The Mech Touch

"Hmm. Interesting. The internal circuitry of this weapon is constantly affecting the flow of different energies." Master Willix spoke as she floated around the giant luminar crystal rifle that Ves had placed in his personal workshop.

A few of the guards were holding large scanners and methodically began to gather data from every angle.

Gloriana was present as well, but she had been relegated to the background. She played no role in the development of the luminar crystal rifle and could not provide any insight that Master Willix could already figure out by herself.

"I hope my husband's work meets her approval." She whispered as she held Clixie against her chest.

"Miaow."

Ves nervously stood closer to the giant mech-sized rifle as he occasionally answered a few inquiries from Master Willix. The problem was that he couldn't fully provide her with the information she wanted because even he hadn't figured out how the internal circuitry patterns worked.

Eventually, Willix got tired of his insufficient attempts to explain the functioning of the weapon. She briefly paused her examination and faced Ves from above.

"Do you see how little control you have over your own invention? Many human researchers in the past have gone down the same path as you. During the Age of Stars, our race were newcomers to the galactic stage, and we became dazzled by the breadth and depth of alien technology utilized by the new and unfamiliar aliens we came across. Do you know what happened at the time?"

"Uhm… we somehow muddled through by staying under the radar of strong local powers?"

"A lot of events took place during this humble stage. Much of which has been deliberately erased from the history books." Willix ruefully smiled. "What I can tell you was that attitudes like yours were in the mainstream. Our tech base was woefully underdeveloped compared to the galactic standard at the time. We did not have the luxury to develop our own native tech base. Many researchers and developers have managed to adapt a large amount of alien tech for human use. Yet we rarely hear of their names or remember their deeds today. Do you know why?"

This was an important question and Master Willix obviously wanted Ves to think deep on this issue. In her perspective, he was in the same shoes as the researchers of the past. This made it crucial for him to learn from the mistakes of his predecessors.

Thinking about all of the warnings issued by Master Willix, Ves came up with a reply.

"In order to study alien technology, you need to understand its creators. What is their history? What are their traits? What do they value? Why did they choose to develop a specific tech? It is much harder to figure alien tech if you don't understand a thing about the minds that created it. In my own studies, I tried to figure out everything I could about the ancient luminar race. I imagine those past researchers have done the same. The only difference is that the luminar race is extinct while those other alien races were still alive and well at the time."

Willix nodded. "There is a concept known as assimilation. In this context, it describes how one alien race is able to absorb another alien race by seducing it with superior tech, an attractive culture and many other subtle means. Assimilation is different from conquest. The former is covert and gradual while the latter is overt and will always produce strong hostility. Yet make no mistake, Mr. Larkinson. When assimilation is employed as a strategy, it can lead to the same outcome as conquest. The end result is that the aliens have effectively subdued the human race and forever shackled us to the point where we only live to serve our new masters."

That sounded ominous.

"What happened?"

"It is a long story. A large proportion of the people that have led us into the stars had effectively become vassals to the surrounding alien powers. Our race would have never been able to break through the net woven around our civilization if not for a number of factors. If not for the fact that the different alien polities were competing against each other, we would have already become subsumed. The delays caused by alien rivalries has given us enough time to move past our most vulnerable period and attain strength that is not conditional to any outside influence. Has your school taught you about Supreme Marshal Caramond Perle?"

Ves immediately recognized the name even though it had been a long time ago since he last encountered the name in a history book.

"He's the Father of Human Dominion. The Supreme Marshal was the first leader of our race who managed to unite the scattered nations of humanity into a single union. This allowed all of us to speak with one voice towards the aliens we interacted with. Before this happened, Old Earth and the colonies that followed all treated each other as rivals. Once the Supreme Marshal came along, he managed to convince many different nations and other organizations that they should be directing their schemes at the aliens instead of themselves."

Master Willix nodded. "We cannot understate the importance of figures such as Supreme Marshal Perle. What the history books didn't tell you was that the opposition against his stance was much more fierce than you realize. Human nations have become so corrupted by alien influencing that they have even waged war against each other at the prodding of their inhuman 

Overlords. Each major nation was backed by a different alien race. It took an unimaginable amount of effort to break the old power structures and convince the majority of the population to stand up for themselves and reject the temptation of superior alien technology."

There was much more to this history than what she was willing to mention. Ves couldn't even imagine how the Supreme Marshal managed to stand up to all of the ancient human nations of the past.

It was equivalent to someone in the modern day who had decided to rebel against the Big Two! The power disparity was so vast that it was practically impossible for a small faction of humans to overthrow the entire status quo!

