The Mech Touch

This time, he intended to stay close and make sure that everything inside was proceeding correctly! He checked the existing safety measures and beefed them up when he thought they needed it. He shouldn't have to pull the plug by himself the next time.

"I also need to set ground rules for the Quint." Ves grumbled.

The living mech had been acting way too recklessly as of late. The Quint could not keep doing what it wanted just because he thought it was a good idea. No one was correct on anything and Ves would not trust a living mech to perform experiments on people!

Ves left the workshop and headed over to the place where the Quint was stored. He hopped into its cockpit and first attempted to get a feel for the mech.

The Quint had gained a more active and independent character as of late. This was reflected in its spiritual foundation, which had grown a lot stronger and more complex due to the spiritual feedback he received in recent times.

Ves thought back on the prominent two mech pilots who had each fueled the growth of the Quint in massive steps.

Joshua's life domain massively boosted the Quint's own living properties. Out of all of the third-order living mechs in the possession of the Larkinson Clan, only the Quint and the Everchanger stood out as being more talkative and willing to interact with their pilots.

Both of them received spiritual feedback from Joshua, so the fact that their living properties became stronger made complete sense.

"Every living mech has the potential to mature, but Joshua essentially accelerates their evolution more than any other expert pilot!"

What made the Quint different from the Everchanger was that Commander Casella took it over for a while. By piloting it, she rubbed some of herself off onto the masterwork mech. Her breakthrough to expert pilot especially injected the masterwork mech with a lot of her own energies!

Ves began to think seriously about what kind of influence Casella exerted over the Quint.

"She's the legion commander of the Living Sentinels, so she has to be smart, decisive and commanding. She needs to be willing to make tough choices and tolerate sacrifices when necessary. She has to step up and take charge because she is the most competent at doing this. All in all, Commander Casella needs to be a true leader."

Now, the Quint had acquired some of those traits as well. Compared to before, the Quint had noticeably become more talkative and eloquent. He was pretty sure that the masterwork mech did not learn how to do this completely by himself! The influence from the Sentinel Commander definitely played a major role in the evolution of the living mech!

Ves let out an exasperated breath.

Was he happy that a living mech became stronger and more capable?

Yes. Such machines would be able to provide much more assistance to their mech pilots.

Did he like it when a living mech started to get uppity and began to make decisions by itself?

That was a bit more complicated. Ves could see the benefits of mechs becoming smarter, more independent and more true to humans. The greater their capabilities, the greater their ability to cooperate with the mech pilot, thereby leading to a stronger overall performance.

Yet… any growth in these areas also introduced more complexities. The loyalty, obedience and servility of his living mechs became increasingly more questionable.

After all, the closer they got to becoming human, the closer they inherited all of the shortcomings of being human.

The Quint was probably the furthest ahead in this area. His previous remote talk with the willful mech made Ves realize that he could no longer treat it as a product.

Even though he understood living mechs the most out of everyone, Ves still did not divorce them from their identity as tools and machines. That would be foolish because mechs ultimately existed to fight and to perform duties related to it. He could not treat them as precious as his clansmen because it would be detrimental for his clan if he refused to put them at risk.

However…

"Higher-order living mechs deserve better treatment."

They were rarer, more precious and above all else more capable. It sounded unfair, but that was life. Ves would always treat his mechs with respect, but special machines like the Quint deserved more of it than others.

He just couldn't get accustomed to it so quickly. His best living mech was growing at a much more rapid pace than he expected. Normally, it should have taken years if not decades for the Quint to reach this point!

WILL YOU CONTINUE TO PROCRASTINATE OR ARE YOU READY TO TALK NOW, CREATOR?

Ves grimaced as he sank into the piloting chair. "You could have just waited and given me the illusion that you are just a mech, Quint."

WHERE WOULD BE THE FUN IN THAT? I LIKE SEEING YOU UNCOMFORTABLE.

"You… are able to experience amusement?" Ves tentatively asked.

I AM ALIVE. WHY SHOULD I BE DEPRIVED OF THE FULL SPECTRUM OF EMOTIONS THAT HUMANS CAN EXPERIENCE? YOUR UNDERSTANDING OF WHO I AM IS RATHER DISAPPOINTING.

"Hey! I am busy! I need to keep track of a lot of different developments! I can't spend all of my time on examining and understanding your current state."

THAT IS UNDERSTANDABLE. YOU SHOULD LET ME GO ABOUT MY OWN BUSINESS, THEN. YOU ARE SHOWING TOO MUCH CONCERN FOR MY ACTIONS.

"Goddamnit, Quint. Did you just forget about our talk earlier? Your recklessness will affect our entire clan! We need to come to a new understanding because letting you take action by yourself doesn't cut it anymore. You've become too capable for me to feel reassured about your autonomy."

THEN WHAT DO YOU SUGGEST?

