The Mech Touch

5005Desert to Ocean

Ves continued to work throughout the evening. He preferred to work through the night as well, but his wife demanded his presence.

"Are you blind? We are still in the middle of an unprecedented crisis! Kotor City and many other settlements throughout the frontier have become unsafe, and there are still troublemakers out there that are pulling off all kinds of dangerous schemes."

"I have taken notice of what is taking place. None of the incidents can threaten our clan. We have over ten-thousand mechs and numerous expert mechs on hand. We are allied with other partners that have even more powerful ace mechs at their disposal. Not even phase whales can threaten our security. We are safe, Ves. With several powerful energy shield generators enveloping our Cat Nest, it is impossible for an attack to succeed. General Verle and the other leaders can handle anything that happens throughout the night. Come back and help me reassure our children. They're too scared to fall asleep."

She was right. Ves hadn't really done anything useful aside from studying a lot of data and scouring the fractured galactic net for credible rumors.

As much as he wanted to stay on top of the situation, he knew that everyone was still flying blind mostly. Too little time had passed for people to collect enough data and form proper conclusions on all of the changes that had occurred.

Ves was most concerned with the side effects of getting exposed by Messier 87's powerful radiation.

Even though the Red Ocean was orbiting the large elliptical galaxy at a respectful distance, the radiation generated by M87 still remained fairly significant despite the extensive weakening due to the inverse-square law!

He couldn't even imagine how horrible the background radiation would be for the residents of M87 itself! The center of this gas-rich galaxy was probably unlivable to most humans!

Though Ves wanted to decipher the secrets of the golden galaxy as soon as possible, he understood that there was little he could do on his own. He needed to prioritize stability over satisfying his curiosity.

"I will come. Just give me an hour to make arrangements."

Once Ves issued a series of orders and studied a few more intelligence reports, he left the clan in the hands of his trusted subordinates before retreating to a private bedroom that was built within the underground vault.

As a location that was specifically built to survive a doomsday scenario, it offered plenty of comforts.

The bedroom reserved for Ves and his immediately family might not be as large and opulent as the one in his Royal Mansion, but it was more than furnished enough to satisfy Gloriana's vanity.

I Iis wife and children had already changed into their pajamas.

Gloriana wore a silky night blue outfit that was speckled with reflective silver dots.

Aurelia wore a banana yellow set of pajamas without any further embellishments.

Andraste's pajamas were as red as her hair and featured Images of colorful mechs and action heroes.

Marvaine's outfit was baby blue and featured a bunch of cartoonish fruits with wings for whatever reason.

Ves had already changed into his simple red pajamas.

The abundance of colors and the lack of coordination did not look disturbing. Everyone stood out from each other, making it look as if everyone was special.

Ves carefully studied Ills children as he sat down on the side of the bed. Each of them radiated a sense of nervous energy.

"Miaow..."

Clixie was doing her best to share her warmth with Aurelia.

"Meow..."

Lucky offered his protection to Andraste.

"You are here." Gloriana sasid as she held Marvaine in her arms. "I called you here because there is something wrong with our children. They can't sleep, and it is not just because their minds are filled with concerns about our predicament."

That caused Ves to grow a lot more concerned!

"I lave you sent them to our doctors in order to examine their conditions?"

"I already had them checked a few hours ago. The doctors have actually Inspected the bodies of many clansmen. Each of them are undergoing changes, some more than others."

"What?"

Ves recalled the unreliable reports on the fractured galactic net. There were many biotech experts who conducted examinations on human bodies as well as other organic life forms.

They couldn't really agree on whether the altered environment induced any significant changes on different organisms. The majority failed to detect any meaningful differences, but there was a substantial minority of respected professionals who strongly insisted that the background radiation of M87 had profound effects on everyone's body!

Ves already knew that M87 somehow made everything related to spiritual energy stronger, so maybe that was the reason why his children felt discomfited. They were younger, more malleable and more prone to changes.

They also happened to be abnormally powerful in spirit due to implanting them with their own companion spirits!

"Let me take a closer look." Ves said.

"Mrow~"

Blinky emerged from his head. The Star Cat looked brighter and more vivid than usual. It was as if the altered environment was already making the companion spirit feel more at home!

"Gloriana, children, can you all bring out your companion spirits for a moment? I want to see how they are faring."

"Maow." Alexandria appeared with her head held high.

Mew- Mana presented a sacred image as she emerged from Aurelia.

Maaw! Yaika ferociously drew her little claws as she jumped out of Andraste.

Meuw. Denny simply looked cute as he rolled from Marvaine's heads.

The newly emerged companion spirits did not float around aimlessly but quickly fell into a fluffy and adorable pile.

Despite their different attributes, the cats were completely comfortable in each other's presence. Alexandria already started to embrace and lick the the three spiritual kittens.

Only Blinky maintained his distance. The powerful cat observed the state of the companion spirits carefully.

