The Mech Touch

Ves developed mixed feelings towards MTA.

On one hand, he couldn't quite feel comfortable how one of the arbiters of human space engaged in such blatant human experimentation.

Not even the elite soldiers and officers of the New Rubarth Empire could escape the fate of becoming the MTA's experimental materials!

On the other hand, the highly detailed and substantially more varied research data produced by these unethical experiments exceeded his imagination!

Master Termaneo Dervidian was a much more thorough and experienced researcher than Ves. The man not only came up with much more elaborate and varied experimental designs, but also possessed the facilities and resources to enact them all without running into practical limitations.

As a result, Master Dervidian managed to collect a lot more research results in two hours than Ves had obtained in months!

Of course, much of that had to do with Ves' reluctance in engaging in human experimentation.

Over the years, he carefully controlled his impulses and tried his best to keep his research urges at bay.

He had always been taught that the Big Two were the protectors and guardians of law and order. There were countless different mentions of incidents on the galactic net where the MTA and CFA ruthlessly destroyed entire families and organizations for violating the taboos that had once led humanity to a darker path.

With the Big Two's good reputation and extensive history of enforcement, not a lot of people dared to flout the most important rules nowadays!

Every state obediently abandoned their dreams to operate warships and accepted the fact that they needed to utilize mechs and carrier vessels in order to wage war.

No military force dared to obtain any weapons of mass destruction, let alone harness them against their enemies.

Everyone assumed that one of the Big Two would quickly come and crush the violators to pieces!

Even though Ves learned that the MTA and CFA were not flawless and had slacked off in their enforcement duties, their heavy reputation still exerted a chilling effect on indigenous human populations.

Ves assumed that most mechers were honorable, well-meaning and upright for the most part.

Master Moira Willix was perhaps the most defining example of a model member of the MTA.

Though she was so proper and straitlaced that Ves felt uncomfortable around her, she was nonetheless worthy of his trust and respect.

Not every mecher was as restrained as Master Willix, though.He was aware of a portion of its darker deeds, he figured that it was the exception rather than rule.

Even if the MTA engaged in dubious actions and research initiatives, it would surely keep them in the dark or push them onto patsies like the Supreme Sage.

This way, the mechers could claim plausible deniability and avoid the stain to their valuable reputations.

Ves had clung to this assumption about the MTA for a long time that he could not quickly adjust to the reality happening before his eyes.

Nothing was sacred to the MTA!

Master Dervidian and his handpicked team of researchers went through the lives of captive humans as if they were annoying seeds that needed to be removed from fruit.

Ves had grown numb as he saw one of the most respected mech designers and researchers of the MTA condemn people who were much wealthier, stronger and much more impressive than he could imagine being driven to their deaths, all without showing any remorse or hesitation!

As 400 prisoners not-so-willingly sacrificed their lives in the name of advancing humanity's scientific progress, Master Dervidian finally halted the attempts to gather more data.

He was not being merciful towards the hundreds of imprisoned humans that were still languishing in their holding cells.

The Master simply wanted to take a breather so that he could inspect and process the data gathered so far. There were enough samples now that he could derive a lot of preliminary conclusions from analyzing the different outcomes.

"Intriguing. The lethality of the Aspect of Transcendence is truly difficult to block. Many of our conventional attempts to protect our test subjects from its lethal effects have failed. Neither energy shields nor meters of solid armor can prevent its glow from passing through and affecting the prisoners. The only solid measures that can prevent the test subjects from perishing is to maintain distance, rely on formidable tempering to resist the glow or obtain the strength or protection of a high-ranking mech pilot."

Ves already knew much of what the MTA researchers had discovered today, but the experiments also revealed nuances that he wasn't aware of before!

For example, he never verified how long it took for mech pilots to last when they were interfacing with a mech.

He already knew that mech pilots who were connected to mechs effectively became a lot harder to influence. This was because they could borrow a part of the formidable strength of their machines!

Although the experiments only involved normal mechs as opposed to his living mechs, the mech pilots interfacing with their machines lasted 20 seconds longer on average.

This was a considerable margin that provided mech pilots with much more chances to escape and survive exposure!

There were other points of data that also provided a lot of insights to Ves.

Most importantly, he gained more proof that there was a direct correlation between the quality of a person and their ability to persist against the transcendence glow.

Much to Ves' amazement, the holding cells of the Paracelsus Optimus were filled with first-class captives!

It was as if Master Dervidian disdained trashy test subjects and only wanted the best for his various experiments.

Although a dozen or so test subjects originated from weaker first-rate states, Ves found that the overwhelming majority of inmates originated from either the Greater Terran United Confederation or the New Rubarth Empire.

Seeing all of these wealthy, powerful and immensely noble figures being reduced to experimental materials was difficult for Ves to accept.

If Ves ever encountered a group of Terrans or Rubarthans, he would probably bow and scrape while looking up at them as if they were kings.

This was because they had the means and the backing to overwhelm any second-class powerful!

The Golden Skull Alliance was nothing compared to even a smaller first-class outfit.

