The Mech Touch

5740 Charvey

The capital city of Charvey was the center of the Ector System.

Much like other first-class cities, Charvey featured a distinctly exotic architecture that was not only meant to showcase the wealth and sophistication of the governing powers, but also immersed its people in a unique setting.

As befitting Ector V's heavy reliance on its orbital shipbuilding industry, Charvey embraced the theme of water and utilized extravagant technologies to make a dream come true!

Ves and many other visitors grew astonished at the sight around them when they initially arrived in Charvey.

Water bubbles that encompassed large structures and entire city blocks dominated the cityscape. Specialized energy shields permanently locked the water bubbles in place, holding immense volumes of water in perfect spheres so that they submerged the structures within.

While there were still plenty of parks and pockets of dry places, these areas were clearly not the focus of Charvey.

It was the exotic sea-themed architecture and sea gardens contained within the many bubbles that truly evoked people's imagination.

The architects working for different organizations each went wild as they implemented all sorts of imaginative visions.

A mech arena took on the shape of an entire conch shell. Each time a fight took place, the unusual acoustics of the place amplified the sounds and ultimately caused the entire water bubble to channel low vibrations that could instill the lust of battle in any nearby bystander.

A restaurant situated in the middle of a floating water bubble was shaped like a giant but fairly slender dolphin. This creature gracefully flew through the air across a predetermined trajectory and made all of the patrons who looked out of the windows feel as if they were leisurely swimming across a sea.

The headquarters of a large shipbuilding company adopted the form of a wooden shipwreck of all choices. It looked like a haphazard ancient wooden seafarer that had crashed in the bottom of an ocean. Random pieces of wood, smoothbore cannons and even treasure chests with golden coins spilling out of them made the entire place resemble a theme park for children rather than a multi-trillion MTA credit shipbuilding company.

Of course, anyone who thought that this structure was so fragile that it could easily be demolished by a single mech would be sorely mistaken.

"Do not let your sight deceive you, sir." Kelsey Ampatoch said as he accompanied Ves while his recruitment application was still being processed. "Aside from all of the invisible transphasic energy shields, the wooden material itself is made out of a special organic formula that is designed to match the resilience of first-class exotic alloys. Since Ector V is a key star system, the authorities mandate that every structure must be as resilient as a fortress. First-class architects often see this as a challenge. The most efficient fortress designs are usually plain and geometrically shaped, but what their customers truly want is the opposite. This had produced a trend where the most expensive and well-designed structures are often those that do not look as if they can withstand a heavy blow."

This fell in line with the desire for first-raters to flaunt their wealth and power in the most extravagant ways possible. This was reflected in their architecture, mech design and their personal fashion.

Ves still found it difficult to get accustomed to this mindset. The Terrans and the mechers were relatively more constrained in this aspect, but the groups based in the Ector System were a lot less shy about expressing their individualism.

"First-raters." He sighed. "You guys are so weird at times, do you know that? You are willing to spend billions if not trillions of MTA credits on the most trivial of stuff. I cannot imagine how much money the local organizations have invested in this enormous sea bubble wonderland. All of that money could have been spent on more practical investments such as additional shipyards or a couple more colonies."

Kelsey shrugged. "Much of this city had been built during the Age of Mechs. Times were much different back then. I do not think that any red human is looking forward to building a city as unique and distinctive as Charvey in the coming decades. The Red War takes priority over everything else. The decline of culture is inevitable."

The man sounded a bit sad about that. Ves shared the same sentiment. There were many wonderful facets about humanity, but if the aliens continued to press onto human-

occupied territory, a lot of artworks would have to make way for more efficient use of resources.

"Meow." Lucky voiced his own opinion as his black archemetal form floated up and landed on Ves' shoulder.

"Yeah, you're right. A humanity that is completely engulfed in war is no fun anymore. It is only when people get to enjoy a more rounded life that they will truly be able to realize their potential. Cities like these… are part of our human heritage. Charvey needs to be protected as much as possible, and the same goes for all of the shipyards up in orbit."

As Ves and Kelsey Ampatoch continued to spend a bit of time on admiring the exotic sight before them, Jovy soon arrived through teleportation.

"Hello again. I apologize for the delay. I have been coordinating with multiple different factions. The public inquiry is scheduled to start in a few days, so you need to make the best use of your time. I have taken the liberty of arranging multiple meetings with the representatives of the opponents and proponents of your living mechs."

"What am I supposed to talk about with them?" Ves questioned. "I mean, these guys are all really smart. They have definitely done their homework on my products. Even if they have developed a number of misunderstandings about my living mechs, that is mostly because their judgment is clouded by their bias. In my experience, it is nearly impossible for me to change that. I don't think I will have a productive discussion with any of my potential opponents."