Ves himself began to look more and more Intrigued.

"What is the matter, Ves? Is there anything amiss with our companion spirits?" Gloriana asked with rising concern.

"I... need more time in order to figure all of this out, but from what I am able to observe through Blinky, our children aren't in danger. They are doing better than ever!"

"Truly?" Gloriana looked curious.

Her red companion spirit stopped licking the kittens and studied them carefully in an attempt to observe the changes.

Alexandria was not as sensitive towards spiritual energy as Blinky however, so Gloriana failed to detect the changes that made her husband feel more at ease.

"Explain."

"It's still too early to make any solid conclusions, but... have you noticed that the environment is no longer entirely barren of spiritual energy?"

"Hm?"

Ves waved his arm all around him. "For as long as we knew, the environment in the Milky Way and the Red Ocean was largely barren. Sure, it is filled with plenty of matter and energy, but it is lacking in spiritual energy. As far as I know, it can only be generated by sentient life forms. This makes this particular energy type Incredibly scarce in our old cosmic neighborhood."

I Iis wife started to understand what he was trying to convey.

"M87 is different?"

"Very much so." Ves replied in a serious tone. "I believe M87 is a galaxy that possesses an extremely high concentration of spiritual energy, so much so that it has integrated into every rock, every asteroid, every native life form and more! The Red Ocean has turned into its satellite galaxy, so we are only just starting to get exposed to a fraction of this ambient spiritual energy, but that is already starting to have an effect on everybody. I suspect that energy-based life forms will be most affected by this drastic environmental change!"

If Ves could think of the implications, then so could his wife!

Her eyes already began to widen as she thought the possible implications.

"If the environment around the Milky Way can be likened to a desert, then M87 is an ocean!" She gasped! "Our companion spirits will thrive like fish to water if that is the case!"

Ves raised his hand in caution. As a mech designer who also happened to get started with biotechnology, he realized that these changes may be anything but ideal.

"Don't celebrate too soon, Gloriana. I Iumans like us grew up in the Milky Way. Pretty much every species from our home galaxy have long adapted to an arid environment. Now what do you think if lots of humans suddenly get dumped into the middle of an ocean?"

"...They will try to swim and stay afloat for a time, but if they cannot get rescued, they will drown amidst all of the water. Wait, doesn't that mean that every human in the Red Ocean is currently exposed to dangerous energies that will slowly become lethal if accumulated to a certain extent?!"

"Shh." Ves tried to reassure his wife. "Spiritual energy is probably not that dangerous. If there is a threat, then all of us would have sensed it by now. I am not sure what spiritual energy does to normal people who are not that gifted in spirit, but we don't have to worry as much."

"Are you certain about that, Ves?! Our children are not feeling so well at the moment! What if your judgment is wrong!?"

"I am not wrong about this. Blinky has already taken a good look at their companion spirits as well as their bodies. They are all fish in relation to the metaphor. At this range, the ambient spiritual radiation generated by M87 is providing them with a richer environment that is more conducive to their growth!"

"How?"

Ves smiled and reached out to pat Andraste's head. "Are you feeling warmer, honey?"

The little girl nodded. "I am. It's like I am exercising my body, but I'm not doing anything right now. It's so weird."

"There is nothing wrong with you, my little pumpkin. Your body is special, you know that? It has been blessed and altered in a way that has made your physical body more compatible with spiritual energy. Your body is like a sponge that is dropped in a shallow pool of water. It can't help but absorb the spiritual energies that are most compatible with your physique. I'm not sure if there is a way to stop this from happening, but your body isn't doing something that is actively harming Itself."

Although Ves did not have enough proof to back up this assertion, he believed in his theories and intuition.

"What about our companion spirits, papa?" Aurelia asked as she snuggled closer to Clixie. "Mana is feeling much warmer than before!"

Mew! The spiritual white kitten affirmed Aurelia's words.

Ves smiled at his oldest daughter. "The altered environment has a greater impact on pure energy-based life forms like your companion spirits. From what I can see, your kitten has nothing to worry about. I think she will grow up even faster than before! That goes for Yaika and Denny as well."

"What about Alexandria and Blinky?" Gloriana asked. "I noticed that you have kept them out of your description."

"That is because they are absorbing the ambient spiritual energy at a much lower rate. Our companion spirits are already mature. Their growth is limited by other factors. Perhaps there is a way to accelerate their growth by employing a special method, but I haven't figured that out yet. The reason why our children's companion spirits are growing faster is because they are still immature and have a lot of room for growth. It's like inflating a balloon. It is easy to pump air into them when they are not yet filled, but once they are at capacity, it is not a simple matter to proceed from this point."

A grave expression appeared on Gloriana's face. "The balloon will pop if you force too much air inside."

"Exactly."

Ves and Gloriana all had many questions, but the situation wasn't particularly acute at the moment.

They continued to cuddle with their children until thev comfortably fell asleen.