The Mech Touch

"I don't mean to doubt you, but can you provide any proof to your claims?" Pesca Aduc asked in a defensive tone. "I would like to believe you, but we cannot afford to believe in a guess that might turn out to be wrong. We need hard proof if you want us to accept your words."

Ves did not reply directly to the Aducs. Instead, he turned to his fellow Larkinson. "Joshua?"

"I think… I can do it. Let me give this a try." The expert pilot whispered.

He closed his eyes and reached out to the Old Lady. A dozen seconds passed by before the Old Lady's leaves and branches shook!

Much to the Aduc Family's astonishment, a subtle green glow emanated from Venerable Joshua and the Old Lady!

"What… what is happening?!" Pesca asked as she tried to make sense of this phenomenon!

Ves softly chuckled. "Venerable Joshua… is resonating with the Old Lady."

"Shouldn't that be limited to expert mechs?"

"Joshua is not a normal expert pilot. He's my expert pilot. There's a difference."

Even though the soft light show looked impressive, in reality hardly anything happened. Pesca wasn't entirely wrong in doubting the current display. It was not as if the Old Lady would spontaneously uproot herself and transform into a wooden mech-like monstrosity! Such ridiculous events only took place in fantasy dramas!

Resonance was a phenomenon that happened whenever two different living entities grew close enough to form a bond of mutual understanding and strengthening. It came in many different strengths and forms, and it wasn't exclusive to expert pilots.

However, out of all of the possible professions that Ves was aware of, high-ranking mech pilots were by far the best at achieving resonance!

The main shortcoming of this was that this ability was generally confined to their mechs and more specifically their high-ranking mechs.

Venerable Joshua happened to be an exception to the rule. His life domain as well as the nature of his power expression lowered the threshold that determined whether resonance could be achieved with different life forms.

There was little practical use of this ability in most cases. There was no way that resonating with an old oak tree could provide any practical help in actual battle.

Nonetheless, Venerable Joshua's unique advantage happened to play a useful role in this situation!

Not only was he able to convince the Old Lady to open up to him, he also provided strong support for his claims!

After all, even if the Aducs weren't particularly interested in mechs, they still knew the basics. It was absolutely remarkable that an expert pilot was able to resonate with the Old Lady!

The light show quickly ended as Venerable Joshua no longer forced a connection with the living tree. Achieving resonance was a strenuous exercise. The Old Lady was not an expert mech and was never meant to achieve this state with anyone.

Everyone carefully paid attention to the Larkinson expert pilot when he turned around.

"What my patriarch has said is right. The Old Lady is a living tree that you have extensively brainwashed with the belief that she is not only a part of Old Earth, but that she belongs there. When I bonded with her, I tried to convince her that it is okay for her to live outside Old Earth, but she is absolutely adamant that there is no other place for her but what she believes to be her true home."

Ves nodded in support of Joshua's argument.

"My analysis conforms to Joshua's description. When I studied the Old Lady closely, I noticed that the strong beliefs and assumptions that you have passed onto her has thoroughly penetrated her heart. This has taken place for such a long time that it is impossible to convince her otherwise. Perhaps your family might still have a chance if she was younger, but she has grown too old and set in her ways to begin with persuading her to change all of the assumptions that she clung to for her entire life."

Matriarch Erexi frowned. "What if we start right away? Now that you have identified the problem, we can adjust our thoughts and slowly try to correct the Old Lady's mistaken assumptions over time. We can be patient. We do not care if it takes a century or two to correct our mistakes as long as our tree is restored to health."

"You're not listening to me, matriarch. The ailment afflicting the Old Lady is rooted in her very existence. You might not know this, but I'm an expert when it comes to matters like this. I may be relatively young, but I have met and interacted with many powerful and remarkable life forms over the years. There is no mistaking what is wrong with your relic. She is dying because she has been taught her very nature is wrong."

Ves felt as if he was a doctor who just announced to a family that the patient under his care had contracted an incurable disease!

"Can the MTA help?" Kievenar Aduc asked. "We have friends within the Association. Now that you have identified the problem, there has to be a mecher who can correct what is wrong."

"The MTA failed to understand what is killing the Old Lady. Do you think it has the tech or means to resolve the problem? While I can't be completely certain about this, I don't think the mecheers can save your tree."

The logic was sound. The MTA may possess a degree of understanding in psionic power, but it was far from extensive.

"If the MTA cannot help us, what about you, patriarch? Can you and your clan offer us a solution that can make the Old Lady whole again?"

"There are two ways out for your family in my opinion." Ves straightforwardly said. "The fundamental problem is that the Old Lady is 100 percent convinced that she is an Earth tree that should only exist on Old Earth. As long as you send her back through the greater beyonder gate and ship her all the way to Old Earth, you or an agent on your behalf can attempt to plant her on Old Earth's soil. I can guarantee you that this will definitely make the Old Lady feel a lot better."

"..."

This was not a practical solution. The cost to ship any item from the Red Ocean to the Milky Way, particularly a large and heavy oak tree, was astronomical!