However… if the Supreme Marshal and the people around him were part of the Five Scrolls Compact, then that was different.

"Though the period spanning the Age of Stars is usually treated as an afterthought in most high school history courses, it is a crucial time that has defined much of who we are today." Master Willix generously explained even as she turned back to study the luminar crystal rifle. "This is also the origin of the conflict between human supremacy and cosmopolitanism. The winners of this early conflict went on to spark the Age of Conquest which many consider to be the most glorious time of our history. As for the losers, these disgraced and misguided dissidents went on to live in exile. Even now, they still advocate for a future where humanity lives in peace with alien neighbors. It is too late for that."

Human nationalism and supremacy was firmly rooted in the minds of most people. Despite all of the hiccups that happened throughout the last millenia, there was no doubt that humanity achieved great success by looking out after its own interests and treating aliens as enemies.

Though Ves agreed with this stance as well, he didn't have any particularly strong opinions about it. He was quite sure that there had to be more to cosmopolitanism than Master Willix let on, otherwise it wouldn't have been able to cling to existence for such a long time.

There was no way that he would be able to get an honest explanation from Master Willix, though. As the representative of one of the greatest organizations that officially embraced human supremacy, the MTA xenophobic tendencies was only surpassed by the CFA!

Well, it didn't really matter to Ves. All of these ideological struggles completely flew above his head. Even if he supported a particular stance, he was too far away from power to be able to influence anything. The only choice he had was to abide by the prevailing rules.

Right now, the MTA and CFA were in charge, so Ves could only live in their reality.

Master Willix concluded her examination. She not only devoted her time to the luminar crystal rifle, but also studied the individual attack phase crystals that were responsible for modulating the output of the weapon system.

The attack phase crystal responsible for creating the remarkable light beam attacks attracted most of her interest. She demanded Ves supply her with the smaller versions of the crystal that he had made in the past. Comparing their similarities and differences would go a long way into figuring out the mechanisms of their unique internal circuitry patterns.

Much to his surprise, Master Willix wasn't content with studying the hardware. She snapped her fingers, causing the mech-sized luminar crystal rifle as well as many lesser samples to be teleported straight out of the Spirit of Bentheim!

Ves almost choked when he saw how effortlessly the MTA Master stole his property.

Fortunately, none of what she took was irreplaceable. The weapons and crystals were early development samples anyway. As long as he used up a batch of expensive resources, he could make much better versions of what he lost.

"This is not enough." She said. "Examining existing samples is not as good as mastering the method behind their production. It is time for you to show me how it is done."

He had been dreading this request. While Master Willlix performed her initial examinations, Ves spent much of his time trying to figure out how he could get out of this predicament.

He came up with a few ideas, one of which looked promising.

Ves grimaced. "My unique production method is not transferable, ma'am. It is based around my design philosophy as luminar crystals are alive to an extent. What I can do is try to create a tool that will allow anyone to make a specific type of luminar crystal."

The MTA Master looked intrigued. "Let me see it, then. You have two hours."

He quickly began to gather a bunch of materials while forming the design in his mind.

Two of the biggest limitations to making powerful luminar crystals was the fact that it required spiritual energy and the use of the crystal cube.

A powerful Master should not be lacking in spiritual energy, but there was only one crystal cube which Ves had to preserve at all cost.

If he wasn't able to satisfy her demands, she would probably keep digging further until she uncovered his precious cube. This was an unacceptable outcome.

In order to solve this problem, Ves came up with a drastic idea. While he wasn't able to reproduce the crystal cube in its entirety in his current state, what about a lesser version?

What if he dialed back the scope and removed all of the extra features in order to create a more modest cube that could only perform a single job?

The only uncertainty was whether he could actually make it. He knew he had to pull out all of the stops.

He had no choice but to consciously channel the Illustrious One while he worked. He also had to pull out the crystal cube and make use of its capabilities in order to program the internal circuitry pattern in his new crystal.

He felt quite nervous because Master Willix was definitely watching!

In order to draw attention away from the crystal cube, Ves grabbed a bunch of other crystals and pretended to do something with them. He also consciously changed the shape of his creation into a ball.

Time passed by in a haze as Ves embodied the Illustrious One to the greatest degree he could manage. All kinds of alien thoughts and impressions occupied his mind. Whether they aided in his goal or not was not entirely clear. He blindly accepted the suggestions and just hoped that his crystal ball was able to do something useful.

"It's done." He finally sighed as he let go of the Illustrious One. His presence immediately diminished in front of Master Willix's eyes.