The Mech Touch novel Chapter 191

Ves had a premonition that if he replied with the wrong question, he might not have his head on his shoulders anymore. A lot had happened that pushed Doctor Jutland to his breaking point. One more shove could send him over the edge.

He decided to come clean, if only a little bit. "I can work! I’ve been working on my mobility. Look, I can move again!"

He allocated a tenth of his focus on his Jutland organ. His energy cycle became lethargic, which relieved some of his pain and loss of control. Ves quickly demonstrated his competence by moving his fingers.

"This shouldn’t be possible!" Jutland muttered as he stared at Ves dancing his fingers. "Your physique should still be adjusting to its changes."

Enthusiasm replaced his earlier rage. The speed in which he changed his mood astounded Ves. For fear of triggering him back to a fouler mood, he kept his mouth shut and tried not to resist the doctor’s inspection.

"Hmm, this is exceedingly strange." The exobiologist mused and pulled out a rusty scanner from his lab coat. "But the readings don’t lie! This phenomenon is exceedingly rare!"

Jutland practically slobbered over Ves as he poked and prodded his body. The man particularly paid attention to his internal energy cycle and noted how much it had diminished compared to its uncontrolled state.

"You shouldn’t be able to exert any influence on your Jutland organ! Your regulator organ lacks the capacity to do so!"

Despite his discomfort, Ves mentally sighed in relief. At least he got rid of Jutland’s impulse to wrench apart his neck. The doctor had proven to be highly unstable when things didn’t go his way.

As the doctor dragged him back to his cot and brought out a number of machines to study his body, Ves tried to wait out the examination. All he had to do for now was to drag out the time while he waited for rescue.

Hopefully his help was on its way, because he did not enjoy Jutland’s ministrations. The obsessive doctor started cackling as he injected Ves with several different solutions. The uncertainty of their purpose kept Ves from relaxing. Who knew if Jutland decided to kill him off on a whim?

In order to distract himself from all of these morbid thoughts, he tried to think about what happened to the expedition as a whole.

What concerned him the most was whether he’d still be able to leave this planet when the forty-day window came at an end. With the metallic storm on the surface of Groening IV starting to pick up again, the groundside forces had scant little time left to leave this exotic but exceedingly dangerous planet.

Without a fleet presence in orbit, they’d never get picked up. Still, Ves didn’t entirely lose hope. A naval defeat rarely spelled the annihilation of all of the ships on the losing side. As long as the Ark Horizon herself retreated in good order, then the nucleus of the main fleet could still stage a comeback.

In addition, Ves could also rely on getting picked up by the Barracuda. His corvette might have been seconded to House Kaine, but the crew answered only to him. If Captain Silvestra could get his ship out of House Kaine’s leash, then she’d certainly attempt a pickup.

Therefore, he still clung to hope. Even if the worst-case scenario happened, he still had a lifeline in the System. As long as he spent a couple of years pumping out designs, he’d be able to accumulate enough DP to purchase a long-range teleporter that could take him away without going through the murderous metallic storm clouds.

The doctor eventually left him alone and returned to his biolabs. The reprieve allowed Ves to relax and prepare for his escape attempt. Depending on the effectiveness of the diluted chemicals, the Kaius could still retain some of its functionality. Hopefully, the formula affected more than just the mechanical parts which mainly played a supporting role.

The hours dragged on as Ves quietly waited for change. Just as he dozed off, a tiny prickle against his palm interrupted his rest. Something metallic brushed against his hands. Ves carefully grasped the object and raised it to his face.

It turned out to be a tiny bot. His rescue party finally reached the cave. His heart started to pump faster as he grasped for hope.

The bot extended a secure cable which Ves attached to his comm. It established a secure, short-ranged comm channel.

[What is your current status? Are you in restraint?]

Ves typed in his reply.

[In captivity in a hut. There is no lock to the structure. I’m not restrained. Jutland thinks I’m infirm due to the implants he installed in my body, but that’s not true. I can move if needed.]

[Please detail Jutland’s security arrangements.]

He emphasized that he only got a glimpse of what Jutland prepared. With his excellent memory, he noted all of the hexapods and their positions as well as describe the various makeshift structures in the cave. He pointed out that Jutland cared the most about the biolabs. He also warned his rescuers that Jutland had long exceeded the standards of a baseline human.

[Is he able to match blows with a mech?]

[I’m not sure about that, but he is very fast. You won’t be able to stop him if he’s determined to run away.]

[Your suggestions will be taken under advisement. The operation will begin as soon as we’ve verified your words and gathered more intelligence.]

The rescue party took extreme caution in their approach. After all, Doctor Jutland frequently defied expectations. Confronting him in one of his main hideouts would surely prompt him to reveal the trump cards he developed for many years now in preparation to confront the next expedition.

The bot shut down the channel and floated away after retracting its cable. Ves guessed that his rescuers intended to go through the entire cave from top to bottom.

Unfortunately, they underestimated Jutland’s vigilance.

"What is this?! A bot? Mere rats seeking to gnaw my heels! Arise, my subjects!"

The hexapods that used to wander around like broken puppets turned savage. Even the little fellow next to Ves behaved as if someone snatched his dinner. The amount of threat the juvenile beast even intimidated Ves.