The Mech Touch



Shortly after Venerable Jannzi shared her shocking insight and speculation about the Carmine System and the Blood Pact, Ves never thought about keeping it a secret from the Mech Trade Association.

The MTA was one of the well-deserved overlords of human civilization. It possessed a wealth of human and alien technology and could muster the resources of an entire civilization. Dozens of Star Designers directly renounced their allegiances to their former states and devoted themselves to furthering the Association's technological supremacy.

While Ves was confident in his ability to hide his greatest secrets, he did not have the confidence to keep the mechers at bay entirely.

He may be able to hide his thoughts and his less physical creations, but he could never obscure anything solid and concrete like the Carmine System.

Now that he had set a firm goal in mind for his distant promotion, it was inevitable for him to restart the Blood Knight Project.

Not only would he begin to experiment with forming Blood Pacts with different candidates, it would be comically easy for the mechers to notice that a norm with F-grade genetic aptitude suddenly began to pilot a mech!

It didn't matter if Ves took all sorts of precautions and conducted the experiments in a highly secure environment. No measure was foolproof, and the larger the commotion, the harder it became to prevent any leaks.

Rather than engage in a futile effort to hide this secret on his own, he might as well submit his explosive idea to the MTA right away.

This course of action would maximize his gains as the mechers always liked it when mech designers shared the fruits of their labor to the Association.

The only uncertainty that Ves towards turning to the MTA was whether he would be limited or forbidden from furthering his research on the Carmine System.

After all, this brand-new mech biosystem not only possessed a lot of unknowns, but had a higher chance of endangering mech pilots!

Though Ves did not explicitly mention it, a mech designer and researcher as intelligent as an MTA Master would definitely know that the development of the Carmine System had definitely been fast and loose!

Ves would have gotten fired, sanctioned or even imprisoned a long time ago if he attempted to pull off such an insane experiment in a formal research facility!

Fortunately, Ves had the final say in the Larkinson Clan, so he could set his own rules.

That did not change the fact that the MTA would likely take issue if it knew how much he endangered his own test subjects.

Anyone who put a high priority on safety and complying with regulations would definitely work to stop Ves from conducting any further reckless experiments.

He had little choice in the matter. He just hoped that Master Goldstein would be lenient and overlook these problematic issues.

Once Ves completed his brief but extremely subversive ideas, he nervously waited for the verdict.

The bald Master did not act with haste. He had fallen completely silent and put his formidable intellect into processing what he heard.

From judging the accuracy of Ves' statements to visualizing the enormous consequences of reducing the importance of genetic aptitude to the mech community and human society as a whole, Master Goldstein did not dismiss anything he heard!

Ves sat awkwardly behind Goldstein's large desk and tried his best not to groan in pain.

The strong interference fields employed by the MTA Master continued its attempts to neutralize any technological components including organic cranial implants.

Ves had thought that he had managed to upgrade and evolve his original Archimedes Rubal bioimplant far beyond its original specifications, but it turned out that it had a lot to go before it truly became impervious to interference!

He began to distract himself by coming up with possible solutions on how to protect his integrated bioimplant further. It was difficult to come up with any solid solutions as his expertise in biotechnology was still too shallow.

In the interest of upgrading his augmentations and furthering the development of the Carmine System, Ves really needed to increase his knowledge related to biotechnology and biomech design.

It would be best if he could do so with ease by ingesting the right enlightenment fruit, but that depended on whether he could get lucky with the Tree of Possibilities. Its selection of fruits was completely random and their short descriptions hardly helped to clarify their exact benefits.

Ves previously held off on eating a lot of enlightenment fruits because he did not want to pollute his mind with enormous reserves of irrelevant junk.

He also feared that he would reach a limit where he could no longer store any further knowledge in his mind.

He no longer held as many concerns as before. His recent sublimation along with his advancement to Senior upgraded his cognition to such a massive extent that he became convinced that he could easily handle a much greater infusion of knowledge!

As Ves started to think about how many enlightenment fruits he should eat when he got back, Master Goldstein finally completed his analysis and deductions.

The change was obvious as the man shed much of his easy attitude and adopted a much more severe demeanor!

It looked as if Master Goldstein had entered into a war mentality!

"Before I say anything further, I would like to thank you for mentioning your ideas and suspicions to me. You have fully justified my decision to take a detour to the Davute System. While you have yet to present any solid data or proof about your assertions, you are known to us as a credible mech designer who has already produced concrete results. I will not question your judgment nor your qualifications on this matter and assume that you can turn your ideas into reality."

The older mech designer extended an enormous amount of trust to Ves. This was a major leap of faith, but as Goldstein already stated, the Survivalists believed in the credibility of their gutsy associate.

