The Mech Touch

Up until this point, Ves perceived no appreciable benefits from becoming a 12th tier galactic citizen. Every Journeyman Mech Designer who recently broke through was eligible to become one when they made their pilgrimages to one of the sector headquarters of the MTA.

Though the mechers over there spoke about how noble and important it was for them to be recognized as proper citizens of the human galactic community, the situation was a lot different outside of their ivory towers.

Pirates and enemies did not pay any heed to the fact that Ves was a galactic citizen! His 12th tier citizenship did not give him more protection or granted him any meaningful rights. At most, his name was put in the huge list of people who were of some significance and couldn't be lumped in with the names of other space peasants.

A jump by two tiers might sound impressive in other circumstances, but what kind of benefits did this bring? Ves had little regard for symbolic rewards.

"The tenth tier is a true reflection of your value to human society." Master Willix said, paying special attention to Ves. "Although it is an unfortunate description of our society, the fact of the matter is that not every human is equal. There are some who can contribute more because of their higher degree of knowledge and capabilities. They are awarded with higher tiers of citizenships to reflect their relative importance and grant them greater access to the products and services that we offer. For example, one of the reasons why I have been authorized to tell you about masterworks and grand works is because you are more qualified to know about matters that we do not feel the need to divulge to lesser people."

Well, that sounded elitist as hell, but Ves understood why the mechers thought that way. There were way too many humans and the overwhelming majority of them were weak, poor and inconsequential. It was too burdensome to provide excellent treatment to them all when they did not nearly give back to society as much as first-class citizens.

According to their new tiers, Ves, Gloriana Juliet and Ketis should be able to contribute as much as first-class citizens.

Ves thought this was completely wrong. He was sure that he had already provided a lot more useful information and other benefits to the MTA than what an average Terran or Rubarthan could ever accomplish!

Just because first-class citizens were held in high regard didn't mean that all of them were geniuses. There were plenty of bums among them who completely wasted the opportunities they received in their lives and went on to screw around and leech lots of resources without ever thinking about paying back to society.

It was too bad his other colleagues didn't think this way. Gloriana looked especially proud for receiving recognition for her value.

"What kind of expanded permissions will we receive?"

"It will become more convenient for you to gain access to high technology, whether in the form of knowledge or ready-made products. You can use some of your newly-earned merits to exchange for teleportation countermeasure devices, personal teleporters or apply for permission to study neural interface technology. You can explore the full range of options in your own time." Willlix waved her hand.

Ves felt a bit more mollified after he heard that. While he still needed to pay a price to obtain all of those goodies, it was already great that he had access to them as long as he had enough money or merits on hand.

If Ves ever wanted to lift himself and his clan up to first-class standards, then it was vital for him to phase in more first-class tech and knowledge over time. This was destined to be a long and gradual process because he didn't have the benefit of a spouse who was already at the height he aimed to reach.

He seriously doubted he would survive after he informed Gloriana that he was thinking about marrying a first-class princess!

Well, it was for the better. He didn't want to rely on others to uplift himself this time. His previous jump from third-class to second-class had given the Hexers plenty of ways to insert themselves in his life. This problem would become a lot worse if he repeated the same dance with Terrans or Rubarthans!

"Do we get anything else?" Ves asked. "Or is that all?"

Master Willix looked quite unimpressed at him. "Even if there are nine more tiers in front of you, the status that you have gained is hardly matched by anyone in this region of space. Only Masters and other highly-distinguished individuals from the surrounding star clusters have received this honor. Many trans-galactic organizations will provide you with much better treatment when you make use of their services. The treatment that you will receive will truly equal that of first-class citizens. Do mind that you are also expected to pay as much as them for many of the costlier and more exclusive services."

All of this sounded rather vague to Ves for the moment. He did not want to put too much hope on this reward until he actually tried to make use of it for real. Until then, he withheld his judgement.

So far, the only reward he really cared about was the 5 million MTA merit award. Though it wasn't as high as he wished, at least it was better than nothing.

"Before I return you to your ships, you are allowed to make additional requests if you wish." Maser Willix finally said. "It is up to my discretion whether we will act on it or not. This is purely a favor to the four of you. It is also a small form of compensation for the disruptions that we have caused to you, so do not ask anything excessive."

Gloriana had been waiting for this moment. She immediately pounced on the opportunity by issuing the request that had always been hanging in the back of her mind!

"Can you grant the Glory Seekers permission to make use of luminar crystal technology?!"

"Yes." Master Willix immediately nodded as if she already expected it. "However, make sure the tech does not proliferate beyond their control. If the Glory Seekers prove to be unable to handle this tech in a proper manner, then we will not hesitate to revoke this privilege."

