The Mech Touch

It might not be the best idea to sleep the night during a time of unprecedented change and crisis, but the lengthy break did wonders for his mood.

The stress that had accumulated during and after the native aliens successfully pulled off their master plan had faded away.

That did not mean that Ves moved on from yesterday\'s events, but he was able to greet the new situation with a much more sober mindset than before.

His first important realization was that he was not by himself at this time.

He was still a bit too accustomed to braving different crises by himself or with the forces at his disposal.

That might be an appropriate attitude during those previous incidents, but the situation was a lot different this time!

"Every human in the Red Ocean has fallen in the same predicament!"

This included the average Davutan on the streets as well as the powerful mechers and fleeters who had a lot more powerful means at their disposal!

The increase in ambient spiritual energy could never escape the sight of the Star Designers and god pilots. They must be working hard to figure out the consequences to the people trapped in a much more energetic environment.

While that did not stop Ves from conducting his own investigations, he did not have to act as if his life and the fate of his clan solely rested on his shoulders anymore.

"I should do what I can, but not more." He reminded himself.

He already came up with many different guesses on how the altered environment might impact everything he cared about. He decided to devote this entire day on collecting data and conducting analyses.

All of his previous plans had to be put on pause until he was able to regain his bearings. He had no idea whether it was a good idea for the Golden Skull Alliance to resume the Trailblazer Expedition again.

For all he knew, the increased radiation in the Red Ocean may have made superluminal travel a lot more dangerous than before!

It was better to wait for the Big Two to announce the results of their investigations.

Fortunately, the MTA and CFA did not keep everyone waiting for too long.

"Did you hear, boss?" Gavin excitingly informed Ves. "The Big Two have just announced that they will be broadcasting a joint public address in the evening! Everyone must watch it if they can. This will be a historic speech!"

"Have the Big Two said anything about providing answers, Benny?"

"The mechers and fleeters have all maintained their silence for the time being. If they know anything important, they haven\'t seen fit to share their information with us. I think they are spending time verifying what they have learned. They cannot afford to get anything wrong in their upcoming address."

That made a lot of sense. Time may be of the essence, but the last thing the Big Two could afford to do was to act too hastily!

Once Ves digested the reports on what had happened to his clan throughout the night, he began his own investigation.

"Let\'s see if this works."

Blinky emerged from his head and began to float in the air as if he was a little purple cloud.

Just as Ves studied the companion spirit, the companion spirit also examined Ves a little closer!

It was a rather confusing experience at first, but Ves was already accustomed to splitting his focus.

Enough time had passed for the environment to have a minor but real effect on Ves and Blinky.

"You\'re growing a little faster than before, aren\'t you?" Ves guessed.

"Mrow mrow."

"The difference isn\'t too great, though. I believe the concentration of ambient spiritual energy is still too low. You will probably feel more of a difference after a few weeks or months have passed. It\'s rather strange that an increase in ambient spiritual energy can stimulate your growth. It is not as if you are short of spiritual energy."

Blinky integrated the essence of the Unending One in his stomach. Ves specially designed his companion spirit to devour lots of spiritual energy from other sources.

If it was possible for Blinky to grow stronger by absorbing spiritual energy with the right attributes, then his cat would have fed off the spiritual feedback collected by the likes of the Solemn Guardian and the Superior Mother a long time ago!

Ves would have never allowed his cat to waste so much time on remaining dormant all day!

"Maybe it is a matter of pressure." He speculated.

If a human ended up on a freezing mountain, then his body would start to shiver and become more active in order to generate more metabolic heat.

If the same human ended up in a hot desert, then his body would radiate a lot of heat and produce a lot of sweat in an attempt to cool itself down. Biologists had studied these reactions for a long time.

What was happening to Blinky and every other spiritual entity was entirely different!

The brand-new environment induced all sorts of changes to their conditions, and Ves was just barely scratching the surface of what was happening.

All he could figure out at this time was that the increasingly more energetic environment should be beneficial rather than detrimental to Blinky.

His pet theory for the moment was that Blinky needed to expend less \'effort\' in order to maintain cohesion in this new environment.

Back in the Milky Way, life was a lot harder for spiritual entities. If they weren\'t anchored to anything and if they did not have a way to sustain themselves, then they would automatically erode and dissipate!

Ves had an increasingly stronger feeling that this would no longer be the case in M87.

"Mrow mrow."

"I know. I am undergoing changes myself."

His powerful Spirituality was also taking well to the new environment. It was not only feeling increasingly more at home in this cosmic neighborhood, but it was also growing at an increased rate.

However, what was especially concerning to him was his design flame!

It was starting to burn brighter and stronger!

Ves did not think that his cracked design seed had grown stronger all of a sudden. The only explanation that made sense was that his design flame burned stronger because the more favorable environment added more kindling to the fire!

