The Mech Touch

Dr. Ranya Wodin-Larkinson's transformation from a typical Hexer into a more tolerant and open-minded Larkinson occurred remarkably quickly!

As someone who dealt with Gloriana on a near-daily basis, Ves knew that Hexers spent a lifetime learning that women were superior and boys had to be brought to heel.

Spending ten, twenty, thirty or even more years in the Hegemony where this orthodoxy affected every aspect of society meant that Hexers were notoriously stubborn about their beliefs!

He thought that other Hexers would be just as obstinate and convinced in their warped values and beliefs as his fiance!

Perhaps it was a mistake to think that Gloriana was a representative example of a Hexer. As a Journeyman, much of her attitude, behavior, values and other personality traits had been essentially set the moment she formed her design seed.

It was the same for Ves. He could never forget about the time he advanced to Journeyman and witnessed the sight of his loose spiritual energy collapsing into a concentrated ball. It not only absorbed everything related to his design philosophy and approach to mech design, but also a bunch of random thoughts, emotions and feelings that he possessed at the time!

This phenomenon probably explained why Gloriana would always remain as she was for the most part. Only through the passage of time was it possible for design seeds and whatever had been stuffed inside to undergo a gradual evolution.

Expecting any changes to happen quickly among those who formed their design seeds was impossible!

Since Ranya was not a mech designer and did not form anything like a design seed, she became much more susceptible to the Larkinson Network's subtle influence.

The clansmen connected to the Larkinson Network may be able to influence the Golden Cat's development, but the opposite was true as well!

Ves hadn't been worried that the addition of Gloriana and Ranya into the clan would turn Goldie into a female supremacist or something.

The two Hexers were so outnumbered by the other groups of Larkinsons that their opinions didn't matter!

What Ves, the trueblood Larkinsons and the other groups thought possessed much more weight to the Golden Cat.

In that sense, it would have been more surprising if Ranya was just as contemptuous towards the male gender as she was at the start.

To be honest, as Ves interacted more with Ranya, he became more and more frightened at the effectiveness of the Larkinson Network's indoctrination effect.

Countless other people in the Komodo Star Sector had tried to change the minds of Hexers so they wouldn't be so virulently offensive, but such measures rarely succeeded!

Outside of extreme measures such as brainwashing, many Hexers had all been raised from the ground up to take the orthodoxy they learned as an absolute, universal truth!

Technically, adding Ranya Wodin technically meant that she had been subject to brainwashing as well. Even if Ves couched it in a less alarming term such as indoctrination or enlightenment, it still did not hide the fact that Ranya experienced a lot of changes that she ordinarily wouldn't have made on her own accord!

This was a very dubious ethical development, and someone with an actual conscience might feel guilty for subjecting so many clansmen to this treatment.

Not Ves.

Though he understood the problematic issues, the gains vastly outweighed the costs in his eyes!

Besides, it was not as if the Larkinson Network was solely responsible for transforming Ranya so quickly.

Previously, she resided in the Hexadric Hegemony, where dissent and different opinions practically didn't exist. The powerful state had done a very good job at shaping the entire environment and all of the Hexers living within the mold of its culture.

Under such circumstances, there was too much fertile ground for Hexer orthodoxy and no room at all for other opinions!

Ranya grew up and developed herself in a way that made fit in the Hegemony.

Yet ever since she was suddenly plucked from her familiar home state and jumped into the pond of the Larkinson Clan, she lived in an entirely different environment.

Usually, it wasn't so straightforward for a foreigner like her to integrate with the clan who abided by very different values.

Over the course of many years, someone who wasn't actively trying to integrate with the Larkinsons would enter into at least two different trajectories.

The most typical trajectory was that Ranya would still cling to her roots as a Hexer and a Wodin. All of the pride and affection that she held towards her background and origin had already seeped into her bones. Ves could easily imagine that she would have remained stubborn about her own identity!

The second trajectory entailed a gradual surrender. If Ranya wasn't as conceited about her Hexer identity as Ves thought, then she may slowly begin to accept the Larkinson mindset over time. This was a very gradual development and could easily stall for many reasons.

What actually happened was that the Larkinson Network hastened her integration into the Larkinson Clan to a much greater degree! With the instinctive affection that she sensed from other Larkinsons, it was very difficult for her to treat male Larkinson with contempt!

The effect of spending a short amount of time in the Larkinson Clan and bonding with the Golden Cat was much stronger than spending entire decades in the Hexadric Hegemony!

This combination embodied the concept of institutional isomorphism to a much greater degree!

Institutions and the people that interact with them ultimately influenced nonconformists into becoming conformists through exerting external pressure.

In other words, the environment changed the person.

Yet with the addition of the Larkinson Network, Ranya and every other adopted Larkinson suddenly became exposed to an influence that bypassed every obstacle and connected straight to their minds!

The active bond that every Larkinson shared with the Golden Cat in effect exerted change from within!

