The Mech Touch

The show eventually came to an end. Gaia no longer continued to spread her gifts to the witnesses of her birth and slowly retracted her presence.

Her majestic energy manifestation gradually faded until it was no longer visible.

A lot of kneeling and prostrating Aducs groaned as their goddess and the icon of their faith no longer graced them with her appearance.

Drunk by all of the events, everyone still needed time to process all of the changes. The baptism that they had experienced a moment ago also produced follow-up changes that continually caused them to feel more energetic and invigorated than ever before!

It was as if they had just become a few years younger!

Not just the Aducs, but plenty of others benefited from Gaia's baptism.

Ves and Blinky grew stronger and more confident in their ability to harness spiritual energy and create amazing new products.

The Everchanger's spiritual foundation enjoyed a minor quantitative and qualitative boost that advanced its unique development trajectory and strengthened its affinity towards life.

Venerable Joshua developed an immediate intimacy and understanding of Gaia's personality and nature. While he hadn't been involved in the actual creation process, the expert pilot still possessed an undeniable connection to the Mother of Earth as he was one of the sources of her spiritual ingredients!

"Amazing…" Venerable Joshua uttered as she still felt a faint connection to the new spiritual entity that had settled in the body of the former Old Lady. "Life is such a miracle."

Further away from the center of the hill, a group of people also benefited from this unexpected baptism of life.

Shannon Maris felt younger, stronger and more active than she had years.

The onset of aging had already affected her physical condition in many ways. Though she was still 'young' enough to maintain her effectiveness on the battlefield, she was no longer as quick and spry as before.

At least she thought that was the case.

As a former special forces soldier, her body and foundation was much stronger than that of the surrounding scientists and administrators. Her body soaked up a proportionally larger share of universal life energy, causing her to feel as if she had just completed the most satisfying and rejuvenating workout in years!

She bent her limbs and moved her body to test her rejuvenated form. Her bones felt firmer and her muscles became more supple again. Her genetic enhancements returned to harmony and her implants no longer generated that subtle feeling that they were weighing her down.

"Joining the Larkinson Clan may have been the best decision of my life…"

Another member of the clan also harvested a lot of gains. Unlike the newly-hired nanny, Clixie did not receive as many enhancements in her body.

Other than rejuvenating her cells and extending their lifespans to a minor degree, the Rubarthan Sentinel Cat did not notice too many differences to her body. Her health and physical state had already reached the peak of her species, so any further growth and improvement was nearly impossible to accomplish without resorting to drastic measures.

Perhaps Gaia understood Clixie's circumstances, because much of the baptism that entered the cat's body flowed into her mind and spirit!

As a sentient cat, Clixie was not stupid by any means, but now she felt she could actually keep up with the more complex thoughts of the humans we was surrounded by every day!

Not only that, but her spirituality received so much targeted nurturing that it had reached a critical point!

A silent explosion occurred in her mind as her previously unimpressive spirituality not only bloomed with potential, but also became activated on the spot!

With the help of the accumulation that she had received from bonding with Aurelia, Clixie fully managed to convert all of that latent power into activated power!

"Miaow!" Clixie cried out as the cat felt stronger and more alive than ever!

She finally managed to take a critical step closer into catching up with the likes of Lucky and Goldie!

She was no longer the weakest cat of the first family of the Larkinson Clan!

Even the prominent gem set in her golden collar grew a bit more lustrous!

A bit further away, one other individual had obtained a lot of advantages from Gaia's birth.

Aurelia's condition was different from Clixie and many other people. Her mind and spirit was exceptionally strong for her age but her body was still in a fragile and growing state.

Even if her designer body had already received a baptism from the Superior Mother, much of that only strengthened its future potential.

The energies that Gaia channeled into the little girl's body not only strengthened it to a degree, but also deepened its potential to a higher degree!

Compared to the Superior Mother, Gaia was considerably more skilled and adept at nurturing and improving human physiques.

Life played a much greater role in Gaia's domain and formed one of the pillars that made up her existence!

Even though she had only come alive a short time ago, the insane amount of high-grade life-prolonging energy that Ves had pumped into her existence had accelerated her growth beyond belief, thereby granting her immediate access to a wealth of abilities and techniques!

"Mama!" Aurelia happily cried out as her body practically sang with joy at the remarkable substance they received.

The remote consultants working for Witshaw & Yeneca would definitely become astonished once again as the designer baby's growth pattern deviated even further from its original trajectory!

As Aurelia and many other people silently came to grips with the life-changing gains of this remarkable event, the mood in the Green Sanctum slowly shifted back to a semblance of normality.

It was only a semblance, though. The earlier baptism permanently altered every organism in this massive compartment, causing the biome to turn into a space akin to a blessed land!

