The Mech Touch

5752 An Unspoken Accord

After a lengthy series of discussions, Ves and Sigrund finally ended their dialogue for the time being.

The topics they mentioned were incredibly sensitive and could get them in a lot of trouble if they leaked to the public.

Nonetheless, both sides expressed serious interest in cooperating with each other. If it wasn't for the fact that they represented two completely different and arguably opposing camps, there shouldn't have been any need for all of this subterfuge!

The latest proposals discussed by Ves and Sigrund required greater input in order to move forward.

As much as Captain Zonrad Reze had been gaining a steady amount of glory and prestige, his power within the Red Fleet was only confined to a single warship.

The real people Ves was negotiating with were the admirals of the Red Fleet. Once upon a time, the mere thought that he would catch the attention of the highest ranking fleeters would have frightened him to the bone.

However, as a mech designer who had already squared off against god pilots and Star Designers, Ves did not feel intimidated by this development.

The opposite was the case. The ability to negotiate with the admirals and possibly the fleet admirals of the force most capable of unleashing mass destruction was a significant step up for Ves!

As long as he was able to skip most of the notoriously intractable bureaucracy of the fleeters and negotiate directly with the actual people in charge, he was sure he could establish a fantastic partnership.

The admirals possessed the best possible overview of the Red War. From the clues given by Sigrund, it was clear that the Red Fleet was not having a great time. Their warships were unquestionably the best in the dwarf galaxy, but that hardly mattered if the inadequate logistical and industrial capacity of human-occupied space failed to provide enough support.

Ves had encountered numerous instances where he was unable to exchange his goods and services for first-class warships.

No matter how attractive his offer sounded, the Terrans, Rubarthans, mechers and fleeters all clung to their first-class starships as if they were literal lifelines!

Despite the fact that they had thousands of powerful hulls at their disposal, they treated the destruction or transfer of just a single vessel as a tipping point that might possibly doom the future of their superstate or organization!

It was a profoundly extreme response that betrayed the true fear and apprehension among the people responsible for putting up the greatest resistance against the invading aliens.

Both Ves and Sigrund stood up at the end of their lengthy meeting and shook hands with each other.

"Will you…"

"Don't worry." Ves gave the RF officer a reassuring smile. "I haven't forgotten about my promise. Even if the admirals who you answer to ultimately decide to reject any further cooperation, I will still try to stabilize your spiritual condition. You deserve it for the information that you have graciously transferred to me. If there ever comes a time where you have been promoted to a high enough leadership position, please remember what I have done for you and seek me out iif you desire cooperation on other matters. As you already know, I am an inventive and unorthodox creator. My competences are not limited to designing mechs. If you can't solve a problem in the usual fashion, then maybe a less conventional approach will do the job."

"I shall keep that in mind."

Their expressions signaled an unspoken understanding of each other. Neither of the two were stupid. Whatever friction or animosity that existed between them in the past, all of it had become irrelevant in the face of mutual survival.

The two possessed vastly different talents and resources, but that made it so attractive for them to cooperate with each other.

There was no need for the two of them to join the same organization. They could do more for each other by maintaining their current affiliations with the Red Association and the Red Fleet.

Both of them knew each other well enough to know that their ultimate purpose was to benefit themselves.

There was no need for Ves to elaborate on his lack of willingness to assimilate into the Red Association.

Sigrund on the other hand may be compelled to serve the Common Fleet Alliance, but that did not necessarily mean he was prepared to lay down his life for the Red Fleet.

Both of them were small fish in a very big pond. They could only rely on the protection of the bigger fish for the time being, and had to work hard to survive the coming years where a constant stream of predators sought to take them down.

"Let's start." Ves said. "We can conduct this operation in a medical center if you want, but if you want to ensure total secrecy, then we should complete this procedure on the spot. This office is hardly the kind of place where people undergo life-changing operations. No one will notice a clue, especially since my actions will not lead to any obvious changes."

Although Sigrund found many aspects of this process to be sketchy, he suppressed his doubts and decided to put his trust Ves. The man was known to keep his promises, and his commitment to service was as good as any other genuine mech designer.

"Let us get this out of the way before my AI core overheats from calculating all of the ways that this can go wrong."

Ves quickly took action. He guided Sigrund to a chair that automatically unfolded into a bed.

Once the RF captain laid in place, Ves brought out Blinky in order to perform the delicate process of suppressing Zonrad Reze's return.

"I… am beginning to feel apprehensive." Sigrund commented as the Star Cat dove inside his body and started to do who knew what. "Are you certain that this is safe?"

"Nothing about this is safe." Ves admitted as he supervised Blinky's work and acted as a second pair of eyes. "However, it is the least risky option out of the ones I presented to you. The reason why you feel so nervous is because a part of your instincts are transmitting warnings to you. Direct manipulation of your spirituality is not supposed to happen. The part of you that is sensitive towards this cannot distinguish between harm and treatment."

