The Mech Touch (Web Novel)

Though Ves managed to drop Gloriana's objections, that didn't necessarily equate to obtaining her support.

An enthusiasm gap became evident as Ves had to take the lead over his latest initiative. Gloriana on the other hand went on to address the other aspects of the mech.

While this was not an ideal way to handle this situation, Ves was fine with it. He was fully convinced his abundance of passion would make up for any shortcomings resulting from Gloriana's absence.

"Now, let me think." He murmured. "How can I get Ancestral Possession to work?"

One of the problems he faced was that he didn't know what was possible. He needed to perform a lot of experiments in order to define what he could do, but Ves did not plan to go through all of that trouble.

His time frame was too tight. He couldn't afford to spend precious weeks to perform the necessary experiments.

"I'm also lacking in test subjects."

Mech pilots were valuable commodities. He would never subject his own Larkinsons and subordinates to his dangerous experiments.

It would be easier if he could get a batch of disposable mech pilots, but those were rather difficult to get ahold of in the Ylvaine Protectorate.

For various reasons, it was impractical for Ves to get his hands on qualified test subjects.

"I'll have to make do with educated guesswork and hope for the best." He muttered.

Fortunately for Ves, he happened to be very experienced in relying on his predictions. His combination of knowledge, judgement, intuition and a healthy dose of confidence always seem to pull him through.

This was a bit more difficult than he was used to, though. Ves was trying to accomplish something that was heavily reliant on spirituality. Ves would have to find some way of wrangling it and turn it into something that was both possible and safe.

His first steps towards making his latest vision into reality was not to tweak the current design.

Instead, he directed his attention towards the Golden Cat.

After her huge outburst yesterday, the adorable Golden Cat hid inside the Larkinson Mandate and gave in to her exhaustion.

She still hadn't finished her recovery yet, but that didn't stop Ves from attempting to wake her. He needed to obtain her cooperation in order to go any further!

"Wake up, kitty."

He concentrated his mind and gently massaged the ancestral spirit residing inside the book with his spiritual projections.

Nyaa..?

Though Ves and the Golden Cat were two separate entities, the latter consisted largely of his own spiritual energy. This gave them an inseparable bond and made them compatible with each other!

After a bit of nudging, the Golden Cat eventually bit the projection. Pure life flooded into his incorporeal existence! Though the infusion of spiritual energy was exhilarating, it also made her uncomfortable!

Ever since she turned into a living, independent entity, she could no longer accept other sources of spiritual energy without repercussions!

Ves only dared to feed her enough of his spiritual energy to hasten her recovery.

Nyaaaaa.

He succeeded! The Golden Cat soon regained her prior vigor and popped her head out of the Larkinson Mandate!

As Ves started stroking the Golden Cat's adorable head with a hand infused with spiritual energy, a pair of cats watched on from another work table.

"Miaow."

"Meow…"

While Clixie appeared as impeccable as before, Lucky was a different matter!

Though his mechanical body seemed as spotless as ever, his spirit was still at a low point. Suffering the brunt of the Golden Cat's beam attack put him in no mood to eat exotics or do anything else for the foreseeable time!

Ves didn't bother with Lucky. He only had eyes for the Golden Cat this time. After coaxing her out of the Larkinson Mandate, he began to outline his intentions.

"Can you do that, Goldie? Is it possible for you to draw out one mech pilot's knowledge, memories and experiences and impart them to another mech pilot?"

The Golden Cat tilted her head.

Nyaa?

Ves palmed his face. "You don't understand, do you? This is too complicated for a kitten like you. The spiritual network is also strange to you. Even though you have been born with all of the connections, you hardly know what you are capable of. Is that right?"

Nyaaa.

The Golden Cat rolled over on her back and exposed her belly to him. He tentatively rubbed her adorable belly, only to be batted away by her playful paws.

"Well then, let's explore what we can do, shall we? We have to start somewhere. As the guardian of our clan, you ought to be more than a passive observer."

As Ves proceeded to encourage the Golden Cat to explore the spiritual network, frustration quickly mounted.

The Golden Cat much preferred to play and fool around than to listen to his instructions!

Progress was hampered by the fact that neither of them were familiar with the spiritual network. Ves wasn't able to instruct the Golden Cat because he didn't know what he was talking about.

As for the Golden Cat, while she had been born with instincts on how to use her powers, that was still a far cry from conscious manipulation. Mentally and spirituality, she was still an infant, causing her to know little else besides what little she explored!

"Urgh.. this isn't working." He sighed.

He set the Larkinson Mandate back onto the table while the Golden Cat rolled around as if she was having fun!

Perhaps his decision to base the ancestral spirit of the Larkinson Clan on a cat was a mistake!

"That's just an excuse. The real problem is that I can't instruct her because I don't know how to achieve the desired effects."

His knowledge on spirituality was too one-sided. He was only proficient in the few methods and techniques he came up on his own. With regards to other other applications, he was still a neophyte as far as he was concerned.

Seeing that at least some guidance was necessary to educate the Golden Cat, Ves began to consider other options.

"Why not let someone else take over from me? I'm clearly not the best teacher here! There are others who can do better!"

