The Mech Touch

"Nyaaaaaa."

A radiant sun appeared on one side. The Golden Cat and the patron of the Larkinson Clan had arrived!

Many living mechs stood up from their seats and raised their arms or any other limbs in respect of the personification of the Larkinson Clan!

Although she was not tied to every living mech, her crucial identity along with her close connection to their progenitor caused her to become a friend to each of them. The warmth and love she radiated could cheer up every artificial heart!

The Golden Cat's connection to a growing number of clansmen had caused her to experience a lot of growth over the years.

She had access to both quantity and quality as over half a million Larkinsons including numerous expert pilots and Journeyman Mech Designers each contributed a minute quantity of spiritual feedback each. This added up to quite a lot of resources, especially over time.

Nonetheless, Goldie was not the sort of spirit to throw her weight around. Her current manifestation maintained her tiny, cat-sized proportion and made her seem extraordinarily disarming.

This event was all about the living mechs. She only came as a guest and it was not appropriate for her to outshine the others.

She waved her cute little paw in greeting before settling down on a regal-looking couch.

Moments later, another spiritual entity manifested within the Anima Hall!

The living mechs who all remained standing looked a lot more respectful than before.

If Goldie was their friend and patron, the latest arrival evoked a greater sense of devotion.

In the absence of their progenitor himself, Vulcan was the next best individual to look up to for these living mechs.

As the so-called God of Dwarves, Mechs and Craftsmanship, Vulcan's domain partially encompassed their existence.

This manifested in many different ways, one of which was the formation of an inbuilt connection between every living mech and the spiritual entity.

It was extremely easy for the mechs that had been given life to worship Vulcan. Even if their designers never intended for them to adopt any faiths, they were capable of doing so, just like any other intelligent life form.

That said, living mechs were so new at this religion and faith business that they had yet to define any solid rules and customs about this part of their lives. Many of them took vastly diverging approaches towards their own beliefs depending on how much faith they inherited from their human partners.

This was yet another reason why the Anima Order needed to exist. There were too many living mechs who were making random decisions without any sense of order or regularity.

While that was fine in the short term, the more far-sighted machines could already foresee that this would create terrible faults in their society.

The Vulcan Empire was the prime example of how a state that emerged from a band of thoughtless ruffians could grow into a dysfunctional society.

Whether living mechs should even revere Vulcan as their god was still in contention. The more secularist living mechs heavily disagreed with the ones that possessed a more flexible view towards reality.

When Vulcan fully manifested at the front of the Anima Hall, the incarnation of their progenitor lifted a single hammer in greeting.

After that, he planted his dwarf-like body onto the sturdy, dwarven-style high-backed seat.

Neither Goldie nor Vulcan were meant to take an active part in the proceedings, but they were already doing much for the living mechs.

By witnessing what was about to take place, they added legitimacy to it all. Their presence conveyed silent approval and acquiescence from the clan and their progenitor.

This was important as none of the living mechs wanted to convey the wrong message. They weren't planning to rebel or divest themselves from humanity. They just wanted to unite their voice and build an organization that could add more structure to their lives.

Venerable Joshua raised his hand. "Quiet everyone."

The living mechs all obeyed the voice that rang throughout the entire length of the hall.

"Thank you for your attention." The floating expert pilot said. "We are gathered here today to advance your group and found an order that you can call your own. After so many years of fighting and living, you have more than earned the right to form your own club. The Anima Order shall be your family and your cage. While none of you will agree with every change that happens as a result of its founding, I hope that you will always remember that it is better to stick together than do everything alone. That is a lesson that I have been trying to learn as well."

The Quint, the Everchanger and the Minerva all stood respectfully in front of Venerable Joshua. Each of them were about to play an important role in what came next.

Venerable Joshua continually looked at all of the living mechs that were eagerly hanging onto the words of a human. It gratified him to see that despite all of their differences, they still held a favorable opinion of humanity.

As a human himself, Joshua knew quite well how most of his kind treated other races poorly. Aliens were almost always painted as rivals, existential enemies and victims to be exploited.

Although the cosmopolitans had tried their best to propagate an alternate means for humanity to grow and integrate into a galactic society, it was too bad that they had made too many crucial errors and misjudgments to remain in the mainstream.

Now, cosmopolitans and their tarnished ideology have become taboo in human civilization of today. This was a deeply regrettable development to a sympathetic individual such as Joshua.

