The Mech Touch

Of all of the possible subjects that the Polymath could bring up during the meeting, Mr. S. was one of the worst possible outcomes for Ves.

Mr. S. did not exist as a literal human mech designer and individual. It was a false identity and smokescreen that Ves used to fend off the curiosity of mechers such as Master Moira Willix and the Polymath herself.

Ves had always been afraid that these incredibly clever and powerful figures would figure out the truth one day.

There was no Mr. S.

They had been deceived by Ves all this time.

If there was anyone who best fit the label of this mysterious and illusionary mech designer, it was either the Mech Designer System or Ves himself!

The only advantage that Ves could rely upon to maintain the increasingly elaborate facade that he set up was to use his time travel shenanigans to paint the illusion that Mr. S. was an old geezer who had made his presence felt throughout history.

The incongruity between the mysterious black hand that had infrequently intervened in people's lives over the course of several centuries and a young Senior Mech Designer who was only around 40 years old was probably the sole reason why the Polymath continued to be misled!

His main objective for this meeting was to ensure that the Star Designer remained fooled. This was a tall task for anyone due to her enormous intellectual prowess.

Fortunately for him, it did not look as if the Polymath was all that present for the time being. Her productivity was far too valuable for her to give Ves her undivided attention.

He could use that to his advantage.

Right now, Ves tried his best to remain as unmoved as impossible. He refrained from generating any false reactions.

He had a feeling that none of it would work in front of this powerful and august figure.

Ves keenly reminded himself that the Polymath's domain centered around the greater concept of Truth.

There was no way he could get away with any lies in front of the ultimate lie detecting machine!

His only hope of evading entrapment was to be quick on his feet and bend the truth to his advantage.

He bet that while the Polymath was able to pick out lies like a hawk, she was not omnipotent enough to discern the intentions behind every word of 'truth' that escaped from his mouth.

Whether this was a deception game that the Polymath carefully crafted for Ves to put him into a false sense of security, he had no way of knowing for sure.

He could only go by the limited amount of information that he had in his possession. Just like the Polymath, he was basing his actions and responses on a lot of faulty and incomplete data.

"lam not sure why you are asking me where Mr. S. is located." He steadily replied while trying his best not to let his nerves go out of his control.

Truth.

"From what little I can tell, Mr. S. is most probably in the Red Ocean, which means that he has fallen victim to the mass displacement event like everyone else on this side of the greater beyonder gate."

Truth.

"I can make a few more guesses on where you can find him, but I am unable to provide you with his exact set of galactic coordinates."

Truth.

Ves did not even know where he was located in the Red Ocean. The Khamatar Reign and the rest of her escorts were drifting in higher dimensional space that corresponded to a route in realspace that was almost completely unknown to him. The best he could do was to determine a vague direction based on what he could feel from the sub-brain integrated in his detached cyborg leg.

He carefully observed the Polymath's expression. It seemed as if she had taken his words at face value, but he could not determine whether the frighteningly intelligent Star Designer was actually fooled.

A slight frown steadily appeared on her face. She deliberately did so in order to convey a message.

"That is... not a welcome response. I would very much like to come into contact with him and engage with him directly. There are too few Star Designers in the Red Ocean Dwarf Galaxy as it is. Whatever divisions and disagreements we held in the old galaxy... none of that is important anymore now that we are confronted by the threat of extinction. We MUST unite together."

The way she spoke the word 'must' made it seem as if she had leaked a small portion of her vast power during this short interval, causing it to sound as if it was a condition that had to come true!

Ves looked a little jarred, but he tried his best to spin and continue to respond in a way that would not draw excessive suspicion towards himself.

"Look, I cannot help you much."

Truth.

"My relationship with Mr. S. is spotty. I am not his buddy who I can casually call over the galactic net."

Truth.

"Mr. S. has only been an intermittent part of my life. I admit that I have benefited substantially from him, but if I am really being honest with you, I have been working hard to succeed by relying on my own merits. I don't want to grow dependent on handouts and become absolutely useless once I am cut off from external assistance. Don't get me wrong. I am not denying my relationship with Mr. S. I wouldn't be as good as 1 am today and become eligible to be promoted to a tier 4 galactic citizen so soon without his invaluable assistance. 1 just think that mech designers like ourselves need to learn how to stand up on their own after a point."

As the Polymath listened to his words, she slowly nodded in agreement.

"That is the correct attitude to take. Mr. S. is correct in maintaining his distance from you. I cannot blame your inability to open up a direct channel to him when that does not serve a productive use for either of you. It is also a form of protection. People cannot use you to reach out to him, and he is able to ensure that he remains untraceable as always. How exactly does he contact you? What is his method of communication?"

"I am unfamiliar with the tech he uses." Ves truthfully responded. "He conveys his words directly in my head. Don't ask me for any further details. The tech that he commands is so advanced and obtuse to me that I cannot make heads or tails out of it. He is the sole party that decides whether we can enter into a dialogue."

