The Mech Touch

Ves did not have a good impression of Master Dervidian and his faction at the moment.

Despite the man's sound logic and well-crafted arguments, Ves always felt there was something profoundly wrong about this train of thought.

He did not see anything wrong with performing a few upgrades to his normal human form, but going as far as making it equivalent to a humanoid mech sounded way too extreme!

How far could he push his own improvement before he lost too much of himself? At what threshold should he stop augmenting himself?

These were all difficult questions that he had yet to ask himself before. His own instinctive rejection on this issue along with his refusal to think far enough ahead had caused him to be woefully unprepared to hold his ground and keep up with Master Dervidian's arguments.

He needed to correct this as soon as he got back. It would have been fine if he never thought in this direction before, but now that another person directly confronted him on this matter, he could no longer bury his head in the sand.

A part of him even wondered whether he had already gone past the critical threshold. Ves was not ignorant of the fact that he was already far removed from baseline humans.

His unwilling physical transformation at the hands of Dr. Jutland was the single biggest transformation of his life. He had been just a regular human before that point.

He experienced so many changes and suffered so many problems from this turn of events that he had already begun to deviate from normality at that point.

His subsequent augmentations were not as extreme, but they all made him smarter and more productive at the cost of further removing him from the people he came from. It was a rather depressing truth.

What made his situation even more difficult was that the people around him were also distancing themselves from traditional humanity.

The two closest people in his life, namely his wife and his first-born daughter, had gone a few steps further!

Both Gloriana and Aurelia started off as designer babies. They did not come into existence through natural conception, but were instead synthesized in labs.

Their genetic codes started off as human but quickly diverged from this standard in the name of improvement. Many geneticists and other scientists tweaked and replaced the codes so that the babies would become smarter, healthier, more adaptable and more optimized!

The enduring success and popularity of designer babies in the more prosperous parts of human society showed that much of the public had embraced the benefits of their existence!

Ves himself had also gotten caught up in this hype. He already paid thousands of MTA credits in order to turn his second child with Gloriana into a designer baby!

Not only that, he intended to make the same choice for every other child that followed!

The thought of trying to conceive a 'normal' baby did not enter his mind at all. In fact, even if he wanted to, he couldn't.

His various transformations had already caused his body to mutate to the point where he was no longer able to reproduce naturally with other humans.

Gloriana also suffered from this problem in part due to her own genetic deviations.

Could they still call themselves human when they suffered from reproductive isolation?

This was yet another deeply uncomfortable question.

The culprit responsible for making him think this way showed no remorse. If not for the fact that Master Dervidian was a bigshot who could determine how the MTA should respond to the events in Purgatory and the Garimel System, Ves might not be so well-behaved!

Fortunately, Master Dervidian steered the conversation towards mechs, though still through the lens of transhumanism.

"Maybe you are not ready to accept that humans are slowly evolving towards mechs, but the other side of the equation should be easier for you to accept. Since mechs initially came into existence, we have improved them in many different ways. They have become stronger, tougher, faster, smarter and more versatile."

"Don't these changes make them further removed from humans?" Ves frowned.

"We are also making ourselves stronger, tougher, faster, smarter and more versatile." Dervidian retorted. "What is most important is that mechs are resembling us more and more. You have produced one of the greatest breakthroughs in this regard. You have quietly achieved the greatest breakthroughs that certain mech designers have been trying to attain, and that is turning mechs sentient!"

Ves suddenly grew a lot more nervous than before. This was a rather controversial topic that he had been trying to avoid as much as possible. The MTA was not a fan of turning mechs into independent and autonomous existences that could rebel against humanity!

"There is no need for concern, Mr. Larkinson. You are not in trouble. Although there are groups and factions that oppose the nature of your work, our Association is not that close-minded. So far, your living mechs have brought many benefits. As long as their ability to subvert human dominance remains low, we are willing to see how far they can go. An increasing number of people within our Association have taken note of the special qualities of your living mechs and are curious to see how far they can go. Transhumanists such as myself are particularly fascinated with them because of how relevant they are towards our own goals and ambitions."

Ves grimaced again. "My living mechs are trying to become humans. That is not what they are designed and made for. From the beginning, each of my mechs are instilled with the mission to serve humanity and work together with their mech pilots. While I have elevated them from being regarded as tools to being seen as battle partners, I have always tried my best to maintain the separation between mech and mech pilots."

