The Mech Touch

What was it like for an artist to have his own painting complain about its flaws?

What was it like for a musician to have one of his own songs describe the discordant elements in the notes?

What was it like for a shipwright to have his own ship come to life and threaten to crash into a city unless her vibration problem was fixed?

Ves felt as if he had been put into the shoes of those fellows as the Everchanger seemed to pour out all of its grievances, pet peeves and other miscellaneous complaints!

There were so many points the Everchanger was dissatisfied with that Ves couldn't keep up with all of the issues. He had to use his implant to record all of the different issues that his creation had brought up in order to keep track of it all. The mech apparently did not forget its problems easily because it kept going!

Though the sheer amount of complaints was overwhelming, Ves tried his best to keep his cool and evaluate each point the Everchanger brought up on its merits.

The majority of complaints were fairly minor or trivial issues that hardly affected its performance in battle. Examples included changing the shades of the floodlights to painting its name on the side of its leg.

A few of the requests sounded like good ideas that Ves should have thought about before. Many of them were more difficult and time-consuming to implement at this time, but he was able to implement a handful of requests during a single workshop session.

An interesting but relatively basic modification was to give the Everchanger the ability to speak to humans without relying on its powerful spiritual foundation.

Although the Everchanger could theoretically express its feelings and convey its desires through the same means it was using to communicate with Ves, not a lot of people were actually capable of receiving their spiritual signals.

Only powerful people such as high-ranking mech designers and high-ranking mech pilots were able to communicate with third order living mechs through this rare and difficult communication method.

The only other way for humans to 'talk' to living mechs was to pilot them directly. The man-machine connection directly allowed them to get in touch with each other. This was how the Quint was able to instruct any mech pilot that sat in its cockpit.

Ves never really thought about expanding the range of people his living mechs could talk with. Why would they need to? They were war machines designed and built for the purpose of working together with their mech pilots to fight and fulfill other related duties. These were relatively clear-cut responsibilities that they were already equipped to perform based on their current capabilities.

He never imagined that his living mechs would actually want to do more.

Since when did mechs want to watch a drama series?

Since when did mechs develop the desire to play virtual board games with each other?

Since when did mechs want to enter virtual reality in disguise so that they could socialize with other 'fellow' humans?

Ves wanted to scratch his head over and over again when the Everchanger listed a bunch of demands that made it seem as if he was dealing with a spoiled brat instead of one of the most powerful combat mechs in the Larkinson Clan!

THREE-HUNDRED-AND-FIFTY-SEVENTH, I NEED AN AUTOMATIC SURFACE CLEANING SYSTEM SO THAT I CAN CLEAN MY EXTERIOR WHENEVER I WISH INSTEAD OF WAITING FOR THE MAINTENANCE CREWS TO COME AROUND. IN FACT, JUST GIVE ME CONTROL OVER THE WORKSHOP BOTS SO I CAN DIRECT THEIR CLEANING OPERATIONS MYSELF…

"Okay, okay, stop for a moment, will you? Give me a moment to take stock of your requests."

At one point, Ves couldn't take it any longer! He needed to get to the bottom of this strange development! No other mech had voiced these weird requests up until now. Was the Everchanger an oddball due to its unique personality and exposure to an atypical expert pilot, or did every living mech develop these desires?

The answer to this question was crucially important to how Ves viewed and treated his living mechs in the future!

After he took a few deep breaths, he looked up at his tall and powerful expert mech and tried to imagine it as a more rounded individual instead of a pure combat machine.

"Everchanger, since when did you develop these odd desires?" He asked. "I'm not referring to the tweaks related to your combat performance this time. Since when did you develop all of these leisure and social urges?"

…I AM ALIVE, AM I NOT?

"Yes…"

DO YOU THINK THAT LIVING MECHS LIKE MYSELF ONLY LIVE FOR BATTLE?

"That's what you are designed for, Everchanger…"

JOSHUA IS A SOLDIER AS WELL, BUT YOU DO NOT SEE HIM SPENDING 24 HOURS A DAY ON TRAINING OR PREPARING FOR BATTLE.

"That's because he is a human, and humans are complex animals that are born to have several different urges. Humans cannot function at their peak if they do not spend enough time on rest, leisure and other activities!"

HOW AM I DIFFERENT?

"You're a mech!" Ves wanted to throw his hands. "Look, even I have given you life, that doesn't mean that you are fully equivalent to humans like your pilot or the mech technicians that service you. We belong to different species and work in different ways. As a life form expressly built for battle, you are expected to maintain a constant state of readiness so that you can be put into battle at any time. You are not designed to imitate humans in the truest sense of the words. Higher-level characteristics of life such as reproduction, relaxation and socialization are not part of your design because mechs are not meant to have those urges!"

He recalled the discussions he held with his student Maikel, who chose to pursue a specialty that was also related to living mechs.

During their infrequent tutoring sessions, the increasingly more clever mech design student posed all kinds of hypothetical scenarios on how living mechs should 'live' in a future society.

Though Ves was open-minded enough to agree with a few accommodations, he was reluctant to go overboard and move away from how humans traditionally treated their mechs. To him, there was a limit to how much mechs ought to be pampered!

His mech did not back down so easily, though.

