The Mech Touch

"Have you received any further updates, grandfather?"

"I have, but none of the information is particularly relevant to our situation."

Alexa 'Striker' had retreated to a secure communication chamber in order to hold a confidential talk with her famous grandfather.

The Streon Ancient Clan had constructed the entire facility deep underground on its own expense. This was how much her grandfather was willing to support Alexa's presumptuous quest to track down possible clues on how to unlock the true potential of the Ouroboros.

At first, General Axelar Streon did not have high hopes for his granddaughter. He only indulged her because her preoccupation was harmless enough. If she failed, she would come away with valuable life lessons that would serve her well in the future.

The issue was that it began to look increasingly more likely that the mech designer that she had set her sights on may actually be able to provide substantial help!

As one of the top figureheads of the Terran Alliance, General Axelar Streon possessed much more extensive information channels than lesser leaders.

He had received a much more extensive and complete retelling of what transpired over the course of the conference organized by the Survivalist Faction.

He knew exactly how close the Polymath had come to taking over the kingdom of mechs and wiping out the Terrans and the Rubarthans as distinctly different cultural groups!

Axelar developed a lot of appreciation for the young Senior Mech Designer for saving the Terran Alliance from getting erased as a functional state.

His only regret was that he had declined to meet Professor Larkinson sooner. If he had, then he wouldn't have allowed the Rubarthans to establish closer ties first!

Now, Axelar feared that the Terrans had fallen a step behind in this crucial competition. Nobody had seen Professor Larkinsons association with the Destroyer of Worlds coming.

The two had nothing in common aside from a common liking for cats!

Even then, this was too spurious of a reason for them to establish a cooperative relationship with each other.

There were trillions of cat lovers in the Milky Way and the Red Ocean.

Out of all of the possible people that the Destroyer of Worlds could favor, she clandestinely chose to support Professor Larkinson and possibly even sponsor his work!

The latter had become an increasingly more likely guess as the analysts collected more information about Professor Larkinson.

Many people couldn't help but make clear comparisons between Divine Irene Mox's iconic Emma and the cat-like companion spirits owned by Professor Larkinson and many of his clansmen.

It was not outlandish to assume that Emma served as the prototypical template of the modern incarnation of companion spirits developed by this highly innovative second-class Senior Mech Designer!

That was a guess that Axelar and many other Terrans in the know did not want to share with the rest of the population.

There was a good chance that the Terrans would actually reject the benefits associated with companion spirits if they learned that they had to rely on an invention developed by the Rubarthans of all people!

Though Axelar found the notion to be difficult to stomach, he was still realistic enough to recognize that the Terrans couldn't throw away a powerful advantage due to pride.

Besides, the Rubarthans had invented many useful technologies. It was impossible for the Terrans to reject all of them without drastically reducing their own capabilities.

"What should I do once he resumes his teaching duties?" Young Alexa asked with concern. "So far, there are no indications that Professor Larkinson has uncovered my true identity. I assumed that I would be able to maintain my cover for at least several months so that I could study his thinking and his habits before I carefully unveil the truth. It is unlikely for that to succeed now. He has grown too fast. We need to play catchup before he has escaped my reach."

Both members of the Streon Ancient Clan knew that the Terran Alliance stood to gain immensely if they were able to develop closer ties with Professor Larkinson.

The man's current position at the Eden Institute of Business & Technology was a notable advantage in this effort, but General Streon feared that a mere employment relationship could not compare to a secret but concrete friendship with a Rubarthan god pilot of all people!

The man that aspired to reform the Terran Alliance into a more effective polity let out a sigh.

"We currently lack too much information about Professor Larkinson to formulate a solid strategy. The greatest uncertainty that is complicating our calculations is what sort of deal he has struck with the Destroyer of Worlds. If there is any element of exclusivity in their agreement, then we will not be able to gain priority as latecomers."

Young Alexa nodded in understanding. "We do not have any way of knowing unless our spies in the Rubarthan Pact can feed us the intelligence or if we ask Professor Larkinson about his arrangements in person."

Neither option was likely to work out for the Terrans. The Terrans had planted a lot of spies and informers in Rubarthan space, but none of their investigations had ever uncovered a deal between one of their most powerful warriors and a previously obscure Senior Mech Designer.

Practically no Rubarthan seemed to be aware that the two figures were connected to each other!

In fact, even the Rubarthan princes that had relocated to the Red Ocean reacted with surprise when they learned of this development as far as the spies could tell!

All of this showed that the Destroyer of Worlds had done an excellent job at maintaining the confidentiality of this secret relationship.

Alexa knew it was ultimately up to her to find out the truth.

"Can you do it, granddaughter?"

