The Mech Touch

5019New Risk Factors

Perhaps It sounded silly to rely on a single person to placate and befriend a large amount of feral and unruly mutated beasts.

All of these creatures were originally predators, bizarre alien creatures or deviant designer beasts.

Their species were already strong or worrisome enough on their own. After they had undergone an unknown mutation that somehow activated their previously dormant spiritualities, they had transcended beyond their own mortalities and had the potential to become much greater life forms than their genes allowed!

The 'sacred gods' of Aeon Corona VII was the most representative example of this impressive evolution trajectory.

Ves had no idea how the cultists who Infiltrated the Starlight Megalodon managed to do it, but this exceptional species managed to thrive on the planet that had become flooded with higher-dimensional energies.

The circumstances at the time actually resembled the current situation of the Red Ocean in many different ways.

This was why Ves did not underestimate the evolutionary capacity for the mutated beasts held captive aboard the Dragon's Den.

The strongest of them should easily have the potential to become as powerful as Qilanxo back when she was alive!

Although there was a persistent voice inside his head that he was playing with fire by keeping these mutated beasts around, Ves could not resist the benefits of having so many powerful creatures at his disposal!

This was especially the case when the Age of Dawn no longer put all of the focus on inechs.

It was conceivable that the abundance of exotic radiation would Introduce new power systems.

Just as primordial humans along with many other powerful alien species once thrived in the Milky Way, the humans and aliens of the Red Ocean had the potential to become Just as powerful!

"I will Instruct General Verle to coordinate with you on this matter." Ves told Director Ranya. "Venerable Joshua can't babysit all of these mutated beasts day and night, but it shouldn't be a problem to station him and his Everchanger on this ship on a periodic basis."

Ranya already looked pleased with this answer. "That will greatly help us. Joshua may not be able to placate every mutated beast, but he should at least be able to identify the more aggressive and less cooperative ones. We will likely have to adopt a comprehensive approach and cull the beasts that cannot be redeemed."

"Inform me if you ever want to eliminate a beast. I can harvest a lot of useful resources from them if I am around."

Ves was not too unreasonable in this regard. The threat of a hostile and uncontrollable mutated beast was too dangerous to keep around.

The two talked a bit more about other important topics as they continued on their little tour.

He briefly became more interested in the captive populations of intelligent aliens.

The Dragon’s Den currently operated three internment camps.

The oldest and largest was a forest biome that housed tens of thousands of bird-like aliens called pakklatons.

They had become the favored test subjects of the T Institute due to their similarities to humans and their abundant supply.

The biome holding captured orven naval officers was less interesting as they did not offer any significant value to the Larkinson Clan's ongoing research.

The latest bio that the Larkinsons turned into an internment camp held what may possibly be the last members of the pescan race.

Though Ves sympathized a lot with the tall and oddly shaped humanoid aliens that originally lived on Davute VII, that did not change the fact that they should have gone extinct.

"It is becoming more challenging for us to hold these intelligent aliens on a long-term basis." Ranya told Ves as they both looked at a gathering of many pakklatons. "As you can see, many of them have gained a lot of different abilities. While none of them have ever become strong enough to pose a threat, we are becoming concerned that this may not be the case in the future. Exotic radiation is clearly promoting all of their growth, just like it does to my own companion spirit seed."

More than a few of the avian aliens inside the biome displayed a diverse variety of bizarre companion spirits.

The T Institute had used the pakklatons as a test bed for the development of companion spirit trees for several years.

This important research project could have never progressed so quickly without the selfless dedication of these volunteer test subjects!

However, all good things had to come to an end.

The Age of Dawn not only had the potential to unlock red humanity's evolution, but every other species as well!

Ves could no longer look down on these native aliens as much as before.

They may look harmless and fully within control, but who knew if any of these captive aliens responded much better to M87's exotic radiation than other organic life forms!

Director Ranya Wodin expressed a lot of concern with regard to their continued captivity.

"The Dragon's Den was not built to function as an alien prison. We are growing more concerned about our ability to restrain these sentient aliens. The T Institute won't agree with us on this, but it is my recommendation that we cull these captives as a preventative measure."

This subject was similar to the last one, but the risk factors were much greater this time!

As destructive as the mutated beasts could be, they were still relatively primitive by nature.

Without growing up in a proper society where they become exposed to all sorts of greater concepts, their vision was too limited.

Just like Arnold, it shouldn't be too difficult to manipulate the more pliable ones into serving the Larklnson Clan.

Ves did not think that this was ever truly possible with the three groups of sentient alien captives.

The pakklatons, orvens and pescans all demonstrated enough human-like traits to become as dangerous as their captives.