If this was the case, then Ves was far from the only mech designer to experience this particular change. Every other Senior Mech Designer would get affected as well!

"That\'s not all. The circumstances have changed for every mech designer!"

Mech design was an extraordinary profession set by the Kingdom of Mechs. Spirituality played an increasingly greater role to mech designers starting from the Apprentice rank.

What would happen if every Apprentice, Journeyman, Senior, Master and Star Designer suddenly gained a lot more access to free spiritual energy? They were bound to undergo a lot of changes!

"This applies to mech pilots as well!"

He needed to schedule a meeting with a handful of his expert pilots. He became incredibly curious to how they fared now that their extraordinary willpower had entered a much more favorable environment.

Now that he thought about it, he should check the conditions of his living mechs as well as his design spirits as well. Both of them were energy-based life forms for the most part. There was no way that both of them would remain unaffected!

"Nitaa, pass the Larkinson Mandate, please."

"Yes, sir."

His loyal bodyguard stepped closer to his desk. She removed the ancestral heirloom from her formidable combat armor before passing it over.

Ves briefly studied the cover of the heavy tome. He had updated its design by embellishing it with additional details.

He especially loved the depiction of beheading a chained phase whale with a sword.

His decision to add a stylized representation to the System Space to the front cover was not exactly wise, but he felt he needed to remind himself where he originally gained the power to grow his clan to this extent.

He wrapped the surface of the cover with treated baby puelmer leather. He originally wanted to dye it red, but he changed his mind and opted for purple in order to add a little more variety.

All-in-all, he was happy with the visual makeover, though it didn\'t really do anything to make it stronger.

This was why he made an odd expression as soon as he held the book in his hands. He could feel that it was not just sitting around anymore!

The book was actively beginning to absorb the ambient spiritual energy.

Although this process was fairly minute for the time being, Ves believed that the absorption rate would definitely go higher once the environment continued to become more filled with energies!

That was not all. The ancestral spirit resting inside the book was also doing the same!

"Goldie! Come out here for a moment."

"Nyaaaaaa-"

The Golden Cat jumped out of the book and began to cuddle her head against Ves\' cheek.

Once they completed their greetings, Ves examined the spirit and made numerous curious observations.

Just like Blinky, Goldie was doing increasingly better in an environment that was becoming increasingly friendlier towards energy-based life forms!

Ves paid special attention to the bonds that made up the Larkinson Network. He also examined the connections to the Larkinson mechs that she presided over as their design spirit.

"They\'ve become stronger."

"Nyaa nyaa."

His suspicions were true!

His design spirits were not only becoming stronger over time, but their \'connectivity\' had increased as well!

Although it was difficult for Ves to determine the changes to these stronger and more powerful bonds, he believed that it had become easier for both sides to interact and exchange with each other!

"The bandwidth of these spiritual connections must also be growing increasingly greater as well."

That had great implications for the Carmine System!

If the bandwidth of the Blood Pact expanded further, then it became a lot easier for bonded mech pilots to control their mechs without having to rely on the neural interface!

Of course, this was just a guess for the time being. Ves still needed to conduct a lot of experiments to verify his new hypotheses.

"Thank you for your cooperation, Goldie. I\'ve got what I wanted. Continue to monitor the state of our clansmen. Don\'t hesitate to inform me if you think their health is at risk."

"Nyaa nyaa nyaa."

Ves scheduled many different meetings with different people.

For example, he met with Commander Melkor as the latter arranged a new patrol schedule for the Avatars of Myth.

"Hey, Ves. Why did you come? You don\'t usually visit me, and I am sure you have more important things to do." The Avatar Commander said.

"1 need to make a quick inspection. This won\'t take long."

Ves moved closer and held Melkor\'s visored head with his hands.

"Hey, what are you doing?!"

"Stand still and let me check inside your head. I need to examine the current condition of the companion spirit seed that I have planted in your tiny spirit."

The observation confirmed one of his other theories.

The companion spirit seed acted as if it had moved from a barren patch of land to increasingly more fertile soil!

Just like any other seed planted in a more nutrient-rich environment, Melkor\'s companion spirit seed was bound to sprout a lot sooner!

Ves previously estimated that it would probably take a few years for Melkor\'s companion spirit to fully come to life.

That assessment was out of date!

"I have good news for you, Melkor."

"What is it, Ves?"

"Your companion spirit seed is developing faster than before. I am not sure when your new companion will break out, but my personal guess is that you will gain one by the end of the year!"

"That fast?!"

"The rules have changed, Melkor. Not everything about Messier 87 is favorable to humanity, but my work happens to respond particularly well to change in background radiation. I am becoming increasingly more convinced that the cosmic environment around this galaxy is a paradise for all of my works!"