The Mech Touch

Ves got a good look at all of the extravagant stuff that his wife had bought during her visit to Vulit.

As they both started to put their children to bed, Aurelia, Andraste and Marvaine all changed into their soft and exquisitely patterned pajamas made out of the hairs of a calamity beast and hugged their masterwork-quality dolls as they went to sleep.

All of these items happened to be hyper products. They attracted E energies with attributes related to concepts such as growth, health, calm, dreams and happiness.

They all had a definite effect on the little brats. They fell asleep a lot faster and seemed to enjoy their slumber a lot more.

Ves objected a little less to Gloriana's spending after witnessing these effects.

She then dragged him over to their new wardrobe. She had completely set aside his old outfits and replaced them with newer and more refined versions.

His wife even approached a tailoring house and commissioned the creation of new Larkinson uniforms!

"From tomorrow onwards, you will present yourself as a true first-rater." Gloriana said. "Do not underestimate the effect of wearing these clothes. It will become easier for you to project authority and command people's respect. The less you remind them of your humble past, the more you will be able to blend in with our new peers."

Ves did not bother to argue with her anymore. He did not think it was necessary to spend so much money on extravagantly expensive outfits, but it was already too late now that they were in his closet.

"Whatever."

Ves and his wife sat down and began to resume their talk.

Lucky and Clixie had settled nearby and already began to lick each other's faces.

"Meow..."

"Miaow..."

Gloriana still had much to say about what she witnessed during her stay in Vulit.

"Cultivation has become more present in people's lives." She said. "The core star systems controlled by the Red Two are much further ahead compared to other locations in this regard. The contrast is particularly striking in the communities occupied by the mechers. My companion spirit has noticed that more and more people who are not already mech pilots or mech designers have begun to cultivate different methods that have begun to strengthen them and improve their connection to different attributes."

Ves looked intrigued. "Is that so? I guess that might be the Transhumanists taking the lead. I'm not sure about the origin and the purpose of these methods. Do you have a clue?"

"No. Not much time has passed since they have started to practice their new methods, so there is not enough progress to deduce what they are trying to work towards. Their actions show that we cannot be complacent about this. You need to spend time and supply proper cultivation methods to every clansman and companion spirit. I am still waiting for you to supply an improved method for Alexandria."

"I haven't forgotten." Ves lied. "I will present one to you after I have settled down again. Companion spirits are constantly growing by themselves as they are innately capable of natural cultivation. They also adapt remarkably well to different circumstances. You can make sure that Alexandria continues to grow in a favorable direction by frequently employing her design network."

His wife did not take this seriously. "Even I know that deliberate intervention is always better than letting nature take its course. At least the mechers are actively taking their future in their own hands."

They talked a bit more about what Gloriana had managed to observe during her visit to Vulit.

"By the way, what about the fleeters?" He asked. "Vulit should be occupied by them as well. Have you taken a good look at the members of the Red Fleet?"

Gloriana's expression turned doubtful. "I did not frequent any areas where the fleeters are widely present. They tend to stick to their warships most of the time. The few fleeters that I have met have given me an odd impression."

"Have they become cultivators?"

"No." She shook her head. "I am not sensitive or knowledgeable as you in this field of expertise, but I can still discern the differences, especially after I have seen many mechers. The fleeters are not engaging in any form of cultivation as far as I am aware of, but their spiritualities are... different."

"How so? Shouldn't they be cultivators if this is the case?"

"It is difficult for me to describe what I have witnessed because I do not understand it myself. The fleeters... are giving me the impression that they are still individually weak and human, but they are not as easy to challenge as before. I cannot explain why, but this is what I instinctively felt. I suggest you take a look at them yourself. To be honest, I feel even more alienated by them than before."

"That sounds... worrisome."

The fleeters were definitely up to something. It was impossible for them to give ground to the mechers all of the time.

Their biggest problem was that they were ideologically opposed to the very concept of cultivation. They believed in the supremacy of technology and opposed any initiative that caused people to lose their own humanity in the pursuit of power.

This was why Ves found it rather strange that Gloriana felt alienated by the fleeters.

Either the snobbish spaceborn bastards had made a complete U-turn, or Gloriana had misinterpreted her observations.

Ves would have to take a look at the fleeters himself, but it was quite difficult to encounter them in person.

This was not a high priority issue to Ves. It should be the Red Association and the first-rate superstates who should truly be worried about the Red Fleet!

After Gloriana finally completed her explanation on what she had experienced during her visit to Vulit, the conversation finally turned to Ves.

Her eyes grew sharper as Gloriana could not hide her obvious interest in her husband's antics.

