The Mech Touch

The interview conducted by the award-winning Najan Kittar had reached a hotter phase!

Unwilling to be deflected by her current guest's dubious and slimy excuses, she had brought up another incident that was sure to force at least some admission from the disgraced dwarven emperor that tried to disguise himself under a righteous coat!

At least, that was what Najan Kittar hoped.

Rion Aaden's tall and bulky armored form rose from the bench. The dwarf's presence seemed to magnify as he became larger than life to many viewers.

It was as if he was an ace pilot himself, which was clearly not the case as he could not even pilot a mech!

As the powerful-looking crown made the armored dwarf look even taller, Rion Aaden issued a forceful response to the latest accusations thrown by the female interviewer.

[HUMANITY IS NOT PERFECT. OUR CIVILIZATION IS FAR FROM IDEAL. MANY INJUSTICES TAKE PLACE ACROSS THE STARS. I SHOULD KNOW, AS I LIVED THROUGH SOME OF THEM. THE YEARS I LIVED IN IGNORANCE AND SLAVERY SHOULD HAVE BROKEN ME AND DIMINISHED ME AS A DWARF. IT DID NOT. I REFUSED TO BEND TO THE FORCES THAT SEEK TO BREAK NOT JUST MYSELF, BUT ALL OF DWARVENKIND.]

"You are going off on a tangent, Your Majesty." Najan Kittar interjected with a touch of annoyance on her expression.

[BE SILENT, WOMAN.] The powerful dwarf hissed while his optical lenses flashed. [MY MESSAGE NEEDS TO BE HEARD BY YOUR AUDIENCE. SINCE THE START OF THIS INTERVIEW, YOU HAVE DIRECTED THE ATTENTION OF YOUR VIEWERS TO THE WRONG SUBJECTS. THE CRISIS THAT IS AFFECTING MY PEOPLE IS GREATER THAN MY PERSONAL STORY.]

Though Najan Kittar was very much aware that her guest was clearly trying to deflect from his own impropriety, she gained interest in where the dwarven leader wanted to take this dialogue.

"What is this great and terrible crisis that you are referring to, Your Majesty?" The interviewer curiously asked. "If I may say so, I find you to be a fascinating individual. I have interviewed over half-a-dozen dwarves throughout my career as a journalist, but none have demonstrated as much pride and determination as you. We should have allocated more time to this slot."

The dwarf ignored her praise.

[IF YOU HAVE YET TO DISCERN THE PROBLEM THAT I AM ALLUDING TO, THEN LET ME TELL YOU THE ANSWER. I AM REFERRING TO THE TREATMENT OF HEAVY GRAVITY VARIANT HUMANS IN HUMAN SOCIETY. I HAVE EXPRESSLY USED THE FULL AND ORIGINAL NAME FOR OUR KIND, BECAUSE THE WORD 'DWARF' ALL TOO OFTEN MAKES PEOPLE FORGET THE FACT THAT WE ARE ALSO CHILDREN OF HUMANITY.]

"No one here is accusing you of belonging to a different race, Your Majesty."

[THAT IS BECAUSE THE PEOPLE HERE DO NOT WANT TO BE EXPOSED AS BIGOTS. DO NOT MAKE EXCUSES, MISS KITTAR. NORMALLY-STATURED HUMANS ALL TOO OFTEN LIKE TO LOOK DOWN ON US DWARVES, BOTH FIGURATIVELY AND LITERALLY. HEAVY GRAVITY VARIANT HUMANS HAVE ALWAYS BEEN A PART OF THE MINORITY, SO ANY ATTEMPTS TO CORRECT THIS INJUSTICE HAVE ALWAYS FAILED.]

To her credit, Najan Kittar made a remorseful impression.

"I have personally never discriminated against a dwarf, but as a member of the group of humans with normal proportions, I understand that my words do not mean much to you and your fellow dwarves. I have covered stories before where my fellow humans have not provided fair employment conditions to their dwarven workers."

