The Mech Touch novel Chapter 147

Ves wanted to leave his mark in the Age of Mechs. The Living Mech Corporation encapsulated both his selling points and his aspirations. The name might sound a little bland, but its open-ended meaning left a lot of room for interpretation.

More importantly, the name also matched his nascent design philosophy. No matter how many mech designers had already touched upon the secret of the X-Factor, Ves definitely wished to forge his own path.

After finishing his discussion with Marcella, he left left her office and returned to the foyer. Lucky played with a potted plant. Raella and Melkor stood at the side, admiring the promotional footage projected at the sides. They all showed several designs in action. Ves even saw archival footage of the Mark I in action.

"Is that your mech?" Raella curiously asked.

He nodded with pride. "It’s my very first sale, in fact. I designed the variant and fabricated it completely on my own. No one else lent a hand to me during the entire process. Recently, I even updated its design. The Mark II is a comprehensive improvement over its predecessor."

His cousins looked suitably impressed. It turned out they hadn’t heard about Ves and his accomplishments before. Raella dedicated her entire life to the mech games while Melkor presumably served in some kind of military unit.

Only now, they realized what kind of a bigshot Ves had become. The ability to design and build your own mech impressed the two mech pilots. To them, the entire process sounded like sorcery.

Ves felt as if he was a wizard showing off a fireball in front of a crowd of knights. Though the latter could easily snap the former’s body in two, the impressive display held them back. The wizard’s magic had exceeded their limited comprehension.

For the first time since they joined his company, the two regarded him with respect. Raella always wore her emotions on her sleeve, so her mood shifted the most.

As for Melkor, he must have already been acquainted with Ves from reading a report. The visor blocking half his face also hindered anyone from determining his attitude. With the help of his enhanced perception and intelligence, Ves nonetheless picked up some hopeful signs.

"Let’s return to the spaceport now. We have a flight to catch."

"Aww, do we have to?" Raella suddenly begged. "This place is a lot livelier than I thought! I want to visit all the mech boutiques and see the local mech athletes in action!"

Though Ves originally planned to depart in a few hours, Raella convinced him to take them for a day out. Perhaps it hadn’t been fair for the family to force them to accompany Ves. For privileged city folk like them, a rural planet like Cloudy Curtain must be a boring place to them. Raella especially wouldn’t be able to handle the transition.

"Let’s head downtown then. The classiest mech boutiques and chain stores can all be found there."

Ves hailed an aircar and the three of them boarded the vehicle. After inputting the address, the vehicle ascended into the air and joined the orderly traffic.

Ves sat in the front holding Lucky while Raella and Melkor sat in the back discussing the merits of Bentheim’s local teams.

Raella favored the Velvet Fists, which was Dorum’s flagship team. They often clashed head-on against the Silver Chancellors and acquitted themselves well. The Velvet Fists distinguished themselves by their flamboyant female leader.

As for Melkor, he respected an up-and-coming team called the Grease Monkeys. Based in the heavily industrialized city of Haston, the community-funded team enjoyed a lot of local support. Somehow, they signed on a couple of talented locals and have been making their mark over the years.

"I don’t care much about the local teams." Ves replied when Raella asked him who he supported. "Bentheim isn’t my home. I spent a lot more time on Rittersberg actually. My real home is Cloudy Curtain. It’s just too bad the planet isn’t rich enough to fund a team."

They simply didn’t have the means. The farming consortiums owned the majority of the planet’s wealth. Considering their roots, the last thing they wanted to do was to foster more mechs.

Just as Raella started to explain the merits of her favorite teams, Melkor held up a hand.

"Aren’t we supposed to head downtown? Why is our aircar moving away from it?"

His sudden interruption startled Ves. He never paid attention to their environment. When he pressed his face against the window, he found to his dismay that their aircar had inexplicably turned around. Instead of shops and flashing lights, he only encountered drab-looking workshops, factories and warehouses.

"This isn’t good! Our car is flying above the industrial district! We’re never supposed to come close to this area in the first place!"

Raella instantly pulled out a laser pistol that she previously hid in her coat. "What the hell? Why is someone after you, Ves? Are we being kidnapped or something?!"

"It might be possible. I never thought anyone would be crazy enough to start something on Bentheim." Ves replied while holding his chin.

Who could it be? Bentheim Liberation Movement? The Five Scrolls Compact? The Gauge Dynasty? The Ricklin Family? Ves provoked too many enemies lately. He couldn’t determine who was aiming for him at the moment. He needed more information, but first he had to solve their current crisis.

While everyone still tried to press down their panic, Melkor reached forward and pressed a conspicuous red button. "I don’t know much about aircars, but they should all be equipped with a hard override."

The car hadn’t changed its course at all. The saboteurs disabled the button.

"What do we do?!" The only female occupant panicked. She held up her comm and tried to contact an emergency service. "My comm is blocked! I can’t get a signal!"

"My comm device is blocked as well."

"Hold on! I can fix this, I think!"

Since his last adventures, Ves had gotten into the habit of carrying a miniature toolbox. You never knew when something might need fixing. He retrieved a multitool and quickly separated the console in front of his seat. They encountered a confusing maze of wires and electronics.

"Do you know how to hack this aircar?" Raella dubiously asked.

"I can make sense of some of the components, but I don’t specialize in flying vehicles." Ves shook his head. Though he could mess with the autopilot or the altimeter, he could also cause the car to crash. "Lucky, can you take a peek and see if there’s anything suspicious inside?"

The cat meowed at at his request and promptly stuck his head inside. His cousins looked a little skeptical at his pet. "Isn’t that a mechanical pet? I thought they are supposed to be equipped with low-grade AIs."

"Lucky isn’t one of those bottom-bin, mass-produced mechanical pets. He’s a lot smarter than any other artificial pet and he also has a few surprises in store."