The Mech Touch

Talking to other people helped distract Ves and pull his thoughts away from all of the doom scenarios in his mind.

The downside of having an overactive imagination was the tendency to entertain too many negative thoughts. There were many ways that anything could go wrong and thinking about them naturally made him feel more concerned.

In that sense, talking about completely different matters helped purge his mind of unnecessary or detrimental distractions and helped ground him to reality.

He didn't know how much time went by. Even though he felt mentally worn out after working continuously on upgrading the Shield of Samar, there was no way he wanted to leave at this time!

Ves only took a few breaks in order to sate his hunger and quench his thirst, but that was all. Just thinking about what his wife must be going through at this time puts his own situation into perspective. He wasn't the one who was enduring all of the painful cramps and the other physiological changes that women had to go through in their lives.

At some points, Gloriana invited Ves, her brother Brutus and various other people to keep her company.

In order to minimize any dangerous transmission of germs, everyone was forced to go through decontamination before being led into a sterilized compartment.

Everyone aside from Ves also had to wear at least a thin, isolating suit that reduced the chance of undesirable transmissions even further. This applied especially to Clixie, much to her dismay.

"Miaow! Miaow!"

Cats weren't supposed to wear vacsuits, not even one sized and fitted for their species. Clixie disliked the way the suit pressed onto her body and prevented her from smelling the scents in the air or grooming her own fur.

"Ahh! I can feel it. I can feel her." Gloriana painfully ġrȯȧnėd as she leaned back onto her cushioned seat. "I don't think it will take much longer. AAHH! I should have decided to undergo more extensive treatment. This pain is starting to become unbearable! AAAAAHH!"

Ves became concerned. He held her sweaty palm and felt her grip his flesh.

"You're doing alright, Gloriana. I'll be at your side all the time."

"AHH! THAT'S EASY FOR YOU TO SAY! YOU'RE NOT THE ONE SUFFERING THROUGH ALL OF THESE INFERNAL CRAMPS! WHY DON'T YOU PUT YOURSELF IN MY POSITION SOMETIME?! AAAAHHH!"

Her contractions gradually got worse and worse. At some point, the doctors moved her to the delivery chamber that they had especially prepared for the occasion. The clan even transferred over a whole suite of medical machines from the Dragon's Den in order to address almost every possible medical emergency that might occur during this time.

Most of the guests that had kept Gloriana company were asked to leave. The last thing the doctors wanted was to crowd the pregnant mother with too many familiar faces.

Even Brutus had to wait outside.

In the end, only Ves, Lucky and Clixie were allowed to stay with Gloriana as she was undergoing her most difficult time to date.

Screams constantly escaped her throat as her body seemed to be nearing a critical threshold. All kinds of projections showed drastic fluctuations. More and more medical professionals entered the chamber in order to ȧssist in the birthing process or remain on standby until their expertise was needed.

"Meow.."

"Miaow.."

Ves ċȧrėssed both of his cats. "We can't do anything for Gloriana. We can only wait for her to overcome this hurdle."

Time slowed down more than ever for him. Each and every scream uttered by his wife made him feel pained. Yet with each spike of pain, her mind and spirit became more alive in a way that Ves had never seen before.

What amazed him even further was that his baby's spirituality began to grow active as well!

It was as if mother and child became in sync. Strange and subtle spiritual interactions occurred that flew completely over Ves' head. He grew worried about what was happening when the spiritual activity of his child began to spike even further.

Each time Gloriana experienced another painful sensation, the baby inside her belly seemed to share in her distress!

"Calm down, please!" Ves softly whispered.

Unfortunately, there was little he could do. He was completely clueless and did not dare to reach out to his daughter.

"Wait a minute. Maybe my mother can help!"

Many of the doctors abruptly paused as a giant, translucent hand briefly materialized into existence! Its index finger lightly poked Gloriana's belly.

Soon enough, the baby's spiritual convulsions toned down a bit. While they hadn't quieted down entirely, Ves no longer felt as concerned. He trusted his mother and did not believe she intervened without a reason.

The Superior Mother's giant hand soon disappeared from sight, but the presence hovering above everyone's heads still lingered to a degree.

Various people reacted to this unexpected phenomenon in different ways.

The Lifer doctors became interested in what had changed. The Hexers became more pious and worshipful after witnessing the descent of their Supreme. Others became paralyzed or shocked at what just happened.

"Resume your duties!" Dr. Ranya ordered. "A baby still needs to be delivered. Focus on your immediate responsibilities. You can satisfy your curiosity after Gloriana has given birth!"

This strange event turned into a small interlude that everyone eventually threw into the back of their minds. Though Ves and Gloriana clearly sensed that the Superior Mother was still paying a lot of attention to what was taking place, they did not reject the snooping.

In fact, they welcomed her presence!

