The Mech Touch (Web Novel)

5780 Patience and Forbearance

"I really like living mechs, but I don't know whether I should buy them if they are based on dangerous technology."

"Professor Larkinson played us all for fools. For years, he pretended to be a mech designer, when he was actually so much more. His mother taught him well. Not only did she teach him her magic, but she also passed on her ability to infiltrate a community, only to betray it and make off with all of the spoils!"

"The more I heard about cultivation, the more I think it is evil. There are people who claim that cultivation is not all that bad, but to me it is little different from giving everyone a weapon of mass destruction. It doesn't matter if 99 out of 100 people possess enough restraint and sanity to keep their superweapons under lock and key. It only takes a single madman with no care to destroy an entire city or planet!"

Talk like this erupted all across human-occupied space. Many people from many different zones grew concerned or even alarmed at the prospect of welcoming cultivation to human society once again!

They had no idea what this stuff entailed. This caused them to latch on to the first concrete example described by Lieutenant-Commander Astrid Jameson!

Few people outside Terran and Rubarthan space questioned her credibility. The woman may look young, but she was an elite among her generation. Her expensive cybernetic implants and her impeccable fleeter pedigree increased her credibility and made it easier for the public to trust her narrative.

Most people generally did not have that good of an impression of the CFA and RF, but they could not deny that the fleeters held themselves to extremely high standards. Their competence had never been questioned by people other than Terrans and Rubarthans.

While the citizens of the former human empires had much less good to say about the fleeters, even their bias did not stop them from acknowledging that the hegemons of the Age of Mechs had earned their way to the top.

Whatever the case, the amount of people who still held a highly favorable opinion of Ves and his works had dropped by an enormous proportion.

Few people feared or hated Ves outright. They at least held enough sensibilities to not pass on the sins of the parent to a child.

Ves had also been born centuries after the fall of the Great Temple, so he was largely disassociated from the Five Scrolls Compact.

Nonetheless, who knew what his mother had taught to her son before she 'disappeared'.

It was safe to say that the ploy concocted by the Fifth Enforcement Fleet worked. Not only did they damage one of Ves' greatest weapons, his stellar reputation, they also painted cultivation in such an awful light that it would be a lot easier to push through other initiatives designed to suppress cultivation in human society!

Ves felt frustrated, angry and above all dismayed.

Intellectually, he knew that his backers probably did the best they could, but they were too few in number to stop the opposition from ramming through their master plan.

Emotionally, he felt disappointed that the people who promised to cover his back had failed him once again.

The latter was clearly an unfair assessment of the situation, but Ves could not help but doubt whether the Survivalists and Transhumanists could have done more to prevent the Fifth Enforcement Fleet from exposing his mother's ugly alleged exploits!

As Ves stewed over the unfairness of it all, Jovy approached and held his arm.

"Stay calm." The Survivalist partially echoed Sigrund's advice. "Master Goldstein has already contacted me in order to discuss countermeasures. We need to go back to our private chamber and formulate a new strategy to neutralize the opposition's latest gambit. As long as you deftly manage to resolve this challenge, you will prove that you have the ability and the competence to maintain adequate control over your living mechs. It will be much easier to avoid heavy concessions."

While his words sounded logical, Ves did not think that Master Goldstein or other people could reverse the tide of public opinion.

The damage had already been done.

Astrid Jameson had set the tone for this session by speaking first. Ves had little choice but to abide by her rhythm and work to mitigate the damage from behind.

This was hardly an ideal debate strategy. It did not focus on winning at all. Instead, it was an approach that implied that Ves had already lost, and that the most he could do was to limit the concessions he needed to make at the end.

None of that sit well with him. He was accustomed to winning and getting his way, so getting trounced this badly all of a sudden upset him way more than it should!

Once the lieutenant-commander vacated the speaking pit, Planetary Governor Rod Mergan-Castelaus rose from his pearl throne and easily managed to attract everyone's attention.

"The opposition has sought to strengthen their case by giving you a vivid example of what cultivation had wrought in the past. In the interest of fairness, I would like to remind you all that the Red Two may have verified that Professor Ves Larkinson is the biological son of the powerful cultivator known as Original Sin, she did not raise him past his early childhood. She either perished or left her family, thereby heavily limiting how much she was able to pass on to her offspring."

That was a nice message, but Ves hardly thought it mattered. Humans were far too flawed to fully embrace this logic. The bias that Astrid Jameson tried so hard to instill in the minds of ordinary people could not be dislodged so easily!

The moderator did not spend any more time and effort on addressing the many issues related to Astrid's speech.

"As I have announced beforehand, I will declare a recess so that the supporters of living mechs gain the time they need to study the declassified information and prepare a proper response. In fact, the severity of the opposition's arguments is so high that I will double the recess at the expense of taking away a speaking turn from the opposition. This will give Professor Larkinson and his allies more time to craft a thoughtful response."