As for transporting her all the way to Old Earth, this was nearly impossible to accomplish. Humanity's ancestral planet was a highly protected and regulated heritage location. There was no way that the touchy and sensitive Terrans would permit the transplantation of a random tree!

It didn't matter if the sapling originated from Old Earth. As soon as the tree that eventually became known as the Old Lady left the atmosphere, she had become exposed to foreign and alien contaminants. Recklessly introducing traces of them into Old Earth's ecosystem might mess it up. The risks were too great and the Terras had no reason to abide by the Aduc Family's request!

However, the biggest problem of this potential solution was that the Aducs simply did not wish to part with their precious tree!

"We can't ship the Old Lady back to her original home." Matriarch Erexi shook her head. "It is already impossible for us to gain the necessary permissions. Even if we can overcome this issue, we still do not wish to separate from her. Our tree is our center. She is our mother and has always grown alongside our family."

"I can offer you an alternative solution if the more straightforward option is not acceptable to you." Ves stated. "It is much more practical but also radical. It is not for the faint of heart. You will have to make a hard decision if you want to consider my second option."

"Tell us what you have in mind, patriarch."

Ves let out a sigh as he glanced towards the old and sturdy trunk of this tree. "Your tree's personality and character are already fixed. There is no easy way to remedy her faults so that she can grow in an environment outside Old Earth. The option that I am suggesting to you is to kill her and use her remains to create a better and corrected version of the Old Lady."

"Preposterous!"

"What are you talking about?!"

"Killing the Old Lady is out of the question!"

The younger Aducs couldn't accept what Ves was suggesting. They would rather tackle the impossible challenge of trying to ship their living heirloom back to Old Earth than to approve this insane pan!

At the very least, the first option at least granted the Old Lady a glimmer of survival, even if her chances were extremely minute.

If they went for the second option, then the Old Lady's death was assured! How could they possibly embrace this plan when they would essentially lose what mattered the most to their family?

Even Matriarch Erexi felt she shouldn't entertain this alternative option any further. She had lived a lot longer than her children and developed an even greater degree of affection towards the Old Lady. Her reaction towards any mention of killing the tree made it difficult for her to maintain her composure!

However, her high position and her obligation to do right by her family forced her to consider the matter seriously. So far, the Larkinsons had been quite credible in their claims. She did not think that Patriarch Ves was joking with this suggestion.

"Please explain your thoughts further. Why would we possibly want to kill the Old Lady?"

"It's not really killing her." Ves lied. "It's rebirthing her. The Old Lady will still be fine as a tree. Her physical body will remain untouched. My suggested treatment will only affect her spirit, the intangible quality that makes her so remarkable. Her spirit is incurably sick, so what I propose is to break it and put the pieces back together so that she can be reborn. As long as I do this right, I can change her spirit so that she will feel completely at home regardless of her habitat. It is similar to erasing the original operation system of a mech before replacing it with an updated version."

The analogy was simple to explain, but the implications were anything but casual!

The Aducs weren't willing to gamble with the life of the Old Lady! They would rather continue their search for help from other people than to approve this insane plan!

Ves saw that his hosts needed a bit more persuasion, so he decided to give them another show.

"The rebirth process that I am talking about is not a mere treatment. It is a metamorphosis that can enable your Old Lady to evolve into a higher life form! This is an immensely valuable opportunity for her! Not only that, the opportunity to transform your heirloom into a true living life form is an exclusive privilege that you cannot obtain anywhere else! Let me give you an example of the life forms that I have created through my own methods!"

Ves pulled his Hammer of Brilliance from his belt and raised it above his head!

Soon enough, Vulcan's presence descended on the hill! A large silhouette of a dwarf briefly flashed behind the Larkinson Patriarch's back!

"This is Vulcan, a spirit that embodies craftsmanship!"

He put his hammer back to its original place and channeled a different spiritual entity.

A giant translucent hand appeared above the Old Lady and actually stroked the oak tree's canopy!

What was amazing was that the spiritual hand actually managed to make physical contact with the Old Lady's branches!

"This is the Superior Mother, the spirit of the Hexer people!"

Nyaaaa!

The Golden Cat briefly materialized into view. She cutely circled around Ves' body as power exuded from her form.

"This is the Golden Cat, our clan's version of your Old Lady! If you agree to my suggested treatment, then your oak tree can also become an ascended spiritual life form!"

Matriarch Erexi may have been able to sense the design spirits during her previous visit to the Spirit of Bentheim, but this was the first time she encountered them in this form!

Even though she had witnessed many remarkable sights throughout her life, nothing could compare to this unique demonstration!

"Patriarch Ves… we are unable to form an immediate decision. We will discuss what you have shared with our other leaders and advisers. Once we have settled on a course of action, we will contact you once again."

"Take your time. The Old Lady still has a lot of life left in her, so there is no hurry to go for my solution. Just keep in mind that I am not offering my services for free. I hope that you will be ready to make concessions if you decide to accept my help."

The meeting ended shortly after. The Aducs were no longer in the mood to entertain the Larkinsons.

Ves and the rest of his delegation returned to their shuttle and returned to the Larkinson fleet.