The Mech Touch

Venerable Jannzi continued to listen to Venerable Leefer Povis as the older man espoused the virtues of the Galactic Humanist Society.

Though Jannzi was genuinely attracted to the Galactic Humanist Society's stances, she was not naive. Leefer Povis was obviously trying to fish her and she had many scruples about forging ties to an organization that appeared out of the blue.

The man appeared sincere, though. Expert pilots generally disdained misdirection and Venerable Leefer had been nothing but earnest at this point.

After Jannzi expressed an interest in the roots of his organization, Leefer patiently explained its origins.

The Galactic Humanist Society was an organization with ancient roots and had gone through multiple different crises, setbacks and separations.

"There are many organizations that claim to be humanist and want to lead our species to a more peaceful age, but make no mistake, Venerable Jannzi. The Galactic Humanist Society is the largest and most authentic proponent of the humanist movement. Any others that make the same claim are likely off-shoots founded by defectors who disagreed with our tenets. Perhaps they have stances that are more to your liking, but whether they serve on behalf of the common good or just their directors remains to be seen."

"How popular is the Galactic Humanist Society in these times?" Jannzi calmly asked.

"Hmmm, our Society enjoyed its heyday during the Age of Stars. Humanity was in a bad position back then, but there were many people who yearned to achieve lasting peace. The events that subsequently took place have caused us to drop in popularity. When the Age of Conquest rolled in, humanity tasted the benefits of war and began its reckless expansion. You should already know how that ended. Now, the Galactic Humanist Society is on the rise again. With the lessons of the past, we are able to make a more persuasive case that the human race must never fall back to senseless violence."

"You didn't quite answer my question." Jannzi said. "How many people are a part of this organization? My clan and I have bad experiences with cults, you see."

Venerable Leefer chuckled in a good-natured manner. "Oh, the Galactic Humanist Society is far from a cult! It is a completely open, transparent and legitimate non-profit that is officially recognized by all major states and trans-galactic organizations. Hundreds of billions of members and associates are spread across human space. Although this figure is rather small when you consider humanity as a whole, as long as we pool our efforts and resources together, we can achieve great things."

That did not sound that big for a trans-galactic organization. Sure, Leefer had a point, but how easy was it to truly unite all of those members and associates when they were so different and spread across countless different states? This sounded like an exaggeration to Jannzi.

"So what is it you do, exactly?" She inquired. "You've told me about your Society's stances, but these are high-minded ideals. What is it that people like you actually do on a daily basis?"

"Well, I won't speak about the full-time members who work directly on behalf of the Galactic Humanist Society. Their work is much more involved. For associates such as myself, we continue to live out our normal lives in accordance with our own principles. If you recall my introduction, I am still a member of House Povis, and I am not forcing it to align with the Society. What I can do is steer the leadership towards my viewpoint and convince other members of House Povis to give peace a chance."

Jannzi frowned at this explanation. "It sounds like you're subverting House Povis on behalf of the Galactic Humanist Society."

"Oh, heavens no." Leefer immediately answered. "You misunderstand. I do not hold divided loyalties. I see my association with the Galactic Humanist Society as a complementary addition to my life. To be honest, I do not think House Povis will find success in the Red Ocean, not if it follows the plans of our current leaders. What I am trying to do is to give voice to reason, and it just so happens that the Society can assist me with that. Its members can give me advice, help me formulate my arguments and lend more credibility to my ideals. I would not have become an associate to it if it conflicted with my loyal service to my family and my noble house."

It all sounded a bit vague to Jannzi. She might not be Ves, but she was wary of entering any relationship that didn't provide her with actual benefits.

"What can I gain if I accept your invitation? Please be more specific."

"Well, aside from receiving teachings that can help you develop your mind and will, you can get in touch with a galactic, or multi-galactic I should say, community of like-minded humanists. You can trade favors with them or receive free benefits if they happen to be in a generous mood, which happens quite often. Many senior members of the Galactic Humanist Society are more willing to assist new and young associates such as yourself. You can pay them back by growing up and helping other newcomers in the same way. In no way will we ever force you to betray your original allegiances."

This was a common concern to many people the Galactic Humanist Society tried to rope in. Venerable Leefer Povis could already tell from Venerable Jannzi's willpower that she was immensely protective and loyal towards her own people.

This was not an undesirable trait. In fact, Leefer thought it was the opposite. Only caring, loyal and protective people had the courage to step up against the dominant trend towards conflict.

The Galactic Humanist Society recognized that there were too few people with influence that possessed sympathy towards the common people. This was why one of its strategies centered around elevating and promoting more empathic people to higher stations.

This was a slow and gradual process that might never lead to significant change, but the Society had to make the attempt anyway no matter how much other people pushed back against its principles.

The older man continued to elaborate for five more minutes as he attempted to give Venerable Jannzi a more thorough understanding of what she could gain from becoming an associate of his Society.