"You have done remarkably well in my absence. I have already learned about much of what you have done. Let us start from the beginning. You attempted to fabricate the first production copy of the newly completed Fey Fianna model. For whatever reason, all of the recordings and data logs have disappeared from our internal database. I only have eye witness testimonies to go on, and they are hardly complete. I am told that only you and your young new disciple were responsible for a dramatic fabrication run that ended with the descent of a cataclysmic lightning bolt. I do not know what happened, but it is not difficult for me to observe that your fabrication run has not delivered any concrete results."

The attempted creation of the Elemental Lord was still a sore spot to Ves. He did not really want to bring up bad memories, but he knew his wife would continue to nag him until he gave her a proper explanation.

"It's... difficult for me to explain, Gloriana. I made a lot of mistakes. Let's do this, then. Activate Alexandria's design network and connect our minds together. I will just transfer the key moments of what I have done from my perspective to you. This is the fastest way for me to bring you up to speed."

Though Ves was not exactly eager to present his enormous failure to his wife, it might be useful to obtain her feedback. She was still a good mech designer. Her advice might help him make the redo of the Elemental Lord even stronger when he was ready to reprise this bold attempt!

"Maoow."

When the design network became active once again, Ves shoved his pre-prepared package of memories through the spiritual connections.

As Gloriana rapidly processed the memories with the help of her advanced Arachne 01 cranial implant set, her emotions swung many times all of a sudden!

Ves had already disconnected himself from the design network to spare him from his wife's emotional reactions.

Her expression and the fluctuations of her spirituality showed that she had lost much of her calm all of a sudden!

"You... you actually tried to make a grand work?" She asked with an expression that looked both amazed and horrified!

"I only learned about that in hindsight." Ves responded. "It turns out that there are good reasons why only highly accomplished Master Mech Designers and Star Designers are able to make them. I really do not have the qualifications to make one right now. It is only now that I have experienced the enormous gap between masterworks and grand works."

"THAT DOES NOT CHANGE THE FACT THAT YOU HAVE ALREADY APPROACHED THE THRESHOLD OF A GRAND WORK! THIS IS TOO SOON! YOU ARE STILL A SENIOR! HOW DID YOU DO IT, VES?!"

Gloriana became so obsessed with what Ves had accidentally done at the time that her hands had grabbed his throat and tried to shake him back and forth!

Naturally, her gesture was completely useless. His true body was far too dense and strong to get shaken by her in this manner.

Ves gently pried her delicate hands away from his neck. "Calm down, honey. One of the reasons why I transferred my memories directly to you is so that you can get most of the answers that you want. I got struck by inspiration when I started my fabrication run. This is not the false inspiration that can be induced by hitting myself with my Hammer of Brilliance. This is a genuine moment of serendipity, and it has changed my life forever."

Gloriana frowned as she continually ran through the memories. The perspective from Ves was not complete, but it still gave her a decent understanding of all of the hyperactive ideas that were running through his mind at the time.

It was impossible for her to comprehend the specific processes employed by her crazy husband.

This was because even he did not fully understand what he was doing and why he made certain steps over the course of his work!

He had surrendered himself nearly entirely to his own intuition and gut feeling!

This caused him to complete many processes that had no clear basis in logic or theory!

She grew increasingly more frustrated when she realized that Ves' memories held little reference value to her. There was no way for her to learn any tricks that could help her raise the quality of her work and get closer to the threshold of a grand work.

The fundamental reason why this was the case was because they were too different from each other.

If Gloriana wanted to create a brilliant work on her own one day, then she needed to get inspired herself and create an unprecedentedly powerful work by relying on her own ingenuity!

Once she realized this, she no longer felt as jealous and upset with Ves as before.

Even if she happened to be present during this amazing fabrication run, her gains wouldn't have been much better due to the enormous differences between their work.

Still, she could have made other gains if she was present at the time. She still remained upset at the fact that Ves had randomly gone off to make a mech that had the potential to become a grand work shortly after she left for Vulit!

"You may have ultimately failed, but you learned many lessons from this attempt." Gloriana eventually said as she pressed her palm against his chest. "You should be proud of this accomplishment. I hope I will be present next time you do this, because I will not let you run wild to this extent again!"

A competitive fire surged in her mind. Gloriana had become frightened by how her husband had taken such a massive step forward without her. She needed to step up her game if she wanted to remain as his equal!

Her thoughts went back to the Dark Zephyr Mark II Project and the other upgrade projects. The next iterations of her old expert mechs will be the vehicles that should enable her to realize her latest advancements!