If Ranya joined the Larkinson Network but returned to the Hexadric Hegemony, then it was difficult to say if she would change at all. After all, no matter what thoughts she harbored in her mind, she still had to act like a Hexer to fit into the environment!

"It's the combination that matters."

The dramatically effective results frightened Ves a bit. His worries were only tempered by the fact that once someone became sufficiently Larkinson, they still retained their individuality.

Otherwise, the Ylvainans would have become secularists and Vincent wouldn't obsess so much about his manhood.

All of this reminded Ves that he hadn't really checked up on the Golden Cat for a time.

"Hmm. Maybe I should do that."

Ves returned to his stateroom and took the Larkinson Mandate from Nitaa. The ancestral heirloom felt warm to his touch, and the Golden Cat actively looked up to Ves.

Nyaaa.

His mouth cracked into a smile. "You are such a precious darling."

Though Goldie stood for the entire Larkinson Clan as a whole, she was also still an adolescent kitty.

That said, she developed quite quickly. Not only did she receive regular lessons from Qilanxo, she also formed bonds with more and more clansmen, each of which had their own story to share.

Ves wasn't sure how much she had grown as a spiritual entity, but he could still sense the youthful spirit within her. She was filled with vitality and spirit.

"Are you content?"

Nyaa!

"What do you think about the clan?"

Nyaa nyaa nyaaa.

"We have grown explosively since the beginning." Ves agreed. "We won't be stopping anytime soon. Once we acquire our factory ship, we need to bring in a lot of trained personnel. We'll be expanding even further over the years as we'll be acquiring more capital ships. All of those huge specialized ships can't be staffed by our existing manpower alone. We will have to open recruitment to skilled second-class workers."

Though Ves had no stomach for hiring Fridaymen and Hexers, once the Larkinson Clan traveled to another star sector, he had no more concerns about opening the door to second-class applicants.

Ves had no doubt that those recruits would come when asked! The reputation of the Miracle Couple was sufficiently dazzling enough to prop up the insufficient foundation of the clan. In fact, his reputation had always served as a pillar to his clan from the start, and this would hold for a very long time!

"What do you think about our recruits? Are there any issues with integrating the different groups of people into our fold? I hope you haven't been corrupted too much by foreign beliefs. Just because we are tolerant doesn't mean we should compromise on our core beliefs so easily."

Nyaa nyaa nyaaa!

The Golden Cat briefly left the confines of the book and floated over to his shoulder in order to rub her cheek against his own in an affectionate manner.

"Oh?" He chuckled. "Gloriana attempted to sneak in some Hexers into the clan? I hope you remember your instructions."

Nyaaaa!

Ves knew what Gloriana was like and he had an inkling she would attempt to add more Hexers into the Larkinson Clan.

It wasn't so easy to do that, though. First, Ves personally brought Goldie to life, and he invested a large part of his spiritual energy and intentions in the form of empowered images into her spiritual makeup.

This not only meant that she possessed a very high degree of loyalty and affection towards him, but she also valued his views the most!

Since Ves did not possess the most flattering opinion of Hexers, Goldie should also have inherited some of his objections towards Hexer culture!

Second, he designed Goldie to observe the overall sentiments of the clansman she shared a bond with and to slowly make them her own, within reason.

Though he never conducted any formal surveys, he knew that the vast majority of Larkinsons did not regard Hexers with fondness!

The male Larkinsons were very proud of themselves and would never subject themselves to the insane discrimination that Hexers practiced on a daily basis.

Unless males were spoonfed with Hexer orthodoxy from birth such as Venerable Brutus, it was incredibly unlikely for those who grew up in a more normal society to suddenly agree that their own gender needed to be beaten down in the dirt. Only deviants embraced this treatment!

As for the female Larkinsons, even though it appeared that Hexer ideology put their own gender ahead, they rejected it just as vehemently!

Aside from believing that every gender deserved equal treatment, women weren't isolated. Their male friends and family didn't deserve to be denigrated. More than that, they hoped that their sons and grandsons wouldn't be subjected to any humiliation either.

Goldie should know all of that and be aware of the peril of bringing any Hexers in the fold. Unless Ves personally inducted them into the clan or if they sincerely renounced their Hexer beliefs, there was no way in hell that Gloriana's scheme would succeed!

After a younger and more naive Golden Cat inducted a degenerate like Vincent Ricklin into the clan, Ves had taken the time to lecture her and provide her with specific instructions.

One of them just happened to be related to Hexers!

At the time, Ves only wanted to guard against contingencies.

He did not actually expect that his thorough preparation paid off. He raised his hand and caressed the Golden Cat.

"You've grown both smarter and stronger. Good job. The clan will need your strength in the coming days. How well can you cooperate with the mech pilots in battle? Are you able to empower the people piloting the Bright Warriors in anyway?"

Nyaaa….

Ves sighed. "Don't feel ashamed. This is new to me as well. I'm sure we'll figure something out when I work on the Chiron Project. We'll all be depending on you to help our next generation. You won't have to do everything alone. I'll do my best to coordinate with you from the design side. We're in this together, Goldie."

Nyaaaaaa!