The Mech Touch (Web Novel)

5768 The Case for Convergence

Ves actually started to feel grateful towards the opposition for putting him on the spot.

Ever since he formed his design philosophy, he never allocated too much time and attention on why he bothered to design living mechs in the first place. It was only when his critics started to challenge him in a way that forced him to offer a response that he fleshed out the aspects of his rationale that he had previously neglected.

The divergence model mentioned by Master Cantor happened to serve as the perfect target dummy for Ves. He could beat it up in any way he liked in order to make his point.

The simple visuals he used to illustrate his point only hammered home his message. Pretty much all of the people who listened to his counterargument began to view the divergence model in a less flattering light than before.

Ves gestured towards Lieutenant-Commander Astrid Jameson, who was sitting further apart than the rest of the speakers.

The woman did not retreat from the session entirely after she had been prohibited from speaking for the rest of the day. She had already made her point. She wanted to witness how well her revelation managed to undermine Ves' arguments.

Unfortunately for her, the information she shared to the public had become one of the best weapons for Ves to launch his counterattack!

"In order to further recognize how the divergence model has been coddling us for over four centuries, let us consider the information disclosed by the speaker from the Fifth Enforcement Fleet. Her initial revelations are correct. Cultivators exist, and they are able to wield great and unusual powers. However, I have already explained to you all that all high-ranking mech pilots and mech designers are cultivators by definition. We are simply more advanced and modernized than the more ancient and flawed varieties. Let us combine these facts with the one of the stated purposes of the mechers, which is to develop better technologies to stimulate personal human development. They liked to contrast their goal with that of the fleeters, who want humans to change as little as possible and rely entirely on technology to do all of the heavy lifting. Doesn't that sound familiar?"

There was no need for Ves to mention the obvious similarities. The ironic smile on his face already made it clear that he thought that the divergence model aligned far more with the Red Fleet than it should.

"The main point I want to make by mentioning all of this is that the Red Association is an organization that is mainly centered around cultivators. It may not be obvious on the surface, but if you study the MTA and RA's rules, history, notable leaders and more, you will realize that the mechers have done everything they could to promote the emergence of as many god pilots as possible. There is nothing wrong with this goal in my opinion. God pilots are the strongest individual combatants to ever exist. Their ironclad principles and their strong willpower makes them virtually incorruptible. They are living proof that cultivators, or at least the limited selection of approved variations, are beneficial to human civilization."

There was practically no one outside of the Red Fleet who dared to oppose the existence of god pilots. Operation Night Jazz had further cemented the crucial role that god pilots played in holding back the powerful leaders of the Red Cabal!

Ves gestured his arm towards the familiar projection that showed a mech being piloted by a human.

"Now let us think how this ties to the divergence model. The goal of the Red Association has never been to wrap human mech pilots with the strongest possible technologies imaginable. That makes the organization no different from the Red Fleet. The real purpose has always been to promote the development and evolution of the mech pilot."

The projected mech began to explode in power as it simulated the apotheosis of the mech pilot.

"Once the soldier becomes an expert pilot, he has transcended his mortal limitations and taken his first true step into cultivation. The journey to ace pilot and eventually god pilot is long, dangerous and challenging, so much so that the vast majority of pilots never make it to the end. Yet as long as a handful of people can cross the ultimate barrier and ascend to godhood as a pilot of a powerful machine, it is all worth it in the end."

This was the dream of almost every mech pilot. That did not necessarily mean that these soldiers and warriors had the guts, courage, discipline and conviction to throw themselves into this exceedingly difficult trajectory, but it was rightly celebrated as the most celebrated aspiration of their profession!

Ves turned away from the guests and faced the opposition.

"Master Cantor. Earlier, I gave you the courtesy of answering your questions. I expect you to do the same, even if the subject is related to true mechs."

The old Mech Supremacist maintained a neutral expression as she attracted a lot of attention once again.

"You may ask, but you are not guaranteed to receive an answer. I have an obligation to remain silent if you demand any answer that relates to information that I am not permitted to divulge."

Ves already expected such a response so he quickly moved forward.

"Alright. Let me ask you this. Are pilot breakthroughs desirable to the Red Association?"

"They are." Master Cantor had no problem with this question. "Our principles have always been to leverage human technology to facilitate human development in a controlled manner. The fact that the Mech Trade Association has been able to produce over a hundred god pilots is proof of our success."

"Okay. Do true mechs promote or inhibit this goal?"

This time, the old woman did not offer a reply. She simply remained silent, making it clear that the question had touched into forbidden territory.

Ves began to smirk. She had fallen for his trap. A silent opponent was a defenseless opponent. He could think of several ways to exploit her current behavior!

"Let me give you my guess if you are unwilling to offer clarification. It is well-known that mech pilots are much more likely to trigger breakthroughs when they are emotionally stimulated. The stronger their emotions, the greater the probability that they can exceed their limits. They must be completely invested in the battle. They must experience the pressure of death, the fear of loss, the hope of victory and the love for their fellow comrades. Any experienced mech pilots will attest to this. Given how emotions play such an immense role for the evolutionary development of mech pilots, why do you insist on stuffing them into these so-called 'true mechs' that are explicitly designed to leverage their emotionless logic engines as a source of strength?"