What?

Ves already dreaded the break, but he never expected that the moderator would double the downtime!

This was bad!

The more people got to sink their teeth into Astrid's story and all of the other dirt that the fleeters threw onto the galactic net, the more they would fall into the Fifth Enforcement Fleet's trap!

Every hour, every minute and every second these ignorant folk spent with the Fifth Fleet's distorted narrative in their minds was another setback for Ves and his cause!

It would become a lot harder for Ves to dislodge all of the lies, misrepresentations and distortions made by the fleeters if those stories remained unopposed for such a long time!

Ves couldn't take it any longer. He ripped his arm from Jovy's grasp and deliberately took a step inside the speaking pit.

His action initially attracted little attention as people had already started to turn away.

"Moderator! Let me speak! I do not require an extended recess to formulate my answer. I already have one on my lips!"

"What are you doing, Ves?! Whatever you have in mind, don't do it! Don't fall into their trap!" Jovy urged with notable concern.

The other advisors looked concerned as well. They understood the dilemma that Ves was in at the moment, but they did not think that acting on impulse was the right decision to make in this situation!

The dark-suited planetary governor paused his retreat, but did not turn around. "You should follow the advice of your friends. You are not in the best state of mind to counter the opposition's arguments. The public demands clarity, not a show. Conduct more research. Find more allies. Refine your speech. You can still make a convincing case for your products if you make the best use of your time. I deny your request, not because I want to stymie you, but because it is for your own good. Leave, and do not return until you have cooled your temper."

Ves sneered. He could not hold in his contempt towards this entire farce and the man who presided over it anymore.

"Shut up, you corrupt bastard! You don't get to tell me what is best for me! I did not think much of you at first, but now it has become clear that you are anything but impartial!"

Many people became shocked yet again as Ves finally exhibited one of his famous outbursts once again!

However, it was questionable whether this worked in Ves' favor. He clearly sounded as if he was having a temper tantrum at this moment!

Ves didn't care. His anger and frustration had boiled over to the point where he was no longer willing to accept a passive and restrained approach.

Screw strategy!

Screw patience!

Screw forbearance!

The moderator frowned, but displayed enough control to avoid arguing against a speaker who clearly wasn't on his right mind at the moment.

"My professionalism is not in doubt, professor. Both the Red Association and the Red Fleet have agreed to my appointment as moderator. If you are in any way dissatisfied with my performance, we can continue this discussion in private."

Ves immediately shook his head at this stupid offer.

"You're not getting rid of me that easily! Why are you so insistent on hindering my attempt to defend myself?! What do the fleeters have over you that makes you so pliant to their schemes?"

The planetary governor visibly grew impatient. "Please refrain from voicing baseless accusations. If you do not immediately stop your self-destructive behavior, I will deprive you of the ability to make your voice heard in this chamber for the next several hours."

Ves completely ignored the moderator's warning!

Instead, he took another step forward and pointed an accusing finger towards the man who floated in front of the clamshell throne.

"Hahaha! I figured it out! I should have thought about it before. You are the man who is responsible for running Ector V, a regional shipbuilding center with over 98 first-class orbital shipyards! There is no way that you are able to do anything without the implicit or explicit support of the Red Fleet! I bet this is why you have subtly issued verdicts that subtly advanced the interests of the Fifth Enforcement Fleet at the expense of my own! You're either a fleeter or so deep into the Red Fleet's pocket that the distinction is meaningless!"

Instead of trying to argue with Ves further, Mergan-Castelaus plainly did as he previously warned about and activated a command that forcibly muffled all of the sound waves that escaped from Ves' throat.

For a few seconds, Ves looked frustrated as the advanced technologies of the Dragon King's Palace perfectly neutralized all of the audible sounds he made.

Rod dismissively waved his hand towards the voiceless speaker. "Please escort the muted speaker back to his private chamber. He obviously requires a time-out."

Everyone thought that would be the end of this ugly incident.

Ves could have let this be and follow everyone's advice.

He didn't. He refused to admit defeat at this junction!

The problem was that no one was willing to indulge in his desire. Now that the moderator had muted his speech, they all thought that the show was already over.

"LISTEN TO ME, GODDAMMIT!"

An eruption of noise ensued as a gigantic form suddenly appeared in the center of the speaking pit!

The sudden expansion of a human body and the powerful displacement of a lot of water had pushed everyone else in the vicinity further away!

The moderator along with everyone else became utterly shocked at what had happened!

A giant, nanosuited form of Ves had appeared in front of their eyes!

The immense size, presence and weight of what appeared to be a human phase lord completely astonished the spectators!

The sight of a human who suddenly became as tall as a mech was so new and unheard of that Ves successfully managed to capture people's attention!