Of the possible candidates, his mother and Cassandra Breyer immediately stood out. Ves barely thought of their names before instantly dumping them out of his mind.

Both of them were terrible witches! One of them wasn't even friendly towards him and continued to harass him from time to time!

That caused Ves to turn his attention to his design spirits.

He ruled out the artificial spiritual products because they weren't any better in this regard. As for his natural design spirits, that was when the selection became more interesting.

Two of the most notable spiritual entities were Prophet Ylvaine and Qilanxo.

The former was a bit weaker, but he was the most human out of all the design spirits. He was also friendly and easy to get along with. Imparting some human wisdom in the Golden Cat would definitely be a boon!

Yet.. Qilanxo was the better choice. She was centuries old and developed a formidable understanding of spirituality and how to mold it to her will.

What was even better was that this former lizard used to be in the same position as the Golden Cat! As the Sacred God of the ancient city of Samar, she enjoyed the worship of thousands of Blessed People and somehow managed to derive strength from these bonds!

"Besides, didn't Qilanxo impart some of her strength to the Golden Cat? They're related by spirit!"

After recalling these important facets, Ves no longer hesitated. He concentrated his mind and made contact with Qilanxo.

Her means of communicating was different from other entities. She conveyed her opinions in the form of emotional impressions.

As Ves conveyed his request, it didn't take long for Qilanxo to reply.

A wave of curiosity, interest and affection greeted Ves. The Sacred God was more than willing to teach the Golden Cat her ways!

Ves was surprised by her quick assent. Then again, Qilanxo was clearly being affected by her motherly urges. Her emotions radiated more than a bit of love and care towards the infant spiritual entity.

The fact that the Golden Cat was so young and innocent simply hit all of the right buttons!

Qilanxo didn't wait for Ves to convey any further thoughts. She readily reached out to the Golden Cat, causing the latter to stop and look up in surprise!

Nyaa?

A huge spiritual weight suddenly descended in the vicinity! Though everyone else in the design lab felt nothing, Ves and to a lesser extent Gloriana sensed something significant had approached!

"What's happening, Ves?!" His girlfriend asked from the other side of the lab.

"I don't know!"

Before they could talk aunty further, the Golden Cat disappeared!

Ves looked at the Larkinson Mandate in shock! Ever since he empowered it, the Golden Cat became inseparable to the book! It was her nest and abode and she couldn't leave it because her spiritual existence was too weak to survive in the open!

"Qilanxo! What did you do?!"

The Sacred God soon passed on another wave of emotion to him. Through the mix of affection, love, hope and determination, Ves managed to interpret it, causing his panic to subside.

Qilanxo somehow summoned to Golden Cat to her side! She also offered her protection to the younger spiritual entity and supported her existence away from the book.

Seeing that Qilanxo had no intention to harm the Golden Cat, Ves reluctantly let the matter be. He didn't know why Qilanxo went through all of that trouble, but hopefully it would help the spiritual cat grow into her power faster.

With that out of the way, Ves turned to the other aspect of his plan, the high-capacity neural interface.

Its parameters were significantly better than comparable neural interface models. It was the big boy version of the skinnier and more restrained devices on the market.

Developed internally by the MTA and dumped onto its catalog at random, the component hadn't gone through marketing at all. Its accompanying documents were filled with complicated jargon that Ves barely understood while its name was simply a string of codes.

By all accounts, the high-capacity neural interface was never meant for widespread use. Just the warnings posted on its description was enough to scare away most mech designers!

To other mech designers, the taboo of tampering with neural interfaces was inviolable. They were so intimidated by abnormal neural interfaces that they chose to skip them without ever giving them a chance!

Ves was different. He broke taboos like he was drinking water. While abnormal neural interfaces always caused him to adopt a more careful posture, that didn't mean he shied away from them entirely!

"This high-capacity neural interface is just what I need!" He celebrated. "If I had you earlier, I would have put you in my Desolate Soldier and Deliverer designs!"

With greater immersion, came better performance. The bond between mech and design spirit also grew stronger, allowing for greater interaction between the two! This meant that the high-capacity neural interface model became even more useful! Its benefits didn't end with the Larkinson mech! Ves already reserved this interface model with the other mechs that Ves had in mind!

Of course, before he did that, he needed to see this specific model in action. He also needed to verify its performance and see whether the risks and rewards were still in proportion.

Ves approached the 3D printer and fabricated a single copy of the high-capacity neural interface. After that, he proceeded to put it on a lifter platform before ordering it to be transported to the Avatars!

After leaving the design lab, boarded the same shuttle that carried the newly-fabricated component.

A short flight later, the shuttle touched down at the Avatar base. With many Avatars noticing his arrival, Ves moved to the mech stables where a number of mechs were stashed. He stepped forward with his bodyguards and the lifter platform in tow until he reached a certain mech.

Its mech pilot already stood by at the foot of his assigned mech. The man saluted Ves with vigor!

"Mr. Larkinson! It's an honor to meet you, sir!"

"Joshua. I need to upgrade your mech. Would you like to try out my new neural interface?"