The Mech Touch

The brief 'service interruption' that happened on Bentheim confounded many people.

It couldn't be helped. The auras that seemed to be perpetually active had gone dark all of a sudden.

The consequences were drastic. Mech pilots who became used to the reassuring duty-focused auras of the Desolate Soldiers suddenly felt as if they were missing something essential.

Bystanders who felt reassured in the comfort of the emotions evoked by the mechs all experienced a gaping void in their hearts.

The repercussions of this two-minute interruption was incredibly shocking!

Even though the mechs quickly came back to normal, panic continued to run rife for a few days.

The LMC received lots of calls despite publishing a notification that purportedly explained the phenomenon.

Though many people bought the excuse, many more had begun to spread conspiracy theories.

What if the LMC implemented a backdoor in their mechs?

Such a question frightened many owners of the Soldier mechs. How could they rest easy fighting the sandmen when their mental support suddenly disappeared?

Sales stagnated for a time. Existing owners of the Desolate Soldiers and Prideful Soldiers paused the deployment of their mechs in order to form a thorough inspection of the machines.

Not a single investigation revealed anything amiss. The designs of the Soldier product line were so simple that hardly anything could be hidden.

Perhaps the ones who came closest to the truth were fellow mech designers. Several of them had already guessed that Ves possessed some means of controlling his products because of some unique property of his design philosophy.

Although such a thing wasn't unheard of, it was exceedingly rare.

Fortunately, the storm quickly passed after a few days. Hardly anyone remembered the incident after a week. The passage of time and the constant influx of news about the Sand War quickly dominated the headlines.

The LMC soon returned to its previous trajectory. Sales had recovered and the complaints and questions about the incident died down.

The interruption only happened once, after all.

In fact, some people even started to become more appreciative of the auras. A Bentheim without auras was a Bentheim that had lost its soul!

"It's very strange, boss." Gavin described with an odd expression. "I initially thought that the mech buyers on Bentheim would have held some lingering doubts about our mechs. Yet once people got a taste of what it was like to lose the glows, they became a lot more insistent on buying additional mechs, as if they wanted to have some spares around if one of their machines became defective for whatever reason."

Ves could hardly explain this irrational behavior either. "Well, I won't turn down any opportunity to sell more mechs."

Ever since Ves fired a bunch of spies, Gavin acted a bit more restrained than before. While the assistant did his best to seem normal, he inevitably betrayed some nervous tics.

Everytime he did that, Ves inwardly smirked.

Though Gavin should have been swept up by the purge, Ves decided to spare his assistant.

He didn't really have a good reason to do so. He just felt like keeping Gavin around despite his ties to Flashlight.

After all, a proper Benny never answered to a single master!

Fortunately, Gavin still remained as helpful as ever.

"By the way, I think we should address how we should name the effects. No one has come up with a standardized term, and everyone is calling it by a different name. Most Brighters have taken to calling it a glow, while others refer to it as the soul of a mech."

The assistant listed out a bunch of words used to describe the auras.

Glow, soul, heart, feeling, domain and even the word aura itself began to be associated with the influencing effects of his mechs.

Of course, those who disliked the LMC mechs used more disparaging terms. Calling the effect a brainwashing field was a good way to arouse vigilance in many people.

It was for this reason that Gavin brought the topic up today.

"I admit I neglected this aspect." Ves rubbed his smooth-shaven chin as he sat behind his desk. "Personally, I prefer to think of it as an aura, but in the context of my company's mission perhaps it's best to call it a soul."

"A soul implies that something is living in our mechs." Gavin warily pointed out. "Are you sure you want to push this belief? Calling it a glow is a much safer term. Not only does it come with warm and positive connotations, it also reflects our Brighter heritage."

"I considered that, but that's not what the LMC is about. What do the letters stand for?"

"Living Mech Corporation."

"What is our motto?"

"Living Mechs. Partners for Life."

Ves nodded. "What do you think I've been working towards all this time? When I told you that I'm out to design mechs that live, I wasn't kidding. What you are feeling from my mechs is a form of life! Though I'm not entirely satisfied with calling it a soul, it's the best way to make the public understand that the reason why our mechs are different is because they each have a soul!"

"This…" Gavin was taken aback by his description.

Even if he accompanied Ves for several years, he had never come in contact with the truth. As a normal citizen from the Bright Republic, it was very difficult for him to accept such an absurd statement.

Yet… his time with the LMC already made it clear that Ves was capable of many feats. Gavin did not dare to dismiss this latest claim.

There were still some problems, though.

"I don't advise you to call it a soul. Another reason why we stuck to calling it a glow is because it doesn't evoke negative reactions in different cultures. If we start calling it a soul, then the mech markets in certain religious states will react very violently at our claim."