"Ah, yes. Despite elevating the status of mechs, you still hold on to the classical stance that your teachers have no doubt taught you. Are you truly of the opinion that your living mechs are not moving closer to becoming human? After all, your most advanced living mechs have gained an awfully large amount of traits that resemble us. They are becoming as self-aware as humans. Their thought patterns are becoming more and more human. They are even capable of communicating in a human fashion. How far will these changes go? I am certain that you are not satisfied with their current gains. How much longer will it take before they can make their own decisions?"

"Just because living mechs are able to do more does not mean that they are gradually turning into humans." Ves placed his hands on his hips. "Mechs are mechs and they will remain that way if I have anything to say about it. They may be becoming more advanced, but they can turn into anything, not just an alternate form of humans. There are more varieties of sentient life out there than just us. Mechs can also resemble phase whales, peulmers and voribugs, not that I want this to happen. As far as I am concerned, living mechs deserve their own separate category."

"Not everyone agrees with your stance on living mechs." Master Dervididian replied. "You may be the inventor of living mechs, but have you ever thought that other creators and users may want to turn living mechs into a different existence than you imagined? Eventually, there will be other mech designers who will take your living mechs and turn them into humans. There will also be living mechs that have become so immersed in human society that they might wish to become human. Do you want to deny their wish and force them to live out as tools or 'battle partners' as you say, or will you grant them their long-cherished wish as a reward for their services?"

This was yet another difficult line of questioning! Ves did not want to engage in it at all, but there was no avoiding it this time!

Master Dervidian addressed a topic that directly related to his design philosophy. If Ves tried to take the easy way out and avoid issuing any opinion on this topic, then he would likely hinder his own progression!

Ves tried to calm himself down and think about what he stood for. Should living mechs always remain living mechs or should he give them the opportunity to change their identities?

"I think… life always finds a way." He slowly began. "It doesn't really matter what I want or what I try to impose on my living mechs. Since they have the capacity to grow, they also have the capacity to change, which in your parlance means to evolve. I anticipate that as more living mechs come into existence, they will begin to develop many different personalities as well as desires. Will there be living mechs that want to become human? I think so. Do we want to oblige them? This is a much more difficult question to answer."

"What do you think, Mr. Larkinson?"

"It depends on what human society wants." Ves answered. "The core purpose of mechs is to serve humanity and to help mech pilots fight. That is what humanity currently expects of its mechs. Whether people are willing to grant mechs the freedom to assume other identities is up to them. I can make it possible, but I do not think it is right to make this decision on their behalf. I suppose that factions such as yourself will need to bring this topic up for discussion in the Galactic Mech Council one day to enact a peaceful and orderly transition."

"Your answer suggests that you are already leaning towards a change you believe is inevitable."

Ves shrugged. "I do not know whether living mechs will be able to transition into existences that are so close to humans that they will formally be accepted as our kin. I will support them if that is what they want, but that does not mean I want them to abandon their initial jobs as war machines. I believe we can come to an accord that both sides can accept. The premise is that living mechs are useful enough to justify the effort."

This should not be a major problem in his opinion. Ves knew for certain that living mechs were so much better than ordinary machines that mech pilots and others would definitely be willing to make compromises to achieve better results!

Master Dervidian smiled and looked back out towards the captive and dormant super whale.

"What strange times we live in. We humans are constantly working to become closer to mechs. At the same time, your efforts and the efforts of others are turning mechs closer into humans. Do you realize what is happening?"

"Uh, no?"

The older man spread his arms. "A convergence is taking place! While it is unlikely for humans to literally turn into mechs and vice versa, it is much more realistic for both of them to meet each other half-way! Many Transhumanists such as myself are looking forward to this historic event. What will happen to both groups? Will we merge together and form a new race that brings together the best traits of both humans and mechs? If such a superrace can come into being, then we will all transcend to an unimaginably powerful state! There will be no lines between mechs and mech pilots anymore. Each individual combatant will be their own mech as well as their own mech pilot! The way we fight against our enemies will become a lot different when even our civilians can grow into powerful mechs!"

This was yet another crazy dream!

How many more wacky Transhumanist ideas did Ves have to listen to before Master Dervidian finally moved on to actual business?

Ves had the feeling as if he was stuck in the classroom while being forced to listen to a lecture that was solely designed to indoctrinate him. The worst part about it was that he wasn't allowed to skip this class or even take a bathroom break!

For whatever reason, Master Dervidian seemed hellbent on ramming down his Transhumanist ideology down Ves' throat!

Was it that important for him to convert Ves to the Transhumanist cause?