"I shall try." She said. "My success is dependent on how much his attitude and demeanor has changed since my last meeting with him. He used to be remarkably humble, casual and approachable during the times I have worked for him, but that was when he was still a tier 6 galactic citizen. Even if he had already begun to cooperate with the Destroyer of Worlds at the time, he never let that go to his head. Now that he has become the center of attention, I cannot say whether he has become more difficult to talk to. He might even decide to end his employment with the Eden Institute now that he has moved up in society."

General Alexar Streon smiled in reassurance. "We do not think that he will make this decision. Professor Larkinson takes his responsibilities and business dealings seriously. He will at least ride out the current semester before he is willing to submit his resignation. That said, it is better to have an earnest talk with him and reveal your actual identity before it is too late. I am willing to trust you to use your existing friendship with him to negotiate on our behalf. My staff will evaluate any promise and concession that you make, but as long as your proposals are not too outrageous, I will allow them to go through."

The young teaching assistant felt immensely honored by the responsibility that her grandfather bestowed her. It made her feel as if she was actually making a real difference for her people this time.

Naturally, she wouldn't be doing this alone. It went without saying that her grandfather's staff would be providing her with a lot of aid by conducting analyses, calculating possible responses and so on. The fate of the Terran Alliance was at stake, so it was crucial for Alexa to be as well prepared as possible!

"There isn't much time for me to get ready for my next talk with Professor Larkinson." The young lady looked troubled. "He is scheduled to hold another class on Frontier Wisdom in the afternoon. So far, he and his clan have yet to transmit a request to cancel his upcoming lecture, so he will likely show up. That does not give me enough time to prepare for a proper discussion."

"Then don't." General Axelar decided. "You can keep the discussion shallow for now. Just present yourself as a representative of the Terran Alliance. It is truthful enough even if I have just filed the paperwork. Focus on information gathering for now. What is his relationship with the Rubarthan Pact? What does he think about the Terran Alliance? How much closer has his relationship with the Red Association grown in the past week? What are his current priorities and what does he lack for? The more information that you can gain from him, the more we can approach him with a working strategy in your next talk with the professor."

Though Alexa was not strictly raised for this, she had received enough training and education to undertake a new assignment. Every descendant of the Streon Ancient Clan had to meet the same high standards in order to maintain its high standing and reputation.

Once they had concluded their more serious discussion, Alexa was able to inquire about other topics.

"How is the Ouroboros doing now that exotic radiation has come into the picture?"

The peak ace pilot let out a sigh. "lam unsure what is happening. The Ouroboros... has not been the same as of late. I can feel that my ace mech is doing well, but none of us understand what my machine is going through. The only truly concrete change that is unmistakable is that it has become considerably easier to channel the power of life and death through my machine. This is not an isolated case, though. Many other ace pilots report similar boosts in performance. It remains to be seen whether the Ouroboros can exhibit greater abilities, much like those interesting living expert mechs of the Larkinson Clan."

General Streon had long noticed the resemblance between his Ouroboros and the Larkinson Clan's iconic powerhouse machines.

There were still a lot of differences, though. Aside from the obvious ones such as the enormous gaps in age and class, the Ouroboros didn't appear to be as lively and dynamic as the works of Professor Larkinson.

Even though machines such as the Amaranto and the Everchanger were clearly weaker in many ways, the general could practically feel the intelligence and awareness of those young but most definitely living machines whenever he studied the archival footage from their battles!

It made Axelar Streon gain the impression that his Ouroboros was... defective.

Perhaps defective was not the right word. His old mech had received so many upgrades over his career that almost nothing was left of its original incarnation, but even so the best mech designers hired by the Streon Ancient Clan had been unable to upgrade the few qualities that turned it into such a legendary machine.

Though the ace pilot had been burned enough times in the past, he couldn't help but become hopeful once again that another mech designer might be able to 'fix' the Ouroboros!

The benefits of this were massive. General Axelar Streon always had a strong hunch that his ace mech was the only reason why he was being held back from completing the Mech Body Merger Process.

It was so frustrating to stand on the precipice of becoming a god pilot, but being told by his own instincts that he would fail without a doubt unless he remedied the only remaining deficiency of his lifelong mech.

One way or another, the Ouroboros had to evolve. If Professor Larkinson was unable to get the job done, then the general could still approach a few other possible leads.

For example, the Xenotechnician amassed a monstrous amount of strange and esoteric alien tech. The old Star Designer must definitely have a solution on hand that could help the Ouroboros reach a greater height. Now that there was an enormous demand for god pilots, Axelar was sure that he could forge a successful if costly deal with the wily faction leader.

The biggest problem with this was that it did not feel like the proper way to upgrade the Ouroboros. Axelar still hoped to obtain a proper solution.

"Do your best, Alexa. All of us are counting on you. The Terrans must maintain close ties with the professor. Do not allow the Rubarthans to take him away."