The Mech Touch

Lady Aisling Curver almost couldn't believe her last-minute plan had worked.

Task Force Umbra initially set out to kill Ves Larkinson. The Fridaymen arrived with the force of thunder and made it clear that they did not intend to show any leniency towards their target.

It would have been great if they won, but the reality was crueler.

By now, almost every member of Task Force Umbra was dead. In fact, discounting the scattered Fridayman mech pilots who were stuck in derelict mechs, she might be the sole survivor left!

That frightened her on a profound level. How many servicemen had taken part in Operation Head Crusher? The Auralis alone was home to at least 20,000 crew members and the other fleet carriers definitely brought at least 15,000 people each depending on their size.

Now that all of those valuable fleet carriers blew up in order to prevent their enemies from deriving any value out of them, there was no way that any of those people made it out alive.

Surrender wasn't an option. The hatred went deep on both sides.

Aisling lowered her head as she sat on a comfortable chair in some kind of ready room. She brushed her hand over her tangled hair.

As soon as the Larkinsons brought back the spare cockpit ejected from the Eager Condemnation back to the Spirit of Bentheim, a team of security officers roughly pulled her out and stripped her of her hazard suit as well as all of her gear. While they had been generous enough to give her a comfortable jumpsuit, she felt terribly out of place.

She normally wore fashionable outfits or perfectly-fitted uniforms when she went about her day. She wasn't used to losing control.

"Well, at least the Larkinsons haven't treated me too poorly."

From what she could tell, the Larkinsons considered her to be a security risk, but that was all. They attempted to make her feel more at ease. She expected to be dragged to a cell or an interrogation room, but instead she was put into a ready room meant to keep pilots comfortable while they remained on standby.

That was probably the best treatment she could receive if Ves accepted the deal she offered.

"The data is all safe inside my head." She smiled.

As the administrator and supervisor of Unit L, she possessed extensive access to how the Charlemagne and the Scarra worked. While some of the data was still stuck behind very thorough encryption, it was still possible to gain access to it in time.

Her gift did not just encompass asymmetrical neural networks. She also possessed extensive resources that would allow anyone knowledgeable in neural interfaces to set up a basic neural network. This was the core crystallization of Master Toqueman Huron's lifelong pursuit. It was so refined and optimized that its applicability and ease of use was significantly greater than when the Master Mech Designer initially realized his design philosophy!

"Ves doesn't have any mech designer who specializes in neural interface technology." Aisling muttered.

This was the greatest source of confidence to her. As someone who tracked Ves' life as best as possible, she knew about every single mech designer who worked under the man she loved more than anyone else in the cosmos.

Not a single mech designer in the Larkinson Clan could harness the considerable amount of research data in her head!

The only one who qualified was Aisling herself! Even if Ves brought in an outsider with a background in neural interfaces, he or she would never be able to master Master Huron's proprietary trade secrets.

Only someone who specialized and dedicated her design philosophy to neural networks were best able to work in this specific field!

Considering what she heard about Ves, Aisling knew that she possessed a good chance to preserve her life and gain the acceptance of her crush if she showed her value.

Ves had proven that he was not completely in the grip of his wife by forcibly elevating Juliet Stameros to the position of lead designer.

"I'm definitely more useful than this Hexer mech designer!" Aisling confidently asserted.

Ves was sorely lacking a specialty like hers in his design teams. She was one of the few mech designers who were permitted to design custom neural interfaces. This was very useful to any mech design projects because she could optimize a neural interface to any specific design, thereby facilitating a smoother piloting experience.

This was especially relevant when it came to designing expert mechs! Neural interface specialists played an essential role in their design because most resonance-empowered abilities required custom neural interface programming and configuration in order to be activated and controlled.

While it was possible to design an expert mech without a custom neural interface, the efficiency of such a machine would definitely be impaired!

"Expert pilots are too different from normal humans. If the neural interface isn't expanded to accommodate their distinct properties, then they will always be held back from displaying their full might!"

Aside from this, Aisling was also a great mech designer in other aspects. She was fairly well-rounded and possessed a very broad and solid foundation. She was able to design mechs independently or lead mech design projects on her own. Her addition would definitely alleviate the manpower shortages at the LMC's Design Department.

The entrance slid open without warning, startling Aisling out of her considerations.

She quickly straightened her back and adopted a slightly soft and vulnerable demeanor.

This was not a situation where she could afford to throw her weight around. If she wanted to get past this hurdle, she needed to gain Ves' sympathy.

A pair of powerful suited forms entered the ready room. Ves, still clad in his sealed Unending Regalia, strode forward while his dashing cape fluttered in the air. His tall and heavily-armored bodyguard followed closely behind.

No one else entered the room, which quietly made Aisling feel relieved.

She was afraid that Ves would bring Gloriana. If she wasn't here, this meant that Ves clearly wanted to deal with the situation himself. That meant she had a chance!

"Hello, Ves." She started simply and plainly.

She made sure to restrain herself from saying anything more. She had to be very careful with how she presented herself. She carefully controlled her posture, her demeanor, her pitch and her phrasing according to the training she received.

"Hello, Aisling." Ves eventually replied.

