The Mech Touch

Ves initially conceived of the idea of the Golden Cat through learning about Lady Curver's neural network.

To pool the minds of the mech pilots together in order to achieve greater coordination was a difficult but rewarding way to increase the battle effectiveness of a unit.

Yet humans were individuals before they were part of a collective.

Even with all of the technology available to humanity in modern times, it was too difficult and dangerous to meld the minds of mech pilots together!

Neural interface technology existed long before the Age of Mechs. Due to the risks of experimenting with this technology, successful innovation rarely took place.

Too many people when an experiment went wrong!

The MTA restricted research and adaptation of neural interfaces for a very good reason. Too many mech designers wouldn't be able to resist the temptation of messing with these sensitive components, thereby leading to a lot of unnecessary injuries and death!

This was bad not only for the offending mech designer in question, but other mech designers as well. The reputation of the mech industry and by extension the MTA would all take a very severe hit if everyone believed that piloting a mech was considered dangerous!

Right now, Ves felt as if he was messing around with something similarly dangerous.

Though spirituality was a fundamentally different field, it shared much in common with neural interface technology.

For one, any manipulation of spirituality involving human being put their lives at risk.

Seeing the Golden Cat drawing thousands of minute motes of spirituality, only to compress them all and use it as some sort of overwhelming spiritual beam attack was astonishing!

Ves had never programmed this function to the Golden Cat. The ancestral spirit seemed to perform it completely by instinct, which was strange as Ves didn't even know where it came from! It seemed the creation of life was a lot deeper and more obtuse than he initially thought!

As Lucky pitifully whined on the floor after getting hit by a strong spiritual attack, Ves continued to stare at the Larkinson Mandate as if it was the den of a sleeping dragon.

The Golden Cat was a lot more ferocious than he thought!

Though the spiritual attack she unleashed was not all that strong, its potential was pretty high. Perhaps the next time she unleashed the same attack, she might be able to kill Lucky's spirit entirely!

Naturally, she would never do so. At most, she would hold back, because Lucky was family!

"Family, huh.." He muttered.

The spiritual attack the Golden Cat unleashed at the end was not just an outburst of power. It was also an outburst of conviction. The ancestral spirit drew strength from the essence of her existing, deriving power from its meaning!

This meaning was fairly obvious now that he thought about it. Though it turned out to be somewhat boring, Ves nonetheless appreciated the Golden Cat's domain because it truly represented the heart of the Larkinson Clan!

He picked up the heavy book with appreciation and brushed his hand over the surface of the cover. The metal detail and the thick medallion depicting the head of the Golden Cat all dressed up its value.

To be frank, Ves felt as if he hadn't done enough. The Larkinson Mandate and the Golden Cat were much more valuable than he initially thought!

"So did you get an answer to your question?" Gloriana asked.

Ves continued to caress the book in his hands. "I did. The answer is rather simple. So simple in fact that I'm not even sure if it's a benefit!"

"Oh? Why is that?"

"I used to think the original Larkinson Family was all about duty, or honor, courage. We developed an obsession with service. We continued to send our mech pilots to the Mech Corps because that was expected of a Larkinson."

"So those values aren't as vital to your family?"

"Oh, they are. Hardly any Larkinson is lacking in the values I've mentioned earlier. It is just that they are not the primary motivators that make us who we are. There are deeper motivations behind the norms and values that we've adopted."

Gloriana scowled and patted Ves' arm. "Well, out with it then. Don't hold out on me, Ves. What is the Golden Cat good at? What does she embody? What is her godly domain?"

"I'm not sure how to define it." Ves hesitated. "Brotherhood. Camaraderie. Companionship. Solidarity. Esprit de corps. Fellowship. Yes, that's the word I'm looking for. It's fellowship!"

"Do you mean the fellowship of being part of the same family or bloodline?"

"Exactly!" Ves grinned. "This is the true essence of the Larkinson Family all along! Venerable Ghanso was wrong! The Larkinsons were never about doing our duty for duty's sake. It was always about advancing the interests of the family as a whole. We served in the military because it protected our family members and ensured their welfare over many generations. Fighting for family is the primary reason why so many Larkinsons are so eager to serve!"

The Larkinsons emphasized the importance of maintaining family relations to every offspring. The shenanigans and backstabbing that took place in other family organizations never happened in their ranks.

This was because each and every Larkinson constantly worked to deepen the harmony and lessen the internal tension between family members. Through various methods, the Larkinson Family always through the worst of times due to the strong commitment that the Larkinsons held towards each other!

To fight for the family was not an empty platitude to a Larkinson. It was a true expression of belief and conviction. If a Larkinson stated that he would fight for the family, then he would definitely follow his words to the letter!

Ves grinned and spontaneously leaned into Gloriana to exchange a short kiss.

Though Gloriana enjoyed the impromptu kiss, she was a bit confused as well. "Where did that come from? You're such a bandit all of a sudden!"