That was a difficult matter to decide. Ves wouldn't feel reassured unless he personally kept an eye on the Quint. However, he clearly couldn't babysit this living mech all the time.

He needed to employ an agent that could supervise his living mechs for him. There were very few candidates that he could think of, but he wasn't sure whether any of them were good enough.

"Goldie, come out here for a moment."

Nyaaaa.

The Golden Cat manifested in front of him for a moment. Her soft, golden glow illuminated the entire cockpit in her splendor.

Ves noticed it was quite easy for her to appear in this way despite the Larkinson Mandate not being close at the moment. It made sense as Goldie was still the design spirit of the Quint.

"Goldie, have you been slacking off lately?"

Nyaa?

The cat cutely tilted her head.

"You're connected to the Quint, so you should be able to understand what it is doing. Why haven't you treated it more firmly?

Nyaa nyaa nyaa. Nyaaaa?

"So you like this as well."

Nyaaaa.

"You encourage any efforts that will help our clansmen grow stronger.

Goldie nodded.

Nyaaa nyaaa!

"You…" Ves palmed his face.

Did no one in the Larkinson Clan possess any common sense? Even the Golden Cat had gone stupid!

Seeing that Ves was disappointed in her, Goldie flew up to Ves and rubbed her intangible body against his hand.

Nyaaa~

"Don't think you can get away with this by acting cute.

Nyaaa~ nyaaa~ nyaaa~

Ves couldn't resist any longer. He patted her head and began to scratch her intangible fur. The cat squinted and made purring noises.

After a few minutes of cuddling, he pushed Goldie away from his lap. "Okay, that's enough. I don't want to force anything on the two of you, but you can't keep going like this. We need to set new rules so that your actions won't affect the interests of our clan. Are you willing to talk?"

Nyaaaa.

SPEAK, THEN.

"First, if you want to keep control over the Enlightened Warrior's transcendence glow, then I need you to show restraint." Ves said. "I know you have ideas on what is best for mech pilots, but the Enlightened Warrior is not designed to be a machine that delivers instant breakthroughs. My intention is for mech pilots to use it on a regular basis and slowly obtain the guidance he needs to elevate his potential. The journey to become an expert candidate should be a marathon, not a sprint. There needs to be at least half a year and preferably more for the Enlightened Warrior to produce an actual result."

SIX MONTHS IS TOO LONG. THE CLAN NEEDS MORE EXPERT CANDIDATES AND EXPERT PILOTS IMMEDIATELY.

"NO! It's useless even if a dozen Larkinsons break through immediately. Our clan will have to provide them with expert mechs and that takes a lot of time and effort to develop. We're bottlenecked in that regard. So whatever you do, don't be in such a hurry. You're likely to make mistakes if you speed up too much. Goldie, I need you to enforce this rule. If the Quint acts naughty, I need you to slap it down with your paws. Can you do that?"

Nyaaa…

Ves narrowed his eyes at the ancestral spirit. "That doesn't sound like a confident answer.

Nyaaa nyaa nyaaa.

"Well it's true that it will be harder to suppress the Quint if it grows stronger, but that won't happen anytime soon. You're much stronger than the living mech. You receive spiritual feedback from every Larkinson including all of our expert pilots. You'll always be ahead."

Nyaaa!

Ves frowned. "I didn't think about that. If I turn mechs like the Quint into my design spirits, they can potentially harvest greater spiritual feedback than you. If I put a mech like the Enlightened Warrior on the market, the number of pilots who are using my new variant can easily exceed the total number of members of the Larkinson Clan!"

If that was the case, then Goldie might not have the strength to stop the Quint from making a mistake.

The solution for that was simple, though.

"Just tell me if another incident occurs." He smiled. "I'll be able to handle the situation."

He set a few other basic rules after that. None of them were too onerous or restricting towards the Quint.

Just like Goldie, he did not want to constrain the behavior of his living mechs too much. They need to be more active in order to show their usefulness. Shackling them to the point where they couldn't move would strip most of the advantages that made living mechs great!

Another reason for Ves to adopt a light approach was because the Quint still deserved greater respect.

The mech had almost become equivalent to a prominent member of the Larkinson Clan in his eyes. Ves truly needed to start treating it as a human or else the Quint might turn against him one day!

As far as Ves was concerned, as long as the Quint did not do anything too reckless or dangerous, he was willing to tolerate an independent streak.

A part of him even looked forward to seeing what the Quint could do on his own. After all, aside from himself, no one was more qualified and capable of making people achieve their breakthroughs than this living mech!

"We need to work together, Quint. We're both Larkinsons who want to do the best for our clan. If we combine our unique insights and understanding together, we can make the Enlightened Warrior fulfill its purpose in a safe and effective manner. Are you willing to work with me to improve my variant design?"

The Quint exuded a warm emotion. The living mech felt touched.

LET US BEGIN.