The Iron Emperor shifted in her direction. [THERE IT IS AGAIN. YOU ARE TALKING AS IF YOU AND YOUR FELLOW HUMANS BELONG TO A SUPERIOR SPECIES WHILE DWARVES BELONG TO A LESSER SPECIES. DO YOU UNDERSTAND MY WARNINGS NOW? THE STATE OF OUR SOCIETY HAS DECLINED TO A GREATER DEGREE THAN YOU THINK IF IT HAS BECOME AN ACCEPTED HABIT TO TREAT DWARVES AS INHUMAN.]

"I have done no such thing, Your Majesty!" Miss Kittar responded with a shocked expression, though no one could figure out how much of that was theater and how much of that was genuine. "You have proven your point, as everyone here can attest to. I can now agree that there are serious issues with how we speak about dwarves and treat them in our daily lives, but not everyone is purposefully trying to disparage heavy gravity variant humans. The vast amount regular humans do not know any better."

CLANK!

[THAT MAKES IT WORSE!] The Iron Emperor boomed! The armored dwarf raised his thick arms as if to express the frustration of his own kind. [YOU STANDARD HUMANS DO NOT THINK ABOUT HOW YOU CASUALLY DISMISS, DISPARAGE AND DIMINISH YOUR MUTATED COUSINS! BECAUSE WE DO NOT LOOK LIKE YOU, IT HAS SOMEHOW BECOME JUSTIFIED TO TREAT US AS DIFFERENT.]

"Look, Your Majesty, we all understand that you and the people you profess to represent have well-founded grievances, but that does not give you the right to paint standard humans such as myself with a single brush. What you are doing is perpetuating the cycle of ignorance and prejudice that you aim to destroy!"

The armored dwarf's eye lenses flashed again.

[DO YOU THINK I AM SPEAKING WITHOUT PROOF? I HAVE THE RESEARCH TO BACK UP MY CLAIMS. AFTER MY RESEARCHERS AND I INVESTIGATING THE STATE OF MY PEOPLE THROUGHOUT HUMAN SPACE, I CAN REVEAL ONE UNDISPUTED FACT TO YOU. DEPRIVING DWARVES OF THEIR HUMAN RIGHTS IS NOT AN EXCEPTION. IT IS THE RULE, ONE THAT HAS PROVEN TO BE MORE UNIVERSAL THAN YOU EVER IMAGINED!]

Najan Kittar's eyes widened as she felt more attacked than she had ever been in her last dozen or so interviews!

"Can you publicize your research for us, Your Majesty? My program has a dedicated fact checking team on hand that can verify any claims or statements that you have made."

[HERE YOU GO.]

After the Iron Emperor transferred the electronic documents to Najan, who subsequently passed them onto her backstage personnel, the interview session continued.

"For now, let us proceed as if the evidence that you have provided is valid." The woman said as she leaned closer to the armored dwarf. "You have spoken plenty of words about the problematic state of heavy gravity variant humans in our society. Surely you must have thought about a plan that can lessen the divide between different versions of humanity."

Forceful and visionary leaders always had a habit of coming up with solutions that they strongly believed in and wished to implement.

Indeed, the Iron Emperor was no exception to this rule.

CLANK.

CLANK.

CLANK.

[I WAS WAITING FOR THIS QUESTION, MISS KITTAR. AS A DWARF WHO HAS SEEN THE BEST AND WORST OF DWARVENKIND, I HAVE THOUGHT LONG AND HARD ABOUT WHERE WE MUST GO AS A SUBSET OF HUMANITY. AFTER CONSULTING MANY WISE AND INTELLIGENT DWARVES, I HAVE FORMULATED AN IMPERATIVE THAT WE MUST ALL PURSUE IN ORDER TO LESSEN THE INJUSTICES COMMITTED TO US ON A DAILY BASIS.]

"What does this grand and ambitious plan of yours entail, Your Majesty?"

The Iron Emperor's crown began to shine with power and intensity. Its lustrous jewels glowed like stars as Rion Aaden placed his arms behind his back as best as possible given the constraints of his heavy armor.

The dwarf completely took over the interview program!