The Aducs that recovered the soonest all became wondrous at the changes. To them, it was as if none of the planets they had terraformed in their careers could come close to the Green Sanctum in terms of fidelity towards nature and Old Earth!

"Everyone." Matriarch Erexi Aduc spoke up as she rose to her feet and stood with a straight and proud back. "Each of you are probably feeling excited, but this is not the time to loosen our inhibitions. Control yourself, maintain a sober mind and watch your health. While I have no reason to believe that… Gaia… has meant us ill, it is dangerous to make assumptions. Every single member of our family must undergo mandatory medical examinations within 72 hours. Even if you feel you have grown stronger and healthier, we must understand exactly what has changed."

The Aducs all pulled their thoughts away from the high they experienced after absorbing Gaia's nurturing energies. The fact that their matriarch did not speak too much about Gaia's emergence but instead emphasized the health risks of all of the changes had rapidly sobered them all up. Since the majority of them were scientists and experts in different fields, they were well aware that even the most benign actions might produce adverse consequences!

The crowd of Aducs reluctantly turned around and left the site. The further they moved away from the massive oak tree, the more their surroundings turned normal again.

Only the center of the Green Sanctum maintained the atmosphere of a holy land. Gaia's powerful glow still radiated from the rejuvenated and magnified body of the Old Lady, causing every nearby life form to continue to benefit from her presence, if not as strong as before.

Ves took one last look at the giant tree that looked as if it could encompass an entire world and descended down the hill.

He approached his daughter and checked whether she was still okay. From the moment he lifted her up in his arms, he already felt she had grown stronger and more active.

"Mama!" The little girl called as she stretched her tiny arms towards the big tree. "Green mama!"

"Gaia isn't your mother, Aurelia." Ves gently corrected his adorable baby. "She's a new spirit, though she is already a mother in a way. Every organism whose roots trace back to Old Earth is her child, at least conceptually. Besides, daddy gave birth to Gaia. How can she possibly be your mother? She should be your sister at best!"

Aurelia looked completely confused. Despite the baptism that she just received, she was still too young to understand all of the complicated words and sentences that Ves had just voiced!

"...Mama?"

Ves wanted to palm his face. "Just call her auntie. Gaia is your new auntie. She's just like Helena!"

Though there was no clear basis behind this classification, Ves had long figured out that it was completely pointless to follow an accurate and literal family tree for his spiritual products.

If he made a new design spirit in the guise of his grandmother, then Ves would just treat her as his grandma without any further fuss!

If he created a grandson, then he would sincerely treat him as a grandson even if the identities of the new spirit's parents were a little vague.

Ves couls even create his own spiritual wife if he ever built up the desire!

Of course, there was no way he would break this taboo. Gloriana was already a good wife to him and he had no desire to replace her, much less with a figment of his imagination that he breathed into life!

His actual wife would definitely grow livid if she found out about his act!

He shook his head and rid himself from this silly train of thought.

"Be a good girl and don't call every spiritual mother figure your mother. You only have a single mother, and that is Gloriana, understand?"

"Um!"

After he became satisfied that Gaia hadn't affected his daughter in a detrimental manner, he turned and addressed the leader of the Aduc Family.

"Matriarch, a lot has happened today."

"…Correct. You… did not exaggerate when you claimed you could help our Old Lady. We did not expect her rebirth to be so… great. This changes everything. Our family will need time to process the changes and understand our new normal."

"Take your time." Ves casually waved his hand. "You are not the only ones who need to take stock. That said, I do not want to wait too long to visit you again. I want to have another try at your second heirloom."

Matriarch Erexi responded with a welcoming smile that showed none of the reluctance that she displayed in the past.

"You are welcome to visit us at any time. As the person responsible for bringing Gaia into our lives, we will gladly share our unique specialties to you, though we do not have that much to offer."

"I am sure that will change as your family rises with the help of Gaia. Your big tree is an incomparable treasure to you now. It houses and anchors the Mother of Earth, giving you and your fellow Aducs easy access to her. Don't take this lightly and make sure you protect it. It would be inconvenient for Gaia to loose such an excellent vessel."

The oak tree was bound to mutate into a different life form that was anything but natural.

Ves didn't think the Aducs would object to that development. Gaia was far more important to them than a tree from Old Earth!

The two chatted a bit more but it was clear that they both had many other issues on their mind.

They soon bid farewell to each other and parted ways.

The succesful creation of Gaia had big implications for his plans. The powers that she had demonstrated were extremely valuable and Ves did not intend to let them go to waste!

"I still need to unlock those letters, though"

Ves felt it was important to get to the bottom of the Aduc Family's mysterious Annals of Terra Vita.

"This may be the real prize!"