanted to retain their human ways as much as possible. Each visible alien influence risked contaminating human culture, thereby making some people more sympathetic or aligned towards the aliens that were still their enemies!

It was very understandable to go to such great lengths to wipe out every trace of alien heritage in human space regardless of their priceless historical and cultural value.

From the lens of institutional isomorphism, making human society as human as possible strengthened their race's own belief in itself! It also made it easier to keep humans as vigilant and hostile towards aliens, as familiarity often tended breed complacency.

Therefore, with regards to alien technology, it was quite an unwise marketing decision to design a mech with alien influences.

"This is the other reason my Crystal Lord never sold that well."

Its alien appearance with its weird hole-filled head along with its alien crystals turned the mech into something of an oddball. Even if its overall performance and features were quite nice for a premium rifleman mech, the fact that it did not conform entirely to market tastes would inevitably limit its appeal.

"So what?" Ves confidently smiled. "A good mech will sell regardless of how ugly it looks. As long as the Crystal Lord Mark II can provide the same degree of value as a Desolate Soldier or a Doom Guard, it can definitely attract plenty of demand!"

Now that the LMC's mech catalog features some big sellers, Ves faced much less pressure to design a guaranteed best-seller.

It also helped that the LMC expanded its design capacity to six concurrent design projects. This provided Ves with a lot of leeway as his mech company did not have to allocate all of its activities to developing future cash cows.

Out of the six projects in the pipeline right now, Ferocious Piranha and the Sanctuary Projects ought to cover the LMC's commercial needs. It was important to keep the company's mech catalog fresh and to show continued signs of life. Otherwise, the market would begin to wonder whether the LMC had declined like last time.

Once he recognized that he didn't have to treat the Crystal Lord Mark II design as a purely commercial project, Ves felt liberated. If he was allowed to pursue his desired vision for this mech, he was certain he could turn it into a great mech in its own way!

He just had to get his hands on some good alien tech that could build on the crystal tech he used in the Mark I version of the Crystal Lord.

"This is a bit difficult." He frowned.

It wasn't as if he could find such sophisticated knowledge and technical specifications by trawling through the galactic net. He needed to approach someone.

One option would be for him to inquire with treasure hunters. However, there was no telling who got their hands on alien tech or not without insider knowledge or access to a black market or something.

The other option would be to knock on the doors of the MTA. The amount of alien tech the Association accumulated over its entire history was definitely massive! There was bound to be some strange crystal-based tech in its archives.

Ves hesitated for a moment. Instead of making a choice, he began to concentrate his mind in order to make contact with the Crystal Lord's design spirit.

The Crystal Leader had come a long way since its formation a year ago. Though its spiritual strength hadn't grown much stronger, the salvaged remnant that barely possessed any thoughts of its own had grown considerably more sophisticated.

Though it was not as lively as Qilanxo or Prophet Ylvaine, the former crystal golem had connected with tens of thousands of mech pilots over the years.

All of the spiritual feedback of humans filled up the gaps in the spiritual entity and turned it a little more human.

In a sense, Ves could already describe the Crystal Leader as a hybrid between a human and a crystal builder alien!

"This just happens to match the Crystal Lord concept even better!"

Ves became more committed to this course of action. Regardless of how awkward it was for him to approach the MTA with his request, he decided to go through with his plan!

He left his stateroom and entered the isolated chamber which held the Darkbreak module. After turning it online, he began to make a call towards the MTA.

He half-hoped the other end of the line connected to the Association's department that handled technology and licencing requests.

Unfortunately for him, the physical projection of a familiar woman appeared.

"Mr. Larkinson, what brings you here today?" Master Willix greeted with some familiarly.

Ves tried to maintain his composure. Though he feared this might happen, he estimated that there was already a 90 percent chance that she would appear.

This sticky MTA Master Mech Designer had shown up too much for him to believe that her visits would stop anytime soon!

Since he was already mentally-prepared for her appearance, he quickly managed to suppress his discomfort.

"I have a request." He stated.

He proceeded to summarize his current intentions and problems. He emphasized the importance of the Crystal Lord design in his heart and inquired whether the MTA was familiar with the crystal builder race whose tech still powered the original version of his rifleman mech.