"I really hope mom knows she is about to become a grandmother today." He whispered.

With the Superior Mother watching over her, Gloriana became a bit more reassured. She endured the pain as best she could and followed each and every instruction whenever possible.

"AAAAAAAHHHHH!"

What happened in the next moment seemed to pass by in an instant. It took much longer for Gloriana to complete the delivery, but to Ves every unique moment began to blur together.

He and his cats became completely irrelevant as they stood out of the way while all of the doctors efficiently performed their individual tasks.

Blood and other fluids flowed out only to be removed a short time later.

Soon enough, Ves heard a magical cry.

"…waaaaaaahhhhh…!"

Actually, Ves heard two cries!

…mmiiiieeeeew.

Ves became entranced as the tiny presence that usually resided quietly inside his wife had unfolded in a way that became completely unforgettable to him. His eyes didn't even register anything to him as he had completely immersed himself in his spiritual senses.

"A new life…"

A lot of different thoughts swirled through his mind as he processed the genuine miracle that had taken place before his eyes.

If he already thought that his baby was remarkably strong in spirit back when she was growing inside Gloriana's belly, then the way his daughter sparked to life like a blooming flower was completely precious!

Ves had always thought that his unique ability to create new spiritual life forms was already a wonder in itself.

Yet compared to the spiritual products he made on a frequent basis, of his attempts at creating them was as impressive and magical as a real child being born in an old but effective process.

It turned out that nature was the most impressive creator of life. Pretenders like Ves still had a long way to go before they could match nature's glory!

While Ves gained a whole different perspective on the wonder of creating new life, the Superior Mother acted as well.

Power seemed to flow from the ceiling and poured into the baby. The fluctuations were more subtle this time, but an exhausted Gloriana was still able to sense a part of what was happening.

The Superior Mother radiated both contentment and maternal affection as she finished showering her new granddaughter with her blessing. Nothing much seemed to have changed, but whatever happened must have been good.

It was only later that Gloriana and more people noticed that the baby did not come out alone. Hints of a small white kitten poked out of the tiny head of the baby. This initially caused a lot of concern among the doctors, but all of the sensor readings showed that the baby was healthy and that her condition closely matched their expectations.

Gentle hands slowly cleaned the baby and wrapped her into a blanket. Slowly, Gloriana was allowed to hold her child in her arms for the first time.

"She's… so tiny." She hoarsely said as happiness flowed through her body.

The smile she directed towards her little baby was so tender and motherly that not even Ves could believe that she could be so gentle!

Tears of happiness already streaked her imperfect face. Gloriana had already poured out a host of emotions that not only relieved her pain, but also bonded her closer to her own offspring.

The same went for Ves. He slowly walked up and looked down at his exhausted wife and child.

"You're right.. she's so small."

Though a newborn never exactly looked pretty from an objective standpoint, both husband and wife completely disregarded this as they both thought that their daughter was the most beautiful baby in the galaxy!

The bonds of love between the three grew stronger and more intimate. Even though Ves did not sense the establishment of any new spiritual connections, to him the bonds of love were much stronger and more permanent than in any spiritual network!

"Can I… hold her?" Ves carefully asked.

His utterly exhausted but relieved wife looked as if she was about to say no, but she reluctantly decided otherwise.

"Just… for a moment."

A light weight pressed down his arms as Ves directly looked into his pure and innocent child. His daughter seemed completely oblivious at everything. Yet when he carefully touched her spirit, he got the sense that she was just starting to get accustomed to all of her new sensations.

What was more noteworthy to Ves was the appearance of his daughter's permanent companion.

Just as designed, the companion spirit seed that Ves had implanted in his daughter a long time ago had finally activated. What appeared to be a small, white kitten had emerged. She looked similar to a tiny persian cat.

Unlike his daughter, her infant companion spirit was a lot more aware of herself. The cat looked a little bit lost and maybe even hungry.

"Gloriana?"

"Yes..?"

"You should bring out Alexandria."

"Are you sure…?"

"I think it would be helpful."

Ves carefully took their daughter back to his wife, who soon began to brėȧstfeed the little baby for the first time.

At the same time, Alexandria had emerged as well, though she kept her immaterial body invisible. The red cat quietly hovered close to the baby and somehow found a way to feed the latest cat to join the family.

The entire delivery chamber quieted down. Many medical specialists had quietly left as their services hadn't been needed.

Ves fully relaxed as he saw his daughter and her companion spirit looking as healthy as he could hope!

"Gloriana?"

"Yes?"

"What shall we name our child?"

The tired but incredibly happy mother thought for a moment. The two had already talked extensively on this topic. They had narrowed down their list of suggestions but hadn't entirely been able to settle on a single choice.

Now, as Gloriana quietly looked down at her beautiful baby girl, she could think of only a single name.

"Her name is…"