The Mech Touch novel Chapter 707

Acolyte Evie won!

Ves turned towards Mayra and bowed his head. "Congratulations on your mech pilot’s win. Your Redemption Rose has vanquished my Evaporating Spear."

"The duel was too close to call." She said graciously. Still, she couldn’t help but smile at her victory. "The quality of our mechs are roughly at the same level. We chose to emphasize different aspects of our mechs, and the only reason why the Redemption Rose took the advantage is because we dealt with the neural interface issue in different ways."

"That’s true." He nodded. "I’ve chosen to limit the amount of input, while you’ve opted to rely on AIs to maximize the output. I should have gone for this solution as well, but I guess I was too prideful in my own methods."

Besides his ingrained bias towards relying on artificial intelligences, Ves also opted against them because they didn’t fit with his design philosophy.

Ves in fact contemplated whether his design philosophy had room for autonomous mechs. It seemed self-evident that if Ves would be able to bring mechs to ’life’ one day, that they be able to gain the ability to move by themselves.

He opted against such a future. At the very least, he did not wish his mechs to gain autonomy from a mind based on data rather than spirituality.

A small intuitive feeling made him feel as if the best way for him to go forward was to continue to work around the unity of mech, mech designer and mech pilot. The entire X-Factor centered around an alignment of their strengths. If Ves started cutting out the mech pilot out of the equation, why wouldn’t mech designers be made irrelevant as well one day?

Ves did not wish to become an archenemy of the MTA and virtually every mech designer in existence by pursuing autonomous mechs! He’d be dead so fast once a battleship dropped a bunch of anti-matter bombs over his head!

The MTA wouldn’t hesitate to wipe out the planet he was residing at if that was what it took to eliminate the scourge of self-operating mechs!

Therefore, after a long moment of introspection, Ves still considered mech pilots to be a vital partner to the mechs he designed.

He had witnessed the strength of the man-machine connection first-hand. It was not his goal to saw off one of the legs of that partnership. Instead, he wanted to strengthen the other leg so that the combination stood more firmly.

Such a stance benefited high-end mechs piloted by elite pilots the most. If Ves chose to go the other way, then he would be able to excel at designing low-end mechs meant for mass production.

"They’re retrieving Acolyte Evie." Ves noted as he gestured his hand towards the projection that showed the two tow mechs grabbing hold of the immobilized Redemption Rose. "I wonder how much is left of her after this duel."

"Not much." Mayra shook her head. "Poor girl. She’s rather young for an acolyte, and if she joined the Swordmaidens she would have enjoyed a brighter future. What the worshippers of Haatumak do to the winners of this Redemption Duel.. only they would consider it a redemption. To us, akin to damnation to become a Living Altar."

She obviously knew more than Ves, but with Acolytes Villis and her own minder standing close by, Mayra wouldn’t reveal anything more.

The end of the Redemption Duel marked the end of their involvement and whatever emotional attachment they placed in their mech pilots. Mayra won while Ves fell short. He had nothing against the Swordmaiden mech designer for besting him. He even found it to be an honor to acquit himself well against a Journeyman.

He only wondered whether the Church thought the same. They initially told him that they Acolyte Gien didn’t necessarily have to win for him to receive his rewards. If the duel excited their god, then both mech designers stood to gain their rewards.

As cultists started to depart from the observation chamber, Ves calmly continued chatting with Mayra while he waited for the final verdict.

The hatch suddenly slid open after some time. The Soulless Priest himself had come to greet the mech designers.

"Mayra of the Swordmaidens. Congratulations are in order."

She bowed to the Priest. "Acolyte Evie deserves all the praise. I merely provided the tools."

"As you say. Rewards are in order. I think you will find our offerings exceedingly satisfying."

The two older mech designers chatted a bit, though Ves found it difficult to follow their conversation as they only referred to important matters with euphemisms and code names.

Eventually, the Soulless Priest spared a single glance at Ves, not that he could read the man’s expression as it was shrouded in shadow.

"Mr. Larkinson."

"Yes, sir?"

"Your mech has failed."

That was laying it thick. Ves instinctively felt his pride creeping up at him, but he pushed it down. It was never a good idea to act like Ketis in front of more experienced mech designers.

Ves had the feeling the Soulless Priest tested him once again. He needed to be careful of what he said. "The Evaporating Spear performed admirably in the hands of Acolyte Gien. Their combination closely matched the pairing of the Redemption Rose and the Acolyte Evie. Victory and defeat shifted back and forth but eventually Evie had the benefit of retaining her battle effectiveness longer."

"You made the wrong design choice." The Soulless Priest spoke. He did not need to specify which design choice Ves had gone wrong. "Your ingrained aversions to certain solutions is a shackle that will limit your capabilities."

"I do not agree." He responded. "You are right that limiting myself will restrict my choices, but that only means I can focus on improving the tools that are still in my grasp."

The conversation strayed in the age-old debate between specialisation and generalization. It was a debate neither mech designers wanted to stray into, because it was impossible to come to a consensus on the matter.

"I admire your convictions. At the very least, you are willing to stand up for your beliefs even if they are misguided." The Soulless Priest quickly activated his comm and flicked a virtual invitation card to Ves. "Here you go. I won’t have you departing from the Temple of Haatumak empty-handed. As for the discount, your colleague Mayra has already won that in your alliance’s stead."