The Mech Touch

"In contrast to the Unity Plan, the Deep Strike Plan does not include a desire to make your companion spirits universally available." The Xenotechnician spoke. "As soon as we have developed a means to mass produce your companion spirit fruit trees, we intend to regulate their availability so that they will primarily be issued to the New Elites. We must insist that you restrict their proliferation on your end. We will allow you to grant them to your own clansmen as you have created them in the first place, but we must ask you to rule out any further external sales or trades."

The mechers wanted to maintain tight control of the supply of companion spirit fruits. They were probably afraid that less worthy individuals would get their hands on companion spirit fruits. By limiting their availability to the New Elites, companion spirits would remain a badge of honor to all of the people who made real contributions in the fight against the aliens.

If the Xenotechnician told Ves that he couldn\'t hand his companion spirit fruits to his own clansmen anymore, then he would have objected to this directive!

However, the Red Association knew his limits well. The mechers understood enough about Ves and how much he cared about his clansmen that they were thoughtful enough to carve out this exception.

Ves did not really care that other people would not be able to get their hands on a fruit so easily, though he found it a shame that this exception did not encompass the other members of the Golden Skull Alliance.

Oh well.

"I can agree to that." He replied. "I think the kinship networks may exert a significant influence in the growth and development of companion spirits."

"We are aware of this possibility. We shall test and observe this interaction carefully." The Xenotechnician noted. "Do you have any remarks or warnings to us about our intended use for companion spirit fruits?"

Ves had plenty of opinions about the Red Association\'s plan, but few of them were particularly relevant to the discussion.

"Companion spirits can be useful to both combat personnel as well as non-combat personnel." He told the Xenotechnician. "Mech designers for example can derive a huge amount of benefits by gaining access to their capabilities in their design work. It would be a shame if too few mech designers are able to earn this reward."

"We agree, but there are no straightforward solutions to this problem. We understand quite well that mech designers are not suited to go on deployment. However, the Fist of Defiance still insists on upholding this general principle. It is likely that more mech designers must follow your example and put their lives on the line if they wish to earn a fruit. It is not necessary for them to become a New Elite in order to be effective in their work. Many mech designers such as myself have made great accomplishments without benefiting from this advantage. They will just have to accept the fact that they must always remain subservient to the New Elites if they lack the desired qualities."

Ves frowned at that. Mech designers did not belong in a warzone. Just because he had a greater tolerance for it did not mean that this applied to everyone else. A lot of talented and accomplished mech designers would become unnecessarily disadvantaged because they did not fit the new reality that the Deep Strike Plan tried to impose on society.

Still, the mechers had made their choice. The Red Association understood mech designers the most, so perhaps it might introduce other ways to reward the more successful ones.

Once the Xenotechnician was done with this topic, he briefly mentioned the use of the transcendence glow.

"We are in close talks with the Transhumanist Faction concerning the deployment of mechs that bear this powerful glow." The old man informed Ves. "The Transhumanists will get in touch with you at a later date once we have finalized a plan for it. The intention is to add these special mechs to every deep strike force for the purpose of amplifying the rate of breakthroughs. The Transhumanists are well aware of the hidden dangers of employing this tool in this manner, but the truth is that we cannot afford to be picky about the qualities of our high-ranking mech pilots anymore."

Ves already expected as much. He dreaded the rise of expert pilots and ace pilots with highly distorted personalities, but so long as they could fight, what did it matter if they happened to be unstable?

"I think the kinship networks can play a modest role in monitoring their behavior and reining in their negative impulses." He replied. "This mainly applies to younger and weaker mech pilots. The stronger they become, the less susceptible they are to outside influences."

"It is already sufficient for the kinship network to monitor the potential problem cases and bring them to our attention if they cross an important threshold."

The transcendence glow had the potential to drastically speed up the time that mech pilots needed to break through. That was all the mechers cared about.

There was another problem, though.

"What about the Red Kingdom, Your Excellency?" Ves pushed a bit further. "The transcendence glow might speed up the mental development of mech pilots, but that won\'t help much if our new kingdom is still stingy about triggering apotheosis."

"There is no need for you to be concerned about this. Red humanity is in much dire straits than our cousins in the Milky Way. They can afford to prioritize quality over quantity. We do not enjoy this luxury. This is why all of my fellow Star Designers barring the Polymath intend to discuss a contentious proposal to drastically lower the relevant threshold. If this proposal is passed, we intend to remove many of the requirements that hinder mech pilots from breaking through. Our preliminary calculations indicate that altering the settings of the Red Kingdom may triple the current breakthrough rate."