[THE CURRENT MODEL WHERE DWARVENKIND HAS BECOME DISPERSED ACROSS MANY DIFFERENT STATES AND STAR SYSTEMS HAS PROVEN TO BE INEFFECTIVE. HEAVY GRAVITY VARIANT HUMANS ARE A MINORITY AMONG STANDARD HUMANS, AND THAT IS AN UNCHANGEABLE FACT. WHAT YOU MAY NOT REALIZE IS THAT BY DISPERSING US EVEN FURTHER, WE BECOME SO DISUNITED FROM EACH OTHER THAT WE CANNOT EVEN MUSTER UP THE SMALL AMOUNT OF LEVERAGE THAT WE POSSESS AS A MINORITY WITHIN HUMAN SOCIETY.]

[TO REMEDY A PROBLEM, WE MUST NOT ONLY STOP THE PHENOMENON THAT MAKES IT WORSE, BUT ALSO REVERSE IT SO THAT WE CAN TAKE BACK WHAT WE HAVE LOST. THIS MEANS THAT WE MUST STOP THE CONSTANT DISPERSION OF DWARVENKIND AND MOVE TO RELOCATE ALL OF US TO CENTRAL LOCATIONS. THOUGH THE VULCAN EMPIRE THAT I ONCE RULED HAD ENDED IN TRAGEDY, THE MODEL OF GATHERING HEAVY GRAVITY VARIANT HUMANS IN A SINGLE REGION HAS PROVEN TO WORK IN ENHANCING OUR COLLECTIVE VOICE.]

[LET ME SPEAK DIRECTLY TO THE DWARVES THAT ARE WATCHING THIS PROGRAM RIGHT NOW, WHETHER THEY ARE DOING SO LIVE OR ON DEMAND.] Rion Aaden said as he shifted his armored form directly to the front. [DO YOU DREAM OF A FUTURE WHERE DWARVES SUCH AS YOU AND I ARE NO LONGER TREATED AS JOKES OR VERMIN, BUT AS A GROUP OF STRONG AND INTIMIDATING INDIVIDUALS? DO YOU LONG TO BE PART OF A FORMIDABLE COLLECTIVE WHERE YOU CAN ALWAYS RELY ON THE SHELTER ON A MECH ARMY OF MILLIONS IF NOT BILLIONS OF STRONG WAR MACHINES?]

[THEN DO NOT SIT AROUND AND WALLOW IN YOUR HOMES WHERE YOU LEAD A LIFE WITHOUT A BETTER FUTURE. LOOK ME UP ON THE GALACTIC NET AND LEARN HOW YOU CAN EMIGRATE FROM A STATE THAT ONLY LOOKS OUT FOR STANDARD HUMANS WHICH COMPROMISE THE MAJORITY OF ITS CONSTITUENTS. STOP WAITING FOR THE MAJORITY TO WAKE UP. THE ONLY WAY THAT WE AS A MINORITY CAN GAIN A STRONGER VOICE IS IF WE GATHER TOGETHER INTO A SMALLER NUMBER OF CONCENTRATED LOCATIONS AND ESTABLISH LOCAL MAJORITIES OF DWARVES IN DIFFERENT REGIONS!]

The Iron Emperor raised one of his arms, activating a projection that not only depicted a map of the Milky Way Galaxy, but also the Red Ocean!

Spread roughly evenly across human space, more than a hundred different points lit up in red.

[WHAT YOU SEE BEFORE YOU ARE THE DWARVEN REFUGES THAT MY SUPPORTERS AND I HAVE PAINSTAKINGLY ESTABLISHED ACROSS HUMAN SPACE. THROUGHOUT THE PAST NUMBER OF YEARS, I HAVE APPROACHED AS MANY WEALTHY DWARVEN INDIVIDUALS AND ORGANIZATIONS AS POSSIBLE IN ORDER TO GAIN THEIR FINANCIAL AND INFRASTRUCTURAL SUPPORT TO MAKE THIS POSSIBLE. EACH OF THEM CAN ABSORB AS MANY DWARVES AS WE NEED.]

