The Mech Touch

"I don\'t want to watch anymore!"

Aurelia and Marvaine initially showed curiosity at what their father was about to do, but they quickly showed a lot of revulsion once their daddy dearest started to slip the skinning knife through the skin of a random puelmer ship rating!

The two children ran to their mother as if she was the only person who could offer them refuge against the bloody and disgusting sight. The cell had literally turned into an abattoir due to the depraved actions of their father!

Naturally, Gloriana couldn\'t remain silent as her husband became completely unhinged.

"What are you doing, Ves?!" She demanded.

"Isn\'t it obvious? I am skinning a decent puelmer skin so that I can tan it into a supple and high-quality exotic leather. It probably won\'t be the best grade that can be attained, but it should serve as good practice for me to practice my handbag making skills."

Gloriana raised her eyebrows. "Since when did you learn how to tan leather and stitch your own handbags?!"

"Puhleeze. My incarnation is Vulcan, remember? Even if I have never cobbled together a leather handbag in my entire life, my incarnation has learned from dozens of master craftsmen. While their finer tricks and methods that require decades worth of muscle memory may still elude me, I can easily execute all of the fundamental techniques with a high degree of expertise. On top of that, Vulcan, and by extension myself, practiced the art of leatherworking within the MSTS for many hours. I know what I am doing."

"Be that as it may, have you bothered to ask whether I want your stupid handbags? The reason why the products of fashion houses such as Hoenbach and Pop Cult are so valued is not just because they are known to use high-quality materials and excellent craftsmen. It is their brand and reputation that makes the difference! Who would I be able to impress if I carry around a shabby handbag made by my husband? Socialites would think that I am being too much of a pauper by resorting to homemade goods as opposed to proper store bought products!"

Ves grew annoyed even as he continued to skin the strangely thick and rubbery puelmer leather skin from a brain dead alien body. "Hey, don\'t discount my work before you have even seen it! I can guarantee you that you will change your mind once you see the finished product. It will be great once I apply my design philosophy to it. Have you ever heard of a mech designer who has bothered to make a high-quality handbag? It will absolutely be unique in the fashion industry!"

"NOT EVERYTHING NEEDS TO BE ALIVE, VES! I know you have aspirations to become a Star Designer, but this is taking it too far. A normal handbag works just as well."

Ves scowled back. "I am not going to let you drain tens of thousands of MTA credits from our bank account each time you are in the mood to buy a new handbag!"

"Those expenditures are strategic investments! Don\'t you know that you need to dress for success? You don\'t see me complaining when you waste valuable Unending alloy and other precious tech and materials to upgrade your combat armor."

"That is because my armor keeps me alive! It serves a very real functional purpose! On the other hand, those handbags of yours can\'t even stop a single laser beam."

"You are being disingenuous! My precious handbags are designed to help me out in the social arena, not an actual battlefield!"

As the two parents argued with each other like usual, the children slowly became accustomed to the bloody sight.

Although the ongoing skinning process still remained a disgusting process to the tender children, they couldn\'t help but develop a morbid curiosity towards the completely novel experience.

They had never experienced something so bloody in their lives!

Aurelia and Marvaine cautiously peeked out of the legs of their mother. The ongoing spectacle became a lot more tolerable to watch now that they were watching from a distance.

The only child that dared to move closer was Andraste. Unlike her older sister and younger brother, the middle child no longer exhibited any revulsion once she overcame her initial disgust.

Whether she gained her courage from her genetic predisposition or her active personality, Andraste became so curious that she even wanted to touch the skin!

As Ves and Gloriana got tired of arguing, the little girl tapped her father\'s armor.

"Papa?"

"Yes, pumpkin?"

"Why do puelmers look so weird?"

"Ah, I was just about to explain that to you all. Let me give you an early biology lesson. Since you are all living in the Red Ocean, you should know the ins and outs of each major alien race. Of all of the ones that are prominent today, the puelmers rank at the top due to one significant reason. Do you know what makes them so feared and notorious?"

"The puelmers are the most technologically advanced alien race in the Red Ocean." Aurelia neatly answered, which earned her a loving pat on her helmet from her mother.

"That\'s right." Ves nodded as he was just about to detach the last pieces of skin from the bloody meatball. "However, have you ever wondered why these small, funny-looking aliens are so darned smart? What makes them more capable of learning lots of complicated knowledge and developing such a high mastery of technology?"

"Uhhh."

That was a topic that obviously went beyond the scope of what they learned up to this point.

"The answer lies in evolution." Ves revealed. "Now what is evolution, you say? You can think of it as the growth process of an entire species. Instead of people like you and me undergoing successive transformations as we grow smarter and more powerful, there are races that continue to make small changes with every generation of offspring that they produce. Now what determines the direction of the evolution of a species?"

"Oh, I know this!" Aurelia\'s eyes lit up. "It\'s survival!"

"That is essentially true, but it is not the complete answer. What else plays a role?"

"Competition." Andraste replied with a gleaming expression. "The stronger aliens get to be alive because they beat the weaker ones."

"That is also true, but the answer is still not complete. What are you still missing?"

Seeing that his children had run out of ideas, Ves supplied them with the words that he wanted to hear.