Whereas the former was only able to perform an ambitious raid on Purgatory, a true first-class mech force would have been able to slaughter every single fish-whale and capture the phase whale enclave in its entirety!

Properly speaking, all of these Terran and Rubarthan dignitaries should have been drinking champagne aboard their first-class starships or directing their mechs to crush a well-equipped nunser home fleet.

What were they doing here? How brazen must be the MTA to seek these powerful first-raters out and strip them of all of their rights?

Ves simply couldn't wrap his mind around this entire situation.

Though he considered adaptability to be one of his strong points, even he couldn't stomach the sight of people like Major Davies Reidhorn being subjected to torture that had killed all of his compatriots.

"Mr. Larkinson, are you having any difficulties interpreting the data?" Master Dervidian asked.

"Uh, no, sir." Ves quickly returned to the present. "While I don't understand the majority of these sensor readings, they're not as important as observing the process and outcome of the trials with my own eyes. It's just…"

"Are you disturbed by how little restraint we exhibit when we expose our fine prisoners to dangerous experimental conditions?"

Ves nodded.

Master Dervidian smiled in a patronizing manner as he turned around and distanced himself from his workstation.

The man walked up to the transparent windows and looked down on the clean and spotless white testing chamber.

Despite the large number of Terrans and Rubarthans dying in an explosive manner earlier, the place looked peaceful as the Aspect of Tranquility continued to present a false image of hope!

"Humanity as a whole has achieved a large amount of progress in the last four centuries. The Age of Mechs has given our race a necessary period of recovery and realignment. By breaking down once-great star empires and star nations into the states that you know today, we have substantially reduced the scope and scale of infighting that takes place."

"That is what I have been taught in school." Ves slowly nodded. "Not even the Terran Confederation and the Rubarth Empire were able to resist this trend."

"Is that truly the case?" The older man ruefully smiled. "Not everything in the textbooks is true. The truth is much more turbid and nuanced. We may have succeeded in clipping the wings of the first-rate superstates, but they have never let go of the glories of their past. Time after time, the citizens born in those states are being fed with stories that harken to the times where they dominated human space and controlled the trajectory of our civilization. What do you think they will do when these first-raters grow up and venture out into space?"

"I guess… they will start to throw their weight around."

Master Dervidian nodded. "Human nature can be ugly, and when individuals possess a substantial power disparity over others, it is difficult for them to resist the urge to take advantage of this fact. Here in the Association, we put great effort into instilling the importance of treating our dependents with care and respect. We enforce strict rules that prohibit us from exploiting average humans like you used to be. This is an important requirement for us to maintain our support within human space."

Most of what the Master said was true, but Ves seriously questioned whether the MTA was truly as spotless as he claimed!

There were bad apples in every organization and even advanced tech could not stop individuals from misbehaving!

Besides, Ves had seen first-hand how little MTA actually cared for its flock. The mechers could have prevented the deaths of trillions of third-raters in the Komodo Star Sector if they acted sooner against the sandman race!

This discussion was not about the mechers, though.

Ves looked up. "Are you saying that there are a lot of Terrans and Rubarthans out there that are making a mockery of the rules?"

"That is exactly what I am trying to convey to you." Dervidian nodded in confirmation. "The problem is not as significant in the Milky Way. The borders of different states are well-defined and it is much easier to track the movements of first-raters. Not so in the Red Ocean. Here, few states have emerged. Developing colonies are not able to project enough power to monitor what takes place within their sphere of influence. Bored Terrans or Rubarthans sporadically stray in regions such as the Krakatoa Middle Zone for less than noble purposes."

"You mentioned something like that before. Are all of the prisoners truly guilty of the crimes you're alluding to? I don't want to question you, but a lot of the people that I've seen today do not appear to be the sort that are depraved enough to commit grave injustices."

He could still remember how much courage and valor the group around Major Davies Reidhorn displayed. Even as their heads popped one after another, they never lost their nerves. Each of them embraced their deaths while remaining true to their dedication towards the New Rubarth Empire!

"A soldier can be both honorable and guilty. The Terrans and Rubarthans may be able to convince themselves that they have retained honor and dignity, but that does not absolve them from following orders that have caused them to stain their hands with the blood of those they consider lessers. They should know better than to abide by instructions that are illegal. It is regrettable that Terran and Rubarthan soldiers respect their hierarchies too much. Their inaction towards rule-breaking behavior has condemned them to this fate."

"So ships like the Paracelsus Optimus are actually patrolling occupied territory in order to catch these first-raters in the act?" Ves carefully acted.

Master Dervidian smiled. "That is one of our many duties, yes. Many of the first-raters that we have taken captive has committed violations that have earned them the death penalty. Instead of executing them outright, we prefer to keep them in our cells. Reclassifying them as scientific materials is the best possible use of their lives. Their luxurious upbringing and impeccable training turns them into desirable test objects. Many times, we utilize them as stand-ins for our own mech pilots."

This… might be the main reason why the MTA was so eager to arrest and experiment on all of those high and mighty first-raters!

While Ves struggled to obtain low-quality test subjects such as degenerate pirates or fanatic dwarves, the MTA performed its experiments on a luxurious lineup of high-class first-raters!