The Mech Touch

If a mech designer was able to advance by solely relying on the convenience of virtual mech designs, then Ves would be lying if he said that he was not interested!

There were not as many practical restraints in a virtual setting. Ves could design mechs by making use of all of the rare and expensive materials that were available in the catalog.

He could also experiment with unstable innovations and unfamiliar alien tech without worrying too much about wasting too much money or endangering the lives of mech pilots.

Still, Ves would have never been able to attain so much success by relying on virtual designs alone.

Design philosophies were much less effective in a virtual environment. Unless the mechers found a way to create an incredibly realistic virtual server that could compensate for this effect, Ves would find it a lot harder to sell his mechs.

This was especially the case when virtual mechs never really lasted long enough to undergo growth!

The fact that virtual mechs got spawned in a match before disappearing once the fight was done meant that none of them would have any chance to grow stronger!

Ves would have probably developed his design philosophy in a substantially different direction if he continued to keep most of his work virtual.

He much preferred to design and sell his mechs for real despite the innumerable challenges and limitations involved. All of the extra problems were worth it so long as he was able to capture enough market share.

What he liked even more was seeing his products exerting a lot of influence on people's lives. Every star sector or zone where his commercial mechs became popular had undergone a lot of changes due to their unique effects!

There was no greater validation for a mech designer than to see his work change an entire society!

"I do envy you at times." Jovy Armalon spoke as he finished his dessert. "The only physical mechs that I have contributed to are either competition mechs or projects led by much more competent mech designers. It is very difficult to appreciate my own design capabilities when my mechs are hardly used in reality. Do not get me wrong. I am happy that I have been able to win over a respectable amount of mech pilots in our virtual universe, but..."

"It is not tangible enough." Ves finished for his friend. "Your mechs have rarely if ever been used to kill other people. Your works have not taken part in any wars. The lack of a direct physical presence means that it is difficult for other people to remember and acknowledge you as a successful mech designer."

The other man looked melancholic for a moment. "I have no reason to complain about my own circumstances. 1 was born into the Association and I have received countless benefits from that. I know that my work is superior to almost every other peer at my rank or age range, yet all of this does not entirely allow me to rid myself of the idea that my work is... irrelevant."

This did not sound like a new problem. Jovy must have been plagued by this struggle for a long time. Other MTA and RA mech designers likely suffered from the same condition.

"I wouldn't worry too much if I was you." Ves tried to pull his friend out of his funk. "Your design philosophy is so tricky that you will probably be able to design plenty of interesting mechs once you have realized your design philosophy. You'll turn into a real bigshot once you become a Master, right?"

Jovy smiled again. "That is the expectation that everyone around me holds. My design philosophy indeed has a lot of potential if I can realize it, but that is also my greatest challenge. It will take an enormous amount of work and several research breakthroughs in order to overcome it. If that is not difficult enough, I have to complete all of this work by limiting myself to virtual mechs."

"I guess you have a point, but you also have access to a lot of augmentations and other advanced technological goodies. A lot of mech designers would kill to take your place. Besides, we're not living in the Age of Mechs anymore. Exotic radiation is changing the game by creating a lot of new possibilities. I think your Eye of Providence already has a taste of what is to come."

The RA mech designer nodded. "Exotic radiation and the changes it has brought to our entire society will dominate much of the conversations during the conference. I am aware that you have a surprising amount of useful insights on this subject. Perhaps you will be invited to speak in some of the closed sessions related to E energy radiation."

That caused Ves to instantly grow more vigilant. The mechers already knew a lot about him. Much of their information was wrong or incomplete, but that did not stop them from finding out that he had access to old cultivation traditions.

Fortunately, the Five Scrolls Compact did not have a significant presence in the Red Ocean.

Even if a small amount of moles had managed to get through the greater beyonder gate in the past few years, none of their True God-level sorcerers should have been able to sneak through the Big Two's intense security arrangements.

It didn't matter too much anymore if scattered groups of Terrans, Rubarthans and space peasants used to be related to the Five Scrolls Compact in one way or another.

The Sacred Scrolls were separated over 50 million light-years away from the current coordinates of the Red Ocean!

If the Compact cultists were somehow able to use their powerful Scrolls to form an actual transportation bridge between the two galaxies, then the mechers wouldn't feel threatened by the actions of their old enemies.

They would welcome this development!

The mechers as well as the fleeters would probably do everything in their power to invade the Ruined Temple and take over the bridge so that they could use it for themselves!