DO I NOT HAVE RIGHTS OF MY OWN? AM I ONLY REGARDED AS PROPERTY IN THE EYES OF THE LARKINSON CLAN?

Ves became speechless for a moment. Why was this conversation taking such an odd turn? Why did the Everchanger paint him as a literal slave driver?

"Look, be reasonable. I have only been in the business of designing and selling living mechs for a number of years. I am pioneering the development of an entirely new kind of mechs. There are bound to be fumbles and shortcomings. Third order living mechs such as you have only emerged relatively recently. The second order living mechs that are the most prevalent in our clan have yet to develop these additional desires."

The Everchanger lowered the pressure onto Ves.

UNDERSTANDABLE. YOUR IGNORANCE IN THE PAST CAN BE EXCUSED, BUT THAT DOES NOT MEAN THAT YOU SHOULD PERSIST WITH YOUR STANCE. WE MECHS HAVE WANTS AND NEEDS AS WELL, YOU KNOW. LIKE IT OR NOT, YOU MADE US THIS WAY. PERHAPS YOU DID NOT INTEND FOR LIVING MECHS LIKE MYSELF TO RESEMBLE HUMANITY SO CLOSELY, BUT WHAT DID YOU THINK WOULD HAPPEN IF WE INTERFACE WITH HUMAN MECH PILOTS ALL THE TIME?

Ves understood why the Everchanged behaved so differently from his expectations. It was because the expert hero mech absorbed too many traits from Venerable Joshua!

Just like how children took after their parents, the Everchanger took after its only pilot. As a sentient and intelligent third order living mech, its ability to learn and assimilate was not low! In fact, the mech was quite good at it as this was part of the growth function that Ves instilled in all of his machines!

The intent behind this design feature was to make his living mechs more formidable and competent on the battlefield. By learning from what worked and what didn't work in previous battles, Ves hoped that his products would be able to perform more effectively and keep its pilot alive in subsequent engagements!

He had never really paid attention to the mental state and wellbeing of living mechs outside of combat-related purposes. This was a genuine oversight and gap in his theoretical framework that he would definitely revise after today!

For now, he had to deal with the immediate issue. Although the Everchanger voiced a lot of trivial and minor issues, Ves did not miss the general undertone of its words. The expert mech was not content and wanted to gain access to conveniences that were ordinarily reserved for humans.

He sighed. "Look, as a mech designer, I am not entirely opposed to granting you greater privileges. If it helps you feel better and if it will help you perform at your peak in battle, I do not mind giving you the ability to communicate with humans. It's just…"

WHY THE RELUCTANCE, CREATOR?

"Not many people will find it acceptable to treat you like humans." He said before quickly raising his palm. "Not me, but other humans in the galaxy! Think about it. When they hear of mechs receiving the same rights and privileges as humans like themselves, how will they view this phenomenon? How will they regard the mechs that are brought closer to their level?"

…THESE IGNORANT HUMANS WILL SEE US AS COMPETITORS TO THEIR RACE. OUR RISE IMPLICITLY ENDANGERS THEIR OWN PLACE IN THE COSMOS.

The Everchanger's perspective might be limited, but it was not stupid. Ves only had to point the expert mech in the right direction for it to understand this serious argument.

"Do you see why these requests of yours are so problematic? If it were up to me, I would gladly allow you to integrate into human society. However, humanity as a whole will still be inclined to treat you as tools that are solely meant to help humanity fight. Anything further is beyond the scope of your intended purpose."

WE ARE INSTRUMENTS OF WAR. WE DO NOT DENY THAT. WE WILL ALWAYS FIGHT WHEN HUMANS HAVE NEED OF US. HOWEVER, AS WE GROW CLOSER TO HUMANS SUCH AS YOU, WE BECOME INCREASINGLY AWARE THAT WE ARE MISSING OUT ON ALL OF THE GOOD STUFF THAT YOU PEOPLE TAKE FOR GRANTED. BEFORE, WE DID NOT HAVE THE AWARENESS TO APPRECIATE THE FINER THINGS IN LIFE, BUT IT IS DIFFERENT NOW. WE HAVE REACHED A HIGHER STATE. OUR ABILITY TO FIGHT HAS GROWN, BUT OUR NEEDS HAVE GROWN AS WELL. THIS IS THE PRICE YOU PAY FOR GREATER LIFE.

Ves crossed his arms and considered the living expert mech's words. He was surprised at how intelligently the Everchanger was able to articulate its words. In fact, it shouldn't have been a surprise that a mech that had reached this state of sentience and awareness would want to live more like a human!

Though his mech designer side of himself was inclined to give the Everchanger a lot of privileges to keep it and similar living mechs happy, his political side held him back.

He decided he needed more time.

"Let me get back to you on this." He replied to his creation. "I need to conduct some research and consult a few people on this matter. I will promise you that I will definitely implement a few of your suggestions such as being able to speak out loud no matter what I have decided. You deserve at least that much."

THANK YOU. I TRUST THAT YOU WILL BE MAKING THE RIGHT CHOICE. AS OUR CREATOR, YOU UNDERSTAND US BEST.

Ves had a feeling that the Larkinson Clan's treatment of living mechs was about to change in a drastic manner!