Their knowledge and capacity for complex thought resulted in a deadly combination that could easily backfire on the Larkinsons.

Therefore, Ves was a lot closer to ordering them all to be culled.

He eventually shook his head.

"We can talk about this further, but I would like these aliens to stay alive for the time being."

"Are you sure you are making the wisest decision, Ves? We can try to upgrade our security measures to reduce the risks, but we won't be able to defeat every possible measure."

Ves sighed. "I know that. I will think of a better solution."

He originally had these aliens captured in order to abide by his promises or meet his obligations.

Even though the situation had changed to the point where he suspected people like Ketis and Jannzi might not care so much about the wellbeing of these captives anymore, Ves still could not bring himself to slaughter them en masse.

It was a bit ridiculous for him to struggle so much over the treatment of captive aliens. Another part of him could not help but wonder about how he could make fantastic use of them in this new age.

"May I make a suggestion, sir?"

"You may."

"Why not sell them?" Director Ranya asked. "The captives that we have experimented on and the ones that are currently functioning as a control group have all gained a lot of research value in this new age. We only have to reveal that our test subjects have undergone drastic mutations due to E energy manipulation in order to generate a lot of interest. We can even turn this into a systemic business activity."

Ves looked impressed. "I like your entrepreneurial spirit. I don't think it is wise to turn aliens like these into a commodity, but you are right that selling them is a great way to make them someone else's problem. Explore this option further. If you can sell our test subjects for a good price, then I will approve of this initiative."

They continued to discuss other important subjects as they moved to the lab where Ves wanted to pick up his prize.

One subject that Ves cared about a lot was the adverse effects of exotic radiation on ordinary humans.

"The Red Two as well as many other large and renowned biotech research institutions have come together to build up a growing archive of research on the effects of exotic radiation on the human physique." Ranya told him. "Our own research in this subject matter is much more limited. What we know at this time is that every human has a different propensity towards adverse exotic radiation-induced physical mutations."

"Oh? What sort of people are more prone to develop physical defects and imbalances?"

"Baseline humans should largely remain safe from this particular effect. Their bodies are weak, but that means that the elements and molecules that make up their body cells are not particularly special. Exotic radiation affects mundane materials the least. Iron remains iron. Oxygen remains oxygen. An ordinary bone will remain an ordinary bone. This will largely guarantee the continued survival of many third-raters, but this is not an absolute."

"That... is damned lucky of them. I guess there are advantages to being a plain human after all." Ves remarked with an odd expression on his face.

He did not forget that he and the original Larkinsons used to be normal as well.

"It is augmented humans that are under greater risk. The exotics integrated in their body cells as well as the implants that have merged with their organs have all become potential mutation factors. Continued exposure to E energy radiation and R particle radiation will soon make it clear how much augmented humans are at risk of developing severe or fatal health problems."

Ves started to feel a lot more concerned about himself.

His body was anything but human nowadays! It had gone through so many drastic changes that it became filled with many exotic materials!

However, Ves did not really feel at risk. He believed in his mother's heritage and his own evolution as a mech designer and a spiritual entity.

He remembered from the Red Two's public address that E energy radiation was not a neutral force.

Its effects could change depending on its interaction with the mentalities of different organisms!

This was also why he did not immediately worry about the health of his wife and children. Each of them were originally designer babies whose bodies had been enriched with a large variety of exotics!

"Has your personnel conducted any large-scale examinations on the health of our clansmen?"

"We have started doing so shortly after the Great Severing took place, sir."

"Have you ever noticed any deviations among our augmented Larkinsons that suggest that exotic radiation is starting to compromise their health?"

Ranya Wodin slowed her steps. "A week has gone by, but... we are not measuring the same results as many other parties. In fact, the public datasets make it clear that many different people from many different locations are showing different levels of responsiveness. I have not published any data centered around our clan, but it is rather Impressive that none of our clansmen have displayed any serious indications of adverse physical mutations."

"What about the pakklatons? Surely you have studied their conditions as well. What are your results?"

"The pakklatons who have undergone experimentation show a remarkable degree of resilience towards this effect. The ones that have yet to undergo trials are different. They are showing the expected indications of exotic energy radiation exposure."

Ves narrowed his eyes even further. "I think I know what may be going on. If what I suspect is true, then we should have nothing to fear. We need more data in order to verify my theory. Please contact the Glory Seekers, Crossers, Adelaides and Boojays in order to investigate whether their troops are showing any adverse reactions towards exotic radiation."

"We... can do that. What is your theory, sir? What do you suspect?"

"If my suspicion is right... then the Glory Seekers and the Crossers should be just as safe as us. It is the Adelaides and the Boojays that should really be worrying about this matter."