The Mech Touch

"Think about it, Mr. Larkinson. The distance from the closest point of the Milky Way Galaxy and the closest point of the Red Ocean Dwarf Galaxy is around 350,000 light-years. Do you think our best starships can possibly cross this immense divide in a matter of decades or centuries?"

"I am not an expert in FTL technology, so I can\'t say for sure."

"We cannot. No form of human or alien FTL technology is sufficient. The faster forms of superluminal travel are unable to bridge the enormous gap while the slower forms of FTL travel will delay our arrival by thousands of years at the very least. So how do you think we have been able to enter the Red Ocean?"

If humanity did not embark on a journey to the Red Ocean many centuries ago, then there was only one possible answer.

"A grand work."

"Correct." Dervidian enthusiastically smiled. "We are not talking about just any grand work. I cannot divulge too many details about this epoch-changing device, but it is not that big of a secret that it needs astronomical quantities of phasewater to make it work. Let me remind you that this is before we truly gained access to the Red Ocean. Do you think the Milky Way has enough phasewater to meet our demand?"

Ves shook his head. "No. Every source I\'ve read told me that phasewater is scarce to the point where most people didn\'t even know it existed before the opening of the Red Ocean. Wait, are god pilots able to create phasewater out of nothing?"

"How else did we get this revolutionary grand work to work?" Dervidian replied. "Do you understand now how much value god pilots bring to our civilization? Crossing the Red Ocean was impossible to us before because we simply did not possess the technical capabilities to reach it in a feasible manner. However, by relying on the divine abilities of our living gods, we were able to leap past our tech level and gain a capability that we were not supposed to possess. This is only the tip of the iceberg, Mr. Larkinson. Once you approach this level, you will gain the qualifications to learn more. You will truly be able to understand the splendor of god pilots at that time."

Though Master Dervidian did not provide any further examples, Ves obtained enough information to gain a much better understanding of the MTA\'s overall goal and philosophy.

Just as he figured out, the Mech Trade Association was the more pragmatic party between its other two rivals, the Common Fleet Alliance and the Five Scrolls Compact.

Whilst the latter two organizations pursued the opposite extremes, the MTA embraced the advantages of both approaches and came up with a fusion that possessed its own brilliance.

Technology still formed the base of the MTA, and the mechers did not abandon it at the top level.

Instead, the MTA did all it could to foster the emergence of god pilots. Each and every one of them presented many new technological possibilities that were not feasible in the past!

As different god pilots with different domains and specialties continued to emerge over time, the MTA became increasingly more versatile and powerful as it was able to produce more and better grand works!

Ves\' eyes grew a bit sharper.

If the MTA continued to accumulate like this over many generations, the ability for Star Designers and god pilots to produce technological wonders might ultimately rise to the point where they could potentially attain the mythical fourth rung of Senfovon\'s Ladder!

Although Ves had absolutely no idea on what such a speculative creation might look like, he could easily guess that its power would vastly outstrip that of grand works.

After all, if just a single grand work was single-handedly able to enable humanity to invade the Red Ocean, then how much more would a superwonder of unsurpassed power be able to change the lives of every individual?

Perhaps its introduction to the cosmos might truly be able to trigger a brand new age for human civilization!

Eventually, the conversation wound back to the original topic that Ves wanted to talk about.

All of this talk about grand works and Star Designers were way too far away for Ves. As much as he became inspired by all of these brilliant possibilities, it would probably take at least a century or maybe several before he could seriously get in touch with this circle.

There was no use jumping ahead when he was still a Journeyman. He had many design projects on his plate that were much more digestible to him at his current stage. That was where his true focus should lay for the time being.

"About Divine Hussain Albedo\'s power… what are the requirements to obtain his services?" Ves carefully asked.

Master Dervidian did not immediately answer. He gazed deeply at Ves for a moment before he opened his mouth.

"God pilots are not to be trifled with, Mr. Larkinson. They are busy people who have great power but even greater responsibilities. The amount of people who wish to make use of Divine Hussain Albedo abilities is extensive, and though he is a living god, he has yet to escape the limitations of time. The vast majority of people are able to enjoy their lives just fine without ever getting exposed to this option. If a child of yours does not have the fortune to develop adequate genetic aptitude, then you should direct your hopes to your other offspring. A man of your wealth and means can have as many children as you like. Eventually, one of your sons and daughters will develop the potential to become a mech pilot."

This was what pretty much every sensible parent did when they were truly invested in this goal.

Having lots of children was not that burdensome to most people as long as their jobs were good enough.

