The Mech Touch

Ves shook his head.

He felt he was being a bit too paranoid for his own good.

The Red Association would not try to take the stupid risk of earning his ire and forever proving that it could never be trusted by trying to tamper with his people.

Though it had not happened as of yet, so long as the returnees entered the Saint Kingdom of a Larkinson ace pilot, it would immediately become clear whether they were compromised in any fashion. There was very little that could circumvent the sharp intuition of a battle-hardened saint.

Even without this check, the other Larkinsons were not stupid. The clan had its own security protocols and should be able to pick up anything suspicious with a good degree of effectiveness.

The Larkinson Network might not be as infallible as Ves thought, but it was anything but a useful component of the Larkinson Clan.

Perhaps Ves should take his time to complete his examination of the information provided by the Web Mistress and acquire other pieces of relevant knowledge to upgrade the Larkinson Network.

It may never reach the level of performance that Ves desired, but so long as it worked well enough to prevent mundane infiltration and subversion, that was enough in his book.

In any case, after Ves concluded his strategy session with his spymaster, he sought out Lucky and changed to a more formal version of his uniform.

"Meow?"

"I know you haven't been of much use in the last few meetings I brought you, but this time it will be different." Ves said as a bot carefully fixed up his hair.

"Meow meow?" Lucky tilted his head.

"We are about to meet with the Cybers. Have you looked at them? Their bodies are heavily augmented. There are way more alloys and circuitry inside their bodies than normal human flesh. I am not asking much from you. I just want you to do your usual thing, but also monitor the bodies of every Cyber that you can perceive. If you have detected anything interesting, you can try to notify me in a subtle manner if you think it is important, or just hold your thoughts until we have concluded the meeting. I am relying on your observations to inform me if you have detected anything suspicious or alarming, got it, buddy?"

The black archemetal cat looked concerned. "Meow. Meow?"

"I am not expecting trouble since the Cybers are merely guests. The mechers are keeping a close watch on them. They may have enjoyed a shared history once, but that is over."

After Ves fixed up his appearance, he and his gem cat moved to an underground hangar bay and boarded an armored shuttle.

The vehicle lifted off and flew to another hemisphere under escort.

The flight was rapid and short despite traversing a considerable difference.

When Ves stepped out of the shuttle, he and his guards entered a luxury resort that was located in one of the quieter park areas.

Real estate was expensive on Yernstall IV. Many mechers resided on this planet, and plenty of them had the money to build an opulent palace for themselves.

The luxury resort must cost a fortune, but it was worth it as it not only provided tranquility to its guests, but easier security due to its fairly remote location.

This was where the Cyber delegation resided for the time being. Ves heard that the envoys from Bridgehead One had yet to receive permission to travel elsewhere in the central star node. This was why he had to take the trouble to travel to this resort instead of receiving a visit at his temporary compound.

"Meow…"

"I know. The security measures here are insane."

Ves could only observe so much due to the thick foliage of the surrounding woodlands and the structures blocking his view, but he could already spot hundreds of security personnel and dozens of mechs in the open.

Of particular interest to Ves were the soldiers hailing from the Cybernetic Empire.

Ves did not know which mech regiment or warfleet the Cyber mechs belonged to, but each of them possessed the same distinctive traits and design that showed a divergence in mech philosophy and development.

The largest mechs possessed a clear defensive focus and all seemed to have remote shielding capabilities.

The smaller mechs possessed a combination of ranged armaments, ECM and ECCM modules, making them suitable for scouting, detection and concentrated firepower.

There were a number of other visible mech models. Their approximate functions ranged from energy supply, missile support, communications and battlefield repair.

The Cyber mechs were definitely geared up for both protection and warfare on a limited scale.

Ves found it regretful that he was not able to observe too many details of advanced CE tech. There was only so much he could observe from a bystander's perspective.

One distinctive mark that each of them possessed was the symbol of a moon and an eye. That was probably their unit emblem.

Ves soon passed through the main entrance of one of the larger resort structures. There, he went through a thorough security check.

Lucky did not trip any egregious alarms, courtesy of the effects of Solus Gas alloy that he had devoured.

Of course, no one was under the illusion that he was as harmless as an ordinary mechanical cat.

Instead of ordering Ves to leave his cat behind, the guards instead attached a glowing neon ring around the abdomen.

"Meow!"

Lucky looked anything but comfortable after his archemetal body got wrapped by this strange electronic cuff.

The device transmitted constant locating signals that prevented him from sneaking away undetected. It also produced a strange energy field that hindered a number of his functions.

"We shall remove his restraint upon departure." One of the guards said.

Ves wordlessly nodded in acknowledgement. He did not object to their reasonable security measures. It was actually a surprise that he got away with bringing Lucky with him whenever he met with important figures.

This showed that the Cybers were different from the other groups that he had met. The Polymath's subject did not let their feelings and subjective opinions dictate their actions.