"Hmm.." Master Willix looked serious. "This is not a straightforward request. Normally, we don't release alien tech of any kind to mech designers or the public. The only companies that are eligible to work with alien tech are research institutions and development companies that are capable of using it to fuel the research of human tech."

"Is there no means to get the alien crystal tech that I want, ma'am?"

"Not quite. I haven't finished yet, Mr. Larkinson. While it is usually not done, I have the authority to release the tech you want." She looked around a bit to make sure the chamber was devoid of other people. "Since we are speaking over a private MTA network at the moment, I can reveal something that you normally aren't supposed to know. Some of the alien technology our Association hoards isn't left alone. Some of them work on such amazing principles that we still can't replicate these applications with purely human technology."

Ves widened his eyes. "Does that mean the Association is still researching them, Master?!"

"In a sense. Not all alien tech is worthy of further research. One of the goals of studying them and deciphering them is to understand how they work so that they are replicable. In the course of this research, sometimes we manage to achieve greater effects. This isn't difficult to accomplish when we blend human innovation in native alien tech."

"Does that mean that some research has been performed on alien crystal tech?"

Willix smiled. "I am familiar with your Crystal Lord design. The implementation of alien crystal technology within the frame and rifle of the mech are inspiring design choices. In truth, the race that was originally invented is already known by our Association. While I am not allowed to say much about them, they were actually quite impressive in their own way. Eons in the past, this small, diminutive race of aliens rose up with their excellent affinity and mastery of crystals, electro-magnetic radiation and even more unusual applications."

The ruin that Ves once found in the heartland of the Bright Republic all those years ago was not an outlier!

The crystal builder race used to be present in many more star systems!

"Then.."

"The methods and scientific principles employed by the luminar race are somewhat strange and difficult to grasp." Willix said. "The research group that is in charge of exploring the technological advancements of the luminars have only deciphered a fraction of how the distinctive alien runic programming works, but the researchers have already made some modest gains. In my judgement, these gains should be sufficient to provide you with what you desire for your second edition of the Crystal Lord design."

So the MTA already labeled the crystal builders as the luminar race! Ves had to admit that was a much more elegant-sounding name for these manipulators of crystals and light.

Ves gulped. "Can.. can I obtain this tech?"

Master Willix smiled in a slightly intriguing manner. "As I have stated earlier, your current status and accomplishments does not allow you to access these sensitive files. However, in light of your development and accomplishments I am inclined to make an exception for you. The fact that you have contributed materially to defend humanity against the sandman race proves that you are not an alien sympathizer, so it is doubtful that you are unduly obsessed with the extinct luminar race."

With all of the negotiations he went through in his life, how could Ves not recognize that Master Willix wanted to obtain something valuable in exchange.

If she asked him on how to teach her to add spirituality to a mech design, then she could just forget about it! There was no way that Ves would do something so stupid. It wasn't worth it to hand over one of his precious trade secrets in exchange for a marginal improvement of one of his lesser mech designs!

Perhaps she saw that Ves did not feel comfortable about the trade. She made a surprisingly simple request.

"When Mr. Armalon and I last visited you, we couldn't help but notice the ubiquity of the glows of your product. In fact, I was pleasantly surprised but a bit puzzled that you have managed to attach your glows to a statue rather than a mech."

"The statue is the source of the glow, Master." Ves commented without saying anything more.

"Is it possible for you to imbue your glows to multiple fixed objects?" She asked. "Our Association possessed a considerable interest in these glow-empowered items of yours. We are already aware of the so-called loyalty medallions that are proliferating through the branches of the LMC. They are quite compact for what they are capable of. If you do not mind, we would like to obtain these.."

"Totems. I call them totems."

"That is a very apt if controversial name for them. If you can provide our Association with a totem of every glow you have made, then I will authorize you to access some of our research in the relevant luminar race tech. Do you find this trade agreeable?"

The MTA wanted Ves to provide them with a totem for every glow he made? What the hell did they want to do with them!? Wasn't it enough to acquire some of his mechs?!