States also subtly encouraged the practice to an extent because they were more than happy to welcome more potentates in their territories.

Of course, the chances of raising a potentate was so low that most parents did not even try. They merely raised as many kids as they liked and hoped for the best.

Though Ves was leaning towards this attitude as well, he felt that he owed it to Andraste to try harder.

Unlike ordinary people, he was a brilliant mech designer and was already changing the lives of many people in the Red Ocean through his innovative products.

He would only grow more powerful and capable in the future! He did not believe that he would be unable to gain access to the Chosen Human and be able to request the impressive god pilot\'s services one day!

He just wanted to know the conditions of contracting Divine Hussain Albedo\'s help so that he could make preparations in advance.

None of Ves\' thoughts and considerations escaped the sight of Master Dervidian. The old and experienced mech designer had met so many people who held similar aspirations.

"If you are still determined enough to pursue this course, then I will not stop you. However, I suggest you brace yourself, because the requirements to get into contact with His Holiness and plead for his intervention are high. Officially, the service that he provides is called Genetic Aptitude Reparation. The minimum price to receive it is 1 billion MTA merits."

"1 billion MTA merits?!" Ves called out in shock as he lost his composure!

There was no way he could remain calm after hearing this absurd price! He had worked so hard and risked his life many times in order to scrape up tens of millions of MTA merits.

Though he was able to earn over 200 million MTA merits by trading in an astronomical amount of phasewater that he obtained at great risk during the Purgatory Campaign, that was just a one-off fluke that could not be replicated.

Unless he and his clan were able to hunt down another hidden phase whale enclave, there was no hope of plundering the thousands of kilograms of phasewater needed to earn over a billion MTA merits!

The only other viable way for Ves to earn a lot of MTA merits was to develop a lot of new innovative methods and solutions, and while he did earn a few million MTA merits here and there, the rate was far too slow for his liking!

"Before you ask, we won\'t offer any discounts." Dervidian said. "Don\'t think that 1 billion MTA merits is a great sum. This is a preferential rate that we charge exclusively towards the members and close associates of our faction. Everyone else must be willing to pay a much higher sum of MTA merits."

Ves started to feel sick.

"Are there actually outsiders who are willing to get taken advantage of by your faction to such an extent?"

Dervidian chuckled. "More than you know. Some of their children mean everything to them. It is important to note that we do not offer Genetic Aptitude Reparation to anyone. Both insiders and outsiders must adhere to numerous additional criteria."

"Can you tell me these additional requirements?"

"First, you must be in good standing with our Transhumanist Faction. You should have no problem meeting this demand, but there are outsiders who are part of groups and factions that we frequently collide with. Suffice to say, we have no desire to cooperate with them. This is actually one of the methods that we use to make friends and maintain friendly relations with different influences. A group cannot be a major faction within the MTA if it is not able to provide a unique and highly desirable service. The ability to force others to sit at the negotiating table is an essential requirement for others to take you seriously."

That was an interesting piece of information! Having negotiated numerous business deals after entering the Red Ocean, Ves keenly understood the power of leverage and possessing a desirable good or service.

"Second, gaining the approval of our faction is not enough. Since Divine Albedo must make a move in person, you must gain his personal approval. No matter how well you do in our faction, if you offend him in person or do not align with his values, he will never take action no matter how many MTA merits you are willing to offer."

Ves frowned. That sounded highly unfair. A professional organization would never allow the whims of a single person, even one at the executive level, to affect the partiality of its decision-making!

However, it was already clear that the status of the Human Chosen was incredibly high among the Transhumanists. Given how uncritical and worshipful Master Dervidian sounded whenever he spoke about the legendary god pilot, Divine Albedo practically ran the faction as his personal fief!

It was fairly understandable that this was a hard rule given the circumstances.

"So I need to make sure that I am in Divine Albedo\'s good books, is that right? How can I increase my favorability with the man?"

"Oh, that is easy." Master Dervidian smiled. "You need to make sure that your work, actions and conduct align with his goals, principles and values. Much of what you have accomplished and what you are currently engaged in already satisfies this condition."

Ves relaxed a bit. Now that he thought about it, Divine Albedo\'s goals and motivations were simple to figure out. He was famed for his pro-human sentiments. He was also a huge supporter of transhumanism and wanted as many people to transcend their mortal limitations as possible.

Of course, Ves also needed to take care not to trigger any of Divine Albedo\'s pet peeves. Anything related to helping alien races, undermining human civilization and damaging the human race as a whole would definitely get on the god pilot\'s bad side!

"Sounds simple enough."