"It is an adaptation. Well, I would have been satisfied if you mentioned the word environment instead. The point is that ball-shaped aliens with lots of creepy little arms poking out of their bodies like this one doesn\'t appear for no reason. Unless the puelmer race is an artificial creation that a bored phase whale brought to life in order to prank nature, it is environmental pressures that has caused them to evolve in this manner."

Once Ves completed the skinning process, he lifted up the bloody skin and looked at it with an appraising eye.

"Hm, the crew members of this alien ship are more elite and well-groomed than normal. There aren\'t as many scars or signs of wear and tear as I expected. This hide should be able to produce grade B puelmer leather once it is tanned."

Grade B was far more common and abundant than grade A. The small visual imperfections made it unsuitable to be used by the top fashion houses. Only lesser brands and other types of companies were willing to use these lesser hides.

"You were giving our children a biology lesson, Ves." Gloriana reminded her absent-minded husband.

"Oh, you\'re right. Where was I? Well, let me tell you about the puelmer home planet where they originally evolved from. Its name is not important. What is more interesting is that it is a harsh and unfriendly globe that is largely barren and windswept. It features heavier gravity than our standard norm and also has a harsh sun in the sky. If ancient humans were dropped onto the planet, they wouldn\'t be able to survive longer than a day. However, these smaller and weaker-looking aliens are able to thrive on the same planet. Do you know why?"

Marvaine cautiously raised his hand. "Is it because they don\'t need to eat as much food because their bodies are so small?"

"Good answer!" Ves grinned back at his son. He approached another brain dead alien body and more skillfully removed the space suit. "Look at this body shape. I know it looks ugly and abhorrent in our eyes, but evolution doesn\'t care about that. It is okay as long as it works. Now, think about what made these aliens evolve into balls instead of a more common body shape. What is the overarching advantage of having this body?"

"You can roll forward without much effort." Marvaine insightfully answered. "I already noticed when I made my Mekanos. It takes a lot of leg strength to make heavy mechs move. It\'s much easier to do so if the mechs have wheels."

"That is another excellent answer! You are thinking in the right direction, Marvaine. Evolution is a process that is similar to designing mechs. Nature or whatever else constantly tinkers with the designs of different species. Whatever works will be kept while everything else that has earned af ailing grade will go extinct. In this case, the harsh, arid, dusty and food-scarce environment of the puelmer home planet demanded a species that can move great distances to scavenge for food. It has to do so while moving under hefty gravity as well. At the same time, a lot of the terrain is rather flat and gentle. This made it so that legs aren\'t really needed to move around. All of these factors and more have led to the evolution of the puelmer race."

Different planets produced different forms of life. Nature could be quite creative sometimes and produce life forms that completely defied everything that human biologists had theorized.

"If these puelmers originally started off as hungry scavengers, how come they have become so strong now?" Aurelia critically asked.

"Ah, that is another important question. Let me show you." Ves said as he thumped the second body of a brain dead puelmer.

Without any further ado, he stabbed his skinning knife into the flesh of the alien and cut into its flesh!

"Eeewww!"

"Ewww eww!"

Blood spilled out in copious amounts as Ves essentially hacked the outer layers of flesh and other disgusting biomatter!

Ves only stopped once he exposed the brain of the puelmer.

"This is the brain and by far the most important organ of a puelmer. Due to their unusual method of locomotion, puelmer brains not only get spun around a lot, but they are also subjected to more knocks and concussions. Over many generations, the hardier puelmers have developed flexible, more resistant and more naturally regenerating brains. That has many implications, but the most important one is that their ability to absorb new knowledge and accept new paradigms is actually really impressive."

He then used his skinning knife to lift a relatively long but thin alien arm. "Aside from that, there is a second major reason why puelmers are so damn smart. Look at this noodly limb. Do you think that the puelmers can beat any creature with arms like these?"

"Even I can win an arm wrestle match against a puelmer!" Marvaine quipped.

Ves chuckled. "You may very well be right. Puelmers never developed any strong or thick arms because it requires too much energy to grow and fuel. The aliens were never meant to support their own bodies with their limbs. Their round shapes allow them to roll wherever they want as long as the elevation isn\'t too steep. The arms that poke out of the body are only there to push the body in the right direction and make sure that it keeps rolling. While that works out well enough if the puelmers want to move, these arms are really awful in everything else. These silly-looking aliens can\'t hunt their own prey nor wage war against each other. Yet they still have the desire to do both. How can they overcome their inherent defects?"

"That\'s easy." Andraste said. "They build really powerful weapons!"

"That\'s correct. Just like humans, the puelmers have come to rely on technology to enhance their combat power. The difference between us and the puelmers is that we can at least punch, kick and wrestle our enemies if we have to. The puelmers can\'t even do that. This has caused them to develop a much greater dependence and appreciation of technology. You cannot imagine how much the puelmers worship and cling to technology. This is how they have emerged to become the most advanced technological race in the Red Ocean. The phase whales may have them beat in terms of biotechnology and phasewater applications, but the puelmers excel in almost everything else!"

The three children became completely impressed by the puelmer race. They no longer took the ball-shaped aliens as lightly as before.

"Remember, kids. Every form of life can be dangerous. Even smaller ones such as puelmers may one day exceed humans if we aren\'t careful enough!"