The Mech Touch



The mech industry may appear like a product of all of the latest advances in modern human science, but that was just what the Mech Trade Association used to fool the public.

The hidden depth behind mechs was far more mystical and unfathomable than most people thought!

Even when clear signs of abnormal manifestations of power emerged such as the reality-defying abilities of high-ranking mech pilots, an average person on the street still thought it was just a really clever application of technology!

The cognitive dissonance among people became especially absurd when literal god pilots began to emerge. These gods of war exhibited abilities that not even the largest and most well-equipped CFA battleships could match, yet people were still willing to believe that it was scientific that a single human and a mech could destroy entire planets!

Ves still felt that there were a lot of missing pieces to the story. Why must humanity be so thoroughly protected from the truth? Why was it so important to hide the existence of the Kingdom of Mechs from the public at large? How much inheritance did the MTA manage to retain from the Five Scrolls Compact?

He wanted to ask so many questions, yet he was sure that he would only attract a lot of trouble as a result. His relationship with the MTA was too valuable for him to put at risk just because he wanted to satisfy his curiosity.

No matter what, Ves always had to keep in mind that the MTA ultimately had its own interests at heart. The mechers only treated him nicely because he provided them with a lot of value.

As Ves rearranged his thoughts, he quickly formed a small list of questions that were particularly relevant to his work and his future.

"Can you tell me how biomechs relate to the Kingdom of Mechs?" Ves asked first. "I have recently begun to dabble in biotechnology and biomechs. Due to the particular nature of my design philosophy, I have found that I can augment the performance of my products by incorporating organic parts into them. Will I be able to gain as much benefits from the kingdom if I start to conduct research and design mechs that start to look as if they belong to the biotechnology industry?"

Master Goldstein frowned as he heard this question.

"You have touched upon a controversial topic. Biomechs still fall under the category of mechs, and the kingdom does not make a distinction between the materials and the tech base used to make them. As long as a machine fits a loose definition of a mech, it will fall under the purview of the Kingdom of Mechs, especially when it is developed by a genuine mech designer such as yourself."

Ves looked reassured. It sounded like his Carmine System might have a place in the mech community after all. He just needed to make sure that it was undeniably linked to mechs.

"Are there any technological limits to the Kingdom of Mechs? Is there anything I explicitly need to watch out for, such as weapons of mass destruction, biological viruses and other prohibited weapons?"

Goldstein shook his head. "Human technology and creativity is limitless. The kingdom must always be inclusive to new technological paradigms. It would be counterproductive to close itself off to specific branches of science and allow our enemies to outpace us in technological development. The Kingdom of Mechs is a tool that exists for the good of humanity. It is not an instrument that is meant to enforce the laws of specific states and organizations. The prohibition against weapons of mass destruction is a taboo enforced by many human institutions. Do you understand the difference?"

"I do. I think I understand."

He was sure that Master Goldstein colored his answer from the perspective of the Survivalist Faction. This group of pragmatists who were deeply concerned with the survival of humanity were willing to compromise all sorts of rules as long as it served the greater good!

Master Goldstein's expression turned serious. "In practice, biotechnology is not particularly well-received among the mech pilots and mech designers of our society. Most people have inherited a strong bias against biomechs and organic technology. This bias does not necessarily disappear when mech designers advance to the rank of Master Mech Designer or Star Designer. The Kingdom of Mechs may be created to serve as a neutral and inclusive platform for everything related to mechs, but what do you think might happen if most of the Star Designers who hold the highest administrative authority start with using their judgment?"

Ves' face turned ugly. He understood the meaning of Master Goldstein quite well. Just like how the Hexers used their belief in the superiority of women to warp their entire state, the Kingdom of Mechs definitely wouldn't treat biotechnology as favorably as more conventional forms of technology!

"How unfriendly is the Kingdom of Mechs towards biotechnology?"

"It depends." The bald MTA Master responded. "My specialization is centered around support mechs. My work does not intersect with biotechnology. From what I have learned from other sources, the Kingdom of Mechs holds any biotechnological applications to much higher standards, especially in the aspect of safety and stability. If a biomech designer has been less than diligent in guaranteeing the safety of his own products, he will not be able to earn as many rewards from the kingdom as other mech designers. Over the long-term, this pattern will produce an environment that reinforces the existing norms."

In other words, because the earlier generations of mech designers were all strong proponents of classical mechs, the Kingdom of Mechs became strongly geared to this broad product category.

Anything that fell outside of this category would have to fight an uphill battle! Biomech designers needed to put in twice or thrice as much work in order to earn a similar amount of recognition as ordinary mech designers.

This did not sound good at all. Ves had definite plans to turn his Carmine System into a core component of his best works, but if the entire Kingdom of Mechs repelled biotechnology to a significant extent, then he would have to overcome a lot of inherent skepticism and unreasonable suspicions.

