The Mech Touch

Ves was teleported back to the Spirit of Bentheim after a fruitful meeting with Jovy.

Of course, fruitful was just a relative term.

Though Jovy hadn't been able to make up his mind on a companion spirit, he at least narrowed down his choice to a handful of proposals.

This made it a lot easier for Ves to flesh them out and be more thorough in his descriptions. All of his ideas so far were purely theoretical. They did not exist in reality so there was no way for him to prove with certainty that his ideas would turn out the way he envisioned.

As Ves tried to think on what he should put into his report, he found it difficult to determine the accuracy of his own claims.

No matter how much he understood his own work, life had a way of upending his expectations.

There were so many variables at play that any of them could easily trigger a cascade of changes that led to unpredictable outcomes.

At this moment, Ves ironically wished he possessed a combination of Jovy's ability to read probabilities and the eyeball companion spirit's ability of foresight.

He would have been able to make much more accurate predictions of his work!

If Ves could think about the potency of this combination, then so could his friend.

Jovy was probably tempted to take the plunge and go for this suggestion, but his caution and prudence kept him from doing so. He had raised valid concerns that Ves could not easily refute because of lack of proof.

Ves suddenly froze.

"Wait a minute. If it is proof that I am missing, why don't I solve this problem?"

Nothing could stop him from making additional companion spirits!

He recalled that he had lots of alien test subjects at his disposal. Sure, the pakklaton prisoners were not humans nor mech designers, but they could at least give Jovy and his unseen superiors a solid impression on what a couple of versions of his companion spirits could offer!

The moment he came up with this solution, he couldn't wait to implement it right away!

He had to wait until the expeditionary fleet transitioned back into realspace before he could shuttle over to the Dragon's Den.

He barely issued a greeting to Director Ranya before he raced to the forest biome where most of the pakklatons were kept captive.

Although he looked like he was in a hurry, he had already fleshed out his experimental plan by this time.

Ves did not aim to reproduce the most accurate outcomes of how Jovy might turn out after obtaining different companion spirits.

It was impossible to do so since none of the pakklatons were humans or Journeyman Mech Designers.

What he needed to do was show that the test subjects who obtained comparable companion spirits were doing just fine!

As Ves looked through the other side of the transparent wall that enclosed the biome, Director Ranya caught up and reached his side.

"Are you in a hurry, sir?"

"You can say that. I need access to three test subjects. I will need a secure operating chamber to implement my ideas on them. Once I am done, you can bring them back to this biome. I want your staff to keep them all under careful observation. Track what they are doing and record everything they do. If you notice they are doing anything weird or abnormal, then set the recordings aside so that I can study them myself."

Ranya raised her eyebrow. "You have big plans, I see."

"I just want to verify my ideas. It is hard for me to foresee how my creations will turn out if I just imagine them in my mind. Since I now have access to a lot of test subjects, it would be a wasted opportunity if I did not make use of my assets."

"Will your experimental procedures put your test subjects at risk?"

Ves shook his head. He wanted to provide Jovy with a gift, not a bomb in his head! None of his proposed companion spirits should pose any direct threat towards their recipients.

"Don't worry, Ranya. We will treat them as humanely as possible even though these aliens aren't humans in the first place. Ketis warned us to treat them nicely, after all. What I am giving the lucky few will actually help them. They shall gain more abilities than ordinary pakklatons. That will make their lives a bit more interesting while they spend their time in this green cage."

"...If you say so, sir. Do you want us to pull out a random sample of pakklaton individuals?"

"No. I'm not conducting a randomized trial this time. Your institute must have researched the identities and capabilities of all of the different pakklatons, right?"

"We did, though I should caution you that we cannot be certain whether our records are accurate. We can only base our information on our examinations of their physical forms and what they are saying to each other."

"That is already sufficient." Ves nodded. "Please take out three pakklatons that resemble mech designers the most."

Ranya frowned. "You will need to clarify that, sir. What are the traits you are looking for, exactly?"

"Hmm, let's start with relatively young adults among the pakklaton race. Seek out the ones with engineering or designer backgrounds. I am aware that the pakklatons do not utilize mechs, but I believe that most technological alien races make use of smaller combat vehicles such as starfighters. Pick them out if there are any of them in our custody. If not, go for pakklatons that work with shuttles or other modest-sized vehicles."

"Don't you want to grab any starship engineers or designers sir? Their importance in pakklaton society is high, similar to how humanity respects mech designers."

Ves thought for a moment before shaking his head. "Designing and working on starships is too different. Let's find out if there are enough test subjects that match my current criteria first."

The director of the Larkinson Biotech Institute called up a projection that displayed a large list of alien captives. She put in the criteria that Ves had mentioned, causing a lot of the listed individuals to disappear.

