The Mech Touch

"Miaow?"

"You did a good job, Clixie. I could tell that you have managed to worm your way into the Inferno Spear Prince's heart. Even the most hardened warriors yearns for a soft touch every now and then. Prince Antonius has spent so much time within the halls of power that he has lost sight of what true companionship represents."

"Miaow..."

"I agree. Rubarthans like him constantly have to keep working hard in order to remain competitive in the race for power. Even the princes are not exempt from the perpetual rat races that dominate their society."

The Terrans were much better in that regard. Their power structures were much stabler and more solidified, which meant that the leading Terrans actually had more time to spend on leisure. However, they also had a tendency to take their complacency to the extreme, thereby causing them to stagnate in areas where progress should be made.

The issue over kinship networks reflected this difference. The Terrans hadn't brought up this topic at all while the Rubarthans clearly conveyed the intent to move forward at the beginning.

Ves, his daughter and their cat had all left the Hyper Chamber now that they had concluded their meeting with the Inferno Spear Prince. They had retreated to a private lounge where they could talk in confidence.

"What do you think, Aurelia? You missed the first half of the meeting, but you should have heard enough to know what is going on. What do you think of my proposal?"

His young but growing daughter idly caressed Clixie's back as she remained in thought. Despite her youth, diplomacy was a part of her dense curriculum.

"Your proposal is too weird, papa." The girl eventually said. "You are being too obvious about what you want from the Rubarthans. You are trying to take advantage of them by turning Clixie into their ancestral spirit, right? They would be stupid to accept it! Everything I have read about their people is that they are proud and hate relying on others. Your scheme shouldn't have any chance of working, but the attitude of the Inferno Spear Prince suggests that the Rubarthans haven't ruled out this option."

Ves grinned as he leaned forward to pull his girl into a sideways hug. "The Rubarthans have little choice. Kinship networks are unique products that only I can make. On this particular issue, my negotiating position is superior to that of a first-rate colonial superstate! There is nothing the Rubarthans can do to exert more leverage onto me. It is impossible for them to employ coercion because I am under the protection of the Red Association. They don't want to push me too hard because they are afraid of souring my relationship with them. They can't even use Rubarthan citizenship or other bargaining chips to attract my attention as I don't really care about that stuff."

His daughter still looked befuddled and a bit scared about what her father had just done!

Ves sighed and gently rubbed Aurelia's head with his hand. "You are still thinking from the perspective of a second-rater. Don't. We have stepped up in society. While it isn't easy to explain my current position, the most important part is that I am an inventor that has developed numerous products that have become must-haves in our society. So long as I am the only effective supplier of at least some of these powerful goods, nobody wants to upset me or touch me. It is a mistake to stick to our previous cautious attitude. We need to maximize our advantages, and that means we need to take a bolder approach in our talks with other groups."

"I... understand. I know we can do more now that you have become more important, but..."

"What is it, sweetie?"

"I am afraid... that you are pushing our limits too far." She said in a lower voice. "You are basing your new strategies on the assumption that you are the only person who can supply red humanity with kinship networks and so on. What if that is not true anymore? There are many smart and capable people in the Red Association and the Rubarthan Pact. What if one of their Star Designers manages to reverse engineer your work and create a better version themselves? They have done that often enough in the past."

That was indeed a legitimate concern for Ves. As soon as another researcher or inventor managed to replicate his work or develop a substitute product that offered greater convenience, he would get into big trouble!

All of the resentment and animosity generated by throwing his weight around would surely come to bite him back in the butt!

As much as Ves wanted to dismiss the possibility that anyone else could legitimate compete against him in these areas, it would be a deadly mistake to believe this was true.

The power and ingenuity of humans were limitless. This was especially the case now that red humanity had entered a medium energy environment. Exotic radiation boosted all variations of cultivation and spiritual engineering.

Talented people who had previously been stymied by lack of resources suddenly found themselves surrounded with more E energy radiation than they could handle!

The descendants of long-dead cultivators had dug up all kinds of ancient legacies and inheritances from their vaults and archives. Every week, a new invention might emerge that would substantially affect the development of their civilization.

The emergence of general cultivation elixirs served as an especially wakeup call to Ves!

A part of him felt pissed about that. Even though it was unreasonable to think that way, he felt incredibly angry that he had nothing to do with this particular innovation!

He should have been the one to present the mech community with another enormously useful means to empower its pilots!