The chance that this would actually happen was too low, though. Ves shouldn't get his hopes up that either branches of humanity would find a way to restore the ability to move from one galaxy to another in the foreseeable future.

In any case, the absence of a threat from the dreaded Compact made it so that the Red Association probably adopted a much looser attitude towards its offshoots and remnants.

Ves did not have to worry about getting into trouble, especially if he went out of his way to utilize his unique knowledge to contribute to humanity.

What he didn't know was how extensively the Survivalists preserved their old heritage and how extensively they were planning to revive it now that it had become a lot more relevant.

Ves struggled to figure out how to bring this topic up with Jovy. How much did he know? How much was he permitted to say?

"What is it, Ves? I can see you are troubled."

"E energy... how extensively does the Red Association plan to introduce or reintroduce methods to make effective use of it? I am not sure about what you mechers think about this. I would like to know this so that I won't violate any rules on this matter."

Ves had a feeling that Jovy knew exactly what he was trying to convey.

"To be honest, I am not too sure about this myself." The RA mech designer frankly admitted. "lam not important enough to receive access to the relevant information. I am certain that the conference will hold a session on this exact issue. The higher-ranking members of my faction will debate and hold a vote on how much the general public is permitted to work with E energy and its many manifestations. I have heard that this is a contentious issue. There are Survivalists who are strongly supportive of widespread adoption and there are others who fear that too many people will abuse this phenomenon or suffer accidents if they attempt to play with forces that they do not fully understand."

"Oh."

The Survivalist Faction wasn't able to make up their mind on this matter because both sides had a point. Their shared ideology did not give them an obvious answer that they should embrace.

Ultimately, the Survivalists had to make up their minds on whether they were willing to entrust the general public with dangerous knowledge on cultivation.

The faction would have definitely tried to prevent this from happening during normal times, but now that red humanity was literally pushed to a corner, the Survivalists might not have another choice.

Desperate times called for desperate measures!

Ves and Jovy exchanged a few more awkward words about cultivation and E energy radiation.

It was definitely clear that Jovy was at least superficially aware of cultivation, but it was not entirely clear whether he knew enough to call himself a proper cultivator.

Ves was inclined to reject this possibility. He already took a good look at the Eye of Providence. The companion spirit did not show any signs of cultivating a specific method.

"Can I ask you a question that I have been wondering about for a long time?"

"Sure, Ves. Ask away. Answering your questions is part of the reason why I have picked you up. The more I answer your doubts, the less likely you will make a fool of yourself in front of a crowd of Masters and potentially greater figures."

Wow. The Survivalists must be really worrying about the possibility that Ves would put his foot in the mouth in their most important gathering!

"What is R particle radiation, Jovy? The Red Two have given the public nothing after the initial announcement. The Association has released a lot of publications about E energy radiation, and I am grateful for that, but 1 still feel an itch whenever I think about how little I actually know about the other components of exotic radiation."

"That is deliberate on our part." Jovy freely replied. "You can stop wondering if I can offer you any clarity. Even 1 haven't heard any real information about this phenomenon. 1 am almost certain that our Masters do not know anything either. It is not a secret that god pilots are the only individuals who can perceive the new type of particles released by the supermassive black hole in the center of Messier 87. Only the most powerful among us have conducted various studies on R particle radiation. Whatever they have discovered, they have yet to see any reason to share their findings."

"That's a shame." Ves said with a hint of remorse.

"My guess is that we are not qualified to work with this type of exotic radiation. It is an entirely new type of particle produced by one of the most powerful black holes of our cosmos. Just think of what that means. R particles may contain traits that can produce an unimaginable amount of energy or strengthen one of the fundamental forces of the universe."

All of this sounded great, but that did not help Ves in the slightest. He needed actual information about R particles in order to have any hope of making use of it in his own way.

Ves eventually retired and took a brief rest.

The RA frigate continued on her journey to a secret location. Only two days passed by before she had finally reached the site where the conference was held.

It did not really surprise Ves that much that the Survivalists decided to hold their big event away from planets and space stations.

In order to make it as hard as possible for the native aliens to barge in unannounced and crash the party, the Survivalists had opted to hold the conference on an MTA research battlecarrier!

What was special about the conference site was that she wasn't parked somewhere in a star system.

She was actively coursing through the higher dimensions as she engaged in FTL travel!

Without the advanced technologies needed to locate and catch up to another starship in FTL travel, it was impossible for others to even reach this important ship!

"Damn. You guys are going all out." Ves commented as he admired the sight of the enormous capital ship and her many escorts.