The Mech Touch - Chapter 7029
Chapter 7029: The Living Mech Tribe
As much as Ves wanted to keep pumping Hugo for more information, the Cyber representative eventually had to end the call.
“I have reached the allotted time for this introductory dialogue.” The projection of the white-haired cybernetic man spoke. “There is clearly much more for us to discuss, but that can wait for another day. There is much that I am willing to share with you, but you should understand that reciprocity is an important principle in the mech industry and beyond. Our Cybernetic Empire has made sacrifices to buy more time for us and invested a great amount of resources in the development of our new tech.”
“I understand, Hugo. I do not think I have much to offer, but my input should still be valuable nonetheless. If you don’t want my knowledge, then I can always trade in goods such as superdimensional matter. Will you guys be negotiating with the Larkinson Clan or with me directly?”
“That depends.” Hugo responded. “If you were still the patriarch of your own clan, then this question is redundant. Now that you have apparently stepped down from office, we will have to wait and see how aligned you are with the Larkinson Clan. If it becomes clear that the two of you have diverged, then we will form separate agreements with the both of you. This is only fair as the interests of your clan will always be different from yours.”
Ves frowned. It would be difficult for him to conclude a favorable agreement with the Cybernetic Empire if he had to negotiate in a personal capacity.
He needed to work on that and make sure he could offer compelling concessions in exchange for more extensive access to CE tech.
It was clear that even if Ves possessed a strong connection to their supposed Living Machine Tower, the Cybers did not intend to open their doors to him on an unconditional basis.
At most, Ves would receive a discount and a few freebies, but that was all. The Polymath clearly did not feel generous enough to give him backdoor access.
Fine. If this is the way she wanted to play this, then Ves would play by her rules.
“I may operate more independently from the clan now that I have detached myself from my former leadership responsibilities, but I have no intentions of leaving.” Ves stated in clear terms. “My work still largely benefits my clan and not just myself. At the same time, I can leverage its resources to further my own work. I do not expect this arrangement to change anytime soon. I trust the new matriarch to handle most negotiations on my behalf, though I will have to handle any talks related to technology in person.”
Hugo nodded in understanding. “Very well. We shall continue to speak with Matriarch Casella Ingvar in matters relating to you and your work. There is one more message I wish to convey to you before we close this dialogue. We have noticed that you have collected several liaisons from the Red Three. If you are open to it and if we can reach an understanding with your matriarch, we may send our liaison to you that can further expand your escort force. I may even be selected to be that liaison.”
That sounded great to Ves. The stronger the Bluejay Fleet, the less likely his enemies could threaten his life.
Obtaining a liaison represented a tangible commitment by the Cybernetic Empire to maintain good relations with Ves.
It also made it easier for him to negotiate expedient trades and propose further cooperation with the Cybers.
In addition, the liaison would most certainly bring over at least one carrier or warship that could defend herself against most threats.
The mechers and the fleeters may not welcome the Cybers, but Ves had no qualms about adding another powerful asset to his increasingly more mixed escort fleet.
Besides, adding more competition would probably make the Red Three more honest and sincere in their own dealing with Ves.
After all, they now gained a lot more competition, and from a serious geopolitical adversary no less!
It had become increasingly more clear in the last few days that the Polymath had definitively cut ties with the Survivalist Faction and the Red Association.
The Cybernetic Empire’s actions abundantly demonstrated a profound distrust and refusal to let the Red Three retake control over the enormous wealth and power concentrated in Bridgehead One.
The mechers must be feeling incredibly betrayed by the fact that one of their Star Designers had resolutely deserted them in order to start her own little empire.
This was an incredibly damaging outcome for them. The RA not only lost a huge amount of credibility and reputation for its inability to hang onto one of their top leaders, but also suffered a massive intelligence breach!
The Polymath knew a lot of secrets and privileged information about the Red Association. She also understood a lot of exclusive technological secrets that the mechers hoarded like greedy hamsters. It would be too much to ask her to erase all of that precious knowledge from her mind.
The importance of this intelligence advantage could not be overstated. She possessed a deep understanding of the Red Association’s strengths and weaknesses. She knew exactly how its leading figures thought and how they would respond to different phenomena.
This meant that she knew exactly how to undermine and dismantle the Red Association when it came down to it. The Cybernetic Empire may have already come out of the greater spacetime bubble with a plan to break apart the mechers!
Oh well. This was none of Ves’ business. He may be close to the mechers, but he never pretended to be a part of them. If they screwed up and lost their supremacy over human civilization, then that was their problem.
“I welcome your company if you are indeed selected to serve as my liaison.” Ves politely said. “The two of us can probably gain a lot if we exchange our knowledge and ideas with each other.”
“Let us hope that we can meet each other in the flesh in the near future, professor. The decision to send a liaison to you has yet to be made, yet every eligible candidate within the Living Machine Tower is competing for this prized assignment.”