"I see. The only means to do so is to pay attention and form my own judgment, is that correct?"

"Yes, but… you need to develop the right expertise in order to make accurate judgments."

"That is… problematic." Sigrund said as the conversation distracted him from his concerns about what exactly Blinky was doing with his spirituality. "The Red Fleet has always been aware of the phenomenon known as cultivation. Despite the changes wrought by the Age of Dawn, the fleet admirals unanimously instituted a policy of rejecting cultivation in all forms."

Ves almost paused. "I heard about that, but… I didn't think it would actually be true. Are the fleeters really so draconic about rejecting all forms of cultivation? It sounds so stupid. The new frontier is not the same as before. Exotic radiation is slowly mutating humans throughout the Red Ocean into more powerful but also less controllable beings. If you are not being proactive about it, then you will have very little control over what you will turn into. The gradual revival of Zonrad Reze is one of the outcomes of inaction."

Sigrund let out a sigh. "I do not disagree with you, but… the leadership of the Red Fleet are too set in their ways. A few admirals have shown to be more flexible and open-minded than others, but when it comes to directly empowering humans with E energy, they refuse to accept the benefits on ideological grounds. One of the core tenets of the CFA is that humans must remain 'pure' in body and mind. Many forms of augmentation are outright forbidden due to this reason, and cultivation is an extension of this pattern. Many fleeters still believe that relying solely on external technologies will allow us to maintain our way of life in a changing reality. The assumption that they desperately cling to is that developing our existing technologies will allow us to keep up with the growth of other powers who are much more open about embracing cultivation."

Ves took that to mean the Red Association. The mechers had already been cultivators in secret.

Now that E energy radiation made it viable for everyone to cultivate, the mechers simply decided to gradually introduce cultivation to the masses. The decision of granting power to those who did not necessarily deserve it could lead to catastrophic consequences, but red humanity needed to become stronger in order to survive the ordeals of the future.

It became clear that the mechers and the fleeters adopted two completely opposing approaches.

Nobody knew which side had made the correct call.

Was it a good idea to change the fundamental nature of humanity, or was it better to stick to the existing traditions that had always served the human race well?

Personally, Ves thought that the fleeters were being incredibly stupid by sticking their heads into the sand, but that was his own bias speaking out. The truth was that he did not possess the information to form a definite conclusion on which approach was better.

Perhaps the ultimate reality was that it may be better for red humanity to pursue both approaches at the same time.

While the Red Association dedicated a lot more manpower and resources into exploring how E energy radiation could advance the evolution of the human race, the Red Fleet focused a lot more on how to strengthen their existing hardware with hyper technology.

If the two earnestly worked together and made use of each other's results, then the Red Two would unquestionably experience a huge leap in power!

Yet close cooperation between the two was a nonstarter to many mechers and fleeters.

The mechers did not like to rely too much on excessively powerful warships.

The fleeters regarded cultivation as encouraging people to transform into monsters.

"Mrow."

As Blinky was in the process of finalizing his brief operation, Ves began to chuckle.

"As much as you fleeters want to deny cultivation, it will come to you anyway. If ARCHIE is exactly how you have described, then you fleeters have inadvertently created your own deity cultivator. This means that as long as every fleeter 'worships' ARCHIE by interacting with him on a daily basis, you will all become blessed by a fraction of his power. It doesn't matter if you haven't engaged in a direct form of cultivation. The fact of the matter is that any serious interaction with ARCHIE subsequently leads to growth in power. That is a form of contract cultivation according to my theoretical framework. I cannot wait to see how that affects you and your fellow fleeters in a decade or two. Will you still be able to recognize your current selves?"

"I hope so." Sigrund softly said as his apprehension levels gradually dropped. "I have little reason to question your judgment, but please forgive me for questioning the veracity of your analysis. If what you say is true, then a powerful sentient AI will ultimately gain control over the Red Fleet."

The only problem with that statement was that the sentient AI was not Sigrund.

"Yup. If I were you, I would do my utmost to develop and maintain an excellent relationship with ARCHIE. I am not sure about his current state, but I bet that he will follow an explosive growth trajectory in the coming years. The more powerful he becomes, the stronger the blessings he can transfer to the people he favors. Make sure that your name is on that list."

"I already intended to do that, Ves, though I was not clear about the greater implications of this approach. What can I even do as a contract cultivator?"

"That depends on a lot of factors, Sigrund. If you are willing to take a risk and defy the Red Fleet's directive, then I can teach you a few cultivation exercises that can help you leverage your growing power."

"Will they work despite the fact that I am partially an AI?"

Ves grinned back. "It doesn't matter so long as you possess a spirit. Even AIs can become cultivators."

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