The red points of light that represented the Dwarven Refuges seemed to hold an unnaturally strong attraction to the dwarves that were watching this historical broadcast.

[WE HAVE SELECTED THE SITES OF THESE DWARVEN REFUGES AS CAREFULLY AS POSSIBLE. THEY ARE EITHER LOCATED CLOSE TO A GATE OR A CENTRAL ENOUGH LOCATION. NO MATTER WHERE YOU ARE CURRENTLY LOCATED, YOU SHOULD ALWAYS BE ABLE TO REACH A NEARBY DWARVEN REFUGE WITHIN LESS THAN A YEAR OF TRAVEL.]

A new projection replaced the old one. This time, the Iron Emperor wanted to show what life would be like in one of these so-called Dwarven Refuges.

The images in space showed a single star system, but one that was more dense and packed with space structures than normal!

[WITH THE FUNDING AND RESOURCES THAT WE HAVE POOLED TOGETHER, WE CAN CONSTRUCT AS MANY HABITAT STATIONS AS POSSIBLE. EACH OF THEM CAN ALREADY ACCOMMODATE AS MUCH AS A TRILLION DWARVES, BUT IF NECESSARY WE CAN SCALE UP THEIR CAPACITY TO A QUADRILLION OR QUINTILLION DWARVEN CITIZENS!]

That was an unimaginable amount of concentration of people!

The sheer amount of work, effort and resources required to build so many self-sufficient habitats was insane!

Yet Rion Aaden claimed that he and his group of followers could absorb as many dwarves as needed!

[OUR DWARVEN REFUGES MAKE NO HARD DISTINCTIONS BETWEEN FIRST-CLASS, SECOND-CLASS OR THIRD-CLASS DWARVES. WE ESCHEW THIS DIVISION AND DO NOT WANT TO PERPETUATE A SYSTEM THAT ONLY PRODUCES FURTHER DIVISION AMONG OUR KIND. AS A MINORITY, WE MUST WORK TO DO THE OPPOSITE AND UNITE AS ONE PEOPLE. IT IS ONLY WHEN WE ARE ONE THAT WE CAN FIGHT TO GAIN MORE RIGHTS AND RECOGNITION. IF YOU ARE A DWARF AND YOU WISH TO BECOME PROUD OF YOUR IDENTITY, THEN HEED MY CALL AND SEEK OUT YOUR NEAREST REFUGE!]

From today onwards, the dwarves gained a brand new dream.

[AN INABILITY TO PAY FOR PASSAGE IS NO EXCUSE. IF YOU CANNOT PAY FOR TRANSIT, THEN YOU CAN TAKE A LOAN FROM US. SO DO NOT HESITATE AND CONTACT US IMMEDIATELY.]

The armored dwarf's lens eyes flashed a final time.

[OH, I HAVE ONE MORE MESSAGE TO SAY. IF YOU ARE IN A POSITION WHERE YOU ARE DENIED THE RIGHT TO RESIGN FROM YOUR JOB, LEAVE YOUR HOME AND BEGIN THE TREK TO YOUR NEW LIFE, THEN LET US KNOW. WE WILL DISPATCH AS BIG OF A FLEET AS NEEDED TO GIVE STANDARD HUMANS A REMINDER THAT HEAVY GRAVITY VARIANT HUMANS POSSESS THE SAME RIGHTS AS THEM. I HOPE THAT THEY ARE NOT FOOLISH ENOUGH TO TEST THE DETERMINATION OF OUR PEOPLE. I LIE. I AM LOOKING FORWARD TO IT. MY DWARVEN ARMIES ARE EAGER TO EXACT PUNISHMENT!]

Najan Kittar hastily stood up and stood in front of the dwarf. "I apologize, Your Majesty, but I must cut you off at this point. Our program and news portal strongly disapproves and disavows any threats made by our guests. Please do not take the words of our dwarven visitor here as a sign that we endorse his message and possible violations of different laws. We will be cutting to a quick break as we move on to welcome our next guest."

The feed soon switched to an ad, thereby ending the show for many dwarven viewers.