The Mech Touch

Chapter 5790 Major Appointments

The pressure on them was immense.

They all had their own reasons to object to the creation of the Red Collective. None of them came to their decisions lightly.

These powerful and far-sighted leaders mainly objected to the proposal for two legitimate reasons.

There were a lot of old-timers who were so scarred by the damage wrought by the Five Scrolls Compact that they objected to giving cultivation a platform.

There were also mechers and fleeters who objected to turning the Red Two into the Red Three or because it would weaken their respective organizations.

Suffice to say, the fact that there is enough momentum behind the proposal that its passing seemed likely did not reassure the naysayers!

It was difficult to imagine that these strong personalities would just roll over and allow red humanity embrace change that significantly damaged their interests.

A long silence ensued after Ves summarized the vote count.

Even though it looked as if everyone froze in time, it did not take a genius to figure out that the tier 1 galactic citizens had entered into a furious private discussion.

It was not suitable for them to air their deliberations in public, so they made sure to communicate with each other without needing to worry about revealing any sensitive or confidential information.

This left Ves and the rest of the public in suspense.

Since nothing demanded his input for the time being, Ves defaulted to remaining silent while scratching Emma's lovely cheek.

Fortunately for him, he still had access to an insider.

"How is it going?" He softly whispered.

Emma squinted her eyes and began to purr.

That was enough of a signal that the secret deliberations were proceeding fairly well.

This was a fairly logical result. Even if the recalcitrant leaders had good reasons to reject the proposal, they not only had to resist the pushback from a larger group of supportive leaders, but also lost a lot of trust from the public!

Either of these downsides was enough to make these opposers more reluctant to continue to stand in the way of the Red Collective.

The prospect of incurring both was enough to turn continued opposition into political suicide!

The main reasons why the opposers still managed to drag on the deliberations for so long was because they wanted to secure a few concessions in exchange for their 'reluctant' support.

Given that the founding of the Red Collective had turned into an unstoppable trend, it was logical for the remaining holdouts to cease their futile resistance and try to extract a few consolation prizes from the victors.

Ves twitched his mouth when he figured this out. Typical. Even the staunchest ideologues were willing to be flexible with their principles in order to further their interests.

It helped a lot that an overwhelming majority of god pilots backed him up on this issue!

Aside from the hypocrite known as the First Flame, 7 out 8 existing god pilots had made it clear that it was a good idea to form the Red Collective!

Even if most Star Designers ended up on the opposite side, it would be extremely troublesome for them to oppose the collective will of so many strong-willed god pilots.

In that sense, the fact that most god pilots approved the proposal averted a potential conflict that could have torn the Red Association apart.

Ves briefly glanced in the direction of the First Flame. The physical projection burned even hotter than before, signaling that the oldest god pilot was not in a good mood at the moment!

God pilots generally did not bother to hide their emotions, so it was clear that Divine Harald Genoa formed the greatest remaining stumbling block!

Several minutes as everyone continued to anticipate a conclusion to the public inquiry that had gone completely off the rails!

In the end, the First Flame visibly expressed his frustration, but closed his eyes to signal his acquiescence.

The old fossil couldn't resist the urge to put in a final word.

"<nullb>I BELIEVE WITH ALL MY HEART THAT YOU ARE ALL LEADING RED HUMANITY INTO ITS DOOM BY OPENING THE FLOODGATES OF CULTIVATION. FEW IF ANY OF YOU UNDERSTAND THE TRUE HORRORS THAT YOU ARE ABOUT TO UNLEASH. YET… IF YOU ARE CONVINCED THAT THE ONLY FEASIBLE MEANS TO DEFEAT OUR ALIEN ADVERSARIES IS TO TURN OURSELVES INTO MONSTERS, THEN SO BE IT. I SHALL STAND ASIDE AND CONTINUE TO FULFILL MY ORIGINAL MISSION. I WILL TAKE IT UPON MYSELF TO PRESERVE THE LAST FLAMES OF THE HUMAN CIVILIZATION IN THE RED OCEAN WHEN THIS IRRESPONSIBLE EXPERIMENT OF YOURS INEVITABLY FALTERS."

The First Flame did not even bother to stick around. He withdrew his projection right after he had spat his last words.

What a sanctimonious bastard.

Ves almost sneered at the First Flame.

While it would have been more ideal if the oldest god pilots saw the light and backed the Red Collective, it was not a bad outcome for this ancient geezer to get out of the way and play with his flames in a corner.

The other god pilots certainly expressed a lot more satisfaction towards this resolution. Each of them may possess vastly different goals and convictions, but they found common cause in their desire to speed up the transformation of human society.

Before Ves could take the word again, the physical projection of the Xenotechnician rose up and attracted everyone's attention.

