The Mech Touch

Whoever attempted to assassinate Ves should have known better.

People as wealthy and powerful as him always enjoyed multiple layers of protection. Outside of his honor guard and the mechs on standby further back, the feeble attack had no chance of getting through his shield generators and his Unending Regalia.

"Meow!"

Lucky had instantly jumped from the Unending Regalia and became fully alert. Nitaa and the rest of the guards had also adopted a more high-strung posture as they tried to watch out for follow-up attacks.

Ves waved everyone down. "Don't do anything rash. The attack didn't do any harm and we don't know who's responsible for setting this trap."

"Sir, I advise you to pull back." Nitaa insistently urged. "These locals have already shown that they are willing to act out on their dangerous impulses. It's highly likely that they have prepared other traps!"

"I'm aware of that, but do you really think they can threaten us?" Ves sneered behind his helmet. "If we turn away, we will only leave a weak impression behind. Our goal of convincing these locals to join our clan will become a lot harder if everyone thinks that we're a bunch of cowards!"

"That's a dangerous argument, sir. You are willfully ignoring a safety warning in order to fulfill another objective. Is it worth it for you to continue to risk your life?"

"I'll be fine. Consider this as a test. Each of you have missed this trap until it had already triggered. I expect better next time. The acid grenade should have never been launched at me to begin with. Its payload could have been much more dangerous."

The honor guards recognized their failure. Their sensors were highly-geared towards detecting conventional threats, but biotechnology presented dangers that none of them were familiar with. Even though they had already tweaked the settings of their sensor systems to be on the lookout for biological threats, it was clear their database on biological threats possessed some serious gaps!

This was not a problem that they could solve in the field. The honor guards had no choice but to pay more attention and watch every angle.

"Meow meow?"

"Don't bother. I can already tell that whoever set this trap was probably far away."

Using the sensors of his Unending Regalia, he could spot a small and camouflaged launching mechanism at the top of the tree structure.

Perhaps the Larkinsons might be able to trace who was responsible for setting it up by watching the security recordings, but Ves didn't plan to make any moves in person. The assassination attempt was so primitive that he didn't even feel the urge to take revenge. Compared to the powerful enemies he faced on a regular basis, a single discontented Lifer did not even register on his mind!

"Meow.."

Since Ves didn't feel bothered, Lucky relaxed as well. The cat knew that Ves was almost impossible to harm when he was wearing his combat armor.

Ves continued his mostly-silent tour. The only difference was that his honor guard acted much more proactively. They did not just approach various structures in order to sweep them for any hidden weapons, but also pushed any loitering refugees back.

None of this fostered any goodwill towards him and his clan..

The Lifers who disliked him took what happened as proof that he was an oppressor.

Those that didn't hold any strong opinions towards the Larkinson Clan began to develop a negative impression.

Even the small number of people who previously thought about applying to join the Larkinson Clan were having second thoughts!

This was not conducive to his goal of persuading the refugees to join his side. Perhaps the harm he was doing to his image by continuing on his tour was worse than turning back from the start!

Yet Ves still insisted on walking through the entire refugee camp on foot. He didn't even shy away from the dormant or patrolling biomechs. With the level of protection he currently enjoyed, not even mechs could kill him right away!

"Damn cowards." He muttered under his breath.

A part of him even looked forward to seeing what would happen if a refugee mech pilot pulled the trigger!

The fact that none of the Lifer mech pilots were stupid and brave enough to make the attempt diminished his opinion of the refugees even further.

"Is that it?" He asked as he explored everything there was to see.

The refugee camp was interesting. Even though it was only a short time since they settled down, the displaced citizens were already trying to pick up their lives in any way possible.

They erected bars, restaurants, basic biotech repair facilities and even set up a school to keep restless teenagers busy!

While Ves admired their proactiveness, the fact that these refugees were so quick to set up a new town for themselves spoke volumes about their desire to return to their previous lives!

"What do you think about the people in the camp, Lucky?"

"Meow." Lucky flipped his tail.

"Yeah. Their priorities aren't straight. If I was in their place, I would be looking to dig underground bunkers or something. It's much safer for them to shelter beneath the surface and out of sight."

Hearing it from Captain Rivington was one thing, but seeing it for himself was another. What he particularly valued was trying to sense the mood and atmosphere of the refugee camp. By opening his senses, he gained a more intuitive and accurate impression of how the people were coping with their current circumstances.

No one liked to get caught up in a war brewing near their old homes. Numerous refugees had already lost family or friends. Not everyone was able to cope as well with the losses than others, and some even channeled their negative emotions in worrisome directions!

"All in all, these people are quite sad."

The emotions he sensed and the impressions he gained informed his next decision.

When Captain Rivington informed him of the difficulty of persuading many of the locals to join his clan, Ves thought about how he could change that without earning Venerable Jannzi's ire.

The solution he came up with was making use of glows.