"..."

"I may be wrong on this, but my educated guess is that true mechs contradict one of the central principles of your own organization. Rather than strengthen their mech pilots, they freeze their development instead. It becomes exponentially more difficult for humans to break through while their emotions are deliberately muted, blocked, dampened or interfered with by their own true mechs. Perhaps it is worthwhile for mech pilots to sacrifice their long-term development in exchange for instant protection against looming threats of a different nature, but is this truly what the mech industry aspires to make?"

"..."

"Let's face it. A true mech is just a fancier suit of combat armor. It can protect people from a greater variety of threats, but it does nothing to promote the development of mech pilots. While there are situations where the availability of true mechs can contain the threat posed by cultivators, it is not a true solution. It is not as if you can permanently keep mech pilots within the cockpits of their true mechs. Once these individuals shut down their machines and hop outside, they revert to their normal human selves, and become just as vulnerable to metaphysical attacks as before. Don't you agree, Master Cantor?"

"..."

Ves smirked wider. "Ordinary mechs are hardly better. While it is true that mech pilots are able to break through when piloting the mechs that we have used during the Age of Mechs, in my opinion these breakthroughs took place in spite of the divergence model, not because of it. The deliberate effort to keep mechs and humans as far apart from each other as possible is decent if there is no better alternative, but that is not the case anymore."

He turned away from his silent opponent and began to replace the previous projected images with one that depicted a mech pilot and a Fey Fianna.

The Fey Fianna was his strongest bestseller at the moment. Its value proposition was amazing and its utility had expanded a lot after the release of a lot of useful fey.

Many Fey Fiannas had also evolved into third order living mechs as of late, so it was the machine that the public recognized the most as the subject of the public inquiry.

"Let me explain to you all why my convergence model is better. First, the mech is alive, which means that it can grow in a similar fashion to a cultivator like its own mech pilot. That means when the two different elements work together, they derive the same degree of growth from their experiences. The mech will be able to keep up with the growth of the mech pilot, thereby making it less likely that the former will hold back the latter. While there are no obvious statistics that living mechs have produced a greater proportion of breakthroughs when compared to normal mechs, I believe that this is because not enough time has passed for third order living mechs to show their actual worth. You should wait a few years. I strongly believe that the pilots of third order living mechs will be able to break through at a distinctly higher rate!"

If this claim was true, then living mechs would definitely be able to beat true mechs in popularity!

"I object!" Master Cantor could not remain silent at this time.

Planetary Governor Rod Mergan-Castelaus nodded towards the speaker of the opposition. Even the moderator thought that Ves had gone too far.

"You may offer a brief rebuttal."

"Thank you, governor. I would like to inform the public that Professor Larkinson's latest statement is an unsubstantiated claim that has no proof or strong theories behind it. Neither theory nor empirical data can add substance to his spurious claim. The public must remain vigilant of claims made without sufficient backing. Science is based on facts, not guesses. The inventor of living mechs may be right, or he may be wrong, but in the absence of any solid arguments, it would be wise to disregard his latest statements and maintain a skeptical mindset."

Ves snorted at her rebuttal. "That's rich coming from you. The Red Association claims to uphold the principle that technology must promote human development, yet you cling to an inferior theory like the divergence model as if it is the center of your religion. My convergence model may be a lot newer and not quite tested, but it has at least been able to maintain parity. You are also wrong about one of your claims, Master Cantor. I do have a solid theory that explains why living mechs are much more capable of promoting the development of their mech pilots. It is just not a theory that can be found in any contemporary science textbook."

This must be good. Everyone who paid attention to the public broadcast deeply wanted to know about this mysterious new theory.

"My mother, yes the one that was once a part of a group of really powerful individuals who ruled from the shadows, once taught me about cultivation. To be more specific, she taught me about how people can cultivate by deeply bonding and using a powerful object. This is called artifact cultivation, though I am sure that there are other terms for it as well. The point is that people can grow stronger in mysterious ways if they leverage the strength of their bonded artifact as a source of growth."

None of this was new anymore to Ves, but his casual revelation excited and intrigued a lot of ignorant people!

"Now I am sure you can predict where I am going with this. The convergence model is based on the rules and mechanisms of artifact cultivation. While a normal mech pilot will not be able to derive much growth from a mech that remains weak and stagnant all of the time, one of my customers will always be able to make faster progress when piloting a living mech that also grows over time! This is why I believe beyond a shadow of a doubt that once the pilots of my third order living mechs have fought for a while, they will break through at significantly higher rates! That is because they are practicing artifact cultivation much more effectively than the pilots of other mechs!"

The moderator gave Ves a stern stare for repeating the same spurious claim, but it didn't matter.

Even if Ves was unable to deliver any hard proof, his narrative and logic was so strong that people were more than willing to embrace this theory, if only to satisfy their long-cherished hope of breaking through one day!