The Mech Touch

Ves had to interrupt his schedule in order to figure out how to manipulate Permanent Mimic Arcutuleum Platinum without causing the material to grow softer, harder, heavier or lighter during the process!

Since the System hadn't been kind enough to provide him with a complete report on all of its properties, Ves had to figure out how to inhibit the mimicking behavior by himself.

He conducted many experiments on the spot.

He found out that the mimicking ability of Permanent Mimic Arcutuleum Platinum only worked on solid materials. Gasses and liquids didn't produce any reactions as far as he could tell.

One of his most important discoveries was that his sample had more trouble with mimicking the properties of more powerful materials and exotics.

"The more work it has to do, the less it is able to transform itself."

It was as if Arcutuleum Platinum only had a fixed pool of energy to fuel its mimicking process.

He found out that it could completely mimic the properties of ordinary bronze and steel due to their simplicity, but only transformed to a moderate degree when it came into contact with Unending alloy.

"I see. The best way to work with this material is to use a tool made out of material that is too powerful for it to mimic."

The Workshop of Creation might be great, but it didn't offer any tools of that level.

Ves experimented with other materials to see whether the mimicking ability was as universal as it suggested.

He found out to his amazement that it was able to mimic non-metallic materials such as paper or plastic. This almost caused his sample to crumble because it had become a lot more fragile all of a sudden!

What was even more surprising to Ves was that it could even mimic organic materials to a degree!

When Ves pressed his naked finger against the sample, he immediately felt as if he was touching another part of his body that just happened to be cold!

"Damn, this is creepy!"

It didn't make sense. He could see why the incredibly versatile mimicking ability made Permanent Mimic Arcutuleum Platinum so useful, but how could anyone exert control over its functions?

It would have been great if it was mimicking a powerful or useful material, but anyone who wanted to ruin it simply had to push an ordinary rock or tree leaf against its surface to make it fragile!

"I don't believe that the developers of this material are able to tolerate such an obvious weakness!"

He tried various means to limit the activity of the material. He failed to produce the desired results after subjecting his sample to heat, pressure, light, electrical current and magnetic fields.

Even though he could employ more unusual methods to get a reaction out of the exotic material, he didn't feel he was on the right track.

"I'm looking at this the wrong way. Since I suspect that Arcutuleum Platinum is related to the Five Scrolls Compact, maybe I need to use their methods instead of the methods of an engineer."

Ves concentrated his mind and tried to make contact with it with the help of a spiritual projection.

"What?"

It felt as if he was touching a puppy. The metal wasn't alive per se, but it possessed a low form of reactivity that suggested that it could respond to certain commands.

"Stop." He instructed the sample while he poked it with a finger.

The Arcutuleum Platinum transformed to match his skin and flesh.

"Halt."

"Freeze."

"Reverse."

"Zero."

"Reset."

Ves tried out many different commands while he poked the sample to see whether it would stop transforming.

Most of the commands ended up doing nothing, but he finally managed to produce a meaningful change when he uttered a specific word.

"Inherit."

That caused the Arcutuleum Platinum to freeze in its current state.

When Ves carefully drew his finger back, it continued to mimic his skin and flesh as if nothing had changed.

"Err, go back?"

Ves encountered a new problem as he had to find a completely different command to turn it back to normal.

"Default."

"Initial state."

"Original."

"Copy."

"Mimic."

"Embrace."

The sample turned back to normal again after Ves uttered the word embrace! When he put the sample into contact with different materials, it mimicked their properties as usual.

"What if I want to switch this ability off entirely so that I can work on it as if it is a normal material?"

He tried the inherit command again but found out that it did not freeze the material in its current state.

Ves had to try out a lot of other keywords until he finally stumbled upon the right command.

"Isolate."

This did the trick. The Arcutuleum Platinum no longer produced any special interactions when coming into contact with different materials.

Ves wanted to scratch his head. "This is going to be a little more complicated. My cyborg cat will need to exert a lot of control over his body in order to avoid mimicking the wrong materials at the wrong time."

He did not worry too much about it, though. One of the special traits about living products was that it was much easier for them to master their inherent quirks.

He believed that a living divine artifact would be able to control its own body to an even greater degree, especially after it experienced a powerful baptism!

"It will be fine... I think. I can always fix my divine artifact if there is a glitch."

Ves shrugged and resumed his work. He had already fallen behind schedule due to this unexpected problem and he was eager to get back on track.

He worked a little faster in order to catch up to his original schedule. The impact to his work was minimal as he grew fully confident in his ability to work and shape Arcutuleum Platinum after he had frozen their mimicking behavior with the isolate command.

Hours passed by as Ves completed more parts for his cyborg cat.

In the meantime, the biotech machine had just completed the organic internal design for his divine artifact.

It did not look pretty. It was as if someone wanted to cook a cat by skinning the creature and trimming down the flesh for a bit.