At the very least, he should be the one to control its supply. That way, he would have been able to retain his monopoly on cultivation aids and boost his leverage even further. It was intolerable that an entirely different party came and developed a much more effective means to rapidly accelerate the ordinary cultivation progress of mech pilots!

Ves briefly closed his eyes.

This was not a productive mindset. He had no power to stop others from exploiting their own understanding of ancient traditions to develop products that suited the new age. He knew that there were many others working to reintroduce the wonders of ancient cultivation back to modern society.

Even if the mechers hadn't managed to figure out how to produce these amazing elixirs, then the Terrans or the Rubarthans would have been able to invent them sooner or later.

This was because the brewing of elixirs was a common practice in ancient times! Many ancient cultivators had mastered the art of making them. The Water Scroll also contained countless teachings related to this discipline!

The reintroduction of elixirs to human society was a foregone conclusion. As much as Ves wanted to grasp all of the keys to cultivation, it was impossible for him to retain everything.

He needed to focus on his own advantages.

A smirk appeared on his face. From his mother's reaction to his various creations, he knew that it was not that easy to replicate his works. His talents were unique and his ingenuity was unsurpassed as far as he knew. He regained his sense of confidence.

He bent down and kissed his daughter on the head, causing her to issue a small complaint.

"It is true that I am not the only one who is capable of inventing powerful solutions to many problems. However, what is important is not the works that I have already created, but the capacity to keep creating more. So what if other people have managed to replicate my kinship networks? I originally stole the idea from Master Toqueman Huron. It is only right that others can gain inspiration from my products as well. It is the creator that is most important. People do not revere the Polymath's many works. They revere the Polymath because of her endless ability to invent and improve new technologies. Do you understand, Aurelia?"

His daughter looked awed. "I do. You are saying that even if others manage to reverse engineer your works, you have already spent enough time on developing other solutions."

"That is correct. That is the reason why the Red Association sees fit to promote to a tier 3 galactic citizen. This status reflects how much I can contribute going forward, not the accomplishments that I have already made. So long as people believe that I can continue to whip up more innovations over time, they will respect me and give me space in order to gain access to whatever powerful solutions I present to them in the future. That gives me power over them. This is why I can be more aggressive in my negotiations with the Rubarthans. I admit that they are powerful, but they recognize that a kinship network is a necessity to them. This is not a battle that they can win by force."

That said, Ves did not completely rule out the possibility that the Rubarthans might feel tempted to employ underhanded measures in order to gain an advantage.

As much as he felt reassured about his current protective measures, he could not afford to be complacent. He needed to look into bolstering his personal security as soon as possible.

"The Rubarthans are unlikely to concede so easily." Aurelia said after a while. "Their pride and conceit won't allow them to fold completely. They need at least a symbolic victory in order to justify an agreement with us. I think we may have to make serious concessions of our own in order to get Clixie or Qilanxo to become their guardian spirit."

"Oh?" Ves grew intrigued. "What do you think they will propose?"

Aurelia looked down on Clixie with concern. "If they choose Clixie... they won't allow her to remain outside of their control. I think they will insist on transferring her back to the Rubarthans if they agree to turn her into the nexus of their new kinship network!"

This was a realistic possibility. Aurelia made a very clever guess!

However, the possibility obviously distressed her. The young lady clutched Clixie even tighter as if she was afraid that the Rubarthans would come and snatch her closest feline companion away!

"Miaow miaow miaow!" The Rubarthan Sentinel Cat expressed her loyalty to Aurelia.

"That is not all." Aurelia continued. "If the Rubarthans have grown too concerned about how much leverage you gain over them, they may insist that you send me or my sister to their state. They will want to put us into their schools so that they can make us develop a greater belonging towards their culture and state."

"Unacceptable! I won't let the Rubarthans take you away! That goes for Clixie as well! She's family! We never abandon our own!"

"Miaow!"

Ves knew that this practice was not uncommon in these circles. Nonetheless, family was important to him. Perhaps that may be exactly why the Rubarthans might want to target that, but he did not want his success to come at the expense of the people he loved and cherished. That would defeat much of the purpose of what he was working towards!

"Okay, that is enough for now." He said as he rose up on his feet. "I appreciate your insights, but you still have much to go before you can handle these talks in my stead. Don't worry. I won't let the Rubarthans walk all over me. I won't let them take you or Clixie away. If they want more oversight on our cat, then they can send their men to us. If that is not enough for them, then they can either turn to another provider or go without a kinship network."

He was beginning to enjoy all of this plotting and scheming a bit too much as of late. He needed to turn his focus back on his core work before he got lost in this entirely!

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