The Mech Touch

Yenames Clive had received his fill of the large-scale totem of the Golden Cat. He wanted to move on and explore the other interesting exhibits of the Ascension Gallery.

There were two wings to the massive monumental hall.

One of them displayed excellent copies of the most iconic mechs of the Larkinson Clan. Though not every model was represented due to the need to maintain confidentiality of the Larkinson Army's more strategic assets, the wing still displayed plenty of bestsellers such as the original version of the aforementioned Valkyrie Redeemer.

The other wing displayed similar mech-sized totems of all of the design spirits that Ves saw fit to reveal. Visiting clansmen and guests all had an opportunity to admire and acquaint themselves with the majority of his current design spirit collection.

It would have been logical for Ves to lead Yenames Clive and his silent entourage to the mech wing, but that would be the boring option.

Ves instead decided to give the future president a tour through the mystical hall of wonders of the Larkinson Clan.

This was both a whimsical and strategic decision. Mechs were much more common and well-understood by everyone. Even if the born and raised businessman did not receive any significant military or technical training, he definitely possessed a good understanding of how mechs worked and how they were used on a more general basis.

Rather than verbally spar against Yenames about mechs right away, Ves decisively took the big man to the gallery wing where a long row of over a dozen different large-scale totems beckoned for his attention.

At least Ves could speak with much more authority and confidence with regards to his design spirits that produced the distinctive glows for all of his mech models.

For his part, Yenames Clive did not object to this tour. The totems and the design spirits that they represented were all unique, and no recordings could compare to experiencing them at close proximity.

They approached the totem that represented one of the oldest design spirits in the collection.

The Solemn Guardian was a far rougher and less defined spiritual product than Ves' later works.

His visual appearance reflected this lack of sophistication. Depending on the circumstances, Ves interpreted the Solemn Guardian as either a uniformed human soldier or an old living mech.

For the creation of the totem that stood for the Solemn Guardian, Ves decided to keep it simple and stick to molding a generic human soldier in uniform.

Of course, how he looked didn't matter all that much. It was his simple but helpful duty-based glow that made him worthy of attention.

As the old design spirit bathed Yenames Clive with a glow that has influenced many different battles in the old galaxy and the new frontier, Ves paid close attention to the interaction.

Despite the prospective president's lack of spiritual potential, his mind was so strong that it was like a fortress. Yenames Clive did not allow himself to get influenced by external factors unless he allowed it to. He only sampled the Solemn Guardian's glow in order to understand its properties, nothing more.

"I have experienced this glow once before from a handful of your products that carry the same glow." The elaborately robed figure said. "I already had a sense that the glow was human in origin. Did you derive this power from a heroic human pilot who possessed exceptional loyalty to his state? I can scarcely imagine how you can produce this glow in any other fashion."

The true story of how Ves brought life to the Solemn Guardian was a lot more complicated and controversial. There was no way he would reveal anything incriminating.

"The Solemn Guardian was born in a time of need. Many of the humans who have lived in my home star sector never even conceived of the idea of making a common stand against external alien aggressors. When the sandman race randomly decided to attack human space, it took extraordinary measures to encourage mech pilots to do their duty. The Desolate Soldier is the earliest work I took a lot of pride in. It has made a huge difference and saved a lot of lives. The mech line spawned from it continues to play an important role to many customers, though its profile is no longer as high as before."

Yenames Clives nodded in agreement. "The Solemn Guardian has made the Desolate Soldier helpful, and it can add value to other mechs as well. I can think of many possible mechs that you can design for Davute. Perhaps you can increase a mech force's sense of belonging and obligation towards our colonial state."

Ves frowned for a moment.

"Maybe, but it would not really be as effective as you think. Part of the reason why the Desolate Soldier did well back then was that it already drew on the sense of duty and honor of defending human space against the mass-murdering aliens that sought to destroy their states and all of their people. Here in Krakatoa, the stakes are considerably lower. Most mercenary outfits are not necessarily fighting out of a sense of duty. They are opportunistically fighting for profit and will not hesitate to abandon a contract if the circumstances become too dire. No glow can trump a mech pilot's sense of self-preservation."

Too many people expected too much from glows like the one from the Solemn Guardian. If anyone thought they could compensate for awful leadership, excessive deaths and terrible treatment with a duty-based glow, then they would sorely get disappointed!

The Solemn Guardian also made no significant difference in well-trained and well-treated mech units.

Considering that the early movers paid a lot to enter the Red Ocean during the early days of human colonization, they always had their troops in order. It was impossible for them to hire a lot of scumbags that did not possess the most basic loyalty to their employers.

As Ves downplayed the importance of the Solemn Guardian, Yenames Clive decided to bring up another unique phenomenon to the Larkinson Clan.

