The Mech Touch

Qilanxo only relayed what was taking place inside the struggling expert mech but did not take any further action.

The battle for dominance had to be resolved by the participants themselves! It was not appropriate for a third party to intervene. Though Qilanxo was more than strong enough to put her foot down and break up the fight between the two squabbling entities, that would only postpone the resolution of this conflict.

For better or worse, the expert mech and expert pilot had to come to an accord on their own. The only way for them to put down their rivalry and work together was to acknowledge each other as equals.

"That's easier said than done." Ves quietly muttered. "These two hardheads don't seem to be easing up anytime soon."

The clash of personalities between the recently-created Vanguard Project and its prideful expert pilot continued to escalate with each second that passed. The true resonance affecting the expert mech grew more discordant and unstable.

Ves and the others gathered a lot of new data in the process, though they weren't particularly happy about it. Who cared about observing a new phenomenon when their hard work could blow up at any point in time?!

"Push the Vanguard Project away from the Spirit of Bentheim! Do we have a tractor beam? No? Then use gravity! Use whatever gravitic modules you have on hand! In fact, activate all of them! It doesn't matter if they're all weak and inefficient at this range. As long as they work together, they can push the mech in question away!"

Hundreds of different gravitic modules began to affect the Vanguard Project. At these ranges, the force of their pushes wasn't much. Still, a single hand might be able to push forward a mech, but several hands pressing at the same time was a different story!

It was quite fortunate that the Vanguard Project was floating in open vacuum and did not engage its flight system at this time. Slowly but surely, the dangerous expert mech continued to eject away from the Spirit of Bentheim and the rest of the Larkinson fleet.

"Be careful about its orientation! Don't turn the expert mech around. If it ever performs a battle charge for some reason, then don't let it blow open a hole straight into my precious factory ship!"

The alert level had risen throughout the fleet. Though no one expected an emergency to arise at this quiet time, the Larkinsons nonetheless responded quickly and professionally.

First, the entire expeditionary fleet moved away from the potentially dangerous expert mech. It was quite troublesome to instruct every single ship in the fleet to move without any sufficient warning or preparation, but no one kicked a fuss this time.

Second, the Larkinson Army began to set up a very wide perimeter around the Vanguard Project. A lot of interference bots flew back and surrounded the problematic expert mech in order to avoid airing any further dirty laundry out into space.

This was quite an embarrassing incident after all! It reflected poorly on Ves and the other designers that they developed an expert mech that couldn't even get along with its own intended expert pilot.

Gloriana did not have good words for this failure. "This is your fault, Ves. I don't think I have ever heard about expert mechs turning against their own pilots until today. Only you could bungle this up because your mech is alive. Why haven't you accounted for this possibility?!"

"I didn't think that something like this would happen!" Ves defended himself. "In almost every case, my living mechs are glad to be used by their pilots. They are programmed not to treat their users as hostile. This instruction should be even stronger when it comes to expert mechs. They're designed to work with one pilot only to the exclusion of everyone else. It doesn't make sense why the Vanguard Project is able to set aside its own programming!"

Gloriana rolled her eyes. "Have you forgotten about something? Life doesn't always work the way it's supposed to. Living humans are supposed to abide by the law and cherish their families, but that doesn't stop them from breaking the rules or hurting their own loved ones at times. Whatever instincts they have been programmed with doesn't determine their actual behavior. This is life!"

Ves had to admit that she made a good point. Anyone who was smart enough to think for himself was capable of going against their own instincts. This applied to both humans and living mechs. As someone who designed a lot of living mechs, Ves was keenly aware that his products didn't always act according to his intentions.

Making mechs alive was a double-edged sword. While these self-aware and self-thinking mechs granted a lot of benefits to mech pilots, there was always a possibility that this could turn into another direction.

The only reason why Ves hadn't put up his guard against this possibility these days was because it never really happened. The Devil Tiger was the mech that had the highest chance of turning against its user, but his mother had hijacked his first masterwork mech before he could see his experimental plan come to fruition.

After that, he never really designed any other mech where he had to take this risk into account. The only edge case was the Doom Guard which was not that big of a deal.

Therefore, he was caught completely unaware this time. The ongoing clash between Venerable Orfan and the Vanguard Project signified that Ves should have been paying a lot more attention on the compatibility and fit between their two personalities!

"Next time, you and I need to sit together and have a good talk on how to shape the personality of the living mechs we design." Gloriana insisted as she continued to glance at the data readouts. "Your living mechs have become stronger, and that's good, but it's like raising a boy without active parenting. If we don't keep an eye on our child, he might grow up to become a delinquent!"

Though her analogy sounded rather silly, it helped Ves gained a bit of perspective. Gloriana approached this issue from the perspective of a parent raising a child. Perhaps that was a good way to put this topic into context.

"I'll make sure it won't happen again next time." He promised.

That was all well and good, but that did not address the current issue. The Vanguard Project was already a finished mech. It was out of the question to soften its prideful character especially as it was still active and out in the field.

Ves had no choice but to remain in the control room and watch the situation play out from a healthy distance.

