The Mech Touch

There was no way that Ves could call the king fish Kurrrguuraneen. He wasn't a giant artificial hybrid organism, and didn't possess the mouth and organs to pronounce all of the subtle harmonics and other sounds that accompanied the name.

It took a bit of convincing and explaining for the king fish to supply Ves with alternative labels for itself.

I. CEREBRAL. STRONGEST.

I. PROTECT. FREE. KIN.

I. INHERITOR. LEGACY.

The king fish conveyed quite a lot of information at once this time! Much of that was because the creature couldn't help but puff itself up this time. It raised its massive head and radiated clear pride and confidence in its own identities!

As the king fish announced its roles and identities, Ves did not forget to transcribe what he received in a text format which he instantly passed on to the analysts embedded into the task force.

The various exobiologists, linguists, psychologists and other professionals were enthusiastically applying their own expertise on the ongoing contact event. Each of them transmitted a running stream of commentary and advice that Ves idly browsed in order to enrich his understanding of the current situation.

This was the strength of humanity! Humans had always been a cooperative race, just like most successful races in the Milky Way and the Red Ocean. The achievements of a single individual could never surpass that of a collective. Even the powerful and mighty phase whales were not exempt from this role!

In comparison, his alien counterpart appeared to be going at it alone. So far, it appeared the king fish enjoyed a high prestige among its fellow fish-whales, but that also meant that its subordinates did not play a useful role in talks at this level. This was a severe disadvantage and one that Ves fully intended to exploit.

Ves entertained various thoughts as he contemplated the words conveyed by the king fish.

According to the advice of his analysts, the first sentence represented the greatest source of pride of the king fish.

Interestingly enough, the massive and immensely powerful beast chose to emphasize its intellectual excellence first. This was a massive clue that revealed how the beast saw itself.

It was just as Ves had predicted. It was impossible for the Evolvers to develop their varied augmentations naturally, so the fish-whales here definitely made use of artificial intervention!

The reason why Tusa called this landmass the Lab Continent was because of the presence of those conspicuously large artificial structures not too far away from this location.

If Ves was right about the character of the king fish, then this big fellow was actually the chief experimenter among its people!

Its role was similar to that of Ves in the Larkinson Clan, though there were numerous differences.

The biggest one was that it reserved all of its best efforts for itself. While mech designers were unable to pilot their own work due to their lack of genetic aptitude, the same rules didn't apply for biological augmentation!

Many biotech experts from the Life Research Association did not hesitate to tinker with their own bodies in order to make them smarter, healthier and more resilient. Even Director Ranya Wodin applied her own experimental procedures to her physique early on, causing her hair to become half-plant that possessed photosynthetic properties.

If the biotech researchers of humanity were already lacking in constraint, then what about a fish-whale that lived in a much more primitive society where combat strength reigned supreme?

Not only was the king fish able to gain supremacy over its people by augmenting itself to an extreme, but it was also able to augment the other fish-whales under its command!

It was because Ves happened to be a mech designer who also led his own organization that he understood the king fish's perspective so well. He comprehended the challenges and difficulties that an individual in such a prominent leadership position had to endure.

Ves consciously amplified this sympathetic attitude in the hopes that his 'shared understanding' would resonate with the king fish. Figuratively, of course.

"I will call you the Cerebral King, is that acceptable? Names are important to humans. They announce identities and determine how to treat each other."

CEREBRAL. KING?

The word 'king' was a human construct that did not always have straightforward equivalents in alien languages and cultures. There were alien civilizations that only used the words with the meaning of 'patriarch' or 'matriarch' to refer to their highest leaders, but there were also other alien societies that possessed an extremely rigid hierarchy based on bloodline and inheritance.

Ves tried to figure out how he should explain this word.

"A king is… a leader. A decision maker. A king is strong. When a king speaks, others must listen. You are a king, are you not? You command these other fish-whales."

YES.

The king fish conveyed this meaning with pride and not a little bit of ferocity. Despite being proud of its intellect, the only way for fish-whales to dominate over each other was to possess bigger muscles than the competition!

"Then you are a king." Ves flatteringly replied. "You are the strongest, the smartest and the most qualified fish-whale to lead the fish-whales. A king is a title that formally establishes your dominion over the others. Only other kings can speak to you as an equal."

KING… YES. I AM KING.

Despite the creature's age and formidable knowledge base, there was only so much that it could learn in a barren and desolate place like Purgatory. Tusa's scouting trip had not revealed any places with a more advanced fish-whale society.

As such, Ves bet that the king fish might be incredibly smart in numerous areas, but also incredibly naive and inexperienced in other areas!

Though there was a chance that the king fish was staging an elaborate show, Ves did not think the creature was so skilled at deception, especially when it wasn't necessary to develop this skill in a simple fish-whale society where strength decided everything.

In addition, the king fish should not be able to fabricate the emotions that colored the creature's expressions!

ARE YOU KING?

Ves blinked and tried to come up with a quick answer. "I am not, I mean, I am a king of my people. The mechs that are behind me are part of my army. I am also strong and qualified to be a king."