"As my men studied your clan and your closest allies, we have learned that you have developed an incredibly effective measure that can guarantee the loyalty of all of your members, including the large number of diverse recruits who all possess different motivations, ideologies and other circumstances. As an administrator of a large and growing colony, I find it remarkable how serious instances of betrayal and desertion are practically nonexistent within your Golden Skull Alliance."

Oh, this fellow definitely did his homework.

Though Ves and the Golden Skullers did not do their utmost to hide the existence of the spiritual networks that produced the effects that the other man described, it was rather disconcerting to hear it explained by an outsider.

"I do my best to help my family and friends." Ves smiled. "They are the ones who have truly stuck with me in times of good and bad. Considering how much they have sacrificed to help me attain my goals, it is only fair for me to repay them with sincere gifts and rewards."

Yenames Clive did not spare in his praise of Ves' work. "Your gratitude is incredibly valuable indeed. While Davute may not be as close to your clan as your older allies, we can offer just as much support if not more to you. If you are open to the proposal of creating a similar mechanism for our colonial state that can help with converting our new colonists and citizens into a single group, then--"

"Stop." Ves raised his palm and rudely interrupted the highly influential man. "Don't go there. I can already foresee what you want, and my answer to that is no. I will not provide this service to Davute."

"I am confident we can work out whatever doubts and objections you may have with regards to our proposal." The prospective president gently said while spreading his hands. "You have not even allowed me to elucidate the sizable amount of compensation that our colonial state is willing to provide for this service."

Ves crossed his arms. "Allowing your forces to play around with the Solemn Guardian is one thing. The compulsion element is not that strong. At most, his glow only encourages people to do what they already want to do. What you are asking is much more serious. There are some lines that should never be crossed. I have never even thought about providing this specific service to the Hex Federation. What makes you think I would make a different decision for Davute? If I do not stop myself, then I am certain the Mech Trade Association will do what I should have done."

Although the MTA had never properly addressed Ves on the dubious ethical and legal implications of his spiritual networks, he was not stupid.

He exchanged with the mechers often enough to develop a good idea on what he could get away with. He was absolutely certain that the MTA would come down hard on Ves if he foolishly proceeded with this proposal.

Not only would Davute not be able to obtain its own spiritual network, the Larkinson Clan and its allies were also at risk of losing their own ones!

That was absolutely unacceptable to Ves. He much preferred to keep his head down and hoped that the MTA would continue to turn a blind eye to his more questionable activities as long as he kept everything quiet.

Ves was pretty sure that he maintained an unwritten and unspoken agreement with the Survivalist Faction and the Transhumanist Faction over this matter.

Nothing good would come to him if he gave the MTA a reason to speak and write about how much he disrupted so many people's lives!

Though the prospective president did not give up and tried to persuade Ves to change his mind, nothing worked.

Ves did not wish to engage in any trade that excessively risked his fundamental interests. Preserving his relations with the MTA superseded any extravagant rewards that Davute might be willing to exchange.

This was also why Ves was adamant about shutting down the discussion as soon as possible. He did not wish to get tempted by the concessions that would no doubt get him to agree against his best judgment.

Seeing that Ves had shut down like a rock, Yenames Clive reluctantly dropped the matter.

"Our offer shall remain open." The older man eventually said. "If you are in ever need of immediate support or relief, we can always revisit this discussion."

He looked back up to the statue of the Solemn Guardian in the guise of a soldier.

"As an alternative, I am also receptive to the idea of commissioning you to design a line of military mechs based on the Solemn Guardian's glow in cooperation with our resident Master Mech Designers. It may not match the effectiveness of your clan's exclusive loyalty mechanisms, but it should reduce the occurrence of incidents and increase the overall cohesion among our mech forces. What is your opinion, Patriarch Larkinson?"

"It can be done, but that doesn't necessarily mean I have to make it happen." Ves steadily responded. "I generally only design the mechs that I am passionate about and believe in. The Solemn Guardian is rather tricky as it cannot make a boring mech exciting. I need to obtain a unique and interesting mech concept first and figure out afterwards whether the Solemn Guardian's glow is an appropriate fit."

"Yet you are open to fulfilling one of our mech design commissions, correct?"

Ves realized that he almost got pulled into the devious bastard's trap.

By starting off with a highly sensitive and excessive demand, Yenames Clive already took into account that he would get rejected. This allowed him to step down and issue a milder request instead that sounded much more reasonable in comparison.

Fortunately, Ves recalled that he did not want to enter into any agreement with Davute so easily.

It would be best if he did not sign any contracts at all, but that did not seem wise considering how much Davute desired to come away with at least a few concessions from the Larkinson Clan.