To be honest, of it sounded solid. The Galactic Humanist Society might not be as charitable and willing to reach out to Jannzi, but this was an unlikely outcome.

If Venerable Leefer Povis was a representative example of what his Society was like, then it was probably sincere about advancing its principles. Exploiting its own people was not typical of an ancient organization that had managed to stand the test of time.

By the end of it, Jannzi was mostly convinced to give the Galactic Humanist Society a shot. Becoming involved with it did not conflict with her existing oath to the Larkinson Clan and it didn't sound as if she needed to do anything that went against her own purpose and responsibilities.

She still found Venerable Leefer's solicitation to be rather overwhelming, though. She currently leaned towards thinking about the invitation. Perhaps she should go back to the clan so that she could do more research on this Society and discuss her options with other clansmen.

However, what Venerable Leefer Povis said next stopped her thoughts in their tracks.

"If you have been with our Society long enough, you might be able to come into contact with one of our chief directors. You should have definitely heard about him before, because he is a god pilot."

"What?! Which god pilot are you talking about?!"

Any mention of a god pilot was able to elicit a strong reaction from any mech pilot!

Even if Venerable Jannzi had already taken her first steps to godhood by becoming an expert pilot, she was quite self-conscious about her lack of strength. It was not a shame for her to admire and look up at the few god pilots that humanity had produced.

Leefer Povis smiled at her reaction. "Try and guess. The individual I am referring to should resonate especially well with you, because he is a knight mech specialist just like you. That should narrow down the possible choices considerably."

Though Jannzi was annoyed at Leefer's little game, she fell silent as she quickly ran her thoughts through what she knew of humanity's greatest mech pilots.

There weren't that many knight mech specialists among this select group. Part of it was because these kinds of mech pilots tended to sacrifice themselves instead of backing out in order to save their lives.

Nonetheless, a few exceptional defensive pilots succeeded in becoming gods in human form.

Though many of them had something in common with the ideals of the Galactic Humanist Society, there was one that stood out from the rest.

"Is it… the Triangle Guardian?"

"Good guess!" Venerable Leefer clapped in acknowledgement. "The Triangle Guardian is indeed one of the chief directors of the Galactic Humanist Society. While he is not our only leader, he is a respected advisor whose moral voice makes sure that we continue to work towards a better humanity. With his presence at the top, no one dares to engage in corruption or self-serving behavior. He is also a great guiding light to mech pilots like us who are trained to fight but wish to never put our skills in action. Our Society has an entire library of his lectures that can help you reconcile any contradictions in your head."

Access to the teachings of a god pilot wasn't free by any means, but just the possibility of getting in touch with them was invaluable to Jannzi!

The Triangle Guardian was an example to all defensive mech pilots. He was around 230 years old but became a god pilot a century ago, which was a testament to his talent!

Back when the great god pilot was mortal, he used to be known as Toreve Ixala, a former Rubarthan citizen with a common background. He served in the military and already ascended relatively quickly through the ranks.

He had already gotten into plenty of conflicts with his superiors. The Rubarthans were hawks while Toreve Ixala was a dove. The two didn't mix together and the mech pilot would have been booted out of service if not for the man's overflowing talent.

Everything changed when Toreve Ixala made the ultimate breakthrough. Though no one knew what happened behind closed doors, the Triangle Guardian made a clean break with the New Rubarth Empire and formally joined the Mech Trade Association, becoming one of its many top warriors.

Ever since then, the Triangle Guardian rarely showed up on the news. He did not make any radical waves, and mech pilots like Venerable Jannzi thought that he merely stayed vigil against external threats such as rival alien empires.

It turned out that the Triangle Guardian did more than stand guard over human civilization. Though Jannzi hadn't heard anything about his involvement with the Galactic Humanist Society, she did not doubt Leefer's claim. It sounded exactly like something he would do given his well-known opinions and inclinations.

Since a great hero and protector like Divine Toreve Ixala thought that the Galactic Humanist Society was worth leading, then it must be a worthwhile organization!

Jannzi eventually made up her mind.

"I'm not sure what is needed to become an associate of your organization, but as long as I don't need to do too much, I'm willing to give this a try. Is that alright, sir?"

Leefer gave her a brilliant smile. "It does not take much to welcome you into the fold. I just need to bring you over to our branch headquarters in Chance Bay to handle the necessary administration. As I've said, we're not a cult and becoming an associate is different from becoming a member. The only hard obligation that you have to meet is to pay an annual membership fee. After all, our organization still needs to pay its bills."

"How much?"

"Let's discuss that when we get to the branch. As an expert pilot, you are eligible to enjoy a few additional privileges…"

Venerable Leefer patiently led Venerable Jannzi out of Absalon Garden as he continued to explain the structure of the Galactic Humanist Society… None of the other Larkinson expert pilots noticed her departure.