Ves accepted this challenge.

The more subversive the idea, the more effort it took to make it acceptable! This was a universal rule and applied to any form of new idea or invention. A design application as radical as the Carmine System would never be embraced by the public and the mech industry at the start. It was just too weird and did not fit in the existing paradigms that most people held dear.

Pioneers such as Ves had to accept the heavy burden of changing everyone's minds about useful but subversive applications of technology.

Besides, it was not as if Ves went all-in on biomechs anyway. He much preferred to blend the unique advantages of biotechnology with the ease of classical technology.

Now that Ves gained a better understanding of how biotechnology was positioned in the Kingdom of Mechs, he asked another question.

"When I spoke to various Seniors and Masters about reaching my current rank, they all told me to pay a lot of importance to the responsibility of teaching mech design-related subjects to a class of students. What is the big deal? Does the Kingdom of Mechs reward mech designers from passing on their skills to the next generations?"

Goldstein did not look surprised when Ves brought up this particular subject. "I intended to address this responsibility to you later. As you must already suspect, teaching is indeed related to the Kingdom of Mechs. In order to avoid the mistakes of the past and encourage the development of mechs at a wider scale without hoarding an excessive amount of trade secrets, mech designers must be more proactive in passing on their teachings to future professionals. This is one of the strongest reasons why the mech industry has grown so fast and remained so productive since the Age of Mechs began. I will explain this heavy subject to you extensively after I have addressed your other questions."

It appeared that teaching was a much bigger deal than Ves realized. 

"Alright." He responded and changed his tack. "Then how does the MTA and the Kingdom of Mechs relate to the CFA? It is clear to me that the fleeters probably don't have anything to do with the kingdom."

"That is correct, Mr. Larkinson. I believe that you have gained a crucial piece of information that explains the ideological differences between the Mech Trade Association and the Common Fleet Alliance. The former works on the assumption that the Kingdom of Mechs is necessary to promote the development of humanity. The latter believes that humanity must not grow dependent on forces that it cannot fully control and that conventional technology is the only power that we can harness."

That was what Ves deduced as well, but this was not enough of an answer.

"Does the CFA oppose the Kingdom of Mechs, or does it want to destroy it as well?"

Master Goldstein gave Ves a rueful smile. "That depends on the individual. Just as with our Association, the Common Fleet Alliance is hardly united. It is split up in multiple fleet-based factions that each espouse different values and ideals. There are moderates among the CFA that are open-minded enough to recognize the value and the necessity of mechs and everything they bring. There are also fleet admirals who believe that the Kingdom of Mechs is a construct similar to a rogue AI that has hijacked our civilization and distorted its development. These belligerent fleeters would not hesitate to destroy our precious kingdom if they think they can succeed."

This meant that Ves probably needed to remain careful about his interactions with the fleeters in the future.

He shouldn't have much intersection with them, but if that might change once he started to provoke more fights against alien forces. Fighting humanity's external enemies had always fallen under the jurisdiction of the CFA.

"Do ordinary people like myself have to be concerned about the CFA's stances towards the Kingdom of Mechs?"

"You are hardly an ordinary person, Mr. Larkinson, but no." Goldstein looked amused. "The primary responsibility of the Mech Trade Association is to protect and ensure the continuation of the Kingdom of Mechs. You are not required to intervene in any fashion. We are not that incompetent."

Of course this was the case. The MTA was all-powerful. If a large number of Star Designers and god pilots could not fend off the CFA's threats towards the Kingdom of Mechs all this time, then Ves might as well hang up his mech designer cape and look for a new job!

"Do you think that the CFA's strategy is viable?" Ves asked.

Perhaps other mech designers would strenuously insist that the fleeters were a bunch of fools who clung to outdated technological paradigms, but a Survivalist like Master Goldstein possessed a more tolerant mindset.

"That is not certain, but I believe that the CFA's approach has its merits." The MTA Master steadily replied. "The warships that the fleeters obsess over are blunt, powerful instruments of war. They can be built en masse with greater convenience, but their excessive resource requirements means that they impose a progressively heavier burden on our society."

"And that is bad?"

"One of the lesser-known disasters of the Age of Conquest is how the economy and the resource distribution of human civilizations were excessively skewed towards warships. Food, housing, medicine, civilian infrastructure and more all suffered due to leaders channeling too much funding and materials to the shipbuilding industry. Part of the reason why the Age of Mechs repulsed warships to such a strong degree was because people wanted to channel those resources back to their own lives. Our race also does not need to chase after the resources controlled by alien civilizations by starting so many aggressive wars."

Humanity enjoyed a long period of relative peace after the end of the Age of Conquest. Ves now understood that much of it was because people no longer needed to plunder so many bulk resources from neighboring alien empires!