The Mech Touch

Another day had arrived.

After going through an ordinary morning routine, he made sure he dressed in a classy outfit before awaiting the arrival of an important delegation.

"Tell me about what you have learned about the Aduc Family." Ves asked his assistant as he strode towards the hangar bay of the Spirit of Bentheim.

"Meow…"

Lucky yawned while he perched on top of Ves' left shoulder.

To be honest, the cat would rather roam around the factory ship by himself or keep Aurelia and Clixie company, but Ves requested his presence for this important introduction.

The Aducs obviously weren't normal people. They had been the group that the Transhumanist Faction had pushed forward when Ves requested individuals who could lead and staff his new T Institute.

The implication of this recommendation was that the Aduc Family was involved in the more metaphysical side of human civilization!

That had unfortunate if not dangerous implications. Aside from the mech community and obscure gatherings like the Heavensword Association, the vast majority of groups dabbling in psionics or other metaphysical phenomena ultimately had ties to the Five Scrolls Compact!

It was hard for Ves to keep his imagination in check when he was confronted by a brand new group like the Aduc Family. Their main source of income came from terraforming planets, which initially did not sound like it had anything to do with the T Institute.

There was no obvious relation between turning lifeless planets into environments suitable for human habitations and creating ways to activate people's spirituality!

Ves would have never given the Aducs his attention if not for the fact that they came with the blessing of the Transhumanists!

Professor Dervidian and his ilk might be deficient when it came to their professional ethics, but Ves never thought they were stupid when it came to pursuing their core research goals!

Ves had made a good case for his spiritual applications. Whether it was his transcendence glow or his spiritual companions, he had no doubt that the Transhumanists wanted what he could provide to humanity!

Therefore, the Aduc Family was undoubtedly a serious entity that likely possessed a lot more depth than was apparent on the surface. Appearances were deceiving and what was known to the public likely only scratched the surface of this mysterious family!

That did not mean it was useless for Ves to go in blind. He already read reports about the Aduc Family that summarized their basic information. It was unfortunate that all of this bland reading material hardly yielded any interesting clues.

This was why he ordered his analysts to dig for more.

"We found a few interesting details about the Aducs." Gavin Neumann replied as he accompanied his boss. "Their family is remarkably united. Usually, a family organization that has grown to around 15,000 members is never completely cohesive. There are always bad apples and rebels who chafe at the restricting rules of their family and want to leave at all costs. As far as our research has shown, that has never happened to the Aduc Family."

Ves raised his eyebrow. He wouldn't be surprised if Gavin was talking about the Larkinson Family, the Glory Seekers and the Cross Clan. All three partners of the Golden Skull Alliance possessed their own spiritual networks, which massively improved internal cohesion.

However, he did not think that other groups were capable of creating anything comparable to one of his most useful spiritual innovations. The Aduc Family's history went all the way back to the Age of Conquest. How could have remained so united for so long?

"Does the Aduc Family have a history of repressing or killing off its dissidents?"

"Our investigation hasn't shown any sign that such activities have taken place, but please keep in mind that we don't have enough trustworthy sources. The Aduc Family has done a good job at keeping its internal affairs out of the public. For what it's worth, Calabast has told me that she doesn't think the Aduc Family is a repressive organization."

Ves raised his eyebrow. "Has she explained why she feels this way?"

"The Aducs share the same philosophy and ideology. You'll be able to observe this for yourself when you meet with them, but the members of this family are not highly driven by personal ambition."

That was the opposite of the Larkinson Family. Ves wanted to raise a group of ambitious people that would be willing to tackle many challenges in order to get ahead.

He understood why many other groups chose to chart a more conservative approach. It was safer for organizations to maintain their existences over time.

Still, those who prioritized survival over ambition could not escape threats that arrived at their doorsteps.

Whether it was economic upheaval, technological progression, internal stagnation, competition from rivals or aggression from foreign states, simply trying to survive without making any efforts to grow stronger was not necessarily that much safer!

Still, the fact that the Aduc Family managed to survive and gradually return to prosperity over the centuries showed that its leaders had decent vision at the very least.

"Have you found any reasons why the Aducs have relations to the MTA and more specifically the Transhumanist Faction?"

"We haven't found any direct clues." Gavin replied. "A moderate-sized second-class family normally isn't worth the Association's attention. The family's exogeologists and other scientific talents are good at what they do, but it doesn't look as if their solutions are associated with anything that is obviously weird. Perhaps the Association took a fancy of their ability to terraform some of the most hostile and unfavorable planets, or their ability to set up complete and flourishing ecosystems."

That didn't reveal anything new to Ves. He eventually shook his head. "If that is all you have, Benny, then there's no point in saying anything further. I'm quite disappointed by the amount of intelligence that you have managed to gather. I told you to investigate the Aduc Family several weeks ago. Is there truly so little information on a platform as open as the galactic net?"