"Hehe. I couldn't resist. I'm just so happy I finally figured out the essence and the direction of the Larkinson bloodline! The key to strengthening our clan is to keep ourselves together and continually reinforce our fellowship to each other. A true Larkinson always sticks up to his fellow Larkinsons!"

While Ves looked excited, Gloriana began to look rather skeptical.

"You're right. It does sound rather simplistic. I can see why you are both pleased and ambivalent about this core value. It's not something that inspires strength or dread."

He sighed and brushed his palm across his face. "You're right. It doesn't seem to grant any substantial advantages, but in fact it's extremely useful under the right circumstances. Aside from making sure our clan remains united, the Golden Cat has already demonstrated a possible application! It's the spiritual network?"

"The divine network?"

"The spiritual network." Ves glowered at her for a brief moment. "What the Golden Cat had done can be split up in two phases. The second phase is rather mysterious but also direct. I don't really care about it at the moment. It's the first phase that's important!"

"How so?"

"The attack she unleashed was much more powerful than she was capable of launching. Her spiritual strength wouldn't have been able to support such a considerable beam attack. That energy has to come from somewhere, and that happens to be everyone who shares the Larkinson bloodline!"

"I see!" Her eyes lit up! "So the divine network is really useful after all! In crucial moments, it can allow the Golden Cat to gather a large amount of divine energy from many Larkinsons. It doesn't necessarily have to be employed in this beam attack you've described. It could also be utilized for different purposes!"

This was the engineer mindset towards this kind of phenomenon. Ves and Gloriana's first thoughts about the Golden Cat's attack was not to figure out how it worked, but how they could best replicate it and turn it into a concrete advantage!

However, nothing came without a price. Ves abruptly subsided a bit as he realized the price the Larkinson Clan paved to empower the Golden Cat.

What the Golden Cat just did to knock Lucky out had a lot of energy behind it. Only a tiny portion of it came from herself. She derived the bulk of the power of her outburst from other Larkinsons!

The spiritual network running through the Larkinson Mandate was not a communication network.

At this stage, it functioned more as a power network!

Connected to thousands of Larkinsons, the Golden Cat could draw upon a huge amount of reserve spiritual energy if needed. Though the Larkinsons connected to the Larkinson Mandate were unaware of what they had given up, they probably would have agreed to the Golden Cat's request anyway as long as it was used for the good of the family!

Ves became more energized after this discovery. Having a solid direction was crucial. With the insights he gained today, he would definitely be able to conceive of a way of applying this strength to his Larkinson mech!

He just needed to flesh out a lot of details.

Hours later, Ves kept doodling on a crowded design interface. He tried to come up with hundreds of possible implementations.

They ranged from forming a spiritual weapon to activating some sort of augmentation installed in the Larkinson mech.

Ves had to think over the exact implementation, but if he managed to succeed, then every mech pilot of his modular mech platform would be able to overcome insurmountable odds!

To be able to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat and to fell a challenging foe would certainly be able to make the clan safer!

"So how exactly do you plan to put this all to use in our mech design?" Gloriana asked the necessary question.

"I'm not sure. I can only say I'll try my best to find some mechanism that can do what you asked."

To be honest, the Larkinson Heart was not some amazing property. This was especially the case for a small clan that numbered less than a thousand clansmen at the moment.

The effectiveness of the spiritual network depended heavily on the amount of people connected to it. It might not be much when the Larkinson Clan was this small, but what about the future?

What if the number of Larkinson descendants ballooned? If the Golden Cat was able to demand tribute from over a million Larkinsons, then accumulating so much spiritual energy would definitely lead to an attack that might be able to fell the crew of a starship!

To be honest, Ves wasn't even sure if that was possible. He also hadn't figured out the mechanisms behind this method of attack.

All of these problems could come later. What Ves feared was that all of his creativity failed to generate good ideas.

"We should get back to working on our design. I no longer have any qualms about its missing link. We have just found a possible way to make our Larkinson mech stand out."

No matter how Ves chose to empower the Larkinson mech, it was undeniable that it relied on the spiritual network!

With the Golden Cat at the helm, Ves wasn't afraid that someone would abuse this connection for their own gains. Her primary priority was to make sure the clan became strong. The way to do so was to ration the power of the spiritual network carefully.

Her ability shouldn't be squandered!

If the Golden Cat failed to do her job, then a Larkinson might be able to abuse the spiritual network to drain the spiritual energy reserves of others!

This was a grossly severe violation of other people's rights. Not only that, it went against everything the Golden Cat stood for! The ancestral spirit would never support a Larkinson who was being reckless with borrowing from this power.

Ves found his direction. To make the best use of this phenomenon, Ves aimed to create a trump card for his Larkinson mech.

"A trump card is the best way to describe this kind of ability. Hopefully, it will only be used when it is truly necessary."

Ves had so many possible ideas. Which one should he choose?