That sounded quite harsh, but Gloriana was more than happy with what she got. By asking for permission on behalf of the entire Glory Seekers rather than just her brother, she effectively secured a huge boost in strength for the expeditionary fleet!

As long as the Glory Seekers kept traveling with the Larkinson Clan, then the two of them combined would be able to unleash much greater damage at range!

Juliet raised her hand. "Can you give us permission to arm ourselves with weapons exceeding the limits of mechs?"

"No." Willix immediately shut her down. "That goes far beyond the scope of a favor. Dial back your demands."

Well, it was worth a try. Even Ves considered making this request before he judged that there was a 999.99 chance that Willix would say no. She had already said that bigger wasn't better, so why should she make an exception and allow the Larkinson Clan to ignore the prohibition on warship-grade weapons?

"Then.. can you give our clan a free trade writ in the Red Ocean?"

Ves wanted to scratch his head. What the heck was this?

It turned out that this was quite a serious favor, because Master Willix waited for almost a dozen seconds before she answered.

"Granted. We shall formally issue this writ to your clan when it reaches the Red Ocean. The writ will be in effect for ten years before it expires. Given your galactic citizenship tier, any of you can apply to extend it by another 10-year term but at a vastly inflated rate of 100 million MTA merits. We don't like giving out free trade writs so you must convince us that you deserve an extension."

Ves almost grew sick when he heard this sum. 100 million MTA merits was enough to purchase another fleet beyonder ticket! Who the hell would be crazy enough to cough up so many precious merits only to obtain this so-called writ that only made trade more convenient or something?

This was definitely a scam!

As Ves kept wondering what this writ was about and why Juliet of all people had heard of it, Ketis issued her request next. She reached behind her and grabbed her floating greatsword that was currently resting in its scabbard.

"Can I make use of your facilities and stock of materials to upgrade and personalize my sword?"

Willix responded with a curt nod. "I can only give you three hours. After that, the Hesserian Bardine must leave."

"Then please allow me to start straight away!"

Willix waved her hand, causing Ketis and Bloodsinger to teleport away from the workshop. She then turned to Ves. "What about you, Mr. Larkinson?"

This was such an open-ended opportunity that Ves didn't know where to begin. Even if he couldn't be too excessive, there was still a huge amount of options he could choose from. What if he asked too little? He would probably regret the missed opportunity for the rest of his life!

He did not rush his decision. So far, he already determined that he should skip any benefits that he could easily obtain by paying money or exchanging MTA merits.

He could get his hands on material objects one way or another by himself. As for knowledge, while he was greedy to learn more about high technology, he already had access to the System.

Therefore, anything which he could obtain through alternative channels was a bad choice.

A much better use of this reward was to ask for something that people ordinarily couldn't ask from the MTA. Gloriana's request was a good example of that.

When Ves thought in the direction of rules, he began to narrow down his choices.

"Can you give me permission to sell my mechs to consumers through the MTA's trading platform for merits?"

Willix's answer was firm. "No. Merits are non-transferable and should not be earned through barter. This is a long-standing principle that cannot be changed."

Ves had the idea that this wasn't entirely the case, but obviously he wasn't valued enough for her to grant an exemption.

He tried to figure out another option.

"What if.. you give us protection while we're in the Red Ocean? I mean, you want us to make more masterwork mechs, right? We can't do that if we're dead. Can you give us a pass or something that will warn everyone else that they will immediately invite retribution from you if they attack our fleet?"

This was a more interesting request to Master Willix. However, she was limited by how much she could do in her position.

"We have had bad experiences with providing official protection to private individuals and organizations. The rules surrounding them have been tightened and we generally do not do this anymore." She stated. "In light of the chaotic situation in the Red Ocean, we are prepared to give you a limited amount of cover. We will not extend protection to your entire clan, but it is much less problematic to extend it to just the four of you. For a duration of 2 years after you enter the Red Ocean, anyone who directly attacks you, restricts you and so on will invite the heaviest punishment from our Association."

This.. was much less than Ves hoped. Not only did it only cover four of them, it also expired in just 24 months!

Still, Ves shouldn't complain too much. The MTA was quite stingy about these matters so this was already a considerable concession.

"Thank you. I will be sure to take that all into account."

"Good. Then this meeting has come to an end. I wish you good luck in your future endeavors and do not hesitate to inform us if you have made any breakthroughs regarding interesting tech, original new methods and developing more masterwork mechs. We must do our best to shift humanity's relationship with technology in order to prevent us from becoming slaves to our tools."