The fact that the 'skinned cat' was made out of flesh that used to comprise his lower left leg did nothing to make it more appetizing!

Still, Ves perceived a certain sense of dormant power, beauty and grace from the small bioproduct.

He had put a lot of thought and effort into its design. He made sure that the integration of his flesh, bones and blood did not go to waste by designing a spiritual foundation that could anchor and repurpose their extraordinary energies.

"It won't take much longer." He whispered.

The time to assemble his divine artifact had come. The biological inner structure had grown to its full form at a fast pace due to its limited mass and volume as well as the excellent facilities of the Workshop of Creation.

After he carefully scanned and inspected the biological core, he confirmed that it had not mutated or deviated from his original design to a significant degree.

Small changes and inconsistencies were inevitable when it came to grown bioproducts, but Ves had already accounted for these unpredictable deviations.

This was why Ves completely assembled the mechanical parts around the biological base by hand.

He could make small adjustments to the original plan and design on the spot. He didn't even have to stop to make calculations as he just knew how he could shift the parts to make them all fit together.

"It also helps that I've designed my cyborg cat with changes in mind."

Compared to the frustrations of trying to figure out how to control the mimicking ability of Arcutuleum Platinum, assembling the mechanical side of his new cat was much more relaxing.

Ves felt increasingly more expectant of the end product as he slowly put his latest work together. He had to work slow at times because there were a number of delicate parts that needed a gentler touch, but it didn't take long before the cat became more complete.

Soon enough, his cyborg cat had taken shape.

Technically, it was not yet complete. He needed to integrate it with a shard of his Divine Core to make his latest pet come to life.

That did not stop Ves from appreciating his work at its current state. It largely matched his design and the cat that he envisioned.

The organic properties of the cyborg cat were not quite evident on the surface.

At first glance, it looked like a silvery mechanical cat that could pass off as Lucky's cousin. Many of the parts resembled that of his first cat, but there were a number of differences that made the cyborg cat more aligned with himself.

Its expressive purple electronic eyes looked dull at the moment, but Ves was certain that they would shine once his divine artifact came to life.

His new pet would look much cuter and more adorable by that time!

The exterior of the cyborg cat consisted entirely of plating made out of uncoated Permanent Mimic Arcutuleum Platinum. Any light shining on the material produced faint green highlights that made it seem as if the metal was coming to life.

When Ves carefully squeezed his work from different angles, he could feel the interlocking plates flex wherever they were supposed to bend.

If he pressed hard enough, he could even feel the spongy feedback of the flesh underneath.

Ves received even greater feedback when he examined his work with his spiritual senses.

"This is a little freaky."

The cyborg cat was undeniably an extension of himself. Ves could still feel the strong imprint of his former leg inside his incomplete divine artifact.

For a moment, Ves felt tempted to mount his cyborg cat below the stump of his amputated leg and try to walk as if he was wearing a fancy robotic limb!

Ves shook his head. "I need to stop thinking about nonsense and complete this job."

The sense of weight and history had grown stronger without his notice. He was still at a point where he could change his mind and reject his current work, but the window was closing as he made his way to the mountaintop.

The atmosphere of the Sacred Temple was significantly different from that of the Workshop of Creation.

The Workshop of Creation was a perfect place for a mech designer as it offered almost all of the tools and facilities he needed to make a mech and many other products for that matter.

The Sacred Temple seemingly had nothing to do with mech design. It was a sacred location that was fully dedicated to helping Ves attain spiritual ascension.

It seemed fitting that he was bringing his cyborg cat to the temple. What he had completed just before was mostly technical work.

Now that he wanted to complete the final and most crucial step, he could no longer rely on the power of conventional technology.

He needed to draw on the power of mysticism in order to infuse his cyborg cat with life and a touch of divinity.

When Ves reached the Sacred Hearth and stopped before the flame that represented his weak and underdeveloped Divine Core, he paused for a moment.

"This is it. Should I go through with this or should I reconsider?"

He slowly looked down at the inert cyborg cat in his arms.

Ves saw no reason to turn back at this point.

"It just needs the final spark."

When he turned his gaze back to his exposed Divine Core, he instinctively knew what to do. He carefully raised his armored arm and grasped a small section of the flickering flame.

It felt as if he was touching solid matter.

He believed that there was no gentle way to do this, so after taking another deep breath, he wrenched the portion of the Divine Core in his grip and quickly stuffed it inside the body of his cyborg cat before he became overtaken by the soul-wrenching pain!

"AHHH! MY HEAD!"

His very Spirituality shook and cracked because of his reckless action!

Although Ves was no stranger to pain, he never felt as if he had picked up an axe and proceeded to chop it on the side of his head with as much force as possible!

At the same time, his latest product began to glow and thrum with power that echoed with the damaged Divine Core that was exposed by the Sacred Hearth.

The birth of a divine artifact set a remarkable process into motion that was just beginning to transform the cyborg cat!