He did not have the patience to explain his title of patriarch and how it was different from a king.

The critical part of this conversation was to persuade the king fish that Ves could speak to it as an equal!

However, Ves could already sense a hint of skepticism from the massive fish-whale.

YOU, KING? YOU SMALL. YOU WEAK.

Ves did not get flustered due to this accusation. He had expected it already and already prepared a response.

"Small does not mean weak." Ves smiled. "I am a king. I have gathered followers. My army fights on my behalf."

INCOMPREHENSION. KING IS SMALL AND WEAK. STRONGER HUMAN MUST BECOME KING. NOT YOU.

Though the king fish's speech pattern had slowly become more sophisticated due to talking with a human, the creature's thoughts and attitude were still far behind!

"There are different styles of kings. Some rule by strength. Others rule by appointment. I rule by creating value."

CREATING VALUE?

Ves tapped the side of his helmet. "Yes. Creation means making things that can make humans stronger. You see these large metal objects with four limbs and a head? They are mechs that I have created myself. Mechs can make weak humans stronger. Because I am the best mech maker in my kingdom, I have become the king of my people."

The fish-whale did not respond for a time. Ves had exposed quite a lot of information and the fish-whale had to try its best to interpret his words.

This was all part of a test. How well the fish-whale was able to keep up with the increasing complexity and profoundness of his speech would tell a lot about the giant creature's adaptability, open-mindedness and learning ability.

Right now, it seemed that it had trouble wrapping its head around the idea that a 'weak' individual could become a king. It was as if the beast was a Hexer who just heard that boys could become a leader and rule over women!

Cultural dissonance would happen sooner or later. If the king fish did not get bothered over this particular issue, then it would have shown the same reaction to another issue.

This was especially problematic to more isolated cultures. The Hexers and Ylvainans were typical examples of this in human society. Here in Purgatory, Ves was afraid that none of the fish-whales were able to cope with cultural differences.

However, the king fish's age and curiosity eventually won out. Although it clearly looked as if it did not understand why a weak human was in charge, it was too fond of the information that Ves provided to risk breaking up this fruitful exchange.

Ves was the first outsider to speak to the 'Cerebral King'! There was no guarantee that the other humans could speak to it. The king fish had already tried and failed to talk to Venerable Tusa, so it should know that humans that could talk to it were rare.

SPEAK MORE ABOUT HUMANS.

"Ah, not so fast." Ves responded. "I have spoken much about humans. You must reciprocate by speaking about fish-whales. Let us conduct a fair exchange."

EXCHANGE… ACCEPTABLE.

The king fish fell silent again. It was as if it didn't know where to begin. It had never imagined that it would have to explain its own race to those who were vastly different.

WE ARE… THE CHILDREN OF OOORUGANIOAS.

Up to this point, the Cerebral King spoke as if it was the biggest fish in the pond.

Yet as soon as it conveyed this alien name, it had suddenly converged its arrogance and displayed so much respect that it was practically indistinguishable from religious worship!

Ves immediately understood that this name was exceptional.

"Who is… this individual?" Ves cautiously asked.

The Cerebral King arced its massive body, causing its majestic scales to ripple.

FLESH CONQUEROR.

The giant fish-whale arced towards the cluster of giant lab structures.

SECRET KEEPER.

The creature then looked up in a disturbingly reverent fashion.

GOD…

Ves quickly figured out the identity of 'Oooruganioaus'. If his suspicions were correct, then this name referred to the source of everything in Purgatory!

What the Cerebral King had said about Oooruganioaus matched everything that Ves and his people had figured out from their own findings!

This was valuable information! Not only did he confirm that the fish-whales, the abandoned labs and the various continents were created by a powerful fish-whale, but he also gained greater confidence that the giant skeleton in the Royal Tomb happened to be a remnant of this ancient figure!

Of course, there was no hard proof Oooruganioaus was the clean whale that left those massive bones behind, but it should at least be related to this mysterious name.

"Tell me more about the 'Flesh Conqueror."

OOORUGANIOAS IS GOD AND CREATOR. ALL OF US ARE CHILDREN OF GOD. WE EXIST BECAUSE OF THE WILL OF GOD.

"...That… is nice."

GOD IS NICE.

Ves should have expected it. Primitive and underdeveloped societies were more likely than not to hold religious beliefs. This was common in both human and alien civilizations.

If the fish-whales had at least some idea that they were part of an artificial race that had only come into existence due to the efforts of a maker, then it was not unreasonable for them to worship this individual as their literal god!

"How do you know all of this?" Ves asked as he remained skeptical of what he heard. "How do you know that the Flesh Conqueror is your maker and your god? Who taught you this belief?"

The Cerebral King grew more intense all of a sudden. Its pressure had raised, making it difficult for Venerable Joshua and the Everchanger to remain indifferent at this time.

I. SAW.

OOORUGANIOAS  MADE ME AND OTHERS.

OOORUGANIOAS IS GOD.

Ves froze. He had become shocked by what he heard! If the Cerebral King wasn't lying, then it was older than he imagined!

It had witnessed its very creator at work!