"That… sounds like a problem, yes." Ves furrowed his brows.

As much as he wanted to propagate his vision for mechs, not every culture was receptive to the idea.

To claim that a soul resided in a mech would result in a lot of backlash in states where people believed that the dead went to the afterlife.

What if the LMC intercepted the souls of the dead and stuffed them into their mechs through conducting demonic rituals? Ves could scarcely imagine the backlash that might result!

Calling the effect a glow was a much better alternative because it allowed for many different interpretations. By sticking to such a vague term, the LMC could adopt different messaging strategies.

Ves sighed. "Alright. Let's settle for glow then. It's not the most accurate term, but it's the safest one out of all of the options."

An aura was nothing more than an outward expression of spirituality. He had no problems calling it a glow, though inwardly he preferred sticking to the original term.

After ending his daily meeting, he left his office and headed to his lab.

As he entered, he noticed that Gloriana was in the process of lecturing the four Larkinson brats. Each of them listened to the woman attentively. All of the four future mech designers knew that they would never be able to reach her height at her age.

Even so, that did not diminish their hunger at all. Each of them wanted to learn as much as possible from Ves and Gloriana so that they could fulfill their own dreams.

As Ves quietly watched the lecture, Ketis quietly walked up to him. "We've all been taking turns in teaching them. Do you think it will be useful? They're still too young."

"It's okay. I don't expect all of them to become successful. I'm content as long as one of them stands out from the crowd." He responded before turning his attention to her. "You should pay attention to your own progression. You're already at the level of a seasoned Apprentice in terms of knowledge, but you're no different from a Novice in terms of practical experience."

Ketis looked down. "Hardly anyone wants to buy a swordsman mech these days. It's hard for me to motivate myself whenever I want to work on my own designs."

"Every mech designer has their ups and downs." Ves patted her shoulder. "Even when you're struggling to come up with any ideas, you have to develop some persistence. If you are too dependent on ideal conditions, you will never be consistent. A true professional can do their job regardless if they are down or depressed."

She nodded. "I know. I am trying my best, but it's really difficult to get any work done when I don't have any hopes of selling any mechs."

Though Ves hadn't spent too much time on inspecting her work, he knew that she was making a fair amount of progress. She had already become reasonably versed at designing variants.

It would only be a matter of time before she was ready to design her first original mech.

"How is your design philosophy following along?"

Her eyes burned with determination. "It's still the same, more or less. I haven't given up on my principles. I want to develop a sword that is sharp enough to cut anything material, and I want to design a mech that is worthy enough to wield such a sword!"

Ves could sense the sincerity in her words. She was just as passionate as before, which alleviated some of his worries.

"I don't know if your path is correct, but it's the most suitable one for you. As long as you're happy, you won't regret your choice."

They began to discuss some of her recent designs. Since Ves had been absent for a year, he wanted to make it up by guiding Ketis forward.

Of course, he didn't straight up tell her how she should do things. It was best for her to develop the ability to come up with her own solutions.

For that reason, it was enough for Ves to point out the places where she needed to pay more attention.

"You're so good at spotting problems." She said in admiration.

"That's the benefit of having a lot of practical experience with mechs. It's not enough to work with numbers and schematics all the time. You need to get your hands dirty and spend some time in the workshop or manufacturing facilities."

In truth, Ves wasn't talented in this aspect. He simply cheated his way up by accumulating several helpful Sub-Skills from the System.

Without access to the System, there was little hope that Ketis would reach this level of proficiency in spotting problems.

It wasn't entirely necessary, though. Most mech designers already made do with average vision for faults. They merely relied on simulations and prototype testing to unearth the problems they failed to spot in the earlier design phases.

As Gloriana continued to teach the Larkinson seeds, Ves patiently enlightened Ketis with some of his valuable insights.

He took care not to impose too much of his own beliefs on her. Instead, he merely opened some doors for her that she could explore at her own leisure.

"How should I progress my design philosophy?" She asked. "No one ever gives me a straight answer."

Ves shrugged. "That's because it's different for everyone. It's a journey of exploration, and no one can tell you whether you're heading in the right direction. Everyone encounters different problems. The solutions you develop will form the basis of your toolbox. Of course, you won't be able to do much at the Novice and Apprentice stage."

Though Ketis looked discouraged, she was still young. Ves did not expect her to become a Journeyman anytime soon.

Unlike her, both Ves and Gloriana benefited from various powerful advantages to accelerate their progression.

While it was true that Ves empowered Ketis by feeding her with a bunch of Attribute Candies, that was not enough to narrow the gap.

Perhaps the only way she could catch up was to become a guest user of the System.

Ves did not consider this option for the time being.