"I am aware of that, but you should still make the attempt to understand their public positions in advance, Ves. You will be better prepared to counter their arguments once the inquiry begins. You may even be able to soften their objections and convince them to pursue less extreme restrictions. If all else fails, you may be able to make a deal with them, though this is not a real solution."

"Hmmm… I guess that sounds useful enough."

Jovy shared a schedule where Ves would have to meet with a lot of representatives in the coming days.

There was little time for him to explore Charvey, not that he had any desire to do so due to safety concerns.

"Very well. Let's start to prepare, then. I also have suggestions of my own. I already took the initiative to contact an old friend. I hope he will be able to come in person, but he should at least be able to talk to me over the galactic net."

With that, Ves and his entourage began to get busy.

Jovy Armalon and Vector Loban went to their respective factions to persuade the skeptics and opponents among them to throw their support behind living mechs.

Kelsey Ampatoch utilized his Rubarthan background to scope out the detractors from the Rubarthan Pact and see whether they could be persuaded to change their minds.

Since Alexa did not accompany Ves on his travels this time, he had taken upon himself to figure out the Terrans.

The leading representative of the Devos Ancient Clan in the Ector System was a man called Peiter Rexha Devos.

Although he was just a branch member of his ancient clan, he had worked hard and managed to steadily climb up the ranks despite starting from behind. By the time he surpassed a hundred years, he had attained various successes as a businessman and a diplomat.

The direct descendants of the alien clans might enjoy a considerable head start, but even the Terrans did not discount the value of meritocracy. An organization ultimately had to be led by competent people if it wanted to withstand the test of time.

When Ves met Peiter at the compound owned by the Devos Ancient Clan, the man looked quite grave.

"The Terran Alliance as a whole is largely… indifferent to your living mechs. It has become difficult to persuade Terrans to embrace your living mechs, primarily because they do not have access to any first-class mechs that possess its traits. The only people who actually have personal experience with handling your work are the armed forces of the second-rate colonial states that are operating within our sphere of influence. However, their exposure to your work is not only far too recent, but also much reduced due to the problematic associations with your popular Ultimatum model."

Ves grimaced. It sounded silly, but the second-class customer base within the Terran Alliance had almost universally rejected the Ultimatum.

This was weird because the second-raters reacted a lot more positively towards the Fey Fianna!

The only reason why the Terrans rejected the very notion of the Ultimatum was because it was intrinsically tied to a Rubarthan god pilot.

Even a faint connection was enough to taint the Ultimatum as a Rubarthan mech in the eyes of the Terrans!

Ves found this attitude to be incredibly stupid and illogical, but the bad blood between the Terrans and the Rubarthans ran so deep that this sort of behavior could not be eradicated.

"Does that mean you have little confidence in our ability to drum up more support for living mechs among the people living in Terran space?"

Peiter Rexha Devos nodded. "I cannot think of any way for you to change their minds before the start of the public inquiry. There is not enough time to implement measures that can bolster your case in the short term. If we had a year of preparation time, I would have advised you to offer discounts to increase people's exposure to your living mechs. It would be even better if you designed a compelling first-class mech that can hold strong attraction to the Terrans. As it is, the best we can do is to engage in a short and expensive marketing campaign."

Ves shook his head in rejection. "That is too expensive, and I doubt it will be effective."

"Then I do not see any other measures you can take that can increase your support base in the short term. Let us shelve this topic for the moment and focus on the other side. Most Terrans ancient clans are indifferent to your living mechs, but the Chabran Ancient Clan has strongly come out against your works. Do you have a grudge or feud against the Chabrans?"

"No. Not directly, at least. The only possible explanation that I can think of is my clan's cooperation with the Boojay Family. The Boojays are former Terrans who got exiled from the Greater Terran United Confederation a long time ago. They still dream about returning to Terran place and usurping their original usurpers, who are presently known as the Chabrans. I am not sure if this is the only reason that this ancient clan has spoken against my work, but it is definitely a contributing factor."

"That is… an inconvenient circumstance, but not an insurmountable one." Peiter reluctantly said. "If the sole reason why the Chabrans object to your work is due to your relations with this Boojay Family, then there is no direct reason for conflict. It may be worthwhile for you to approach the Chabrans and see if you can forge a compromise with them. The chances of success are low, but they are not zero."

"I see. I guess I can make the attempt."

Politics. How tedious. Ves did not look forward to meeting with all of these scheming bastards.

He still needed to make the effort to come to an accord with his current adversaries. He owed it to his living mechs to defend their rights as much as possible.

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