The Mech Touch

Three cats observed the pair of mech designers pour their hearts and minds into their work. The mech workshop hummed and clanged with various noises as the massive production equipment began to process various materials or turn them into various parts.

A succession of bots silently flew back and forth, carrying parts to various different places in order to subject them to scans before placing them aside.

"Meow." Lucky turned towards the Larkinson Mandate that lay seemingly forgotten on a random table.

The Golden Cat, who resided in the book, continued to observe the proceedings while extending her powers through the bonds she shared with Ves and Gloriana.

She had been spending less time with Lucky and Clixie lately, and it showed. A bit of her playfulness and immaturity had faded. In their place, a sense of majesty and responsibility began to take shape.

The Golden Cat was slowly beginning to follow the footsteps of Qilanxo!

The ways of Sacred Gods were powerful and varied. The huge, anomalous exobeasts of Aeon Corona VII developed their own system of harnessing the spiritual might they had at their disposal.

An essential part of their repertoire was the symbiotic relations their species shared with their human worshippers.

Though much of it was shrouded in mystery, the Golden Cat had already learned some tricks of the trade from her spiritual mentor!

Nyaaaaa.

"Meow."

"Miaow?"

While the Golden Cat's awareness and understanding of humans were still in question, one thing was clear.

She wanted to make Ves and Gloriana happy.

The Golden Cat felt a lot of affection for them due to the strong bonds she shared with them. She especially looked up to Ves, but Gloriana also had a place in her intangible heart!

While Ves, who worked with many spiritual entities over the years, easily embraced her radiant presence, Gloriana was not as quick to adjust.

This was a problem. The Golden Cat looked upset and tried to employ another trick that Qilanxo had taught.

Utilizing the bond between them, the ancestral spirit began to convey actual feelings and impressions to the recipient.

For a moment, Gloriana yelped and inadvertently botched her fabrication attempt!

She frowned and paused as she tried to process the interruption.

"Is that you.. Goldie?"

An affirming sensation entered her mind. Her eyes widened even further. She was actively communicating with one of Ves' proto-gods!

Just as she was about to get caught up by the novelty of this development, she quickly remembered Ves' words.

This was not the time to become fascinated by the Golden Cat. Fabricating the best possible copy of the Bright Warrior mattered the most!

Working with mechs was her passion and joy. She would never forgive herself if she ruined this moment because she couldn't get her mind off the Golden Cat!

"I'm pleased to meet you, Goldie. Can you.. adjust yourself while you make contact with my mind. I'm sorry, but your presence is kind of distracting. I can't concentrate on the matters that require a lot of focus. Can you.. do something to increase my focus instead of the opposite?"

The connection conveyed a feeling of anticipation and curiosity, which Gloriana interpreted as a positive response.

Soon enough, the Golden Cat didn't loom so large in her mind. Gloriana felt as if she was able to regain more control over actions.

When she began to redo the task she botched, she tried to focus as much as possible on the details of her work.

This time, the Golden Cat did better. The approach she adopted for Ves didn't seem to work for Gloriana.

Ves was a mech designer who reveled in anything related to spirituality. His Spirituality attribute was very high and his sensitivity towards spiritual energy was extremely high compared to other people.

Due to his advantages and his abundant experiences in this field, Ves easily embraced the Golden Cat's presence, allowing her to act as a co-pilot in his mind. The degree of closeness they exhibited towards each other was very high!

In contrast, the Golden Cat discovered that she needed to adopt a more low-key approach for Gloriana. The Hexer mech designer was someone who naturally gravitated towards greater control.

She was not like Ves, who was willing to leave some of the outcomes of his work in the hands of his design spirit!

One of the many principles that Gloriana adopted over her career was that if she wanted something done right, it was best to do it herself!

While she trusted Ves as a collaboration partner, that did not mean she was willing for him to take the lead in everything. In areas where she was clearly better than her lover, she preferred to take charge!

This was also why the two divided the work amongst themselves so that Gloriana was responsible for all of the difficult and delicate tasks. All of the work that Gloriana took upon herself required a considerable amount of skill and finesse to complete.

Therefore, the Golden Cat puzzled for a time before she understood that Gloriana didn't need a partner, but a supporter.

Once the cooperation between the two smoothed out, Gloriana became a lot more comfortable with hosting a foreign presence in her mind. She relaxed and let herself go, paying no more mind to anything but the tasks at hand!

Time passed by as part after part continued to emerge from the 3D printer and other machines.

Processing the Breyer alloy was something that Ves took upon himself. As the source of this wonderful material, he wanted to shape it into armor plating in person.

To think that all of this high-quality alloy came from a reality-defying spiritual production loop!

Ves felt very grateful to Casssandra Breyer. If the undead mummified witch hadn't decided to haunt him for some reason, he would have missed out on this windfall and be unable to design a mech as great as the Bright Warrior!

In his perspective, Cassandra Breyer deserved at least half of the credit for making the Bright Warrior possible!

"I won't let you off, though." He snorted.