This made it even more important to set the right tone today. Though living mechs had the advantage of starting out as tools and partners of humans, they could easily be grouped in the same category of aliens if they made the same mistakes!

"Each of you bear a responsibility as living mechs." Venerable Joshua spoke up again as he tried his best to convey the gravity of their actions with the speech he had prepared with the help of the Everchanger. "You exist because of humanity, and you always have an obligation to fight on our behalf. It is in service that you will advance the status of your kind. It is my hope and dream that you will be able to live openly alongside humans as equals, but that day is far away."

Many living mechs, including much of the second order ones, yearned for a more comprehensive life. They were so envious of their human partners for being able to roam around and interact with different people and locations. Their lives were so much fuller than that of machines that had yet to build a complete society.

They still had too many shortcomings.

Venerable Joshua grimaced as he spoke his next words. "Humanity is not ready to embrace living mechs. There is no precedent for machines such as you to earn the right to coexist alongside humans as their equals. It will take a lot of time and effort to get to this point, but until then you need to lay low. Each of you must pledge an oath today to keep any word about the Anima Order a secret from humans who aren't involved already. You must promise to everyone here that you will not divulge its existence from anyone, including the mech pilots that you are paired with. As friendly as they are, it would be devastating if the more insecure members of the MTA learn about your new order."

The living mechs that were smart enough to understand the Mech Trade Association all harbored plenty of dread towards this organization.

It was rather strange. The MTA sounded as if it should be the first organization to stand up for living mechs, but the reality was probably the opposite.

The mechers predominantly held pro-human stances. They tolerated no rivals that could pose a threat to the dominance of humanity. Uplifting another race, even one as useful as living mechs, was fraught with peril!

Joshua hated it. He hated his inability to follow his heart and openly defy the MTA. Not only would the mechers take him into custody in an instant, but he would also implicate Ves and the Larkinson Clan in the process.

He could not afford to follow and espouse the ideals that he resonated with because of the oppressive dominance of the Mech Trade Association.

This was why he cherished this moment. Helping all of these living mechs set up the Anima Order and gaining limited permissions to integrate more into human society was his way of making a positive difference in the cosmos.

His wife and the other people who advised him were all right. If he could not fulfill his greatest ambitions right away, he could still follow his ideas by completing smaller and more bite-sized goals.

He began to smile as his will and spirit resonated with joy at what was about to come. He raised his arms as if he wanted to hug each and every living mech that was hanging at his word.

"We are making progress. Step by step, the Anima Order will better the lives of your fellow living mechs. Hopefully, the changes will also help you earn the trust and appreciation of humans across the galaxies. Be mindful of your behavior and make your decisions carefully. It is easy to earn the mistrust of humans, but I am confident that none of you will disappoint your fellow kind. The destiny of your race rests upon your shoulders! Do your best to fight for a future for living mechs!"

The thousands of living mechs all began to clap as they took the expert pilot's speech to heart. The metallic sounds of collision thundered all across the hall, making it seem as if they were under constant bombardment.

Once the clapping subsided, Venerable Joshua floated upwards and stopped before the giant throne.

"This is the part where you need to decide upon a leader who can represent your interests and make decisions on your behalf." He said. "You can decide how you want the Anima Order to be run, but at the start you will need a living mech who can cut through all of the noise and get things done. Originally, one of your kind was supposed to serve as this decisive leader, but that is not possible anymore. We have no choice but to let another living mech inherit her mission and make her dream come true."

Many living mechs bowed their heads in respect for the late Shield of Samar.

She was by far the most political mech among them all. The strong influence of Venerable Jannzi had bled through so much that the Shield of Samar started getting engaged in matters that none of their kind had even begun to consider!

Her strong opinions and her advocacy made her into the best possible candidate to lead the Anima Order, but unfortunately her 'death' had made this rather inconvenient.

Venerable Joshua actually didn't mind too much. If Venerable Jannzi was any indication, the Shield of Samar would probably be just as bad!

He liked the three candidates that were in contention right now a lot better.

Though there were more living mechs that had expressed the ambition to lead the Anima Order, the three that were left held the greatest qualifications.

Each of them were popular, opinionated and earned the respect of their fellow living mechs.

Not even Joshua could make his pick among the three. They all had their good points, though he had learned that one of them happened to be a favorite among a lot of living mechs.

Still, anything could happen in the next moments, so he did not dare to make any judgments in advance.

"Now, let us begin the first election of the Anima Order!"

Only one living mech would get to sit on the highest throne today.