At this time, the Vanguard Project's resonance shield grew darker while its shape contorted into a spiked ball. Its limbs jerked uncontrollably while its flight system started to release bursts of thrusts that sent it floating in random directions.

"Do I have to carve a hole in this new expert mech in order to pull out Orfan from her cockpit?!" Venerable Tusa asked as his Dark Zephyr hovered closest to the out-of-control expert mech.

"Don't move unless ordered!" Ves replied over the communication channel. "You're going to deal catastrophic damage to the Vanguard Project and Venerable Orfan's confidence if you forcibly pull them apart. This situation is not unsalvageable. The threat isn't too great at the moment so let the situation play out. This struggle is taking a lot out of both of them. They can't keep up this confrontation forever."

He was right. Inside the decorated cockpit of the Vanguard Project, Venerable Orfan was gripping her controls tightly as she gritted her teeth. Her head was growing uncomfortably hot as she exerted her mind and will towards taming her new expert mech.

"I.. am not.. going to let my own mech call the shots! I'm the pilot here! Who the hell do you think you are?! I will never let myself become a laughing stock in the galactic mech community! If you think you can turn me into the first expert pilot who is being piloted by her own expert mech, then think again!"

Though the Vanguard Project wasn't able to articulate its thoughts into spoken words, the spike in aggression was more than enough to convey its meaning.

Neither side wanted to be ridden by the other. They were too prideful to give in. What was worse was that their insistence on gaining more say than the other prevented them from reaching a middle ground!

"You rebellious bastard! Sit down and let me be in charge! If not, I'll douse you in oil! I'll change your coating from orange to pink! I'll let Venerable Stark treat you as target practice!"

The chaotic fluctuations emanating from the expert spearman mech grew even more berserk after Orfan made her threats. The expert mech moved as if there were two different wills in the same body. Its movements grew even more erratic as the stubbornness of an expert pilot directly fought for dominance against a mech that was designed to be just as indomitable as its pilot!

When Ves and the others heard what Venerable Orfan shouted against her own expert mech, they wanted to palm their faces.

"Idiot!" Ves cursed.

Just because people were capable of becoming expert pilots didn't mean they were smarter than anyone else. They were just more hard-headed than normal people, that was all. Venerable Orfan showcased once again that expert pilots were not wiser or more enlightened than other people.

They were still humans with many of the same flaws and vulnerabilities as any individual!

Though Ves understood that it was best to allow the expert pilot and expert mech to come to terms on their own, it didn't seem likely that this would ever happen.

He would rather take the risk to intervene than to allow this already precarious situation to explode.

Ves activated a direct channel to the Vanguard Project.

"Venerable Orfan! Wake up and stop trying to dominate your expert mech! You're not supposed to treat your living mech in this fashion."

"I can't.." The struggling expert pilot replied. "If I let go, my own mech will gain the upper hand."

"I'm not saying you should let your mech be in charge." Ves responded. "I'm asking you to find a middle ground. You need to trust in your expert mech. It will help you and protect you as long as you develop a good relationship with it. Can you do that, Orfan?"

"That's easy for you to say! The moment I let up even a tiny bit, it will instantly take over. My mech isn't in a cooperative mood!"

Ves tried his best to figure out a solution. "I think the expert mech isn't trusting you because you aren't trusting it either. It is directly connected to your mind. You can't hide your true thoughts towards it as long as you are interfacing with it. What you need to do is to be a better person and offer reconciliation."

"And then what? Let my own mech take advantage of my lack of defense?"

"Just trust your mech for once! No matter how hostile it appears right now, don't forget that it has been designed to serve as your battle partner. It shouldn't truly wish to do you harm."

"Well, if you were in my shoes, you would probably change that opinion very soon! I don't feel good at all at the moment. That's a strange way of not doing any harm!"

Despite her objections, Venerable Orfan was ready to try out Ves' proposal. This fight had been going on for a while now and it had already drained much of her mental strength. She wasn't able to keep up her defense for long anyway, so why not give this other solution a chance?

The hardest part was letting go. She needed to sincerely convince herself to stop seeing her own expert mech as an adversary or an unruly steed that needed to be tamed.

"Maybe… I should just take a leap of faith."

Orfan was a decisive expert pilot, so once she settled on a plan, she immediately decided to give it a try.

Her resistance faded as she tried her best to convey her willingness to compromise and cooperate with the Vanguard Project.

For a moment, the expert mech stopped convulsing. Its resonance had faded as Venerable Orfan finally gained a reprieve. Just as Ves had said, the expert mech did not truly wish to do her harm.

"Thanks, buddy. Can we talk now?" She asked her mech.

It was at this time that she sensed a much gentler probe from her expert mech. Though it was very guarded, she finally began to smile as she no longer felt that her own mech was ready to start another round.

"Look.. I may have been too heavy-handed… I'm willing to take a step back. You and I are supposed to be buddies, so let's start acting like it. Let's stop this stupid fight before we embarrass ourselves further. I don't think either of us want to become the laughing stock of our clan!"