“If I can ask, how many people does that entail?”
“We have over 400 Journeyman Mech Designers who specialize in designing living mechs.” Hugo unexpectedly revealed. “They are supported by 60,000 scientists, 200,000 engineers and approximately 4 million other workers. The high entry threshold for mech designers is the main reason why the growth of our tower has fallen behind the others.”
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400 living mech design specialists!
That number may sound paltry compared to those who specialized in popular fields such as laser weapon technology, but it was an unimaginably high figure to Ves!
He had painstakingly taught classes on living mech design to the students of the Eden Institute of Business & Technology for several years now.
Not everyone was able to get the gist of his work. Of those that did, few of them were able to take the next steps and achieve a breakthrough by forming their design seeds around living mechs.
While there were a fair number of Apprentice Mech Designers that had successfully gained the capability to design rudimentary first order living mechs, that was nothing special nowadays.
Ves only recognized mech designers who committed their heart and soul to a design philosophy based on living mechs as a member of his own ‘tribe’.
According to this definition, both Alexa Streon and Hugo Fournier happened to be members of the living mech tribe.
Other mech designers that gained the capacity to design living mechs but had chosen to commit to other specializations could never become a member of his tribe.
This included people like Gloriana and Ketis.
Sure, both women could design serviceable living mechs if they wanted to, but so long as they continued to progress, they would eventually realize a design philosophy that had little to nothing to do with living mechs.
Their contributions to his field of specialization would be marginal at best. Ves did not expect any of them to be able to further the development of living mechs in any significant capacity.
These mech designers merely exploited the advantages of living mechs to complement their true specializations.
There was nothing wrong with that. Ves should applaud mech designers who were willing to adopt his values and principles towards mechs, if only reluctantly.
In any case, before the reappearance of Bridgehead One, the number of mech designers that truly belonged to the living mech tribe could be counted with a single hand.
This was why Ves felt shocked when Hugo casually revealed that the Cybernetic Empire had actually hid 400 more ‘tribe members’!
This was a game changer if Hugo did not lie!
With so many more mech designers who could design their own living mechs, Ves believed that they had definitely become a lot more prolific among the armed forces of the new superpower.
The Cybers likely made much more progress with integrating living mechs in their mech armies.
They were at least a decade ahead compared to the rest of red humanity in this aspect!
It was both good and bad that the mech industry of the Cybernetic Empire still maintained its separation from the general mech industry.
If the former started to enter the latter, then Ves would probably have to endure an insane amount of competition!
Given the importance of this revelation, Ves quickly summoned Alexa to his private design lab.
The direct disciple had already grown so accustomed to receiving orders to meet with him at random times that she did not even bother to voice her complaints anymore.
“What is it this time, sir?” She asked in a slightly tired voice.
“I just concluded an interesting discussion with a mech designer from the Cybernetic Empire.” Ves said. “I can summarize the talks, but I want you to observe and listen to a recording of our call. I could use a second perspective. I am sure you can pick up clues that I have overlooked.”
The female Journeyman sat down on a nearby chair and began to do just that. She remained quiet and kept her expression neutral as she watched the entire recording.
After it reached its conclusion, Alexa hardly looked fazed by the revelation that she had gained 400 compatriots.
“I suspected as much.” She said. “The Polymath must have recognized the value of living mechs, especially if it has led to the birth of Carmine mechs. Given the rich foundation and large population base of Bridgehead One, it does not take much capital to persuade a few thousand mech designers to specialize in living mech design, especially if it is possible to detect their affinities through inspection.”
“Are you interested in exchanging with them?” Ves asked.
“Yes. I would be lying if I said no. It will be difficult to make contact with them, however. Everyone desires to gain access to CE tech, but the Cybers have purposefully walled it off. The implications are many. I believe that one of the reasons why they are jealously guarding their advanced tech is to deny the new inventions falling into the hands of our hated enemies. The cosmopolitans cannot steal our tech if they never gained access to it in the first place.”
It sounded plausible enough to play an important factor in the Cyber decision-making process.
Due to the cosmopolitans, red humanity simply could not protect all of its advanced tech from falling into the hands of the native aliens.
What would the cosmopolitans do if they managed to enter or infiltrate Bridgehead One?
They would definitely try to steal all of the tech!
Therefore, one of the most effective ways to block them from transferring the details of advanced human tech to the Red Cabal was to shut them out of the star system!
Of course, red humanity was not any better off. Ves already envisioned that he would have to bargain with the Cybers in order to gain limited access to CE tech.
Oh well. It was better than nothing. The rise of the Cybernetic Empire was a net positive to red humanity. Sure, they encouraged the division between the major powers, but their strength was sorely needed to keep the aliens, both intelligent and insectile, at bay.
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