"The galactic net is not as open and unrestricted as it is known for, boss. The Comm Consortium controls the vast majority of interstellar communication channels. It is still possible for the controllers of these networks to scrub data and information they don't like from the servers."

He had a point. The galactic net often gave everyone the illusion that it was a wild west, but they never put much thought on whether the people and organizations that maintained all of the communication systems would take advantage of their power to advance their own interests!

Ves narrowed his eyes. "If the Aducs are valued associates of the Transhumanist Faction, then the mechers may intervene to clean up their history."

This was not a spurious guess. The records of the Aduc Family were a bit too plain in his eyes.

Additionally, the factions aligned to Ves had already taken efforts to suppress news about his more radical innovations and accomplishments.

Not a word had leaked about the transcendence glow as far as he was concerned. No powerful mechers or fleeters had arrived to coerce him into giving up his trade secrets.

The protection extended by a faction was not trivial!

When Ves arrived in the hangar bay of his flagship, he learned that the shuttle bearing the delegation from the Aduc Family was already on its way.

He passed the time by playing with Lucky. The gem cat batted aside his hand and floated from his reach.

"Meow!"

"Hey, why are you acting so pissed? Have I not been good to you lately? I gave you access to many of the minerals that we have excavated from the Garimel System!"

"Meow meow!"

"Of course I prohibited you from eating any of the resonating exotics. Even though they are not as valuable as phasewater, they are still rare materials that have strategic value to our clan. They're better put to use by adding them to our future expert mechs than throwing them into your bottomless pit of a stomach! At least I can get an actual benefit from it. What have you been doing with all of the stuff you have been eating as of late? Why haven't you visited the toilet all this time?!"

"MEOW!"

Lucky's response was the same as always. Ves grew increasingly more frustrated at his cat. It was fine if his pet ate valuable minerals as long as the glutton paid the corresponding price, but the problem was that nothing of the sort had happened for over a year!

Would Ves have to wait until Aurelia grew into an adult before his freeloading cat finally visited the bathroom?!

As Ves wondered whether he should give Lucky another dose of indigestion medicine, Gavin abruptly perked up and stood up straighter.

"The shuttle is on final approach. The Aducs are coming."

Ves shoved his thoughts about his gem cat aside and quickly went over his plan for this crucial meeting.

On one hand, it was important for Ves and the Aducs to develop a close and intimate relationship. The Transhumanists wanted for them to get along with each other and it was also crucial for the two parties to extend a lot of trust towards each other. There was no way that they could operate the T Institute if neither of them were willing to share their more meaningful trade secrets!

On the other hand, Ves did not want the Aducs to gain the upper hand in their relationship with him. The T Institute primarily served to advance his own research interests. Its ability to contribute to the Transhumanist cause and humanity as a whole was secondary to his own goals!

Ves therefore needed to make sure he presented a strong but amiable image. It was easy for anyone to channel one of these traits, but it was a lot harder to embody both of them at once!

He wondered whether he should employ any spiritual tricks before deciding that it was reckless to do so in front of unknowns.

The shuttle that passed through the energy shield that maintained air pressure inside the hangar bay looked different from the vehicles used by the Larkinson Clan.

It was of a different make and model that was built to the standards of the galactic heartland. Its muted green and beige coating gave off a peaceful and natural impression.

The emblem of the Aduc Family also looked interesting. It depicted the upper body of a woman enveloping a globe in her hands. The planet she was holding was obviously a life-bearing one as a large plant prominently rose from its top.

All in all, it was clear that the Aducs were big into planets.

A minute passed by as the shuttle slowly followed instructions and landed on a platform that had been cleared of other vehicles and loose equipment.

Ves and his guards waited until the shuttle fully powered down before they made their approach.

Meanwhile, the main hatch of the passenger shuttle slowly slid open. Several different figures floated out of the vehicle and lowered themselves until their sandals touched the deck.

Each of the figures were garbed in formal green-and-beige robes that would not look out of place in a culture that prized tradition.

As Ves slowly stopped a stone's throw away from the foreign delegation, he carefully studied the leading figure with his eyes and his other senses.

The woman at the lead was only one or two generations older than Ves, but clearly exuded the stature of a leader. Her plain face and her knotted brown hair gave her a look that was only slightly more distinctive than normal.

This was a woman who could blend or stand out whenever she wished. That showed a degree of flexibility and caution that Ves could appreciate.

However, the most interesting part about the leading figure wasn't her appearance.

It was her active spirituality.

Ves became a bit sharper and more guarded as his spiritual senses cautiously probed the delegation.

He confirmed his observations. Much to his surprise, the woman who led the delegation had managed to develop her spirituality in a different manner from the professions he was familiar with. Her mind did not resemble that of a mech designer, mech pilot or swordmaster.

Instead, she was something different!

Not only that, but her domain and spiritual attributes were extremely noteworthy to Ves.

If he was reading the Aduc leader correctly, then she had actually developed a domain that encompassed both life and earth attributes!