Only a small number of individuals remained. Ves was disappointed with this as he expected an alien evacuation ship to carry a lot more talents and professionals.

"Age is the biggest problem here." Ranya explained as she tapped her finger on this particular requirement. More than a hundred names silently reappeared. "It appears that only the older and more experienced pakklatons are taken seriously as designers or engineers. The previous selections are likely outliers because their parents or other favorable circumstances have given them a head start."

"That is even better!" Ves grinned. "What I need are pakklatons that most closely match a young and talented mech designer."

Once he was happy with the initial selection, dozens of bots flew towards different parts of the biome and rudely grasped a bunch of alien individuals.

The abducted pakklatons did not look pleased at all when they arrived before Ves and Ranya!

"Cawww! Cawww! Cawwww!"

Though Ves could vaguely interpret their meanings, he did not bother to listen to them. They were his test subjects, not his friends. If he became attached to his test subjects, he feared that his behavior and perception towards them would become more biased. Such a development would taint the validity of his experimental results.

Right now, he needed to apply one more criteria in order to complete his final selection. He quickly scanned the potential test subjects with his spiritual senses and grew pleased when he found enough alien individuals with spiritual potential.

Ves raised his hand and pointed at the three lucky winners.

"Take the ones that I have pointed out to a secure lab. You can return the rest of the aliens."

"Understood. We have already prepared a suitable lab compartment."

They moved down to one of the many laboratory compartments of the Dragon's Den where Ves planned to commence the spiritual implantation procedures.

This was familiar work to Ves, so he did not feel nervous at all. While operating on a person's spirituality was extremely risky and could easily lead to permanent mental damage, he was not new when it came to spiritual surgery.

As Ves went to work, Ranya and several other trusted exobiologists and medical professionals stood by and monitored the physical conditions of the test subjects.

They grew a lot more concerned when the trapped pakklatons started to shake against their restraints while exhibiting increasingly more violent and agitated life signs!

"CAWWW! CAAAAW! CAAAAAAWWWW!"

"Can someone mute the noises that escape from their beaks?!" Ves demanded. "I am trying to work here. It's a lot more difficult for me to concentrate when they are resisting my efforts to grace them with a gift beyond their comprehension!"

A remote sound dampening field came into existence which quickly quieted down the lab.

Ves was able to work a lot more comfortably after that. Although the pakklatons never stopped shaking and resisting, they were far too weak to hinder his work.

After an hour of working, Ves let out a tired breath as he pulled back from the center of the operating chamber.

The alien test subjects had already tired themselves out by now. They had all endured a lot of pain after Ves carved into their spiritualities and forcefully blended pieces of themselves with foreign spiritual ingredients.

Ves smiled as he could clearly see that all of his attempts had succeeded. All three test subjects gained three different companion spirits, each of which were weaker but representative versions of the ones he had in mind for Jovy.

"So what can they do now that you have operated on them?" Director Ranya curiously asked. "It would help us with monitoring them if we have a better understanding of what they have gained."

That was true. Ves studied all three test subjects for a moment before giving his reply.

"Each of them has gained three different companion spirits. Subject 3 should have become a lot better at making stuff. I want you to supply basic sets of tools and raw materials to this fellow so that he can make handicrafts or something."

"That will disturb the equilibrium of this isolated society." Ranya frowned. "We deliberately deprived the alien captives of most modern amenities and products in order to separate them from their tragic past. Giving them access to technology and allowing them to make more advanced products than wooden treehouses will lead to unpredictable changes."

"What can they do? They will still be in our grasp." Ves snorted. "Just do as I say. It is more important for us to observe how Subject 3 is keeping his hands busy."

"Very well…"

Ves moved on to the next test subject.

"Subject 4 over there is the most important one of this batch. I have given him a companion spirit that is partially based on Prophet Ylvaine."

"Can Subject 4 see the future?" Ranya looked surprised.

"That is what I would like you and your staff to find out. Monitor him closely. Try to make stuff happen within the biome that can elicit different reactions from the pakklatons. Start fires. Pour rain onto the forest. Lower the temperature to freezing levels. Whatever you do, I want to see whether Subject 4 can predict these events in advance."

This time, Ranya did not mention how much these activities would disrupt the calm and peaceful pakklaton society even further. It already became clear to her that the lives of the captives would already change beyond recognition!

"What of Subject 5?"

"She is special in her own way." Ves smirked. "Her companion spirit is based on the Titania. I predict that she has gained powers related to leadership or control. We don't necessarily need to change anything in order to see Subject 5 in action, but maybe you can try to insert other life forms into this biome in order to find out whether she can tame them or something."

"We shall do our best to implement your suggestions. We are not short of organisms on this ship."