The Polymath looked displeased, but not suspicious. This was a good sign.

"This is a regrettable answer, but not an unpredictable one." She spoke. "If you happen to come into contact with Mr. S. again, then please convey to him that he should reach out to me. There are matters of great consideration that we must speak about. I also need his assistance on an important project of mine, but 1 will press on if he remains indisposed."

This project must be a big deal if the Polymath requested the assistance of a suspected Star Designer that did not actually exist!

The powerful female leader quickly moved on. "Let me ask you another question. Why has he chosen to mentor you? Out of all of the possible young mech designers in the Milky Way that he could have passed on his teachings, it is you that has become his sole beneficiary as far as we are aware of. We have been able to deduce a number of possible reasons, but I would like you to answer in your own words."

Ves tried to shrug as innocently as possible. "I'm not sure if I am his chosen candidate or whether I was just in the right place at the right time. I get the feeling that my... family... has a lot to do with it. My mother knows Mr. S. I think she might even know him better than me. 1 don't think that she wanted me to get into contact with him, but somehow it happened outside of her will. I can't blame her for feeling this way. Mr. S. is really powerful in many ways, but he is also a wanted man."

Heh, let the Polymath chew over this. Ves was pretty sure that all of his words were technically true, but his actual intentions were entirely different!

"Interesting." The Polymath responded as it looked as if she was pulling slightly more of her valuable attention on this conversation than before. "Your mother appears to have taught you much as well. You have been remarkably effective at adapting her teachings to your work as a mech designer. Our Association commends you for dedicating your work for the greater good of red humanity."

Ves responded with a smile that hopefully looked sincere enough. "I care a lot about the future of red humanity. It did not seem appropriate for me to hoard my most powerful innovations when it can be used for the greater good of our race. 1 was worried whether you or your fellow Survivalists doubt the effectiveness of my works, but it appears that my concerns are unfounded."

It was best to steer the conversation away from Mr. S. The more he talked about him, the more likely that he would make a mistake.

The Polymath stared directly in his eyes. "About your work. The information that you were willing to present during this conference covers a good range of your notable innovations, but we have found it lacking in one vital area. It is disappointing that you have decided to withhold its benefits from us. We are aware that it comes with numerous issues, but that is for us to work out. You should extend greater trust towards us. I am giving you a chance to make up for this mistake right now. Can you adapt your kinship network to connect all of red humanity in a mutually supportive metaphysical web?"

What?!

Ves did not hide his shock this time!

Of all of the possible questions that she could ask him, he did not expect her to ask for his kinship network!

That was a mistake. The kinship network was no secret due to the sheer amount of people who benefited from it. From his own clansmen to all of the Hexers that managed to evacuate to the Red Ocean, there were so many people who were bound by a design spirit that the mechers would have to be blind and incompetent to miss the widespread effects!

Ves shouldn't have overlooked the kinship network's appeal to the likes of the Polymath and the rest of the Survivalists.

Ves felt the need to be a lot more vigilant this time. He already had an inkling of why the Polymath asked for his kinship network. He did not like the direction where his thoughts were going.

"Erm. Theoretically, it is possible, but I am not sure whether it is a good idea to do so. Privacy kind of becomes a problem, and it also has uncomfortable religious connotations that might steer a lot of people away from secularism."

The Polymath dismissively shook her head. "None of these problems are a concern to us. The benefits far outweigh any possible demerits. Red humanity is too divided and mistrustful of each other. Only by binding every individual together in a common network can we move towards building greater trust and cooperation."

Ves couldn't help but look skeptical. "There are many other ways to bind people together. Our race and civilization went by without relying on something as invasive and intrusive as a kinship network for many millennia. We can continue to rely on tried and tested solutions to come together and fight as a united group."

"It is not good enough. Compared to the alternatives, your kinship networks are considerably more effective and do not take nearly as long to deploy. I have projected that the success rate of my Unity Plan will increase by at least 12.36 percent if you agree to provide us with a kinship network. This success rate will rise to 21.93 percent if I can directly administer it. Do you understand what this means, Professor Larkinson?"

Only 21.93 percent? Ves couldn't help but feel a little disappointed. This was too low of a percentage in his judgment! His kinship networks were way more awesome!

The Polymath continued to appeal to him. "You can make an outsized contribution to the survival of our branch of humanity. Assist me. Support my plan. Dedicate your work to my cause and I shall reserve enough augmentations and quotas in our EdNet to uplift you and tens of thousands of your relatives and subordinates to first-raters within a timeframe of 5 years. Together, we can reshape red humanity in a more superior version that completely allows us to shed its inefficient vestiges. Make the right decision. There is more at stake than you can foresee. What is your answer?" !! II

Ves had frozen in place. His brain had completely crashed at this time.