This would never happen if Ves was a stranger! The mechers would probably laugh at his wild and outlandish claims if he dared to claim he could make genetic aptitude obsolete!

"If we assume that you can realize this ambition of yours, then we must first control its dissemination. Who is aware of the Carmine System and its greatest implications?"

"Well, as I have stated earlier, Venerable Jannzi Larkinson shared this explosive information with me in the first place." Ves responded. "You can trust her to maintain her confidentiality. I intend to conduct a lot of experiments and studies on Jannzi and her new expert mech. Their Blood Pact will probably be the strongest and most developed of them all. I can gain crucial insights into its evolution if I keep monitoring this strengthening bond. I cannot do all of this without involving Jannzi as a long-term test subject and research collaborator."

The MTA Master nodded in understanding. "It is not difficult to gain the compliance of expert pilots, especially when they are the direct beneficiaries of your research. I shall arrange for her to be brought in so that we can brief her in person and compel her to sign a non-disclosure agreement. Who else?"

Ves frowned for a moment. "My collaborators know about the Carmine System, but not its implications or its specific workings. They have no understanding of biotechnology and showed little interest in my work. Still, I work with them on a daily basis, so they may pick up a few crucial details over time."

"That is problematic…" Goldstein frowned. "Continue. Are there any other people who can possibly know what your Carmine System can possibly produce?"

"That is it, I think. The Dullahan Project is our most powerful and technologically advanced expert mech to date. My collaborators and I took care not to involve any third parties or other personnel. Our technology consultants only assisted with the development of the transphasic armor system and did not get in touch with any materials related to the Carmine System. The greatest risk factor is Master Benedict Cortez as he is not my subordinate. He is the smartest and most experienced mech designer out of our design team, and possesses a good understanding of my work. It is not impossible for him to independently make this deduction."

The good news that Ves and the Design Department no longer became dependent on Master Benedict's assistance.

As much as Ves appreciated and benefited from the former Skull Architect's competence in mech design, depending on him to design the Larkinson Clan's trump cards was a security nightmare!

Now that Ves advanced to Senior and learned the ritual to attune the resonating exotics of an expert mech design, he could say goodbye to the days where he helplessly involved Master Benedict in all kinds of crazy and innovative high-end mech designs!

It was a pity that it was too late to prevent him from learning the core details of the Ghost Project and the Dullahan Project.

"We shall take care of Master Cortez as well." Goldstein said with ease as if this was but a trivial issue. "It is good to hear that there are no other individuals who can threaten the confidentiality of this research project."

"What about your Association?" Ves asked.

"I dare not divulge or transmit anything you have said to any of my peers. Not yet, at least." Goldstein responded. "I cannot handle a case of this magnitude alone. I may hold a position of authority within the Mech Trade Association, but the implications of your research are too disruptive for a single person to issue judgment on. I will have to share your work with half-a-dozen other colleagues. Rest assured that you can trust in their integrity. They would not have been able to attain their high ranks by betraying the trust of others."

Ves nodded in understanding. Now that he had learned of the existence of the Kingdom of Mechs and how mech designers depended heavily on it, he knew that there were real consequences to acting without integrity!

He was really glad that he had always been honest in his work as a mech designer. He always stuck to his own principles.

"Is it really necessary to involve so many powerful people?" Ves asked.

"It is, unless your claims are wildly overblown." Goldstein retorted. "Even if that is the case, that still does not change my decision. Even the slightest possibility of developing a new method to open up the piloting profession to normal humans merits our full consideration. It will take time to convene a secret panel that can handle this affair. I dare not transmit any information regarding your work over any of our communication channels. The risks are too great. Our faction has organized a conference in less than half a year. That presents us with a good opportunity to meet together and candidly discuss your work."

Ves had thought of that as well. A lot of powerful and clever people gathered together, but he was sure that Goldstein and his buddies had the means to create a fully secure environment.

"Am I allowed to conduct more research and experiment with the Carmine System in the following months?" Ves tentatively asked. "It would be a lot more convenient if I can present at least a small amount of concrete data to back up my ideas."

Goldstein looked troubled. "That is true, but there is a possibility that sensitive information will leak as a result."

"I apologize for saying this, Master, but I have staked my design philosophy and the future of my career on this research. I cannot suspend my work on a project as important as this. You can choose to delay its public exposure, but I do not want my work to be hindered."

These were big words, and Ves may have been too presumptuous in issuing his demands, but he didn't care at the moment. The Carmine System had become a core component of his design philosophy. It would be a huge setback if the MTA prohibited him from conducting any further research and development on this massive project!