Ves was only mildly shocked by this revelation. He already had a feeling that this was coming given how desperation had gripped the Red Association.

It did not make much sense to deploy the transcendence glow on a wider scale while preserving the original rules that the Red Kingdom inherited from its origin.

He fully agreed with the Xenotechnician that the Red Kingdom had to adopt a very different role than the original Kingdom of Mechs.

Ves just wasn\'t too sure whether he would like all of the new high-ranking mech pilots that would emerge due to removing the old precautionary limits.

It was already bad enough to implement this change. When combined with other factors such as the transcendence glow, companion spirits as well as throwing mech pilots head-long into constant danger, the rate of breakthroughs may very well be 10 times greater than the current rate!

This was such an extreme difference that it had the potential to completely upend human society by itself!

Ves wasn\'t sure if ten times more expert pilots translated into ten times more ace pilots, but if just a couple of them could advance to god pilot, then it was already worth all of the other negative consequences!

The Xenotechnician was done after going over this topic. The mechers had plenty more in store for the New Elites, but Ves had little involvement in those other areas.

Surprisingly enough, the Xenotechnician was willing to tolerate Ves a little longer.

"There is still time left before you are due to meet with the Mace of Retaliation, so I will permit you to ask questions. Once you leave, it will take a considerable amount of time before we can meet in person again."

That meant that Ves had to make this opportunity count! It was not every day that he got to ask questions to a genuine Star Designer!

"What will happen to the Polymath?"

The question amused the Xenotechnician. "She is still a vital asset to red humanity. Let me be honest to you. One of the principal reasons why we are being lenient towards her is because we need her breadth of knowledge and expertise. When the Great Severing occurred, we lost access to many of the foremost authorities in fields such as neural interfaces, aquatic mechs and so on. Our ability to rapidly innovate and adapt solutions to these missing fields become severely curtailed if the Star Designer is unable or unwilling to contribute in these areas. 1 can also tell you that her assistance is also necessary to modify the greater beyonder gate. This monstrosity encompasses so many different high technologies related to so many different fields that only she can maintain a complete overview of every mechanism."

That... sounded a lot more severe than Ves thought! So long as red humanity remained dependent on the Polymath, she could continue to hold a lot of leverage.

Ves realized only now that the Polymath hadn\'t really lost. She may have miscalculated, but she had managed to set herself up in a way that she would continue to remain in a cushy position if her plans fell through!

This meant that the Polymath could eventually make a comeback in the future. Once her notoriety faded and once she had done enough to redeem herself, she might rise up and regain at least a part of the prestige and authority that she wielded before.

It may take a century or two before most people were willing to let bygones be bygones, but that was nothing to a True God with a massive lifespan!

Ves didn\'t worry too much about whether the Polymath would go back to her old habits. She had lost the crown as well as her fragment of the Metal Scroll, so there was no way she could get corrupted by them anymore.

He would also be in a much better position at that time!

Since the Polymath no longer became a pressing concern, Ves decided to ask another question.

"All of these changes are bound to upset a lot of people. Will the Terrans and the Rubarthans play along?"

"They have to." The Xenotechnician insisted. "There are no other alternatives. Any proposals that they put forth will immediately be opposed by their chief rivals. The probability that the Terrans and the Rubarthans will put down their rivalry and back a single proposal is slim to none. What truly allows us to go through with our own reform is that we have managed to attain the implicit support of the Red Fleet."

"The Red Fleet already agreed to the Deep Strike Plan?!" Ves looked surprised.

The Star Designer smirked for a moment. "We actually shared all three of our original proposals to the admirals of the Red Fleet in advance. They have already provided their input, some of which has led to modifications that have resulted in the ones that we presented to our delegates. This is not the first time that we have cooperated with the fleeters in this manner."

Ves was quite impressed. He often heard stories about how the mechers and the fleeters couldn\'t tolerate each other. It was good that they could still cooperate with each other on serious matters.

"How do the fleeters fit into the Deep Strike Plan? Will they agree to participate in the New Elites Program, or will they continue to exist as a separate group from the rest of our society?"

"The fleeters... have different plans in mind." The Xenotechnician revealed. "They are not as open as us, so it is difficult to obtain information about their internal deliberations. Do not underestimate them, though. They have their own methods to empower their men and enhance their tech. They follow entirely different paradigms that have proven to be effective over many years. Even E energy radiation will fall into their sway. I look forward to the moment where they unveil their next advancements in warship technologies."