Aisling couldn't read too much from his response. His damned armor prevented her from gleaning too many details from his body language and his expression remained frustratingly expressionless.

"Have you considered my offer?" She gently asked.

"I have." He said haltingly. "I'm not entirely convinced. I don't like you at all, though I can't deny your talents are useful. The problem is that you haven't managed to offer enough arguments to make me forgive your very serious transgressions. Tell me why I should look past the crap you've put me through and bring you into the fold."

"I'm sure you already know what I can bring to the table as a Journeyman and a neural interface specialist, so I won't bother to elaborate on that. Let me explain what it means to gain access to the data in my mind."

She began to outline some of the benefits of neural networks. She tried to use as few words as possible to describe all of the advantages of the unique knowledge she held in her head.

"The Bloody Herons showcased a relatively high-level application of neural networks. The selection of mech pilots is rather strict because it's not easy to find people who meet all of the requirements. However, the results are very much worth it, as the previous battle has shown. As long as the mech pilots are sufficiently trained, they can fight as one with the help of an active neural network for an extended period of time. It is applicable in nearly any situation and battlefield."

Ves crossed his arms. He looked intrigued. Compared to his battle networks, the classical neural network could be sustained over a much longer period of time. This was a huge benefit for battles where the use of trump cards was excessive.

"I can't say that I'm not tempted." He casually replied. "However, why must I keep you around? If I want to, I can extract that valuable data straight from your implant."

"That won't work! I've employed enough safeguards to rule out any method of accessing the data stored in my implant unless I am fully onboard with it. If my implant is accessed by a third party, it will immediately erase all of the data. If any of its programming or parameters are altered, it will immediately erase all of the data. If I don't feed a specific code in intervals of less than a minute, it will immediately erase all of the data. In the long journey to this ship, I have set up hundreds of different safeguards like these to account for every conceivable contingency."

Ves frowned. He had hoped that she would be careless, but she was too technically literate to leave herself open to all of these vulnerabilities.

Only by making him give up any attempt to steal her valuable research data in a dishonest manner would she be eligible to negotiate with him. Aisling was not naive enough to believe her charm was enough to make Ves treat her in such a cordial fashion.

As she was about to proceed with the negotiation she set up, Ves began to turn around without warning.

The hatch soon slid open to allow a woman to enter the ready room. The new entrant wore a stylish purple protective suit patterned with hexagons.

Aisling's composure quickly broke down when she realized who Ves invited into the room.

"Of all of the people I expected to see in the flesh, I never imagined I would come face to face with you." Gloriana said with a deceptively calm voice.

Panic had swept through Aisling! The appearance of Ves' wife signalled a very dangerous turn of events!

"Ves!" Aisling ignored Gloriana's looming presence. "Please consider what I can offer to you. I promise that I will forget about all of my former loyalties and completely dedicate my expertise to you and your clan. I can help you design better mechs in a way that no other neural interface specialist can compare. I've noticed that you developed some mechs that work really well together. You must have become inspired by Master Huron's work, right? You can probably push their cooperation to the next level with the help of myself and the knowledge I carry!"

Ves did not immediately respond to her pleas. Instead, he kept looking at his wife.

"How do you want to deal with her, honey?"

"She's not worth my time." Gloriana arrogantly huffed. "Ever since I married you, other women don't stand a chance anymore."

"Don't you want to teach her a lesson or something?"

"I'm not a savage, Ves! I'm a dignified woman. There is no need for me to stoop to Aisling's level. Just kill her so we can move on to more productive matters."

"Nooo! Please don't listen to her, Ves!" Aisling begged. "If you kill me, you won't get any of my data! My implant will immediately fry and self-destruct. There is no chance for you to retrieve anything valuable from my head!"

Ves looked at her as if she was already dead.

"I don't care."

Those simple words sealed her fate. Aisling gradually realized that Ves never really cared about all of the benefits she could bring to him. He was fully okay with forgoing her valuable knowledge!

Her body shook. "Can.. can you tell my why?"

"I might as well, if only to ease your passing." Ves shrugged. "It's very simple. You screwed me over. You wanted to take me away from everything I built and forcibly turn me into someone else. This is unforgivable. I simply can't get over it. While I don't deny my interest in the research data that you hold, I'm already a successful mech designer in my own right. As an innovator, I am already accustomed to making my own inventions. I don't need to rely on anyone's research to progress. The most it can do is serve as a source of inspiration. That's not enough to offset your transgressions, but even if you offered a hundred times more value, I still would have rejected you out of hand."

It turned out that Aisling didn't understand Ves sufficiently at all! His grievances took precedence over his greed!

"Don't forget about me." Gloriana smirked in an incredibly smug fashion as she leaned her suit against Ves' solid form. "Ves knows better than to entertain you when he's married to me. He's mine, Aisling. I will never give you a chance to worm your way into his heart."

That was that. Neither Ves nor Gloriana had any reason to keep their valuable captive alive.

She lowered her head. Tears began to leak from her eyes.

When she looked up again, her vision became filled by the barrel of a very ornate laser pistol.

The weapon was aimed straight at her unprotected heart.

"Any last words?"

"I will always love you, in life and in death."

A bright red fash blinded her eyes!