Just because he was grateful to her didn't mean that he was willing to let her off! She had already proven herself hostile to Ves with her earlier actions. The humiliating dream he experienced and the unexpected intervention in Silent William's correctional surgery definitely proved that she was definitely out to get him for whatever reason!

He pushed these thoughts aside a moment later and went back to his work. With the Golden Cat watching over him, he didn't fear Cassandra's untimely interventions as much anymore!

If she attempted to ruin his efforts again, she would have to beat both Ves and the Golden Cat!

Guarding the Larkinson Clan from unfathomable spiritual threats was one of the principal reasons why Ves created the Golden Cat! She was made to be the guardian of the Larkinsons in more ways than one!

"Keep up the good work, Goldie." He muttered as his mind continued to embrace her active presence. "This mech will certainly become a machine that will make us proud!"

As they fabricated the parts, neither Ves nor Gloriana entered into a different state.

Whether they were lacking something or whether the serendipity wasn't there, Ves wasn't sure.

Though a sense of disappointment crept into his mind, he didn't allow it to consume his consciousness.

Even if their fabrication attempt resulted in failure, at the very least Ves was committed to creating the best possible copy of the Bright Warrior that they could manage! This was a matter of pride as well as principle!

Therefore, regardless of the slow start, Ves still persisted as if the entire Larkinson Clan depended on the results.

Two straight days passed by as Ves and Gloriana worked continuously. They only took breaks in order to relieve themselves and to drink some water and eat their prepared meals which mostly consisted of compact, high-density nutrients.

Neither of them spoke to each other. Instead, they became lost in their own universes as they tried to reach the apex of what they were capable of. Both of them were doing pretty well so far, but the magical moment that both of them had been waiting for continued to remain elusive.

Though Ves tried his best not to feel bothered by it, he couldn't help but think they were doing something wrong.

Maybe dividing their work wasn't the best course of action.

He briefly glanced at Gloriana, who seemed to be having the time of her life. Though she didn't appear to have entered into any special state, Ves was very loath to interrupt her enjoyment.

"I can't give up!" He hissed to himself. "This still isn't over yet! I have to believe in myself! I have to believe in my design!"

Yet that was the mental stumbling block that Ves continually failed to overcome. His sense of ownership in the design had dropped. Whenever he worked on a part which had been affected by the many changes wrought by the System's Superpublish function, he felt as if he was working on another mech designer's creation instead of his own!

This was a very annoying and persisting feeling which Ves simply couldn't get rid off no matter how many times he tried to delude himself into thinking otherwise.

Lying to himself never seemed to work. Ves was not someone who forgot such transgression easily.

The fact of the matter was that he cheated. The Bright Warrior certainly became a better mech design, but the cost was great as Ves continued to feel alienated by a design that should have been his passion project!

"The worst part about it was that only Ves seemed to care. Neither Gloriana nor the Golden Cat showed any sign of feeling disturbed by the breaking of a principle that only Ves took to heart!

"I'm too professional!" He realized.

This was a very odd complaint to make. Ves always prided himself on his professionalism and his integrity as a mech designer.

Though he was by no means a poster boy for the MTA, he liked to think he abided by the main ideals of his profession.

"A mech designer exists to serve mech pilots, not the other way around."

This seemingly unrelated phrase randomly floated through his mind when he thought about his professionalism.

For some reason, Ves continued to linger over this characteristic phrase.

"A mech designer exists to serve mech pilots, not the other way around."

Once he repeated the words, he began to make another, more profound realization.

Didn't he plan to sequester the masterwork mech if he managed to create one out of the Bright Warrior design?

Didn't he resolve to keep the masterwork Bright Warrior locked up in his vault, only to be taken out whenever he wanted to study its properties and ascertain what made it so valuable to the MTA?

Didn't he promise to never allow his masterwork mechs to be fielded in battle, lest a single scratch might ruin what made them special?

"These intentions do not conform to the spirit of a mech designer!"

Mechs were not relics or toys. They weren't made to serve as display pieces or metal statues.

"Mechs exist to fight!"

Ves realized he was going astray. Did he ever think about keeping the Devil Tiger from getting used? No! He obviously wanted it to be used hard and often in order to gather as much data as possible!

He succeeded then, so the approach he adopted back then wasn't wrong!

"Mechs exist to fight, not to look pretty!"

The declaration made it clear that prior to this moment, he wanted to fabricate a masterwork mech for all the wrong reasons. None of them had anything to do with the primary purpose of a mech!

Now that he was aware of his error, he shifted his mentality and began to resume his work with a different kind of intensity.

He no longer emphasized his own wants and needs as much. Instead, he shifted his motives towards his mech pilots, who would have to entrust their lives to the Bright Warrior model in the future.

Ves owed it to the Larkinson Clan to deliver the best possible mech that allowed them to achieve victory in battle!

His mental shift significantly boosted his mood. Not only did he work with greater motivation than before, he also resonated even greater with the Golden Cat!

By devoting his work to the Larkinson Clan, the Golden Cat was supremely pleased by his commitment!