"This is what I'm good at. There aren't many mech designers who can surpass my ability to sway other people!"

Of course, this didn't mean that Ves intended to assign a couple of his LMC mechs right in the middle of the refugee camp.

That would just increase everyone's opinion that the Larkinsons were oppressing the poor citizens.

"Besides, I don't have any suitable mechs for the job at the moment." He muttered.

The Ferocious Piranha's would drive everyone away. The Eternal Redemptions repelled men like the plague.

His Bright Warriors were much more suitable, but not enough. They weren't as offensive to people as his other mechs, and they might be able to project a more welcoming presence if Ves switched out their design spirits. Yet that did not change the fact that they were killing machines!

"Mechs aren't teddy bears."

Ves had to find a way to expose the refugees to glows that would lower their vigilance towards the Larkinson Clan and increase the odds of winning them over.

"I have an excellent solution in mind!"

Once he returned to the base, he visited one of its workshops and began to gather some materials together. Before he went to work, he activated a design interface and sketched a simple statue.

The solution that Ves had settled upon was making several totems!

"What do these people need? What will bring them the most relief?"

He had several design spirits that could have a calming effect on people. Some were more exclusive than others, but depending on how he tweaked his totems, he could finetune any glow in order to alter their properties to an extent.

Which design spirit should he choose first?

"If these people are too caught up by their own grief, they won't be receptive to joining our clan. My first totem should pull them out of their depression."

He briefly thought about using the Solemn Guardian. It always had a great effect on raising people's morale.

However, Ves quickly shook his head.

"This is an awful idea. The Solemn Guardian will only make these Lifers even more loyal to their state!"

What Ves needed to do was to calm their extreme emotions, and there was no better design spirit to accomplish this than Lufa!

"Speaking of Lufa, I haven't really used him all that much." He muttered.

The design spirit formed an integral spiritual component of the Doom Guard and Ferocious Piranha models, but those mechs did not reflect the spiritual product's true inclinations.

Ves believed that his design spirits always fared best when they watched over a mech design that mirrored their identity.

For example, the Crystal Lord matched the Illustrious One. The Aurora Titan fit Qilanxo like a glove.

Much of these cases came about because Ves expressly designed a mech that corresponded to a design spirit or vice versa.

He even applied the same approach to Lufa, but for various reasons he never got around to releasing the Sanctuary model.

"I've been so busy that I never really examined how my third-class mechs are faring in the hands of my customers."

To be honest, Ves hesitated whether he should release the Sanctuary at all. His current products were selling well as far as he knew and introducing a mech that negated other glows would certainly lead to a huge amount of disruption.

"I'll think about this later."

He threw these distracting thoughts aside and proceeded with fabricating a couple of totems.

None of them were particularly big or imposing. They merely depicted Lufa as he envisioned it. The white composite material portrayed the peaceful design spirit with a solemn and pure demeanor.

He made four statues in total which he planned to place in the four corners outside of the refugee camp.

The reason why he decided against placing them directly in the camp was because that was too forceful. Making the Lifers feel as if he was forcing them to enjoy his glows was counterproductive!

"I need to lure them over on their own accord."

Ves believed that the value that Lufa could provide to the distressed was powerful enough to do the job. Even he felt calmer and more at peace with himself as he became affected by Lufa's presence.

Of course, he could easily block this influence from affecting him if he wanted to. His mental strength was considerable and he would be damned before he allowed one of his own creations to screw him over!

After finishing the four statues, Ves admired his craftsmanship for a few minutes before calling in Captain Rivington to hear what he had to say about his work.

The moment the former mech athlete became affected by Lufa's glow, all of the tension in his body faded away. He closed his eyes in contentment as he relished in the opportunity to rid himself of his mental burdens, if only for a moment.

"Are these some of your famous statues, sir?"

Ves nodded. "Well, I don't know whether I deserve any fame for making them, but yes, they are mine."

"I heard you made a much greater and more impressive statue for the Hexers."

"Skip the flattery and tell me what you think about these four statues. As you are obviously feeling right now, I've imbued them with something special that makes them more than simple ornaments. Do you think they will be able to inspire the refugees to reduce their objections towards us and increase their chances of following in your footsteps?"

Captain Rivington put careful thought in his answer. He continued to bask in the glow of the totems as he looked up to them with a contemplative expression.

Eventually, he shook his head. "No."

"What? Why not?"

"Don't get me wrong. These statues are amazing. It's just that they're not.. organic."

"..."

"You've seen our city, right? Have you ever spotted a statue that was made out of metal or stone?"

"Now that I think about it… no. I haven't encountered any statues that look like these in Veoline."

"While my former state prefers to rely on natural growth to decorate a space, any statues made must be organic. They're either made out of flesh, bone or wood. These marble-like statues of yours are too static and clinical! I can tell you that few refugees are willing to approach these foreign-style statues!"