"We have come to a consensus. The Red Collective initially outlined by Professor Ves Larkinson will be formed. All of us here have promised to complete this enormous undertaking within one standard year. It should actually take more time to form an organization of this size and scope, but the longer people are able to engage with cultivation without proper instruction and supervision, the more difficult it becomes to bring everything to order."

That made sense. A year sounded like a lot, but it was actually really fast given how many rules, how many personnel and how much construction was needed to form a worthy rival to the existing Red Two!

A year was far too little to turn the Red Collective into an equal partner to the Red Association and the Red Fleet.

At most, the nascent organization started off with a strong foundation that would naturally grow into a mature member of the Red Three over the next few decades.

There were still limits to how much the Red Collective could accomplish in a few months or years. Ves did not dare to hold too many expectations in this regard.

The Xenotechnician continued to explain the consensus with his his friendly and reassuring voice.

"We have approved the formation of an Interim Leadership Council to formulate the initial rules, structure, hierarchy and objectives of the Red Collective. In order to meet the goal of inclusivity, we expressly invite a selection of notable leaders from the Red Two, the first-rate colonial superstates as well as a random selection of first-class, second-class and third- class statesmen to represent their citizens across human- occupied space. Aside from that, we will form a new hub on the galactic net where you can freely submit your ideas and discuss them with other interested individuals. We cannot assure you that we will accept all of your suggestions, but we can promise you that we will listen to you and seriously consider your input."

That… was actually a really comprehensive plan. It was a reasonable way to go about it, though a lot of people felt concerned whether the Red Two or the first-raters would end up dominating the discussion anyway. There were many ways for schemers to manipulate this Interim Leadership Council so that it effectively disregarded the demands of space peasants.

Still, the Xenotechnician sounded earnest enough. The god pilots definitely would not allow this process to become corrupted by special interests, especially after they promised to make it as fair as possible!

"In order to increase the efficiency of the Interim Leadership Council, we have decided to appoint the Evolution Witch as its chief councilor. She shall be invested with greater authority in order to ensure that the council makes consistent progress in fulfilling its extensive agenda. Do you agree with her appointment, Professor Larkinson?"

Why was the Star Designer asking Ves?! He was just a tier 3 galactic citizen!

"I am willing to extend my trust to the Evolution Witch. I have no objections to her appointment."

"Good. You have earned a place on this council as well. As the initiator and the original advocate of the Red Collective, we continue to value your input. Given your remarkable record, we also believe you can serve as an effective bridge between first-raters and those who live more humble lives."

At least the Xenotechnician did not refer to second-raters and third-raters as space peasants.

Though Ves still considered this responsibility to be a considerable distraction to his mech design work, it at least lasted for a year at most.

He did not bother to object to this appointment for this reason, especially when it would allow him exert a little influence to shape the Red Collective in his favor.

At least the bigshots shoved the most difficult and cumbersome duties to the Evolution Witch. She could continue to retain her high position when the Red Collective finally got going as far as Ves was concerned.

"Once the Interim Leadership Council has completed its mission and formed a complete blueprint of the Red Collective, it will officially start its operations a year later from today at most." Xenotechnician said. "We also intend to start a formal mechanism to decide on the inaugural head of this ambitious new institution. We will have to flesh it out before we can share more details, but we will endeavor to ensure that every common human citizen will be able to have a say in this decision."

Uh oh.

Ves glanced up at the audience. He could not help but notice that a lot of people immediately thought of him as their preferred candidate!

That was bad!

As much as Ves liked to be in charge rather than allow himself to be bossed around, he knew that he did not have the qualifications to lead the Red Collective.

It was way too premature for him to assume such an enormous responsibility!

"With all due respect, I am just a Senior Mech Designer." Ves couldn't help but voice his objections. "I have no clue how to lead an organization as big and as complex as this. Just because I came up with this notion does not mean I should make it work. You and every other tier 1 galactic citizen can do countless times better."

The Xenotechnician directed a generous smile towards Ves. "Do not sell yourself short, professor. This… charade of a public inquiry has exposed severe problems in how the present leaders of our society have become misaligned with the general population. We have been moving closer towards a gerontocracy where a selection of old and out-of-touch leaders dictate the lives of a large population of younger citizens. If we want to correct this obvious imbalance, then we must be more proactive in empowering members of the younger generations. Many god pilots, Star Designers and other elder statesmen have already shaped human civilization during the Age of Mechs. The Age of Dawn belongs to youngsters such as yourself, Professor Larkinson."

"...I partially agree. I think you are aiming too young, though. I am barely more than 40 years old! You should at least set your sights on a more competent leader who is over a century old. I am so young and inexperienced that I come up with the most outlandish ideas from time to time. I do not think it is wise for the rest of you to become subjected to the products of my overactive imagination."

Ves' words seemed to spread a subtle ripple of fear. As much as he had contributed to a worthy endeavor, everyone had more than enough of his creative ideas for one day!