As Ves observed the guards, both the lighter and more heavily armored ones, he could tell that they were much more mechanized than the civilians of their star nation.

Even the ones who looked like they wore smart suits were actually armed to the teeth. Their defenses were not light either. Their body structure largely consisted of expensive alloys and they most definitely carried their own integrated personal energy shield generators.

They could subdue any ordinary guest, but Ves and Lucky were different.

Ves should be able to crush them by relying on brute force while Lucky could adopt a hit-and-run approach while piercing through one helmeta after another.

"Meow."

"Yeah. I have the same feeling."

Ves knew that the Cybers had only revealed a fraction of their combat assets on the site. There had to be a lot more soldiers and mechs hiding inside an underground complex.

There also had to be at least a dozen soldiers hiding in stealth nearby.

Ves did not mind. He strode into the next chamber with confidence. Lucky floated right behind while twitching his tail in a nervous manner.

He entered a large but empty exhibition hall.

The pale white walls, floor and ceiling did not look particularly warm and inviting, but it granted a clean aesthetic that focused his attention to the few visual elements of note in the room.

A single projection was active at the center. It showed tantalizing glimpses of the various impressive sights of Bridgehead One.

From the powerful Dyson swarms and spheres that captured the vast amounts of energies generated by Bridgehead One's 12 stars to the technologically sophisticated Translocation Gate, Ves gained a sense of scale and grandeur despite not having come close to the contemporary version of the original central star node.

A single figure wearing a white-and-blue smart suit stood next to the projection.

Ves immediately recognized the white hair and glowing blue cybernetic eyes of Hugo Fournier, batch human and Journeyman Mech Designer of the Living Machine Tower.

He already guessed that he might meet with the mech designer in person during his visit to Yernstall.

It made sense as Ves often felt more comfortable when interacting with other mech designers.

Their shared background and scientific acumen meant that it was easier to pick up on each other's meaning.

They could also save up a lot of time by skipping needless explanations on concepts that mech designers already mastered.

"Professor Larkinson." Hugo's artificial voice broke the serene silence. "It is an honor to meet with you. On behalf of the Cybernetic Empire, I greet you and convey the well wishes of all of my colleagues at the Living Machine Tower. Many of them have fought hard to be able to earn this privilege, but my superiors have seen fit to assign me this role after we successfully concluded my first remote conversation with you. Come closer. Let us make ourselves comfortable."

Ves looked bemused. He stepped forward until he stood in front of Hugo.

Both of them shook hands.

The hand felt soft and warm at the touch, but Ves could easily sense the hard alloy bones underneath.

Interesting.

Ves had the feeling he could interface directly with Hugo if he possessed the right cybernetic implants.

It was a pity that his evolution as a phase lord had made that a lot more problematic.

After they completed their handshake, both of them sat down on a pair of floating chairs that materialized on the spot.

Hugo even summoned a smaller platform to give Lucky a comfortable perch.

"Meow."

Though Lucky did not hesitate to take advantage of the floating cat bed, he never ceased his observation of Hugo and the surroundings.

Since the gem cat did not voice anything of concern, Ves did not have any immediate concerns.

"Before we proceed with discussing substantive topics, I would like to present you with a gift."

"A gift?" Ves blinked.

Hugo raised his hand.

A head-sized container appeared in view. The metal box looked sturdy and was definitely made with high-quality materials.

It soon floated towards Ves before stopping in front of him. Even if the Cybers hadn't covered it up in gift wrapping, it looked incredibly inviting.

Ves spotted a simple mechanism at the top. "May I?"

"Please go ahead, Ves. May I call you that? This is your gift. You can open it at any time."

Since that was the case, Ves did not act pretentiously and manipulated the mechanism until it unlocked.

As the top split open, Ves immediately became exposed to a hefty blast of fire energy!

"Meow!"

Lucky immediately jumped into the air and adopted a vigilant posture. He stood ready to claw apart the electronic restraint and unleash his full power.

Contained within the box was a nucleus that glowed like a miniature star.

The amount of fire energy it released at this time had become a lot more muted. Ves noted that the nucleus was not a simple object.

Ves could spot obvious artificial manufacturing details.

This was an artificial fire heart.

It was the object that he had dreamed of obtaining for the Promethea Mark II Project.

Ves had actually been waiting for the owners of the phase whale fire heart to lose his patience and lower his price.

He was reluctantly willing to exchange mid-grade superdimensional matter for a modest quantity of fire heart tissue.

Right now, he forgot all about it. The artificial fire heart gifted by the Cybers met most if not all of his criteria. It was small, it was controllable but it was also capable of outputting a large amount of fire energy.

How did the Cybers manage to produce such an amazing device?

Weren't they supposed to be bad at hyper engineering?

How much did it cost to make this contraption, and how many copies did the Cybers have in reserve?